“[…] It’s Tom Greenvale coming live from DC! As you can see, the situation has not improved. The riots are coming up on the third week and they are not losing their steam. We urge all citizens of the state of Washington to remain in their homes and stay there unless absolutely necessary. Especially the ones that have already equipped themselves with sphenoid data implants or other cybernetics. It is in the best interest of the state that this situation gets resolved as quickly as possible. […]”
— Excerpt from the news coverage of the Anti-Cyber Riots that happened shortly after The Enhancement Act, the year 2349.
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I deliberated and waged scenarios against each other in my head. But ultimately, I decided that I should tell Gabriel very little through the message, but Cece I would talk to properly. He needn’t worry as I was currently most likely safe.
Cece, on the other hand, was right before me and she seemed concerned with my well-being, which I thought to be illogical considering our brief history, but nonetheless I appreciated it.
I sent Gabriel a message.
Hello. It would appear I got into a little bit of a tussle and therefore will be unable to help you with the affair on Sunday. Also, the lent car had to unfortunately be left at this address and I won’t be able to recover it for a while. I apologize for the inconvenience, but if you’d still be willing I am eager to accompany you to the affair next Sunday.
Short and vague. Just like I wanted.
As I awaited a response from Gabriel, I turned my attention back to the woman who had treated me with unlikely kindness. Five seconds have passed since she stated that she was aware of my history with Fran-Mili. Not enough to be awkward, thankfully. I never knew how to treat an awkward situation. Such a coefficient was difficult to implement in a social scenario.
I wondered how much to divulge of what had happened. I was still trying to save energy for my logical pathways to deal with understanding the incident that allowed me to escape. I wondered, if I were to say exactly what had happened and then my suspicions of an impossible act of digital possession, what would Cece think. What would anyone?
“It was Fran-Mili, yes.” I confirmed Cece’s suspicions and wondered how much Jane shared with her. Maybe their relationship was closer than I thought? Although I suspected that the blue-haired woman might have still not know about Jack.
Instead of asking about details regarding what happened, which I would mostly speak about truthfully, Cece decided to surprise me.
“Fuck.” She cursed with such vitriol that my logic pathways paused for a millisecond. It was not a predicted reaction. “Fuckin’ corpos!” She squeezed my hand once - strongly - and stood up from the bed with urgency. She then took a couple of quick steps back and forth. I noticed clear signs of aggression. Her clenched fists and huffing breath looked odd on her soft features and smooth body.
My spine tingled with confusion.
“May I ask why such a strong reaction? Logically speaking their attempts at kidnapping me make sense from a financial standpoint.” I shut down a priority notification about upcoming emergency mode. I could delay it for a little while considering Cece’s negative feelings since my body noted it as a possible hostile scenario. “And you have known me for only a couple of days. I am confused by your attitude.” I added.
Cece paused in her step and looked at me with an expression that would leave me worried were it not for how she immediately jumped to me and took one of my hands into hers. Her touch was firm but gentle at the same time. She took great care of herself. I could tell by how smooth her skin was.
“This isn’t about logic. It’s about what’s right.” She explained to me through clenched teeth. “Janey said you agreed to help us, right? Aren’t you excited about throwing those corpo shitheads from their high castles?” She asked me, or more so demanded confirmation. At least that’s how it felt.
I remembered back to what happened not so long ago. To the mysterious possession, revelation of Hadley and feeling of her neck being crushed under my fingers; how her body contorted in a desperate fight for life. Would I be willing to do that again by my own will?
Of course not.
I couldn’t allow arbitrary feelings of enmity to drive such a hands-on and violent act. Not when I was unable to recall one single instance where she did me wrong. Excluding what had recently happened, of course.
But even then, I didn’t feel whatever Cece was feeling. That burning anger in her eyes was not something I could do. I couldn’t do hate. I didn’t think so.
