Author's note: If you're gonna break the rules of "no writer-made characters" and "no alternate dimensions", do it all at once and in a big way! Here's what's going on: This takes place a few years after the end (pick an ending, any ending!) of the game. Eve lives at MIST headquarters (but for how long?), and Rupert is now in charge. A note: not all the ANMCs were destroyed, and the same goes for the GOLEMs. Fun! If you're an Aya fanatic... she really doesn't have much of a bigger part than any of the other hunters. If I've just offended you, stop reading now. ::^-^:: Special thanks to Specter the Evil Penguin for picking a number at random for my GOLEM!
Second Author's note: w00t! Specter here, and I just wanna say that I take (almost) no responsibility for the content contained herein. I only wrote about half of this story, and as such, have little or no say over the vast majority subject matter. So, that said, take off your jacket, let your hair down, buckle your safety belt, and keep all limbs inside the computer until the story has come to a full and complete stop. (Like that ever happens.)
[Parasite Eve: Redux]
In a forgotten corner of the Shelter, a door marked "GOLEM Freezer #2: Restricted Access". Inside, the cold air bites at a few unmoving forms, viewed at one time through a glass wall. A movement at the window, and machinery whines, forcing frost off the hinges as it moves. Little lights glow, indicating life goes on even in the most God-forsaken of places. Places where men create mockeries of life with chemicals and a map that they do not even comprehend. A syringe in the back of each forms' neck, and the restraints swing free, letting the forms stoop stiffly. Some move, straightening their spines and warming their joints, then stand, completely still, lacking orders. Others slide down to the arctic floor and lay still. And one more sits against it's life-giving machine and drums it's fingers on the frigid floor, alive but unwilling to move. Outside, more movements, and the cold air hisses out of the doorway, turning to mist as it clashes with the warm air.
*****
Chapter I: Out of the Darkness
I hear beyond the range of sound,
I see beyond the range of sight,
New earths and skies and seas around,
And in my day the sun doth pale his light.
-Henry David Thoreau
*****
...Shelter...
King GOLEM No. 9 was seriously considering putting his fist through the computer screen. He had been searching for the codes the needed to get the Shelter fully up and running, and off of Emergency Power Mode. He was sure that the well-hidden file named "fcodeb" was the right file. It had the word "code" in it, but sort of disguised by the other letters. So the had opened the folder.
That was fifteen minutes ago. There was a seemingly never-ending string of the same four letters in random: "AGCT". Finally, No. 9's patience had worn too thin.
So he used what he had learned was the best response to any terminal computer situation. "YOSHIDA!!!"
There was a yell of surprise from a nearby room, then a young man with mussed black hair, disshelved glasses, and a permanently vexed expression ran through the door. "What? What did you do to them this time?" He demanded.
No. 9 rose to his full eight feet height and shoved Yoshida into the chair. "Yer the programmer. Fix the damn thing." The King had learned there was no teaching Yoshida to use any sort of respect for anyone who harmed "his" computers. Besides, computers seemed to soothe the programmer's constantly edgy nerves.
Yoshida adjusted his glasses and peered into the screen. His eyes looked almost unfocused, like a soothsayer scrying in a crystal ball. Of course, No. 9 knew that Yoshida was just thinking. "It's running some type of code. You see that bar down there? It's trying to load something. Actually, it's almost finished. Where did you find this?"
No. 9 started to answer, but Yoshida was already ignoring him. "Hey, what kind of programming language is this? Only four letters, no numbers... How's the computer supposed to read this?"
"Maybe it's not for a computer." No. 9 guessed, feeling rather stupid. Computers were for other people to operate for him, as far as he was concerned. However, that gibberish looked familiar.
"'Maybe it's not for a'-" Yoshida scoffed, then stopped, leaned back in the chair, quickly cleaned his glasses, and crouched close to the screen again. "Well, what the--? You know, I think you're right! Lessee, how's it go... 'adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thiamine.' This file's huge! That means... but who would...?"
Getting annoyed, the King GOLEM gripped Yoshida's shoulder. "Means what? Who would do what?" He interrogated.
Yoshida blinked and swallowed hard. "Uhh... I think someone wrote out their entire DNA strand. The only reason they would go through all that trouble is if they were going to be cloned. We've got other files like this. Like 'mcodeb', 'acodeb', and of course, 'mcodep.'"
"...Which is?"
"The genetic codes for Maya and Aya Brea, and Mellissa Pearce, essentially. They have the first letter of the first name in front, then 'code', and the last letter is the first letter of their last name." An alert box appeared on the screen, announcing the file had finished loading. "So what do we do with this?"
