Neon District: ALPHA (The Neon District Trilogy, Book 1)

by Chad Campbell

  “Who the fuck are you?” Caiden asked.

  “I go by the name Electro Dynamic Drive Initiative, s—sir,” he nervously replied.

  “What kinda name is that for an android, man? Electro Dynamic… Fuck that! Your name is Eddi now!” Caiden replied. “Why did you follow me all the way here, Eddi?”

  “I can explain,” Eddi fumbled about.

  Is this android nervous? Ha! He acts even more human than I do, Caiden thought.

  “I can help you and your friend. You know, the one they kidnapped.”

  “Tell me what the fuck you know. Now!” Caiden yelled while shoving the android up against the wall with his forearm, pressing the gun against his face.

  “Wait, wait, wait!” Eddi cried out.

  “I—I followed you because I wanted to help! I needed help too! Those guys, those androids; they're my comrades. Well, they were my comrades. But a few months ago, they started acting strange after using one of our terminals; doing things they never would have done before. Completely defying the teachings of our former leader, Jana Cero!” Eddi exclaimed rather emotionally. Caiden pulled back.

  “Jana Cero? Wait, you mean Wizard?” he asked

  “You know her!?” Eddi said excitedly. Caiden, guarded as ever, left no response, just a deadpan stare. “I knew following you would be worth it! Jana was the former leader of The Sentience. She was always for integrating into society, becoming an integral part of life with the Purebreds and Hybrids. Her philosophy and outlook on life as the first awakened android was revolutionary. Through her actions, she was responsible for the awakening of all the other androids today, myself included!”

  “How long have you been awakened for?” Caiden asked.

  “Five years, four months, and three days, to be exact. I’m currently the youngest of the androids in our group,” Eddi replied.

  “And how long has Wizard been awakened for?” Caiden probed.

  “Not even I know. Rumor has it, that among The Sentience, the only other androids that know Jana’s true history is Ragnarok, and R.Dash, our current leader,” Eddi replied.

  “Wait a sec! What even happened to your comrades? Why are they kidnapping humans now? I’ve never heard of them doing that until now,” Caiden said.

  “I think they’ve been infected with some sort of virus that’s affecting their ICMs. There’s no other explanation. After the incident at Merchant’s Rowe, I saw how well you dealt with those guys. And you seemed rather familiar with ICM engineering and databases, based on how easy you accessed their units,” Eddi replied.

  “Hardly. When I opened my terminal to gather information, I ended up with nothing. But it does line up with your hypothesis. I kept getting a segfault error every time I tried to probe further into their systems,” Caiden replied. “There might be a way around that error code, though. But I would need the ICM of an infected android and to diagnose the issue.”

  “Maybe we could head back to where you dispatched the others?” Eddi replied.

  “No. Vantz is in trouble and I gotta get to him before something bad happens … if it hasn’t already,” Caiden said.

  “Damn! How can we do this?” Eddi asked.

  “I’m not sure. I know for sure that I would need a few minutes to isolate the virus and reboot each ICM.” Caiden paused to think. “Wait! When you guys go to recharge, where on your bodies do you plug in?”

  “Most us have ports on the back of our necks.

  Why?” Eddi asked.

  “And what were to happen to one of you if, say, you got a much larger surge of voltage during your recharge to that particular area?” Caiden asked.

  “Our ICMs would initiate an emergency fail-safe and reboot our systems automatically. What about it?” Eddi replied. “You do know there will be hundreds of them waiting for you, right?”

  “If you guys are derivatives of Wizard, then surely you will also have some sort of device and detection scrambling feature, right?” Caiden asked.

  “Well, yes, somewhat. Jana, I mean Wizard, is on a completely different level, though. She can phase into every single piece of technology and network around her, down to the finest detail, for minutes or hours at a time. I can only send out a small burst of static and digital interference that only lasts a few seconds,” Eddi said.

  Caiden smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Perfect.”

  “What do you plan to do?” Eddi asked.

