Neo stared intently into the old man's eyes as he made a small mark on his chart.
"Pleasure to meet you. You can call me Dr. Marcin, for now I'm here to just ask you some questions."
"What happened to me?" Neo said slowly, "Why can I speak?"
"Oh! Yes well, you were captured by Ms. Xiao Long and my daughter. You were then turned over to me for treatment. I am attempting to correct the hardware failures, but I've transferred you into this shell so that we could talk face to face in the interim," The doctor stared curiously for a moment at Neo, " So Miss Neo, what is the first thing you remember?"
"Why would I tell you?" She spat, the inexplicable rage reigniting in her gut. The doctor sighed and pinched his brow.
"Ms. Neo, you will gain nothing by being difficult. I cannot and will not force you to talk to me, but I promise that I am trying to help."
Neo glared daggers at the old man, but eventually turned her attention to her fractured memory. Slowly, the bits and pieces began to pull together and form coherent events. A dark train car. Immovable restraints. Roman. Neo began to speak.
The android struggled uselessly against her restraints, their soft glow the only light in the cramped boxcar. Surrounding her prison were a number of crates, along with several free standing Atlesian Paladins. For hours, the only sound was her straining against her confines, the cold metal beginning to tear at her skin. Eventually, the girl resigned herself to her fate. She listened to the soft bumping of the tracks for what seemed an eternity before the white noise was broken by an earth shattering explosion. The doors to the boxcar were rended from their hinges, one of them impeding itself in a paladin. Three rough looking men leapt aboard, followed by a far more well dressed redhead in a bowler hat.
"Alright boys, let's move!" Yelled the man jovially, "Anyone not on a Bullhead in the next fifteen minutes will get the honor of being our fodder for Atlesian reinforcements." A dozen more mean leapt into the car, making their way to the paladins. A few others began moving the odd-sized crates out. The redhead walked lazily about, watching his men work. His eyes wandered about, and stopped in momentary confusion on the girl bound in the back.
"Well what do we have here?" The man sauntered over to the bound android, who stared at him pitifully. "What's your name, little lady?" Neo futilely worked her jaw, but try as she might nothing came out.
"Ah, I see," he said as he realized her predicament, "well I have to say I didn't expect live cargo on here. the only reason Atlas would have you up like that is because you're dangerous; guess that makes this your lucky day, I just happen to be in the market for dangerous," Roman turned to the bindings release terminal. The girl fell roughly to her knees as her restraints slid away.
"So do you at least have a name?" The girl shook her head slowly, refusing to look up. "Well, I have to call you something," The man stared intently at her for a moment, lingering on her unusual hair, "I'm thinking Neopolitan; you can call me Roman."
"He took me with him. He wanted to know what made me so special."
"Did you know?"
"No, not at first. Like I said, he was the first thing I remembered." Neo had calmed significantly since starting her story, and began again.
"Who is she?!" Cinder shouted as she strode towards Roman, who was stood triumphantly near the warehouse loading dock. The man had a small girl standing uncertainly next to him, obviously out of place. She had heard the news from one of Roman's goons, but she wanted an explanation from the source.
"No clue," Roman responded jovially, swinging his cane.
"Why is she here?" Cinder spat through gritted teeth. Emerald and Mercury stared the girl down warily from behind Cinder. They knew the last thing Cinder liked was unknowns, they had to be ready to eliminate the girl if necessary.
"I found this pretty little lady," Roman gestured over to a very confused Neo, "strapped down in the train car with all my paladins. Figured if Atlas wants her locked down that bad, then she's someone we could use on our side."
Cinder glowered into the smiling visage of the dapper criminal before shifting her attention to the girl at his side. She stared intently before turning and sharply and began to walk briskly away. Faster than anyone could follow she turned back to the duo, a bow solidifying in her hands.
"No unknowns," An arrow was released from Cinder's bow, embedding itself in Neo's chest. "Pull anything like this again Roman and I-" Neo's visage splintered and shattered, stopping Cinder in her tracks. Neo reappeared a few feet away, seemingly as confused as the rest of them. Cinder scowled deeply.
