Running in the Shadows

[Elbryan]

OOC: this is an exclusive thread between myself and Celestiale. If you want tell us your comments, or suggestions, or whatever, just pm me.



Two people walked slowly down a hallway. On either side of the hall stood large tubes, taller than a man, that crackled with electricity. Most of them were empty, but occasionally a figure could be seen in them, floating serenely in a green liquid, connected to the machine by wires implanted in the base of their skulls. The two people walked through the forest of tubes and stopped before one marked with a large number 42.
The man looked up at the tube, and the figure floating inside of it, before turning to the woman.
"How is number 42 coming along doctor?"
The woman checked the tube carefully, and scribbled a few notes into her notebook. Smiling, she turned to the man.
"The shell has progressed flawlessly, Sir. All of the tissue has been grown, and all of the extra systems have been completely integrated. It is ready for the downloading."
"Good. Is the new AI completed?"
"The programming department sent it over this morning. They said that they had fixed the overly aggressive tendancies that had caused problems the with the earlier models. This AI is supposed to be the most human program that has ever been created, complete with a full range of emotions, not just the violent ones. They say we wont be able to tell the difference."
"Excellent. We will start the fusion process immediately."
"Yes Sir."
The woman reached into her labcoat and pulled out a small optical disk labeled AARON. Reaching over to the machine, she slipped it into a port on the side, and pressed a few buttons. The machine whirred and beeped for several seconds, then fell silent again. The man turned to the woman.
"Did it work? Why is there no movement?"
The woman pushed a few buttons on the machine, "It says the download was complete. I dont understand why it hasnt started moving yet." She leaned over and peered into the tube, searching for some signs of life from the form within.
Suddenly, the figure's eyes darted open, and it lunged forward in the tube. The woman let out a shriek and fell back toward the man, who caught her before she knocked them both over. The man helped the woman upright, then approached the figure in the tube, who had both hands on the glass, as if trying to find a way out. Its eyes darted from side to side, frantically searching first the man, then the woman.
The man looked at the figure in the tube, then smiled at the woman. "You are right doctor, it does have a full range of emotions. I have never seen one look frightened before."
The woman came up beside the man, and studied the figure in the tube. "Yes, Sir. It looks like the fusion was a success. I will monitor it for a while to make sure nothing has went wrong."
The man turned and started to walk away. "Keep me appraised, doctor. I need it up and running as soon as possible. I have a lot of plans for it..."
The woman took a few more notes, then turned and walked away, back down the hallway. The figure listened as her footsteps echoed down the hallway, until at last they dissapeared...

 

[Celestiale]

Ayasha pressed her form tightly to the corridor wall, watching as two of the lab's doctors, made their rounds. The timing had been especially crucial, and she found herself breathing just a bit easier as she confirmed for herself that the subject had indeed been activated. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for the creature, it looked terrified...but emotions were reserved for the common being, and Aya reminded herself that it was just an object to be acquired, and that she was simply doing her job.

She readied her weapons, making sure that all were fully loaded and operational, as well as her armor system. She'd infiltrated the hidden laboratory quite deeply, and wasn't about to let her mission become aborted due to lack of preparation. In her left hand she held her internally cooled, and specially modified Magnum, unlocked and readied. Her skin-tight armor clung to her lithe, sinewy body, and was built to cool, hiding her body's heat from any infrared invasion. Her long, dark hair was tucked up into her helmet as she lowered her visor to hide her hazel eyes - a special accoutrement with an array of various sight-enhancing features. She slowly inched her way along the wall, all of her senses open for any hint of danger.

As she neared her charge, it began to thrash excitedly within it's confines. Stark terror marred it's face...it seemed not to understand what it was....or even the importance of it's existance. She knew she'd have to release it as quickly as possible before alarms began to go off...now she just needed to figure out how to get into that capsule.

 

[Elbryan]

The Awakening

Aaron slowly reached consciousness. He couldnt remember where he was. In fact, he couldnt recall much of anything. He knew his name, but beyond that... it all seemed a blank. He breathed in, and was suprsed to find not air, but liquid filling his lungs. His eyes flew open, and he saw two people watching him. Moving forward, he attempted to reach them. He needed to know where he was, why he was here, and what he was doing floating in tube. However, his speed was more than he expected, turning a simple movement into a aggressive lunge. The female must have interpereted it as such, because she fell backwards, and opened her mouth as if she were screaming. Aaron couldn't hear a thing through the tube, but he watched as the man helped her up, and then approached.

