/Adrian
Have been observing Killian's place to see if there is anything different. From the moment Niko disappeared from all possible places through the worlds - I had to know where she went. Could not disappear so easy, could she?
An odd thing I witnessed - the man that looks relatively out of place, with his white hair, went into the Killians place. Then a bit later - Killian himself walks out to go somewhere. I stay in my place.
Seeing the owner go out and back in a matter of a half-hour or so - with a huge luggage bag - that's a given that something is up.
Then after around an hour - walked out and went towards the region known for the bars and clubs. I'm still in the car right across from the Killians place. Not knowing what to expect next, but feeling like there's something that I need to know now.
Well well, who would have thought I'd see the devil himself walk into the Killians den, as I see the spit image of Ary go into the place.
Now that is something I should investigate closer.
He goes in, I follow after. It's good that he forgot to close the door of the flower shop. Even though it has a typical sense of being always locked, unless it's open hours.
As I stand outside the door of the bar upstairs, I hear a conversation I could not have imagined. It's HER voice inside there. And then the talk is all about "system"? The whole conversation seemed absolutely insane.
What are the pods they're talking about? What facility? Just leaning against the wall, as I listen in on their whole conversation - it's absolutely madness.
Of course I produced A.I.O., but what THEY are talking about - has no relevance to the system I had made. Preposterous. The whole lot are either out of their minds, or what am I missing?
"If we go now, even if we spike the system, then there's a lot that we have to get on with…" - Niko lets out with a sigh.
"I mean, there's a bunch of questions regarding the issue if others get out, or will we lock them in then? Or maybe we trigger a chain reaction to get all of them out. The main problem is whether we remember the time in the system or all will be wiped." - Killian chimes in.
"Babes, the only ones who will have all the info are ones with implants, is that not the case? They made sure to get that sorted for some of us." - Ary nags.
"Hm, that is true, though there's a moment…" - Niko speaks up.
"Moment, bestie, what fucking moment? We have to go and see what we're going to be up against or up to. So, hope to whatever gods that we get the best suited twats to get out with us, as we go out." - Ary cuts Niko in half sentence.
"Ehhh… Yeah, though, the much I recall - there is a chance that those closest to us might get drawn out as well. Do you remember who was next to us?" - Niko replies.
"It's been ages… I have no clue." - Killian spoke.
"As long as they're pretty - we'll have fun. Now fuck it and…" - Ary takes a deep breath, - "...And get on with it."
The room fell into silence. I heard them shuffle about for a moment.
"Well then…" - Niko lets out. - " Let's get on with it then."
"We just repeat it after you." - Ary cuts in.
"System inquiry: Patient ejection protocol. Password: agnos ducere amissos ad lucem." - Niko said.
Ary and Killian repeated after her. I felt the need to proceed along with them.
"System inquiry:" - I began, - "Patient ejection protocol. Password: agnos ducere amissos ad lucem." - I said and felt the breath being sucked out of my lungs. I felt as if my body was slipping down against the wall, then it was - dark.
/Ary
The lights blinding, the chill over the whole of my body made me shiver. It's rather cold. As I'm squinting, I try to check surroundings. Raising my hand, then slowly pulling myself up in a seating position - oh the heaviness of the body. Oh the damn sickness. I manage to turn to my right side, puking out what's in my system.
"Oh that feels like the heaviest hangover." - I let out and stopped in my tracks. My voice? What's wrong with my voice?
"Hey baby girl." - I hear from the other side of the room. - "How does it feel to be back?" - The voice belongs to a girl, by the sound of it - she too ain't feeling the best.
I catch my breath, then look at my legs, my body from as much as I can muster. The whole of the body is covered in some thin metal contraction… Exoskeleton? The robes popped from a small compartment to my left from the pod. Pretty much the same robes that the lab tech gave us some real while back. Wait, I am still a man?
Looking at my absolutely naked body - indeed, a man. Geez, I felt like I'd panic for a moment there. Back, huh?
