Situation Unknown
Everything was metallic shades of bluish gray. The human woman lay on her back on something that gave slightly underneath her. The lights overhead were bright, but not harsh. She could see a gray ceiling and gray walls. She could hear machinery around her, machinery that her brain catalogued as medical in nature. She looked down at herself and she wore a gray garment of some kind. It fit her like a second skin. She looked around further but her head spun and she lay back with a sigh.
"Patient A-73?" A melodious voice asked. "Are you well?"
"What?" She asked, confused. "Who are you?"
"I am the nurse in charge of the patients on this floor." The voice said quietly. "Are you all right? You seem confused."
"I don't know." The human woman said softly. "Where am I?"
"You don't remember what happened?" The voice asked, concerned.
"No." The woman said, her pulse starting to pound. "Last thing I remember was going to a job interview, then It all goes black. Where am I?"
"Be cam, Ma'am. You are in a medical facility at the Niaid colony in the Neptune sector." The voice said gently. "Do you remember being brought in?"
"No." The human woman said, fear starting to surface. "What happened?"
"We don't know." The voice said quietly. "You were found, injured, aboard a derelict transport ship. The survival pod you were in had malfunctioned." The woman in the bed went stiff. "Be at ease, Ma'am. You are okay." The voice said gently.
"Pod?" She asked, dazed. "Ship? I was at the Jupiter colony, Holis habitat. I was asked to study some tech that had been uncovered. It sounded intriguing so I went. But..." She shook her head, the memories refused to come. "I can't remember!" She exclaimed, looking about wildly. A sign on the wall caught her attention. Did she know the language? Something clicked and she relaxed, her focus ebbing.
"You were injured." The voice of the nurse said gently. "From the mechanism of injury, you struck your head at least once. We have done what we can."
"So..." She shook her head, aware now of something covering it. It felt like bandages. "What will happen to me?"
"For now, rest." The voice urged her. "We will talk some more when you feel up to it." She felt lethargy seeping through her and was swiftly drifting. "Do you remember your name?"
"Mari." The woman slurred. "My name is Mari..."
"Well, my name is Gina, Mari." The nurse said gently. "Sleep now. Rest. When you wake, we can start your rehabilitation."
Mari laid her head back against the pillow of the bed and closed her eyes. But then something happened and she couldn't open them again. Fear came, but then something washed over her and it vanished. All emotion did. She felt something click around her head.
"Report." A cold male voice sounded from somewhere nearby.
"Physical trauma repaired." The voice of the nurse -if she was one- was calm and concise. "Partial amnesia, possibly caused by cryo stasis. Level one Indoctrination complete."
"We need her operational, tech Gina." The other voice said with a snap. "When?"
"Sir." The nurse said diffidently. "I am ordered to bypass the standard breaking procedures. I must formally protest. The procedures are clear and proven."
"Go ahead and protest." The cold male voice snapped. "We need her now. We took an awful risk snatching her en route to that university. But the reward is worth it. Her scores in robotics design were off the charts."
"You asked for my professional expertise, sir."The voice of the nurse sharpened. "It won't work."
"Explain." The male voice was colder now.
"We don't know enough about her to make a story that will hold up to even passing scrutiny. Even with the drugs, she is noticing inconsistencies. I can keep her calm and disinterested, but no more than that. We don't know where she has been, or what she was doing." The nurse said with a matching snap. "All we know is that the habitat that she claims to be from was destroyed hundreds of years ago. During the Collapse."
"And?" The male voice pressed.
"She has odd neural scarring." The tech said after a moment. "Her injuries are inconsistent with the damage that the pod she was in suffered. It must be a set up of some kind, sir."
"And that is why you are a tech and not a executive."The male voice said with a cold laugh. "Of course it is a set up. The question is by who and for what."
"She doesn't know." The tech replied. "Her memories end after a certain period. Wiped clean."
"How?" The man asked, concerned.
