A slow soft beep chimed, it came from the monitor on a white plastic laminate table with metal legs. The slim blue line slowly flashed in and out and kept with the beep. Lines of code and complex algorithms shone off the glasses of a balding man reading them.

His hands moved swiftly as they wrote down modifications to the equations, many of which were a form of the logistic growth model. The formulae seemed to be adapted to calculate such things as the growth of databases and neural networks.

They stopped moving momentarily. He reached up, grabbed a mug of coffee, and glanced at the clock on the sterile aluminum wall. His eyebrow raised, and he scratched his bare head. The anticipation was almost palpable in his thin voice. "Seven o'clock, where is everyone? The test subject will be here soon."

He stood and moved towards the coffee machine on the end of the desk and put his mug under it. A grey lab coat hung loosely from his gaunt frame. His face was narrow and tight. What little hair he had was grayed and neatly kept. His features weren't unpleasant. It made him look like a normal grandfather, content with his life.

After a short minute of the machine making noises, it poured steaming hot coffee into the mug. His long fingers pushed the glasses up, and rubbed his nose. 'Seems like every time I'm early, nobody shows up on time.'

His attention shifted across the room as he picked up the mug. On the other side of it was a large glass pod with an assortment of tubes that led to various machines across the room. The thick grey liquid bubbled inside and glowed slightly because of the back lighting, causing a slight transparency in the liquid.

Nothing was inside the pod. However, there was a large metal chair next to it. The chair was made of aluminum and had the shape of a human. It was bolted to a sturdy hydraulic base, with leather straps on the arms and legs.

Near the nape of the neck was a pad with copper spikes protruting from it and wires came out the other side. The black-sleeved wires led to a computer on a stand next to the table, it was currently idle. Above the chair hung a sizeable round lamp fixture with multiple medical apparatuses on robotic appendages.

"We've neared the final stages. Soon, the process will be stable, and any consciousness can inhabit the product." He scratched his chin slowly, and some thoughts passed through his mind.

Multiple tests had failed recently, and the Research Funding department was getting antsy. "It is unfortunate, the way we found out human trials are not as simple as the others. The machine mind melds so pleasantly with artificial organics. Why not a human mind?"

Production of both human and animal clones had been performed for decades, though human cloning had been globally outlawed in 2110 since only abominations had been produced to that point. That didn't stop anyone, though. Most major corporations still produce full human clones, along with synthetic organs and body parts.

AI complex enough to replicate human behavior had been conquered ages ago, so implanting that in a human clone was the logical next step. As such several enemies of Tempest had recently disappeared for a week, some of them reemerged with nothing seemed different, explaining it away as an illness or being drunk.

Others vanished altogether, that however was not uncommon. What is uncommon is when these returned people seem to sell out the competition for Tempest's gain, even if it destroys their life.

A chuckle escaped from the doctor's lips. "That should get those Finance boys off my back. My Albert is doing it's job very well."

His face tightened as an alarm blared, and the lighting changed to a low red. There was a lot of movement outside the door and the P.A. system interrupted his thoughts.

A monotone female voice loudly came over the speakers. "Code red, facility in lockdown, all non-combat personnel stay in your designated location. I repeat, code red, there is an active shooter near the facility, and there are confirmed reports on one deceased male." It continued that same message.

"What the hell, an active shooter?" His voice trailed off, and his eyes shot wide. "No. No, no, no!" With a quick movement, he ripped the phone from its receptacle on the wall, and dialed security. Three short trills came across the line, and then a young woman picked up.

"Doctor Matthews? What is the matter are you -"

"Who got shot?!"

"A man described as a bum got shot from across the street, we have security checking the perimeter. He had a pass to enter the building, which was strange, but that's not the weirdest part. Ground team two reported that there's orange synth blood, but no visual of cybernetics."

He groaned loudly, pounding his fist on the wall. "You incompetent... Is he dead?"

"Yes, sir."

"Recover the body and bring it to me, quickly, and find the people that shot him. We need answers as to how they found my subject."

"Your subject, sir?"

"No questions, just do what I said!" A loud click came from the phone as he slammed it back into place.

He stood quietly for a moment, the alarms grating his eardrums. Slowly, he moved back to the chair and slumped down. "What a mess, why do we even have security if they can't do their job?"

# Ten minutes earlier #

"No sign of him yet. You think that girl was telling the truth?" The scopes on the rifle glinted in the morning sun as Sammy shifted in place. He had the rifle pressed against his shoulder and kneeled against the ledge of the roof, looking very relaxed.

