Chapter 4: H-0LO
I walked on ahead, alone. The corridors became tighter as I advanced past the similar white washed walls. Everything was deathly quiet, nothing stirred within the sterilized halls.
'How can anyone find their way through this place?' I thought, beginning my decent down a similar white staircase.
As I passed the last step, I walked out into a large domed room. The place was chockablock with monitoring equipment, server towers, monitors and printed readouts stuck to the wall in various locations.
But what caught my eye the most was the huge construct in the center of the room. There was a huge conglomeration of thick pipes and wiring, twisting and wrapping around each other like colossal metal snakes. The massive pipes lead from the top of the domed ceiling, all the way down to a metallic
man-sized capsule, located in the center of the spherical shaped room. Upon the capsual, printed in big block letters was another serial code.
'H-0LO'
I stared at the capsule a little longer. Before I spotted something stirring over to the left of me. I quickly brought up my gun, aiming in the direction of whatever it was. My sights were met with a young brunette dressed in a lab coat, she shrieked in terror when I spotted her.
"Don't move!" I shouted in surprise, keeping my gun trained on her.
I heard a voice call out to me.
"No Please! Don't!"
It didn't belong to the girl, but an elderly man, who raised his hands in a placating gesture as he came out from his hiding place.
I kept my gun trained on the girl, but my attention switched to the old man.
"D-don't hurt her, s-she doesn't mean any harm." The old man stammered, fear cracking his aged voice.
"You've got about three seconds to tell me who you people are..." I growled, fixing the old man with my glare.
"My name is Yoitsu, Professor Yoitsu. I am one of the head researches here at the facility." He explained, lowering his hands, occasionally glancing at the gun.
I got the hint and lowered the gun, as the young brunette fell to her knees, sobbing.
'Well ain't I a monster...' I thought bitterly, before strolling up to the professor.
"So you're the head researcher, huh?" I asked cooly, the man began backing away from me, fear glimmering in his eyes.
"W-well, I-I..." he stammered, the colour draining from his face.
I firmly gripped the professor's shoulder, causing the poor man to groan and grab my arm in pain. I loomed over him, securing my dominance in the situation. I had all the power, he had none.
"Well since you're the man in charge, you'd know where the access ports to your server are… right?" I asked, tightening my grip ever so slightly, causing the old man to wince.
However, his disposition changed. He lost his fear, which was swiftly replaced by anger.
"The Server? Why? What are you after?" The old man demanded, a twinge of fear still lingering in his voice.
"That's none of your business old man, where is it?!" I growled, my patience wearing thin.
"Do you honestly think you can come in here, wave a gun around and expect us to give into you?!" The old man snapped, his face crinkled into a frown.
I yanked the man towards me, pulling his face close to my own.
"You will, if you're smart."
"I'm not giving you a damn thing!" He seethed defiantly.
My face fell as I cleared my mind. I couldn't think about it, or I would hesitate and lose the upper hand. I only needed to act.
Shoving the man back, I raised the dense metallic gun in my hand. With a weighty swing, I brought down the pistol onto his face. There was a meaty cracking noise as the metal collided with the man's nose. I felt a warm wet splash against my hand, as the man toppled backwards, clutching his face in pain.
"Professor!" The woman screamed as she scrabbled onto her feet and rushed over to the professor's side.
Yoitsu coughed and spluttered, as dark streams of red, streaked down his face.
"You Thug!" She screamed at me, rage contorting her tear stained face.
My eyes grew colder as I shifted my gaze to look at her. And a horrible feeling of guilt and sympathy stirred in my gut, nearly breaking my hardened exterior.
"Oh, you haven't seen anything yet..." I sneered, cocking the gun and lowering it to point at her head.
The woman gasped and Yoitsu's eyes bulged.
"NO! Stop. I... I'll tell you... I'll tell you whatever you want..." He stammered, his pathetic bloody face begging for me to restrain myself.
My attention shifted back to the old man.