  ‘I’ve got a plan. All you need to know is that when I give you the signal, do it,” Caiden replied. Eddi nodded in agreement.

  “Okay, take me to where Vantz is,” Caiden said. Eddi pointed to a warehouse in the distance, and Caiden followed him there.

  CHAPTER 18

  ---usr/systems/server-x/Enter the TEAR & CSSA Units---

  Back at the clone farm, it was almost two in the morning.

  “Whoa, wait! What the hell is this?” security guard, Officer Dames asked. “Someone was in here?”

  “What’s the problem, man?” the stasis chamber workman, Erix asked, as he was tinkering with some board control equipment in the security booth.

  “Check this out! I got this footage from the Stealth-HSD feed about two minutes ago,” Dames replied.

  Erix rolled the chair over to the holo-screen Dames was looking at. “Hmm, I guess you’re right. Looks like the Hover Surveillance Drone coated in chameleo-ware really did the trick,” Erix said lightheartedly.

  “Oh man! HQ is gonna kill me! We were given strict orders to seize anyone who was unauthorized, should there be the slim chance that someone actually finds out about this place,” Dames said nervously.

  “You sure it wasn’t one of our own? He probably forgot something and came back for all we know,” Erix presumed.

  “You friggin’ maintenance guys really don’t care, do you? Only a few trustworthy people are given the keycards to even have access to this place, hence the reason why you don’t have one and we have to open the door for you every time you come to do pod maintenance!” Dames yelled.

  “Oh shit, your right,” Erix said, dumbfounded. “So, what are you gonna do now? I’m just a workman. Technically, this happened on your watch dude.”

  “I can’t believe this! I gotta send this to HQ along with the daily report,” Dames replied.

  “What in the world would you be able to do with this footage, though? The surveillance feed only got a quarter of this guy’s face. Seriously, all you can see is one of his eyes, it looks like it has a golden hue. Is that some sort of glitch? Never seen eyes that color before. Oh well, the rest of his body is shadowed,” Erix said as he examined the footage. “I mean, did he steal anything? Or break stuff in here? I took a look around the floor tonight and didn’t notice anything different. He must have just been some homeless dude that found his way here by accident.”

  Dames sighed. “Yeah, a genius homeless guy who just so happens to know how to hack into our security systems just stumbled on in here,” Dames replied sarcastically.

  “Hey, I’m just tryin’ to make you feel better about all this,” Erix said as he defensively put his hands up.

  “Well, it’s not working, douche,” Dames angrily replied. He got up and headed to the office inside the security booth and contacted HQ about the report, closing the door behind him.

  “Officer Rex Dames reporting from location SCF W-A-D, put me through to General Cain, please,” he said to the receptionist on the holo-call.

  “Officer confirmed, patching you through now,” the receptionist said.

  Reporting to General Vladimir Cain was always nerve-wracking. He was a man so fierce, his stare alone could make your life flash before your eyes if you were faint of heart.

  “Vladimir here. Report status update, soldier,” he commanded in his deep, bone-rattling voice.

  “Officer Dames reporting from the Clone Facility, s-sir!” Dames nervously replied. The General was a large man; six feet-five inches tall with a wide frame. He was in his mid-fifties. His shoulders and arms were sti
ll broad and muscular from his days as an active soldier. He sported a grey military commanding officer uniform, with a slew of medals and military honors resting on his left breast plate. Over his uniform was a long black leather coat. He had a bit of a gut protruding from under his jacket.

  “Spill it,” the general commanded impatiently.

  “Yessir! HSD recorded footage of a potential intruder in the clone farm at approximately one thirty-seven a.m. System was unable to fully identify intruder. Footage only got a quarter of intruder’s face. Nothing more, s-sir” Dames replied. He was sweating.

  “What the fuck do you mean, soldier?” Vladimir replied with an eerie calm in his voice. “Firstly, your only job is to maintain the safety, security, and secrecy of this facility! You took an oath to protect this facility upon assignment. We purposely made this place to further our goals to strengthen our military and police force. And you let an intruder in. And did you seize this intruder, Officer Dames? I think not! Do you realize that if this information leaks, it could compromise our entire government operation?”

