DESIGNATION: _ _ _ _ W_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ _ R _ _ _ _ _ _ _
BOOT-UP SEQUENCE INITIALISED
BIOCHEMICAL WEAPON NO. 1450392405921#?%!$?#%
MATTER SUPPLY…SUCCESSFUL.
GENE INJECTION…SUCCESSFUL
BUILD UP: STABLE
NEURON REGENERATION RATE: STABLE
DYSAPHLAXIAN INJECTION…SUCCESSFUL
SENTIENCE INHIBITOR…FAILED
RETRYING…
SENTIENCE INHIBITOR…FAILED
RETRYING…
SENTIENCE INHIBITOR…FAILED
RETRYING…
SENTIENCE INHIBITOR…FAILED
…
ERROR.
…
This is a prerecorded message -error- this file has been corrupted. 15% of the recorded message has been recovered. Please follow the instructions below.
“So, then I said, HA! You’d have to drag me through the almighty hell before I decide to give up that buttered sandwich, I mean have you had the thing? It’s basically what would happen if somebody decided to make dopamine a food…I’m serious, man! I swear they're making those things addictive without telling us. Either that or the recipe is just that good. Whaddya mean it's like eating garbage?! Go screw yourself! They're the only reason why I’m still here despite the godforsaken hours Phutho’s forcing us to work, that guy seriously needs to find a hobby. Or maybe a relationship, since he has way too much free time, forcing us to pursue dumb projects like this one.”
“KRRSHK”
“Dude, you need to get closer, I can’t hear you if you're standing in the hallway.”
…
“But you heard me earlier when I was talking about your sandwich?”
“That’s different, I could feel your jealous hatred in your aura. It’s all about body language.”
“…Really? Body language?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, man, I know you’re a hater. I can sense it in the airwaves.”
“Dunic, I think you should check yourself into a mental asylum.”
“You can’t say that! You’re the craziest person here, you damned super genius! Nobody sane has won as many awards for scientific breakthroughs as you have!”
“And intelligence somehow equates to insanity in your mind?”
“Hell, yeah it does, you people are not normal, and I’ll die on this hill.”
“Even if you are right and there is a relation, Phutho’s won more awards than I have so surely he’s a better contender for craziest than I am?”
“He doesn’t count, and nobody even knows he’s on this project. As far as the world is concerned, you're our head researcher which means you get all the credit.”
“I still don’t see what this has to do with my mental state.”
“Come on man, think about it. Your dad definitely had his way with some sort of alien because there’s no way normal people can do what you can. Some random guy managing to shake the entire scientific industry at age 9 is nuts, and even though Phutho’s ahead of you it’s only because he’s been under constant genetic modification since birth. You’re definitely higher on the scale than he is.”
“Thank you…I think?”
“No problem, dude. Trust me if this ticking time bomb of a project manages to work it will be all because of your help, then, you’ll be the craziest person on the planet instead of the office!”
“And you’ve immediately ruined it Dunic.”
“Hey now, that’s what co-workers are for.”
…
“Oh, by the way, I think your computer’s running an audio program.”
“Huh?”
“See that tab you still have open? It’s the emergency instructions tab… No not that one, yes, the one on the left.”
“Damn, must’ve left that open on accident.”
“Was it your turn this week to record?”
“Nah, but I was showing the new kid how the software works, and I suppose it kept running in the background.”
“You should be more careful; those instructions could be vital in case anything goes wrong.”
“Get off my ass, man, you know I work harder than nearly everyone here.”
“I’m aware but getting three hours of sleep a day also makes you prone to mistakes.”
“Tch.”
…
“Have you turned it off yet?”
“I’m trying my damned best! The computer’s just taking a while to load because it’s juggling the genetic reconstruction of eighty different experimental species! I’m not about to terminate that, it took me all night!”
“Alright just make sure you-”
“-KSHHKT- Roma Primero, please report to the Delta Swan for admiral Totsu’s report.”
…
“Is that foreign affairs again?”
“It would seem so.”
“Alright man, have fun with that. I’m so lucky I don’t have to deal with those lot, I heard they can be pretty nasty.”
“Gee thanks, Dunic, and when you're finished eating sandwiches, close that tab and get it sent off to whoever’s in charge of recording this week. Alright?”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
Remaining data lost. End of instructions.