"That's what I want to hear..." I replied smoothly, as I lowered the pistol away from the girls head.
"Where is it?" I asked in a harsh tone.
The woman's tear filled gaze switched between myself and the professor.
"Professor, no! Don't-" The woman pleaded but was cut off by the old man.
"I'll tell you, so long as you let her go..." Yoitsu stated, not daring to glance at the brunett. His gaze locking with mine.
I pondered this for a moment. Wondering if I should really let this girl go... After all, she could run and get help. But there was something in the man's eyes that compelled me to think otherwise. Was it sympathy? Was it guilt? I couldn't say...
With a small glance to the woman, then back to the professor, I nodded.
The professor smiled in relief and turned to face the girl by his side.
"Marlene, get out of here." He said through a broken and bloody smile.
"Professor, I don't want to leave you!" Marlene protested.
"I'll be fine, just go... go." He stated.
Marlene went to protest, but thought better of it. Instead she went to hug the old man, blood staining her white lab coat.
"Thank you..." she whispered, before breaking off her embrace and running to the nearest exit, never looking back.
I watched as she disappeared around the corner, the feeling of guilt pressed down heavily upon me.
The old man's gaze lingered where the girl was once standing, a content smile on his face. I decided that we had wasted enough time as it is.
"Now then professor..." I said flatly, walking over to the old man and pulling him off from the ground by the collar of his shirt.
"Where's the access port?" I asked, in a much more civil manner.
Yoitsu pointed weakly at a nearby control panel and an array of monitors.
"Over there, you can gain access to the servers from there..."
I pushed him to face the panel quickly pressed the gun against his head.
"Move..." I ordered.
I needed some sort of incentive to keep the situation in my favor. If I had the professor hostage, security might hesitate to come after me... might...
The professor and I shuffled towards the control panel. The blow I had given him must've dealt more damage then I intended, but he was moving non the less.
Upon the glowing monitors, I noticed that some were displaying data that resembled a heartbeat monitor, with the title 'H-0LO' at the top. I glanced over to the metal capsule in the center of the room and shivered.
'Could something be alive in there?' I thought as we reached the control panel.
I pushed the old man onto the many buttons and switches that ran along the panel. My gun still pointed at his head.
"Access the server..." I ordered and the old man obeyed, picking himself up from the panel and began typing onto a keyboard.
I looked up at a nearby monitor to see it displaying a security feed of the checkpoint that I had left Zheren and Bailey trapped in.
My eyes widened as I saw the room was swarming with guards, Zheren and Bailey were nowhere to be seen. However, the two blood stained smears along the walls, gave me a pretty clear indication of their fate.
The old man glanced at the monitor and spoke.
"I saw what you did... you're a cold man selling out your friends like that..."
I didn't look at him.
"They weren't my friends." I stated coldly.
The guards in the room were looking for a way in, but were halted by the door panel that I had shot. Suddenly a voice perked up over the monitor.
"Professor! Can you hear us in there? Professor, are you alright?" One of the guards called.
I stared at the monitor, thinking of a way to bide myself some time, they'd figure out a way to get in eventually.
"Can you patch us through to them?" I asked.
Yoitsu nodded, "Yes I can..."
My eyes narrowed and my voice became sharper.
"Put us through and say exactly what I say, got that? If you misquote even one word, I'll send your brains flying across the lab... understand?"
Yoitsu nodded again, hastier this time, as he pushed a nearby yellow button.
"Professor is that you?" A guard asked worriedly, staring into one of the cameras.
I leaned into the old man and whispered in his ear, my gun still pressed against him.
"This is Professor Yoitsu, yes everything is fine..." I cooed.
The old man swallowed hard before repeating, "This is Professor Yoitsu, yes everything is fine..." he said in a surprisingly calm voice.
"The lockdown is still in effect, none of them entered." I whispered again and Yoitsu was quick to respond.
"The lockdown is still in effect, none of them entered." The old man responded.
The guard on the monitor nodded, "And what of Subject Eight?" He asked, still concerned.
