Quick questions , do you guys prefer longer chapters that take a couple days to make or shorter chapters about 3 to 4 k words each I can make daily. Leave a comment and I'll get the consensus
... ANYWAY ONTO THE CHAPTER ...
He was roused from his slumber by the pleasant smell of vanilla , His nose twitching slightly as fine hair follicles bristled against his nose .
Orange eyes peeled open , His eyes dimming the light within so he wouldn't be annoyed by the glare .
[ You have an amusing partner father ] Sleeping next to him on her stomach, Victoria had slung her arm around him in her sleep , her candy pink vanilla scented hair splayed in all directions whilst she slept nude under the covers .
' That I do ' He leant down , Planting a gentle kiss on her cheek as he gently slid out from under her arm , Her lips pursing and snuggling into the pillow as she attempted to draw him close. ,Yet instead drew in his pillow instead.
The key buzzed in the back of his skull , receiving a signal from across the tower from its spawn , informing him that tekeyoshi remained just as asleep as Victoria.
' Hm good , that boy needs his rest ' Sebastian glided across the rug covered ground of his room within NEW HOPE. The blinds of his wall wide window hiding the sunlight outside. His room itself was massive , sitting atop the very tip of NEW HOPE , the room itself had three floors .
The top floor where he was now was where he slept , Wardrobes and storage along with an office for official work attached to the eastern side of his bedroom.
The western wall had two doors , one leading to the bathroom , a walking shower as well as a large bathtub and a toilet obviously.
The second door on the western side lead to a balcony that stretched around the circumference of the second floor , looming down apon the second floor . It was lined with plants and various holograms as well as a staircase to the second floor .
The third floor simply had a lounge room , A second office, a kitchen and armoury . It also contained a door that lead to the rooftop garden outside and his av landing pad .
Draping his night gown over his impressive frame , Whilst not overly muscled light main , He was no doubt up there in rates of attractiveness to the regular person even without cosmetics .
Walking down the flight of stairs down to the third floor , the coffee machine had already been turned on thanks to the red key .
Speaking of , over the last 10 months. The red key had grown into an entirely different beast compared to what it had been before , having been fed continuous amounts of knowledge and data from its creator , of which it was now fully aware of and comprehended just whom and what its creator was .
Whilst immensely powerful , rivalling and even somewhat more than those transidental God AI's , It was still aware and held a fierce unyeilding loyalty to its maker.
And whilst it could link itself and experience through other devices . Why would it do so , when it could experience all through its maker , its father .
[ Your coffee has been prepared father ] A humanoid faceless butler robot presented his coffee too him on a platinum platter , Of which he gratefully took with a kind smile .
" Thank you for your effort " Sebastian nodded his head to the butler , Placing his hand on its shoulder to which it bowed and moved on with other tasks like dusting.
Instead of enjoying his coffee inside , Sebastian opted for walking onto his balcony. Stepping out into the damp morning , Mist rising past the tower top and into the skies .
" Truly breath taking " He stared out towards the badlands . Where there was once planes of death and hot sands , rocks and gravel . The once lush lands of California had revieved new life , Towering trees rivalling three story buildings rose in all directions. A biome tailor made by the printer now bathed the land in lush green , A sight he knew many enjoyed during the early morning .
With the success of seeding . NEW HOPE had recueved an influx of support not just from the common people , Night Corp and many of night city powers had placed their support in new hope. Whilst some were simply hoping to curry favour with new hope and wouldn't hesitate to bring it down at the earliest convenience. There were others , A small fraction who truly held a place of reverence of new hope in their heart .
The common people held a near deific reverence for new hope and Sebastian himself , unanimously placing it as the number 1 supported rising power in night city. Even more so than arasaka . Yet he wasn't stupid enough to officially overstep arasaka , They had entered a sort of agreement to leave eachother alone , of which they both stuck to .
Of course the printer didn't just garner the favour of night city and its residents . It drew national and international support .
Places like the NUSA had frequently made requests for deployment of the printer , more often than not in an effort to attempt to covertly seize the device and reverse engineer it . But with a heavy task force meant to secure and if not destroy the printer , The risk was almost 11% , 0% if they went through with self destructing the printer .
But of course the NUSA had actually made use of the printer , spending copious amounts of eddies to have NEW HOPE seed entire landscapes . Removing not just nuclear waste or bio engineered viruses , but restoring the previous splendour of some of the NUSA states .
International powers such as the EEC or the Soviet Union also made us of NEW HOPES biome seeding capabilities, Reducing the toxicity levels of much of both and restoring them to their mostly healthy states.
Such use and the expense of ordering and using the printer from NEW HOPE. , rose the company from just a multi million dollar company to a billion dollar company over the course of the past year . With many sending not only resources, contact and eddies but also potential contracts with vague requests for new hope to make technology tailored to their requests.
Most of these were open ended contracts heavily in new hopes favour , but both parties knew they had the ability to follow through, and most often they did .
Of course with the ability to shut down their tech no matter where it was around the globe or in space , Sebastian was assured they still held the remote to anything they made , both the contract holders and company's knew that , any tempering would result in the immediate destruction of anything new-hope made .
None of the larger corporations were overly keen on antagonising new hope , Especially with their placement in night city. It made then resistant to retaliate in any way that lead to them .