After a few breaths, finally managing to rub my eyes, now properly taking a look at the place I'm in - indeed the research facility I've forgotten about. The place where it all began. Oh the joy of life with this one.
I hear a tired laughter. "Biiitch, haha, oh my god…" - The girl across from me laughs. She's already dressed.
"Well that was a wild ride." - Another girly voice to my left spoke. I turned, indeed - another pod opened and there's a petite girl sitting there. Stark naked.
"Sis, put some clothes on!" - I let out. I just hear "oh shit", as she gets that clothing bit sorted.
"So," - the girl across from me got up and walked over to us. - "So who is who here?"
"Huh?" - I looked at her in surprise. - "What do you mean?"
She points at herself: "Niko."
Ain't no way! The hair is white as snow, the body looks rather fragile, I assume we all look rather fragile now, after all this time, that is.
"Girl, really?" - I ask her, as I rub my temples, getting out of the pod.
"I presume, Ary." - She smiles at me, then turns to a girl to my left. - "Killian?"
I turn to look at this small petite girl with white long hair next to me, as she lets out tiredly: "Mhm."
"Wait a damn minute, Killian? This small thing?" - I look at her, in surprise, as she puts her clothes on.
"Now, I guess we all look like a rather interesting family. All white haired, all rather malnourished and pale albinos no matter where we came from. Not to mention exoskeletons over our bodies." - Niko lets out.
"I'd laugh, but I'm not that fascinated by remembering that originally this is what I look like." - Killian lets out.
The sound of pod cases rising up stops us in our tracks. Two more pods opened.
Niko went over to check them.
"Hi, what's your name?" - She asks a girl that just woke up, and a guy that's to her right.
"My name is Verin, Oracle of…" - Girl begins her answer and stops. Widens her eyes, then winces a few times, trying to adjust.
"I'm Hikaru…" - Guy lets out with his hoarse voice, rubbing his eyes.
Niko turns to us. The surprise on her face now is there, along with fear that's typical in a person who is cornered and about to die.
"Well that went well." - I say, as I approach Niko, pulling her by the waist to the side, so that the new awakened can get out. - "Do make sure to put them clothes on."
"I'll go check the…" - Killian speaks up, then as she makes a few steps she falls. - "...Bollocks."
I laugh out loud. Just witnessing Killian - a mountain of a bear man being this tiny lady - it is an epitome of comedy.
I pull Niko along with me to help Killian. Reaching my hand out to her to help her get up. Weirdly - even with exoskeletons on, we're quite feeble. Guess some getting used to is required.
"This is really something, baby girl…" - I let out, as I'm half laughing.
Killian lets out a sigh. "Don't worry hun, I'm still able to make you fear god."
"Fear god?" - Verin lets out, now in his girlie form, looking at us, as she sits in a chair next to the pod. - "And what is the reason for yanking us out here, you foul sons of bitches?"
By the looks of it - they're both dressed now. Verin being the absolute menace, even though a lady now. The boy though, checking out what is going on.
"Oh dear…" - I let out.
/Niko
Eyes opened rather tiredly, as I managed to get back into this lot. The moment the pod opened I saw the other pods with people. There's 10 of them in total here, in this room. Once I checked others - there's two more opposite me that opened right after mine did. The small petite girl and a tall guy.
So that should be Killian and Ary. Though, still a question of who is who.
Both have rather pale, white hair… I looked at my own hands - yep, pale as they are, also checked my hair, as I pulled the stand of it towards self - white. So, I guess that is the effect of being in a system for such a long while - not enough melanin to be used here. Wait, covered in thin metal around the whole of hands and feet. I slowly reach back and neck - touching them. Indeed, exoskeleton. Guess some bits were indeed thought through.
Though being stark naked was not one of them. Thank lords, the clothes showed up from the compartment to my left. That was not too hard to put on, thank fuck. Though, stretching off to put some underwear over the cooch, then the robe… Oh, there's a pair of covered ballet slippers. Nice. Others seem to receive the same complect of clothes.
The room had rather fine lighting, with systems still operational.
