DIR Return Create A Forum - Home
---------------------------------------------------------
MacabreOfWriting
HTML https://macabreofwriting.createaforum.com
---------------------------------------------------------
*****************************************************
DIR Return to: Story Lines.
*****************************************************
#Post#: 379372--------------------------------------------------
The Waker's Requiem
By: DubbleDukkSahss Date: December 16, 2014, 4:08 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
INTRODUCTION:
The year is 2261, nearly a century after America was rebuilt
from the wastes of World War III. New Motor City had grown
exponentially as a new government formed, a true United Nations
made up of the four re-emerging superpowers, Germany, America,
United Kingdom and Japan who’d finally succeeded in unifying
with China. What was once a shanty town built out of scrap metal
and pre-war ruins is now a massive mega city, spanning from old
Detroit to what was once New Jersey, reaching up to three
distinct levels. The FujiTek Corporation has majority control
over most business interests in the world, but there are some
smaller corporations that still give them competition. The DVO
Computing/Gaming Technologies firm owned by Solomon Briarhurst
is the biggest competitor leading the way in Grid-Decks and Game
Consoles as well as having the best rated mobile devices, having
an excellent customer service record and highly praised third
party support. Crime has overwhelmed in the lower levels with
the Civilian Security Coalition even going so far as to deputize
a mercenary company known as the Hunters’ Guild to help stem the
tides of street crime.
Demi-humans have found a niche in society typically using their
gifts to aid progress, though since Prophet City fell to the
sea, it has become clear that the mutations are now getting less
extraordinary. Androids are a typical sight, usually within a
support role of someone important. Hackers and couriers are
common, many pressured companies hiring them under the table to
help them get an edge, even government officials hire these
“runners” in order to keep their assets or secrets safe from
more sinister intentions.
A Haven had risen from the ashes of Horror, The Waker has
watched from the darkest corners, but something old is stirring
causing the Waker to stir something old to help him. Good
Morning, New Haven, it looks like a beautiful day.
Game Information:
GOVERNMENT OVERVIEW
[spoiler]Most of the planet is run by a corporate backed Police
State run by the Civilian Security Coalition, during the rise of
a new civilization in the early 2100's, they were the ones who
restored order to New Haven in the struggling early economy
being built up by FujiTek and the New Euromerican Parliament.
Crime rates are very high still, because they are corporate
backed the CSC aren't extraordinarily prepared for the task of
criminal apprehension and therefore lack the equipment necessary
to do their jobs effectively. The NEP governs New Haven and Blue
Fields with a lax composure, kids are often seen on the streets
with no supervision, gang activities are on the rise, youth
violence rates are up, school dropout rates and unemployment
rates are on a gradual decline due to an influx of new jobs at
DVO and FujiTek and a low cost reform of the education system
allowing parents to monitor their children's progress in school.
A large economic superpower is growing in the online industries
as cyberspace technology begins the blur the lines of real and
digital. World Trade is slow and grueling due to concerns of
terrorism. When the Pre-War satellites fell, most of Humanity's
ability to set up surveillance on each other was lost, and most
shipping routes and become populated with a new breed of
Pirate.[/spoiler]
ECONOMIC INFORMATION
[spoiler] The world in the aftermath of World War III used a
simple barter system coupled with bits of metal ranging from
bottle caps to bits of ore, to old coins, screws, nuts, washers,
shards of old metal buildings, if it was small and metal it was
worth something. In the early years of the new civilization they
continued using chips until the New American Confederacy began
trying to print their own money. When they fell, so did their
currency, and it was time for a new economy altogether. Enter
FujiTek and the Wuyak (pronounced: Woo-Yahk). The Fujiyama
Family was a very wealthy Pre-War bloodline that had spent many
years and what they considered to be quite the fortune on
rebuilding Japan in the Aftermath of WWIII. Once secured they
led the newly rebuilt Japan into China, where it didn't take too
long to rebuild and control a newly forming Asian empire under
the economic and technological brilliance of the Fujiyama
Family. Over time, they had formed an alliance with Germany, and
the FujiTek corporation was formed, giving rise to a new global
economy.[/spoiler]
NEW HAVEN CITY DESCRIPTION
[spoiler] Just so you don't get lost:
The City spans from Michigan down to Illinois, Ohio, Indiana,
West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky and North Carolina and spans
up to Virginia, Marlyand, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey
with ports on the coast.
