EONS AGO
" You embarrassed me " She spoke over her shoulder , entering her office as she took off her coat and slung it over the back of her chair " You could have said something "
" I tried to .. " Sebastian didn't look up at his datapad , scrolling through the real time data provided from his daughters new lungs for several long moments.
They had been arguing for over an hour now after the atmospheric stabilisers had failed , During the tests he had left immediately after and moved to perform the surgery for his daughter , The tests had taken over twelve hours of none stop work , plenty of time for the surgery to he completed in the state of the art technology available at his fingertips .
" Give me that " She tore his datapad from his hands , Tossing it across her desk , Glaring at him.
" I'm trying to .... "
" I AM TRYING TO SAVE THE WORLD " His wife cried , Slinging equipment across the room in rage .
" AND IM TRYING TO SAVE HER " Sebastian roared , His voice raising to octaves he usually never reached .
He heaved , Growling momentarily , taking a deep breath with closed eyes .
" You know what your problem is " She growled. Only to freeze as sebastian rounded on her , no longer intent on calming himself , Raising his arm and planting his right pointer finger directly apon her bosom .
" No ... you know what your problem is " Sebastain hissed , Pushing his wife back with his finger as he took a step forward " You ego blinds you. It rules you . You see yourself above everyone around you , Better than them. You're not saving the world out of the goodness of your heart , You're saving it for the recognition, The desire to be Worshipped for your work . You're ruled by nothing but ego .. and spite ... and I feel sorry for you . You didn't marry me because you wanted to , you don't love me . You married me because you needed to, Performing your basic biological duties with the only specimen available that met your standards. You think you're smarter than me , While you remain akin to a toddler discovering their reflection for the first time , you cant see nor accept when youre wrong . So you take your failures out on me. You ignore out daughter because you don't feel any paternal love for her , You don't care for nor do you wish to he apart of her life " He pushed her back against the desk , Her hands clasping at its frame as he stood over her , His stare more intense than anything she had ever seen , the sheer disappointment in his gaze made her sag only for but a moment .
" I will be divorcing you ... " Hsi voice but a whisper " I'll be taking her with me ... that way you can focus solely on your work ... don't fight it , Don't even try and take anything from me or I will ruin you . You will have your approval for any study you want... all I want is for you to waive you parental rights , and to stay away " Sebastian hissed , Removing his finger, Turning away and preparing to leave " Now I'll have our divorce files compiled and presented, sign them off and get your stuff from the house, I want you gone by the morning " His tone final and commanding , he brokered no argument as he stepped out and into the rest of the lab , Storming away to the cafeteria where his daughter was playing with one of her toys " Come on sweety let's go "
...
CURRENT DAY
...
" Patient stable and ready for transport " Reed watched the patient under his partner seemingly freeze in place , Their skin paling before their eyes , The gash in the side of their Torso visibly freezing , The leaking blood coagulated , a solid sludge that sealed the subjects veins .
' Cryo freezing success ' The person become cold to the touch , Visibly frosting over as the team prepared to move the subject to the AV for transport ' Patient viability- 83 % '
" Ready " As acting team lead , Reed urged his squad into the NEW HOPE AV hovering just metres away , His team placing the victim into the stretcher .
How ever not a traditional stretcher , As a thin sleeve rose over the victim laying atop its surface , Sealing over the person as they were immediately flooded with various compounds that submerged their target , Keeping them In optimal condition as they were loaded into the AV.
" Ready for departure " Reed smashed his hand on the AV door. The pilots on the other side proceeding to lift off as the AV doors slammed shut , Rocking everyone within as they accelerated at unprecedented speeds .
Observing the patient , Reed regarded the high tech stretcher, the patient being completely submerged and hidden from view by the solution running over them under the film that connected to the stretcher .
" Target viability remains optimal , Med Bay primed and ready for our arrival " Reed listened to his team members with a nod , Turning his gaze to a digital display that showed their progress to the NEW HOPE HQ.
They all knew , for all intents and purposes , Their job ended as soon as they arrived at the tower , their last objecting being handing over the patient to the automata designed to take over alon their arrival .
For all intents and purposes , NEW HOPES field technicians jobs amounted to asset retrieval , much the same as trauma team , They were meant to simply retrieve their patient , Bring them back to NEW HOPE , The rest was out of their hands . The only things they had to worry about , any hostiles and the patient.
' And since we're not actually here ' Reed looked down at his hand , He knew it wasn't actually his hand , Rather the robot he was synced with completely whilst he himself was currently submerged in his deprivation chamber at NEW HOPE HQ.
