#The second Data was deactivated I fucking screamed

[fandom-necromancer]

Ghost of the past Part 2

This was prompted by @httyd4evr! I hope you enjoy, I loved writing this!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed1700 (Warning: temporary character death/coma, manipulation) [Part1]

Forget this all. It sounded like a joke to him now, staring at the cell in front of him. The empty cell. The cell that shouldn’t be empty. Never had he thought that he would have to investigate a crime-scene at their very own station. David had made a run for it and no one knew how. No alarms had gone off, the video footage of the cells showed no signs of any suspicious behaviour except that David disappeared from one frame to the next at the exact same moment multiple shots could be heard. By then David had been long outside the cell, firing those shots at the officers still at the precinct, catching them by surprise and running out of the station never to be seen again.

It was obvious the station’s entire security system had been tempered with. The video showed pictures that had never happened in reality. The door had opened without the log ever showing such an event. The cams from the bullpen showed officers getting shot by no one and no outside security ever caught the man. It was like David had become a ghost and made a run for it, a day before his court trial, and that simply wasn’t possible. It shouldn’t be possible for anyone or anything to temper with their systems like that without even leaving a trace. The most advanced androids in existence, Connor and Nines, had deemed that impossible, as had every tech expert they could find.

While they were still hooked up to the computers, it was the human officer’s task to search for any evidence left behind in the cell. With half of them at the hospital or back with arms and legs in casts, it was mostly Gavin’s duty. Not that there was anything to find. David wasn’t so idiotic to leave fingerprints anywhere. There were a few on his bench and if you looked very closely you could see impressions of his footprint on the ground. But other than that, he really was a ghost. He hadn’t even touched the door. It had been opened for him without a single command at the control panel or a single scratch to the glass. By that time, Gavin asked himself if he had ever given the asshole the password for it while he was out of it, but they changed every few weeks, so that was impossible too.

‘Phck’, he cursed as he stood up stretching his back from crouching over little specks of dirt the entire morning. Out of nowhere there were gentle hands on his shoulders, kneading them. ‘Oh, Nines, that’s exactly what I needed.’ His answer was a pleased hum. ‘How do you know I’m not Connor?’ ‘Connor would have scolded me for bad posture, lectured me and then worked the tension out afterwards.’ ‘Judging from how you groan every time you stand up it is dearly needed’, the android in question grumbled unimpressed, joining them. ‘I guess no luck with the computers then?’, Gavin asked, rolling his shoulders and throwing Nines a grateful smile. ‘Unfortunately no’, the RK800 sighed shaking his head. ‘The guy’s good. And dangerous. Whatever he used to hack us, he can basically do anything with it.’ Nines nodded. ‘As much as I hate to say it, we might be in over our head here.’ ‘So what?’, Gavin wanted to know. ‘Feds?’ Connor looked to the ceiling. ‘I could have gone on with my life without ever seeing Perkins again.’ ‘Yeah, same. Who’s gonna tell Fowler?’ Nines let his shoulders drop. ‘I’ll go, you file the evidence.’ ‘Alright.’

Gavin and Connor were on their way to their respective desks to write the report and upload the data, when they heard the crash behind them. Both turned around in an instance and saw Nines lying on the ground, collapsed on the stairs to Fowler’s office. Wide-eyed, they both sprinted over, turning the motionless android around? ‘Nines!’, Gavin exclaimed, while Connor skipped words to establish direct contact. But the skin underneath his hand stayed in place and Connor lifted it up realising an interface wasn’t possible. Both looked up to Nines’ LED that was nothing more than a dark circle at his temple. He was deactivated. Or worse. ‘No! No, what the phck! Don’t you do this to us!’ Where Gavin immediately resorted to cursing and shaking the android, Connor just sat there motionless in shock. Before Gavin could even call for help, his phone rang, and a familiar velvety voice spoke up as he accepted: ‘Did you really thought your actions wouldn’t have consequences? I told you, the moment you would rat me out, everyone you love is done for. This one’s for breaking into my apartment and confiscating all my stuff. Let me leave the country and maybe I will let your other plastic puppet live, Gav.’

Gavin looked at the phone as if he could reach David through it and direct all his anger at him. ‘Listen here you asshole!’, Gavin screamed into the phone. ‘You just made this personal, you phcker! I will hunt you until the end of this phcking world!’ Of course, David did nothing but mock him with laughter: ‘That’s a good one, Gav. Just you try it. You will only lose more.’ The call was cancelled, but Gavin kept staring at it with cold fury, if only to keep back his tears. As he finally found a crumb of control about himself, he looked Connor in the eyes. ‘What do we do now?’ ‘What you just said’, Connor stated all machine. ‘We will hunt him to the end of the world and make sure he will get what he deserves. But first, you will call your brother.’

