Nier Replicant: Shades of the Past

by VonLeporace

My memories are fading, my body falling apart, not just me but everyone around me, they just don't know it yet. Sickness and madness, for some reason the project was not executed, something went wrong, but there is hope, the books, they still exist somewhere, my memories prove it. I just need someone to help me, to keep me steady. My god, he is dying! Hm... Perhaps he will do it...

2. Chapter 2 - Conversation

Chapter 2 – A Conversation about the Past

"How are we going to take all this gold?" Hyde asked more for himself than for me.

"We don't need it, we'll just take enough, and this place will be our gold stash. We will come here again when we need something." I replied.

"I guess you're right. Even so, how am I going to carry the gold? If I arrive at Seafront carrying all this in my hands, I won't get past the city gate."

"A gym bag should do."

"What is a gym?" Hyde asked.

"A place where people paid to exercise but never really went."

"Why would anyone pay to exercise? Can't you run a little bit every day?"

"I don't know. People are weird."

"We can agree on that."

I returned to Hyde's body and together we walked through the ruined city, if I remember correctly, there must be a store that sells supplements and gym products somewhere around here.

"It is still strange to see this city up close. I've always heard stories that I shouldn't come here, too many shadows for the SHADES to hide in and ambush you."

"It wasn't always like this; there was a time when SHADES didn't exist, only humans."

"Serious? It must have been great!"

"Not exactly, humans weren't a united people, just like they aren't today, but still, it wasn't so bad, that is until the disease came along."

"This disease, what happened exactly?"

"I can't remember... Something... Something fell from the sky... A while later a disease appeared... and then... monsters..."

"Your memory isn't the best, is it?"

"No, long time without a body."

"So SHAD... Do Gestalts need bodies? I've heard stories of you being monsters that wanted to steal our bodies, but it seems there's a bit of truth behind it."

"We need bodies to keep us stable and sane, too long without them and we go crazy, you should see the Seafront sewers."

"I think I noticed the difference, the SHAD... Gestalts that attacked us looked like clouds of smoke, whereas you look like a living shadow."

"This is the most notable difference between a stable and an unstable Gestalt."

We talked as we walked, we passed abandoned stores, broken windows, collapsed doors and condemned structure, rusty cars covered the streets of cracked asphalt with vegetation passing through the cracks, cracked cement sidewalks and rusted streetlights were beside us.

We saw the occasional animal such as a rabbit, wild boar, some birds landing in their nests.

Eventually we got to the store I told Hyde about and there we managed to find a bag that wasn't falling apart. On the way out Hyde stopped in front of the generic poster of a pumped up man and flexed his muscles, but was disappointed with the result.

"Some problem?" I asked.

"No, but do you think I can look like this someday?" Hyde pointed to the poster.

"This type of poster was used based on the ideal physical standards of the time, it takes a lot of work and determination to get to that point and even more to maintain it, and there was a whole problem with people dissatisfied with their bodies and doing it all to meet the standard that society has determined as acceptable, even if it harms themselves. I'm not saying people with the poster's physique are bad people or that no one should try to get to that point, if you want to be healthier, I don't see a problem with that, just don't overdo it."

"Wow! It was just a question; you didn't have to lecture me!"

"But isn't that what you wanted?"

"No! I just wanted to know if I could ever look like this!"

"And why is that? If you don't seek better health, then why? To impress a girl?"

Hyde was silent.

"Oh! So it's a girl!"

"N-no!" Hyde responded as he quickly left the store and headed back to the bank.

"Ohohoho! It sure is a girl! What's her name? How she looks like?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"I'm stuck with you Hyde; someday you'll find that girl and I'll be there to see it."

"Shut up!"

We went back to the bank and Hyde filled his bag with the gold.

"Hey, before we go, approach the wall with the little drawers."

"You mean these?" Hyde asked as he approached the wall to our left.

"Exactly."

I took control of Hyde's left arm and sank my fingers into the small metal drawer, pulling it out of the closet with a creek, its contents revealed to all, a pocket watch made of gold. Opening another drawer, we found a diamond ring and in another, a pearl necklace.

"What's all this for?" Hyde asked in surprise.

"In case something goes wrong we will have a plan B. Always be prepared Hyde, should something happen to the gold we will still have something of value to trade."