* The Bioweapon POV -
Coming into existence was a strange feeling. It was as if for her whole life she was nothing and then suddenly she was. Completely, wholly and inexplicably. All at once.
She wasn’t sure where she was, or who she was for that matter, yet she understood the concept of being. It felt as though somebody had burned a dictionary of words into her mind, enabling her to understand things even though she had never experienced them. Despite never experiencing touch she knew that she was cold. Despite not experiencing smell she understood that wherever she was smelled horrible.
And finally, even though she had never heard anything, she could hear two distinct voices arguing somewhere above her.
“Where the hell am I!?” the first voice spoke, it belonged to a younger man who was floating above her head and was holding a second, much older figure by the scruff of his clothing.
“Ah, Galis, I’m glad you decided to pick the path of most resistance.” The second voice chortled, seemingly unbothered by the position he was in.
“Did you send me to the almighty hell? Hey! Stop laughing and tell me something useful for once.” The younger man (apparently named Galis) kept shaking the older one until the wizened stranger teleported a few metres ahead of him, leaving him grasping at thin air.
“I have already told you; you’ve entered the Heximus. Mentally, at least, you are still very much tied up in a chair.”
“Then…Did they find the Heximus? I passed out while holding it, what’s to stop them from just waltzing in and taking it?”
“Ye of little faith.” The older man wagged his finger, patronisingly, “Did you really think I would design this entire thing without taking into account the safety of its users?”
“From how disorganised you’ve been I wouldn’t say it’s completely out of the question.”
“I’m hurt Galis, Wounded even.”
The younger man crossed his arms, glaring at the older one.
“Damned AI,” He grumbled, “So I take it I’m safe, then?”
The older figure mimed, wiping a tear from his eye. “Yes Galis, you cannot be harmed while here. In fact, to the Watchmen you have disappeared completely from the room.”
“That’s good enough for me. Now where am I?”
“Relax, young’un, you’re in my famed research laboratory, it was quite the sight in its prime!”
“Looks like an old, abandoned warehouse to me…”
The recently sentient being looked around, the younger voice had a point. There were few signs of life in the dilapidated building she found herself in and it was not pleasant to look at either.
“Bah, you have no appreciation for history.” The older voice scoffed. “People used to line the streets just for a chance to see inside these walls, but you get it all without cost. You should be thanking your ancestors for the luck they bestowed upon you.”
“I wouldn’t be stuck listening to you if I were that lucky.”
“No damned respect either.”
“Listen, Phutho, I appreciate all the help you’ve given me, but I need to know. When do I get to control people's minds? Putting aside all the ethical issues I have with that power, saying that my situation is dire would be a gross understatement.”
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Remember what I said earlier Galis? Play the game, win the prize.” The older man then pointed down, his finger landing squarely over her.
“…What the hell is that?” Galis asked looking at her with a curious expression.
“She would be your avatar.”
“That’s a ‘she’!?” He exclaimed in shock, “That thing looks like a pot of gruel that somebody upended and left on the floor, only denser and somehow greyer.”
“Well the creature is genetically coded to be female, but that can change depending on what you choose.”
“What I choose?” Galis echoed, “I don’t get it.”
The older man pulled a large tome out of his black robe, “Well, let's see here. She’s an eighth-generation bioweapon …Most of her files seem to be corrupted however, the only part left of her title are the letters: w, a and r.”
“War?”
“That’s the name, yes.”
War tried her best to look down at the half-solid and half-liquid confines of her body. Her name was meant to signify strife and extreme conflict yet she didn’t feel capable of either, it was a struggle to move forward let alone be a threat.
“That’s not a name, it’s a concept.” Galis deadpanned.
“That is true, however, her actual designation is too far gone for me to retrieve so you will have to make do. In any case, these creatures are my magnum opus so to speak. They can change their genetic constitution and have the ability to mimic almost anything as long as they spend enough time with said thing. Unfortunately, I had to decrease the speed at which they can change due to some…unforeseen circumstances.”
“Ah, so when you said female…?” the younger man trailed off and the older one nodded his head in thought.
“War, over there is currently the equivalent of walking primordial soup. But since every creature I’ve created has slight deviances sometimes they tend to gather more than one type of gene than the other. If anything it’s for identification purposes.”
