"So, what is it you wanted?" Alice asked as she picked up her glasses from the table in her room.
"Well, we kinda did this uh, thing-" Maxim began
"This isn't a sex thing is it?" Alice interrupted him as she sat down at her computer
"Oh god no, get your head out of the gutter"
"To be fair, it does sound sexual with you constantly beating around the bush" Aya put in
"Because they keep interrupting me before I can explain it"
"Then explain it already" Aya looked at him.
"Well, I was working on a new psionic thing, I call it mind merge... you can problem guess what it does by the name, and earlier, when I did my inspiring thing to Aya, I felt something weird, so, once I'd learned that thing, I asked Aya if we could do it - DON'T - and, we merged minds, and, well, Aya instantly knows the best way to kill someone when she sees them"
Alice raised a disbelieving eyebrow "Really? Aya, what is the best way to kill me right now?"
"You are currently unarmed, and I am significantly faster than you, 1 simple punch into your temple with my cybernetic arm would fracture the skull, and knock you out instantly, and then, well, there are a variety of means afterwards" Aya said matter-of-factly.
"Interesting" Alice seemed to think for a moment, before her face lit up in realization, and she got from her chair and went over to one of the book cases along her walls.
"Alice, whatcha doing?" Maxim asked as she browsed the books
"I think I heard about something like this... Help me look"
"What we looking for?"
"The title is written in ADVENT"
"Goody"
They searched through the book cases for several minutes, man Alice had a lot of fucking books.
"Wait a minute. If this thing is in ADVENT, how are we gonna read it?" Maxim asked as he searched the 3rd bookcase... occasionally pulling out a book, it just felt right, resting for trapdoors or hidden rooms.
"Only half is in ADVENT. Peng translated it, and the second half is in English" Alice replied
"Ah"
They continued on for several more minutes... How many fucking books did this woman have?
"You do you know you can probably get these on your computer"
"Not these books"
"Found it" Aya said, as she brought out a thick book, hard cover, and, surprisingly, not covered in dust as Maxim had expected. She handed it to Alice, and she flicked through it.
"Now, where is it" she mumbled to herself as she flicked through
Maxim absent-mindedly pulled books out half way and put them back, still testing for trap doors, he was strangely convinced one of them would have one, every movie and game he'd ever seen, that had book cases, had a hidden room behind it.
"Here it is" Alice announced, and Maxim quickly shoved the book back into the case and came over to join the other two.
She had the book open, and, although the writing was in English, it might as well have been ADVENT for what Maxim could understand of it. A whole bunch of science techno-babble. But, and he felt like a 3-year-old for this, he could see the pictures.
There was an image of a figure, it looked human, but there was some differences, wearing a lab coat, looking at a large tube, too clouded to see in to. The figure didn't seem human, due to the face that it seemed, almost stretched, way too tall, and really thin, with long fingers, a thin face, and slanted eyes, along with long pointed ears (like an elf).
"What is this?" Maxim asked
"From what we could gather from it, perhaps the only document that records Miss Lost's group"
"Really?"
"We aren't certain, but it appears to be"
"What is this?" Aya asked, pointing towards the clouded tube in the picture.
"Well, this was a genetic engineering facility, from, roughly, 40 years ago. We believe, it was one of the operations of their group"
"Why was it in ADVENT?" Maxim asked
"Apparently they're trying to discover them as much as I am"
"Well, this is great, but what does this have to do with Aya?"
"Well, we believe they were working on, perfecting, essentially, the perfect soldier"
Maxim looked over at Aya "So, you're saying that..."
"Potentially. It says that the facility was attacked by a, even after so long, unidentified force, the facility was destroyed, and all their progress lost, presumed destroyed. A shame, they were working on a lot of other things that would have benefited the world greatly once they were completed"
"So, let me get this straight, you think I'm the result of some genetic engineering from Miss Lost?" Aya asked
"Precisely"
"Then I shall need to discuss thing with Lost" Aya said, before turning and walking out.
"Dun dun duhhhh" Maxim smiled as he did the 'dramatic music'.
Alice looked at him "What was that?"