"Unknown." The tech replied a bit uneasily. "It's not any brainwashing technique that we have on file. Her memories are simply gone. As if someone reached into her head and pulled them out. That is not possible." She paused. "Is it?"
"Not that I know of." The executive said slowly.
"There is no chemical residue." The tech said after a moment. "No sign of energy trauma. The memory clusters are just gone."
"I don't like mysteries, tech Gina." The executive said with a scowl in his voice. Then he sighed. "Can you break her without impairing her cognitive function?"
"Yes sir." The tech replied with confidence.
"Do so." The executive snapped.
"Well..." The voice of Gina was a little sad now. "Sorry Mari A-73. I tried to do it the gentle way. Don't struggle, girl."
Cold mechanical hands touched Mari now. She felt her clothing coming off, but couldn't muster the energy to protest, let alone fight. Cold things suddenly touched her and she shivered.
"Such beautiful hair..." Gina said with a sigh as clippers started to buzz. "What a waste, but long hair under a helmet doesn't work." Mari felt cold metal against her scalp and then tugging as a buzzing sounded. "There..." The tech said quietly. "All done with the preparation. Computer, begin phase two."
Something cold encircled Mari's scalp and she felt a tingling. Mari felt things cover her ears. Suddenly a drone of soft sound was pouring into them. It sounded like words, but they were too soft for her to make out.
"Subliminal online." The tech said quietly. "Visual..." Mari's eyes opened without her command and she had a moment to see a screen in front of them before a bright light played into her eyes. It hurt for a moment and the tech made a clucking noise. "There we go, corrected for depth of vision..." She crooned.
The light changed and Mari found herself seeing pictures. A man in an unfamiliar uniform stood in front of her, but he was a hologram. He opened his mouth and the noise in her ears abated for a moment. The word 'Obey' appeared in her eyes.
"You are now property of the Corpus." The holographic man said calmly. "Your old life has ended. You live to serve." Mari tried to fight, tried to protest, but a sting in her arm had her floating. "You will serve. You will obey. You are Corpus. You are property of the Corpus."
"That's it, Mari..." The tech crooned to her. "Just relax and let the programming take hold." Programming? Mari jerked a little and the tech sighed. "Okay, the hard way."
Something took hold of Mari's face and she gagged as a tube forced its way down her throat. Then she gasped as objects went into other sensitive places. Nothing hurt, but it was all uncomfortable.
"You are no longer in control of any aspect of your life." The recording droned on, the holographic man in her eyes and the sound in her ears in perfect synch. "We now control everything. You prefer that. You want to be controlled. You want to serve. You want to obey."
Mari tried to shake her head, to scream. But nothing worked. Everything was fading. She was fading. Then it all went away. She floated in darkness that murmured to her. The darkness was interspersed by flashes of oddly soothing light. She hung there in limbo for a time that she had no way of measuring. It might have been minutes, or centuries.
Without warning, everything changed. She came back to herself with a click. Mari found herself lying on a bed in a Corpus medical facility. She was wearing a standard jumpsuit. It's brown colors soothed her. She preferred to be controlled. She felt better when she obeyed.
"Mari A-73?" A familiar voice asked. Mari turned her head to see a med tech scrutinizing her. "Are you cognizant?"
"This one is aware." Mari said in a monotone. "Orders...?" She didn't feel anything.
"Oh, that will never do." The tech said with a sigh. "Robotic voices are for robots... Hold on..." The tech said as she worked controls. "Try now."
"Try what?" Mari asked as she felt...something change. She felt curiosity and worry peak. "I don't understand. Is there a problem, med tech?"
"No." The tech said gently as she rose and walked to Mari's bedside. "No problem at all. Just some emotive tweaks. Your Indoctrination is complete." Mari sat up and the tech took her arms as Mari weaved a bit. "Take it easy, Mari A-73." She said quickly. "You have been unconscious for two days while we worked on you."
"Two days?" Mari asked apprehensively. "Was there a problem?"
