Noa looked at the woman in disbelief. She felt as if her life force had just been brutally ripped out from her. She found herself backing away, and then her legs gave way as she crumbled, sitting on the rough tarmac behind the warehouse.
She looked down at the dark, rough surface of where she sat, shaking her head slowly, disbelief on her face.
“No… you’re lying. It’s not true. It can’t be true.” She looked again at Mira, who stood where she had always stood when they started talking.
She could feel her world imploding. Her mind filled with images of the people she knew, as she felt her heart being crushed. Tears welled up in her eyes as the pressure around her heart only intensified.
Mira looked at her; she seemed unmoved, her arms still crossed.
She nodded to Noa, “Watch it again if you want. It won’t change what you’ve seen for what… three times already?”
Noa’s eyes squinted at the dark-haired woman looking at her, trying to find any excuse to strike, yet she wasn’t giving her any. Her hand moved up again as she highlighted the video that she had watched again and again.
She shook her head and gulped. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, holding it inside her before she slowly let it out—again, then again. When she opened her eyes, they were blurred, not because her HUD had somehow blurred her sight, but from the tears that threatened to fall.
She hit play, and inside her, she seemed to brace herself as the video started playing.
—-------------------------------------------------
“Master Richard! You wouldn’t believe the exciting results we have from her blood samples,” A sturdy, studied-looking man in a lab coat enthusiastically exclaimed to a younger Richard in the video.
Richard smiled and leaned forward slightly while the lab coat man walked him through a tablet in his hand. His smile extended to his whole facial expression before he reverted to his cool outward demeanor.
“We failed to recover all the formulas and other things that the lab requires to replicate it, what’s your workaround for that?”
The lab-coat man shook his head and shrugged slightly. “Well, her bone marrow will help us start replication, but without the knowledge to preserve the compounds properly, they may get corrupted. In short, while we can extract pure samples from her marrow, we won't be able to synthesize them for regular production without the formulas.”
Richard nodded, then walked toward a baby crip that seemed out of place among the lab equipment in the room. The camera panned closer as Richard smiled at the baby inside it. He patted the baby’s silver hair as she cooed softly at him and looked up at him with her clear green eyes.
“You are indeed a special child, little girl, extraordinary even.”
The baby grabbed one of his fingers with her small hand and started enthusiastically tugging at it, cooing at Richard as she sucked on his finger.
Richard chuckled and smiled. “Strong, too!”
He then looked at the camera. “You Mallifars certainly have good genes indeed, such a good basis for what they were doing.”
A familiar voice, yet younger, replied from behind the camera as she chuckled.
“Well, I hope we can give her a sister she can play with, would be such a joy to bring them up together.”
Richard leaned over the baby and stroked the thick head of silver hair on the baby. “Wonder if this hair was an after-effect of the formula on the mother,” before he turned to the woman behind the camera.
“Aren’t your family mostly blondes? It’s interesting… to me at least, how this one has silver hair.”
The woman chuckled. “Yes, they are, mostly… So, what should we name her?”
The camera panned for a clearer shot of the silver-haired baby, who was still enthusiastically tugging at Richard’s finger.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mira stayed leaning back against the raised platform as she studied the silver-haired woman before her. Noa’s left hand was raised slightly, her fingers moving up and down as her HUD lit up her eyes, scrolling through more documents and videos Mira had just passed her.
Her face was a mix of shock and incredulousness, yet determined. As if she was looking for something to wash away the grimy, tainted feeling she felt that rose inside her alongside a wave of anger. She’d pause from her viewing, and her green eyes would stare daggers at Mira, who smirked back and kept quiet.
“Nice fakes, Mira,” Noa suddenly spat out at Mira, her voice steady again after the initial shock of some of the videos.
Mira’s lips bent up as she shook her head. “These aren’t fakes. If you don’t believe me, have your digger check it. I have no reason to lie to you, Noa.”
Noa thought about the suggestion; this was not a matter she would want the rest of the team to know… yet.
She sighed and nodded as if in understanding.
“OK, fine. Say I believe you, what then?”
