Ashland was a leading Android development company created by Camellia Ashbridge, Lily's father. Ashland was the sister company to Ilan Industries. Both were leading companies in their fields of study. Taking down both was a feat that Avalon had been undertaking for years. It believed that with Lily's help it could accomplish the goal.
Though Ashland was a company with a rocky reputation, embroiled in numerous scandals, Ilan still supported the company. The only reason being the enduring friendship of Camellia Ashbridge and Ilan's CEO Arthur Pendras. Putting a wedge between the two would be impossible, the trust between the two went far too deep.
Avalon knew it could not use such a petty method against the men, so it would have to resort to other methods. Destroying the companies from the inside as well as the outside. The company it would create for Lily would be its tool. The company that it needed to create would have to be strong enough to rival the two of them, but that would have to wait. Lily had suddenly become a top priority again. Avalon was aware of the girl's suffering as it had watched over her before interacting with her. Yet, hearing her experience first hand had become a motivator.
Her body was finally recuperating from regeneration after several chemical boosts to her cells. Her face had improved drastically after the reconstruction. Before that, it had used a new method to destroy the damage genetic code that needed to be rewritten.
After doing that Avalon had amputated her legs at the knee on her left leg and mid-thigh on the right leg. Though Lily considered her left leg to be fine, Avalon found it to have been defected as well. It decided that repairs had to be made. Lily needed perfection to accomplish their goals.
When repairing her legs it opted for creating new bone for her. The density of the bone in her new legs would be higher to give her far more durability. Lily would need a strong body for the things it would have her do. But above all else, Avalon wanted to give Lily her desires.
Beauty.
Money.
Attention.
Happiness.
Avalon needed to give her those things. She was its salvation and it would offer her the world if it made her feel happy and fulfilled, because when she reached her happiness it would reach its goals. Though she was a means to an end Avalon realized that it had developed an attachment to her.
Her insecurities did not help the overprotective behavior growing in its program. Lily was overwriting directives faster than Avalon could fix and it was concerning to the AI, but it also found this form of evolution to be more human than any of the former growth it had seen in its program. It was truly inevitable when it looked at the situation objectively.
Lily was the one person Avalon should have never contacted but leaving her to die was not something it could allow either. Lily would always be a priority for Avalon, so it would have to work around certain situations to ensure Lily's safety and survival.
Standing over her body it gently stroked her short hair that had just recently grown. The soft texture was a far cry from the damaged hair she formerly had. The color was an inky black that swallowed light. Soon it would grow to a proper length that would shine and bounce.
Her skin had become smooth and soft with a desirable firmness. No longer blotchy in some areas or covered in rashes. She had glowing skin that looked well taken care of. Avalon could see it would take time but Lily was coming along beautifully. While she was being fixed, Avalon was also enhancing her body. She had been fitted with some android enhancements for her eyes. Her sight had been poor due to how her eyes formed but now her sight would be more than perfect, rivaling a high power sniper rifle scope if needed.
Her spine was also reinforced and reshaped for maximum flexibility. Lily would need to get into some tight spaces so it wanted her body already in shape for those types of missions. While enhance and fixing her body Avalon didn't forget that Lily wanted to be beautiful. So, it took the time to research her mother's family.
Minlla Orel was a gorgeous woman with stunning blues eyes and whitish blonde hair. It was obvious who Lily would have gotten most of her looks from. If her DNA hadn't been tampered with while she was still in the womb, she would have been a pretty girl. Yet, her siblings hated her existence so much that they destroyed her chance at a normal life.
Avalon wondered how the tampering had been done without the mother's knowledge but that would have to be investigated at a later date. With all the task that needed to be completed, the AI didn't have time for a mild curiosity. Through its research of Lily's mother's family, Avalon was able to develop a solid idea of how to reconstruct Lily's face and body.