Each Level of the city has about 350 separate Districts, with
Hyper Sonic Tram Cars carrying people to and from each district,
Each Level having a gravity lift to get to and from the three.
The city has a rough total population of 840,000,000 people with
about 100,000,000 more who are Synthetics, Sentient Androids of
all origins who wind up in the City and become Citizens.
LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE VISITED LATER
Blue Fields - a much much smaller city in southern Ontario and
mostly home to FujiTek R&D employees and their families. The
City itself is a technological Marvel due to it mostly being the
place where they invent their new toys.
The Wall - A location in the Wastelands somewhere in the
Mountains of what used to be Colorado. Speculation suggests
people tried to build a Wall to protect them from the horrors of
WWIII, seemed to be an unfinished Stronghold base with a bit of
mystery surrounding the purpose of building a massive wall
around a small mountain town. It has since become a new small
settlement of people who preferred the quiet of the Wasteland
than the noise of the city.
[/spoiler]
TECHNOLOGY EXAMPLES
[spoiler]This world is full of many outstanding pieces of
technology. Here is a list of some noteworthy pieces:
Blinkshift Module
KP6X CyberStim Grid-Deck
TAP-21 Cyber-Deck
FujiTek AM Mag-Line Vehicle
FujiTek EM Spider Boots
DVO Medi-Drive Doc-Pod
[/spoiler]
FACTIONS
[spoiler]
New Euromerican Parliament
Civilian Security Coalition
FujiTek Corporation
FujiPolizei (FujiTek PD)
The Hunters' Guild
New American Confederacy (Long Since Fallen)
DVO Technologies
OmniCare Incorporated
OmniCops
[/spoiler]
SPECIES
[spoiler]
Human
DemiHuman
Android
AI
Super-Human
Cyborg
[/spoiler]
CITIES
[spoiler]
New Haven (Founded 2095)
Blue Fields (Founded 2143)
New Angel City (Founded 2013)[/spoiler]
CHARACTER SHEET:
[spoiler]
Name
Age
Species
Natural Abilities
Technology Bestowed Abilities
Equipment
Backstory
Personality Profile
Additional Information
[/spoiler]
MY CHARACTER
[spoiler]
Name: Subject Six
Preferred Name: Renna
Age: Physical Age - 19 Years, Technical Age - 261 Years
Species: Super Human
Natural Abilities:
-Enhanced Physical Strength (She can lift 6 Tons and smash tank
armor to pieces with her bare fist.)
-Enhanced Agility and Reflexes (She is able to dodge Automatic
Gunfire, sometimes to the point where she can almost flick the
bullets away from her path.)
-Enhanced Senses (She sees, hears, feels, tastes, and smells
better than any standard human)
-Enhanced Metabolism and Stamina (She can fight tirelessly for
about 22 hours before needing sleep, though she is almost always
up for a fullcourse meal)
-Enhanced Speed (She can run nearly 100 mph - Top Recorded Speed
97.3 mph)
-Enhanced Immune System and Radiation Resistance (She shrugs off
sickness like dust and can actually survive in heavily
irradiated areas for about 3 days without showing signs of
radiation damage to any aspect of her health, meaning she can
take up 9 rads per second for 3 Days without health decline.)
-Enhanced regenerative abilities (Most injuries are healed
withing hours or days with severe injuries taking a week to two
weeks)
Blink Module Abilities:
-Blinkshift: A Short Distance Teleportation technique nearly
unique to her, her destination must be within her line of sight.
-Blinkbullet: Her Blink Module supercharges her atomic structure
giving her the ability to run at light speed for a short
distance. She uses this in conjunction with her Super Soldier
abilities to create a lightspeed tackle.
-Blinkprinter: A built in 3D printer that gives her a supply of
extra gadgets as long as the hard-disk within has the blueprints
and data to work off of.