"Emerald, Mercury." The two lieutenants snapped into action, Mercury charging towards the girl. Emerald hung back, attempting to shift Mercury in the girl's vision. She visualised the way Mercury would move in slightly different circumstances, pushing the projection into the girl's brain. Now the girl would be completely blindsided, defenseless to stop Mercury. Emerald smiled as Mercury leapt, swinging his foot viciously down towards the girl.
Neo caught the leg of her assailant effortlessly, seemingly to the shock of both him and his partner. She did not know why, as it had been a horribly telegraphed attack. The boy, obviously irked, flipped from her grasp and landed a few yards away. He looked questioningly at the girl in green, who did not seem to have any answers. The boy returned his attention to Neo, preparing for a second assault.
In her entire life, Emerald had never met someone who could see through her illusions. The more she learned of this girl, the more certain she was that she couldn't be allowed to live. Drawing Suge Hozka, Emerald prepared to join and quickly end the fray. She began to walk forward, but found her progress impeded by a pulling sensation at her waist; Roman's cane was hooked at her waistline.
"Now now Emy, no cheating," Roman muttered as he stared at Neo with a hint of curiosity.
She stared in disbelief at the cocky criminal before turning to Cinder, hoping she would give the go ahead to end the scum.
"Leave it be, Emerald," Cinder ordered, an identical sense of curiosity emanating from her. Reluctantly, the girl in green returned her weapon to her hips. The trio watched as Neo and Mercury continued their brawl.
Mercury was becoming increasingly frustrated with the situation. The last person to give him any issue had been his father, and he had liked it that way. With Emerald backing him up, no fight for the last several months had lasted more than a few seconds. Now merald had been called off, and he was left fighting an unknown opponent. Much like his employer, he hated dealing with anyone who he didn't know inside and out. It just made things so much simpler. All he knew now was that this girl could easily block his strikes and was seemingly unaffected by Emerald. Regardless, Cinder had not called him off, so he would continue to fight. Dashing forward, he directed a spin kick into the girl's midriff.
Neo caught the strike with ease, her confusion at her own abilities quickly replaced with amusement. Everyone watching seemed to be waiting anxiously for the boy to finish his job, but his strikes were laughably slow. Either he was underestimating her, or everyone there was overestimating him. Her amusement was rapidly replaced with anger however, as the boy spun in her grip. Twisting in mid air, his foot connected solidly with the side of her head. Neo was sent rolling across the pavement, kicking up dust as she skipped across the ground. Surprisingly though, she felt no real pain as she rose and dusted herself off.
"Interesting," breathed Cinder as she watched the girl dust herself off, her aura fading into the background. Mercury was no lightweight, someone lacking serious practice would have their aura shattered by him with one solid hit. The fact that this girl seemed relatively unfazed was interesting, to say the least.
Neo stared down her opponent, whose smirk of satisfaction had been wiped away as she smiled back. As he glared angrily back at her, Neo focused on recreating the sensation she had felt when she had dodged Cinder's arrow. Her body seemed to understand her intentions better than she did, as she shifted from her position and found herself alongside a mirage of herself. Grinning, Neo went to work.
Mercury glowered at his opponent; that smirk she wore was infuriating beyond belief. She had not landed a blow, but for some reason he felt as if he were the one losing. It was a feeling that left a bitter taste in his mouth, a feeling that hadn't crossed his mind since his father. As he prepared to redouble his assault on his motionless enemy, he felt an overwhelming force meet his face.
Neo's fist landed cleanly on the boy's jaw, his aura flaring as he flew backwards from the blow. Before he could recover, Neo ran forward, delivering a half dozen blows to his head and torso. As Neo threw a high kick at the byes head, he managed to parry the blow. Taking the momentary reprieve the boy fired off his gun boots, flipping in air and landing some ten meters away.
"Enough of this," Cinder called to Mercury, "end her."
"Yes ma'am," Mercury replied, the slightest tone of frustration coloring his usual snark.
Mercury began to spin, firing his guns into the air. Concentrating on firing as well as focusing his semblance, Mercury began to form a cyclone to catch the dust charges. As he returned to his feet, the wind began to cycle at an unprecedented pace as he prepared to focus it downward. As Neo attempted to close the gap, a barrage of bullets met her. Through the dust of the resulting explosions, the distinct sound of a breaking aura was heard by everyone. Cinder smiled smugly in victory.