"No." The med tech reassured her. "We wanted to make it gentle, keep the cognitive patterns intact. That was what drew us to you, your brains. We need you in our R&D division as soon as possible."
"I am ready to serve." Mari said quietly, checking her jumpsuit's readouts. "I live to serve."
"Good." The tech replied. "Your implants are all in place. You will be able to access your workload and training materials via neural link. One thing..." She raised a cautionary hand as Mari swung her legs off the bed. Mari paused and the tech continued. "The excretory bypass is...not optimal. Your body will not accept the newer systems. Our programming for the shunts wasn't quite right. Where most of our personnel don't have to use the toilet, you will until we can determine a workaround. That will be a few days until the surgery teams have time for you."
"Yuck." Mari said slowly. "But that will take time away from work." She said, worry dawning. "That is suboptimal, med tech." Most Corpus had waste modules that they replaced regularly. Far more efficient than having to go and relieve oneself in the middle of a work shift.
"I know." The tech said sadly. "But it was the best we could do with the differences in your body. The Indoctrination systems are not set up to do anything different and would cause long term harm if we tried. We will get it fixed, but it will require actual hands on surgery, not automated. Your superiors have been notified. They understand your limitations."
"This isn't right, med tech." Mari protested. "I live to serve and if I can't, then-" She froze in mid sentence as the tech hit a control.
"Easy, Mari..."T he med tech crooned. "What is this odd mental jump?" She was scrutinizing her readouts. "Hmmm.." She mused. "I haven't seen that kind of jump before. Your alpha and theta waves are all over the place. Were you controlled before?" She asked, rhetorically. "No matter. We will keep you healthy, happy and whole. You are part of us now, part of the Corpus." She hit the control again.
"-then I need repairs." Mari continued from where she had been speaking and paused. "Did I just lose a minute of time?" She asked, worried as she checked her implant time keeper.
"I took you offline for minute and thirteen seconds. You had an odd mental episode. Nothing abnormal detected." The tech reassured her as Mari winced. "We will monitor you closely, Mari A-73."
"Understood." Mari replied evenly. "Orders?"
"You are to report to R&D." The tech said quietly. "I am to take you."
"I am ready to serve." Mari said quietly as she rose to her feet. She stood easily. The tech smiled and nodded before waving for Mari to follow.
The med tech led Mari through the corridors of what looked to Mari's inexpert eye as a standard Corpus facility. They passed a multitude of Corpus personnel doing the various jobs that were required to keep the ancient and often obstinate. They also passed several robotic proxies that Mari examined with dispassion. She could see various flaws in the designs just from looking at the two legged proxies. The med tech smiled at her.
"Ready to go to work?" The tech asked as she led Mari towards a door guarded by two Crewmen with laser rifles.
"Yes." Mari replied.
"ID." The higher ranked crewman said dispassionately. Mari paused. She hadn't been issue done, had she? The guard lowered their rifles into firing position when she didn't immediately comply.
"This is Mari A-73. She just finished her indoctrination. Executive Seim is waiting for this new recruit." The tech said quietly. "He said you would have an ID for her." The guard who had spoken looked at her and then nodded slowly.
"Remain still." He said to both of them. The guard that had spoken lowered his rifle and produced a scanner. The other's rifle did not leave Mari. He scanned her quickly and efficiently only to pause as his scanner beeped. "What is...this?" He asked the med tech.
"Her..." The tech had the grace to look embarrassed. "Ah, yes. I made a full report. Her excretory bypass is not fully functional. Until we can set up for a full surgery, she will need a toilet facility. The backlog of non-critical cases in medical means she will be a few days at best. At worst, a week."
"The only toilet facility available in R&D is in disuse, med tech. It hasn't been used in some time." The guard said with a shake of his head. "I do not know if it will be satisfactory."
"As long as I can remove wastes, it will be satisfactory, guard." Mari said quietly. "I live to serve."
"We live to serve." The tech and both guards chorused in reply. The tech looked at the guard and he nodded.