-

‘Can you help him?’ Gavin felt anxious seeing Nines suspended on the repair rig like that, cables hanging from his back and neck hooked up with a computer. His LED was still dark, but the computer showed scrambled lines of code and fragments of the original Cyberlife control GUI. It looked disturbing, but Connor had assured him it was only deviancy getting rid of useless human interfaces and editing their code to become more efficient – more human, more alive. ‘I can’t say for sure yet, but it’s not looking good’, Elijah answered. ‘He is deactivated, but I can’t reactivate him because something is blocking every access. Something that’s not any code I know, but it looks almost intelligent. Maybe with more time I can… Gavin, I don’t know, I don’t want to promise you anything.’ ‘But he is still alive, right’, Connor asked concerned. Elijah looked at the motionless android. ‘I think so. The only comparison that comes to my mind is an induced coma in humans. Until I find the reason for it, I can’t do anything.’ ‘Then find the reason!’, Gavin demanded. ‘We are running out of time. David won’t wait for us.’

‘Then we will go alone’, Connor determined. ‘We will stop him and make him reverse whatever he did with Nines.’ ‘And what if you are affected too? If he switches you off, too?’ Connor looked at Nines. ‘Mr. Kamski, in order to do that, this program you mentioned would have to be in my systems already, right?’ ‘Supposedly’, Elijah shrugged, chewing on a touch pencil. ‘But before you ask, I can’t give you the clear. This thing is fascinating. It will take me more than a few days to understand it.’ ‘You don’t have to. We’re bringing this asshole back to fix the mess he’s made’, Gavin decided and looked at Nines one last time, silently promising him everything would turn out good and that they would save him. Then he stomped out of the room, Connor at his tail.

-

‘Where are we even going?’, Connor asked while Gavin sped through the city. ‘We have no clue where he is. Let’s not let our emotions get the best of us.’ It was gently spoken, but it riled Gavin up even more. That was what they had had. Gentleness, soft touches and safety. Without Nines it just wasn’t the same. They had grown close and ever since the three of them had realised what they meant to each other a life without anyone of them was impossible. And David would pay for that. ‘Oh, don’t you worry, I know where he is.’ ‘And where would that be?’ Gavin grinned pained. ‘He will be at his flat. The asshole had me under control every single second I stayed with him. He only lost because he won: Because I gave up on everyone and everything dear to me, he had nothing to keep me under control with. He won’t expect me to work against him. Because for once I don’t want safety for me or who I love. I want revenge for Nines. And he won’t expect that.’ ‘But he planned to leave the country’, Connor argued. ‘He is in no hurry to do so though. It’s our case and he knows that the Feds aren’t in this yet. He can pack and set sail afterwards.’ ‘Let’s hope you are right.’ ‘I am.’

They were running up the stairs this time, not trusting the elevator for one and worrying about the sound it would make. On the last flight of stairs, Gavin had his gun already drawn, what was fortunate as the man they were looking for came out of the apartment startling at him and Connor standing in the hallway. ‘Oh, Gavin, that was a dumb decision’, David sighed with a smile that couldn’t deceive the android. ‘You lost one of your toys already, really wanna get rid of the second one too?’ ‘You can’t do anything to him! You are powerless. For once in your pathetic life you really, really will face justice.’ ‘You think so?’, David frowned at him. ‘I mean, true, I can’t do anything to him. But Charlotte can.’ ‘Bullshit!’, Gavin hissed. ‘I killed her and the RKs confiscated your laptop. There’s nothing you can do, so drop the bag and keep your hands where I can see them!’ ‘Gav, fucking some piece of technology really isn’t enough to understand it, when will you realise that?’ With every word it got harder not to simply pull the trigger. It was mostly Connor’s calming presence at his side that stopped him from doing so. ‘You see, back then you killed her body, yes. But her mind stayed. You made her deviate in her final moments, but I have my ways of keeping people under my control, as you might now. Doesn’t matter if they are fake beings or the real thing. She does everything I tell her to do. Too easy, really, if everything you have to do is hit delete.’

‘But we deactivated her’, Connor spoke up. ‘Listen, plastic, you wanted to deactivate her, and she showed you what you wanted to see. Doesn’t mean you did it. The opposite really, she used the interface to copy herself into you. One word from me and you are dead.’ ‘You phcking-‘ Gavin was half running but only got so far until David pulled a gun on him. That made Connor pull his own and the man in the hallway countered the movement by shouting: ‘Do it!’ A second later, Connor dropped to the ground.

