Ahh, a slow burn where it starts out completely one-sided. I have yet to create a fic with this type of slow burn, so please bear with me.
XxX
3
XxX
Genesis looked down at the large piece of blueprint she was hovering over. Gilmore raised an amused brow at the oddity that was his "assistant" that Black Ghost had hired out of nowhere. She had her peculiarities, one of which was being sympathetic towards the cyborgs, something he himself shared. It was one of the reasons that she had yet to see 001, she'd most likely turn mutinous upon learning that a baby had been turned into a human weapon. She'd most likely plan to get vengeance upon Dr. Whisky for what he had done to his own son.
"Dr. Teufel came by earlier and said he wanted to speak to you," He informed her, and she looked up from her work with raised brows, "I don't know what he could possibly want."
"I might've pointed out that it was strange we were keeping the original four cyborgs under cryostasis," She calmly explained, "I may have also made the insinuation that they should be up and about so we can see how their new upgrades are working."
She couldn't possibly know of the plans he was starting to formulate. He observed the young woman as she let out a soft sigh before erasing a line on the paper before her. It seemed that she had been given the task of drawing up the schematics for 005, their newest cyborg. The man had just been brought in. He was tall, giant even, and Native American. She had to work around his stature and bolster the abilities he already had. Super strength, not the strangest combination with height, but the amount the rumours told of the man was incredible for a human. She stopped drawing and gave the schematics a one over before rolling them up and placing them in the mail tube. It was sucked up with a hearty, twhmp, and she stretched slightly before running a hand through her shaggy hair.
"I'm going to see what Doctor Teufel wanted," She quietly informed him, "be back soon."
"Bring some coffee back with you," He requested before she walked out of their shared office.
An "of course" drifted towards him and he smiled slightly. He was getting sentimental in his old age. Becoming fond of a girl that he'd only known for a month. He supposed that it was due to similar thoughts, more so than personalities. She was too different in that department, with a strange head strong nature that seemed tempered by her inability to do harm to anyone. A strange girl, that was the best way he could explain her.
Genesis sat up straight, peering at the dark-haired mad man that held the title of "scientist". Doctor Teufel was one of those mad geniuses that seemed to have lost all semblance of humanity. He wanted to create cyborgs that could be considered higher life forms, something that was most likely different from their fiction version she was somewhat familiar with. She brought her right leg up and crossed it over her left, keeping her posture tense and unwavering. She was ignoring the elephant in the room. His son, Edward. His son went by Adams, Doctor Teufel's first name, and resembled his father quite a bit. Well, save for the flame red hair, quite a few shades darker than her own copper-coloured strands.
"You put the idea of cyborgs being higher beings into their heads and you'll create sociopaths," She quietly informed the much older man, "I believe we have plenty of people with god-complexes in the world, we don't need more."
It was more like they didn't need any with inhuman abilities. 005 who had inhuman strength as a normal human was one thing, but giving him a god-complex could be disastrous. Genesis knew that was unfair to the man who had yet to undergo surgery. She didn't have enough information about him to correctly judge his psyche, no less pass judgement on him as a person. She was brought out of her thoughts by Edward scoffing.
"You really don't get it," He stated, and she narrowed her eyes in response, she hated it when people talked down to her, "if we remove their memories, we can make weapons that will follow our every command."
"Or you could create an army of weapons that will turn on you the moment it's convenient for them," She argued, her accent thickening as she fought down her annoyance at him, "you want to take away the one thing that keeps them able to critically analyze a situation and use it to their advantage. The human mind is a powerful tool and messing about with it would be detrimental to the cyborgs."
"Are you sympathizing with them?"
"No, I'm just pointing out the ridiculous nature of your idea."
"Do you not care about scientific advancement?"
"Not at the cost of what you are suggesting."
It was quiet for a few seconds and Genesis worried that she had said too much. Edward was like his father in personality as well, a genius that had been praised for years never really being reprimanded for his actions. Too many expectations placed upon him. She got sympathetic towards him, if only a little. Her family had deemed her as a nuisance, his as the next great mind of science. Would she have ended up like him if Ezekiel hadn't stepped in? Genesis knew she would've. She had been on a bad path before her brother came and helped her. It had been a time in his life where their mother had turned her ire and disappointment towards him for his partner.