Currently available Blink Printer blueprints:
Miniature throwing knives
Ballistic Boltneedles
Grappling Hooks
Impact Activated Smoke Pellets (Requires Magnesium Infusion to
craft)
Equipment:
Prototype DVO MKII Void-Light Blink Module
MMsM4 .45 Cal Semi Auto Handcannon
Six Cutters (Hi-Tech pre-war throwing/cqc knives Renna has grown
quite skilled with)
Void Cutter (Void Light Assisted Machete)
Sony Walkmen and a collection of old Cassette Tapes (her last
vestige of her time period and her only remaining connection to
the past)
High End First Aid Kit full of "redistributed" hospital supplies
Lockpocking kit
Two EMP grenades
Two Demolition Charges
Two Knockout Grenades
Backstory:
Renna was born in 1999, six years after the devastation of World
War III. She was the sixth in a series of 10 super soldiers that
were supposed to aid the New American Confederacy (NAC) in the
reclamation of the Wasteland that was once America. She was
among the top of her peers, besting every physical examination
with ease, acing every mental exam with the same lack of effort.
This led to three of her siblings including herself being given
authority over their own small teams. From the age of Eight till
the age of 19, Renna led a team including herself and two other
Subjects on high risk NAC raiding missions, but in 2018, her
family was put in stasis following a disaster that almost caused
the Destruction of NAC Forces and New Motor City. One of her
siblings had suffered acute Neuro-Tissue Degeneration and went
berserk, attacking anything that moved within his line of sight,
she was successful in putting him down, but the heads of the NAC
military were afraid of a repeated event, so they placed the
remaining 9 in stasis, a move which led to her further
questioning the NAC and her stance on being on their side.
November 2018: Renna's Squad was ordered to do recon on a SoD
Base near the newly founded New Motor City in what once was
Detroit, MI. Her team dropped down at 0230 hours and was
supposed to be extracted 36 hours later. She didn't see the
terrorists that the NAC said the Stronghold Defenders were, she
saw them feeding the hungry, helping regular people build homes,
helping the people of New Motor rebuild in the aftermath of
nuclear holocaust, a stark difference to how she'd seen her own
superiors treat people. Killing them, beating them, starving
them if they weren't purely human anymore, forcing them to live
in slums the NAC built. It made her question what side she
should've been on, but her orders took precedence due to
conditioning. She and her team continued for another 19 hours,
logging the Stronghold's activities for recon, until her squad
mate Subject Ten began running towards the base. He'd screamed
in agony, alerting the Stronghold to his presence, gunfire
became inevitable. Renna could see the pain he was in, Subject
Ten's mind was literally rotting within his own skull, and he
felt every cell begin to burst. Renna had only one option, to
put him down before he took everything he could with him in his
failed attempts to have someone help him. She did so, and made
her report, four months of deliberation and meetings followed
before the higher ups gave the order to be put on Ice.
Personality Profile: She is quiet, quicker to act than to speak.
When she does speak she is snarky and uses sarcasm to enrage her
opponents into giving her an opening. She has a kind heart, she
feels compelled to help those in need and will go above and
beyond to do what she feels is her duty as a soldier even if
that means stealing stuff from others. Due to many years being
trapped in what was more or less a hospital ward she has
developed a psychological inability to trust a doctor in a lab.
She will stubbornly refuse medical treatment unless she has no
other option. Furthering her already incredible abilities is her
subsequent training to be in the Hunters' Guild a bounty hunting
coalition that goes wherever the quickly growing Civilian
Security Coalition won't go, and she has quickly become one of
their deadliest members. She has a cold almost mechanical and
articulate speech pattern that often underlies how she feels.
While she isn’t at all very expressive with her emotions, she is
quick to protect that which she cares about, and she has a deep
love for the music of the 1980‘s and 1970‘s particularly Rock
Music.