“What then? They slaughtered your whole family, Noa. The only reason they kept you was because you were their justification for starting the whole takeover anyway.”
“See, that’s what I don’t get… If I’m this oh my god crazy super jacked up person…” she paused, her hand moving in a soft arc as she motioned toward Mira. “...Then why don’t I feel any different?’
Mira chuckled softly and managed a soft smile as she shook her head, then nodded slowly.
“Look up the document from Genietech, marked manual use only, addressed to Maximillian Mallifar; it should be the only one among all the ones I just sent you.”
Noa scoffed softly, both her hands moving up as they sorted through the documents Mira had just shared.
“Okay…” She muttered absentmindedly as she found just what Mira had described to her. She scrolled down the document, and a line stuck out to her.
‘The subject will react ideally to freshly made combat stims - hereafter called Hemoglobin stimulants, or Hemo stims, obtained via field action. (This may include, but is not limited to, fresh blood from enemy or friendly operatives). The team believes and has tested extensively in simulations that the effects of Hemo stims will add to the subject's performance by 30%. A higher or stronger percentage of added effectiveness will risk the subject’s physique to risk of over-stimulation, which may result in, but is not limited to, degradation in long-term performance and eventual breakdown of the subject’s body.’
Noa read on, scrolling down the document until she reached another paragraph that got her attention.
‘...Thus, along with the Lipmen suit, the numbers show an ideal scenario where the subject’s abilities will be far enhanced from an unenhanced, highly-trained, skilled operative. It is possible to obtain an improvement level of close to 99.996% with usage experience…’
“Huh,” Noa thought back to the first time she had used the suit that Anlidar had them ‘recover’ and the first time she had experienced the effect of the stims from the suit after killing its subject from the blood drain.
She looked at Mira. “Lipmen?”
Mira nodded sagely, “Life plasma, something, something nano something, I don’t recall the exact name of it, too many big words,” she shrugged, arms still crossed.
“Essentially, a combat suit with the right tech added to what’s already in it to utilize blood as a base for combat stims. The cloaking was added concurrently during development.”
Noa shook her head; it still didn’t make sense to her. ‘So what if I’m supposedly the special baby?’ she shook her head, more in denial of the facts of her findings than in confusion…
Why would Richard lie to her… ‘Well, technically, he didn’t lie to you; you just weren’t in the know to ask the right questions,’ a voice in her head shot back, making her scoff in response to her thoughts.
The other part of her was boiling, more questions that only raised her anger. The videos didn’t help either. So what if these were the family she was born into, and so what if…
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“So what if your family was slaughtered?” Mira suddenly spoke up as if she had read her mind
Noa looked at her and nodded. “Yes, Richa… The Essedars raised me as their own.”
“Noa… you are from High-Rise; your blood family was from a very long line of a family that played a paramount role in the quad-cities and even the so-called government that governs the country. You cannot push this away and then go for a holiday. The Essedars have a plan for you, and it's a plan that will only benefit those of their blood…nothing and no one else.”
Noa frowned and nodded slowly as she listened. She smirked cynically at Mira. “You’d think that with all the knowledge and tech we have, they’d allow for different users to access things.”
Mira chuckled. “No, it's because of the tech and knowledge we have that blood is more important now to the families of High-Rise than ever before. Every ounce of control is tied to a family’s blood. This was why gene manipulation was approved yet highly controlled.”
She paused as she studied Noa’s reaction, then continued: “ It was to ensure that those families that have control stay in control. Every access is gated by what DNA you have. You know this: even your city apartment has DNA locks on it, right?”
Noa frowned; it made her very uncomfortable that Mira knew so much about her.
Mira continued, “Now, if you were some Lowbie like me, then it doesn’t matter. Family isn’t blood, and blood doesn’t make you family, you follow?”
Noa nodded, somewhat disjointedly. She was familiar with, at least, how the Hyenas classify their families. She shrugged again.
“So, what do you want me to do about it? Overthrow the Essedars?” she chuckled; even saying it out loud sounded ridiculous.
