“Do you think that everyone who comes here will lead lives of sunshine and gumdrops, Prof?” he asked.
“So I’d rather not know, then?”
Kaiden rubbed the back of his neck. “I doubt you’d be liable in any way, but the rules up there are so screwy, it’s probably best not to mention it.”
“Agreed. Back to this drive.” The professor looked at him. “What I see is rather troubling.”
“You broke in that quickly?” he asked, astonished despite his knowledge of the man’s skill.
“Technically, Aurora did, but I did create her so I can take some credit.” He looked at the screen again. “Files, security counters…there are several things here.”
“Yeah. Chiyo took a look and told me about all that.”
“I had hoped that you would refrain from dragging your friends into your misadventures,” Laurie said wearily.
“Hey, it was her idea. Well…kind of,” he retorted.
“I see.” He leaned back and folded his arms. “Tell me, Kaiden, what do you know of neurotechs?”
“Not a lot more than the basic stuff most people would know, I think,” he confessed and tipped his chair back as he shifted into a more comfortable position. “They’re augs who have a special device in their heads which uses a mixture of chemicals, mods, and augmentations to allow them to interface with technology in different ways. It’s like the technician’s suite.”
“Our suite is much more complex and powerful than anything like that, I can assure you.” The man huffed with a trace of indignation.
“Are you getting territorial now?” He chuckled.
“I’m only correcting misinformation,” Laurie assured him. “But do you know the repercussions of such a condition?”
“Yeah…at best, you deal with migraines and hallucinations. At worst, it can lead to catatonia or…” He thought back to the creature in Dallas from years before, flinched involuntarily, and almost toppled. When he’d stabilized himself, he looked up. “You can become a neurosik.”
“Indeed, but there is a state in between, one that isn’t talked about much because we know so little about it—paratechs.”
“They spontaneously jump out of ships?” Kaiden asked humorously, although this only caused the professor to rub his temples.
“It is an amalgam of parasite and tech, smartass.” The man huffed. “It is when a neurotech’s augmentions turn against him and reduce him to a vegetative state, but not so braindead that he can’t be exploited.”
“Exploited? How?” Kaiden leaned forward and glanced cautiously at the drive.
“By installing the right software into a neurotech’s mental augmentation, they can be pupated as if they were a droid,” Laurie explained.
The ace’s lip curled as he recoiled instinctively from the device. “That sounds creepy. I’m not afraid of death, but having someone control me like that? Seriously, it gives me chills.” He shuddered and focused on the professor. “Do you think this guy was one of those paratechs?”
“Looking at one of these programs, it seems likely. Not only that, but it could link up to control others.”
“Wait, what? I didn’t look at all the mercs, but he was the only one I saw with a device like that.”
“The others wouldn’t need something like that, only an antenna augmentation in their brain or along the top part of their spine.” He motioned to the positions with his hand.
“You mean like my implant?” Kaiden asked with a sudden tremor of nervousness.
“And again, you compare my work with common appliances,” the professor muttered.
“Stuff like that is common?”
“In certain circles, yes.” He nodded vigorously.
He shook his head. “Those guys looked weird enough without being all hive-mind. It really completes the zombie look.”
“Zombie?” Laurie questioned.
“They were all featureless—no pupils or hair, thin skin, and moved like nothing I’ve seen outside the Animus. They had augs and mods, but maybe that link let them move so inhumanly because they weren’t controlling their own bodies,” he surmised.
The other man was silent. Golems. What the student had described were golems—the very same type they used in Project Orson. His lips pursed as he reached slowly to his console and pressed a button. Chief appeared in the screen, surprise evident as his eye bulged. He quickly began to type a message to the EI.
The door to the room opened and Cyra entered. “Hey, Professor, do you have—oh, hey. You’re that Kaiden kid.”
“Not a kid, but close.” He stood and offered a hand. “Chiyo’s told me about you. She thinks very highly of your skills.”
“And I think the same,” she replied with a smile and shook his hand. “It’s nice to finally meet you. So you’re here for a little chat with the professor.”
“I learn something new anytime I’m here, whether I like it or not.” He looked at the other man. “He seems to have gone quiet now, though.”
“Cyra, take this.” Laurie tossed the drive to her. She released Kaiden’s hand quickly and caught it but almost dropped it in surprise.
“What’s this?”
“A neurotech drive. Take it to research and look into it for me, would you?” he requested.
“Do you think you can find something else? You seemed to have it all figured out rather quickly,” the ace commented.
There might be more to learn from the drive but in reality, Laurie wanted her to leave. He needed some alone time with Kaiden. Well, with one exception.
“And please contact Sasha and tell him to get here as soon as he can.”
Cyra nodded, holding the drive close. “Um…all right, I’ll get right on it, sir.” She left the room quickly and the ace turned to face him.
“I can’t say I’ve ever seen you so direct, what’s up?” he asked and sat again.
The professor sighed and turned his monitor. Kaiden frowned when he saw Chief inside. “What the— When did you leave?”
“I had a pushy invite,” the EI stated and his color changed to a worried blue. “Listen, partner. I had a quick chat with the professor, and there’s something we have to talk about.”