Renna's Music Collection (Collected during her time in the
wastelands and preserved in the facility where she was put in
stasis):
Alice in Chains
Faith No More
Guns N Roses
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
Awesome Mix Vol.1 Songs (The mix tape that has The Rooster and
Them Bones also has Cherry Bomb, Moonage Daydream, I'm Not in
Love, Hooked on a Feeling, Come and Get Your Love, Hit me with
your best Shot, Barracuda, Double Vision and the Pina Colada
Song)
Judas Priest
Ozzy Osbourne/Black Sabbath
Blue Oyster Cult
Sex Pistols
Def Leppard
AC/DC
Slaughter
Winger
The Scorpions
Motorhead
Motley Crue
Ted Nugent
Pantera
[/spoiler]
CHARACTERS AVAILABLE FOR SIGN UP
[spoiler]
Subject #Four
Subject #Seven
Carl Paulsen aka "Carl the Cleaver"->Update: Tsubaki has claimed
this: CLVR-8000
Aaron Pinchot aka "The Squirrel"
Maxwell Page, has an irrevocable connection to the Waker
[/spoiler]
RULES:[spoiler]
Typical RP rules of course!
If you sign up as one of the subjects their Natural abilities
must be similar to Renna's as they are all siblings. You are
free to tweak them however and I encourage you to build a unique
super soldier if you want to be a super soldier.
If you're signing up as a Demi-Human you may choose one super
power, however as many years have passed since the mutagen that
cause this evolution, the changes are more refined now and
powers are not as extravagant or awe worthy as they will be in
the Post Apocalyptic era of this timeline.
The only two characters on this list that are ABSOLUTELY
NECESSARY for the story are Maxwell Page and Carl Paulsen. You
are more than welcome to ignore the list completely and make
your own character from scratch.
THIS IS CYBERPUNK/POST APOCALYPTIC SETTING, there will be heavy
use of science jargen and references to events that happened in
a time when civilization had been destroyed. This story takes
place in a massive city that spans from Detroit to Jersey.
This story has been Rated "M" for Mature for the appearance of:
Strong Profanity
Drug Use
Alcohol Use
Suggestive Themes
Implied Sexual Activity (NO DEPICTION OF SEX ALLOWED FADE TO
BLACK YOU PERVS)
[/spoiler]
Theme Song:
HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFDuvmnnzBg
(Disclaimer: I have used this song just because I feel it fits
the story. I did not make this song nor do I hold any rights to
it, all credit given to Ikonika)
#Post#: 379955--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Waker's Requiem
By: DubbleDukkSahss Date: December 20, 2014, 2:28 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
THREE DAYS EARLIER
All was quiet and dark, filled with that ancient calm that falls
over an untouched tomb. This was a place that had been forgotten
long ago by time gone by, and now suddenly, machines were
beginning to shake the dust off, lights were beginning to
flicker on, at least the ones that were still able to. The
lights revealed a room, a good sized laboratory filled with
stasis pods from a long forgotten age of nuclear terror. A
moth-eaten flag hung on the wall, a variation of the old
American flag with a red star bordered by white over a blue
patch next to the familar white and red stripes. Below the star
in the blue read the letters, NAC. There were ten pods in this
room accompanied by medical terminals, and out of all of them
only one was still closed and powered, it’s occupant still
breathing.
A distorted time ravaged simulated voice came over an old
speaker on the terminal pod.
“Beginning protocol: Wake Up Call, Subject Six.” It said as
readouts began to appear within the dust covered tube. The tube
began to despressurize and the occupant gave a harsh gasp as she
woke, her fist slamming into the reinforced glass with a loud
scream as she grew accustomed to being among the living again.
She panted as she slumped against the side of her tube, her body
taking time to fully reactivate was normal, but this was
different and she could feel it. Her muscles ached, she felt as
if she just awoken with the worst hangover imaginable, with the
splitting migraine thrown in for free. Her tube opened, but
instead of gracefully stepping out of it she slumped to the
floor with a soft metallic thud.
“Re-reporting...for...for duty...sir....” She managed to hack
out as her throat returned to a live state. She was left without
response at first however, which struck her as even more odd.
She expected to here a superior respond with a new assignment
but instead she was met with silence.
“Good morning, Subject #Six.” An unfamiliar voice finally said,
her eyes just now becoming of use. She weakly turned over onto
her back and began to realize that there was no one there for
the voice to belong to. She struggled to look around, but all
she saw was an empty time ravaged room.
“Oh, there is no one else here, just you and I.” The voice
spoke, its voice having an odd undefinable quality about it.
“You should be getting over that post-stasis disorientation
soon, your vitals are exceptional. Whatever the people who ran
this place were fighting to need to make you this tough must’ve
been terrifying.” It said, it’s calm demeanor now beginning to
seem unnatural to her ears.