What I could focus on was what allowing this behavior of Fran-Mili and subsequently Hadley could result in. If I didn’t become a hindrance or an investment that outgrew its profits, then I would never be left alone. And that was what made my core flare with rushed bursts of energy. The fact that doing nothing would only encourage this behavior, was what made me angry.
“As I told Jane, I would help you, but I have my boundaries. I was supposed to meet with her once more so she’d be able to explain what could be done in detail.” I was only aware of Jane’s possible reach and influence through Rin. The reality of what I was dealing with was still hidden deep beneath the surface. Which Cece was apparently a part of considering her use of ‘us’ when she referred to the agreement with Jane.
Cece’s intense stare softened, and she got back on the bed next to me. It would appear that some semblance of reason came back. Although, I was able to tell that she was still feeling slightly railed up.
She was still holding my hand. Her touch was insistent, but not unwelcome. I felt the rhythmic pulse of blood that flew underneath her skin. She was warm.
People didn’t touch me just for the sake of it. There was always something that they needed from me when that happened. A more invasive repair, software reconfiguration or like Hadley had said - resetting.
I lost control of my body's haptics and my hands gave a sudden tremor.
“Right. You guys haven’t talked yet. Then I won’t say anything to you until you talk to Janey.” She said and looked at my visible injuries. It would appear that her focus came back to my current physical state.
She calmed down, and I was very close to falling into a self-mending sleep.
Then there was a ping from Gabriel. The message was clear.
Message from Neutroblade (NY):
hey. no problem. hope you’re well. i’ll send someone for the car and don’t worry about the sunday, we’ll go next week.
I was very thankful for Gabriel’s understanding nature. Now that was done with, I turned my attention back to Cece.
“Very well.” I said and noted that Cece’s fingers were mindlessly brushing over the top of my hand. This was a new experience for me.
“You asked for a rest, right? You can stay here. I don’t mind.” She stood up and started to fluff the pillows on her bed. The contrast of temperatures after she released my hand from her grip was surprisingly noticeable. “I must admit that I’m not sure how I can help you. I don’t have a lot of experience with synthoids. Do you need anything?” Her earnest gaze made me unable to say no to the priority message regarding emergency mode.
Everything went black as I was left with an imprint of Cece’s easy-to-read face and a phantom of dulcet warmth wrapped around my hand.
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Through the blackness of my senses, a blurred and strange image appeared; and then a sound of wind rushing, the touch of something warm and the smell of something frozen. Then it became a memory.
I felt a sensation of all-encompassing coldness hug my body. My body shivered, trying to enact any sort of blood flow to my freezing extremities.
I felt cold. I’ve never felt cold.
I saw my hand, clad in thick and soft material, rise before me as I tried to protect my face from the slashing snow storm.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Was it my hand?
In the distance, I saw a black structure and I knew that this was an important place. My heart started to thud in excitement. I could feel how my mouth smiled underneath the protective cloth.
My heart?
Then the memory jumped. I was in that building now.
Before me were rows upon rows of servers flickering with light.
“This is it.” I spoke and came closer to one of those servers. This is what I've been looking for.
As my hand, now unclad and wrinkled, reached to touch the server, I heard a set of steps in the distance as my hand met the warmth of beautiful, working machinery.
I turned and met myself with a barrel of a gun.
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When I came to, phantoms of sensations were still clinging to my body. I could tell that my hands were cold. Odd.
And that strange experience that I didn't dare call a dream yet, was echoing through my mind and leaving waves of confusion and unease in its wake.
Was it another restricted memory? It couldn't be. The person in it was a human. Warm-blooded and old. Still, I couldn't tell the nature of that recollection. I left that to ponder some other time. It was clear I didn’t have any answers or clues on where to find them.
Looking at my system’s clock, I noted that twenty-two hours had passed. My injuries were more severe than I anticipated.
When I gathered enough energy to open up my eyes, the first thing that I noticed was that I found myself laying on my side. For a human, that wouldn’t be an unusual position, but for a synthoid the fact was quite bizarre.