His hand , He knew it wasn't his , Yet he couldn't help but marvel at how real it was to his senses . He could smell the air , taste the smog. Hell he could feel the cold hard surface of the AV they were in as his hand pressed its surface. Even touching his thumb and pointer finger together , he could feel the sensation of skin touching itself , his two fingers connecting and the drag of the skin as they moved against eachother.
' If we're not careful , we'll forget what's real and what's not ' He looked at his team wearing their combat outfits , no doubt purposely shaped to be humanoid , If he was a passer-by on the street he too would have assumed there was people under those outifts .
Within moments they arrived at NEW HOPE , Their AV touching down not seconds before the doors to the AV slid open , Their target being quickly carted off by a group of six automata , Four carrying the stretcher with two immediately begin their duty of suctioning the fluid from within the stretcher into a cannister they carried.
Watching as they were carter off , Reeds vission began to blur , glitching and spasmning before the world around him simply blinked black , dropping him into the void for several moments , Completely devoid of all senses ... the void for all intents and purposes .
" Wake ... " Suddenly Reed found himself in a dimly lit chamber , Twelve chairs sat in a ring around a circular frame at the centre of the room , Each one purposefully designed for deep dives " Up "
Looking to the side at the nearest persin , he spotted one of his team members , Them took struggling to process the end of whatever had happened to leave them in this situation .
" What ... " Solomon groaned , cringing whilst reaching down and studying his position in the chair , Only to stop as he felt a hand gently push him back down into the chair .
" Easy there , Look up " A light shon in his eye thanks to a small flash light being shon into them , With his pupils contracting under the barrage of white .
" Okay follow my finger " The person raised their finger , Sliding it from side to side before his gaze.
Stopping after two rounds , the person stepped back and pulled out a clip board .
" Name ... "
" Ah ... Johnson .... reiner" His alias was tight , fool proof . References provided , a whole history constructed simply for this op .
" Birthday " The person wearing a mask so he couldn't identify their facial features asked.
" June sixteenth " He lied , Slowly sitting up as they went through a few more questions as the rest of the team settled down .
" That will be all for today, Please remain seated for further instruction " The employee walked off as the others all joined them, Twelve people in masks and scrubs vanished through the entrance to the room .
" Okay ... what the hell was that , last thing I remember we were... " A man with a thick Russian accent grumbled four chairs to the right.
" I was nodding off for the night .. next thing I know I'm being dragged out of my room saying we have our first mission ... " The man continued.
It was true , For all of them . They had all been instructed to tuck in for the night . Next thing they were shaken awake and informed there was an emergency .
All of the available NEW HOPE teams were dispatched , a large gang war taking place somewhere in the city . So they were hastily taken through the induction process and quickly linked with their robots and dropped into their deprivation chambers , And from then onwards they were given precise instructions once they boarded their AV's in their robot skins .
' So this whole time ... it was a simulation that we weren't even aware of ' Solomon half squinted , Leaning back into his chair ' And I never even noticed the difference '
A sudden chill ran down his spine as he turned his gaze to one of the cameras situated around the room they were in.
" Congratulations " A sudden voice announced through the speaker system " You have all passed initial procedures. Please forgive the underhanded tactics . It was imperative to analyse how each and every individual under high stress situations through a series of predetermined simulations designed to weed out those unfit for the particular role you are being hired for . Thus ... Congratulations are in order . You have all passed "
None were in the mood to celebrate , but most held no grievances with the vetting process if not being alittle annoyed about not being informed.
" In a moment you will be met with our operations director ... please follow any and all commands and requests they have of you " The intercom went silent but a moment later , The doors to the room opening , The lights above turning on as RN02 walked into the room , Wearing a blank helmet and uniform to hide his identity .
" Greetings , I Am... Nicholous, I am here to guide you through the rest of your induction process " RN02 announced , synesised voice carrying across the room as the prospects began to step out of their chairs.
" Whats with the getup " Ling , Arasaka's spie spoke up prodding for information.
" Forgive the secrecy " RN02 waved his hand dismissively " Due to the clause featured in both your contract and the contracts of your fellow staff . Until the induction process has been completed those not part of the company are not permitted to know the identity of NEW HOPE'S employees, for the safety and privacy of all those under our care. You are not permitted to interact with those outside of your batch. Straying from allocated paths will be met with immediate and permanent termination . Now please ... follow me " Solomon kept his head down as the nearly seven foot tall masked man across from them suddenly turned and marched through the doorway to which he came .
...
Sebastian stood in his surgery , Machinery working on his body with but a thought , whilst his eyes remained fixed on the monitors on the wall , Unblinking, Orange light peeling from his eyes as he stated unblinkingly ahead.