"Finish her off, Mercury," she called, turning to walk away. Emerald followed behind her employer diligently while Mercury smiled in recognition of the order. Only Roman saw the slight shift in the smoke. Casually, he flung his cane into the slowly settling dirt.
Neo caught the cane, able to see it even through the shifting and hazy light of the dust. She could sense her all-permeating weakness, yet somehow she felt no pain. Regardless, she knew that she had to end the fight immediately. Pushing herself to her limit, she exited the settling cloud explosively towards her enemy.
Mercury had no time to react, the end of Roman's cane meeting his jaw with earth shattering force. Flying through the air, he felt that unyielding force make contact a dozen times over, decorating his body with fresh pain. Upon landing he desperately threw a kick at the girl, who to his horror shattered and faded away at his touch. In response to his haphazard counter, Mercury received a crushing blow to the skull. Concrete rushed to meet his face, his aura breaking at the contact. He felt himself pulled by his throat, the girl's fingers tearing into his skin. The end of Roman's cane was placed under his chin, the threat obvious. In a last ditch attempt, Mercury put everything he had into another kick. His enhanced leg met an unyielding wall when he came into contact with the girls side, his own limb bending slightly at the blow.
"That's enough, Neo," Roman called across the battlefield, "We may need him later. I think you proved your point," as he spoke, Cinder made her way toward the exhausted pair. As Neo released on her stranglehold on Mercury, she came face to face with his boss.
"You're certainly strong, I'll give you that," Cinder mused, her eyes locking onto a point on Neo's face, "there's a lot more to you than meets the eye."
Neo, uncomfortable at Cinder's look, felt the air that she was so keen on. To her surprise, she felt loose, dangling flesh. Where it used to be, she found nothing but smooth metal. Cinder seemed to read some of her thoughts on her face, smiling and placing an arm around Neo.
"Oh darling, you didn't know? Walk with me, we need to talk." Neo stared questioningly at Roman, who simply nodded. The two walked away slowly, watched by Roman, Emerald, and a limping Mercury. Nearly an hour passed before they returned, Cinder's arm still draped over an uncomfortable looking Neo.
"We've come to an arrangement," Cinder said as she passed the girl off to Roman, "I don't kill her and she helps me with a little project I'm working on. But," Cinder stared holes into the girl, who shrunk away in fear, "if I so much as think she is not invested in our cause, or has outlived her usefulness, it won't be some two bit assassin she has to deal with it," Mercury raised his head to retort, but was quickly shushed by Emerald. The queen gestured to her two guard dogs, the trio beginning to walk away. Cinder paused for a moment, turning to the remaining pair.
"Oh and Roman? Since you bet on her, it's your head on the chopping block too if she chooses wrong."
"Oh don't worry lady," Roman replied, emanating confidence, "I never make bad bets."
"I see. Well Miss Neo, I believe that will be all for today," Marcin made for the door to the lab.
"Wait! You aren't going to let me out?!" Marcin turned to Neo, genuine pain in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, but we cannot allow that yet. Soon though, I promise," Marcin walked through the door, screams of rage following him. A co worker approached the doctor, chart in hand.
"Sir, we all agree that- "
"Yes, yes I know. Even I could tell," Marcin had suggested this psychological evaluation in hopes of determining what Neo exactly was. Unfortunately, she was not something as simple as two warring but separate personas, each fighting for control of a fractured body. No, it was quite obvious to anyone that this Neo was neither Android 87, her aura donor, nor some simple amalgamation of the two; Neo was a completely separate persona. While she could contain some hints of the other two, she was for all intents and purposes her own person. This presented an impossible ethical dilemma; even if Marcin could find a way to return 87 and her aura donor back to functioning form, he would be ending a life to do it. Resting against a wall, he pulled his hair in frustration.
"My girl, what have I done to you?"
A/N: Hi! Sorry for the delay, I got really sick and kind of lost steam for a few days. Should start posting a bit faster soon.
Also, Emerald's weapon name means Snake Bite in Basque if you are curious