She managed to sit up after crawling over to a bench, she
clenched her forehead in one of her hands and responded, “They
created us to fight mutants. Speaking of ‘They’ Where are my
superiors?” She asked, her voice regaining its strength.
“Long dead. The NAC fell in 2095, you have been asleep for 261
years.” It replied.
She began walking around to the other pods, pod 1 was empty so
was pod 2. Pod 3‘s occupant was revealed to be dead when she
brushed the dust off of it, making her look away. Pod 4 was
empty, pod 5 empty, her pod now empty, pod 7 empty, the last 2
were dead in the pods too. She looked at the tenth pod, she knew
it’d never been occupied. “261 years.....nobody ever found this
place?” She asked, her fingers gliding through the dust over her
old pod’s medical terminal.
“I found this place.” It replied. “You may call me the Waker if
you wish.”
“Understood.” She began, “So, Waker, why exactly did you wake me
up?” She asked, her voice softspoken with a low tone but lacking
any real tone shift or expression behind, her words came out
cold.
“I need your help.” It spoke, “Put plainly I saved you so you
could save me. Your old equipment is over there in one of the
lockers, I’m quite sure you will not need a key.”
“Save you from what?” She asked slowly making her way to the
lockers.
“Subject #2,” The Waker responded. “Though I suspect she will
not be like the Subject #2 you remember at all. Your sister woke
up quite some time ago when her pod shorted out and began Wake
Up protocols. She managed to make her way out, but her mind
began to deteriorate, I believe you know the condition well.”
“Yes...I do.....” She replied dryly as she threw her old
fatigues and boots on.
“She took the edge off by becoming addicted to mutagenic chems
and biomodification procedures, but now she’s found a cure and
is on a mission to find me to get it so your last mission is to
stop her, it’s too late for the cure to help her, but without
your help nothing will stop her from trying.”
“So I help you, then I’m done taking orders from people? Good,
show me the door.” She said, routinely strapping on her knives
and machete, holstering her pistol and throwing on her black and
red canvas jacket. She forced the thought of having to take down
another one of her siblings to the back of her mind. It was a
sad fate, but there was nothing that could be done now, Subject
#2 had become Target #1 in Six’s mind now, and it just needed to
be solidified.
“Waker, do you have a way to erase this place?” She asked as she
climbed the steps to the armory.
“I could remotely set the power core to self destruct, it was a
failsafe in case this facility was ever breached by enemy
forces.”
“Do it after I get top side, I don’t plan on coming home.” She
said, grabbing the case labeled “Subject Six’s Effects” and a
couple cases of pistol magazines before swiftly going back up
the steps towards the surface lift.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, the NAC has fallen, time to bury them.” She said as she
pressed the button, calling her ride out of here.
“Self Destruct protocol activated, Facility will self destruct
in 13 Minutes.” The Waker said, “We will speak again soon, I’d
like to advise you to join the Hunters’ Guild, that should give
you all the tools and access you may need to complete your
mission, you’ll need a name though.”
“I’ll come up with something.” She said as she exited the lift,
being blinded by the bright lights of New Haven’s nightlife. She
was astounded by the scope of it all, what she once knew as
barren, ruined wasteland was now an ocean of skyscrapers, lights
and sound. She made her way into the streets and disappeared
amongst the crowds of people, meanwhile, the clock down below
ticked down. :11, :10, :09, :08, :07, :06, :05, :04, :03, :02,
:01, :00
The south motor city section of New Haven’s Ground District
shook as a massive explosion leveled two blocks.
“Good Riddance...” She mumbled under her breath as she walked,
keeping her eyes peeled for something that would tell her where
to go.
It’d taken her three days, but she had made her way to the
Hunters’ Guild’s HQ in the Second Level’s 6th district. The
building had a small neon sign that read “Come in!” on it and
the building didn’t seem like it was the home of some elite
paramilitary organization. The building was in fact an old
police precinct that the Guild had repurposed. It was the only
other blip on the map the Waker had provided her. She entered
the building and immediately the old smell of a military bunker
filled her nose, a sudden wave of nostalgia washing over her.
