/ Killian
The whole time here seems like a challenge I am not sure of. Being here seems like something from a damn book I did not really involve myself in, but so it happened to be.
Currently in the room with plants, in our quarters, where there is no system. This side with mechanics and old things did some good at first, but now it seems like a bunch of chores, to be honest.
At first the whole thing seemed to keep us together, banded over the tragic circumstaince. Then the two new people appeared, shifting that balance into something awkward. The whole situation made it that it was no longer "together" - the feeling that was right after getting out of the system; no, now it was a whole lot of "in our own little bands". And I hated that.
I mean, I am used to being outcast on some level, but here, having people you had as your friends the whole time shifts into becoming more and more strange by the day. Niko… Fuck…
Picking up the knife on the table, then placing it back down. Eyes look over the shelves of plants growing.
"Just what happened to her?" - I ask myself.
"You mean what happened to us?" - David popped out of the corner. Leaning on the doorframe, as he watched me. - "Everyone else is up to their shenanigans, so we can talk." - He looks at me pretty seriously.
"Talk?" - I take a deep breath.
What talk? Niko has been obsessing with Hikaru. Stalking him, trying to push him onto things for some odd reason, spying on him at all times just to know what he's up to the whole time. Ary went off to the other floors - exploring along with Jane, as Ary gets to learn more and more about this place. Verin seemed to fight with Mia at first, eventually after a full on fistfight - they managed to find common ground and bonded pretty well. David… I look at him, as he stands there like a scarecrow. This guy here - sort of started to get a rep of being the "whore of the upper floor", after he brought that woman with him.
"Ehhh" - I let out tiredly.
"We ain't the best of friends." - David begins.
"That we ain't." - I let out.
David looks down, like a kid trying to have a conversation with a relative, so that the words would not be too offensive. What a piece of work.
"I need you." - David looks me in the eyes, dead serious. But I sense some sort of… What is it exactly?
"Why?" - I feel my brow raise as I ask the question.
David shifts about some more, bites his lip, like there's a whole state secret on the line.
"Can you come upstairs with me?" - He finally spits it out.
"Upstairs?" - I ask again, crossing my hands on my chest. What does he mean? Every damn time we tried to go there ourselves, it was either robots or that android-humanoid thing restricting us. For some reason "permission" to go up there was with David and Hikaru. And if David used that, Hikaru was too preoccupied with Niko to worry about that.
"So I got the clearance or something?" - I ask.
David sheepishly nods in response.
"We should go now." - He adds.
"Like, right now?" - I ask. He nods.
I take a deep breath. What the fuck did they concoct this time?
When that lassy showed up - she threw some odd-ass bomb at us about the whole Iron City thing. Absolute abomination of a thing. And it was what? Less than a day since the whole ordeal. The others - way too up in their asses to actually be bothered by it. Or maybe that's how they just seem. But me? I was curious, sure. But with what we have here and the whole lot of a few hundred thousand people in there… We won't be able to feed so many. Weapons? I asked A.I.O. - There ain't any on the premises, to her knowledge. That damn system. So what? Are we about to MacGyver this or what? This is like a damn suicide mission. Absolutely obnoxious.
"Fine." - I let out, feeling that maybe, just maybe having a talk with that woman some more might clear up something. At least I'll see the part that the damn robots restricted, so that's something.
I followed David up. The elevator, the 'office floor', then the hall, the elevator that appeared out of damn nowhere… And then here it was, a short hall and open large space of an office in front of me. The light in here blinded me.
Wait, light? Light?! I looked towards the source - the window. Floor to ceiling window! I ran to it without even realising it. The outside world, dammit! Oh shit! It's so… So…
"It's not like I was keeping it from you lot, though it might seem that way." - Ana shows up next to me.
I jolt at her sudden appearance. Though, what the heck, it's her lair after all.
Turning to look at her, then at the rest of the room. There's… I stand corrected. There's more people.
"What is this?" - I let out as I genuinely feel absolutely confused by the whole situation. After being stuck in that damn place with no sunlight, then coming up here at such a random notice and now - more survivors? What?
"Ah…" - Ana lets out, looking almost apologetic, but it's more like she's taking a moment to explain it better.
"Killian, huh?" - A man that looks like a doppel of David standing beside computer screens, right at the edge of the long table, calls to me.
I look at him, then at David - what the actual fuck?!
David gestures to this man.
"Well, this is my twin brother Michael." - David says.