No. 9 grinned. "We find out who's initials are 'F. B.', for starters."
*****
...GOLEM freezer #2...
Knight GOLEM No. 12 stared sullenly out of his viewscreen. Now that he was conscious again, he was feeling the very same thing he had been shut down for before. Human feelings. Right now, he was bored. As he looked around the freezer, he wondered what it was like to be another type of GOLEM, one that could see through it's own eyes.
Sure, it was nice being able to see anything that differed in temperature in any sort of light, but he wondered what color the greenish-yellow figures that were his half-frozen comrades really were. He saw a large red blob moving through the freezer and blinked, which was conveyed by the red light on his mask flickering off and then on again. He reached up and polished the lens on his thermographic camera, then refocused it. The warm red form was moving in his direction. The other GOLEMs turned and watched it, but without orders they did not leave their position. The blob, which was now human-shaped, knelt in front of him and peered into his lens. He switched to the green-on-black world of his night vision mode, so he could see the figure's features. A large GOLEM with a shattered faceplate stared into his lens critically.
"So yer the Knight with the personality." He said. No. 12 tried to nod, a cumbersome movement at best with his heavy breathing equipment on.
"Good. I got plans fer you."
No. 12 shook his head. He knew what the scientists had planned for him. He was to be shut down and reprogrammed. No. 12 didn't want to be shut down. Not after he had escaped the fate of the other GOLEMs that had malfunctioned. The ones that had fallen as soon as the machines released them were basically dead, and the ones that stood aimlessly were only slightly better off. Their connections to the leader units, either the computers or the King GOLEM, had been damaged or just never worked. So they stood, without orders, having to be moved about by the scientists or just left in stasis and forgotten. No. 12, for some reason or another, had suffered the same malfunction, but instead of losing all ability to think independently, his more human portions of his brain overrode the cybernetic sections, and he began to feel emotions. "Wuhaha! I like you, kid. You got a lot of guts to say 'no' to King GOLEM No. 9." He thumped the sitting Knight on his back, making him lurch forward.
No.12 refocused his lens. "...You're not going to reprogram me?"
No. 9 thumped him on the back again. "Heck, no! I'm gonna need yer mind to help me get the Queen back. What d'ya say?"
Struggling stiffly to his feet, No. 12 nodded in agreement.
*****
...Computer lab, eight hours later ...
Aya pushed the heavy door leading to the sleeping quarters slightly open. The light from inside was dim and flickering, and there was a rapid clicking noise coming the corner. Rupert pushed the door open the rest of the way with the barrel of his gun and locked his sights on...
...A young man with messy hair and crooked glasses, who was looking very surprised. He gave a sort of nervous giggle and held his hands up in surrender. Aya forced Rupert's gun back into his holster as she looked the man over. He was in his mid-twenties, and had been in very good shape until recently. He looked as if he hadn't eaten or slept in about a week. In front of him, the green light emanating from the screen of the network terminal, the only light in the room, made him look even more sickly. Aya approached him slowly, making a show of putting away her gun so he wouldn't feel threatened. He stared at her, looking terrified, and stood up with his hands in the air. He giggled nervously again. It was starting to creep Aya out.
"Authorized?" He croaked, as if he hadn't spoken in quite a long time.
"I'm Agent Aya Brea, FBI. This is Agent Rupert Broderick. And you are?"
"Authorized?" He asked again, cocking his head with an almost birdlike movement. There's something about his eyes... Aya thought. Something familiar...If only I had better light!
"Yes, we're authorized." Rupert said. "What part of FBI don't you understand?" He found the main light switch.
The next few things that happened were so fast that Aya had to replay them in her mind. Rupert flicked on the lights, the young man screamed in surprise and leapt at Aya as his body changed into something that looked somewhat like a Stranger and laughed exactly like a Mad Chaser. And Aya realized where she had seen the strange eyes that she could now see clearly in the bright light. ANMC eyes, red and glowing. The creature leapt over her and disappeared out the open door.
"What was that?" Aya asked, getting up and dusting herself off.
*****
...Main hall, B3...
His name was Kazrov Yoshida, and he was a programmer in the Shelter. He was no longer entirely human, as they had given him Stranger and Chaser genes, trying to create an ANMC that was both strong and could blend in.
However, the strange mixture of genes he had was not a total blessing. Anytime he was nervous or angry, he would giggle uncontrollably. And he was a very nervous person, with good reason.
"YOSHIDA!!"
Yoshida slid to a stop on the smooth floor and fell over. "Hheehheehheehhee!! Here, Sir!"
