A few days later, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, Seraph considered her life. Her future. The past she'd known, the place she was raised... and the solitary existence in the real world.
Most of her friends were in the sims; she spent hours every day, pretending to be a ranger, playing a variety of games, having fake relationships with fake people, killing fake monsters... and then she went to work for a government she never agreed with, for a boss who was a greedy asshole. The only people she'd really miss seeing were the ones she played with in-game... and she'd only met a couple of them in the real world, and that was never quite the same.
As a kid, they'd taught her the 'downfall' theory; that humanity had started creating monsters in human form to help colonize worlds, and that the downfall of humanity was that first batch that had been engineered to help colonize mars. Soul-less monsters, created in defiance of the will of god; and when the Darkspace drive was built, years later, opening up the stars, it only grew worse, with a hundred different variations of monster spreading out into space, hideous abominations with fur, with tails, with unnatural skin tones, hideous emaciated features.
The Alliance, of course, was the sole beacon of light in the universe. A place where converting a human into such a thing was a capital offense, and these altered beings were established as property, things, not people.
Of course... she had internet access, and not everyone was born in the Alliance. She'd known since she was a teenager that it was mostly bullshit; that these 'abominations' were just as human as she was, and the augs she'd met certainly weren't animals, even if they might be kept in collars. A few of the kids in the foster home she'd been in before college had even been born in the United Worlds, and given her the scoop. The Alliance was founded by a bunch of religious nutjobs who fled earth to establish 'pure' settlements, and its gradual escalation to where it now lay was due mostly to a coincidence of making an agreement with a 'Pirate King' who happened to be an un-augmented human, supplying him food and helping maintain his ships... so long as he only enslaved and targeted augmented people.
A couple of generations later, they founded the Alliance... and now, over a century later, it had somehow grown to one of the largest nations of humanity, tens of billions of souls. Despite the overwhelming majority of those people out there considering them backwards lunatics, she was born in that bubble of crazy where they made it all seem normal.
And so, here she was. Turned into an 'Abomination' against her will, working for a country she didn't believe in. Needing to get out, and soon, or she'd end up killed, or enslaved herself. She had options. So many ways to get out. And today... was the day.
She looked at her luggage, beside the bed. Enough for a trip for a few weeks; not much point in spending a few days travel to just turn right back around. All of her various prep-work, the different options, learning there was another ship to get her offworld.... she wasn't going to need any of it. In a few hours, an Alliance Intel shuttle was going to drop her off directly at her ship. No need for a security check other than just bringing her badge. She was... trusted.
This was the last time she'd see this apartment. All of her various collectibles and keepsakes were staying behind; aside from a few bits of jewelry from her family. Not enough room.
She rolled out of bed, and looked at her shelves... a pair of fake swords, replicas of the ones she used as a ranger. Until recently, she didn't have as much strength as her character, so they were lightweight plastic, good for going to the local conventions. Bracketing her prize; a complete collection of all seventeen thousand chapters of the One Piece manga, taking up half the wall. Three of those volumes were actually from earth, over two hundred years old, and actually worth quite a bit; but she definitely didn't have room for all of them, and couldn't bring herself to break up the set.
She ran her fingers over the spines one last time... she still hadn't even read through all of them... and nodded. Time to go.
***
She was nervous as she entered the campus wearing a simple blue utility suit rather than her white Intel uniform; flashing her badge; still recognizing her as a baseline, normal, human... and headed into her office. She was supposed to meet someone from security here at ten to make sure she could handle the drone and the gun, then a ride to the spaceport. For whatever reason, they didn't want her to bring the gun they already issued her... which was weird.
They gave a cursory scan over her luggage; but even when they detected her laptop in it they didn't seem to care; though they did snap their own lock around it to ensure it would alter them if she opened it; but not her carry-on, which she didn't have any electronics in.
She attracted a few looks, dragging her wheeled luggage behind her, looking more like she was going to the spaceport than to work... but this wasn't too odd.
Her office was the same dull, familiar place. Her desk, the computers, the locking racks containing the brain-chips... she inhaled deeply... and looked down at her desk, and blinked. She'd been expecting a carrying case for some sort of hovering combat drone. This.... was a mobility assistance drone. A Carrier.
She checked it out closely; she was familiar with the design, but mostly from gaming, not the real world. Four legs maybe eighty or ninety pounds, no apparent head, just a platform with straps that luggage could be attached to. Short-duration hover engine. Something built to carry luggage for a trip, or a disabled person; these things could carry a few hundred pounds for days with the right batteries.
She'd seen armored, combat versions, but this didn't look like that.... at first. She shook herself. Best wait for the security guy to advise on that.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
She looked around her office; she'd gotten permission to take a personal computer from here with an Intel-approved malware sweeper to go over anything she got at the convention before bringing it back... but the long cylinder she loaded into her carry-on... wasn't just a computer.
It was a stack of brain-chips, a power supply, and a computer, complete with transmitter, wrapped in a shell of a larger, more powerful computer. If they examined it closely, it wouldn't hold up at all; the chips completely filled the spot where the battery usually was, so instead of lasting for days, this would only last a few hours... which should be enough.
If she slapped the green button and activated the transmitter... the brain-chips inside the cylinder would activate. The drones that they'd let her scan, and were now in a storage room with hundreds of other drones... would wake up, controlled by the ASU people she was rescuing... and try to save her. She'd need to protect the cylinder til she could meet up with them, which... was not good odds, if she had to slap the button. She might already be a few klicks away at the spaceport.