"You make an interesting point," Doctor Teufel finally said and bother young adults turned towards him with confusion, "but I believe that you are incapable of seeing the big picture."
Edward seemed appeased by those words as Genesis mentally seethed at the man. Big picture?! How dare he accuse her of such a thing! That was all she worked towards was a bigger picture. Her own cybernetics were light years ahead of theirs. She paused at that line of thought. She was starting to grow a complex and that wasn't good. She had to take a step back and mentally assess the situation. He was trying to use insults as a way to harm her confidence in her work and stance. She couldn't figure out why. It wasn't like she had any bearing on his work, or did she? As a whole the cybernetics department didn't agree with him on the removal of memories, emotion, or even the scrambling of it. She still had no idea how he'd even accomplish the latter, scrambling the human mind was nearly impossible. It could be seen as an organic computer, but it didn't work like one of man-made quality.
"Please refrain from projecting onto me," Genesis acidly commented, and he stiffened in response, "I don't know what game you believe you are playing at, and I don't care, leave me out of it."
Genesis uncrossed her legs and stood up from the chair. She was going to use their shock to leave the room before it could delve into an argument. She let out a quiet sigh of relief when she passed by a platoon of soldiers. She needed to get the good doctor some coffee, and a cup of tea for her. She headed into the break room and saw one of the other doctors sitting at a small table. He was a dark-skinned man; his dark eyes were focused on a newspaper in his hand and a cup of coffee sat in front of him. His white hair was frizzy due to the saltwater air that came through the vents of the complex. She could smell it, and narrowed her eyes at one of the vents in question. It was such a terrible design.
"Good morning, Doctor Uranus," She pleasantly greeted, her body relaxing at the sight of the kind man.
"Good morning, Genesis," He greeted back, his voice smooth with a Londoner accented, "you seem bothered by something."
"I wouldn't worry too much about it," She waved away his concern, "anything interesting in the news?"
"Just some riots up in Belfast," He answered with a shake of his head and a weary sigh, "it's only going to get worse from here on out."
"You've got family up in Belfast?" She questioned, concern leaking into her tone as she poured Gilmore's cup of coffee.
"A granddaughter, but her fathers taking good care of her," He answered, his expression lighting up, "she's a smart girl, a straight A student."
Genesis smiled at how animated he was while speaking about his granddaughter. She didn't even know if he had one in the series, or if he was even a character. Yet, she didn't care. He was obviously ecstatic at how smart his granddaughter was and cared deeply for her.
"What about your family?" His questioned caused her to pause in her actions of reaching for the tea kettle to make some Earl Grey.
Genesis knew that her family was around, and that their story was the same. She had learned of that when Ezekiel had sent her a letter. She didn't like to think about it. They weren't really her family, or were they? A sharp pain went through her skull and she inwardly sighed. That was why she didn't spend too much time thinking of it. The headache of trying to wrap her thoughts around dimension, or timelines whichever one really, differences wasn't worth it.
"My older brother is kept up in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch," She quietly answered, "he'll be all right."
"I had never heard it pronounced before," Doctor Uranus commented, "what a mouthful."
Genesis let out a light laugh, surprising the other man. She finished pouring the drinks before nodding a farewell. She had to bring the coffee to Gilmore before it completely cooled. She found herself counting her steps as the metal floors caused the tapping sound to echo. She looked down for a few seconds and worried that she'd roll her ankle due to the heels she was wearing. The early 2000s a time where women were required, and if they didn't were laughed at or seen as a bitch, to dress in heels and skirts. The office wear for women wasn't filled with the items she was used to. Her own slacks were from the men's section, something she had noted upon seeing the tags. Genesis gave a soft sigh before eyeing the robots standing sentry at the doors to the cybernetics lab. They carried heavy duty assault rifles that didn't shoot regular metal bullets. She had seen the new designs for the cyborg's weapons, these all shot lasers that could reach temperatures of 300 to 500 degrees, and she knew they could get hotter. The hottest laser she knew of was 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit, which was 2 million in Celsius, and with all the illegal computers and equipment that Black Ghost had she knew it wouldn't be impossible for them to create that type of laser. She wouldn't give them any ideas and elected to keep her mouth shut about it.