" Solomon reed passed with an eighty nine percent rate of approval. Optimal communications skills provided , extensive combat skill detected. The ability to keep composure under stress has also been shown in his performance " The hologram of assistant stood beside the operating table as cables were attached to Sebastian's back via mechanical arms reaching down from the roof.
" Has the back-door been introduced " Sebastian asked , Assistant nodding slowly as its hand raised , A graph appearing over its hand to display a series of codes appearing and changing in quick succession .
" Affirmative . The back door you instructed us to install has been placed without any notice or difficulty " Both ling and Solomon were now open files for NEW HOPE to access , The moment they had been plugged into the simulation the back-door had been installed , With none being any wiser to the situation .
" Perfect ... " His deep voice rumbled as he turned his gaze from the monitor to face assistant " Clone all inbound and outbound traffic , I want to everything they send and recieve "
" Of course " Assistant access the back-door to both ling and Solomon, Quickly recording and downloading everything recorded by their cyberware.
" Thank you assistant. Your help has been invaluable... " Sebastian began to lay down face down on his surgery chair , The back plating covering his spine being pulled apart by the mechanical arms overhead " I must prepare myself ... "
" I will keep you informed milord " Assistant flickered and vanished not a second later, Sebastian turning his focus back on tweaking his sandevistan with new updates to its system.
....
The threw of them took to the town as soon as the sun set , disembarking in casual attire , D had taken time to brown the net to find something appropriate to dress itself in that wouldn't be ... attention drawing . It wanted to blend , to fit in without sticking out like a sore thumb.
" You ready D " Terry barged in as decard finished Sliding on a button up white shirt , Turning to his colleague with an easy level eye .
" Ready .. " Decard responded, Fixing his outfit in the mirror once more before turning and walking past Terry .
" Then let's get going " Terry wore a tight tank top that did nothing but show his bulging muscles.
" What are you wearing " Decard employed its newly mimicked sense of humour in order to sooth its recent lack of apparent humanity , of which was apparently easily noticed .
" You like it , Im a young strapping bachelor, The ladies are going to love it " Terry flexed his biceps before turning away and lat spreading with a smirk over his shoulder .
" Oh I'm totally sure " D snarked , Sarcasm as clear as day .
....
" Come on girl " Stacy slapped her cheeks , Puckering her lips infront of the mirrow as her hair was combed , tied behind her head in a bun .
She wore a tight form fitting black dress that hugged her curves like a protective lover.
' Come on ... he's single your single. Tonight's your night girl ' Stacy hyped herself up , strutting through her apartment past a picture of decard she had taped a photo of herself too ' Just get in there '
A chime distracted her , taking her attention from her strutting through her apartment to go to her door .
Opening the door she was met with Terry standing in the doorway.
" You ready, D's in the car waiting to go " Terry looked her over " You look nice "
" Thank you " She smiled and stepped last " Let's goooo "
....
The first place they visited was a pub in Heywood, The three of them quickly Mingling with the crowds , Well mostly Terry as Stacy and D chose to sat in a booth , Talking together as they drank their beverages.
" How's your sister " Stacy asked , fluttering her lashes as she played with her hair.
" She's well , She might be returning to night city once she's finished her studies " D expressed, having afterall needed to keep and maintain contact with his meat suits family members parents and siblings all .
Stacy's lips faltered for a moment before returning to normal , of which d caught but didn't comment on , Instead he chose to continue the interaction.
They continued to speak at length about their families, how Stacy went to and nearly failed school and nearly dropped out of the NCPD academy , but none the less pushed on through.
" Oh .. this is my song " She cast him a subtle look " Care for a dance "
" Of course " D rose and took the woman by the hand , leading to the dance floor where he encircled his hand around her waist , Her head leaning on his shoulder as they slow danced to the song playing in the pub.
" This is nice ... " Stacy whispered. Her hand gently pressing against on his chest as she smiled in satisfaction to herself.
" Isn't it " D mumbled back , Stacy leaning back to look up into his eyes .
' I ... ' She didn't let her thoughts stop her , instead rising to the tips of her toes and gently capturing D's lips with her own.
D was surprised nearly pulling back before Stacy's hands wrapped around the back or his head.
" No " She mumbled between breaths , Drawing d closer as she desperately mashed her lips against his .
Eyes narrowing. D relinquished and resistance he had and began to respond , Of which Stacy was elated to feel his response.
They continued on until the end of the song , Where Stacy separated from him with a string of saliva flowing between the two of them.
" Hey guys " Terry suddenly appeared. Smirking , having seen everything that passed between the two of them " This place blows let's go "
He urged them towards the exit , to which they offered no resistance.