Aaron searched the inner side of the tube, looking for a release, or a catch, anything. He needed to get out, the tube seemed to be closing in on him. His eyes frantically lept from the woman to the man, silently pleading with them to let him out. The man turned to the woman, and said something, then walked away. Aaron kept close to the glass, and watched as the woman did something to the machine attached to his tube. She then pulled out a pad, and peered at him intensely, scribbling in the pad every few seconds. He watched her for a while, then she put away her pad. She smiled up at him, and Aaron thought that perhaps she was going to let him out after all. Instead, she turned and slowly walked away, leaving Aaron alone in the hallway.

Dejected, Aaron slid back into the center of his tube, and curled up into a ball, hugging his legs tightly to his body. He didnt even notice as another figure approached his tube...

 

[Celestiale]

Aya peered in through the translucent liquid...her visor already detecting the increased heartrate and body temperature of the subject. It seemed distracted, and she hoped she'd be able to get to it before it had another fit and aroused suspicion. She quickly scanned the vessel, revealing that there was no way to open it from the outside.

Dammit! The lock must be behind it...in the wall!

She detected the vibrations of nearby footsteps, and realized that she needed to be fast to avoid a confrontation. There was no way she would be able to get into the lab behind it. Instead she would work as quickly as possible to remove it by force from the front.

She focused her attention on the capsule, securing her Magnum near the small of her back. She found the input device that the doctor had used and tore it apart, pulling out wires and swiftly connecting them to a small, but powerful diamond saw. The blade whirred to life...the footsteps drew nearer...Aya reached to the top, and pierced the enclosure.

She gutted the tube from top to bottom...thick life-fluid splling over her. The creature was naked and sputtering as she ripped the tubes from it's airways, and the probes from it's flesh. The harsh alarms echoed violently throughout the laboratory, and it's mouth opened as if to scream, but her hand was quick to quiet it as it struggled in her grasp. She whispered softly....harshly into it's ear...

"If you wish to live, you will let me take you from here."

It did not matter if it was truth or not, she simply needed it to be quiet.

Her calming gaze met it's own, and she felt it relax a bit. The running footsteps were audible now, and a shadow of the woman doctor could be seen by the naked eye, stretched grotesquely along the corridor wall. Other's were coming as well. Aya grabbed her charge, almost falling under it's ungainly weight, and dragged it to the grate she'd snuck in through. This was only the beginning...she'd come a long way to get deep down inside the highly guarded lab...they had to make it out...her career depended on it.

 

[Elbryan]

Suddenly, Aaron was ripped from his tube, and he spilled out onto the floor of the hallway. Pain ripped through him as he felt the wires and tubes that had connected him to his prison being ripped from his body. Shivering on the cold floor, he opened his mouth to call out, but felt it covered almost immidiately. Someone was there with him. Someone had released him from his prison. His eyes blinked, but he couldnt seem to see anything. He could hear alarms blaring and he wondered what they signified. Then, he heard a voice, soft but urgent, whispering into his ear.

"If you wish to live, you will let me take you from here."

For the first time, Aaron had felt the touch of another person, the sound of another person's voice. He was entranced with it, and just sat there quietly. Soon, his vision came back into focus, and before him was the most beautifull person he had ever seen. He stared into her hazel eyes, fascinated by the fire and detirmination he saw there. She seemed to be looking for an answer to her statement, but all Aaron could manage was a small nod. She looked satisfied with that, and rose to her feet, dragging him up with her. Aaron stumbled, and slumped heavily onto her. His body still did not want to listen to his commands, and his walk was ungainly and slow. She led him to a nearby opened air duct, and pushed him down into it, following only a few seconds after him, pulling the grate back over the hole when she was done. She paused for a second, her hand over his mouth, watching as figures crossed over the grate above them. Then, slowly, she led him into the darkness...

 

[Celestiale]

Aya found herself in an interesting position as she urged the subject onward from behind. What had started out as quite a large passageway, had now become tight and constrictive, forcing them to crawl upon their hands and knees through the dark bowels of the corporation's underbelly. At first it had been quite slow-going as the creature found it's coordination, but it quickly adapted, and was fast becoming as quick as she.