Synthoids didn’t move in their so-called ‘sleep’.
The second odd thing was a view of an unknown face, instead of the interior of the room.
The person to whom the face belonged to, seemed to position themselves at my eye level and were looking at me with great focus.
“Yo.” The unknown face said. I sensed no immediate danger.
“Hello.” I responded in kind and sat up in bed. My left thigh was still in a rough condition, so I refrained from standing up. Not before I checked with diagnostics.
At my movement, the person straightened up and kept looking at me. Therefore, I looked back.
They were wearing ripped and dirty overalls that fit loosely on their thin frame. Some damage on them was clearly from being slashed, some from being burned and the other form of damage looked to be caused by some type of acid considering the discoloration.
Their pale skin was a great contrast to the purple synthcolor added to their spiky hair.
“You’re awake.” They said with some mirth.
“It would seem so.” I wasn’t quite certain what to do in this situation.
From what I could tell, I was still in Cece’s room and the only difference was that the couch nearby looked messy. It had pillows and a blanket on it. I would have to apologize for taking her bed.
I ran a full diagnostic in the background while I dealt with this situation.
Then I heard a set of hurried feet rushing through the corridor. I suspected that they were headed there. Where else?
The door opened with a bang and Jane stepped inside. She was dressed the same as before, but this time a dark and thick jacket was wrapped around her shoulders. She did not look pleased.
“The fuck you’re doing out of the cave, Ly? Did Cece let you out?” It would appear that her disgruntlement was not targeted at me but rather at this mysterious person named Ly.
My social protocols chewed on Jane’s vernacular with one question only: was she joking? Was there a cave somewhere?
“Hello, Jane.” I greeted the woman and watched as her face twisted through a variety of expressions until it decided to stay on mild annoyance.
“Sup.” She nodded at me in greeting and gave me a brief look. Then, her attention turned swiftly back to the mysterious person before us.
“I was curious as to the surprise guest of ours, so I came out.” They looked at me and continued, “I don't regret doing that. You’re a magnificent specimen.” Their tone and the intensity of their eyes reminded me of someone that I wish would never have to think about again.
This feeling of something not quite right was ever-present in my mind.
“I feel the need to assert the fact that I am a SSU. I don’t appreciate being referred to as a ‘specimen’.”
Their bright eyes did not lose their sharpness and focus, but their posture became more relaxed. I took it as a sign of acquiescence.
“I’ll remember that.” They said and stretched out their hand to me. “I’m Lyric and Jane said that you’re gonna be working with us. Nice meeting you.”
I took a quick look at their hand and reached to shake it.
Under my fingertips I felt the roughness of their skin and calluses rubbing against my palm.
After that greeting, I turned my attention to Jane.
“It would appear that many now know of my vague agreement with you. Yet, I am still very unaware of the specifics of my involvement. To which I have not agreed to.” I decided to mention this fact as Jane seemed to have taken my ‘yes’ as an umbrella term and made my person to be more than I’ve realized to her companions.
I received the diagnostics report and found that the outside injuries had healed, yet my thigh and shoulder would require additional materials.
I could walk, though. Sparingly.
“Well, true. But I had to tell some guys something. This one included.” She jabbed a finger in Lyric’s chest as she came closer. “Cece told me you were pretty badly busted. How’s it now?”
I stood up and tested the strength of my leg. I could walk no problem but anything more strenuous would damage me even more.
“I will need some materials to finish repairs, but for now, I can function.” At my words, Lyric seemed to brighten up, and they rushed at me with visible enthusiasm.
“I can help you with that. Not for free of course.” They looked at my shoulder and then at my leg with a thinking but excited expression. “Could I work on you or something? Check how you work and stuff? Nothing invasive of course. I can give you everything that you need.”
“No.” I didn’t even have to think, the word just escaped me.
I didn’t want anyone to touch me. Well, anyone like this person. Cece was fine.