Now sporting a staff of over 500 , The Tower of NEW HOPE had been transformed from a skeleton crew to a full fledged corporation ... well a fledgling corporation . A colony guided by Sebastian's hand , And run by assistant and other tailor made ai in his absence .
Onto other matters. Victoria in the last year had officially moved out of her parents abode . Officially moving her things into the tower of tomorrow , another name of new hopes tower in night city. It had been a rather nasty affair, With her parents attempting to no doubt cause a ruckus through the NCPD . Though when the NCPD had found out just where Victoria was moving. The NCPD all but shut down any investigations into the matter , leaver her parents high and dry .
Thought Sebastian would occasionally offer to help reconcile , He didn't attempt to force her to tall to them , She was her own woman , With her own wants and desires , he wasn't going to attempt to guide that .
Tekeyoshi too , Had also been given several instances of cyberware to enhance his mental acuity and faculties. Downloading vast stores of data into his neuralware along with the curriculum for someone his age from various academies , giving him the best education he could have potentially gotten.
Sebastian himself had also been subject to the annals of time . Though not so in the aging department. He was afterall biologically the same as when he arrived . His body however was another story.
His spine had become even more high tech , Several small heat shunts vented air from internal systems out of his body. The Upgraded MR in his chest and its cooling unit constantly released air from the vents in his spine . The six power nodes on either side of his spinal column now had a new integrated system , drawing the ambient unused energy in the air and surroundings around to refill and charge the power nodes , Keeping them at 100% at all times .
Overall the his back was beginning to look less like human technology , and was beginning to look like something else , a next step into the unknown . Plates Interlacing that typically couldn't happen as it typically defied physics, Parts moving in ways that would imply they had negative mass to repell or circulated parts through itself or even allow him to outright fky by using the negative mass generated in his body to propell him in the opposite direction of where it pointed similar to the MR. Others outright disappearing and reappearing. All in all , His spine , if anyone ever got a look at the tech in his spine and chest, They would no doubt assume it to be alien if not divine in terms of technological advancement.
His sandevistan had also been resized , condensed yet enhanced to nearly 1.5 times is previous capability, allowing for more use along the spinal region for other cyberware .
Sipping tantively on his cup , He savoured the flavour of the coffee , Humming to himself in delight .
" Creator , here is this mornings reports " His butler came forward with a datapad presenting him Benjamin's reports as well as the collected files for the day.
" Ah ... yes " Sebastian allowed the butler to take the coffee cup as he scrolled through data, Allowing himself to slowly take in and analyse the data as he turned from the view and slowly made his way back inside " Well ... everything seems in order "
Not really interested in the report , the key would alert him to anything untoward in the company , It always monitored on sight traffic and data like a predator on the prowl . Even assistant in NEW HOPE was somewhat fearful of the omni present red key . Infact it had said so several times , announcing it felt vulnerable whenever it was forced to interact and surrender data to the red key, But it always complied not so much out of fear but out of understanding they were comrades in arms.
" please .. would you go down and prepare my lab for my arrival , I'll be down there momentarily " Sebastian shrugged off his black night gown, Leaving himself in black shorts as he took a step outside once more , The vents on his back opening up and releasing a hot burst of air .
[ Planning flight path , diverting traffic ... aligning relay shield ... ] A thrumming distortion visibly distorted the air around Sebastian, twisting into an oval like shape , it's tip forming into a come infront of Sebastian.
[ Flight path set ... air resistance set to >1% ] Below the skin on his legs , Several small lights glowed under his flesh , All the while the MR in his chest became audible to anyone capable of hearing it.
" Three ... " His pupils dilated , Taking in light from the greatest distance possible , Seeing kilometres ahead across the NUSA .
" Two " Brain activity sky rocketed as things began to slow to a near complete stop , taking everything in around him with seamless accuracy .
" One " His ears sealed over , As well as his Nostrils and mouth, A thin film encasing his eyes as he began to rely on an internal oxygen supply .
" Go " As a boost , His sandevistan activated as soon as he launched forward across his rooftop balcony.
As soon as he lifted off , A thunderclap echoed around the top of NEW HOPE , A circulating burst of pressurised air signifying his breaking of the sound barrier began to form around his previous position , Yet due to his speed even that was a crawl .
With a single bound he leapt from the top of the balcony , under the influence of the MR , He cleared the boundaries of night city with that single bounce , the cone of super condensed magnetic waves designed to divert, and twist all matter in his way to allow for the absolute least friction on his path forward .
As his foot touched the ground as he landed, that single step cratered the ground underfoot in a colloidal explosion before he continued forward .
That second step, continuing to launch forward as fast as he could , caused the world around him even in his hightened state to blur .
' Faster ' His legs began to move faster , The cone of magnetic waves controlling his path angling down slightly to allow for more footfalls .
1km per step, 6 ... 18 .... 70 ... his speed rose exponentially . The faster he ran , the greater the strain the MR went through to maintain the magnetic field , to the point that air had become a visible phenomenon around his barrier.
' Faster ' His eight step was on the Atlantic ocean , Having blitzed past the NUSA east coast and now several kilometres into the ocean.
' MORE ' Too fast to break the water surface, It was the same as sprinting on the ground. The MR calculated the optimal path as he ran .