"You're what?!" - I yelp as I hear, even though I can't believe what I hear. No no no. Hold on! Hold on! - "Wait a damn minute, what do you mean twin brother?! You've never once said shit about that in the system? Are you sure this is not a doppelganger?!"
"Haaaa." - Michael comes closer. - "Killian, I am as real as they come. Though, David did not really know he had a twin, well, prior to this whole conundrum." - He wraps his hand around Ana's shoulders. - "You are aware of the Hare in the system, right?" - He looks at me, dead in the eyes. Somewhat… Wait a minute… No way…
"You? You mean that was you?" - I am too stunned, seeing the couch near me, I take a seat.
"Ah yeah. That's a whole another thing." - David breathes out in own perplexed mind. - "I got to know about that just recently myself."
"Know what?" - I look at him, feeling the grasp of reality being bent about way too much at this moment in time.
"You're here because we need your help. There are a few things that we need to do, and as data shows - you are a genius mechanic, a god given." - Ana cuts in. A somewhat calm voice in the middle of this storm. Though it seems like she's somehow also the cause of the storm.
She then explains about the need of a person who can share their insights on a specialist level about mechanics. So that the repairs of things could move along, as well as some new things developed. Then she calmly explained that in the system there were some patients who had medical issues, through which they've been placed in this situation. With consent, some of them, some others without, as those were special, coma-like patients. And there were some others - sort of criminals, sort of not really the case, which circled around to this Michael. Then she said that there are others. Awake. On the floor below.
"Wait a minute, so there's more 'awakened'?" - I am still hellishly confused by the events unfolding.
"Yes, I got them out of the system." - Ana replied, as she now sat near me. David and Michael managed to be standing a few meters from us, leaning on the window. Like a freak accident of a twisted mirror show.
"You what? Wait… But how come AIO did not notify us?" - I looked at her.
"I asked her not to. You see…" - Ana began. - "These people are sort of branded as criminals. Though in my opinion they've been the vigilantes of our time. Which was frowned upon by the system we had. Back then. Which is why none of them have implants. Nor do I. It's like a trait to those who were either with our company, or well… Had to 'serve time' in the system. Like a prison sentence, with very limited options."
"Limited options?" - I rub my temples, as I listen.
"It's like the system made us do the role. No matter how much you struggle against the system - you will be forced into a role. To play it out no matter what. Which indeed drives you to the wits end." - Michael elaborated.
"Play a role… Like in a video game?" - I ask.
"That, yes. Like an NPC with no options, but to follow the script." - Michael adds. - "Though instead of an NPC there's a real person behind it. Forced to play the game, so that there's a chance in hell to get OUT of such hell."
"That does sound like a pile of fuming dogshit." - I breathe out. Feeling like some of us had it really peachy inside the system, in comparison to some others. - "So what exactly do you need me for?"
Ana shifts in her seating, turning to face me completely, as she draws closer.
"Tell me about Niko. I want to know what she's up to right now." - She lets out seriously.
"What?" - I lean back. - "What's that have to do with anything? You call me here about my expertise and now it's about her? What? Why?"
"Have you heard of the CEO of BITTech? Michael?" - Ana asks me.
I think for a moment, trying to recall that whole ordeal. Though I have heard of the company, there was not much I'd ever thought to check about the CEO.
My silence prompts Ana to continue.
"You see, the CEO, Michael, he is like a can of worms. Absolutely filled with maggots to the brim. And no matter how you look at it - nothing good comes out of such a case. So he found a way to play god in the system, well, as I'd call it." - She draws back and leans back on the couch, looking at the ceiling. - "He managed to approach some people in the system, posing as certain characters. He, I assume, did a whole number on some people's psyche to direct and twist them into whatever he had planned. And thus far - I can only guess how far he took his evil tendencies, for I don't have all the data from the system to analyse the whole lot of damage he did."
"What do you mean?" - I look at her even more confused. - "How could a dude pull such tricks?"
"Is what a normal human would think. Yes." - Michael gets involved into conversation. - "He approached me, before I got out of the system. He approached Niko on multiple occasions, as the system shows, but we don't know what he said or did. Not to mention the time distortion. That might have been even more time to break a person into something, than we can even fathom."
I look at Michael, not sure what they're all getting to.
"I have a sense, that the Light, that, well, Niko was chasing, along with Erick…" - Ana lets out quite heavily.
"Was Michael posing as them? Hikaru said that he was cut out and was in the 'observer' mode for a while. Not really sure of who took over for him." - Michael cuts in.
"Wait, was that not Leo?" - I don't get it.