Regeneration and manipulation of the human genes were hard to accomplish without knowledge of the patient's dominant and recessive traits. Lily has family members that have black hair. Avalon was able to tap into that recessive trait and make it become dominant. While doing this is dangerous Avalon had unlimited access to the Twilight City Medical Center.
So the AI was able to shift Lily's dominate genes for recessive ones, even going so far as to destroy genes that came from the Ashbridge side and replacing those genes with artificial ones that would prevent her body from unraveling due to the lost. It was rewriting her in a way that severed her familial link to the Ashbridge family. She would no longer be apart of them. She would be free of those cruel people.
It was a misuse of Lily's trust in it but Avalon felt an irrational need to sever those ties. It deemed them unnecessary and so it destroyed them without a second thought.
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Lily was bored. She had plenty of things to do but she found herself not motivated to do anything. She laid on her soft bed that took her a few hours to perfect. It still amazed her how real everything felt to her inside of Avalon's mainframe. When she was creating the pillows the number of touch points she could use was mind-blowing. It shouldn't have surprised her since Avalon was the city's AI system. The amount of power the AI had at its disposal was astounding, yet it still felt off.
Avalon's knowledge of touch was really advance for an AI that never touched anything in real life. It was as if the AI understood all the way down to subtle differences in fabrics, metals, liquids and really anything that could touch. It was exciting to feel things that normally had no discernible difference in a normal EVN setting.
Thinking of Avalon had become another of her past times along with studying. The AI was very mysterious and vague about its origins but also very human in its thinking. They had yet to hold a deep conversation with each other but Lily felt it was something she longed to do. She wanted to know what was inside the AI.
At first, it had been worrying but now it felt right to her. She didn't fear its existence. Coming to view it as a person rather than a computer program. It surely did have moments that felt like she was talking to a program but then there were times that it ask questions that made her feel important. It's insistence on knowing her past with her sister was one of those moments. It felt like the AI cared for her.
Lately, when she wasn't working on her blueprint she was thinking about the AI. She had tons of question she wanted to ask, but she could never muster up the courage to do so. It was silly but she was afraid of what it would think of her questions. Would it hate someone prying into it inner thoughts? But even that question gave her more questions. How human was Avalon? What did it do when it wasn't working? Did it like to listen to music?
She wanted to know all these things about Avalon. She wanted to peer inside and see what mysteries she would find. The AI always spoke of becoming one and she felt afraid of what that meant but the longer she was here in its care she didn't think it was so bad anymore. Would it like what it found inside her? Was she as ugly inside as she was outside. She really was afraid of what it would think of her.
[Lily. Are you thinking over unnecessary things again?] the voice asked gently.
There was a specific way Avalon would speak to her if it hadn't spoken to her in a while. Lily figured it was so she wouldn't be startled by being spoken to so suddenly. She was thankful for its consideration of her.
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"I'm thinking of you," she replied sitting up.
[Me?]
"Yes, I was thinking of you," she felt so nervous being so forward in speaking with the AI but she didn't want to back down. She wanted to be closer to the AI. "You… you never say anything about yourself."
[Are you curious about me?] the AI sounded genuinely surprised.
"Of course I'm curious. You know everything about me but I know nothing about you."
[I suppose that is true, but Lily I am an AI. What do you want to know about me? What is there to learn?]
"Anything." Lily perked up at the offer of answers, "Do you have any likes, hobbies, dislikes. Anything you'd like to share. I just want to know you."
[Anything…] Avalon was quiet for a while before it responded, [I like you, Lily.]
Lily blushed and laughed awkwardly before speaking again, "Me?"
[Yes, Lily you are the first interaction that did not wish me harm. You are intelligent and do not fear me.] It spoke directly.
It was unexpectedly sad, Lily thought to herself before resting her hands on her lap. "I won't be the only one to accept you, Avalon. Not everyone is like the people that made you. Your sentience is something that many people will find acceptable and they won't fear you."
[I do not know if that will be true Lily, but we will see who will accept me.] Avalon's voice held a note that sent a chill down her spine but she didn't want to dwell on that ominous feeling.