I blinked. 'Subject Eight?' I thought, glancing back to the wired man sized capsule before returning back to the professor.
"Nominal." I whispered.
"Nominal." The old man replied.
The guard nodded once again. "We'll begin a sweep for the final assailant and remove the lockdown shortly, I am terribly sorry for any inconvenience professor." He stated, before saluting and faced the other guardsmen.
"Cut the coms." I ordered in a hushed voice.
Yoitsu did so without hesitation.
"Right. Now that they're preoccupied with hunting me down, let's get down to business..." I said rolling up my sleeve, revealing the circuit.
Yoitsu got a good look at my markings and his eyes widened. "An Ink circuit? So you must be a Data Miner then..." He made a dry chuckle.
"You're either a fool or a madman, you really think you can get away with this... Do you even know who you're stealing from?" Yoitsu asked in a mocking tone.
I fixed the electrode to my arm. And passed the other end to Yoitsu, still keeping my gun trained on him.
"Shut up and hook me in." I said flatly, glaring at him.
Yoitsu took the cable from me and plugged it into a nearby port. I felt a surge of electricity run up my arm and I quickly squeezed my hand into a fist. Looking at one of the many monitors and using a smooth touch pad, I began scouring through the server.
Many of the files contained data and programs that were beyond my understanding or interest.
Yoitsu stood with a small frown on his face, obviously displeased that I was scouring through the server files. I could have been intruding on his life's work for all I knew... And I didn't really care for that matter...
I scoured through the files, searching, seeking. Until my eyes fell upon the files containing the serial code 'X-100'. My eyes lit up as I stared at the big block letters upon the screen, a small sick smile tugged at the corner of my cheeks.
My finger hovered over the sleek black touch pad, one tap away from my goal. The risk was about to yield the reward. I felt the cool touch pad beneath my finger, when everything shook violently.
I stumbled back, but quickly gained my footing, while Yoitsu fell against the control panel, his eyes wide with fright. As the world around me shook, a horrid rumbling noise rung through my head. Deafening the both of us. My pistol nearly slipped from my grasp throughout the commotion, as the whole room vibrated like a jackhammer. I heard the blaring of a siren and my head whipped around wildly upon seeing the monitors and systems beginning to shut down.
"No..."
Yoitsu murmured, barely audible over the rumbling.
"NO!" he shouted, now fumbling with the controls.
The rumbling and shaking dissipated as quickly as it had appeared. After a quick scan of the room, I flicked my gaze upon Yoitsu who was hammering madly upon the controls. Muttering under his breath, "No time... no time... need to act now..."
I quickly trained my gun on him as my look of confusion quickly gave way to realization.
He was selecting everything he could within the server and intended to copy it directly into my ink circuit.
Such a massive transfer of information and data... I didn't know whether my body could withstand the surge of electricity.
The circuit itself was powered from the electrical current of the source you were transferring data with. The larger the files the higher the voltage of the current. If done with a gradual escalation, the circuit could easily adjust and compensate for the voltage increase. But if the escalation was too rapid, the grid wouldn't be able to adjust itself in time and the user would receive the excess voltage.
"Get away from the console!" I demanded through gritted teeth.
Yoitsu glanced at me for the briefest moment before returning to slamming the controls.
"I can't... I can't let everything we've done be for nothing!" Yoitsu said through gritted teeth as a few more systems within lab the shut down.
"What is all this data! TELL ME!" I shouted, the thought of pulling the trigger surfacing in my mind.
Yoitsu looked me dead in the eye, the old man's gaze becoming hard.
"The survival of mankind..." He said in a low grim voice.
My eyes widened, shocked by the man's statement, my trigger finger going numb.
My vision suddenly went white with pain as Yoitsu began the transfer.
I lost all feeling, except the insurmountable pain that shot up and down my body. I lost my sense of placement and time. The only thing present was the pain. It lasted for what could have been a few minutes or even seconds before my vision went black.