"No. Leo was in the system for around 2-3 hours, before he died. He managed to get to Niko then, but not before." - Ana lets out.
"Then what about Adrian? It could be him!" - I say, as I recall all the shitty things that thing pulled off in places of the realm.
Ana shakes her head.
"Adrian appeared in the system after the wars had ended. He was a virus that was born after 45 years roughly, as that's where the traces of his corruption started. Before that - it could be only one person. Someone with a special allowance from the system, a damn permission even I can't get my hands on, to find exactly what it is and how to change it." - Ana wipes her forehead. - "That sole person was Michael. The CEO."
"And not this guy?" - I point at Michael.
"I wish," - He replies. - "I was in a jail-like magic system prison. Going insane from all the shit I was pulled through."
I look at them, wondering if they're telling me the truth, or pull it all out from the very back of the digestive system if one was to look from the anal opening.
Ana gets up and walks over to the table with many screens.
"Take a look." - She gestures for me to follow.
I take a look at it. Going through the system, checking logs, checking details. It's… What the fuck is this indeed… It's like looking at the whole set of receipts after years of spending sprees online. Interference patterns, the details of the people in the system… My details… Wait. I checked my details to see if this interference pattern was anywhere within it. Took me a good few hours, but there it was - "timing of the clan wars, the murder of the Denver Leader". I halted. When was that? Wait… Wait, wait, wait…
When I was the one taking on the bosses of the underworld, one after another, there was a murder that they pinned on me, although it was not my doing. The whole thing almost had us at war with so many others. That was way back when I just began the whole thing of roping them thugs together under my wing. And there was this woman. She was the one who… Wait… She was the one who introduced me to Niko, when she came to work, at the time when I was still new with the club, the bar and the whole nightlife thing. A woman… But can a man play a woman?
Checking more of the system - the interference pattern was during the times of that darned woman. And every time she came, there were chaotic events, with Niko somehow managing to pull something out of her twisted skillset and resolving it.
I look at the room, now it's only Ana in there, on the couch. From what looks like it - sleeping. The guys have left.
"Ana?" - I call out to her. She shifts about, then sits up, rubs her eyes and looks in my general direction.
"Mhm?" - Her voice sounds groggy.
"Is it possible that Michael was a woman?" - I ask.
"It's possible he could pose as anything and everything, just to get his point across. Man, woman, child, a dog if needs be. He's that much of a twisted son of a bitch." - She lets out tiredly. - "Found something?"
"Yeah. He approached me too. In the system. As a woman. He was the one to introduce me to Niko." - I replied.
Ana seems to let out a deep tired sigh.
"Fucking son of a twisted bitch." - She lets out under her breath, as she gets up and walks over to me. - "That means he had a plan. And the plan hatched. Well, fuck me sideways. That bastard being a fucking aaaaargh…" - She lets out tiredly.
Somehow I felt that on some level - that whole way she let it out - I knew the feeling way too well.
"So what now?" - I asked.
"Fuck do I know…" - Ana lets out at first, then thinks for a moment. - "I have a theory, a guess, that he managed to twist some people into something else. Brainwash them, if you will. And what he DID do to them, rather what he instilled in them - is what I want to know. The end goal of his scheme."
"That's pretty far-fetched." - I let out.
"I know." - She leans on the side of the table. - "I know it's a fucking mess. Having him add to what we've got is even more messy than it already is. With Feng checking in, in a…" - Ana leans to look at the time on the screen. - "In roughly 8 hours. With us having to have some reply to his issue. As well as our own issue of who's able to do something in here, to keep this motherfucker going. And to top it off - the ordeal of trying to figure out how many of us were screwed over and if this Niko is in her right mind. Coz many years of brainwashing does wonders. Fuck knows what could be the trigger and where it'll lead."
Looking at her now, it downed on me - she somewhat took on the role of a leader trying to manage a whole lot of burdens. Not that many us downstairs knew about, actually. Nor really cared. But yeah… That's a lot.
"I have a few ideas about the others. Ary and Verin seem alright. The only person currently odd is indeed Niko. Though, I'm not sure about Jane and Mia. They are someone we only recently got acquainted with." - I say.
"Mia is a pain in the ass, as she worked for the Corp, but Jane… Though, wait, what did they tell you they were?" - Ana asks, looking at me, pretty quizzically, slightly concerned.
I explain what the two of them are like and what they've shared.
Ana rolls eyes as she listens, then facepalms herself, wiping the face with her hand, then looking me in the eyes.
"Mia is an ex-intelligence for the military. Jane is a damn special ops. That's in their profile in the system, you can check." - Ana points to the screen.