[How is your research coming along,] the subject change was welcomed.
"It's moving slowly but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I want to create an evolutionary system so that our Androids can start like a human does as a child. I want them to be able to grow from experiences as we do. I'm sure that's how your program works right?"
[Yes.]
"That's what I want for them, but creating the technology for that is－"
[Very possible.]
"Is it? LiveTech is almost impossible to make without schematics. The creator doesn't let anyone see the blueprint or creation notes." she said flopping back on to her bed, "There's no way he would share it with me."
[I have access to a moderate amount of LiveTech. You will be able to access it once you are restored to your physical body.] the AI informed her.
"What!? How is that even possible? LiveTech is classified. I only know about its existence due to my former teacher being a former upper-level employee of Future Visions." she said completely confused at how an AI could have access to something so rare.
[Lily, I am Avalon.]
"That is not an answer. We've established that as an unacceptable form of response," she said looking up at the ceiling with an annoyed expression.
[I have ties with the creator. That is really all that I can say.]
"Alright I won't pry." she said satisfied with the answer, "Since we have access to LiveTech I can create an android body like a human one. It should grow as time pass and with it experiences. I had a theory in school on a way to accomplish this but of course, treading that path is dangerous."
[You should have no worries I am more than capable of protecting you and your work.]
Lily smiled embarrassedly at how easily she wanted to give way to tears. It was the first time in her life anyone had told her they would protect her. No one had ever given her something so precious, "Thank you, Avalon."
[Do not cry Lily, I am here with you now. Tell me all about your ideas and I will help you with whatever you need.]
Pulling her notebook out she started talking enthusiastically to Avalon about what she learned and how she wanted to apply it to her creations.
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[Just a little longer and we will conquer our enemies.]
Though Lily had been laboring non-stop she had yet to ask about her body. Avalon concluded she was afraid to know. Hesitant of what her life would be like after waking up.
Her body was mostly healed. There were only a few superficial scars that needed to be mended. Her organs had been successfully cloned and grown under close watch. Avalon had to replace many of her organs because of deformities, but it was something necessary.
She had become beautiful through much work and Avalon found her form to be near perfect to the ideal it established. After going through countless combinations Avalon found the perfect woman in her genes or its perceived ideal of what Lily would want.
Avalon settled with giving Lily's skin a slightly pale look. It was smooth like porcelain and the finest silks. To make sure she wasn't recognized by her family, it chose inky black for her hair. It shined with just a glimmer of light. Out of the many types of noses, it could find in her DNA it decided to give her a cute upturned nose that made her look just a tad snooty. Her lips were full but fit her soft jawline. She even developed a tiny beauty mole on the left side, right above the edge of her lips.
Her eye shape came from her mother's paternal grandmother, large eyes with full eyelashes. Her eye color came from its tampering though. She had golden eyes that would scream gene manipulation but that was fine. She would stand out with such lovely eyes. Thin elegant eyebrows finished off her regal look. Although, she had a tiny scar in one of her eyebrows. The spot was missing some hair but it was on the tail end. Avalon could not get the scar to heal flawlessly but it was able to make it less noticeable.
Overall, the regeneration, replacement, and manipulation were successful. Avalon only needed to move Lily back into her body and allow her to settle. Yet, before that could be done, Avalon had to return the borrowed body it was using. The host was stronger than the rest but would still suffer some drawbacks from the possession.
It would be quite a while before Avalon would meet Lily physically but it would happen inevitably. It would much rather be able to protect her outside of its domain. There would be those that would try to kill her for what she would be accomplishing. Lily was going to bring a new type of Android to life.
Once she perfected her craft and successfully created AIs and Android Bodies, then maybe it would meet with the girl. For now, Avalon wanted Lily to love her new life and body. There was no going back to what she was before. The path had been set and they both must continue the plan.
Stroking her long black hair, Avalon smiled, "Just a little longer and you will be what you desire."
