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Servant of the Divine Architect
Chapter 11: Wynn Smith

Chapter 11: Wynn Smith

Jason finishes showering and sits down at the stainless steel table in their locker. The large space is just as pristine as the day Jessica purchased it for them. Unlike the apartments this place actually belonged to them and since it was completely paid off they didn’t even have to worry about fees or rent on it. Jason would move into the space if it was allowed but since there are strict rules and armed android guards he thought better of it. The lockers are private spaces that they can cook, bathe, wash clothing and entertain guests which they would need to do since it is twice the size of his apartment.

He hasn’t had a single moment of unoccupied thought between Kevin and Jessica’s death, his sister returning in a few hours, Everyday Essentials Delivery shenanigans, finding out Kiran's actual job, and finding out Jessica was practically an unofficial planetary princess. It is all too much and he shudders to think how he would have reacted to all of this if he did not have the endocrine system blocking extreme emotional responses. He can feel emotions but they are all muted to the point of almost being background noise.

The Great Neter Seshat still hasn’t returned after she activated the endocrine blocker and claimed she needs to monitor the AnkhtekOS. That reminded him that he still has to worry about the new wetwere she installed into him after removing the sensory augmentation. Jason has of course heard of this type of technology but it is insanely expensive and usually far inferior to cyberware. Its actual name of this tech is a neuroplex integration but most people know of it as a synapseweave and it basically turns a person into a biological computer.

The thing is, what Seshat has done to him is far more advanced than anything he has ever heard of from a synapseweave system. She has not only completely recreated all of the functionality of the sensory augmentation but also has given him additional functions like visual scan which shouldn’t be possible. Oh great he just remembered that he may also be immortal or atleast unageing and that is not an existential can of worms he wants to touch right now.

He pushes everything to the back of his mind as best he can, everything except his brother. He has calls to make to all of their collective friends of which there aren’t many but they are close. He had been dreading this moment as all of them would be expecting great news on the trip or if he is nervous about the proposal. It is going to be crushing.

Jason looks at the time as he closes out the last call with Erik, his last mutual friend with Kevin. The news had been just as hard as he imagined even with the endocrine system. Now he needs to go to the Orbital Police Dock. He wants to be there when Wynn arrives.

Jason sees his sister long before she sees him. She is sitting on a bench outside of the massive Orbital Police Station, her partner Frank sitting beside her rubbing her back as she cries into her hands. Both of them are out of uniform of course but she looks terrible. As he approaches he sees Frank tell her something and she looks up. Her face is red, puffy and her eyes hollow.

“Jason.” Wynn screams as she does a stumbling shuffle towards him.

Jason catches her before she falls to the ground and just holds her shaking form. He thinks about deactivating the endocrine system so he could cry with her but decides against it. He sees the pain she is in and doesn’t want to go back into it. He felt that abyss and even the thought of having to face it even a little frightens him. He just holds her right there for hours or minutes he can’t say. After a while they are sitting back on the bench but when or how they got back is anyone's guess. Frank had left at some point but neither twin remembers when. When Wynn was finally ready to move the twins walked hand in hand back to the monorail.

Jason wanted to get her to the room before telling her the news about Jessica. He knows that the two were close, even closer than he was to her. If she already called them she might have already talked to Derrick and found out however if she didn’t she is going to be inconsolable. The walk is slow but not silent sobbing and the occasional cursing as Wynn needed frequent breaks. Wynn lays down on Jason’s bed; it is the bottom bunk and he doesn’t complain. She gathers the comforters and balls up cries.

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“Wynn, there is something I have to tell you.” Jason says as he sits beside her. “I-I know, I don’t… look. Jessica.”

“I know.” She says barely above a whisper. So silent that had he not been so focused on her he would have missed it. “She. She’s… they are gone. Both of them.”

Wynn doesn’t have many paid days she can take off however she would be taking all of them paid or not. Jason told her that he could handle his half of the rent for the month and she didn’t ask how. The information barely registered at all. The past day she spent curled in a ball crying in Jason’s bed. He stayed with her all the first day, forced her into the locker to bathe and even eat though it wasn’t much. The second day he left for a few hours after his friend Kiran came by. She seemed upset by something but she did not have the mental energy to care or investigate.

She is happy that Jason is acting responsible and that she doesn’t have to be the one consoling him because she doesn’t think that she could. In some ways he is acting like Kevin but in others he is acting like he has shut himself off. Like he isn’t letting himself feel anything and it is slightly unnerving. She turns over in her bed another nightmare waking her in cold sweats. She sees Jason up and dressed getting ready to go back to work, his expression blank like it is just another day.

He sits on the bed beside her touching her back softly as if trying not to wake her. He hadn’t noticed that she is awake since her head and body is covered in pillows, blankets and comforters.

“Love you sis.” Jason says softly.

“Where are you going?” Wynn replies in a dry voice.

“Did I wake you, sorry.” He responds in a subdued tone. “I have to go in today but it shouldn't be long. Will you be okay?”

“Yes,” Her voice small. “Be safe, love you too.”

She sits up and the two embrace for a solid minute before she lets him go. She lays back down once she sees the door close and just lays there for a little while letting time pass her by. Something had been bothering her about the medical report from Kevin’s death. Why did a second team have to pick up his body, and were is the police report from the investigation. Something is fishy and she is going to get to the bottom of it. Still it takes a while before she finally has the energy to actually stand up. When she does she calls Kevin on her sensory augmentation it goes to voicemail of course.

“Hey, just wanted to say good morning.” She starts as tears threaten to fall. “It’s crazy, you know? I, I… I think Jason and Kiran might have finally gotten together. I think at least.” She chuckles. “I know right, it is about time. I miss you. I love you. Bye.” Her words hang loose in the air as she stands up.

She walks over to her blue chest, the last gift she received from Jessica. The metal chest opens up to reveal her cache of weapons, rifles, pistols and nonlethal items along with her police uniform. Her police issued a firearm a black sentinel .45 is in the middle of being disassembled and cleaned. She didn’t need it anyway as she turns to the far more impressive personal arsenal. She gets dressed taking out her streetwear, nothing special, neo leather pants, a random sleeveless shirt with her favorite band and her filter mask. Lastly she takes her custom pistol. The chest has many multi jointed arms two of which place a holster on her leg.

The gun is a custom Chromaforge X1 rail-pistol. It is a vibrant red and blue livery and the word “Make Your Peace” along the barrel. The gun is a fusion of sleek design and cold steel. The gun can fire out rounds of various sizes by changing its own dimensions and length on the fly according to Wynn’s needs. Instead of shooting bullets the magazine houses a solid block of metal which is shaved away and shot out as slugs at ridiculous speeds. Instead of counting shots she mostly has to worry about heat as the gun uses a lot of power.

The weapon connects to her sensory augmentation then to her weapon system which is a series of cybernetic muscles in her body, mainly her arms and hands. It makes her slightly stronger and faster than a normal person her size but the primary purpose is increased dexterity and stability in her aim. In a quick draw she is always going to be the fastest and most accurate in a room full of normal people.