10 seconds later , he burst across Spain in a single bound. Growing exponentially faster , He Burst through the boundaries of Turkey. Taking threw steps through Turkmenistan and Leaping over the cities of China , Across the east china sea and jumping over the islands of japan all within another 25 seconds .
' MORE ' To his perspective. As his speed had gone from kilometres an hour , to kilometres a minute... a second... to tens of kilometres second ... now within the borders of hundreds of kimetres a second to over a thousand a second to nearly 2 , He didn't push further otherwise there could be ... complications.
[ Beginning final approach ] He began to slow down . An overlapping display showing his top speed. A top speed of which momentarily reaching 1735 kh/s at his current limit .
As the borders of the pacific ocean became visible on the horizon , His steps crawled to a crawl compared to his previous speed , And with a final bounce ad he entered night city from the opposite direction he had left. Sebastian leapt from the bay straight at the western face of newhope. The MR angling his descent to land comfortably next to his previous position with a light huff .
[ Congratulations creator , you have travelled the earth's circumference in a total forty two seconds with a total Top speed of 1735 km/s , tapering off at roughly 900 km/s on lower interpretations , systems appeared to have sustained ... minimal damage , Potential speed increase of 40% possible for systems to maintain within a satisfactory threshold] .
' Hm ... we'll have to do some tweaking that's abit ... slow ' He picked up his gown , Draping it back over his shoulders and stepping back into new hope with a satisfied smile .
[ the lab is ready ]
' I'll be heading right down ' Sebastian began to make his way to the elevator at the other side of the third floor. Pausing slightly to look up at the pink haired woman cocooned in his blankets standing at the stairs , Staring at him with a glum face .
" Coffees ready " Sebastian teased and stepped into the elevator just as a shoe came hurling in his direction, slapping the elevator door as it closed properly.
[ It appears she was woken by your initial lift off .. perhaps we should make sure to start away from the balcony ]
" It'll be fine " Sebastian chuckled. He knew she wasn't actually mad , It was more of a game between the two of them , small things they bothered enjoyed but neither of then really said anything , they didn't need to .
....
" How is he holding up " Sebastian came to a stop infront of a one way window , RN02 standing at his side as they looked apon the subject within.
On the other side of the glass , Three rooms were visible , one a living space , the other being a training room and the other being a simulation room , Each one was connected in a line in , to which the one way window could stretch across all three rooms .
In the training room , Standing apon an omnidirectional treadmill , Leon ... no longer confined to his wheelchair , Instead, running along his back was an experimental exo skeletal column that joined into his shoulders and ran down to the base of his back , serving as a connection point for his legs to work in place of his origional spine .
"He is Exceptional " RN02 replied as the both observed leon running close to 74 mph thanks to the base enhancement of the exotic skeletal spine he wore .
" He accepted the neural upgrade , showing a eighty three percent acceptance rate . The AI birthed from his neural activity has synced to 99% with its user " RN02 brought up a display on his datapad that showed Leon's current brain activity , Several neuralware being shown near the back of the brain .
" The baseline red 1 optics you installed are running at peak efficiency along with targeting and assistant interface , Smart link has been successfully connected to targeting interface " RN02 surmised the basics of Leon's surgeries and successful installations .
" Hm ... that is very good . Run him through a couple of simulations , Your choice on difficulty , I leave the parameters to your discretion ... keep me updated " Sebastian turned from RN02 whom had been watching Leon for several days without stopping , And he would continue to do so .
' He makes a good candidate ... ' Sebastian had a very specific idea in mind for leon .
A man born and raised through harships , Yet had come out the other side a better man than most , taking a better choice into his own hands . Yet could make the hard decisions whilst maintaining the bigger picture .
It wasn't so much the body he wanted , he could make and give anyone any body he wanted . What he needed was the mind , the drive .
Whilst he could program an ai , Give it an ethical matrix and program it do think and act a certain way, It was all well and good , But it lacked a certain component.
Will ... you could program an ai , But you couldn't give it will if place of reacting to data , What it needed was will .
And leon ... potentially , Had exactly what he sought .
' But the time will only arrive ... when he has ... completed his upgrade '
....
Solomon reed , no longer deployed on the field for the week , Made his way through toward he and his teams lounge area , Walking through several corridors similar to like had had done for better part of the last year .
Walking into the lounge , Reed studied the room intently , seeing that there was only his reluctant ally during this surprising tough op. He made his way to where they were sitting , Coming to sit across from them with a holographic games board set up between the two of them .
" Did you get it" With his heavily Asian accent , Zing , Arasakas spy looked up at him , His head hung low as he reached forward and activated the holographic game display .
" I did , security was no joke , It's under the table " Reed spoke quickly and to the point , He didn't see the need to speak at length with what was essentially his enemy.
Reaching under the table , Zing picked up the shard with the duplicated map of the building and other compiled data , coughing and leaning to the side to slot the chip in .
" Very conspicuous " Reed had to hold himself from rolling his eyes , But let it be , Instead he focussed on eyeing the room , Guarded against anyone that might approach " What did you get "
" Patrol routines and routes , server access codes amd the access for our target , We need to act soon ... there's a twelve hour period before our current access codes become useless " Zing adjusted the neckline of his suit .