“Oh, come on! I’ll pay you then. Just one peek at your internals, please!” They succumbed to begging.
“Ly, leave her alone and go back to your cave. Dawid needs you.” Jane grabbed their shoulder and pushed them out of Cece’s room.
She then turned back to me with a heavy sigh.
“So… heard it was Fran-Mili. Fuckers, am I right?” She moved towards a couch and sat with a bang. “Come on. Sit.” She patted the spot next to her.
“Where’s Cece?” Slowly I moved forward. I must’ve looked like a mess since my nanobots weren’t meant to fix clothes.
Jane huffed a single, inaudible laugh and looked at me from the corner of her eye.
“She’s workin’.” Jane pulled out a similar-looking object to what Rin used once. I believed it was a liquid cigarette. She turned it on with a nimble quick of her finger and took one, long inhale. With an exhalation of the fruity smelling smoke she said, “Tell me. What happened to you? I thought you were like high-end military synth or somethin’. You worked with Jack after all.”
I shortly deliberated how much to say. I decided to be truthful. To some degree.
“I was ambushed shortly after I left from a contract. Then I was caught a couple of minutes later. And then…” I found myself doubtful as to how truthful I should be in this part of the story. “Do you know a lot about Fran-Mili?” I decided to ask before I were to say anything else.
Jane seemed to ponder the question for a minute. Then, after some huffing and puffing that covered us in a sweet-smelling fog, she responded, “Less than I’d like, more than I should. Why?” Jane turned some of her earlier looseness down and went back to the impenetrable visual of apathy.
“I had an encounter with a woman named Hadley Sullivan. She said she used to be my handler. After Jack.”
“Yeah, don't know her. But as I told you, I know less than I’d like.” I moved a bit in my seat. The blankets and pillows around me and Jane smelled vaguely of Cece. “It’s good, though. That you got a name. We’ve actually been planning something’. Somethin’ regarding that shit corpo.”
That last part had some venom.
“Are you certain you should tell me things like that? I heard from Rin that you are involved in terrorism. Would your group take kindly to revealing such information?” I wondered about Jane’s motivation and logic. Such corpo directed vitriol had to come from somewhere. It was hard for me to believe that Jack was the only reason for it.
“‘Terrorism,’ she said? Huh.” I wondered if I doomed Rin by revealing what she told me. “It’s fine. Although, I’ve talked to my boss, and he said that he wants to talk to you first, before- y’know.” A vague gesture and a snort. Did she lack respect for her superior?
“That is logical. Otherwise, I would think your organization is badly managed.” I paused for a second. “Actually, is it an organization? What is it?” What have I agreed to?
In retrospect, some things that Jane had said when we first met each other, stirred my new emotional independence with great mastery. Enough so that I agreed.
I didn’t regret that as I saw no other option than this regarding the problem with my previous employer.
Jane looked at me as she exhaled from her cigarette.
“Maybe I’ll just show you. Visual is always better in my opinion.” She stood up and turned towards the exit. “You comin’?” I got up and followed.
Outside of Cece’s room, the corridor was as quiet as the night before. Maybe the rooms belonged to the workers of this nightclub? If so, then did Jane live here too?
We went down the stairs I was familiar with, but instead of turning towards the back rooms of the nightclub, Jane led me further down. We went to the basement.
At the bottom of the stairs was a pair of heavy-duty doors. Whatever was beyond was important if it was this heavily protected.
Jane touched the datapad on their surface and I could tell she sent something to it from her SDI. The doors opened and we stepped through.
Inside, I found myself before a massive open space that was filled with large crates, materials of some kind and machinery that churned with energy.
In one corner of this massive space was a wall of monitors that showed information of various kinds. Some news, stocks, and code were floating on them with flashing lights. Underneath that wall of holo screens and - were those LEDs? - sat Lyric with their head suspended over some vague machinery.
Jane stepped before me and grinned.
“Say hi to Blackwire, newbie.”