"Doctor Genesis Marley requesting access to laboratory four," She told the robots, she kept her face impassive as it did a facial scan before opening the door.
She walked in and was greeted with the sight of Gilmore pacing. Genesis raised a brow when he began to mutter under his breath in Russian. Something seemed to have gotten him worked up, and she wasn't sure how to proceed with asking. She didn't want him to feel as though she was pushing for information. She placed the mug of coffee down on his desk before moving to sit at her's. She quietly sipped at her yea and waited for him to calm down on his own. Genesis knew that sometimes having someone try to make things better could make things worse. She wasn't about to do that to the older gentleman that treated her like an equal.
"Oh, Genesis," Gilmore said, jumping as he suddenly noticed her, "did you just return?"
"A few seconds ago," She answered with a slight shake of her head, "there's been sentries posted outside the doors. I'm guessing Black Ghost wants us to start on 005 as soon as possible."
Gilmore gained a troubled look and she waited for him to say something. It was as if he was bothered by his actions, having grown a conscience. It was good to see, but she doubted that Black Ghost would listen to anything they said about the cyborgs. Who needed scientist that wouldn't do what you wanted? They'd be killed if they voiced any doubts. Even if she stayed quiet while Gilmore spoke up, she'd be killed. Just for being his assistant. It wasn't a winning situation no matter how she looked at it.
Genesis didn't like it.
She didn't like the fact that she wasn't free to speak her mind or act how she wanted. She had to keep up the façade of a cold scientist that was detached from normal ethics. She put her cup of tea down and stared into the dark liquid. There wasn't a way to move around the restrictions, and if there was it would have to be around the cyborgs as they went in for routine maintenance and upgrades. She internally winced, she doubted they'd like her after learning about her goals. Gilmore would be sure to tell them, seeing as she wouldn't. She gained a wry smile, she acted as though she'd stick with Gilmore. Her shoulders slumped slightly as she thought about it. He was starting to grow on her as a father figure, her own having paid more attention to her older siblings and twin more than her. No wonder she believed she'd stick with him.
"Do you ever have doubts, Genesis?" His questioned.
Gilmore had caught her off guard with that and he was finally able to see the young woman that lied under the cool façade. Her expression was open, eyes wide in surprise and lips parted into a slight "o" shape. She blinked before tilting her head in thought, a small frown forming on her face.
"All the time," She quietly admitted, "I believe it is in human nature to have doubts…but…I don't think we can afford to have doubts while here."
She gave him an apologetic smile and he knew then that they shared the same doubts. They just couldn't voice them, or really leave their situation. They were completely stuck. The doors opened and all expression left Genesis's face as she turned towards the robot.
"The subject is ready for the operation," It informed them, and her blood ran cold, "you are to start immediately."
Gilmore went to ask a question when it left them. Genesis downed the rest of her tea before letting out a sigh and standing up from her chair. She hadn't thought that they'd be forced to work on 005 already. It was too early. They hadn't had the chance to go over the schematics and fix what wouldn't work. Gilmore walked besides her as they headed to the right room, robotic soldiers following them in the manner of an odd entourage. They only parted ways due to having to change into scrubs.
Genesis was quiet as she unbuttoned her shirt, her eyes slightly glazed over as she tried to figure out a way to stop the operation from happening. Her mind was blank. Nothing could stop what was in motion. She lightly thumped a fist against a wall before resting her hand against it. It had to be done, she refused to be killed. She changed into the scrubs, a white pair this time, before heading out to the operating room. She had a mask on, and grimaced at the hot air blowing in her eyes at every breath she took. It was only until she was finished with 005. She was pulled from her thoughts as Gilmore joined her and their assistants came out to join them. Gilmore let out a strange sounding wheeze and she looked over at him in worry.
