Chapter 2
Before today, if you had asked me if bringing your little brother to a U.S government-sponsored weapons black site counts as “take your family to work day,” I would’ve told you that the CIA would have a heart attack, then they would proceed to give you one in retaliation.
Today, my answer remains the same but with added panic and paranoia.
I mentally write my will as Prim leads the way through the cold hallways, passing through multiple metal detector checkpoints and offices with cubicles. I must look terrible because Prim keeps assuring me that the government won’t send me to the past tense for being here.
I reach for my phone in an attempt to comfort myself, but the empty pocket harshly reminds me that the guards took my phone as a precaution.
Believe me, Prim being in the position she is has taken me to a few military bases, barracks, and government facilities.
But this? She’s never taken me to a place that officially doesn’t exist before. How does she even…
“Prim, how do you even have access to this place? How AM I AUTHORIZED to even BE HERE?!” I ask, desperate for an answer.
Prim looks at me for a few seconds before smirking and then looks in front of her as she keeps walking. She calls an elevator up as I and the black suits following us reach the end of the office.
“Maybe use your observation skills for once and you might just answer your own question?” She replies without looking at me.
She chooses NOW to have an attitude?
“Or maybe you could stop gatekeeping information from me and actually- “I begin to reply, but I am cut off by what my eyes begin to register as the elevator door opens up.
Between the two glass panels inside the elevator, a giant and all too familiar logo mocks me by simply existing. A big “O” that’s blue on the top half, grey on the bottom, and a stupid-looking ring that separates the two colors.
Oasis.
“-and mom is currently deciding the fate of half of NATO’s forces with her next sale.”
I get it now.
Why Prim has access to this place. Why I’m allowed to be here. Why Prim took me here.
Mother.
As the elevator closes behind us, nausea begins to strike my stomach, and I begin to experience what feels like a descent into despair. The farther the elevator goes, the more my body starts to shiver. Then, I slowly lower my head in an attempt not to look at anyone or anything.
A soft hand finds its way on my shoulder and rubs me gently.
“Hey,” Prim lets out softly before closing in on me. “Please see this through. Just this once, ok? You really need to see what mom and I have planned here…I promise you that this time, it’s different and necessary.”
…but there won’t be “just this once,” will there? She’ll do this over and over again for the same reason.
“…you still want me to join,” I say, staring straight at the ground.
“Monarch, please…” Prim says as she puts another hand on my other shoulder.
… I bite my tongue for now. I know how passionate she is about this.
Plus, she did save me from the exam. So the least I can do is let her get whatever she needs out of her system by showing off to me.
The elevator finally touches the ground after what felt like way longer than it needed to be.
As we step out of the elevator, I am greeted by a wide-open floor of metal and rubber mats. The sounds and smells of metallic crunching and oil running take over my senses. Motors and engines starting up, running, and shutting down surround my ears as I gaze around and begin to walk forward after my sister.
The middle of the floor is empty with plenty of room for people to walk through, or even for a vehicle to drive through, but the sides of the floor are crowded with… something?
I look at tall metallic frames housing big machines - No - Vehicles of some kind standing about 12-14 feet tall. They look almost like… humans? They are bipedal with powerful-looking feet and legs. Hydraulic powered or pure motor? I can’t tell from here. The arms appear to be very similar in terms of design. The entire vehicle is metallic silver with a design that just screams “power,” “apex,” or “superior.” The vehicle's core is also covered by metal but has cameras.
But one thing that strikes me as odd is that they somehow look… empty?
“If you stare at the dolls too much, they’ll start to blush,” Prim says to me, noticing me staring at the vehicles.
“Dolls?” I repeat while looking up at the towering vehicle.
“Well, R&D called it a mech, as most people would, but we already used the term mechanized quite a bit, like mechanized infantry, mechanized battalion, mechanized brigade, etc, etc. So we settled on a new name: Dolls!” Prim explains with her hands in motion.
I observe Prim as she says that. Hand movements, excited expressions, a hopeful smile on her face, a lab technician groaned in agony behind her as soon as she said that, followed by Prim snapping her neck and glaring at said technician...
“By ‘we’ you mean you came up with that name and forced everyone to-”
“Details! Details!” Prim cuts me off. “Besides, I didn’t bring you here just to stare at it...” Prim motions over to a person in a lab coat on the PC as she puts a headset of some sort on. The scientist looks back at us and jumps in his seat, nearly falling off the chair as I get a look at his screen, where he is totally not playing a first-person shooting game.
After scrambling his hands across the keyboard, causing the computer to make various error noises, he quickly picks up a small black object on his desk and spins himself toward the doll. He then holds the object with his thumb on the top while an azure light emanates.
A deep electric growl causes a jolt to be sent through my body as I physically jump a short distance in the air. I quickly turn to see the noise source, and my eyes meet with the doll’s eyes.