Once I got up to laugh off the being back into reality, I walked over to the two of them. Looking at reactions from the guy - that's absolutely Ary. Dramatic and quirky. The quiet, tired looking girl - that's Killian. Rather fun to know that a bulky man in a system is a small girlie pop in the real world.
Once the two other pods opened - I went over to check…
"Hi. What's your name?" - I let out, as I sure needed to know who was in the same system connection as our trio.
"My name is Verin…" - began the girl, as the other words came out, she halted. Her eyes opened up more, as she realised that the sleep is over. She looked at me in disdain, anger, the great amount of dissatisfaction boiling to the top. The moments of Verin being the head Oracle, the torturer and the helper of those in the realm - no longer viable.
"I'm Hikaru…" - A man answered. I was taken aback. Could this be Leo still trying shit out? Is this the torturer and abuser that's now unleashed? But he said that he's bleeding out somewhere. Was he lying?!
I felt Ary come over and place his hand around my waist, pulling me towards Killian. Latter fell on the floor.
My thoughts made me not listen to what they spoke of in those moments, I was too shocked, as I am trying to figure out what now.
The doors were a bit ajar, so it was not too hard to open them, as I walked towards the exit.
"Are you not going to answer me?!" - the girl being Verin raised her voice, jerking me back to reality, as I held the door to the next part of the facility open.
"All in due time." - I let out.
Killian walks now with me to the room next door - the lab part with multiple storage units around the walls, the computers in the center, one monitor is on, showing the face of the lady who I spent quite some time with - Mellissa. Me and Killian exchange glances, as we come over to the pc.
"Shall I press play? It seems like a pre-recorded message." - Killian lets out, as she takes a seat on the chair at the desk.
Others seemed to chat up some storm, then walked out to gain more answers. "Where am I?!" - Verin spoke loudly.
"Press play." - I tiredly say to Killian. She does as told. The others came closer to check the situation.
Video begins with Mellissa checking her surroundings, as she then gives a nod to herself, then looks into the camera.
"Hey kids, it has been a while since we spoke. Most likely it will be even more so by the time you watch this recording." - She takes a breath, then shows some papers to the camera. - "This is now all in digital form in the external hard drive in the drawer here." - She points down to the drawer under the table. A sole one.
"There has been a great issue." - She continues. - "We've been in this facility for over 4 years now, this would have been the 5th full year, but the shit hit the fan." - Mellissa sighs. - "The government was overthrown by the military. Since then - they've discovered half the facility. The two upper floors. That's the ones with the office part and the trial research unit. Basically - our front to research. The rest was locked off. All six floors in the mountain side. I thought at the time that the base lab was obnoxious due to building a long ass corridor downwards to another part of the facility, but now I understand that without it - all that we worked on would be done for."
I stood trying to get what she meant. The others also now viewed the video, trying to put the jigsaw together in their heads.
"The floor you're in - Lab 3, the details of the layout of the base is all on an external hard drive." - Mellissa takes a look upwards. - "Kids, we're all just really closed off in here. From the moment they raided the base lab, the way out from here was also closed off. I'm not sure, but the last we got from the lab tech upstairs - was that they killed all and took whatever they could find there. Then it was cut off. No communication, no information. The satellite connection we had, showed that there was an uprising. The new dictatorship started off and the war took place with others."
Video ended. Another began right after it.
"It's been a year. Due to cutoff - there's no way for us to leave the premises whatsoever. Trying does not help. Kyle said that the system went into the emergency mode and there's nothing WE can do. Just keep on going with what we're doing. There's 13 of us on these floors. It's a bit of a mess."
Video stopped, another began. Here Mellissa looked more greyed, more older than her typical 30-something year old self.
"Kyle figured out the way to unlock the facility - it's if the ones in the system, the pods, decide to get out. But, it's been years. Due to our trying to pull some of you out by force - well, that resulted in silly casualties we used for fertiliser on the Produce floor. We had a bit of a mess here a month ago - some of the researchers had mentally exhausted selves. Well, that too became fertiliser." - Melissa spoke like a tired unfazed robot, void of emotions altogether.