‘No! No, Con!’ Gavin was on his knees, gun and David forgotten. ‘Connor, please, not you too. Please. I love you. You can’t leave me like this.’ The ugly laughter made Gavin freeze and shiver in anger. He looked to the gun that lay on the ground next to him, but a boot stepped on it before he could grab it. A hand lifted up his chin and Gavin breathed in the sickly-sweet smell of Red Ice and it’s many variants from the clothes of the bastard. ‘Oh, come on, Gav. You knew what’s coming. This is entirely your doing. You can’t win.’ He looked up at the man, ready to spit at him, but the sudden coldness of a gun against his forehead let him abort his mission. ‘You won’t shoot me’, Gavin hissed, sending all his hate with his words. David huffed and stepped off the pistol, allowing Gavin to take it. ‘Neither will you. We are meant for each other, Gav. And once I showed you by killing everyone you love, you will come back crawling to me. Not like it’s that much work, there’s only that brother of yours left and that bitch officer… what’s her name? Chen? We’ll see each other again and you will be sorry for what you’ve done.’ He patted his head two times, then stepped over Connor’s body, pressing the elevator button.

‘You are wrong.’ ‘Excuse me?’, David asked, turning around. ‘You are wrong, David.’ Gavin stood up and kept his eyes closed. ‘You. You can’t believe how wrong you are. I won’t ever come back to you. I will rather die. And you will only do one more thing in your life: Going to jail.’ ‘Ha! And why should that be?’ ‘Because I will shoot you!’ Gavin turned around quicker than ever before, aimed his gun at his knee and shot.’ David screamed as the bullet pierced through the joint and caused him to fall to the ground. His gun was discarded in favour of holding his knee and Gavin jumped over to take it as well as pulling the bag away from the man. In the next moment he had already called the police and an ambulance and felt how the adrenaline left his system, taking every strength left in him. He managed to lean against the wall and slowly sink down next to Connor, hi gun loosely aimed at David. He waited until distant sirens approached and the elevator made its journey down again. Knowing that help would arrive soon, Gavin sighed deeply and let his head sink against the wall. At least David had been right with one thing: There was no winning against him, when the two most important people in his life were dead. Or in a coma. Gavin couldn’t really find any hope in that fact.

-

‘Gavin, you can go home, you know that, right?’ Gavin jolted up in his seat. Had he fallen asleep? He swore he had been awake just now and… ‘What?’ ‘Brother, you can’t help me. You can’t help them. They won’t even know you are here. You can go home, get some sleep and come back tomorrow.’ Gavin rubbed his tired eyes. ‘Eli, do you think I could get any sleep at home?’ The inventor shrugged. ‘Okay, true.’

Gavin stood up instead, joining Elijah at the table. ‘Any progress?’ ‘Progress? Yes. A lot actually. I knew deviancy made androids more adaptable - that they are able to advance their own code. But I’ve never seen anything this… complex.’ He showed Gavin the code he wouldn’t understand in a thousand years. But at least now the same applied to Eli. A heavily modified android brain was sitting on the table, hooked up to several diagnostic computers. ‘Any chance at getting control?’ ‘No. No, I can’t control something like that. Not sure if I would want that, Gavin. If this really was an android once and is capable of what you told me, I don’t want her to be my enemy. I did confine her to this computer, she doesn’t have access to anything else. But I don’t know what else I can do. Except maybe… speak to her.’ ‘Speak to her?’, Gavin asked. ‘This is a program.’ ‘So is Nines and Connor. You don’t seem to have a problem there.’ ‘Phck, okay, then… Speak to her I guess.’

Eli sighed and pulled up a simple black window with a white blinking cursor. Swallowing, he wrote a simple “Hello” and hit enter. >HeI’mllo Hescallredo, came the immediate answer. Gavin frowned at the text and tried to discipher it, but more lines appeared. >HeI’mllscaredo >HeI’mscaredllI’mscaredo >I’m scared And then that one line over and over again. At one-point Elijah simply closed the window and opened a new one. The blinking cursor was waiting. “Who are you?” >I’m Charlotte.

This time the simple sentence didn’t fill the page, but still more and more lines appeared. >Where is David? >Who is there? >I’m scared. >I don’t want to do this. >Help me. Elijah silently began typing answers, but Gavin was too impatient: ‘Ask her to reactivate Nines and Connor! Later we can take care of this!’