Mira nodded,
“In a fashion. The Essedars have perverted everything. They’ve allowed whoever with a semblance of knowledge in positions they aren’t suited nor qualified for, and many, many other things. Why do you think the quad-cities have turned into such a quagmire? And I’m not even going to start about the areas outside the cities.”
Noa’s jaw firmed up, her teeth clenching; Mira was saying precisely what she had been thinking ever since she knew how to have an opinion on things.
“I don’t care! I don’t give a fuck about the quad-cities or those fuckin petons. Who gives a fuck anyway!”
“Others give a fuck, and fine, if you were just a… peton…” the word coming out with disgust from Mira, “...then yea, sure, live your life, but you’re not one, Noa.”
She sighed as she studied Noa and shook her head slowly. “Listen, I get it; you just want to return to being the Noa Essedar of High Rise. But you can’t, not until you right this… affront. And sure, you don’t want, you don’t care. But for others that do, it will always matter to them.”
Noa closed her eyes and sighed deeply. This was not happening, and it couldn’t be happening. Her thoughts turned to Anya, and her body trembled as goosebumps rose. A sudden surge of emotions rose inside her as every bit of information she had gone through up until now only reinforced what Mira was revealing to her.
Tears started to well up again in her eyes as she opened them; she shook her head. “I… won’t… can’t… Anya…” She looked away from Mira, the lights in her view blurring from the tears welling up.
“Will do what she must for her family,” Mira interjected, finishing what Noa said.
“No!” Noa hissed back to Mira, “Never, Anya.”
“Oh, you think?” Why don’t you ask her to go then? Isn’t she prepping for that alliance with House Xela?”
Noa frowned, her mind chimed in, ‘How the fuck does this bitch know so much?’
Mira smiled knowingly. “Okay, why don’t we do this? Send a message to Richard, just say ‘I know’, and send him clips from the vids I sent you… I can do that for you and make it seem like you sent it anyway.”
She shrugged. “Heck, I think I’ll do it.”
Noa raised her voice now. “No! I’ll…” she stopped herself.
“You know what? Sure, send it, and then we’ll see how your fakes and lies don’t make any sense!”
Mira nodded, one hand moving up as she arranged something on her HUD before her finger tapped the air. Then, she waved it to one side, “Done.”
Noa shrugged, trying to act like this wasn’t affecting her more than it was. “OK, so, now what?”
Mira sighed, shaking her head as she looked at Noa. “Why do you think all the news archives were blocked from public access? And everything else that had to do with the purging of House Mallifar? The Essedars have built everything they have today on slaughter and lies; even your four-year-old sister was butchered in the purging. Do you think that everything will continue as before? If they knew you knew?”
Noa’s head hurt, and her heart ached. She always drew the line at children, and the thought of Richard doing what clashed with everything she held dear and everything she thought about the man.
Her eyes blinked, then glared at Mira, but they didn’t carry the anger she had for the woman like they did before.
“I’m not your weapon for vengeance, Mira.”
Mira nodded.
“No, you’re not. But you are the only survivor of a family that has the right to rule; what I am saying is this. Take that and rule; stop this nonsense the Essedars and their minion Houses have tried to bring. Personally? I’m sick of how things are in the quad-cities, and I know you are, too.”
Noa felt her anger rising. She just wasn’t sure who this anger was directed to. Was it to herself? Was it to Richard? The Hyenas?... Anlidar?
She glared at Mira. “You know what? Fuck this, fuck it all. I’m gonna go talk to Richard, and we’ll see how bad your lies get.”
Mira shrugged and shook her head. “You are as stubborn as your father, the real one, not that monster of a man.”
Noa shot Mira a piercing gaze as she turned and walked off to her parked car. “Say Hi for me!” Mira shouted behind her as she reached her car. Just then, Bug and Duke’s comm icons appeared on her HUD.
“Noa? What happened? All our comms were cut.”
Noa started her car, the low growl of the car engine seeming to soothe her.
“It’s nothing; I’m gonna go talk to Richard,” Noa replied briskly.
“Who?” Duke chimed in.
“Her father,” Bug replied as Noa keyed in the route to High-Rise,
Noa shook her head at that ‘Father,’ so much for being his ‘special daughter’...