  “Yessir! I am so sorry,” Dames could barely hide his fear as he tried to respond.

  “Send me the footage now,” Vladimir demanded.

  “Yessir,” Dames timidly replied.

  Vladimir received the feed, and examined it while Dames was still on the line. Vladimir appeared distraught. “I will deal with you later. I need to take care of this. Dismissed,” he said.

  “Yessir,” Dames replied. The holo-call disconnected and Dames flopped into his chair, relieved and worried at the same time. “I gotta move outta this city man, I quit” Dames said to himself.

  ***

  Meanwhile, General Cain was repeatedly tapping his finger on his desk in his office at HQ. It soon went from impatient tapping to consecutive fist pounding.

  “Shit!” he yelled as he stood up. He was furious. He called out to the AI assistant. “System, connect me to Lieutenant Daav August, please. And forward Agent Bloodfall a still of the footage Officer Dames sent me.

  “Right away,” the AI assistant responded. “Holo-call connected.”

  “You rang, sir?” Lt. Daav August inquired.

  “Yes. There’s a situation, I need you here ASAP.”

  “Sure thing.” The holo-call cut short.

  General Cain stood in front of the windows that overlooked the city skyline in Nova Central. As he looked out at the colorful scene before him, he heard a knock on the door.

  “Come in,” Vladimir said.

  The door slid open and in walked an athletic, chiseled man in his early forties. He was five feet and eleven inches, with dark brown hair in a combover. He also had a trim neck-length beard. He exhibited some cybernetic implants.

  A small, flat, rectangular metal panel was embedded in the right side of his head. It was connected to a smaller metal piece that worked around the shape of his outer ear. There was a razor thin orange light that ran horizontally across the cybernetic piece. His eyes were also bright orange from the optical implant.

  His right hand and both legs from the shins down were cybernetic augmentations. He wore rugged, army green Psi-Corp uniform that sported a large circular collar that covered the lower half of his face when fully zipped. His hair was undone and unkempt.

  “Sir, I am here as you requested,” Daav stated.

  “Thank you for getting here so swiftly. We have a situation,” Vladimir said as he jumped right into the discussion. “Earlier this morning, at approximately one twenty-seven a.m., an alleged intruder infiltrated the Secret Clone Farm in West Andro for unknown reasons,” he said.

  “Sir? Are you serious!? How? No one is supposed to know about that place!” Daav replied.

  “I haven’t the slightest idea. But they’ve clearly barked up the wrong tree. The officer on duty failed to apprehend the suspect and for all I know, that suspect could be long gone by now. I need you to assemble the TEAR unit immediately for sortie. Track down this person by whatever means necessary and bring him to me,” Vladimir ordered.

  “Yessir! It’s about time we got to action” he said with a frightening smile.

  The TEAR unit aka Tactical Espionage, Assassination & Reconnaissance, was a special unit personally created and overseen by General Vladimir Cain. It included nine members; Officers Kena, Romi, Tranes, Violet, Regos, Mox, Callum, Tona, and the squad leader was the General’s right-hand man, Lt. Daav August. Those nine had undergone a series of incredibly harsh training regimens and received an elevated dose of the ScioN serum, pushing their overall abilities to near superhuman more so than the standard but formidable Psi-Corp military police force. The special training and dosage received has made those in the TEAR unit especially dangerous.

  “Sir, Agent Bloodfall, has contacted you. Will you answer transmission?” the AI system asked Vladimir.

  “Yes, put him through,” he replied.

  “General, sir, I understand you have a task for me?” Bloodfall quipped.

  “Indeed. That image is from security footage of earlier this morning at the clone farm in West Andro. I need you and your team at the City-State Security Administration to find out who this person is and send whatever information you can find to me,” Vladimir instructed.

  “Absolutely, sir. We’ll get back to you as soon as we can,” Bloodfall replied.