Well, I assume those are eyes. Then, near the top of the doll, two azure lights glow in response to the scientist pointing the object at them. Soon after that, long thin azure lights glow all over the doll in almost an outlining fashion.
With loud electric growls and the sound of motors going off, the doll takes one step forward, then proceeds to kneel on one of its joints. Next, it lowers one of its hands to the ground and opens its palms up before ceasing all limb movement.
The front of the doll opens with the sound of air rushing out of the insides, revealing the cockpit of the doll.
The sound of the doll ceases, prompting me to look back at Prim, who is staring at me while grinning from ear to ear, revealing her intentions.
“…you want me inside this thing, don’t you?” I say with an exasperated tone.
“We need a normal person without any experience to operate the doll to test its U.I and U.X elements.” The technician next to Prim says while adjusting his glasses.
“In other words…” Prim begins as she walks up to me and takes my hand. “We need a normal person to use the doll to see if they can figure out how to operate it with minimal outside help.”
“Prim, this isn’t the first time you’ve had me test new technology, and I’m not exactly a normal person thanks to a certain one percenter mother and a sister with a questionable mental state,” I mutter.
Although, most of the tech she has me use she brings home. And she’s never done anything on this scale…
“I have noooo idea who you could possibly be referring to, but this sister sounds like an absolute 10/10,” Prim says as she begins to pull me towards the doll’s lowered hand. “Besides, you’ll do fine! You’re normal… enough.”
I don’t even attempt to fight Prim as we reach the hand. She walks next to it while holding my hand and motions me to step on the hand. I reluctantly hop onto the metal armament, attempting to keep my balance.
As I do, a soft clang, rumbling, and motorized whirling takes place as the doll takes me closer to its cockpit, with Prim only letting go of my hand as soon as it was impossible to hang on.
With the doll’s open cockpit looking like it’s about to eat me, I take a look inside before hopping in.
A cool breeze hits me, but not enough to send a shiver. LED lights on the inside help me see the details of the cockpit. Hexagon hexagons surround me, showing me. A harness that looks like it’s supposed to wrap around my body is in the middle of the cockpit.
Right below it appears to be an omnidirectional treadmill. On top of the treadmill are two metallic-looking boots, a pair of gloves, and a pilot’s helmet right in between them.
I hear Prim’s voice coming through on a speaker inside the doll, explaining how to hook myself in and put on the other gear.
“World’s most expensive game of dress-up…” I mutter to myself.
Just as I finish putting on the gear, a significant amount of pressure asserts itself all over my body. The gloves, boots, and harnesses squeeze me tightly quickly, causing me to gasp audibly.
The cockpit in front of me whirls to life again and begins to close itself.
In complete darkness, I take a moment to reflect on my situation and carefully put together what words I wish to say to Prim in my head.
However, I am interrupted by the bright glow of all the hexagon panels surrounding me.
My eyes squint from the sudden change of illumination at first, but then they widen as my mouth lets out a barely audible “Woah…”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Even though I’m completely covered in pure machinery, I can see all around me. The images look like they’re in 4K definition and 60 frames per second, making each hexagon look life-like.
And to top it all off, it has the new car smell!
“I think I’ve heard of this before…” I mutter to myself. “Descriptive awareness stem?”
“Not even close. Distributed Aperture System!” I hear my sister yell through the speaker.
I gasp and nearly jump out of… whatever I’m in.
“Wait, you can hear me?!” I ask while anxiously looking at Prim.
“Nah, I’m just telepathic- Obviously, I can hear you! You have a mic in there, genius!”
I look below me and now notice a studio-quality microphone pointed in my direction. “Ah.”
“Anyways…” Prim begins. “That doll is not only state of the art, but is also jam-packed with state-of-the-art technology!”
I look around the cockpit to observe everything the doll has to offer as Prim keeps talking.
“For starters, the distributed aperture system lets its user see every degree in the X, Y, and Z space! Well, at least every degree their body is not covering… you might be covering a bit much there…”
“Hey, I’m calling you out! If I made that joke, you’d have me in a headlock by now!.”
“And I expect you to remember that, Monarch. Anyways, the doll also comes equipped with specialized gloves and boots that are registered within the doll's programming and comes with haptic feedback sensors.” Prim explains as she snaps her fingers in the air.
A lab technician rolls out a big red exercise ball in front of me, obviously resisting the urge to bounce it.
I look at my hands as I begin to move them, and back at the dolls.
It’s… completely identical movement. I even manage to make a shadow dog with the doll’s hands.
Looking down and noticing the exercise ball, I waste no time in reaching for it, but at the same time, I move cautiously once the hands get close to the ball.
As I make contact with the ball, I feel pressure in my fingers, making my hands jump back.
Then I realize it.
I felt the ball.
I felt it through the doll.
Or at least… that’s what it feels like.