There was a man sitting at a desk to the right of her, hidden
behind the bulletproof glass that usually protected
receptionists at police stations from disgruntled civilians. He
called out to her his gruff voice muffled by a microphone, “Can
I help you miss?” Bright, piercing, and nearly glowing blue eyes
slowly shifted towards him with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes you can as a matter of fact, how I do I sign up?” She
asked, slightly brushing some of her blue hued hair out of her
face as she walked over to the window he was sat at. He looked
perplexed at her response. He was a middle aged man, his skin
was pale and scarred, his hair was beginning to turn grey and he
had a bushy salt and pepper mustache. He looked like a normal
old man, except for the bright purple eyes he scanned her with,
she knew instantly he was a mutant.
“You wanna join the Hunters’ Guild? Why?” He asked, his tone
changing to one of suspicion with a slight undertone of
bewilderment.
“I need a job, I used to be a soldier, this seemed like the way
to go...” She said, her tone cold and steady, like the bullet of
a sniper. “So how do I sign up?” The look in her eyes showed she
was serious, and the tone of her voice was the best evidence of
it.
He slid a pad of papers in a clipboard to her with a pen, “Fill
that out and head upstairs talk to the Synth in the red scarf
and she’ll give ya the VR training if she thinks you have what
it takes. Good Luck.” His voice seemed uninterested, as if he
were simply giving a callous and uncaring read from a script for
a corporate training video. She began filling out the
information on the sheets, Name: Renna, Age: 19, Weight: 139lbs,
Height: 5‘8“, Eye Color: Blue, Hair Color: Blue, Skills: Highly
trained in combat, minimal computer tech training, 11 Years of
Combat Experience. She was able to finish the whole packet as
she reached the top of the stairs. Renna looked up and looked
around, offices down one hallway, interrogation rooms down the
other. She was looking for a woman in a red scarf she thought as
she slowly made her way down the office hallway, peering through
windows and seeing no one fitting the description. She doubled
back to the hallway with the interrogation rooms, they were all
empty, but there was a door at the end of the hall, it read
“Applicants Enter Here.” Her eyes narrowed and scanned over it,
pondering how to approach it. She remembered how her superiors
used to test her like this, and immediately began to believe
this would be no different.
She opened the door and slipped through, clutching the clipboard
to her side with one hand and she prepared to defend herself
with the other. To her suprise it was a stair case leading down,
and didn’t seem like a gauntlet. She relaxed a little and began
to make her way down, though her guard was not down and she
still had the reservation in her mind that she was being tested.
She reached the foot of the stairs and saw another door, this
time however she saw a figure of metal on the other side. The
shape of a woman, the red scarf, it had to be who she was
looking for but this wasn’t a woman, it was a machine, that must
have been what the man meant, she thought, by the word ‘Synth’
he must’ve meant an android. She approached the android calmly
and spoke up.
“Excuse me, I believe I was supposed to speak with you? The man
up front said to look for a woman in a red scarf.” She explained
holding out the clipboard full of files towards the scarf clad
fembot.
“You’re an applicant....” The android spoke, her voice distorted
like the receptionist’s only this was her actual voice not her
voice through a microphone. On closer inspection, this woman
seemed to be a mixed bag of parts from other machines, one of
her arms most certainly was built for a larger more industry
oriented bot while it seemed her torso and left leg were from
some sort of pleasure droid and her other arm seemed to be built
to be some sort of welding droid, her head was modeled to look
like a woman in a soldier’s helmet with red stensil across the
left cheek that read ‘RD-445' with a red jolly roger stensil
painted on the shoulder plate of her larger arm. “Well, let me
look ya over.” Her simulated voice box belted out, the person
who built her must’ve wanted her to sound like a western outlaw.
Her eyes seemed to be a cluster of optic receptors and blue
LED’s encased in a metal sphere and both of them were scanning
over Renna in depth, gathering every bit of physical and vital
data as possible. “Yer exceptionally fit, ya already have
weapons....tell me something...Yer not a Demi, yer not an aug,
but I know yer not human, so what are ya?” The robotic woman
asked quietly, her LED eyes nearly glued to Renna’s own bright
blues.