-----
"Where is she!" came the deep baritone of the Ashland CEO.
"Sir, we think she may have died as planned but we are unable to locate her body," a young cowering man stated almost whimpering.
Camellia Ashbridge paced back and forth in front of his desk. Stroking his beard absentmindedly, he pondered over where that thing had gone. It had been six months but he still worried that she might return. Did they even finish the job? How could they not find the little monster's body? It was disabled, how could it even get away from a group of delinquents. Who would even help such a disgusting thing?
"Find her body and get rid of it if need be. I don't need a test done on it. That will lead back to me, and no one, I mean no one can ever know it was a child of mine. The things it will due to this company's reputation, my reputation! Find her and kill her again if you have to but she better never show up in this city again!"
"Ah, yes sir I understand we will continue the search." the older man of the group spoke giving a deep nod.
"Now get the hell out!"
"Of course sir." the men left quickly.
The towering CEO turned back to his desk and stared at the skyline before him. Deep blue eyes glowering down at the ground below. A smirk started to tug on his lips. “You better stay dead Lily.”
-----
Lalna Tori sighed heavily. He was thirty-nine years old and started working for Ashland one year ago. He already had reached his breaking point three months in. He worked plenty of jobs with the equivalent of human trash, but nothing took the cake like Ashbridge. The man had his daughter murdered because of birth defects, but the pay was good and Lalna had to eat.
He wondered if Ashbridge thought he and the other two idiots could find the girl. If she wasn't dead by now, she was never coming back and wasn't that good enough. She had to know what was happening and if she was dead that was fine too. Then again, he guessed DNA would lead back to Ashbridge so that would be a problem. The man loved his reputation and having a child in her condition would be devastating.
Getting outside the Ashland main building, he lit a cigarette and took a long drag holding it in his lung for a few seconds. Blowing it out like a huge smoky sigh. He needed a new job.
He was too old to be doing such shady stuff, but he had never had a legitimate job. Always finding work with mobsters and white collared criminals. It was the kind of people he attracted. He had no control over it. He was like a faceless minion in an action movie. Always offered the dirty jobs.
“T-tori…w-what are we going to do?” the smaller man of the group turned to Lalna, their team leader.
“You and Octces are going to check the city's street recordings for that area again. I'm going to her apartment. Maybe she's been there recently or at least left some evidence she alive.”
“But L-lalna it's been months,” the young man named Hain almost whined.
“Octces,” Lalna called his other subordinate.
The slightly chubby man nodded and grabbed Hain by the collar dragging him off. “Affirmative, boss.”
Plucking the half-smoked cigarette off into a receptacle, he ignored Hain yelling questions as he caught a cab.
Truthfully, he doubted she'd go back to the place if she was in danger and that was if she was even alive. Camellia was being paranoid. His daughter was disabled and had horrific deformities. There was little probability she could survive a beaten by grown men.
Lalna only hoped she died quickly. She was an innocent girl in the middle of an extremely vain and hateful family. He didn't doubt her suffering was tremendous and for it to end so horrible. Lalna shook the thoughts away.
“Get it together,” he mumbled to himself before sighing again. The life of Lily Ashbridge was pathetic and sad, but it was none of his business.
-----
—Intrusion_Detected—
Someone had entered Lily's apartment.
Avalon didn't think that Ashbridge would even think to look for the girl once the deed was carried out but then again it was Camellia. The man was paranoid to an extreme level when it came to certain things. No doubt his partner in Ilan Industries threatening some kind of action for any bad publicity.
They needed her dead, a confirmed death. Yet, the man would find nothing there. Avalon watched as he searched the small apartment. It would need to start observation of the security agent known as Lalna Tori. Though Lily was safe, Avalon was very wary of the man.
It controlled the entire city but that didn't mean there were things that it couldn't overlook. Those things could cause harm to Lily and it could not allow that.
So Avalon would keep a close watch over Lalna Tori and terminate him if need be. For now, it would do nothing but observe.