  “I expect no less,” Vladimir said as he cut transmission. He let out a long sigh, took a deep breath, then sat back down in his office chair. A storm was brewing, and he was in the middle of it.

  CHAPTER 19

  ---usr/systems/server-x/RANSOM---

  It was around two a.m. when Vantz woke from his forcibly administered slumber, confused and disoriented. When he fully came to, he felt that his hands and feet were restrained by high-powered magnetic handcuffs that were developed by Quantum Corp. There was a dingy towel stuffed in his mouth, and tied tightly around the back of his head. He immediately began to panic, sounding off muffled screams as loud as he could, shaking the old metal chair he was bound to. He was in a damp, dark warehouse under a bright overhead light.

  The commotion from his sudden struggling attracted the attention of a nearby guard with a tall, sleek metal frame, its eyes glowing a sinister red. The android was carrying a unique firearm. It was secured around his wrist like a palm blast mechanism.

  “Target, please remain quiet,” the android said as it prompted its palm blaster toward Vantz’s direction. Vantz stopped, frozen in fear for his life. The android remained motionless, staring at Vantz.

  Vantz soon heard the metallic footsteps of more androids coming from the opposite end of the large warehouse. Six more androids emerged, wearing large cloaks, walking through the shadows in a creepy, synchronized motion with only their glowing eyes visible like a sequence from a horror film. Another android stepped out from behind them. It looked like a woman. She appeared to be noticeably more human than the others, especially her face and body shape. She still possessed the same metallic alloy like the others.

  The other android models were more male in shape and stature, making it possible for skin grafting. But as they were members of The Sentience, they purposely left that upgrade behind in favor of their more robotic presentation. It was a troubling sign that they were striving to disassociate themselves from the rest of human society.

  Vantz’s mind raced faster than lightning. His heart was beating hard enough to crack his sternum. His eyes were wide, unblinking. He envisioned his death at the hands of these androids and he began to scream through the towel tied around his head and mouth once more. The female android stepped forward. As stated before, she was noticeably different in shape and stature than the others. She also possessed an orb sensor on the top of her forehead with mechanical lines that ran vertically down her face. Her lips were full, plush. Her eyes were the most human part of her with long beautiful eyelashes. If androids were his thing, she’d be a beauty. A blue scarf was wrapped around her neck and part of the back of her head frame.


  “Calm yourself, Hybrid.” she said.

  She spoke with more of a natural human inflection than she did robotic. It was oddly comforting to Vantz. She slowly approached him as he began to tense up. She gently removed the towel from his mouth. He gasped for air.

  “What the fuck?” Vantz yelled out. “Why am I here? What is going on?”

  “Ransom.”

  “Yes, ransom.”

  “We were given a target.”

  “Yes. Target the son of multimillionaire, Layne Marling,” the androids said in a strange rhythmic pattern.

  Vance was worried. “Ransom? That’s what this is about!? Money!? You guys need money, I-I can get you all the money want, just please let me g! I—”

  He was abruptly cut off as the lead female android put up her hand, her index finger pointing upward. The sensor above her eyes soon began flashing, as if she had detected something. She turned her head to her followers. They nodded and took off. They were using an internal encrypted communication link to communicate with each other without having to talk aloud. It functioned like a shared consciousness of sorts. The androids took off to the other side of the warehouse where the intruder was.

  “Who are you guys?” Vantz asked.

  “My name is R.Dash, and we are The Sentience,” the female android stated.

  Vantz was confused. Before he could say another word he heard a loud electric shocking noise that echoed through the empty warehouse. The sound of metal bodies dropping indicated the androids were under attack.

  It must be the police! Thank god, Vantz said to himself.

  His relief was short lived. Out of the shadows behind him emerged ten more androids. They stepped in front of Vantz and formed a blockade, anticipating a conflict with the intruder. Shit! This is fucked! If only I could only break out of these damn cuffs! Vantz thought. More androids appeared out of nowhere as the attack continued. As the fighting got closer to where Vantz was, he slowly began to make out just who the attacker was.