Another video began. Here she was absolutely gray in hair, old and very much a granny that's about to fall apart.
"Finally I'm alone here. Every other worker became fertiliser, I'm the last one to go. Now to the actual message I've held onto. There is a code you can use to activate works with the A.I.O. upon getting up - just swipe them with your embedded chips next to the reactor reader on the lowest floor next to the reactor. I've left the item there which will be pretty hard to miss. So you'll know what it is. The computer responds to the chipped kids, so that's enough for you to go on with. AIO knows all the details and can connect to Satellite, if that shit metal is still in the atmosphere by the time you're out.
Whilst you are sleeping - we had a bit of a plague here, due to men going insane. Well, I started it. They became rather annoying with their threats to rape and abuse they began. Not on my watch, idiots. I poisoned all those fuckers. What a sight. Kyle was the last one. I still had to learn his skills of interacting with computers. Hence he was the last one. The ladies sort of died by my hand too. I was not sure if all would be well. The way they began abusing the produce room, trying out brews, getting high and wasting resources ticked me off. The system, the whole of production, the animals and the sources had to be put on hold for the time of all the kids from pods awakening. They wasted too many resources and after I took care of them - I had to re-synthesize all the materials to the levels which would be sufficient for your return. I accomplished that. So now with my mind and heart at ease - I can let you know that all is prepared for your return. The shit in the outside world will be explained by AIO, as I have not been let into the system, nor have others. So that's us being cut off from information from the outside world for 48 years. I'll now put the programming in place to make sure that you awaken with the ability to survive. All the layouts and the information shall be on the hard drive. I've updated all that shit. I'll go join the fertiliser now, so good luck to you all once you make it out. Also," - Mellissa squinted her eyes, - "make sure to check system reports before deciding who is who. Habits and traits remain. Don't trust those on the outside, be aware of the inside. And Ni-ni, don't fail me." - Mellissas recordings ended.
So she bet on me, huh? I thought to myself, as I watched it all. She called me Ni-ni at times, as she liked to annoy me like that. But this here - that's a worrisome mix. Aware of inside - yeah, some impostors might be from the ones who woke up and could be a threat to others, like Leo…
I turn to check on the so-called Hikaru. He just stands there, with a calm expression. As a matter of factly just looking at the others, then at the surroundings. His lengthy white hair, his slender composure, the calm of his eyes… Sort of looking like… Hm…
"So, should we head downstairs then for the thingy she mentioned from the start there?" - Verin lets out.
Killian gives me a glance, then looks at Verin. "We should take a look at the layout first." - Killian replies, taking out the hard drive from the drawer, then connects it to the pc. Small other thing catches both our eyes - the rounded glass looking item with metallic insides.
Me and Killian exchange glances. Guess she knows what it is as well, might remember what it is. Judging from her look at me.
"Port key" - Killian says barely audibly. I nod. She raised the glass item to her right ear. Sat there for a few seconds, then gave it to me.
"What the fuck are you doing?" - Verin once again gets vocal.
"Why do you have to be so darned foul mouthed, brother? All the damn time." - Ary lets out, rolling eyes.
"Brother? How dare you, you son of a faulty ragged bitch…" - Verin fumes.
"Baby girl," - Ary places his hand on her shoulder, - "Being this cute and this dirty mouthed does not serve you well."
"Fucking call me baby girl again and I'll rip your dick off." - Verin, being a lady, hisses.
Meanwhile through their antics, I place the glass port key to my right ear. Inside my head rung a "ding" sound, with then sound of the announcement "you're connected to AIO, select options for communication - over the 'all room' system, or the implant direct?", I reply inside of my mind "implant direct" another ding sounds in my head. "Connected". "Registered user 8755, Niko Lavan, nickname Ni-ni. Pass holder S class. Unlimited availability, no restrictions. To make requests - speak out or internally - Engage AIO." another ding and it once more became silence.
"S class?" - I quietly ask Killian. She nods.
"What are you plotting in there, you treasonous lot?" - Verin absolutely feels unhinged.