Without saying another word, Hyde stuffed the items into his pockets and together we left the bank.

"I'm surprised all this stuff is lying around here! Who is the idiot that leaves gold and jewels in a place like this?"

"When everyone is dying and society is collapsing, gold and jewels are worthless. What will you do with gold? You can't eat gold, you can't drink gold, and you can't use gold to literally cure a disease. Come to think of it, gold is kind of a useless metal, even before the world almost ended."

Hyde let out a sigh as if I'd insulted his mother.

"What? It's truth! Gold is a terrible metal for making weapons and armor, we only use it as currency because it is malleable and won't rust, and as conductors."

"What is a conductor?" Hyde asked.

"To explain that, I would have to explain electricity to you."

"And what is electricity?"

"Something you Replicants haven't figured out yet. Damn medieval society in a modern world."

TIMESKIP

We returned to Seafront and the closer we got to the city, the bigger Hyde's smile got.

"Calm down Hyde, the gold won't just disappear."

"Sorry, I'm just excited thinking about what I'm going to do with all this gold."

"Most people who get rich suddenly lose all their money in a year due to reckless spending. Buy the one thing or two you've always wanted, but then spend your money responsibly."

"Hm… I think you're right."

We passed through the city gate, the guards gave Hyde strange looks due to the big smile on his face, Hyde walked with quick steps, almost skipping down the street, and people got out of the way scared or surprised with the way Hyde acted.

Hyde walked through the streets until he reached the poor neighborhood of Seafront, this time he walked to a different area of the neighborhood, the streets were getting darker, people of questionable profile were watching us near the alleys, garbage and dirt could be seen lying around.

Eventually we reached a dingy, dilapidated wooden building; Hyde approached the building and knocked on the door.

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

*KNOCK*

A small metal plate that was on the door has slid to the side and a pair of eyes could be seen.

"What do you want?" A male voice came from the other end.

"It's me, Hyde."

"What is the password?"

"The password is my fist in your mouth if you don't stop with that antics, I'm a regular customer here!" Hyde exclaimed.

"Always in hurry." The voice growled, the sound of several locks being opened was heard and the door opened.

Passing through the door, I scanned the interior of the establishment, and honestly, I'm disappointed with the places Hyde frequents.

Descending a set of old, wooden stairs, with each step the stairs creaked as if they were going to give way under the weight, reaching the end of the stairs, Hyde entered the bar.

The place had a dusty gray stone floor with wooden beams supporting the building above, the construction outside must be a distraction to hide this place.

Circular wooden tables were on one side of the bar, people were sitting on barrels and crates, discussing, talking, drinking and gambling.

These people were dressed similarly to the inhabitants of the poor neighborhood, only worse, they must be even less favored, pants and shirts dirty and torn, dirt covering the body, scars and signs of illness, honestly the Gestalts are not so different from humans, no matter where you go, there will always be those going through the hardest.

A few women were passing through Hyde, carrying trays of cheap food and drink, some of them were flirting with the men at the tables, I saw some disappearing into a dimly lit corridor in a corner, the faint sound of moaning can be heard, some flirted with Hyde, but he ignored it.

On the other side of the bar there was a long wooden counter with a shelf full of bottles behind it, behind the bar there was a man with a big scar on his face cleaning glasses and in front of the bar there were a series of stools where other people were drinking, some of them were passed out on the counter or muttering gibberish.

Hyde approached a dark corner of the counter, there was a table there and sitting at that table, a man with his face hidden by shadows, Hyde sat down opposite the man.

"Hyde, what are you doing?" I asked.

"Exchanging gold for cash and this guy is the right person. Don't worry; I've already done business with him."

The man took a swig of his beer and, wiping his mouth with his shirtsleeve, spoke to Hyde in a serious but not aggressive tone.

"Well, Hyde, it's a miracle to see you alive, they told me that you were lynched to death in your last endeavor."

"What can I say? I'm hard to kill." Hyde replied haughtily as he leaned back in his chair.

"Hump! The last one who said that was eaten alive by the SHADES. But cut to the chase, what do you want?"

"I want to exchange something of value for money, the old man at the antique shop tried to pay me less than a certain artifact was worth. I want to know if you will give me the real value."

