Civilization (I'll Stay Right Here)
By Kachimoochi
Chapter XVI
Are You Afraid Of The Dark?
Back on a planet long forgotten, but not far away.
The Human and Android couple is laying out the plans to finish their mission, to find the secret formula which kept men awake, and destroy everything connected to it.
After a six minute argument over where to stop for lunch, and a twelve minute argument over what to wear, the pair was finally ready to enact their plan.
The time was ripe, EVA the Android stood in front of the Sable Corporation headquarters beside her human owner, Nasir Robertson, ready to infiltrate and complete the mission.
"Y'know…I'm starting to feel a little selfish" Nasir admitted.
"How's that?" EVA asked.
"Well we came up with this plan almost a week ago, and we're only just now beginning to enact our plan…I mean the entire fate of Earth males is at stake and we treated this important mission as a vacation"
"I told you, Altair contacted me 5 days ago while we were shopping for a trenchcoat for you, Anaximander had already completed his end of the mission, and Altair told us to take our time, as the Sable Corporation would be under high alert" EVA assured.
"I know, but it isn't as if we've been at work this entire time either" Nadir responded.
"Everything we did was part of the plan"
"No it wasn't, was it?"
"The two days we spent shopping for Deus Ex clothes was your idea, the one day scoping out the laboratory from the CN tower was my idea, and the Pallet Castle tour for the last day and a half was historical reconnaissance"
"Historical reconnaissance?" Nasir posed.
"Well, alright. I thought you deserved a break"
"You're too good to me babycakes" Nasir spoke exasperatedly.
It was at this moment the two love birds took a look at one another. Nasir was insistent about dressing as Deus Ex characters in order to infiltrate the headquarters. He himself was dressed in a black tee shirt with black cargo pants, covered up by a exact replica of Adam Jenson's trenchcoat from Human Revolution, they got it at a steal from a cosplay store.
EVA changed her hair texture from blonde to black, and dressed much the same as her human lover. The only difference being that her trenchcoat was pink in color, as if to match the sundress she was accustomed to wearing.
The duo didn't care much if this drew attention to them, not only were they well equipped to handle any situation, but their plan involved them not being detected by cameras and employees, so getting caught wasn't an option in the first place.
"Alright, just so we're clear, let's go over the plan one more time" Nasir began, staring at the large laboratory protruding phallic-esque from the top of the skyscraper.
"Right away honey. Step 1: I'll use by jam comms to deactivate the cameras that detect us. Step 2: You'll hack our way into an elevator shaft, and ideally deactivate it first this time" She said poking fun at her beloved.
Nasir was not amused.
"Step 3:" She continued, "We'll climb to the top of an elevator, ride it to the laboratory, hold the scientists hostage, and destroy the evidence and make a hasty escape"
Naisr stared back dauntingly.
"Got all that hot stuff?"
"Yeah, of course. What could possibly go wrong" Nasir triumphantly yet ominously spoke.
4 hours later.
"I suppose that" EVA responded tardily.
The duo walked silently and peacefully away from the burning inferno that now engulfed the Sable Corporation. Thankfully the building had been evacuated earlier. Female firefighters used their state of the art technology to combat the blaze, but the inferno was seemingly omnipotent, not showing any signs of weakness.
"You really think we had to evacuate the building?" EVA inquired.
"They're not ours to kill, they'll have their day" Nasir responded.
They both were commentating on the deluge of bodies running through the streets in front of the cindering tower. It was a sea of dyed hair and facial piercings, many of the women not even clothed in display of their faux-independence.
The few men there were ran alongside the women, cuddling with them in fear and crying their eyes out. The very sight disgusted Nasir, but he knew that they didn't know what they were doing.
"Anyhow, let's get back to the ship, double time" Nasir ordered.
They made their way back to the hangar bay, and wasted no time in escaping Earth's atmosphere and activating the Mass Effect. Nasir grew tired of his brooding garb, and quickly switched back into his every day clothes, consisting mainly of Nintendo pajamas.
Taking control of the pilot's seat, EVA reactivated her default texture of the sundress and blonde hair, escaping the Sol galaxy as quickly as her programming would allow.
"Where to sir?" EVA asked.
"To Freedomain, let's inform Altair of our success" Nasir spoke with pride, resting on his Zelda themed bed.
"Eh, Master?"
"Yes darling?"
"I'm getting live feeds from all across Earth; they're considering the fire a terrorist attack!" EVA spoke in fear.
"Mm Hmm- What?!" Nasir jumped from his near-slumber, and raced to the cockpit.
EVA placed the ship on autopilot during the Mass Effect, and rushed to meet her compatriot in his room.
They both underestimated the other's concern, and met one another in the corridor leading to the cockpit, namely by bumping into one another around the corner, collapsing in a heap.