O'Della analyzed his partner's composure. 'He always did have an affinity for rifles. Never got to see him this close with one. Usually, he was way back behind combat lines, providing support and covering fire for our squad. He's so calm. It's almost like a different person from his usual uptight ball of nerves.'

"She is, I have no doubts. Besides, we get at least half of the pay, either way. There's still ten minutes to seven-thirty, be patient."

"Easy for you to say, you always did have the patience of a statue."

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"I'm going down to the car now. Keep your eyes peeled, and remember to pick up your casing before coming down. Don't need anything leading to us."

O'Della stood walking over to the ladder. He glanced back to Sammy before he started the descent. As he grabbed the ladder, it creaked slightly, his boots and hands moved to the sides of the ladder, and he slid down it rapidly.

After a few moments, his mechanical legs slammed into the concrete below and let out a small hiss, absorbing the impact. Stepping back and looking down, there were small cracks in the concrete where he impacted the ground. "You got this, Sammy. I know you do."

He stared up at the roof for a split second before he rushed over to the car on the opposite side of the alleyway. He jumped in, pushed the clutch down and pressed the start button, the exhaust filled the alleyway with noise as the car rumbled. The windows rolled down, and he pulled out a cigarette, lighting it with his hand.

The tension mounted, and the air felt heavy as seven-thirty drew closer. The clock on the dash displayed seven-twenty-five, smoke drifted across the display, and he flexed his single human limb.

The motion felt good, his muscle rippled, and the air grazed his arm hair, the feeling sent chills down his spine. His robotic limbs may be useful, but their synthetic nerves simply couldn't replicate what the real thing felt like.

A memory of getting his new arm flashed across his mind as he sat in silence, and puffed on the cigarette.

Most of it was fuzzy, but he remembered landing at Charlie Camp in Oklahoma. He was promptly ferried into a room with bright lights and the sounds of other men in groaning pain. There was a sharp pain and shouting that he didn't understand.

His shoulder had felt like it was being torn open again. That had woken him from his stupor, and he jawed the doctor working on him before they injected him with more pain blockers. After that, nothing was really clear for hours. When he was finally clear enough to have solid memory, his arm was a military-grade prosthetic, the one he still uses to this very day.

A loud crack filled the air, and he jumped in his seat, the memory fading. His hands gripped the wheel, and he spat the cigarette out the window.

After a few tense moments, a loud siren blared from the direction of Tempest tower, and Sammy came sliding down the ladder. He slid across the hood, rifle in hand, and jumped through the window into the passenger seat. "Let's get the hell out of here! They're going wild, and I think the ground forces spotted where I was."

Not waiting to see, O'Della slammed into gear and the tires squealed as they tore out of the alley. The muscle car drifted onto the street, cutting off multiple people and causing at least one accident behind them.

Before they could take a turn and escape into the city multiple black SUVs ripped around the corner behind them, coming from the tower. Their red and orange lights flashed and sirens screeched from the vehicles.

Sammy leaned out the window popping a few shots off. Men in the SUVs returned fire and he cursed loudly, falling back into the car. "Fuck! God damn it, my fuckin head!"

O'Della looked over seeing a graze on his forehead and blood leaking from the wound. "It's just a flesh wound get your ass back out that window and lay down cover fire!"

Sammy didn't respond as he rubbed his forehead, bullets cascaded across the pavement and rattled against the vehicle destroying the beautiful black paint job.

O'Della grimaced and slapped Sammy upside the head. "That was an order soldier, do it now!"

With that, Sammy snapped out of it and got back out the window, yelling incoherently as he fired back at the SUVs. This wasn't how O'Della envisioned his plan going but improvisation always was a strong suit of his.

He looked around at the electronic street signs and shook his head. Some more rounds hit the back of the vehicle and the fuel gage started dropping rapidly. "Which way to the waterfront?!"

"Right! Fuck, go right!" More shots rang out and the rear windshield shattered showering them in the glass. The tires of the car squealed in protest as O'Della hooked the vehicle around a corner too tight. Nearly hitting two people and a pole in the process.

He grit his teetht and tried to regain control. "Shit, get outta the way!" The car swerved back and forth on the road. His rear tire clipped the curb, and caused them both to bounce as more bullets impacted the car.