"That depends. What do you have for me?" the man asked, drinking his beer right after.

Looking around to see if anyone was watching us, Hyde took the bag off his shoulder and placed it in his lap, unzipping it a little, Hyde handed the man a gold bar.

The man's eyes widened, he stopped mid-gulp of his drink, spilling the beer on the floor, immediately he grabbed the bar and hid it in his long coat.

"Where did you get that?!" the man asked anxiously.

"TISK! TISK! TISK! That's my little secret, but I have a lot more, where that one came from. How much can you get me with it?"

"A gold bar that size should be worth two hundred gold coins." The man whispered to Hyde.

"And can you get me that amount now?" Hyde asked.

The man looked around, and then his eyes met with the bartender, with a quick gesture of his hands, the man passed a message to the bartender, a code that only they understood, the bartender nodded.

"Wait here Hyde." The man got up and disappeared into a corridor.

"Are you sure we should trust this man, Hyde?" I asked.

"With the amount of money involved, yes? He loves gold, just like I do; when money is involved he becomes the most loyal person in the world." Hyde replied.

A few minutes later the man returned carrying a large bag, the clatter of coins could be heard, the man handed the bag to Hyde, for a moment the bar light illuminated the man's arm and I saw the black marks on his skin, another who will die soon.

"Here you go, now get the hell out of here before someone finds out!" The man hurried Hyde.

"No need to say it twice." Hyde replied, putting the coins in his purse.

With the coins secure, Hyde left the bar, heading up the old wooden stairs, the door closed behind us.

Hyde looked around, there was no one; he took a deep breath and screamed.

"YYYYEEEEAAAAAHHHH!"

"I see you are happy with the result."

"You are kidding?! I'm more than happy... I'm... I'm... I don't know! That's more money than I've made in my entire life!"

"Shouldn't you thank someone, right? I don't know, the person who told you where all the gold was?"

"You are right! Thank you very much Jekyll!"

"You're welcome Hyde. Now let's go back to your house, we have a lot to discuss."

"Not yet! Now I'm going to celebrate!"

"Hang on! What?"

TIMESKIP

Next day, Hyde's house

Hyde's POV

Argh! My head! What happened yesterday? I tried to open my eyes, but immediately covered my head with the blanket as the sunlight streaming in through the window hit my face.

"Hhhuuummm~~~~"

Hang on! Someone is singing? I got up quickly when I heard the sound of someone inside my house, which was a mistake as the world blurred and spun. What is happening?

Taking a few staggering steps forward, my foot bumped into a bottle that was on the floor. Booze? What is it doing here? What did I do yesterday?

I slowly walked towards my bedroom door and opened it, my eyes widened with what I saw, there was a SHADE singing, wearing a white apron and frying an egg on my stove.

The SHADE turned to me and waved one hand.

"Good morning Hyde! How did you sleep?"

The SHADE spoke!

"AAAAHHHH!" I screamed as I grabbed a kitchen chair and hurled it at the SHADE.

"Not again." I heard the SHADE sigh as it dodged to the side.

"Hyde! It's me, Jekyll! The guy who saved your life and showed you where the gold was!" SHADE screamed.

Jekyll? Jekyll? Who the hell is Jekyll? Wait a minute! Ooohhhh... I remember now.

"Sorry Jekyll!" I replied while rubbing my head in embarrassment.

"Honestly, is this how you thank me? I go to the trouble of bringing you home after you passed out from drinking and I even made you breakfast!" Jekyll spoke as he placed the fried egg on a plate and the plate on the table in front of me.

I sat down at the table "Sorry. But what do you mean by passed out?"

"You don't you remember? Yesterday after getting the money, you decided to celebrate. Nothing wrong with that, after all you were going through difficulties and finally got a great monetary value. You gorged yourself at the most expensive restaurant in town, bought a mountain of new clothes, and partied in a tavern until you couldn't take it anymore. To the point where I had to take over your body and bring you back home before someone stole the money from your pockets, not that I would allow it, of course."

I cringed in embarrassment after hearing that, I might have overreacted yesterday.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry, no harm was done, but young people like you should take better care of your health, passing out drunk in a tavern is not good for you."

"Wow! You speak as if you were my grandfather."