I tap the ball repeatedly but slowly. Every time I make contact, a small amount of pressure is applied to my fingers which I think is supposed to simulate the ball. In other words, I can feel what the doll is feeling.
I didn’t want them to, but my lips began to move on their own, creating a shaky smile. A chuckle escapes me as I pick up the ball with the doll.
“This is- I can’t beli- My-.” are all that comes out of my mouth.
“Oh, but there’s so much more,” Prim says with a sly tone in her voice. “Activate the WIS.”
In an instant, I am bombarded with colorful displays of information, each pointing towards a weapon, whether in a guard’s hands or simply hanging up on a rack.
APC9 PRO-K
SIG MPX
GlOCK 19
Yep. There it is—the true purpose of this machine.
Prim begins to speak in a matter-of-fact voice.
“The WIS, or weapons identification system, allows the user to know what weapons are in use in the vicinity of the doll at any time the user desires. But that’s not all; it can also identify any vehicle that may be a threat.” Prim says as she gestures toward the other dolls in the facility. “It contains a database of every weapon and vehicle in the world! Or, at least everything the U.S government knows of.”
The WIS tells me of the dolls' existence but also acknowledges that they are currently inactive. Doesn’t seem like Prim is lying so far.
But something in red font catches my eye.
ERROR 404: IDENTITY MISSING.
My eyes meet with a strange humanoid object in a... giant containment tube. Or a test chamber? Whatever it is, the doll repeatedly draws blanks on whatever it could be.
[https://i.imgur.com/WN7w8Lb.png]
“And what about that?” I ask Prim to point to the tube while using the doll’s fingers. “Seems like government is a bit behind with that, huh?
“Oh! I-uh...” Prims exclaims while jumping a bit. “...that’s still out here? A bit earlier than expected but...”
I’ve got her now.
“You realize I can hear your mumblings from in here, right?” I say while looking
at her. “You have a mic right below you, genius~,” I say, gesturing at her headset.
Prim looks at me with wide eyes and down toward the ground. Then back at me with furrowed eyebrows and gives a small huff. She places her hands on her hips and verbally issues a single command to the doll.
“Eject.”
After barely comprehending what just happened, I look at the complex's ceiling, laying on top of what feels like a mattress of some sort.
A smug Prim with hands on her hips slowly walks into my view and bends toward me.
“Glad to know the emergency ejection system works~,” She says as she begins to squat. “You’ve lost your mech privileges.”
Hilarious.
“Really?” I say as I sit up to meet her face. “I thought it was a doll, not a mech.”
Prim releases a sigh and straightens herself, hands still on hips. She lowers her eyebrows and lips.
“Why are you so against me”? She inquires. “Is it because of how I ripped up the pavement on our way here?”
“Nah,” I reply.
It IS actually part of the reason, but not the biggest. Prim can get REALLY passionate sometimes.
Rather…
“It’s the fact that this entire project is literally the definition of ‘paved with good intentions.’”
A small gasp escapes Prim’s lips, her open hand almost reaching her mouth, stopping just short before softly closing her lips and returning her hands to her side.
She entirely focuses her eyes on me.
“Good intentions that WILL be met.” Prim states.
“I seriously doubt those are ‘good intentions’ considering the guns the doll showed me when you showed off your ‘WIS.’” I retort.
Those guns were much bigger than any human could hold. Cleary meant to be held by giant hands.
Prim furrows her eyebrows. “What are you trying to imply here?”
I let out a sharp sigh while putting one of my hands on my temple. “Prim, I’m in STEM because I want to use technology to bring peace and stability to the world,” I say while looking right into her eyes.
“I think these dolls are amazing, but I can sure as heck tell this ain’t the type of tech that saves lives.”
“Peace and stability- they WILL save lives!” Prim says, almost shouting.
She then exhales, crosses her arms, uses one hand, and motions her words. “Do you know WHY multiple countries have world-ending weapons, yet we are all still somehow miraculously alive? Why are we actually in the most PEACEFUL time of humanity?! It’s because of mutually assured destruction!”
I move my head back slightly and raise my eyebrow instinctively as Prim continues.
“Every superpower on this planet knows that if one of them pulls the nuclear trigger, that if one breaks the taboo, all hell will break loose! None will live to see the next day! And even then, the winter that comes after will be much worst.” Prim explains.
“The only reason a country would break peace is if they were so far ahead technologically, they knew they could get away with such an act.”
“And that’s what these dolls are for?” I say while crossing my arms.
“To intimidate? Why do we even have to maintain this artificial ‘peace?’ Is it really peace if we’re pointing a gun at a person’s head?”
“Sometimes intimidation is the only language people in power understand,” Prim says, looking down and to the left. “Better that than the other person holding a bigger gun and pulling the trigger.”