" Shit ... If we're going to act " Solomon looked over his shoulder with a squint " We're going to need an imm escape route and retrieval "
" Alright ... here's what I got " Solomon turned back to Zing, Leaning over the table " I've got something on this afternoon outside of the tower that's been pre approved, I'll arrange us evac then . You go through and our teams on for deployment , We detach on the way back and act before anyone realises ... we'll need to be quick . I'll also go through and rig up the towers alarms , Any luck we'll trip the alarms and get everyone evacuating out of the tower at once , we'll blend in . If that doesn't work ... it's gonna be guns blazing , You get that "
" Its the best we're going to get all things considered " Zing pondered over what Solomon had suggested , drumming his fingers over the table with puckered lips .
" Alright I guess I can go along with this , but if you fuck me on this , I'm taking you down with me " Zing squinted at Solomon whom shrugged , crossed his arms and leaning back .
" We're in enemy territory , Alittle bit of trust goes along way " Reed grunted but ultimately let it slide , Shimmying out from the booth before rising.
" I'll start organising our evac , Keep communication to a minimum I... " Reed Waa stopped by Zing who also rose.
" I'm not an amateur, I'll have my part done by tomorrow morning , New codes and everything ... just do your part " Zing promptly left , leaving the lounge area without further engagement .
.... SEBASTIAN'S LABORATORY, TEST CHAMBER 1 ...
Standing within his laboratory under new hope , Within a large chamber hollowed out adjacent to the main lab. With a ceiling over ten metres in height , This chamber was deeper below newhope than the lab , Connected to the lab via a second elevator that dove intonthe surface another twenty metres.
In total there were four of these chambers , each holding various machines or projects half way through completion .
And in the first of these four chambers , Several crates littered the large room , Various wires and metallic plates leaned against said crates .
Suspended at the centre of the chamber , a gargantuan machine was hung from the ceiling , A cockpit sat open , various instruments being slowly constructed via various mechanical limbs suspended from the ceiling high above .
Above the cockpit canopy , A series of sensors and relays were being constructed with great care , Coming together to come to form a sort of humanoid shaped face.
Standing below the canopy of the cockpit , Sebastian toyed with a datapad in his hand , Adjusting the blueprints accordingly .
[ connecting to power grid ] one of the mechanical arms falling from the ceiling held a large power cable , Dragging it across the chamber to slot it into the back of the cockpit .
" Brr " The Machien shuddered suddenly , Hydraulics shuddering on their own as the head full of sensors and relays jolted momentarily .
[ Connecting to frame ] The red key whispered , The optics in the machines head turning on as the machine stopped shuddering.
[ Connection secured ... Successful ... connecting remotely through cockpit functions ... Remote control activating ] Sebastian's vision blurred and was overcome by a live feed from the robots camera system.
A map display popped up in the bottom right corner , Yet showed no map as it hadn't been programmed yet .
[ Weapons unavailable .
ICE ... active.
POWER : Unavailable
LIMB FUNCTIONALITY: UNRESPONSIVE
THRUSTERS : UNAVAILABILE
ANTIGRAV SYSTEMS : UNAVAILABILE
AI INTEGRATED MATRIX , INTEGRATED AI : RED KEY : ACTIVE
] Various systems went through debug in a text screen in the bottom left corner , with only a small portion of what would eventually become a humongous humanoid robot was afterall only partially complete .
[ Disconnecting ] The massive machine suddenly went slack as Sebastian's view returned to its natural state.
[ Designation: shrieker... functional ]
' I always wanted one of these ' Sebastian stared up at the machine that shouldn't exist in this universe , Eyes dancing across its exposed frame .
Sure this machine was leagues ahead of what was available in this era , It wasn't too far of a quantitative leap in technology , If someone around the world really put their minds to it they could've produced this machine with their own research within a decade or two at the latest .
Hell most of the technology he was making in his lab was merely part of his retained knowledge , things he had observed and knew how to make , sciences from the lower races his children governed that dree his momentary attention.
It was all in the past , Now he had stores of knowledge , uncountable years , eras , civilisations of technologies available in his mind .
And with that knowledge, now that he had the time , money and resources , why not enjoy himself alittle bit .
[ P.S , If you can figure out what this machine is before it's properly announced kudos to you ]
" Victoria is going to love this when it's finished " Sebastian remained connected to the labs construction systems , the red key using fine precision to continue building the robot as he left construction chamber 1 .
[ heat redistributing plating test was successful , Moving to live testing ] For the robot , he couldn't just use standard rate armour, Instead he was pioneering a new branch of adaptive armoured plating . It was entering its basic stages , But was proving effective none the less .
As he passed a testing chamber connected to chamber 1 , a thruster was spewing a cone of super heated plasma straight onto a metallic plate .
The plate itself , Was slowly starting to heat up , But under the barrage of constant heat , Such things were to he expected. The sheet of metal visibly released the absorbed energy , Sending it across the sheet and dispersing it into the air around, Keeping the armoured sheet from hearing up too quickly.
[ Live test 1 ... successful ] The blue cone of plasma slowly died down , With the plate of armour cooling at a quick and visible rate before returning to room temperature as if it hadn't just been put infront of what was essentially an afterburner .
Several robots waltzed Into the test chamber , taking the slab of metal and moving it deeper into the depths of the testing chambers.