As professional as she was however, she couldn't help but notice that her concentration was slightly off. She internally chastised herself for this, but also felt quite ridiculous that it even needed to be done in the first place. Still, she felt the warm flush of embarassment fill her face everytime she nudged him to go left, right, or straight each time they reached a crossroad. The subject was still unclothed...and she had never before seen such detail in any artificial intelligence. It was...well...complete in every way. Nothing was spared in it's creation, nothing was missing....it looked and felt....real. She tried to keep her guiding touches to it's legs, but slipped once or twice and grazed it's rear-end. She couldn't wait until they reached her other supplies where a uni-suit was waiting for it.

Aya shook her head clear of the thoughts that had no business being inside of her, and once again moved onward, finally locating the small storage room she'd hidden her other gear in. She nodded curtly to her charge to let him know they had arrived, then opened the grate, dropping silently to the floor below.

 

[Elbryan]

Aaron crawled slowly throught the duct, urged on by the woman's gentle touch. His cordination was increasing very quickly, as he became less groggy and more attuned to his body. Finally, they reached the end of the duct. The woman crawled ahead of him, and opened the grate. She gracefully rolled out of the duct and into the room, then gestured for Aaron to follow. He dropped to the floor next to her, and slowly stood up. Scanning the small room, he saw various supplies, weapons, and an armor suit. As he looked over them all, the stats ran through his head. Caliber, ammo capacity, and ranges of the weapons all came to mind, totally unbidden. He stood there, in the middle of the room, for several seconds, wondering where his knowledge came from. Then suddenly, he felt something on his shoulder. Whirling around, he saw the woman standing there, holding the armor suit.

"Put this on," she said as she thrust the suit at him. "We need to leave here, and we certainly cant do it with you like that."

Looking down at his nudity, Aaron felt his face heat up, and he quickly took the suit, and walked over to the corner. He could hear the woman checking her weapons as he quickly donned the suit. Aaron slowly turned around, the form fitting suit firmly secured on his body, as the woman secured her last weapon.

"Um... I'm ready, Miss..."

 

[Celestiale]

Miss... She chuckled softly at that. No one had referred to her in that gentle manner for quite some time. She eyed her charge, a small smile still lingering upon her lips.

"We need to stay as quiet as possible," she began. "Just mimic my moves, you can do that, can you not?"

He nodded slighty and she checked his suit over to make sure it fit properly, sliding her fingers over it's seams.

"Good, let's go."

She motioned her head to the right, towards the only door, opened it slowly, and made sure that all was clear before making her way along the wall down the corridor. They were much closer to the surface now, and she had chosen an escape route that was the least obvious of all of her choices. She knew the whole facility would be on high-alert by now, and that it would be difficult, but she'd been on these high profile assignments before, and felt she could handle whatever dangers would come.

 

[Elbryan]

Aaron smiled back at her, but she seemed to be thinking, and not really paying attention to him. He had hoped the implied question would get her to tell him her name, but apparently she had other things on her mind. Snapping out of it, she looked up at him again, and spoke quietly.

"We need to stay as quiet as possible. Just mimic my moves. You can do that, can you not?"

He wanted to tell her that he didnt know why he could mimic her moves, but instead he just nodded quietly, senseing she wasnt in the mood for idle chatter.

He stood still as she checked to see if he had put on the armor suit properly, and then she gestured towards the small room's only door. She approached it, and slowly opened it, before stepping into the corridor and motioning for him to follow.

Aaron stepped into the dimly lit corridor and let out a small gasp of surprise as he felt his vision slip into the infrared spectrum. The greys and blacks of the corridor melted into the reds, oranges, greens, and blues of infrared vision. Startled, he took a step forward, and bumped into the woman, who must be employing some sort of heat masking technology, as she blended right into the wall. She let out a small hiss of suprise, and grabbed Aaron in an attempt to steady them both. Aaron shook his head, and tried to think of putting his vision back to normal. Obidently, his normal vision returned, and the woman came into focus in front of him.

"Im sorry," Aaron whispered at her, but she placed her hand over his mouth, and gestured for him to be silent. She stepped back from him, and led the way down the corridor, visibly shaking her head. Aaron followed as silently as he could, creeping slowly down the hall.