A huge GOLEM picked the programmer up by the collar of this lab coat. "What's got you running aroun' like an idiot?"
Yoshida gibbered unintelligibly in between giggle fits.
No. 9 rolled his eyes. "Ah, quit yer whinin' and change back."
The young man did so, taking deep breaths until his heart rate slowed. His form quickly reverted to human and No. 9 placed him back on the ground.
Yoshida knelt in front of him for a moment, recovering, then stood shakily. "Sir, there's two federal agents in the building! They attacked me!"
"Where?"
"In--in the computer lab...!"
"Fine. We still got enough time to start." Yoshida looked about ready to cry.
"But-m-my lab..." He whined as he scurried behind the huge GOLEM."Relax." He snarled, entering a code into a heavily reinforced door's security panel. The door slid aside, then returned to it's place after the two men stepped through.
Inside, the figure of a fully-grown man floated in an incubation chamber. Yoshida stared for a moment, checked the system perimeters, and turned to the GOLEM. "There's no way the clone could have developed that fast!"
No. 9 resisted telling Yoshida he had changed a few things. The young man would have had a heart attack long before his time. "It's not important. What is important is the process is finished. Get him out."
"And where are you going?" Yoshida asked desperately.
"We're still gonna need more than him to help us."
*****
...Later...
No. 12 leaned up against a bulkhead as No. 9 entered with the computer engineer, Yoshida.
"Everythin' go accordin' to plan, kid?" No. 9 asked the slightly shorter Knight GOLEM.
No. 12 nodded. "Our 'friend' just finished cooking. He's down the hall, reading up on recent history."
"Great. Yoshi?"
Yoshida made a startled noise. He was examining one of the computers, and had gotten absorbed by it's readout. "Yes?"
"Come wit' me."
"Oh... okay..." Yoshida followed the hulking GOLEM down the corridor.
As they reached the end of the hallway, Yoshida pulled No. 9 aside. "That's him?" He whispered.
No. 9 nodded. "Why?"
"I just expected him to be... taller. And, um... more ANMC...ish." Yoshida floundered.
No. 9 grinned. "Just you wait..."
*****
...Still later, at the computer lab...
"Damn! He must've gotten into the lower levels somehow." Aya entered the room after searching for the strange AMNC that had attacked her and Rupert. "No idea how, though. The elevator's sealed up tight."
"Not sure. Maybe there's another way down?" Rupert was re-loading his rifle. He had run into a small pack of rats while searching for the AMNC.
Rupert was still loading his rifle when the phone rang, so Aya answered it. Pierce greeted her, but not in his typical friendly fashion. "Aya! You guys need to get back here! NOW!!"
"Pierce?!? What's going on?" Aya demanded.
In the background on Pierce's end of the line, something broke. "Eve's gone nuts! She's floating in midair and telling everyone to get out of her way! ---Oh, damn... Jake, DUCK!! No, that way!! Go that way! She's headed for the gara--" The rest was static, and then the line went dead.
Aya glanced over at Rupert. "Monster Boy can wait. I'll explain on the way to the car."
*****
...MIST headquarters...
When they got back to the base in LA a few hours later, it was almost peaceful. Until, of course, Aya opened the door.
There were scorch marks on the wall, Rupert's desk had been overturned, the doors to the garage were simply nonexistent and Pierce's SUV was missing.
"What happened?" Rupert asked as Aya and Pierce helped him right his desk.
"She shook the keys out of Pierce and got outta town." Jake replied. Jakob Brant was the newest NMC hunter, and was a kind of field replacement for Rupert, who had been promoted. Jake was a bit of a mystery in himself, and had an attitude that could only be described as "psychotic".
Aya shouldered her gun. "Then I'm going after her."
"Great." Jake announced, sauntering up beside her. "We'll take my car."
Aya frowned and took a step away from the new hunter. "Did I say you could come?"
"Did I ask?"
*****
...Shelter...
"Alright, you two." No. 9 announced, pacing in front of Yoshida and No. 12. "The Reset Phase is complete. Now, I need you to find the Queen and git her back here. Unharmed." He added, poking Yoshida in the nose. "You're gonna do the driving, since you look human. 12, stay cloaked and provide backup if he needs it. He's staying here, but he'll guide the Queen."
No. 12 nodded solemnly and Yoshida sighed in defeat. "All right, let's go. And don't sneak up on me." He hissed, glaring at the Knight sourly.
Once they left, No. 9 headed off to the main computer and began running a highly-guarded program that only he and a few deceased scientists could access. It had been a good plan to send Yoshida to get the Queen, as the programmer would have had a heart attack if he had seen someone messing with his precious mainframe.