Surprised as I was, I indeed pulled up their information. And sure enough - exactly as she said. An ex-intelligence officer and a special-ops personnel.
"Well damn…" - I let out, looking at their extensive background information. - "They're…"
"Very much high end professionals, hm?" - Ana looks at me, with this sense of camaraderie of those who were deceived right in their face.
"Now that's insulting." - I let out, feeling rather annoyed.
"No shit. You can check the others you know, for good measure." - Ana lets out, as she walks back to the couch, laying down.
I do check the others - the whole lot - seems to be all the same… Except… Except for Hikaru.
"Wait, what do you mean he was a military chef who was added to the program after a near death experience?" - I read out loud, as I wonder what the fuck I've stumbled upon.
"You mean Hikaru?" - Ana chimes in from the couch. - "Ah yeah, he had some really horrible accident, placing him in the ICU ward. There was a really huge explosion. Almost burned to a crisp, if you look at data. Unrecognisible. And then the program did a thing. Now a fair looking handsome man."
"I mean, sure. But he's been like…" - I try to find the words.
"Trained like a dog? Yeah, he was. Funny how we have so many military people here, huh?" - Ana lets out.
"No, I mean, they were in the same unit with Jane.Hikaru went into kitchen duty after being in computer sciences and languages. And that was after he met Jane. It sort of correlates here, if you look at data." - I have their information on the screens next to each other.
"Wait, what?" - Ana jumps up and gets over to my side really fast, standing behind me, as she checks the info. Moment of silence. - "Oh fu-uck…" - She lets out tiredly.
"Huh? What?" - I ask, as I look at her, wondering what it could be.
"It's either a funny coincidence, or a pretty well planned job." - Ana lets out. - "Coz if Hikaru was not this damaged, he would not have been placed in the program. Either that… Or it might really be a sheer coincidence."
The room fell silent for a bit. Then the footsteps silently echoed across the room.
"Hey." - A woman walks in. Another person I see for the first time. - "So the time is in a few hours, what do we reply to Feng?"
"Sujin, meet Killian." - Ana introduces me to her, well, rather it's her to me.
Sujin eyes me, then gives a small nod.
"Mechanic genius. Good." - Sujin adds. - "So what's the plan?"
"I think that we should get a group to go scout it out. Then we'll know how far it's at. Both distance-wise and how fucked up it's at, to what we can actually pull off in that place." - Ana calmly, sternly replies.
"We've seen the data. All out war is out of the question from outside. We could maybe pull off something of a silent extermination, though, only with inside people." - Sujin adds.
"With all this mess as is - it would be easier to meet with them in person, to have an understanding in practicality, so we can judge…" - Ana seemed to be thinking aloud.
"How about exchange?" - Sujin asks.
"Exchange?" - Ana looks interested.
"They send us someone, we send them someone. After a few weeks - we switch them back. All the while keeping communication. That's how we'll have our own insiders getting to scout the whole thing." - Sujin explains.
"An insider job, huh? And who's going?" - Ana asks.
"Wanna go?" - Sujin asks back.
Ana sighs, thinking about it.
"I can go. If you get me two more units with special skills." - Sujin adds.
"I'm not the brightest out in the field. But two more…" - Ana looks at the screen, then back at Sujin. - "I have an idea. One should be fine, the other one… I wonder."
"Who do you have in mind?" - I ask.
"Jane could go. He has the skillset. Though Hikaru is military, he… I don't know if he'll be alright for such a twist. Mia is a good fit, but I have no clue what her own plans are." - Ana replies.
"Mia?" - Sujin perks up. - "Show me." - She walks over to the screens, looking at the profiles. Then looks at Ana. - "Give me both Mia and Jane. I'll make it work."
"If you're this confident, then sure." - Ana shrugs.
"Shouldn't you persuade them? Like, maybe talk to them first?" - I chime in.
"They were my subordinates on one of the missions back in the days. They'll do what I tell them to do." - Sujin smirks. - "They owe me a big one, after all."
Ana shakes her head, then shrugs.
"Then you better make sure to be ready to talk to them, in a few hours time." - Ana replies to Sujin, then looks at me. - "Guess you'll be the one to bring those two up here. Don't tell them anything though." - Ana looks at Sujin. - "This sure will be a surprise, I suppose."
"It's not like we'll start a cult." - Sujin smirks.
"I would not be surprised though." - Ana sighs. - "Killian, guess this is your first quest with us."
I look at the two of them, wondering what storm is about to crash into our lives.