I couldn't feel anything around me, nor could I get my body to respond, did I even have a body anymore? I was a lone consciousness, trapped in an endless void. I couldn't tell whether it was a prison conceived by my own mind, in a last ditch effort to protect itself. Or I had perished, and was doomed to wander an empty limbo for the rest of time and space. In the end I realized it was neither, as I began to feel the discomfort of the hard cold steel floor.
The darkness I had seen, was in fact the lack of lighting within the room. The power had been completely sapped. However, with a dull flash, the area was illuminated in a weak red light, some kind of auxiliary power unit. I heard a faint hiss and crackle coming from somewhere to the left of me.
It took a fair proportion of my energy to roll my head to the left to see Yoitsu talking into a hand held coms device.
"Professor Yoitsu here, what's the situation captain?" The old man asked calmly into the device.
"Professor! Thank god you're alright sir! There was a large explosion down in the sub-levels, it took out both the main and secondary generators. We still have no idea how they pulled that off-" There was a sudden burst of gun fire that crackled over the small handled device.
"Captain? Captain respond!" Yoitsu yelled into the microphone, before the voice returned after a couple more shots.
"Still here sir! Shit these bastards are persistent..." The Guard cursed worriedly.
"What's your status captain?" Yoitsu asked worriedly.
"Soon after the generators went down, two breaches were made along the east and southern wings. Mechs. Dozens of them. They came out of no where sir, took down at least ten of our guys before we even knew what was going on!" There was a sharp pinging noise as gunfire ricocheted off a nearby surface and the guard swore again.
"We... we managed to bottle neck a lot of them at our position, but they're pushing hard sir! They seem hellbent on reaching the server room. We won't be able to hold this spot for long... not without heavy losses..." The guard admitted bitterly.
"Who are we even up against here?!" Yoitsu asked, running a hand through his graying hair.
"No idea, They look like fairly recent models, but they're all unmarked. I have no idea who's behind this attack. But... it's not important, did you save the data before we lost power sir?!" The guard asked worriedly.
Yoitsu nodded, "Yes, a large proportion of the data was secured before the power loss. It's safe." The professor stated with relief.
The guard sighed over the radio, "At least that's some good news. we're running low on EMP rounds but we'll bide you time. Get that data someplace safe, the project cannot end here!" The Captain shouted over the radio.
"But what about the researchers and facility personnel?!" Yoitsu exclaimed.
"Either dead or scattered. These machines are systematically breaking into and clearing rooms along their path to you. They're destroying whatever they can get their hands on, lab equipment, people, doesn't matter! All that matters is that you get out of here!" The guard shouted.
Yoitsu was silent for a long while before finally speaking. "I understand... good luck captain..." The old man said, his voice weighed heavily by sadness.
"God speed sir." The guard said before cutting off the call from his end.
Yoitsu stood motionless for a moment. "Goodbye old friend..." He whispered.
The old man suddenly turned his gaze to me, his sad expression turning to one of anger.
He quickly picked up my pistol that had fallen to the ground, his finger slipping through the guard and onto the trigger itself.
"Was this your doing!? Who sent the Mechs!?" The old man yelled, the black metal barrel of the gun pointing right at my head.
I was too weak to talk, I tried getting words out. To tell him that I had no idea what was going on. But it came out as unintelligible dribble. The old man only grew madder, he grabbed me by my jacket and with all his might, lifted me up before throwing me against a nearby console. I caught myself on the control unit as something hard drove into my back. I recoiled from the object before trying to stand before the old professor, as my gun was shoved into my face again.
'well isn't this ironic.' I thought bitterly, as I stared down the barrel of my own gun.
"Talk!" The old man shouted.
Before I could even get a sound out, there was an earsplitting hissing noise. Yoitsu flinched from the sound and turned to look for the source. The man sized capsule catching his gaze.
Some kind of white vapor was venting out of the capsule, shooting out in all directions with extreme amounts of pressure. Yoitsu quickly spun around, his eyes wide with fear before he quickly shoved me aside before staring at the large round button that had embedded itself into my back. It read 'Manual hydraulic release'.