Entering the Junction that split into each of the four test chambers , Each one sealed shut whilst several tests and machines were being constructed away from organic eyes .
Approaching the elevator up to the rest of his lab , Sebastian placed his hand on a biometric scanner ,the elevator opening with a chime before he stepped in and rose to the rest of his lab .
[ Nathaniel is ready for his final appointment ]
" I'll be there shortly "
...
" Just abit more " Nathaniel huffed , Falling down onto a ditch in the ground as explosions ripped overhead .
Shrapnel peppered the ground around him as he hid in the dirt .
" FUCK ME " He cried as sounds of jets were heard somewhere far overhead .
He looked over the trench he was in , Alone , Peeking over the top , He couldn't see anyone , but he knew they were there as a burst of sand exploded right infront of his cover , causing him to duck back behind cover .
' How long have I been here ' Day after day , He had been here , The war should have ended by now , The unification war was over years ago but now ... ' Fuck '
He hadn't seen anyone else in days , weeks ... months even . But all around , War churned out , he hadn't seen any corpses , But he found the aftermath .
The ground rumbled underneath as a tank must've driven by in the distance.
' Come on ' He hyped himself up , Huffing in and out before Grabbing his rifle and Leaping out from behind cover and rushing towards the enemy fortifications.
" COME ON " He raised his rifle at the enemy fortifications as the sounds of bullets wizzed by .
" AHHHH " He leapt up and over the defensive line , Aiming his rifle down at the enemy defence line , He let out a burst, Shooting at phantoms that weren't really there , out of the corner of his eyes , the whole world around him glitches momentarily , patches of black opening up for a minute , attempting to drag him out of this false reality. Yet as he kept shooting the false phantoms , He remained locked in the hallucinations.
He landed in a thud , Sighing in pain as he pulled out a magazine out of thin air , Slotting it in his rifle before rising and rushing towards his ultimate objective .
The battlefield rocked occasionally , shadows passing by as he continued to sprint at a fortified bunker nearby.
Erupting into the bunker , He emptied clip after clip into the hallways as he rushed towards his objective.
Dropping down under phantom bullet fire , Bouncing off walls and sliding through the legs of incorporeal phantoms.
Until finally, He entered a room where he saw the first real person infront of him.
" GET ON THE GROUND " Nathaniel yelled out as the woman suddenly whirled .
" WHAT THE FUCK NATHANIEL " Their hands suddenly shot up in surprise .
" I SAID ON YOUR KNEES " Natheniel knocked the woman to the side , Grabbing her by the hair and slamming her into the wall .
" Its my Caitlyn can't you " A punch to the Jaw knocked her to the ground , Blood spraying between her lips as Nathaniel grabbed her chin.
" WHERE'S THE INTEL YOU STOLE " He held the gun up to her head , Yelling , growing incensed . As he yelled , the world around began to blur and shift, Black patches opening up all around as he pushed the barrel of his gun into her forehead .
" I DONT ... I DONT KNOW NATHANIEL PLEASE " Slits opened up more as he continued to yell , His lips curled in disdain.
" FINE ... I'll find it myself " His finger curled around the trigger , Reasy to open fire , Yet as he was about to full it back, He froze .
From a black patch in reality , Red tethers burst forward , wrapping around his body as he stood over the woman he was tasked with neutralising .
' NO ... LET ME ' The world around shimmered violently , Glitching for a split second as he momentarily saw a sterile empty room before being returned to the front lines .
' LET ME ' The red tendril wrapped arpund his arm , Causing his arm to suddenly perked and let go of the gun , His arms locking up against their will and legs being paralysed .
' WHAT THE HELL IS ' The world around suddenly went black as he was forced from his hallucinations, Dragged into the real world by some outside force.
....
[ Beta shard test subject 02 , Nathaniel price - Recovery success rate 87% - Beta shard ... success - Cyberpsychosis neutralised ]
Nathaniel lay on a stretcher beside the cyberpsycho he and his teem had brought in a year ago .
Over the last couple of months , he had been subject to increasing levels of stimulants to induce cyberpsychosis , before ultimately succumbing to the neurological disorder .
For the last four months he had been secured next to the origional cyberpsycho , Tests run on both in tandem, different scenarios implanted , neurological reactions were mapped and studied .
Both Nathaniel and the cyberpsycho were kept in a state of perpetual cyberpsychosis , Until they finally recorded every response they could . Every instance of cyberpsychosis , Everything it could possibly have been was recorded and a cure was finally synthesised .
" It seems Benjamin... " Sebastian finished the final installation Into the beta program chip , Reaching forward and presenting it to eye level as they stood infront of Nathaniel and the psycho.
" That we've found a cure " Already several chips were being crafted down below in a chip plant down inside the bowels of the tower " A working ... reusable cure "
" Its ... " Benjamin shakily accepted the chip into the palm of his hand , Adjusting his glasses as he studied the black and red coloured chip " Its done "
For months he had watched that man on the stretcher suffer , falling deeper and deeper into insanity , quickly becoming a threat to his team and needing solitary confinement . It had only gotten worse from there . Soon turning to self harm between occasional bursts of lucidity .
Until finally he stopped being reachable , fully falling into more animalistic tendencies, for all intents amd purposes , he was lost to the world .
