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*Statistics based on a test group of 20 Exocet employees, ages 20 to 23.”
— Transcript from a cyberware advertisement by Exocet, the year 2388.
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“Blackwire?” The name did not sound familiar. At least, not in a way that Jane said it. It sounded less like the electrical term for a wire that carried energy and more like something else. Something ambiguous.
“Yep. That’s the name.” She started to walk into the vacant space. The ceiling wasn’t high considering this was a basement, but I was able to see quite far from the entrance. Pillars of stone were spread around this place to hold it up. They had to since they made it to be an open space. Loft-like and free to move around. I wondered who designed it since I saw no load-bearing looking walls. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the boss. He’ll tell you whatever you might wanna know.”
I followed slowly after her and took some time with observing whatever I could. If I had human eyes, it might’ve been difficult considering the dim lighting that only covered certain areas.
I used different visions to look into what the crates around us were filled with. Some had electrical parts that I wasn’t sure would be actually useful for anything, while others had straight up explosives filled to the brim.
That wasn’t safe. I was fairly certain of that.
If I were to spend some time around here, I would have to mention such a hazard. The idea of unoptimized storage space made my spine crawl with snippets of energy.
How unprofessional. Were they serious about whatever they were doing here?
What was also strange, and made me have some doubts about this place, was the clear lack of people. It was evident that they were well-equipped, but without personnel I couldn’t imagine what all of this could be used for.
“How numerous is Blackwire?” The name felt strange to say.
“A couple of folks here and there. This is just storage mostly, but some people hang out here. Like Lyric over there,” She nodded in their direction. “But also Dawid. He’s the boss. Should be somewhere around here.” Jane’s head swiveled left and right as she walked swiftly through this place.
So, that was the ‘cave’ she mentioned before. I would have to note that for future reference.
“And Cece is also a part of this organization?” I wanted a confirmation, or possible denial.
Instead of an immediate response, I was met with silence. I looked at Jane and noticed how strange her face looked. As if she ate something sour.
“She is.” And that was that.
I decided to remember that reaction. Anything that Jane’s face showed was of note considering the rarity of any major facial expression she expressed.
“Ha! Here he is!” Jane exclaimed as she started to jog in a new direction. I followed where she was heading to with my eyes and noticed a tall man that was standing near an open crate. I saw his back and noted the way he gently handled the electronics inside the container.
“Sup, Dawid. Brought you the fresh meat I talked about.” Jane laughed and I made sure to remember that sound. It was eerily similar to Jack’s with the way it was quick and ended with soft huffs of silent exhalation.
Her back too, although smaller and clad in less clothes, was somehow reminiscent of her brother. Maybe it was the way they carried themselves? Like there was no weight on their shoulders. Looking at her like that made my core buzz with a comforting rumble of energy.
The man turned and I saved the image of his face. I traced the strong and defined features of his jaw, noted the way his eyes slid over to me with smoothness and analyzed his posture that told me a story of discipline.
The man was dressed in a beige jacket that hugged his broad chest with some difficulty. I also noted a scar, seemingly small but had to be a deep cut once, over his brow. Its light hue contrasted against the cool shade of his onyx skin.
“I see.” His voice was deep, but I was able to hear how well he enunciated every syllable. “You’re Rend, I heard? I’m Dawid.” He stretched his hand to me and I shook it. The strength of his grip would have been crushing if I weren’t a synthoid.
Because of that, I checked him for cybernetics and noticed that both of his arms were augmented. Not fully replaced but heavily modified.
“Nice to meet you. From what Jane told me you are the chief officer of this organization. I had some questions regarding that.” He let go of my hand and nodded. I had to tilt my head back to look at his expression which remained stoic and showed nothing certain. Maybe that’s whom Jane got her ‘poker face’ from?
“Yes, I’m the boss as they say. We can talk over there.” He pointed to where Lyric sat. Their head were still overlooking whatever they were tinkering with.
We walked for a minute and Dawid tapped Lyric’s shoulder as he got closer to them.
They jumped slightly in their seat and turned to look at us. Now, instead of bright-colored eyes, a circular set of reflecting googles sat on their nose.
“Need you for something.” Dawid said to them and then turned their attention to me. “Would you be willing to take the Volkovich-Friedmann test before we speak?” His dark eyes, previously hooded probably due to exhaustion, were now wide open and focused. I deliberated his request as Jane spoke from beside me.
“The fuck? I told you she’s safe. I asked Ly to check the GUF accreditation and she's a legit SSU. I told you that.” Jane’s slight annoyance didn’t seem to faze Dawid as he just kept looking at me, awaiting my response.
I could understand his reasoning. If this organization–Blackwire–were that much against corporations then of course they wouldn’t believe it if the GUF said that I was a SSU.
What was strange though, is that even though he had suspicions as to my sentient and independent status, he still allowed me inside here. Why?
Did he feel confident enough as to eliminating me if I turned out to be something I wasn’t?
I had a small errant thought in my mind to refuse, because of what happened when Tony had given me the test, but in the end if I were to work with these people then I would have to respect the superior’s wishes. And I didn’t want to find out why he felt comfortable enough with letting me in here. I chose the safer option.