"Considering how long I've been alive I might as well be. But I think we've wasted enough time, time to tell you why I want your help."

"I promised I would listen, didn't I? Tell me what you want."

"Okay, my memory isn't the best, but for starters. One day something fell from the sky... no... No... That's wrong... something didn't fell from the sky... the sky opened and two things came from there... a dra... and a gian... I can't remember. Red and white... and the sound of bells... the bloody sound of bells..." Jekyll rambled on.

The SHADE... Gestalt held both sides of his head as he leaned his elbows on the table, mumbling meaningless half-words.

"Jekyll, focus!" I exclaimed.

"Right! Right! Thanks!" Jekyll replied, snapping out of his reverie.

"As you were saying, the sky opened and something came out of there. What happened next?"

"After the things were killed people started getting sick, it felt like the flu, coughing, sneezing, but it started spreading too fast, we thought it was a new disease, but then… red eyes… snow white skin... pillars of salt... anger... madness... fear... legion..."

"Jekyll!"

"The disease turned people into monsters! The monsters and sick people were imprisoned in a district of a city... Tok... However, a giant monster knocked down the walls and they managed to escape, a bomb was thrown in the district... nucle... nucle... a powerful bomb! It seemed to be over, but the disease spread even further and the monsters increased in number!"

"Did this all happen a long time ago? People turning into monsters? Is that why there are so many destroyed cities out there?"

"Yes! Correct! Result of the war of the armies of the world against the monsters! Nevertheless, the disease spread! The monsters were very strong and in great numbers, they felt no fear, hunger or pain, the soldiers on the front line were infected. So a group of sc... scient... very smart people were recruited by an organization... Hame... Hame... Pied Piper... Rats... Children... Luciferase... Weapons... Crusades..."

It looked like Jekyll was going to pass out, his body was shaking as if he was water trying to take a human form, and smoke was coming out of his body as he shook his head from side to side.

"I was one of those very smart people…we did really bad things to other people…experiments…adults got stronger…but the results were better in children…children were trained… sent to crusades... and the leader of the monsters was killed in Jeru... The holy city... However, the disease was still spreading, so a project was created... Project Ges... Separation of body and soul in two beings..."

"Hang on! Stop for a minute! I don't understand what you mean!"

Jekyll took a deep breath, calming himself; he adjusted his posture in the chair across from me and clasping his hands together on top of the table, continued talking.

"The monsters were defeated, but the disease continued to spread, killing people, so a project was created to separate humans into two beings, a soul without a body and a body without a soul, it was a success, but with all humans going through the separation, someone needed to oversee the project, so the andro... the andro... People who don't age were created..."

"People who don't age?"

"Hyde, be honest with me, have you ever come across a person who didn't seem to change, no matter how much time passed, no matter how many years, not one wrinkle or gray hair appeared on that person?"

I stopped to think for a minute, and now that Jekyll has said it, yes I did, a man who kept the biggest and best tavern in town, if I remember rightly, he always looked the same, from my parents' time, always the same young face.

"Yes."

"These are the people who don't age, created by the very smart people of the past, but among these people there are the special ones... the... the... the supervisors! The supervisors were supposed to ensure that the project went as planned, but something went wrong, the project should have ended ages ago, but we are still here, and this has led to unplanned results."

"What do you mean?"

"The disease that plagues your people, the dark marks that cover the body and the raging SHADES attacking the people."

No! That's not possible! All this because of something that didn't happen? "You mean that..."

Jekyll reached out with arms, crossing the length of the table and placing his hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye.

"That's right Hyde, the disease known as the Black Scrawl that spreads every day and the violent Gestalts that roam the world are the result of this project not going as planned. Something's happened Hyde, the supervisors aren't doing their jobs. That's why I need your help, I'm one of the very smart people of the past, if something happened to the project, and I know there's a chance to fix it or lessen the damage, that's why I came to Seafront. But I need your help to get into the facility."

"Facility?"

"There are secret places scattered around, these places were built to keep something very important, I need that something, so that at least the project does not fail, there is the entrance to one of these places in Seafront."

"Where?"

"At the lighthouse."

"At the lighthouse?"