"Remain still." He commanded as his compatriot raised his rifle from firing position.
He slung his rifle and then reached out for Mari, a gleaming object in hand. She did not react as he clamped the device around her left forearm. A stabbing pain tore through her but she did not flinch as the genetic ID was fused to both of her bones. As soon as he retracted the device, she held out her arm to be scanned. He nodded to her as he scanned it.
"Welcome home, Mari A-73." The guard said formally. She bowed her head in acknowledgement. "Obey all instructions from security personnel."
"I will obey." Mari said quietly. Both guard raised their rifles in salute and stepped aside to let the two females pass.
"I am going to add to that." The med tech said calmly as the doors built in scanners swept over them. "I want you be on guard. You had some...anomalies. We will need to schedule more comprehensive scans for a later date."
"Anomalies, med tech?" Mari asked.
"For lack of a better term, yes." The med tech replied. "We don't know what caused them, or why they happened. You are needed, so we will use you." Mari felt a surge of pleasure at that. She belonged. "If anything odd happens, report it immediately to your supervisor."
"Yes, med tech." Mari said quietly as she followed the other woman into a brightly lit area. They both froze as a scream sounded.
"Shut it down!" A voice called from nearby as a violet hulled proxy ran towards the door. It was about to slam into Mari when it suddenly froze in midstep and collapsed in a shower of sparks.
"Help me..." A soft, scared voice begged. It sounded young. It was coming from the MOA! Then it jerked and was silent.
"Damn it all!" An armored figure appeared nearby, "Not again! Of all the..." He paused, seeing the med tech and Mari looking at him. "Ah, our new design specialist?" The med tech nodded but Mari was examining the MOA.
"This is Mari A-73, she is..." The tech broke off. "Mari?" She asked as Mari bent down by the MOA.
"I heard crackling from inside the housing. I think the actuator assemblies are shorting." Mari said slowly. "This is...suboptimal..." She said examining the MOA closely.
"That is one way to put it." The armored form said sourly. "I am Foreman Kilis."
"Oh!" Mari jerked back to her feet and stood at attention. This was her boss! "My apologies, Foreman." She looked back at the MOA. "This is not a standard design."
"No, it is not." The foreman agreed, his tone grudging. "We are trying to redo a lot of research that was lost. Unfortunately, we lost so much that we had to start from scratch." Mari winced and he nodded. "Well?" He indicated the MOA. Mari took that as permission to examine it closer.
"Without opening it up to see what was shorting..." Mari mused as she touched the hull. A spark shot from it and she jerked as a voice sounded inside her head.
Good girl, you are in, Mari. Stay safe and stay quiet.
"Ow." Mari complained as she jerked back. "Definitely a short somewhere. Probably more than one." She said as she touched the hull again and this time nothing happened. "I will need to look inside to find out where." She looked up at the foreman who nodded slowly.
"We will need to fit you for proper protection." The foreman said, his tone respectful now. "We are having problems with shorts. They tend to corrupt the command protocols."
"Ouch." Mari said with feeling. "Are any of these armed?" She asked, looking around the room. No, it was a huge bay. She saw other figures in armored suits working on various MOA forms.
"No." The foreman said with a shudder that Mari matched. "Thank goodness."
"Let me see your hand, Mari A-73." The med tech commanded. Mari held out her hand and the med tech sprayed a gel over it that immediately dulled the pain that Mari had been ignoring. The med tech sighed and turned to the supervisor. "Don't let her ignore herself. She will need the toilet every so often. If I have to come back, I will have to report to the executive."
"If she can hear shorts from that distance and figure out the problem that quickly..." The foreman said with feeling. "Then no, we won't lose this one."
"Good." The med tech said with a smile. "Mari A-73?" Mari looked at her and the med tech laid a hand on her shoulder. "Stay safe. Work well."
"I live to serve." Mari said evenly as she rose. "I serve the Corpus."
"We live to serve." The others chorused.