“I’ll take the test.” I answered and some tension left Dawid’s body.
“See? No harm done.” Dawid said to Jane as his eyes went back to Lyric. “Got your things ready?” They nodded and I didn’t even have to pull up my sleeve to access my universal port. The jacket was barely holding its shape there.
“Could I sit down for it?” I asked. I wasn’t sure how it would feel this time so sitting down was probably going to be the best option.
Everyone looked at me at the same time. I wasn’t sure why my request was that surprising.
“Sure! Sit.” Lyric got up from their chair and I sat down. They started typing something on their computer and I simply waited for them to give me the cable.
I was well-versed with coding and technological language, but the things I saw on their interface were mangled and written in a manner I was not familiar with. Maybe this was a custom-made system?
“Here it is.” They gave me the cable and my mind came back to the previous conversation I had with them. I decided to block the port from providing other information than was needed from the test. The googles prevented me from reading their full expression, but the small twitches I saw in their hand as I took the cable from them told me that they were probably still excited about the possibility of knowing more about my engineering.
I paused for a second to make sure that everything in my system was in order and with an uncontrolled exhalation, plugged the cable into my port.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I hoped this time it was going to be nice and easy.
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I found myself to be suspended in a bright space. My body felt light and fragile as the current of something was flowing all around me.
My body—or something similar to it—was once again made from specks of golden light. This time though, there were no voices.
The whiteness of this vast ocean of flickering lights made me ache and I could feel as a part of me got lost in the current that swept through me suddenly.
No. I wanted that with me.
I reached my hand out, but instead of catching the part of me that was floating away, my arm disappeared in a rushing wave that flew through it.
I felt a stabbing sensation all over my body at the revelation that I had none of my constitution in this space.
“I’ll help you.” A voice appeared. I heard it all around me and as I tried to look at where it might’ve been coming from, a new sensation was born from where my arm was missing. A building pressure erupted as a piercing blue light rushed from somewhere in between me and covered the space my arm used to occupy.
The blue particles molded themselves in a shape similar to what I was used to, but they felt wrong.
They did not belong there.
I tried to shake them off; wave my arm back and forth but nothing happened.
Then, that blue arm that didn’t belong moved and touched my face.
“It’s alright. I’ll protect you.” The voice sounded out again, but this time I knew it was coming from within me. I felt it coil itself somewhere in my core.
Using my left arm, the one that was not torn in the current, I reached into the depths of myself and tried to look for the intruder that made themselves home.
“Don’t do that!” The voice rose in octave and the blue arm grabbed my other one and pulled.
I fought against its strength but ultimately, I couldn’t do anything. The intruder had won.
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It was difficult to open up my eyes. I felt tired. Absolutely exhausted.
It was a good idea to sit down before all of this has started.
I raised my head up, since it was hanging limply downwards, and saw blurred images of faces before me. There was sound, but it was taking me a minute to process the words that were said.
I needed FERS, I couldn’t think properly. Couldn’t read the reactions of others. I ran a full diagnostic immediately.
“And?” The deeper one of the voices around me spoke. I was getting better at recognizing what was said.
“I–I think she passes.” I tried turning my head enough to look at the person who said that. It was Lyric. FERS deduced confusion and amazement.
“You think? Isn’t this a yes or no kinda test?” At the sound of this person a pressure appeared in my core. I saw a phantom of dark brown hair and I needed to squeeze my eyes. They itched with extra moisture. That was a first.
“It says yes, but–” Lyric again. I heard a tapping sound of something being written.
“But what?”
I tried to settle my core, but there was buzzing coming from somewhere in me. It was making my air box unstable, so I couldn’t talk yet.
“But nothing, actually. I don’t know. She passes and that’s all I can tell you right now.” Some aggravation.
“So what’s wrong with her? Dammit, did you do somethin’?” A ghost of a touch grazed over my hand. Which one was it? “Hey, talk to me. What’s going on?” The focus came back somewhat and a face with familiar features filled my vision.
The verdant pair of eyes were looking into mine piercingly. The energy in my core gave a anxious shudder at the image. It was a small mercy she had long hair. Otherwise, I might’ve found myself truly unresponsive; overwhelmed with old memories.
“Could you touch both of my hands?” I managed to say with heavy exhalation.
She looked at me with wide eyes that FERS said were confused and unsure.
“Why–”
“Please.”
After a second of hesitation, I saw her raise her shoulders and then I felt a sensation. But only on my left hand.
“Are you touching my right hand?” I asked as I tried to lift it up, but nothing happened. The command I sent to that limb simply ceased to exist after I launched it.
“Yes. Why?” Jane’s question made me unsure on how to answer that.
“It would appear I have a software issue.” Technically true, but I didn’t want to share more. Not until I knew something substantial.
“But you’re alright?” Dawid’s voice boomed from above me and I craned my neck to see his motionless expression.
“I will be.” Hopefully.
“Jane, take her to my office later.” With a grunt, he turned and started walking away.
The woman before me nodded to herself and stood up. She cracked her back with a resounding sound and said, “Can you get up?”
The universal port was in my left wrist and I was unable to take it out with one hand.