“Super Soldier....." Renna replied with a near whisper. “Just
got out of 261 years of stasis....” Red-445 looked at her with a
look of simulated shock before reading through her file again.
“Come with me, Renna.” She spoke and motioned for Renna to
follow with her smaller arm’s three fingered hand. The red and
gunmetal colored android in the Red Scarf began down another
stair case at the end of her office. Her voice carried back
towards Renna as she followed down. “We’ll need to solidify your
identity before we equip you and show you a couple of extra
tricks. Most Hunters would need months of rigorous training in
martial arts and firearm use before we bring them into the fold,
but if ya really were one of those NAC super soldiers, ya won’t
need all that, instead I’ll show ya a few moves, let ya choose
yer blink module, and set up yer perch.”
“How’d you know about the NAC super soldiers?!” Renna asked, her
normally expressionless tone holding a bit of shock and
confusion.
“I’m an old droid, kid...” She began, her voice distinctly
sounding like that of an old cowboy, “I was once a companion
droid some kid built to protect ‘im before New Haven was built,
I saw some of those super soldiers, out near Phoenix, two boys
and a girl but that was a long time ago, most of that data is
corrupted now.... Don’t worry nobody but me’ll know bout ya
kiddo.”
Renna remembered Phoenix, not from being there but from what
Subject 3 had told her, but this android remembered being there,
she was there, she saw her siblings. “Good, now what is a blink
module and what do you mean by setting up a perch?” Renna asked,
her composure returning to her calm and conditioned state.
Red-445 shot a glance back at her as she opened the door to the
equipment room.
“I mean get ya a place to live, kid. Blink Module’s a computer
pretty much, we gotta install a couple mods to your eyes and
brain, but it’s really not all that bad, just a nueral/optic
interface so you and your blink module can communicate more
efficiently.” the android explained as she prepared the
installation table. Renna looked at Red with a cold indifferent
expression.
“Alright then, let’s go with this one,” Renna said as she looked
through the available models, picking a distinct model with
purple lights on it. It looked like a Gun Metal colored gauntlet
with purple LED diodes on it and a backlit screen. Red looked at
the model and nodded, looking through the file terminal to
locate the matching interface mod.
“Alright,” She said as she returned to the table, “take your
shirt off and lay down face down, position your face to lie
perfectly within that mask shape in the table and breathe
normally counting in your mind from 100 to 0.” Red instructed,
preparing an array of mildly invasive surgical instruments while
Renna began counting down from 100. Renna soon found herself
drifting into unconsciouness.
As she began to wake, she saw Red-445 standing over her,
remotely calibrating the Optic interface and Retinal Display of
the Blink Module’s Neural Interfacing HUD. Digital readouts
became visible within her own eyes, she was now able to access
computers within her own mind, being able to see web pages in
her eyes. She was baffled for a few moments at the things she do
in her own head, but Red’s voice speaking up got her attention.
“This is yer Blink Module now, it’s actually pretty unique, it
runs off of a void-light generator so it has a higher power
output than the standard Arc-Light modules, nobody’s ever wanted
this one before, but I’ve tested it, it works well, and lets ya
teleport short distances, also lets ya go light speed for a
little bit. Comes with a 3D Printer and a Net Ready personal
computer, saw your equipment over there while you were out,
programmed throwing knives into the printer, but it already
comes with grappling hooks and you can add stuff to it later.
Two Days of learning a couple moves and you’ll be a Hunter. Set
ya up with a place on the ground floor, 3rd District C-Block
Pods, 23rd floor. Come with me to the Sparring Room I’ll show ya
some moves.” She said motioning Renna to follow her into a room
with pads on the floor, closing the door behind Renna as slipped
through the frame.
Renna had spent the last two days sparring with Red-445, and was
now leaving her new apartment as registered Hunter who’d already
collected on 3 contracts right out of the door. She took the
grav lift to the Second Level, making her way to the Bounty
Board to look for work. She ripped a brand new page off and
stared at it, big bounty for a killer who’s left a pretty
gruesome trail of women behind them. Only lead was an alias, the
Cleaver, the bounty was 600,000 Wuyaks, and Renna put her tag in
the board, claiming the bounty as her task.
*****************************************************