And Benjamin had watched it all happen for the better part of the year, Sighing off and approving everything. Sure he could've asked Sebastian to stop the tests , but what then . Would all his suffering have been for nothing . Nor would they have a viable cure . They'd be back at step one .
All they could do now , Was be there for whatever Nathaniel would need from now onward . Monetary compensation, lifelong assistance , anything he would ever need he would be provided for should he ask .
" Sure is ... I'll leave you to distributions . Also ... announce we have early detection and preventions shards ready for the public ... I'm sure many would leap at the chance to prevent future cyberpsychosis altogether ... especially the corpo's ... though I'll he making sure our stored chips are extra ... secure " Sebastian turned away from Benjamin, And walked around to the front of Nathaniel's stretcher .
Looking down at the man he had been running the tests on , Sebastian chewed his lip in thought.
' You're a good man Nathaniel ' He placed his hand on the sleeping man's shoulder 'You'll be remembered long after your departure from this world for your contributions '
" He should wake up in 12 hours after the program restores him to his previous state ... make sure he's reunited with his team , Give him the rundown and give him what he wants , I want him discharged within 24 hours " Sebastian bid Benjamin well before ultimately leaving the room , The cyberpsycho himself would no doubt face the consequences for his actions before and during his rampage ... but he'd serve them as a real member of society , a recovered cyberpsycho .
...
" Hey tek " Sebastian walked into Tekeyoshi's room , The boy leaning over a small robot dog he had been making over the last year.
" BOSSMAN " Tek smiled and placed down the screwdriver , Looking at his employer and turning into a solute .
" Very funny tek ... how goes your little project " Sebastian walked to the desk and looking down at the dog .
" Its going great ... I've finished creating its behavioural matrix ... here watch this " Tek turned the dog on ,The dog suddenly perking up and turning to him , Its sensors locating him as its mechanical tongue fell from its mouth, Mimicking a real dog with near perfection .
Reaching his hand down, Sebastian allowed the dog to sniff his hand , Its sensors processing and committing his scent to its memory banks .
" Well done tek you've outdone yourself " Sebastian turned to the boy and began to scan him .
Over the last year, Sebastian had dumped more and more data into tekeyoshi and his neuralware . All the while tailoring his growth to what he desired . But he made sure not to keep the boy from building bonds , he allowed the boy out into the real world every day with his friends . But he made sure everything he and his friends experienced outside firmly built tekeyoshis desire to protect and be a guiding hand for humanities future .
It was a work in progress , And should tekeyoshi ever say he wanted out , Sebastian would allow him to do so , He would resort to plan b and let the boy do what he wished .
" Thank you bossman " Tekeyoshi smiled softly , Looking away from Sebastian and turning to look at his robot dog.
" Hey ... I have an idea " Sebastian suddenly lowered himself infront of tek " How about ... tonight you go have a sleep over at your friends house , I'll give you a guard but you'll be able to do whatever you want ... how does that sound "
" Really " Tekeyoshi suddenly whirled to face him , Eyes alight with hope , His body shaking with not so subtle excitement.
" Really really ... go call your friends " Sebastian urged tekeyoshi on , The boy running to the tablet on his bed and immediately dialling his friends .
Meanwhile , the smile on Sebastian's face slid off like water , turning to a cold hard glare .
' Are you sure '
[ Avsolutely , Solomon and Zing intend to move at 4 am , What do you wish to do ... ] Sebastian mulled over the given Information. Rubbing his chin in deep thought.
' Infect every little device in that lab from the most inconsequential shard , to the very robots that guard them , We'll trace the infection and see just whose be acting against us ... ' He shrugged , Intending to head up to Victoria and explain what was about to occur .
... 4 AM ... NEW HOPE ..
On their way back from the field , Solomon and Zing suddenly ejected from their designated robots , Rising from their submersion tanks and rushing towards the locker rooms .
" We only have a short ten minute window to get his done ... " Solomon growled , Throwing off his suit and pulling out his regular NEW HOPE uniform .
" I know ... you better have arranged our transport " Zing too dressed himself in his uniform , Both throwing their diving suits into their lockers before leaving, Grabbing their backpacks and rushing to the rooms entry.
Making their way to the elevator , Zing and Solomon injected a deamon into the subnet , Momentarily forcing assistant out , or so they thought.
Clicking the restricted access level , They dropped down , Reaching into their packs , Pulling out their hidden firearms , ICE , infectious hardware to allow them access to the lab .
A year, A whole year of covert observations , Mapping out routes , routine system breaches , scouting . Everything they had done over the past year came down to this . They couldn't fuck up , They knew this .
As the elevator came to a stop , It's doors sliding open ,they were met with their first obstacle .
Suddenly , the ape like robots that Guarded the lab entrance burst forward, Flinging themselves at the unauthorised intruders without hesitation.
" NOW " A massive surge of EMP grenades we're detonated between the two Leaping robots , it was obviously not enough. AS their emp shielding simply scathed it off , It was the momentary disruption of their shielding however that allowed Solomon and Reed to make use of a split second daemon injection .
Immediately, the robots were blinded and deafened , Suddenly freezing in order not to damage themselves and eachother.
Solomon and Zing leapt into action as the robots froze as the daemon did their work .