"Are you all right?" She asked and his shoulders slumped slightly.
"I'll be fine," He replied, "let's start the operation."
Genesis nodded her acknowledgment of that and motioned for the face mask for 005. She was a bit daunted as she fixed it against his nose and mouth. He was an excessively big man, and it was going to take a long time to work on him and give him cybernetics. She picked up a scalpel and spared a glance towards Gilmore, wanting him to take the reins, she wasn't too sure of where to start. The schematics were on a nearby white board, and she chewed the inside of her cheek.
"We'll begin with the brain," Gilmore informed her, "if we don't get the brain enhanced first then the rest of the components won't work, they require the brain to be mechanized."
Genesis made a slow incision into the skull, and she felt her stomach churn as blood slowly spilled out. She had to push through the feeling as she was handed a bone saw. Gilmore noticed her hesitation as she contemplated how to get through the bone and when to stop, she didn't want to accidentally kill the man that was going to become 005. She seemed to relax a bit when she pulled away from him with the saw, handing it to one of the assistants. They began the wiring of the mechanical components that were powered by the human brain. It was a fascinating process that used the brains nervous system to keep everything running smoothly, though it was possible for wires to get unattached when the cyborgs were moving about training.
Gilmore could still remember the day that the original four had been released for testing. 004 nearly blew his own legs clean off. 003 had trouble differencing the sounds around her. He looked at the face of the young man that they were changing. Would he have issues? He couldn't tell, even if the newest mind to the team had worked out some new ways to relayer the muscular system to seem more life-like. How would that balance out the strain he'd put his body through. He gained a wry smile under his face mask. He was a sentimental old man that was starting to see the horror of his actions. He looked at Genesis once again. He was dragging another into his mistakes, and he felt horrible.
Genesis inserted a wire where the diagrams told her to, and she cringed at the sounds they made as they slid into place. She wouldn't have thought that it would be so loud to change a person from a normal human to a cyborg, but she was soon learning. Another squelch sent a chill down her spine. It was too quiet in the operation room. No one was speaking, no one played music, and no one else seemed bothered by the sounds. She was placing another wire when Gilmore let out a pained breath. She looked up and her eyes widened slightly as he slumped to the side, clutching at his chest where his heart was. She didn't even have to think of what needed to be done.
"You two, take him to the infirmary," She barked out at two of the frozen assistants, "he's having a heart attack."
"Yes, Ma'am!" They shouted in unison before lifting the short old man up and heading out with him.
"Let's continue the operation," Genesis knew that she had to take charge because her boss was now out of commission, "once I get his brain done I want you all to start on his limbs, and follow the schematics that we created if you feel lost."
It was insulting, but it snapped them back to attention. Genesis could feel her hands shaking but she steeled her nerves and continued forward. She could see Gilmore afterwards. If she didn't get 005 finished then it would be both their heads.
Six hours later saw her stumbling out of the changing rooms and bumping into the wall of the hallway. She was knackered, completely. Still, she needed to go check on Gilmore to see if he had recovered and where he wanted to go from their current point. She pushed away from the wall and sluggishly made her way to the infirmary. She passed platoon after platoon and a small part of her mind wondered why there were so many around. Usually, she would see one or two, but she was passing her fifth one in a row. As long as they didn't give her any issues, then she was fine.
Genesis shook her head in thought and opened the infirmary door. Gilmore was sitting in a bed, changed into a hospital robe. He looked up at the sound of the door opening and gained the barest of smiles. She entered the room and closed the door behind her.
"Feeling better?" She softly asked as she grabbed a nearby metal chair and placed it next to his bed.
"The head doctor says I should take it easy for a while," Gilmore informed her as he frowned slightly, a hand tugging at his beard, "you sure took charge today."
"Sorry for stepping on your toes like that, but I don't think our employer would…appreciate any more recesses," She apologised, a frown appeared on her face, "I'm just glad that you're all right."
"How did 005 turn out?" He questioned.
"We won't know for sure until tomorrow after putting him through some basic tests to see if his motor skills are functioning correctly," She answered crossing her arms across her chest in thought, "he looks all right, hopefully he'll end up working."