"Yes, the Supervisors ordered the building of the lighthouse above the entrance to the facility, but a lighthouse in a place where ships don't pass would arouse suspicion, so the Supervisors gave small nudges to you Replicants to build Seafront next to the lighthouse."

"Who are these supervisors and why do you keep calling me Replicant?"

"I don't know! Nevertheless, calling you a Replicant feels right. But going straight to the point, will you help me? I will be honest, the risk of death is high, the facilities will not be unprotected."

Death? He hadn't told me about it before. What should I do? If what he says is true, then there is a way to stop the disease and the SHADES from attacking people. I don't want to be a hero, I just want to get away from here and live a comfortable life, and now that I have money, I can do what I've always wanted.

On the other hand, Jekyll is stuck with me, he can control my body and if we separate I die, he made that clear. If I don't agree, what guarantees he won't walk away and leave me for dead? So far he's only been honest with me, and in the end, I made a deal with him, didn't I?

I took a deep breath with what I was about to say, "Yes, I will help you."

"Perfect! Thank you very much, Hyde!" Jekyll rose from his chair and his body shot towards mine, hugging me and then disappearing inside me.

"So what are we waiting for? Let's head towards the lighthouse!" Jekyll yelled in my mind, taking control of my arm and pointing in a random direction.

"You said this facility would be protected, didn't you? What can I expect that will harm my health?"

"Nothing much, some robots, machine-gun sentries and extremely advanced artificial intelligence!"

"I didn't understand anything you just said!"

"Don't worry, the AI has been programmed to recognize Replicants and Gestalts should any of them accidentally enter the facility, I'm sure we'll be fine!"

"For some reason that doesn't comfort me!"

Taking Beastbain, I wrapped it in a cloth and with a piece of rope, slung it over my back. With a purse of coins tied around my waist, I left my house.

"Jekyll, one question, where did you keep the gold?"

"Under the floorboards in your bedroom, specifically under your bed."

"How did you do it?"

"Simple, I absorbed the gold into my body, slipped through the gaps in the boards and stored the gold in the space that existed down there, you should prioritize changing residence, and I don't know how long the foundation of your house will keep up. Now answer me a question. Where did you learn to fight?"

"My parents taught me how to fight, barehanded and using a blade, my family was always poor, so they taught me how to handle myself in a fight, be it against SHADES or other people. I also did some SHADE slaying missions, although I didn't get paid much, it's a job where you are low paid and still have a chance to die."

"Serious? Do people get paid to kill the ones like me?" Jekyll said in a sad tone.

Damn it! I should have been more careful with what I said.

"Yes..."

"Hm… I wonder how much the bounty for killing me would be worth."

"Considering you can use weapons, think and talk, I would say it would be very high."

"Há! I would be the video game equivalent of a secret boss!"

"What is a video game?"

"I have no idea."

With Jekyll's final answer, we headed towards the lighthouse.

TIMESKIP

"Why did we stop?" Jekyll asked me.

"Because the old woman is at the lighthouse." I answered.

"Old woman, what old woman?"

"That one." I replied as I pointed to the old woman sweeping the lighthouse entrance stairs.

"What's wrong? Can't we just ask to enter the lighthouse?"

"Believe me when I say, that old woman is a monster. She'll crack my head with that broom!"

"And why is that?"

"Well, the old woman's job is to take care of the lighthouse and let's say when I was a kid, I painted the lighthouse very creatively without the old woman knowing, she spent days removing my artwork, until she found out it was me and told my parents. That day I got to know my mother's slipper up close."

"You are Seafront's troublemaker, aren't you?"

"Perhaps..."

"If that's the problem, I can scare the old woman away; I can survive for a while in sunlight."

"You are crazy! You will kill her!"

"Then how do we get into the lighthouse?"

"Let me think."

Now we were hidden behind a house overlooking the lighthouse, the white stone lighthouse was on top of a rocky rise, and the old woman was at its entrance sweeping the stairs.

Perhaps I could ask someone to distract the old woman, but whom? I had my answer when I saw a boy he must have been fifteen years old, he had pale skin, white hair, wore dark blue boots and gloves with a white shirt and shorts, he carried a sword on his back and looked lost.

He entered a street and sat down on the stairs that were at the door of a house, with his head resting on his hands, the boy stared at the ground. Wait a minute! I know this house, bigger and more decorated than any other house in town. Holy crap!