“And that is?” He felt a sense of unease from these two—a rather unnerving combination, considering who they were.
Chief looked at the professor to see if he would speak. “You were the one who wanted to break it to him,” Laurie pointed out.
“In bits and pieces. There’s too much to tell him all at once, don’t ya think?” Chief replied.
Kaiden began to feel rather irate. “You both know I’m not a fan of secrets, especially with this EI stuff, and that’s what this sounds like.”
“Yeah, in a way, but also other stuff,” Chief admitted. He looked down for a moment, then back up. “Do you remember that pirate station test? How the captain spoke gibberish about who you were and all that?”
“Yeah? What about it?”
“And do you remember that crashed team you saw at the beginning of the Adva final? The one that was happy you ‘made it?’” he continued.
“Again, yes.” The ace clenched his teeth in frustration. “Where are you taking this?”
“And remember how you said I looked more real?”
He was silent this time, and while he hadn’t connected the dots yet, he was certain about one thing. “I won’t like this, will I?”
“It depends on your point of view, really.” Chief’s eye closed and then opened again. Kaiden saw himself in half of his view like he was looking at himself from the monitor screen.
“I guess I should say our point of view,” Chief stated.
Chapter Seven
A man stood at the top floor of an immensely tall building in Tokyo and gazed out across the cityscape. He didn’t actually take in the view or look for anything specific but merely stared out as he remained motionless and deep in thought. It was all simply visual white noise.
Someone had targeted him. That wa
s nothing new, really. If you had money and power, you became a target. There was no handbook for this kind of thing, but there were common rules you learned along the way. He learned this at a very young age, something that was both fortunate for his understanding and unfortunate for his reality.
He drew in a deep breath. Another spy was caught, but his men were not able to find anything of note and when the police took him away, all they could charge him with was trespassing and attempted robbery. But he hadn’t simply tried to steal an expensive piece of equipment. If that was his only goal, he could have honestly tried to take one of the ornate figures decorating the lobby. They were much smaller and even if he sold it on the lower end, he could have paid six months’ rent with only one of those.
Instead, the intruder was found on the fourth floor where he tried to gain entry to one of the lead technicians’ office. He was plainly dressed in a brown jacket and blue jeans with no distinguishing features. But he had seen something in the trespasser’s eyes—or, rather, a lack of something like he merely stared into a void.
The door to his office opened. “Sir, are you still here?” his assistant asked.
“Of course, Rei,” he replied and turned to head to his desk chair. “It seems I’ve spent most of my life in my office now. I haven’t felt like that since I was young.”
“It’s probably for the best right now, Gendo, sir,” she stated and approached the desk. “Considering the circumstances, we don’t know if someone is trying to make a move that could put you in jeopardy.”
“I doubt this incident is the first step into a kidnapping or assassination plot.” He sighed, picked up a vape pen, and took a slow drag. “Is there something that needs my attention?”
“We received a message from your dau—from Chiyo, sir,” she stated and handed him the tablet.
“We’re alone. Call her what she is.” He let the vapor trail from his mouth as he took the tablet. “Maybe if I had thought that way, I would hear from her more often.”
The assistant was at a loss for words. “I’m…sorry, sir.”
Gendo was silent as he focused on the message and his eyes widened slowly the more he read. “This is… Someone was able to make an override command for our new security system?”
“I can have the team look into it right away, but I wanted you to know first.”
He placed the tablet on his desk, linked his fingers together, and thought about it. “Have them look into it immediately. I need to send a message of my own.”
Sasha walked briskly into Laurie’s office. “Cyra called me. It’s rather odd of you to not invite me your—” He saw Kaiden seated in a chair across from the professor with his head down, his back tense and one leg bobbing, and his hands gripped on the sides of his chair. He looked a mixture of confused and furious. That was not a great combination, especially for him.
The commander’s walk slowed, and he looked from Kaiden to Laurie, who had a grim expression on his face. That simple fact was equally troubling. He also noticed Chief’s avatar in the screen of the monitor.
“I believe I might have some idea of what is going on, but do you care to elaborate, Laurie?” he asked and gave the other man an expectant look.
“He knows now, Sasha,” the professor stated. It was a cryptic reply, but he understood in an instant.
He walked over slowly and placed a hand on the ace’s back. “Kaiden, I know you must be troubled, but believe me, we didn’t want to keep this a secret after everything that happened.”
“I know.” Kaiden’s reply was quick, monotone, and curt at first. The commander couldn’t tell if he was angry or too busy thinking things over to manage more than that, but he continued. “Chief explained to me…well, the whole thing. I guess, all in all, it didn’t require much, but I kind of wish he was a little more thorough. Like about the part where I was a guinea pig for some WC project that had me going around and taking care of their problems. Maybe it was cheaper than hiring someone?”
For once, Sasha wasn’t sure of what to say at this point. It didn’t help that he couldn’t gauge Kaiden’s feelings at the moment. The ace held a hand up. “Before you say anything, yeah. I get that I wasn’t actually ‘really’ there. It was those golem things. Some sort of skin suit, like the things I faced yesterday.”