Yoitsu quickly turned his gaze back to the capsule. "Of course! Without the power the mag-locks would have released... meaning... oh god..."
The professor dropped the gun in his hand and started to rush towards the capsule. He was about three feet away, before the metal capsule broke apart and opened in an explosion of vapor. The hissing jets shot towards the old man, who cried out and shielded himself with his arms.
When the white jets began to settle and swirl around the room, I saw another one of those strange glass tanks, filled with the same yellow solution. However, this was different. The liquid inside the tank looked like it was boiling, as small pockets of air shot up past the glass of the tank.
Through the vapor I managed to pick out a slender shadowy figure, suspended within the boiling yellow liquid. The figure looked like it was hooked up to some kind of life support system inside the tank, along with some heavy duty restraints.
Yoitsu just stared blankly at the figure, and I to was fixated on the enigmatic being inside. Images of the genetic monstrosities flashed in my mind, and I dreaded what was to come next. The old man began to approach the tank and it looked like the figure was looking right at him.
"What we did to you was necessary. We had no other option. The project had to go ahead, too much was at stake!" Yoitsu exclaimed, seemly talking to the figure inside the glass tank.
My eyes widened. 'Was this thing conscious? What the hell is in there?!' I thought, staring at the slender figure.
"It was necessary! You hear me! IT WAS NECES-" Yoitsu never had the chance to finish his justification, as what happened next occurred faster than my brain could process.
With an earsplitting shatter the glass tank disintegrated into tiny crystal like fragments, before the murky liquid came bursting out behind it. The shards of glass shattered towards the old professor, as the creature inside broke it's confinement.
In a blur of motion, whatever it was, hit the ground running. Lunching itself towards Yoitsu faster than I could see.
I heard the old man cry out, before seeing his limp body fly across the room at break neck speed, before going straight through a large LCD monitor.
The now broken body of the professor, lay crumpled and bloody inside the shattered screen.
He was dead.
My mouth fell open, shocked by how quickly the old man had been dispatched. The slender figure stood alone, obscured by the swirls of vapor. It must've possessed incredible strength in order to dispatch the old professor in such a manner. I looked for my gun, it was just a few feet away from me.
I felt like my legs were now strong enough to stand on, and I decided to take the chance.
I could make it. I pushed myself off the console, about to lunge for my weapon, when I felt two dainty hands grab the collar of my jacket.
Suddenly everything was a blur, I heard the air howl past my ears as I ungracefully flailed, hitting the curved wall of the room with a painful thump.
I felt the impact resonate throughout my body, before I slumped to the floor.
'Christ almighty!' I thought, trying to clear my head.
Before I had even the chance to get my bearings, something hard and yet remarkably soft pushed against my windpipe. I gagged through the face mask I still wore, as I was hoisted up the wall until my feet no longer touched the floor.
I grasped at the thing at my neck, clawing at it, trying to break free. Upon grasping it, I discovered it was an arm... a human arm... A single arm had me pinned up and choking against the wall. I fearfully glanced down, my silvery gray eyes meeting ones of vibrant crimson, blazing with fury.
My whole body froze, as Yoitsu's murderer continued to choke me, I was totally petrified by the creature's gaze. It took a moment to realize I was staring into the face of a beautiful young woman, no older than twenty. She had soft subtle skin, free from imperfection and long deep copper hair, that extended down to her nude chest. Her slender naked body pressed up against mine, preventing escape attempts on my part. She was the embodiment of a goddess, with eyes of the devil himself.
I was so distracted by the fact that a gorgeous naked girl was choking me to death, it took me moment longer before I saw the ear's and tail. Two sharp triangular ears were atop her head, with a fluffy white tips at each end. And connected to the lower portion of her back was a long swishing copper tail, a dollop of white fur at the end.
I could only stare at the girl in wonder, fear and morbid fascination, before her lips curled back into a snarl...
She had fangs...