*****
...on an empty desert road...
Kazrov Yoshida pushed the gas pedal of the shelter's "company car", a simple white van, a little closer to the floor. He was lost in his own little world of thought, preoccupied with wanting to get back to the shelter as soon as possible and being creeped out by the sound of the invisible GOLEM in the back seat's breathing.
Therefore, he was very surprised to see red and blue lights flashing in his side view mirror. He knew the highway patrolman's car would outperform the heavy van any day, so he pulled over and thumped his head against the steering wheel a few times.
The officer approached as Yoshida rolled down the window. "May I see some ID?" He asked.
"Uh...heheh...yeah." Yoshida laughed nervously and handed his card key to the man. How do I get out of this...?
The officer pushed the key card back at him. "I mean your driver's license."
Crap... "License? Oh! Oh, yeah, that's in the... uh, glove-box-thingy... hang on." He leaned over to the passenger side and started rummaging in the glove compartment hopelessly. "Oh, here it is!" He lied, flipping over his key and deciding the metal strip made it look enough like a driver's license to fool the patrolman for a short time. "Uh, my sleeve's caught on the lock. Could you just...?" He waved the "license" over his shoulder as if he couldn't reach. Under his breath, he hissed "Do something, 12!"
"Certainly, sir." The officer answered, leaning further into the van.
Yoshida shifted, luring the officer a little further in. "Just a liii-tle closer..."
As the hapless officer bent still further into the van, No. 12 suddenly reappeared and grabbed the man around the neck with one hand and stabbed him with a hypodermic needle protruding from the GOLEM's left fist. The cyborg then tossed the officer from the van and disappeared again.
Yoshida sent up a cloud of sand as he took off. After a few minutes on the road, he stared blankly ahead and said, "There's always video cameras in police cars. We're in deep shit now."
"The camera wasn't on. And the computer database was erased." No. 12 replied from the back with a tone of confident cool.
Yoshida blinked and tried to recover from the fact that the normally silent GOLEM was speaking to him. "Oh, yeah? How would you know, cyber-boy?"
"I took care of it while you were flailing around up there."
There was uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to LA.
*****
...15 miles east of LA....
Pierce's SUV hurtled along the shoulder of the freeway, oblivious to opposing traffic. Aya and Jake had almost caught up to it in Jake's black '65 Mustang when it suddenly turned at almost a right angle to the road and headed out into the empty desert. Jake didn't even glance at Aya for a second opinion as he jerked the steering wheel sharply to follow Eve.
Not too far away, Yoshida glanced up from his furious concentration on the road to see two vehicles speeding toward him. He heard No. 12's camera refocus behind him. "The one closest to us has Eve."
"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Yoshida asked as the SUV slid to a halt in the sand a few yards away. He opened the door and stepped out onto the sand. "Come on, Eve!" He called. "Let's go home!"
The little girl jumped out of the car and ran a few steps toward him before being cut off by Jake's car. Aya vaulted from the passenger side and wrapped her arms around of Eve, restraining the little girl's powers with her own.
"Oh, no you don't..." Yoshida growled. Before Aya could shout a warning to Jake, he charged, changing as he approached. When he reached Jake, he looked like an unholy union between a Chaser and a Stranger, only with bigger claws. The creature tackled Jake, who fired his gun and hit it, first grazing it's ribs and then pegging the shoulder. It threw back it's head and howled in pain, then backed off to reconsider it's strategy. Jake lined up another shot, this one to the head. Suddenly, he was lifted off his feet by an unseen attacker. He felt a stabbing sensation in the back of his neck and the desert blurred and swam in front of him.
He was jolted and fell, in his mind, slowly, like a surreal dream to the sand below. Aya shouted his name and shook him, then forced something into his mouth and said, "Swallow that." He obeyed, and a few moments later his senses returned to normal.
"Whahappen?"
"That was a Knight GOLEM. They cloak, sneak up behind you and then inject you with poison. Luckily, I've had to deal with them before, so I had some antivenin on me." Aya explained.
"Where'd it go?" Jake started to get to his feet, but suffered a bout of nausia and stumbled.
"Whoa, be careful there." Aya leaned over and helped Jake to his feet. "Anyway, the GOLEM's right here." Aya motioned to the limp humanoid form that flickered in and out of view. "It's unconscious."
"How'd you manage that?"
"I hit it. Hard."
Jake nodded. "And Eve?"
"She's still here, but she won't listen to me. That ANMC goon took off in their van." Aya looked out at the horizon, shading her eyes. "It's out of sight now. Let's head back to base and see if we can get all this sorted out."
*****