"I dunno. Just seemed like that would be the part of a movie, where there would be a dramatic fade to black with the dramatic music, then cut to a difference scene leaving the watcher like 'what the hell, what happened from there'"
Alice chuckled and shook her head. "You might want to go catch Aya, she might rip Lost's head off if she doesn't tell her what she wants"
"I don't think she'd rip her head off... Just an arm"
"And Lost'll just get a new one anyway"
"Yeah... So, you got a secret room in here or what"
Miss Lost stood in her usual position as Aya walked in, although walked wasn't the correct word, it would be more accurate to say she stormed in. "Greetings Valkyrie, what can I help you with?"
"You created me didn't you"
"Straight to the point I see. Very well" There was a loud hiss, and, as lost brought her hood down, revealed one of her new improvements, over her mouth was now an object that very much resembled a kind of re-breather or gas mask, that would vent steam periodically. "Personally. I did not create you. At that point in time I had just joined, and was merely, I believe the equivalent would be an intern"
"I don't really care who did it. I just want to know about it"
"Is it really important? You were created, you have abilities exceeding that of almost all regular humans. You age slower, process things faster, and your body can adapt to extreme circumstances, such as your immunity to pain after those severe injuries.. Why do the details matter to you?"
"Because, if I know what it is that created these abilities, I may be able to use them more effectively"
"Unfortunately, I couldn't help you here if I wanted to. All our records of that facility, aside from a few brief mentions of their progress, were destroyed. I know little more than you do"
"Convenient"
"Indeed"
"So you can tell me nothing"
"Nothing useful"
"How was I created?"
"What do you mean?"
"As in, do I have biological parents"
"I believe so. A sperm and egg were required. Who they were I am unawares. But you would have little genetic link to them, as your genes had been heavily modified"
"How did I get out?"
"One of the security team. Working under the name of Mr Shale at the time, I believe he is dead now, was under orders to ensure your safety. He retrieved you before the facility was destroyed utterly. But he was pursued, and had to leave you at the Orphanage you were left at, to ensure they would not find you. It appears he was successful, and clever in that, as he was captured shortly after"
"You seem to know an awful lot considering you don't know much"
"Information is my business... Along with the selection of items I can collect and trade"
Aya turned to leave.
"1 moment. There is 1 piece of information I can provide that may lead you to uncover more"
"Why didn't you lead with that?"
"Because I only just received the information" she tapped the side of her head a few times, producing a strange clunking sound
"Well, what is it?"
"A facility location, and a man, who may know more"
Ash crouched on top of the Avenger, Sniper Rifle in hand. He breathed out, and fired a shot. He looked where he had shot, and saw the lizard he had seen and fired at, had a neat hole through the head. He couldn't supress a slight fist pump.
"Impressive shot"
Ash jumped in surprise, to find Roman behind him, leaning against some antenna on the roof, wearing just a plain black shirt and trousers. It was weird seeing him without Armour and Weapons (Ash didn't socialise much)
"You do need to work on your spatial awareness though"
"Yeah. But I got to get my shots good first. I can rely on you guys to watch my back"
"Sure. But there will be times when we can't. Tunnel vision is the death of even the greatest sniper"
Ash leaned his sniper rifle against the box he'd been crouched behind, and stood up. "I guess that's why I never got far in the organisation"
"You are also nowhere near as stealthy as those other ones"
"Really raising my confidence here"
Roman smiled, and stepped forwards. "But, you are also a lot more human than them"
"Wha-"
"You care. You get nervous. You actually speak with emotions, rather than Monotone like the others. When you had to reveal you were with them, you were scared. Scared that we wouldn't accept you any more"
Roman took another step forwards, and place a hand on his shoulder "But, you came back, and worked hard to try to prove yourself to us, without realizing you didn't need to" With the hand not on Ash's shoulder, he scratched the back of his neck "I have secrets of my own... That, I am not yet ready to share in words, but" and, moving the hand from his neck to his pocket, he pulled out a small object, and thrust it into Ash's chest. He looked down for a second. "Ah. Fuck it" and he planted a kiss on Ash's lips.
Ash was shocked for a second... But found himself not fighting it. After a few seconds. Roman pulled back, and looked at Ash. "Sorry. If I didn't do that know, I don't think I'd ever do it" then, before Ash could respond, he walked off back to the hatch leading inside.
Ash watched him go, clutching the item Roman had given him. He didn't quite know what had happened. He looked down at the object in his hands, and saw a small, leather-bound notebook. It had no writing on the front. He took a deep breath, grabbed his rifle, and went back down to his room to read it.