" HURRY THOSE DAEMONS WILL ONLY LAST A COUPLE OF SECONDS " Solomon yelled , Slamming the access card into the slot , Whilst Zing breached the doors systems and used their one time emergency access code .
Just in time too , Because as the door opened , The robots suddenly perked around , Having killed and neutralised the daemons meant to kill then, The robots resumed their previous task , Tearing across the ground straight at them.
" GET IN " The door closed with a solid bang behind then, And they heard the two robots slam into the other sides .
" We don't have much time , they're trying to sound the alarm , two minutes tops ... " Zing yelled out as they turned to face the first chamber before them .
" Alright , I'll find a port and jack in , You go and start searching the nearby rooms " Solomon didn't waste any more time with words .
Finding a port wasn't difficult , Slotting in a breaching protocol, He enabled a remote connection straight from the lab to a team waiting in a nearby alley outside NEW HOPE , allowing them remote access to the terminal .
[ Breach successful , Beginning download ] He received a message after inserting device , As they worked ,he began to scour the lab with Zing.
' Alright ... smooth sailing so far ' It was only a matter of time , they both knew that , Solomon opened the first room .
Seeing nothing but storage crates that were gathering dust , Solomon closed the door , His gaze falling on an empty glass container that seemed to have once housed some kind of animal , Though it was long since empty .
Another glass case was completely black , anything within couldn't be discerned , but the display plaque told him it was a prototype version of the genetic printer , Though he wasn't dumb enough to try and break the case to try and retrieve that , Hopefully the breach his team was committing would give them the blueprints they needed .
Grunting , Solomon's attention was drawn by a sudden burst from the room over.
" It can't be " Solomon's gaze was drawn by Zing exclamation , Just in time to see Zing breach into a glass case .
" WHAT ARE YOU DOING " Reed yelled as Zing broke through containment glass , Reaching in and taking a sort of unrecognisable device , From what he could see it appeared to he half a helmet and chest plate .
And not a second later , sirens began to blare throughout the facility .
" WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE " Solomon shoved Zing.
" You don't recognise this " Zing replied calmly , Reaching up and putting the half destroyed helmet and chestplate on .
" Why the fuck would I " Solomon growled as Zing began to attempt to power on the armour .
" Hm dead ... " He grunted unsurprised , But he kept the half helmet and chestpiece on " This my American friend, was what was used to fight the American terrorist Apollo. Though everyone was informed the armour was destroyed ... that appears to have been a lie . If arasaka can reverse engineer this armour ... then "
Solomon scowled , Grunting as he toyed with the grip of his gun.
' Fuck ... not now ' Solomon turned away , dtalking back to the access port .
[ We've gotten everything we need , pull out now ]
" We'll just have to go with plan B " Zing slid the shard they had taken into his pocket and quickly picked up the device before rushing towards the labs entry .
" Let's delta " Solomon tore the remote access from the access port , Both of them rushing to the only lab entrance , Both unaware that they were being watched .
...
Standing at the top of NEW HOPE. , Sebastian crossed his arms , A wall wide display showing the the buildings feeds at once.
" Allow them out of the lab , Only engage the pursuit once they're out the front doors " Sebastian instructed ,Assistant relaying his orders to the robots guarding the lab as they pulled back , Dissapearing into the maintenance tunnels of the building .
" They have no clue do they " Victoria spoke up at his side, Lounging on the couch neside him as she leant her head on his calf.
" None what so ever " Sebastian and Victoria watched Solomon and Zing confusedly make their way to the elevator , Their conversation loud for the two observers to hear .
" At this rate , They'll exit the front doors in thirty seconds ... rerouting pursuit units to deploy once they reach their transport " Assistant announced. Activating four pursuit units that would chase the saboteurs apon their exit .
" Good ... access local surveillance nets , I want to watch "
...
Tearing through the front doors of NEW HOPE , Solomon and Zing rushed between the confused employees currently rushing out of the building themselves .
They split up , both with different destinations and separate extraction teams . Their survival and mission success now relied on themselves .
Solomon ran three blocks as fast as he could , Nearly getting hit by a car as he crossed a busy road , before finally entering the alley his team was in .
" Come on we got you " The NUSA agents grabbed him , Brining him into the van as they closed the doors and immediately pealed out of the alley, Fleeing from new hope as fast as they could .
" Relax now ... it's dome " a techy spoke up as she began to scroll through the stolen data , transferring it onto a cartridge they would he transferring to a nearby NUSA branch " We've got an AV ready for immediate evac , We need to leave night city immediately "
As if her words were some kind of omen , The van doors behind them were suddenly torn from their hinges as a metallic claw latched onto the top and base of the back of the van .
" WHAT THE FUCK " One of the NUSA agents cried , Rounding their weapon to face the ape like robots as it tried crawling aboard .
" KILL THAT MOTHERFUCKER " Solomon and the agents imm opened fire without hesitation straight into the robots face .
The bullets proved less than effective , simply bouncing off of its face as one of its many arms reach in and simply punctured the chest of the female techy , Flinging her body from the van and splattering her on the road whilst one of its free other two arms reaching for the others .
" FUCK CASEY " Another yelled out , Continuing to fire apon the lense in the robots head whilst Solomon yelled at the driver .