That terminology bothered her, but it was the right words. She was shooed from the room as the head doctor entered and shot her a glare. Gilmore was slightly amused when she sent the much older man a silly look before waving at him. She certainly was a strange woman.
Genesis was dragging her feet, and the sound was starting to annoy her. She was too tired to stop, she even faltered outside her door. Her face was impassive as she slowly used her key to open it. She didn't remember much after that, only walking inside and locking the door behind her before passing out on her bed.
XxX
Genesis shouldn't be surprised that a death merchant was incredibly efficient. Not even a day after 005 was completed did they find a candidate for 006. She had to work through the blueprints alone, though Gilmore looked over them before adding his own idea and signing off on them. 006 was another male. He was Chinese, with dark hair and a portly belly. His nose was shaped like a ball, and she wondered if that was just something unique to the timeline, she found herself in. She nervously tapped her hand against her thigh as she hesitated in the changing room.
Her time experimenting was getting faster and faster. Genesis still had to run 005 through his motor test, and then have him walk around to make sure that his muscles were correctly working. She didn't have the time to work on cyborg after cyborg when the previous one was still waiting for a test run. She heaved out a heavy sigh before moving out of the room, fixing her mask back over her face. Gilmore was supervising from above; the glass ceiling had been made for such a thing. She hadn't even questioned the strangeness of a glass ceiling until it was brought to attention that there was one. She had liked to believe that she was more observant than that, but evidence said differently.
"Start with the brain as per usual," Gilmore instructed, and she felt a bit better upon hearing his voice.
She still hated the sounds, the horrible squelching that caused her own stomach to violently churn. It was one of the main reasons why she hadn't eaten anything. She had no dinner or breakfast, and her body was starting to protest at the lack of food. She only had tea, and nothing but tea. It helped sooth her stomach- to a point- and allowed her to caffeinate herself without needing strong coffee. She fought down the urge to tense her shoulders and instead added another component with wires to his brain. It seemingly fit in with ease. She spared a glance up towards the ceiling and noted that Gilmore had left them. Genesis wondered what he was doing, but was brought back to 006 when his heartbeat skipped for a few seconds. Time was of the essence if they took a single break then they could lose him.
"Start on the limbs and torso," She told the others.
They moved away from her and allowed her to work on the brain without anyone looking over her shoulder. She narrowed her eyes in thought before adding another component and adding the wires as well. The brain was tricky, but the diagram allowed her to know what she was doing. She placed another component when she realized that it was different compared to 005's. She didn't know what 006's abilities would be, but the small component that she was placing informed her that it had something to do with fire. She let out a quiet sigh and went back to inserting the part, taking care not to be too rough.
"I think we've completed him," One of the aids said as Genesis closed the skull and watched as the synthetic skin melded together, "we'll move him to testing chamber six."
"Thank you," She quietly responded before getting changed into her normal work clothes.
She blinked when she noticed Gilmore waiting for her, with the original four cyborgs behind him. They didn't seem pleased to see her, and she knew immediately that he had brought them into the know. They knew everything of what was going on, and they knew about her dreams. It would be insulting to someone who was forced to become a cyborg to meet someone who would willingly do so. She gathered it was going to be a long day.
"How did it go?" Gilmore asked her.
"We were able to finish, but I'm not too sure," She said scratching the back of her neck in thought, "I needed to do my check up on 005, I was going to do that before we got the orders to work on 006."
Gilmore knew she was ignoring the problem at hand. He had gone behind her back to inform the cyborgs of her goals and reasons behind doing her work. 003 and 004 had reacted the most, seemingly disliking the woman before meeting her. They still didn't seem to like her, even after meeting the soft-spoken woman. 003 wondered if it was a façade, she put up to hide a colder personality. 002 didn't care either way but didn't fully trust the woman. 004, well he would make sure to limit his exposure around her.