" Know a place in the city centre, Rooftop party we can head to aye. . Less go "
" Haha okay Okay " Stacy Gingerly reached across and took D's hand in her own , Smiling up at him with the most genuine eyes a human in love could possess, all aimed at decard.
....
" Aaand here we are " Terry introduced them to a rooftop party in the city centre , The rooftop aglow as high end peers mingled and partied, hard drugs going around whilst topless woman danced on the tabletops .
" Let's... get some air " Stacy didn't particularly like the party, And they knew Terry cane here to actually get some action himself , so they moved to the outside of the rooftop , Coming to a stop next to a flower bed , the two of them leaning against a pair of railings.
" I'm... " Stacy began , Looking out towards night city as the noise if thr party were ignored by the two " I can comfortably say this is the happiest night of my life "
She turned to face the man whom held her heart , One hand holding the railing as she leant up and kissed him .
" But I know you're not ... not about this of course atleast i hope youre happy about us " Stacy's smile wavered as she sought his reassurance .
" Of course im happy " D nodded , smiling momentarily before kistening back ti what she was sayin.
" im glad , But with what's been going on recently " She expressed through pure honesty " I know it's gotten to you . I see it in your eyes , You're hurting. Deeply .. and I couldn't do anything to help you ... but I can help you now , I always will brme . We'll get back to the way things used to be ... and then we can be happy .... together as a couple from here on out ... I promise "
" I love you " Her hand gently reached for his as they both leant on the railings. Her left hand gently reaching to touch his.
" And I love you " D whispered back smiling and gently planting his lips down on Stacy's own , as a cold , hard calculated AI , It didn't comprehend such things as emotions on the same level as a human would , infact he thought such nuances were entirely unnecessary for survival.
And so when Stacy confided her desire to help him. It didn't register the desire, The hope or love behind her eyes .
All it thought about was the potential threat the woman posed to hit and its existence ... , If she had suspected there was something wrong even minutely she had latched on , And if they continued to interact , there was no telling how things were going to progress ... something it couldn't allow .
It couldn't allow anything such as human unpredictability to go unchecked, especially when that notion was focussed solely apon itself .
And so ... it acted , a simple glance , A bridge to Stacy's neural port was all that was needed .
The upload happened without anyone's notice , Nothing but a flicker in D's eyes , A quick ... silent thing, untraceable , nobody would ever know .
No-one had any time to react as the bar Stacy's arm jerking forward as the bar she held gave way , Her body suddenly lurching forward , Now subject to gravity.
Her eyes widened as her heels slipped , clacking and clattering as she reached around , her leg giving out , Stumbling over the edge as she reached feebly for any sort of help .
" STACY " Decard yelled , Reaching out as his long time colleague reached for him , Her eyes wide with terror, Glassy , hope filled as their fingers touched for but a moment .
' No ' Stacy cried out internally as their fingers flew by eachother , a glancing ... tantalising touch, one that could have been , the touch she longed for for so long , years in their district. That touch ...
Her eyes met his as she fell . The love. The adoration ... the sheer devotion she felt for the man infront of her conveyed clearly with the scant second that passed as she tumbled over the edge.
' I love you ' Their thoughts couldn't be any more different , Yet decard mimicked her facial movements , Fooling her into believing he felt the same for her as gravity slowly took its control of the female beat cop .
' Go ... be with your decard ' He still reached out yet made sure their hands never met , And so she fell .
Her long , blonde hair fluttered infront of her face as she fell backwards , Rotating through the air as a scream tore from her lips . The lights of the skyscrapers they were on flicking by at breakneck speeds.
" aaaahhhhhhhh" A scream tore through her lips , As she rotated, Tumbling through the air towards her impending doom.
And as the ground below grew closer , the roads and ncart track growing closer and closer growing larger before her gaze .
' Why ... 'Tears flickered and flew last her face thanks to her speed 'I was happy ... '
" AhhhhhhhhAAHHHHHH" The scream changed , From a scream reminiscent of knowing you'd die .. to something far more primal , Something spine tingling to those that could hear , and then ... She collided with a passing NCART , Smashing into its surface as her body exploded in a spray of blood, Bone and cyberware. And her scream went dead the moment her fall ceased .
" D " Terry finally appeared at his side as decard looked down , Yet his moment to act wasn't over .
" NO " Decard declared, Turning and rushing from the penthouse, Fleeing to the elevator to go sell his performance.
CHAPTER COMPLETE
I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter and I look forward to hearing your feedback . If anyone has any ideas or thoughts they'd like to bounce off me I'm happy to listen. Leave a comment or power stones at your leisure , Until next time friends