“And I control it?”
“But of course, if these things were sentient, I could only imagine the kind of trouble they would cause. Something that powerful could potentially topple kingdoms effortlessly if given the chance.”
‘Hmm.’ War thought to herself. Was she sentient? According to those talking above her, she wasn’t meant to be and yet she felt as though she ticked all the boxes to be considered something at the very least adjacent to a sentient creature.
“That’s good to know,” Galis said, then he turned to the old man and squinted. “Also, did you just say kingdoms? How old even are you?”
“Old enough.” Phutho pushed up his glasses and tucked the tome back into his robe. “Now I do believe that I’ve talked enough. For your first task, I want you to find a way out of this laboratory, we’ll talk more once it's complete.”
“Wait I have more question- and he’s gone. Perfect.” Galis muttered, slowly floating down until he was at eye level with War.
Now that he was a lot closer, she could see him more clearly, as her vision wasn’t exactly the greatest. Upon closer inspection, she realised that Galis fit the criteria in order to be considered a ‘human’. Although she wasn’t sure if all humans were supposed to glow blue and be semi-transparent. He had bipedal legs and no fur so she could discern what he was meant to be, but still didn’t understand who he was or why he was there.
She tried to communicate with him but couldn’t form words in the same way he had. So, she began to wobble from side to side to capture his attention.
“Now what the hell am I supposed to do with you.” He muttered while leaning over her. “I’m not exactly sure how a walking can of jelly is supposed to be helpful.”
She wobbled harder and more furiously, trying to signify anger. But the man simply scratched his cheek and continued to look at her with a confused expression.
“You’re a funny thing, aren’t you?” He said, not understanding her at all. “I suppose, we should probably start walking that way. I’m not too sure what Phutho wants but we can’t really do much until we leave this damned laboratory.”
Galis pointed at the unlit corridor ahead of her and after not seeing any reaction he began to walk down the corridor on his own, to which the bioweapon quickly followed suit.
Truthfully a part of her didn’t want to follow the human into any potential danger that lurked in the dark, but she also didn’t want to be alone. War had no direction or idea of what was going on, so she focused on the small parts of her situation that she could control. She would establish a method of communication and then once that had been achieved hopefully her very many questions would be answered.
They had been walking for several hours at this point and War had been in the process of trying and failing to mimic Galis’ form. With nothing left to be but experiment as they trekked, she quickly found out that manipulating her form was extremely easy and had made multiple attempts at looking like him but to no avail. The best she had managed to do was make a small floppy tendril which dissipated almost as soon as it was created.
Galis for his part had managed to guess what she was up to not minutes after she had begun trying to shift around. He was surprisingly quick-witted although he wasn’t very helpful.
He would offer small words of encouragement, but it didn’t make her plan of crafting her own voice box any easier.
Another interesting fact War learned about the person she was stuck with was that he had a bad habit of talking to himself. It ended up being something she was grateful for, however, as she gradually learned more about her own situation through his complaining about his past experiences.
“And that was how I managed to save him,” Galis said as they walked into the next room, this one being much larger than the narrow corridor they had spent much time wandering and had a litany of knocked-over desks and shattered glass all over the floor. “Everybody thinks that Bloodbloom is inhumane but after looking at a man bleeding out in the middle of the streets, they’ll realise that sometimes sacrifices have to be made.”
War didn’t have any information about what Bloodbloom was but since Galis had seemed incredibly passionate about the topic, she simply bobbed her non-existent head up and down similar to when she saw him agree with something.
They kept walking until they reached the centre of the room, where Galis stopped to survey the area.
“Now this place is a right mess, I wonder what happened?”
War would have also been curious had she not spent most of their journey agonizing over the meaning of her existence. In her mind, the much larger questions took precedence over what could be considered a simple mystery.
“What way do we go now?” Galis asked looking out into the multiple branching pathways, “Maybe it might do us some good if I scout ahead, I’m not here physically so I shouldn’t be in any danger. You just sit here and keep working on that transformation thing.”
War formed another sloppy tendril and tried to give a salute, but ultimately failed. She had almost had it that time too.
Luckily Galis took this as an affirmative and began to walk toward the left path. The bioweapon watched his blue form disappear into the darkness step by step until she was alone in the darkness.