After collecting their thoughts and apologizing, EVA filled her master in.
"What do you mean a terrorist attack?" Nasir asked calmingly.
"The Sable Corporation is saying that a human supremacist group is responsible for the fire" EVA spoke, crouching and shivering.
Nasir crouched beside her and placed a comforting arm around her, before further inquiring.
"Which one? Cerberus?"
"No…Civilization!"
"But how? We weren't on any cameras!"
"They must be trying to cover the act of the drug manufacturing; no one asks many questions to the victim after a terrorist attack"
"Perfect, after all our hard work the Sable Corporation won't even be exposed, but Civilization will only look worse, Altair's gonna kill me"
It was now EVA's turn to comfort her master.
"Darling, let's just calm down, I'm sure Altair will understand"
4 hours later.
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!" Altair bellowed throughout the temples of Freedomain.
"Altair please, let me explain"
Nasir backed away slightly from his friend's rage, EVA having decided to avoid his wrath by waiting on the ship.
"This wasn't my fault, besides; they were probable going to blame Civilization the entire time anyways" Nasir responded.
"It isn't that which concerns me" Altair softly spoke, face palming as he sat upon a carpet.
"Like I said, EVA activated the fire alarm to evacuate the building, we made it to the lab, we parachuted the scientists down to the ground after erasing their memory, we burned the evidence, and I guess it spread somehow" Nasir recounted the details as best as he could remember them.
"Again. Not. My. Concern. The rest of the universe already hates us, this won't cause them to hate us any less" Altair rose himself again, still face palming.
"Then what?"
"Why the HELL did it take you an entire week to accomplish what took Anaximander three days?"
"Uh, well, I wanted to do some sightseeing? It wasn't as if charging straight in would have resulted in any better results, besides, Anaximander's Chinese assault probably put them on high alert; waiting would have been the safer option, right?" Nasir tried to defend himself and EVA.
"You haven't been in contact with Anaximander? You have no idea what he's been doing the past 4 days?"
"No, I'm sorry"
"I'll explain later, but this is unlike you. Usually it's always you that is business first. When we were in high school you never even took a sick day. I remember when you were dehydrated after your family beach trip, and was urinating blood, you still managed to make it to 7th hour health class."
"Well, y'know…the teacher was hot"
"Yes…indeed she was" Altair removed his hand from his face, and tilted his head towards the sky.
The two met one another's gaze and began guffawing. Their high school days had seemed so pathetic, so insignificant to what they'd accomplished since. It was a favorite pastime for these friends to reminisce on what their lives had been like before their liberation. Altair hadn't changed much; he'd always been a puppet master. Nasir had been a straight A student on his way to becoming a veterinarian. Anaximander, well, no one knows what he could have become except for himself.
Their laughter and mental respite gave way to silence, and simple staring into the space between spaces, smiles on their faces. Everything was alright now, they were too close to be angry with one another, such a thing would be uncivilized.
"So, how's EVA? It's only been a year since you bought her, and I've never seen two more close than you pair. Not even Anaximander and Kaisar" Altair restarted.
"She's the love of my life. You know where she came from anyways?" Nasir chuckled before responding.
"Where? Japan?"
"Well yeah, but I mean the idea, EVA herself"
"Where?"
"Anaximander's Nintendo DSX!, from when I was in middle school"
"Huh, you always were a Nintendo fanboy!"
"We'd always stay after school, and Anaximander didn't have an Omni-tool yet. He only had his old DSX. He's make Mii's after all the people in the school: Me, him, the people he didn't like. He'd even let me make some of my own characters on there"
"EVA was a Mii?"
"Yes, pathetic I know, but for an average 7th grader, she was perfection in every way, I still remember that Mii. Her beautiful golden skin within that pink sundress, her turquoise eye shadow over her brown eyes and light pink lips, all topped off with her long, flowing blonde hair. "
"I suddenly feel better about paying for that body module of Seiko Busujima from my old Omni-tool in grade 9. We really were dumb teenagers weren't we?" Altair responded laughing, eyes squinting hard.
They resumed laughing together for some time, drifting off back into staring, as they would.
"Ever since my eyes were opened to the force, I swore I would never love again. I even laughed and mocked Anaximander for purchasing an android companion modeled after Mizore Shirayuki. But now, I don't ever think I've ever loved something more in my life, even if she isn't real" Nasir concluded, still staring into space.
"That was beautiful buddy, but I'm afraid our reminiscing has reached its end, its back to business" Altair equally concluded, raising from his carpet, and stretching his back.
"Goody goody gumdrops, what's the job now Mac?"
"Think of it as a road trip, Altair's on it too"
"I've got to make it up to him somehow, I'm in"
"Perfect, I think I know just where to send you first too"
"Yeah?"
"Well it depends. Are you afraid of the dark?"