She glanced at the carrier drone. If.... that thing were armed, and they were going to put, or already had put, a soldier in it... which was likely...it could gun her down the moment things went wrong. But if she stripped the brain-chip out of it, that would look suspicious; these things were very.... awkward, if not remote controlled. And she didn't have time to improvise a controller. If it were made to be controlled by a brain-chip, she'd need another.
She'd already loaded up all of the ASU people she'd planned to bring, carefully concealed in the fake computer. There was only one loose one that was vaguely trustworthy for this..... she glanced at her desk. She'd given her bosses a bunch of useless intel Sue.. AKA 'Tyler'... had helped her generate; they'd already found a few old abandoned ASU hideouts because of it. She'd planned on either abandoning him for the Alliance to deal with.... or destroying his chip on the way out.
She... might need to use him in the carrier. She grunted, wrapped it in one of her shirts, and stuffed it in the carry-on.
The handgun they'd provided her, now that... was interesting. It felt like plastic to the touch; and was able to fold up. She decided not to mess with it, for now, considering it was a deadly weapon, but clearly they intended her to be able to defend herself even in areas she wasn't supposed to have weapons at all. Which... was nice.
The clock read 9:43 when a gentle knock at her door announced someone coming in; and Seraph smiled. Ahh, bobby. Handsome, tall, clean-cut.... he'd always been nice to her, and just about everybody. She'd miss him.
Bobby gave her a nod, and a chuckle as he stepped up to her desk. "Ahh, good. They already delivered it." He was carrying a small box, chrome, shiny, and seamless... and set it down on the desk. "This... is Corporal Vance. He'll be accompanying you on your trip. Your superiors consider you an asset, and the ASU has already tried to take you once; so it was a toss-up between authorizing the security you asked for, and forbidding you from going. The liner you'll be taking forbids weapons that aren't locked in storage, as do some of the convention halls you'll likely be going to. So..."
He slaps a badge on the desk. "We've got a falsified badge that lists you with a leg disability, requiring the carrier if you have to walk more than fifty meters. The carrier has a set of neurotoxin dart guns to protect you with forty darts each, a concealed burst laser, and of course...." He gently presses a spot on the front. "Can be directly controlled via a brain-chip. No hacking, no remote; no concern someone will make it shoot you. We believe it should pass every scanner you come across, and between your fake disability and its nature... should be able to protect you for the whole trip. However!"
Bobby grinned and picked up the plastic handgun. "Just in case you run into something more heavily armored. Miniaturized Needle-pistol. Unless they take it apart..." He held down a button on the side, and carefully folded it. "It looks like a comm-unit. An old, bulky one. And even better... if you could press your thumb here..."
Seraph took the comm, and grinned. This was a bit cool, actually. She held her thumb down... and felt a mild buzz.
"Its functional. You can make and receive calls with it. It'll only unfold for you, and has enough juice to fire up to twenty needles. Just.... be careful. It might be small, but its still a needler; they'll go through a spaceship hull."
She nodded... and practiced opening and shutting the pistol a few times, as Bobby opened the small chrome box... and started carefully hooking a brain-chip into the drone. Once he had it in, she smiled. "Excellent. I feel safer already. If something happens, and I have to leave the carrier behind, can I pop Vance out to take him with me, just in case, or is this gonna be sealed until I get back?"
Bobby nodded. "Hopefully that won't be needed. But if it is, just touch that seam right there." He ran a finger beneath it. "It'll power down, eject the brain-chip, and you can grab it and run. The drone is synced up with the phone-pistol-thing. You can remotely steer it for a bit with that, but... not fire the guns. Alright. You ready for this?"
"Of course! You've gone through so much to keep me safe... Why wouldn't I be?"
"...You've never left the Alliance before, so... here's the thing." He glanced at the door, then stepped closer. "Here, its a city of people. Out there, in the wider galaxy... its... you walk through a crowd, and there'll only be a dozen humans. The rest are just... monsters. You won't believe it til you see it."
She inhaled deeply.... but shrugged. "I've spent tons of time in fantasy games, and other sims... elves, orcs, dragons, demons... and the silly thing is that for most, there's actually augs out there that look like it, somewhere. I'm probably about as ready as I can be."
"It's different, in real life. You ready, Corporal Vance?"
The drone gave a short bob; and a digitized voice emerged. ~Of course, Robert. Lead the way.~
Seraph nodded... and looked at the phone, then the carrier. "Oh, and, uh.... is there a temporary standby button, for, well. If I don't want it... you... to be online while I'm in the bathroom?"
Bobby looked at her... and sighed. "Look, you can hold down... this..." He pointed at a button on the phone. "For three seconds to put him in standby. But..."
The drone lifted itself up to maximum height; just over four feet. ~I would not recommend doing so; honestly, unless you're in a secure area, like an Alliance embassy, I'd recommend leaving me online, and close, for the entire trip.~
She looked at the drone... and sighed, lifting her carry-on, and setting her other luggage back onto its wheels. "Fine. Shall we?"
Bobby chuckled. "Let Vance carry that. We're pretending a disability, right?"
She looked at the luggage... and grunted as she settled the locked container atop the carrier drone, using the straps to secure it.. and then her carry-on. "...Fine."
It felt strange, not to be carrying, or pulling anything behind her, as she stepped out. She glanced back at her office, for the last time. She might not have liked who she was working for... but she did enjoy the job. Maybe the ASU, or the dubs, could use someone like her. She sighed, and turned, following the strange gate of the carrier drone down the hallway. She'd miss this place. Hopefully.