Genesis gave the older man a slight wave before heading over to testing room five. Her eyes narrowed in thought. Gilmore had informed them of her dreams, but not her reasons behind them? It was such a strange move, but she somewhat understood it. He wanted them to come to their own conclusions, and she respected him more for that. She could deal with being disliked by the 00 cyborgs, she really could. Yet, she was aware that eventually she'd crumbled under the loneliness. She wouldn't push for them to like her, she refused to do that. Their actions were their own, and she wouldn't take that away from them.
She pulled herself away from that line of thought as she opened the door to lab 5. 005 was up and about and he shot her a suspicious look. He was on guard, and she gave him a slight nod of greeting as she grabbed a nearby clipboard to look at the spread sheet she'd been given. There was little information for a genuine motor test and a slight frown appeared on her face. She stepped up to him and she had to crane her neck to meet his eyes.
"How are you feeling?" She asked and he gave her a strange look in response.
It was a mix of disbelief and slight annoyance. Genesis understood that completely, but wasn't going to let it deter her from asking him the questions she needed to do. He lifted his arms and crossed them across his chest. He was highly defensive, and she ignored the need to do the same. He wouldn't appreciate her copying his movements, even if she was feeling a bit uneasy around him. She was in a room with a cyborg that she didn't really know what he did, and he wasn't her biggest fan.
"Any issues with moving about?" She quietly tried again.
"…None…" He answered.
"Ah, that's good," She quietly said as she looked down at the clipboard and knew for a fact that her chin length hair hid her mouth from sight, "I'm sorry, though I know an apology can't turn back time…making sure you are in perfect condition is the only thing I can do to help right now."
He didn't relax, but his demeanour went from overly defensive to cautious. She looked back up and took a deep breath before looking up at his eyes and making a face. How had she never noticed that he was so tall. She'd been able to work on him and turn him into a cyborg, but hadn't noticed that? He raised a brow and she turned slightly embarrassed.
"Sorry, I'm not used to people so tall," She informed him, "it's impressive."
His brow lowered and she shifted her weight a bit before running him through the test that she had for him. Her's was just making sure he would be able to move the way he should. She had him lift a few things and nodded as she wrote down what she learned. She smiled slightly when he moved a desk for her. He had relaxed a bit around her, though there was still a dislike there.
"It seems as though everything is in order," She quietly stated before putting the clipboard back on the small hook.
The door opened and she blinked at the arrival of Doctor Whisky. She didn't want to leave 005 alone with the man, something about him caused her discomfort. He narrowed his eyes at her, and she reluctantly left the room, sending 005 an apologetic look as Doctor Whisky turned around. It seemed to surprise the newly made cyborg, but she didn't get to know what else his reaction was when the doors slammed shut. She stood there for a few seconds with a slightly insulted expression on her face. She decided to head to get something to eat. She could worry about it, or she could just trust that nothing would happen to 005. She chewed the inside of her cheek as she walked down the hallways.
Her day was just getting better and better. The cyborgs were inside the cafeteria. It wasn't like she could skip meals for the rest of her time at Black Ghost. She got the strange slop again and looked at it in thought as she took a seat away from everyone, not wanting to talk to anyone. She didn't feel like it, her mind too busy for socialisation.
"So, everyone around here is aware that you don't see the big picture."
The moment she heard those words she took a calming breath and turned to see Edward standing there. She had to wonder what it was with the name Edward and the people having it being jerks. She placed her hands in her lap and gave him her full attention, not saying anything. She was good with prolonged eye contact when it came for scaring people.
"Was there something you needed, or did you just come over here to insult me?" She questioned when she noticed that he had yet to leave, though he was highly unnerved.
"Do you practice staring at people?" He questioned, not even answering her.
"No, now answer my question," She huffed, "I don't have the patience for you right now."
"Just curious why someone so sympathetic could be such a loner," He muttered.
"Bit shit innit?" She asked.
She took his confusion and left the cafeteria. It was a diversion, and she was quite proud of it. She headed to her room, a place where no one could bother her, and she could unwind. She ate in relative peace, though she was curious as to what she needed to do with the tray. That hadn't been completely thought through like she first believe it was. She sighed and got changed for bed, she could worry about it the next day. She was too tired, too emotionally drained to even care anymore.