" SHAKE THIS FUCKER OFF " He knew his bullets were doing fuck all , useless against whatever armour this thing had as it simply reached in once more , Slamming another of the three survivors into the ceiling. Crushing his head in one move before Tossing his body outside just as it did Casey.
Running out of bullets, Solomon chose to instead grab a data terminal and Fling it into the things claw attaching it to the base of the vans floor.
' COME ON ' He ducked a punch meant to behead him and repeatedly slammed the chunk of steel into the things hand , Dodging three more times before the part it was Grabbing onto gave way , Dislodging its hand momentarily .
" GET BACK " One of the two other survivors holstered a grenade at threw it straight at the chest plate of the ape , the grade sticking to its surface .
" Fuck ... " Solomon cried out and leapt away " ME "
The explosion that followed threw him straight into the wall of the van , but it served its purpose , as the back of the van was wrecked , Tossing the robot away over the edge of the highway where it fell several stories to the water far below .
Grunting , Solomon sat up , taking deep breaths , He looked at the other two collapsed agents.
" How far are we " He hoped that thing couldn't float , good riddance .
" two minutes out. AVs ready to leave apon arrival " The agent reached forward and disconnected the data cartridge Casey had programmed before she died .
" Let's get the fuck uut of this shit hole "
Sure enough , They arrived at their AV without any further issue , quickly ditching the van as they all huddled into the AV and departed , Watching in the distance as the robot they thought they escaped suddenly drop onto the van , Crushing it in one go .
" Thank fuck " An agent whispered, They were too far from the robot for it too act , As it surveyed the wreckage before apparently throwing a tantrum at not finding anything.
The doors behind them closed , And their AV flew away from night city at the fastest speed it could muster.
....
Hours later , Los Angeles air space.
They were relaxing , the sun hanging over the sky , Yet the interior of the AV was dimmed to allow them some rest after the shit they had just been through .
" Its done " Reed stared at the feed of Myers who raised an eyebrow .
" Very good ... youve done well Solomon, We'll speak about your place in the NUSA apon your return . I think we could use you , especially after your exemplary service . One mistake in the past shouldn't destroy everything you've done for us " Myers , ever the politician immediately moved to bring Solomon back into the fold. Testing the man with subtle influence .
" Thank you madam president , I look forward to coming back " Reed nodded slightly , maybe he'd get to see so mi soon , Clear up the confusion between the two .
" I'll await your arrival " The call ended, But Solomon wasn't allowed a moment to relax.
For the moment he had made the call to his superiors , New hope traced it , Got everything they needed from the call and created a back door into the NUSA , Myers and every device she was nearby thanks to her calk witb solomon . And so ... the reason they had let Solomon go was complete.
With a press of a button at sebastians fingertips all the way in night city , The datacartrige with the stolen data immediately became corrupted , the devices the data had touched immediately shut down and wiped themselves clean .
But they didn't have to worry about that, For something far worse happened.
" WE HAVE MISSILE LOCK ,HOLD ON " Like a phantom , A visible distortion occurred behind them , An unidentified aircraft of unfamiliar design suddenly launched a missile in their direction before it sped up to a blur , flew over the AV before dissapearing before their eyes thanks to optical camouflage.
" The fuck was that " The Air craft moved fasted than they had ever seen , But they didn't have time to react.
" BRAAAAACE " An explosion made everything Solomon see go black .
And the AV fell from the skies onto the city of Los Angeles.
OVER THE PACIFIC OCEAN
The AV touched down on an arasaka cruiser several kilometres off the shores of NIGHT CITY .
" Take it down , We need to get back to Japan immediately " Zing fell to the ground , Clutching his side as personell moved on board the AV to retrieve the half destroyed armour .
Sat down against the hull of the AV , Zing made a call that would ultimately end his life.
" It is done , Arasaka sama ... we've " The call was traced to Japan from afar via a link established between Zing and the armour the moment he had out it on .
With the information they needed gathered , Sebastian , All the way back at new hope , gave the order .
And as the armour was being offloaded from the AV , It suddenly came to life , its chest and head piece suddenly glowing a hot orange colour. A daemon Tearing from within the armour and into every device on the battle cruiser .
Many paused, Unsure of what just happened. But others came to the immediate and correct conclusion.
" I see ... goodbye .. arasaka sama " His world became hot white. As the next moment , The arasaka cruiser exploded violently in a near thermo nuclear explosion , after the daemons breached and activated every explosive device on board, detonating them all at once .
The existence of the false armour evaporated alongside Zing and the rest of the arasaka battle cruiser, Leaving nothing but a shockwave and shards of metal to fly in all directions.
...
Watching the live feeds , Sebastian grunted in satisfaction. One arasaka battle cruiser going up in flames , The other an NUSA team going down over an adjacent city.
" How many survivors , Has any of our data been transmitted "
[ No data has survived , We have picked up 8 survivors ... total from both parties ]
" Good ... we'll watch and see how arasaka and the NUSA reacts now ... it's going to be ... interesting "
....
CHAPTER COMPLETE
I HOPE YOU GUYS HAVE ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER , IF ANYONE HAS ANY COMMENTS OR A REVIEW I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU GUYS SO PLEASE ALL THE SUPPORT IS MORE THAN WELCOME
UNTIL NEXT TIME
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