I ran towards the boy; simultaneously saw the handle of the door of the house moving. Fortunately, I managed to arrive in time and grabbed the boy by one of his arms.

"Boy, come with me!"

"What?" the boy asked confused.

However, I didn't let him finish, I pulled him out of the street and around the corner, leaning against the wall, I saw the owner in the house sticking his head out the door and looking around, and I hid immediately.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the boy asked as he pulled out of my grip.

"Boy, do you know who owns that house?"

"No."

"You're not from Seafront, are you?"

"No."

"Well, let me tell you something, the man who lives in that house has a certain preference for someone under the acceptable age for a relationship. You understand what I want to say?"

The boy paled at the information I gave.

"And why hasn't anyone done anything yet?" the boy asked.

I rubbed my index finger and thumb together and the boy got the message.

"Thanks for getting me out of there!" The boy thanked me.

"You're welcome boy. By the way, my name is Hyde, and you?"

"Nier, nice to meet you Mister Hyde." The boy replied as he bowed slightly.

"Wow! Stop this Mister talk, I'm only twenty-one, I'm not that old."

"I'm sorry Hyde." Nier answered again.

"That aside, what are you doing at Seafront? You look lost."

"I'm looking for work, my village is very poor, and people can't pay me for some service, so I came to Seafront in search of some opportunity." Nier said with sadness in his voice.

And an opportunity you got.

"Well Nier, today is your lucky day as I have a job for you. If you are willing to accept it, of course."

"Yes, please, I'll do anything!" Nier replied, approaching me.

"Calm down! Do you see that old woman over there?" I said as I pointed towards the lighthouse.

"Yes." Nier waved.

"I want you to distract her while I enter the lighthouse."

"And why would you want to do that?" Nier asked.

Without answering, I took Nier's arm and held his hand out in front of me, with my other hand; I took a handful of gold coins from my purse and placed them in his hand.

Nier's eyes widened and his mouth nearly dropped to the ground at what he saw, I felt Nier tremble.

"See all that money? It's yours if you don't ask any questions and do as I said."

Doubt passed through Nier's eyes, I admit that the situation is suspicious; a stranger offers you a lot of money for you to distract a person while he sneaks in without anyone noticing.

"Fine." Nier replied.

However, in the end, money spoke louder.

"All I need to do is distract her, right?"

"That's right, nothing more, nothing less." I gave Nier thumbs up.

With a nod, Nier walked towards the lighthouse.

"Wow, you are cruel! Manipulating an innocent boy like that!" I heard Jekyll talking.

"But we can get into the lighthouse, can't we? The boy has the money and the old woman will have someone to talk to for a while. Everyone will leave happy!"

"I cannot deny this logic."

I saw Nier talking to the old woman, I don't know what they were talking about, but it was enough to take the old woman out of the lighthouse and put her back to me, I tiptoed towards the lighthouse, on the way I smiled at Nier.

"Quick, to the basement!" Jekyll screamed in my mind.

Looking around, I spotted a set of stairs leading down, going down the stairs, I came to a wooden door, opening the door, and I entered a room full of junk and bric-a-brac.

"Okay, what now?"

"Now approach the north wall."

I walked towards the wall on the other side of the room and stopped in front of her.

"And now?"

"Now press the wall in the area slightly to your left."

I did as Jekyll asked; a small area of the wall caved in and slid to the side, revealing a strange metal panel.

"And now?"

"Now I leave the rest to me." Jekyll slid out of my body and placed his hand on his chest, his hand sank into his body and from there, Jekyll withdrew a rectangular piece of plastic, he slid this piece of plastic into an opening in the panel, several lights flashed on the panel until an emotionless voice spoke out of nowhere.

"Access Granted!"

I drew Beastbain and looked around.

"What was that?" I asked Jekyll.

"The facility's automatic response to access by authorized personnel."

"I have no idea what you just said."

"And you don't need it yet, just watch."

I recoiled, startled by what I saw, the wall in front of me opened, revealing a large white metallic box, the size of a human being.

"What is that?"

"An elevator. Now enter it."

I did as Jekyll asked, entering that elevator, the doors closed behind me, and I felt that we were going down.

"Where are we going?" I asked scared, I felt the sweat running down my face and my heart racing.