The thought made her freeze, and then she realized it. She suddenly screamed out in anger, and the pent-up emotions inside her finally reached the surface.
“Noa? You OK?” Bug buzzed over the comms, concern in her voice
“Yes, it’s nothing. Leave me alone.”
Noa gunned her car’s engine. The growl from its power center reached a high pitch as she guided the vehicle onto a more prominent thoroughfare and headed in the direction the route guide displayed on her HUD. Her right hand then rose, and her fingers went into a set sequence, cutting the communication with her team members.
Anya’s communicator icon hovered on her HUD, as she called it. The same dead tone was the reply she received, which was the tone she had encountered this past few days when trying to contact her. This was too much, enough of this.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Shit,” Bug blurted out as comms were cut.
“What? What the Flying Fuckin’ Augaow is going on here, Bugs.” Duke stood up from his position on his perch and recalled his drones on Bug’s gargoyle that still hovered above them.
“It’s… Did you bring transpo? No.. of course not… ok, how fast can you get yourself your own transpo?”
Duke frowned and shook his head, “What? Why?”
“If I know Noa, and I do. That scream we heard? I think you better follow her. Someone is going to pay for something… Who and What? You know as much as I do on this. Just, trust me, it’s not gonna be pretty.”
Duke sighed heavily, but this was NOT how he had imagined this gig would turn out. He started descending from his perch to the ground. And he sighed again. “Okay, fine. Where am I following her to?
“She said she was gonna go see Richard, so I’m gonna guess Essedar High-Rise.”
“What?!? One, I’ve never been to any High-Rise. Two, it's gonna take a very long time for me to get there, as I seem to forget where I put the keys to my hover car. And Three, Not only will the perimeter defenses make short work of me, even IF I manage to pass those, I’m gonna bet my left nut that what they have on the Essedar perimeter will equally be as deadly to me. I don’t have a gram of High-Rise in me, Bugs.”
Bug chuckled, “OK, I will do what I can to help with their automated defenses; I doubt I can permanently disable them, but maybe just a short window to keep that lovely face of yours intact?”
Duke shook his head, his hands on his hips as he thought deeply about the idea.
“This is not a paid gig, by the way, Duke… I’ll understand if you are reluc…”
Duke cut her off, “No, it’s fine. I’ll do it. I’m part of the team, right? And our team lead has suddenly lost it, so..” He sighed deeply. “... I’ll do it, just watch my six?”
Bug chuckled, ”Got that covered.”
“Oh, and Bugs.”
“Yes?”
“Can you help me jack a ride, please?”
“Ah ya, forgot about that one…got it, let’s look for a decent one close to you then.”
—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mira recalled a contact from her list, a gruff man’s voice answering.
“Mira? How did it go?”
She watched Noa’s car speed away, its power center screaming into the night. Her head cocked upwards at the drones being recalled from their hover positions, and she nodded to herself as if a task was done.
“It’s begun, our road to bringing back balance to this city? We’re at the final stretch now. Well, final stretch of the beginning.”
“Heh, I thought it started when you found out she was still alive.”
She scoffed. “You know what I mean. Put out a general activation call to all cells still operating within the area. Things are gonna be picking up now. Everything we’ve done and prepped for is happening now. I’ll handle Corpo-zone cells personally.”
“You feel we are ready for this? I know we talked about this before, I still have my doubts on how this is gonna be pulled off.”
She sighed. “Yes, we have talked about this a mere weeks ago, if I recall? Get your chromed ass off of whatever you’re lazing on, and get this done, now… please! Or should I call you ‘Big Rock’ instead so you’ll be more motivated?” she grinned mischievously.
Her counterpart on the line laughed. “You’ll never let me get away with that, will you?”
She chuckled. “Maybe... One fine day… Anyway, you got it? Any questions? I just wanna be clear about all these. We gotta get movin’ on our end.”
“No questions, I get it, will get…”
“Oh, another thing.” She continued, interrupting him.
“Yeah?”
“Do it manually; I don’t want any crumbs a digger can find.”
“Soft bag and manual tech, gotcha; stay safe, Mira.”
“You too, Darien.”