Prim looks back at me and continues on, arms still crossed. “Besides, you should be happy with this. Once these sell, competition will increase, and better inventions will come to fruition. So there’s your peace and stability. I even threw progress in there.”
“Yeah, except you’re forgetting about the people who will actually receive these,” I say, lowering my head. “They sure as heck won’t care about ‘mutually assured destruction’ when they know that we won’t destroy the world over some killings and attacks as long as it doesn’t happen in a first-world country. And even then…”
“Monarch, I’m trying to help you understand here…” Prim says while she places her hand on one side of her face.
“You are trying to give me a brain aneurysm,” I say back.
“Monarch, I can guarantee you that it is nearly impossible for any of these to end up in the wrong hands,” Prim says to me.
“And how do you know that?!” I retort. “Mom has complete ownership of these things! She can sell them to whoever she wants, and then THEY can give them to whoever they want!.”
Prim’s eyes widen. “…are you implying that we are responsible for the actions of what others decide to do with our-“
This isn’t worth it anymore.
With my teeth grinding together and my body shaking, I turn and make haste for the elevator.
Ignoring Prim’s calls and pleas, I mash the button for the top floor.
I refuse...
Just...
Not here...
...
...
...
How far have I driven? Where am I even going?
...Do I even care at this point?
Much to my dismay, my jaw is still clenched, and my body won’t stop shaking.
Downcast flashes across my body as I think of the people in the neighborhoods that will smell burnt rubber for the next two hours thanks to me, but I tighten my steering wheel as I remember why I did it in the first place.
Although I don’t remember grabbing it, I look at my phone sitting on the front seat instead of being on its proper mount.
No new notifications. At least ‘do not disturb’ is doing its job. Or is she even trying to call me at all?
It was like meeting a new side of her, yet nothing about her changed at all. How long has she had access to black sites? Who else does she know? Thinking about it more, It can’t just be mother, right?
...What else isn't she telling me?
...Who is Primus actually?
...You know what? Forget it. Apparently, she knows people beyond people, so she’ll get a ride home just fine.
I pull over to the side of the road just as I hit the peak of a curve on a hill. After stepping out of the car, I feel a cool gentle breeze hit me. The trees ahead of me part ways revealing many towering skyscrapers in the distance with many smaller colorful buildings to fill in the space.
Grand Bay, Michigan; the Second largest city on the mitten.
I lean my arms on the railing at the edge of the road and hill, watching the evening sunset that’s causing Lake Michigan to glitter along with the concrete jungle. I look out and let whatever thoughts that come to mind fly through my head.
…that’s a lot of glittering.
The sensation of my heart sinking overtakes me as I look closer. The glittering is all over the sky as well.
…holy…
That’s not just light. Those are shimmers. A lot of shimmers. More than anyone's ever seen in one place.
My nose detects a smell. It’s not foul, but it’s not pleasant, either. The scent is noticeable, but I can’t describe it.
It’s just…. Is.
What used to be glitters turn into sparkles, then into rainbow balls of light. Then, as many more shimmers appear in the sky and near the ground, My ears begin to make out a soft white noise.
My breathing becomes rapid and my heart starts to pound as I stumble backward from the railing.
It’s hard to look at the shimmers now, as they are now miniature rainbow suns, nearly blinding me.
I should-
White.
The only two senses I can experience right now are seeing the color white and a piercing ringing in my ears.
Eventually, my entire body feels static. Like if every bone in my body was the funny bone and got nailed multiple times.
My eyes remember that there are multiple colors on the spectrum, and I begin to slowly make out the sky. My tinnitus leaves and my nerves finally calm down. Realizing I’m on the ground, I take my time to get up, being careful to not make any more possible injuries I have worse.
As I slowly sit up, my heart sinks, I have chills, and my eyes widen. Then, I hear a terrifying sound.
The sound of an entire city screaming with despair.
I suddenly hear sirens in the distance. Not just one siren, all of them. Car alarms, police sirens, heck, even the tornado siren eventually kicks in.
And then I hear a sound that doesn’t fit among the rest? It sounds absolutely mortifying... A roar of some kind?
I take a look at the city once more. The shimmers are gone; different colored dots now replace them and are flying around the city as smoke rises from the buildings.
I notice a significant black figure in the sky with what seems to be... wings? The figure flies just in between the city’s skyscrapers and unleashes a long sharp line of fire, illuminating the ground below it.
“....d...d...dragon?” That is all I manage to mutter out as my body shivers.
Away! I need to get away!
With my heart desperately trying to stay inside my chest, I turn towards my car, preparing myself to jump in and go anywhere but here.
However, a gust of wind nails me from the top and interrupts my attempt to get inside. Looking up, all feeling leaves my fingertips. My heart sinks once again.
Above me is a giant blue lizard about 20ft long with bat-like wings and two huge legs with sharp claws at the end.
It begins snarling, with its saliva dropping down toward me.