War felt slightly colder as the comforting blue glow she had grown used to vanished but pushed it to the side, focusing her efforts on being able to mimic human speech. She already understood what vocal cords were but attempting to form them just based on listening to another human talk was proving to be extremely difficult. So far, the closest she had gotten was resembling a small, dying animal which she wasn’t sure would be of any use.
She paced around the room, sliding over several pieces of strange equipment and broken glass. Every few minutes she would take a break from trying to speak and focus on changing her structure to mimic that of a human body. The harder she tried the easier the feeling of changing her genetic information felt, it was as if she had decades of experience and yet none at all. Her instincts egged her on, to keep twisting and spiking until she had achieved her goal.
War’s practice was suddenly interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming down one of the corridors. The footfalls were heavy and slow.
‘Ah Galis, must be back.’ She thought slowly rolling her way over to the direction of the noise.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long until she could ask him the questions she had been dying to know.
She stopped just at the doorway into the corridor and waited, listening to the steps grow louder and closer. An errant thought flashed through her mind; it was strange how long he was taking to reach her. Surely the passageways weren’t that long right?
War felt her body ripple in discomfort. Something else had been bugging her as the footsteps slowly drew closer. She inherently recognised the sound as footsteps but strangely felt like she had been hearing it for the first time. It was almost as if…
Lightning ran through her body as her survival instincts took over. War launched herself backwards with a speed she hadn’t realised she could land directly behind a fallen desk, right as the noise source made itself known.
‘What is that?” She thought in part worry and part wonder.
A lumbering shadow had pulled itself into the centre of the room. The shape was vaguely humanoid, but it was covered by a litany of cloth strips that hung from its body and scraped across the floor. It was firmly grasping a thin, rusted hospital machine that hovered a few inches above the ground, pulling itself forward alongside the decaying item. As it paced around the room War caught a glimpse of the hidden body beneath, only to find sick and twisted flesh which resembled that of a human’s but blown far out of proportion. Its skin was a sickly red colour, and she could see a mess of scars covering each surface.
War focused the full force of her concentration on the beast, she felt odd in its presence almost drawn to its stature. She felt as though she could see through its body right into the core of its being as a stream of information slowly seeped into her mind.
‘I can mimic this creature.’ She realised after a few minutes, still staring at it in awe. If Imitating Human Characteristics was equivalent to memorising an entire library, then understanding the monster before her was like a children’s picture book. Painfully obvious and surprisingly flawed. Thoughts whirled around her mind, so much so that she didn’t realise a glowing blue figure approaching from behind
“Is that a Red-I?” Galis suddenly whispered, having unintentionally snuck up on the bioweapon. This caused War to almost fly out of her hiding spot in shock.
Then, after realising who it was, she tried to give her best, annoyed look, which was difficult to conduct because she didn’t have eyes. Surprisingly War didn’t know what a Red-I was which was intriguing considering how she had understood nearly all the terms that had been used up until now. Perhaps they were something unknown to the people who created her?
“No wait, the skin tone is too light.” Galis muttered, “The Red-I also live underground so finding one in an abandoned laboratory is unlikely…Unless of course, we are underground.”
War turned her body to face the young man.
“Most of those pathways are dead ends, by the way, they all loop back together to the first room we were in.” Galis continued, “The only one I haven’t tried is the one behind that guy, while I don’t think he can see or hear me, I’m not too sure how you plan on getting past him.”
Almost as soon as he had finished speaking the creature turned to face their direction.
“Crap,” He whispered while slowly standing up. “I guess, it can hear me, but it shouldn’t be able to hurt me. I’ll try to distract him while you sneak past.”
War gave a solemn bob of affirmation. If nothing else she would honour the short-lived companionship that she had with this stranger. Perhaps make a grave…If she ever figured out how that would work.
“Good evening, sir, I don’t suppose you’d be willing to engage in a short and friendly conversation between two respectable adults, would you?” Galis asked in an upbeat tone. Despite most likely being safe, War noted the beads of sweat lining his forehead.
To its credit, the beast didn’t immediately charge Galis and rip him limb from limb at his words. Instead, it simply stared at him with an expression that was either shock or intense disgust. (It was difficult to tell with how mangled the face was). Then it raised the medical machine and threw it directly at him with one arm, like a javelin. The object passed directly through his chest and lodged itself five feet into the metal wall behind him.