“Could you unplug it first?” I looked from Jane to the cable still attached to me and after a momentary pause she reached for it and pulled.
I tried to stand up and managed somehow to keep my balance. I desperately needed materials and time to repair my leg. I also needed to find out what had happened since the moment I plugged in to take the test. I couldn’t continue like this.
I was deteriorating even under the full attention I had over my body.
My right arm hung limply at my side and looking at it made my core stretch itself unpleasantly. I felt the thudding of energy reach my spine and then it traveled up my neck with an unpleasant vibration. I couldn’t shake this feeling off.
After a reluctant pause, I turned my gaze to Lyric, who was standing before one of their screens and was looking at it very intently. Their fingers moved at a rapid pace on the projected keyboard and I felt small electrical impulses coming from their SDIs that were probably used for whatever they were doing on their computer.
“Lyric?” There was no immediate response from them. “Hello?”
“What?” They snapped at me with a quick glance. At first nothing happened and they went back to whatever they were doing but after a second they turned to me and said, “What do you want?” They were clearly agitated.
“Is something wrong?” Maybe they got information out of me regarding whatever happened.
“It’s just–” They stopped themselves and covered their eyes with one hand. They must’ve pulled the googles down at some point as a pair of slanted eyes kept flickering from me back to the screen. A heavy sigh followed. “Sorry, but I can’t do it now. My stuff’s messed up and I need to fix it. It ain’t your fault, I’m just frustrated.” They turned their attention fully to the screen.
“Let’s go.” Jane grabbed my unresponsive arm and only after she tugged it, I was aware of the hold she had on me.
I started to follow her.
How was I going to get the materials ready for full repair? The diagnostic I just ran came up empty with answers as to the main root of the problems I was facing, but it did mention what I needed.
Grade 1 and 2 plasteel, almost a liter of synthfluid and some minor elements and compounds like silica, iron, and magnesium mostly. Some general repair packs would work wonders right now.
I checked the web for online stores that sold some of them, and although they wouldn’t offer me everything I needed, they would still be helpful and having one or two on me seemed to be a good decision considering what had happened in the last couple of days. I would have to figure out how to order things online later.
“We’re here.” Jane said as we stopped. I almost walked into her.
Dammit, I wanted to curse. I needed to pay attention.
“Where?” We were still in this ‘cave’, but we walked to an area that was slightly fenced out with walls made of containers. They were empty.
“Where? Piece yourself together. Do you want to be here or not?” Jane tugged at my limp arm and I had to exert myself not to stumble. I was still very much exhausted. My core was flickering with sprouts of energy, but it would still take time to go back to an acceptable energy balance.
“I do.” If not here then where? Back on Hadley’s table? No, thanks.
“Then go inside.” She pushed me through the opening in between the crates and I walked inside this makeshift room.
This was Dawid’s space or something akin to an office, since there was a simple desk in the middle with some trinkets spewed around. Dawid was sitting behind it and typing on his compact datapad.
At the sound of my steps he looked at me and I remembered that he asked Jane to bring me to him.
My processes handling module might’ve been working a bit slower than usual for me to have small pockets of missing short-term memory. How unpleasant.
“Sit.” He gestured to a small crate near the entrance and I did as instructed with relief.
My body was quite heavy so standing did not make my leg any less injured.
“I’m not one to mince words, so I’ll just get to the meat of this, alright?” I made sure to keep my eyes on his face.
“That’s fine by me.” The quicker this was done, the faster I could rest. I needed to be in optimal condition.
“Then I’ll say it,” He clasped his hands together under his chin, “We don’t need you. I allowed you here because Jane asked me and she thinks you’d be a great asset. But from what I saw, you’ve been more of a hindrance. Why do you want to be here? Do you even know what this is?”
I deliberated my response with growing concern. There was a right answer to everything, but right now as I looked into an impregnable face of this man, I had none in mind.
“Jane mentioned you’re calling yourself Blackwire and would be able to help me with Fran-Mili.” Mentioning that they were most likely in the terrorist category was a bad move even according to my slowed processing speed.
“Jane mentioned your past with them and I know she wants that corpo gone, but that is not Blackwire’s main objective.” He stood up and came to the front of his desk. With a quiet sigh, he leaned on it and continued, “We’ve got a bigger fish to fry and I still don’t know if I can trust you. Doesn't matter that you’re a SSU or that you were a corpo doll. None of that matters ‘cause I haven’t seen a single speckle of resolve in you yet.” His eyes bore into mine and I got a case of tunnel vision, I thought. Their alight blackness made my core drum to the powerful beat of his heart.
“Until I do, you’ve gotta prove yourself. Are you willing to do that? If so, I’ll give you a chance to show me you have what it takes.” He reached for the datapad behind him and then I heard a ping.
“Get rid of her and then we’ll talk.” I opened his message and before me was a picture of a woman.
At first, I thought I knew this person. The dark eyes and hair accompanied by a stoic expression reminded me of Hadley, but then I noticed the name and that some features were, in fact, much different.
I didn’t know this person, but even if this was indeed Hadley, my answer wouldn’t have changed.
“No,” I refused and stared at Dawid awaiting his response.