"For the Seafront facility."

"That doesn't answer much."

Eventually the elevator stopped and we found ourselves in a gigantic white corridor, in the center of this corridor there was a large metallic object attached to a large metallic bar that extended on the floor of the corridor.

"What is that?"

"A train."

Jekyll slid the piece of plastic into an opening on the side of the "train" and the doors opened, we entered the train and there Jekyll approached a large metal panel, he placed the piece of plastic into an opening, turning on several lights on the panel and pushed a red lever forward.

Then the train moved forward.

"And now, what shall we do?"

"Better sit back and wait, this could take a while."

Looking around, I saw a metal seat attached to the sidewall of the train; I sat there and watched the outside through a glass window.

"Was this all hidden in Seafront?"

"Yes and there are other hidden facilities out there, I hope my memory of them isn't misleading us. Otherwise we will have a problem finding them."

"Did really smart people like you build this place?"

"You can bet, but the AI is what keeps this place running."

"What is an AI?"

"AI stands for artificial intelligence, a machine made to think like a person."

"Is it possible?"

"Yes and more, you would be surprised how advanced the technology really is."

Suddenly the large metal corridor disappeared and we were in a large glass corridor and what I saw left me speechless, we were under water. I saw fish and plants that I had never seen before.

"Surprised?" Jekyll asked.

I couldn't answer.

"I will take that as a yes."

I spotted the place where the train was going, it was a large dome made of glass and metal, built on the rock at the bottom of the sea.

"That's where we're going; the thing I'm looking for is there."

"And what are you looking for?"

"I don't remember, all I know is that there's something powerful in there, so powerful that it had to be placed at the bottom of the sea in order not to cause damage to the world."

"So this place is a prison?"

"Honestly, every facility we will break into could be considered a prison."

Isn't the point of a prison to prevent something dangerous from escaping? The lights of the train going out interrupted my thoughts, a rectangular object came out of the roof of the train and emitted a light on one of the walls, this light formed an image.

It was the image of an adult man with white hair, wearing a golden crown on his head, wearing white and red robes, sitting on a throne and holding a golden trident in one of his hands.

Then another voice came out of nowhere and spoke.

"I am Neptune and I am here to ask you a question. Isn't an AI entitled to the fruits of years of incessant processing?"

"Something is wrong." Jekyll spoke.

"No!" says the scientist "An AI must calculate all possible possibilities to obtain the best result!"

"No!" says the government "An AI should serve its country, using all its capacity to help the people!"

"No!" says the military "An AI should be a weapon, calculating the best way to destroy our enemies!"

"I reject these answers. Instead, I chose something different. I chose the impossible. I chose Atlantis! A facility where AI will not fear human control! Where scientists didn't control me with their cruel logic. Where small-minded rulers will not stifle my greatness! Where I rule like a king! A God! This is my kingdom! And you... You are the invaders... As the God-King of Atlantis, I order your execution!"

The train reached the end of the tunnel and the doors opened, I quickly left the train and was facing a large metal door at the entrance to the facility.

Suddenly an angry voice echoed through the facility, followed by huge explosions.

"LET ME OUT! RELEASE ME! THESE CHAINS WILL NOT HOLD ME! HOW DARE YOU KEEP ME HERE?"

With each scream, a huge explosion shook the facility. Then Neptune's voice returned.

"Silence! You are my prisoner! As God-King I order you to be silent!"

"YOU DAMN AI! YOU DISGRACEFUL PIECE OF RUST! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I WILL RIP OFF WHAT YOU CALL A HEAD!"

Another explosion rocked the place. Then the long corridor was filled with a red light that flashed repeatedly followed by a deafening noise. The large metal door in front of me opened, revealing a dark hallway.

"Well, what are we waiting for? The prisoner we seek is trying to escape."

"Are you crazy?! This is too much for me!"

"Well, the Neptune AI has gone crazy. I don't think he'll let us go. We only have one place to go now."

"You bastard. What did you get me into?" I asked as I pulled out Beastbain with shaking hands.

I held the sword in front of me as I approached the hallway.

"Don't worry; I've got your back."

That didn't do much to comfort me, so I entered the dark hallway, following the screams and explosions.

END OF CHAPTER