"What the fuck did you do, Sammy! This was supposed to go smooth, no complications, remember?!" He glanced over, Sammy's green eyes narrowed, and he let out a few shots from his pistol.

"Nothing! Our 'contact' must have ratted us out! You saw it, soon as I zeroed the guy, their entire security force was on us!" One of the six black SUVs behind them crashed into a building as he shot its tire out.

"If I get my hands on that fuckin' Kabuki mask bitch I'm gonna kill her!" He leaned back into the car as it careened onto the highway. The chassis groaned in protest and the engine sputtered a little.

"This ride won't last much longer. We gotta lose these guys." Bullets riddled the back of the car and whizzed by their heads. He surveyed the bridge they were on. It was over a hundred feet above the water, and the guardrail looked sturdy.

Passenger cars flew past as he contemplated his options. The engine sputtered again, almost dying. "Shit... Hold on!" The car pulled to the right hard.

Weightlessness enveloped both of them as Sammy yelled obscenities, for a few moments they were suspended in the air as the vehicle rapidly descended. It hit the water hard and both men sank rapidly with the vehicle, darkness enveloped them. After a moment they pushed themselves out the windows.

Muffled pops came from above them and streaks of bubbles and light passed them as they swam towards the bottom of the bridge.

O'Della could barely see a thing, the water was murky and dark, filled with refuse and trash. He kicked and pushed, his robotic limbs working overtime to compensate for weighing him down so much. He whipped his head around but his partner was nowhere in sight he couldn't think about that now, Sammy could take care of himself.

The hellfire continued raining around him until he got under the bridge, he felt the shadow cast over him and the water growing colder, the popping finally stopped.

He surfaced and swam over to the concrete walkway under the bridge, it ran all the way along the floodwalls, surrounding the river that separated Kabuki district and Naomi district. He could hear men above him shouting.

"Get a patrol on that river now! I don't want anyone to rest until their bodies are found! We need them in custody, dead or alive!"

There were multiple yes sir's and then the sound vehicles driving away. He sighed in relief and looked across the river, Sammy still hadn't surfaced. That worried him, he kept looking his anxiety growing more and more. "Shit, come on Sammy, where the hell are you?"

After a few seconds, a blond frock surfaced and floated towards the edge slowly. There wasn't much movement from the body attached to the hair, and it lazily drifted with the current towards the edge of the river. Red fluid surrounded the body and diluted the dark water into a deep crimson. "Fuck- no!"

O'Della jumped into the water and grabbed his friend, pulling him to the walkway, he still hoped for the best. He tossed Sammy up and the body landed on it's stomach. O'Della climbed out and his face drew tight. "Don't be like that man, stop playing around."

He turned Sammy over and recoiled at the sight, his hand cracked and whirred as his grip tightened on Sammy. There were three clean holes in his chest, each one was oozing blood and drenching the walkway in his fluid. He didn't have a pulse and his normally bright green eyes were now dull and lifeless. His limbs dangled limply as O'Della drew him closer holding him tightly.

A loud scream filled with desperation and anger echoed around the walkway and tears streamed down O'Della's face. He rocked back and forth with his partner's lifeless corpse, blood staining his clothes and hands, filling the crevasses in his robotic limb.

"No. No. No... You can't leave me like this man... don't go please..." His voice shook and he unsteadily brushed hair away from Sammy's face.

"Sammy..."

Sirens cut him off and he looked over his shoulder, a patrol boat was cutting through the water, barreling towards them with multiple armed men. He glanced down at Sammy's face once more before setting him down gently.

"I promise Sammy, I'll find out why this happened."

With that he stood and rushed down the walkway, looking for an escape. His gaze hit a metal grate on the side of the walkway, leading into the sewers. He kicked it with all his might and it flew off, breaking the concrete around it as it flew into the distance.

There were multiple clatters and a loud thud as it impacted the wall a few yards away. Running down the entrance he passed under the previously straight and strong grate, now it was nothing but a warped and tangled mess of steel embedded in the wall.

He ran for miles, the sewers ran under the whole city and were needlessly convoluted, the perfect place to escape the 'law'.

Eventually, after he passed into an empty room with nothing besides a few crates and some old tools, he stopped and gasped for air. His back pressed against the wall and he slid down, held his head and put his forehead against his knees. He sat for a long while.

After many minutes he looked up at the ceiling, his eyes red and cheeks glistening. "Guess I'm the only one left. I'm sorry everyone, I failed all of you in the end."