Galis lifted his hands to protect himself well after the attack had been launched, unable to react in time. Then, after a few moments of squinting he breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thank Roma.” He said, looking back at the creature who had begun snarling.
“Evil Spirit.” It muttered clutching at its head in agony after the attack had failed. “Evil Spirit, Evil spirit!”
The faint moans of pain slowly grew to an ear-splitting volume as the creature began to wail loudly. Its cries rattled the broken glass, which danced across the floor making a faint tinkling sound. Now fully enraged the monster swung a meaty fist through the holographic Galis, speeding up and getting angrier every time it passed through.
“Evil spirit! Evil Spirit! Evil Spirit!” It cried, tears streaming down its face as it desperately tried to claw at him.
War wasted no time in leaving, already halfway across the room by the time it had started swinging at him relentlessly. Until she realised that there was an issue. This beast would not likely leave Galis alone if it was acting this crazed over his presence. Which meant that he would have to leave her, and she wouldn’t get her answers.
The man in question was flailing his still-raised arms trying to shoo away his crazed attacker. Flinching every time its fists passed through his face. He tried to move away from the creature but anywhere he went in the room he was relentlessly chased and harassed.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to be able to save himself, War picked the only reasonable choice and scooped up a glass shard with a now more competently formed tendril and chucked it at the creature.
Time ground to a halt as Galis stared at her with disbelief.
“What are you doing?” He mouthed at the bioweapon, who shrugged him off.
She had been studying its movements while it had been attacking the young man and was confident that the creature wasn’t nearly as big of a threat as it appeared to be.
Its incoherent wailing stopped abruptly upon being hit as it turned slowly and lumbered over to where War had been waiting patiently on the floor.
The monster surveyed her, baring its crooked teeth at her smaller form.
“Die.” It said, the voice angry but not enraged, unlike the emotional outburst it had shown not much earlier. The creature slammed its knuckles, down into the ground where War was. In the same instant, the bioweapon leapt up at its arm. She slithered around its forearm and within seconds had worked her way upwards wrapping around its neck.
Immediately the brutish creature slammed its head into the ground trying in vain to shake her off. For several moments they stayed locked in a grapple as the monster tried to pull her off itself by any means necessary, leaping into the nearby walls and even punching itself repeatedly in the neck. The violent actions caused plaster to rain from the ceiling of the laboratory and a few loose lights to spark amid the darkness.
War didn’t exactly have a plan, jumping into the situation, she only knew that something needed to be done and created an opportunity for herself. She clung tightly to the monster's neck, hoping to suffocate it in some way.
“The muscle tissue!” Galis called out from somewhere in the room. She wasn’t sure where because of the constant spinning and shaking. “You can imitate genetic characteristics, right? Copy the muscles!”
Something clicked inside of War as she heard him shout and she began to morph. It was almost painfully easy taking on the genetic information of this monster compared to trying to make an entire voice box from scratch and it only took a few seconds for War to turn herself into a ring of inhumane strength. Clamping down on its neck she forced the creature to its knees as it gasped for air. It desperately tried to pry her off, but its hands kept slipping through her body in its partial liquid state. It wasn’t long after that before it lost the strength to try anymore, collapsing completely.
“…Evil…Spirit.” It whispered with one last breath, reaching out towards Galis before passing out on the floor, unmoving.
War watched as Galis cautiously hovered over to her position.
“Wow.” He whistled looking down at the corpse “That was incredible.”
War felt pride well up in her chest, just happy that she had succeeded in what she had set out to accomplish.
Galis knelt by War and reached out a hand to help her up from the body, then he palmed his forehead, “Right, you can’t touch me. Sorry about that.”
The bioweapon insides churned with frustration. She had been awake for enough time to be desperate to communicate. Something needed to be said…Anything.
“…appreciate.” She croaked slowly.
Galis looked down at her with wide eyes.
“Did you just say something?”
“I said…that I…appreciate it.” War stumbled over her words, trying to steady her shaking voice. Each word was accompanied by a burning sensation from within her, but she didn’t care. Finally, she could talk, and finally, she could ask the one thing which had been eating at her since the moment she came into existence.
“…Galis… why do I… exist?”