“Yesterday?” Sasha looked at Laurie.
“He did a mercenary gig and ran into a team of golems—ones I suspect to be from AO considering the modifications he told me about,” Laurie explained.
“Right. Those guys, who may or may not be after me but definitely the school.” Kaiden leaned back and Sasha was somewhat startled by how nonchalant the look on his face was. “A secret club filled with elite members, maybe, who are looking to take over the world or force society to conform to them. Perhaps, but who knows?” He rolled his eyes. “Laurie said you guys don’t really know much yet, so I guess I can look forward to dealing with that someday.”
“We aren’t sure of anything regarding them, Kaiden,” Sasha said and dragged in a deep breath. “This is the most active they have ever been, but we still aren’t sure of their overall intentions. To most, they are basically a modern Illuminati. Most believe them to be a myth or merely a failed society from decades ago. We aren’t sure what their aims are.”
“And if they try to make a move against the Academy, we and the WC will handle it,” Laurie promised.
“Helpful,” Kaiden chided and let his arms hang loosely at his sides. “It doesn’t explain why they sent those Asiton robots after me in the Animus.”
Laurie really had told him everything, hadn’t he? He arrived only fifteen minutes after he had received the message. Cyra was no slouch and he was sure she had sent the message almost immediately after Laurie had requested it. He realized that he wasn’t there to help inform Kaiden but to play damage control. He crossed behind the ace and pulled out the other chair, sat slowly, and balled his fists together. It wouldn’t do to force him to say anything. That might simply anger him. Instead, he waited for him to ask a question. He also didn’t want to rush in and repeat everything again since he didn’t know what he’d already been told. That might anger him as well.
“By the way, Commander, did you know I’m a cyborg now?” Sasha looked up in surprise. Kaiden tilted his head slightly to reveal a faint yellow glow in his left eye. “Weird, ain’t it? I bet even you didn’t think something like this would happen back when we first met, huh? Then again, I guess I would be more worried if you did. I don’t know too many people who would and be right in the head at the same time.”
“I keep telling you it ain’t like that,” Chief protested. “Back when Gin tried to fry your head using the Animus, it cooked and overloaded your synapses. I was able to minimize the damage by using the Animus systems and the EI implant to help control them and fix what I could.”
“I’m still a little unclear on what all that means, Chief.” Kaiden grunted and straightened. “Maybe you could have specified before doing the whole ‘I see what you see’ thing?”
“Technically, it’s always been like that from my side,” Chief said in a half-hearted attempt at humor that didn’t work. “Look, I ain’t saying keeping you in the dark was the right thing or anything. But you have to admit that all this shady stuff kind of worked out, right? If it weren’t for the buffer the golem gave you during the final, Gin would have killed you outright. And the EI implant is better than even the professor thought it would be.”
“Yeah, and if you can recall, I was already antsy about that whole deal when he told me what it was before he stuck it in my brain,” Kaiden countered and his voice grew a little louder. “And it’s now still in there and I get the impression that you don’t really know what it is at all. I thought you made the thing.”
“I did,” Laurie assured him before he shrank back a bit. “Or…I suppose it would be better to say I finished it.”
“Oh, that’s not what you wanted to say,” Chief said despondently.
“And
as for the whole golem thing,” Kaiden stated as he bolted out of his chair and slammed his hand on Laurie’s desk. All those present flinched, ready for him to finally erupt. Instead, he fell silent and his fingers tapped on the desk for a minute as the tension built. “Honestly, I guess I’m not really the one to lecture others on ethics.”
Laurie, Sasha, and Chief stared at him, bewildered. He fell back into the chair and folded his arms.
“At the risk of poking the hornet’s nest. I have to say you don’t seem as—”
“You don’t want to say it,” Laurie warned the EI.
“Angry as I thought you would be,” Chief finished. The professor sighed and shook his head and Sasha tightened his fists in anticipation.
“Oh, I am,” the ace assured him, his teeth clenched and body shaking. “I’m pissed—very, very, pissed. But I think that’s why I can’t get so worked up. I’ve become so enraged that I think I’ve somehow broken some kind of anger barrier and circled back to thoughtful.”
The other three looked at each other, all at a loss. He stood and turned to exit the room. “Let’s go, Chief.”
“Kaiden wait!” Laurie called as the EI avatar disappeared from the monitor.
“I’m heading back to the dorms. I’m taking some time off,” he announced and strode out of the room. “You can make up an excuse for me, right, Sasha?”
“Certainly,” the commander replied simply.
“And Laurie, keep looking into that drive. Tell me if you find anything else,” he ordered. The professor merely nodded and Kaiden left without another word. The two faculty members looked at the door in silence.
“You should have waited until I arrived,” Sasha muttered and stared at the professor over his oculars.
“A lot of help you were with managing it,” he retorted before his head hit the desk in exasperation. “No, you’re right. But when he told me about his mission, that and the fact that we’ve withheld this information for so long…it all simply came out.”
“Chief was supposed to tell him about this. He’s had months.”
Animus Boxed Set 2 (Books 5-8): Revenant, Glitch, Master, Infiltration Page 69