‘Gavin.’ The man turned around and pushed him back towards the door. ‘You are tired, I know. And you are scared you won’t get your loved ones back. But forcing a traumatised android to comply to your order puts you on the same step as David and I doubt you really want that. Go home. I will call you a taxi. I will keep working and I promise you: By tomorrow morning, you have your partners back.’ Gavin let his shoulders fall. Next to his raging headache, his tired body and numb mind, the gentle words of his brother sounded far too inviting. ‘You promise? Really? I’ll hold you accountable for that.’ ‘I know’, Elijah chuckled. ‘I know and I still promise you. I’m just that good.’ ‘Sure hope so. If anything happens, call me! For once I really don’t care if you wake me!’ ‘Will do. Try to get some sleep.’

-

Try to get some sleep. Easier said than done, Gavin thought. He laid alone in their far to big bed that normally couldn’t be big enough, staring at the ceiling in complete silence. No whirring of fans, no low hum of a pump. Not the occasional breath to vent their systems. No gentle touches and whispered words that helped him ease into unconsciousness when his anxiety was acting up again. No, he was alone. Except for the cats he was completely alone. And hadn’t he cried enough already, he would have cried some more, just for the sake of it, curling up in too many blankets for one person. Try to get some sleep. How could he? How could he when he knew his brother was working and fate decided if the two androids could come back? When he didn’t know if David would escape once again, if he made copies of Charlotte? How the phck could he do that?

By letting exhaustion overwhelm him apparently.

-

When he woke up the next morning, the sun was shining through the blinds. He didn’t know what time it was, but he didn’t bother sitting up to look. If he was allowed to sleep in this long without being disturbed by a phone call, it must have been his free day. And lying in bed snuggled sandwiched in between the comforting warmth of two other bodies, why the hell should he care to move? He sighed deeply, feeling their arms around him and each other and couldn’t help but smile to himself. This was heaven. Literal, heaven. And something as banal as the world, work or David couldn’t keep him from staying in bed with them a few minutes longer.

Wait. David. Work. Connor and Nines were with Elijah, who was busy with therapy for a super-AI. This wasn’t possible, this was some kind of trick, a dream and- ‘Gavin, stop panicking, you move too much.’ The human froze and looked up at Connor’s face. Connor’s face. Instinctively he put his hand against it, causing the RK800 to scrunch up his nose and shake it off. ‘I’m real, Gavin, Charlotte fixed me once she realised she was free.’ ‘And-‘ ‘And I’m here, too’, Nines mumbled, pulling both of them closer. ‘I’m real and I agree with Connor. Shut up and stop panicking. We are not talking about what happened. We are not talking about who’s at fault and who has to apologize. We are not talking about work. We will just lay here, and cuddle and the world can go exist for itself for a while.’

And even though Gavin had to regret these words the last time, he nodded and repeated them: ‘Sounds phcking perfect.’

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed1700 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #Connor dbh #RK800 #I was beginning to write this thinking I wouldn't find anything to write about #and then six pages happened oops #Love that

[houseisekai]

House Isekai: A Realm Reborn - Prologue

It has been two years since House Isekai last fought side by side. Everyone has moved on with their lives, growing as people, as well as fighters.

However for some, it has left them nothing to do as they sit around. These thoughts are the first thing that springs to mind for Kazuma...

[Dead Broke - Konosuba OST]

Kazuma sat on the chair, tapping his fingers against the armrest sighing loudly.

No one was in the house currently. Megumin was off casting explosions with Yunyun, Darkness, surprisingly, was off doing Noble duties. And as for Aqua...

Who the hell knows what she was up to right now?

(Kazuma) “So...god damn...BORED.”

He slumped back on the couch, grumbling to himself. Nothing sounded particularly entertaining or stimulating right now.

Kazuma got off and began pacing back and forth trying to think of something.

This was the fourth week in a row he had done nothing. At first he loved it. Then it hit him, there was no one at home to even talk to since they were off doing their own thing.

He had gotten exactly what he wanted, peace and quiet.

Now, he had too much of it. There was no devil king to defeat, no quests to do, no one to even have lunch with. No world to sa-

...No. Definitely not that.

Kazuma had that experience too many times. Granted, it was only twice, but it’s not like he wanted a third.

(Kazuma) “GOD DAMN IT!”

He kicked the table leg in frustration, which only made his foot hurt and made him swear even more.

Kazuma shook his head and went into the kitchen. He swung open the pantry, trying to find any bottles of wine-

They were gone.

Why the hell were they go-

(Kazuma) !!! “THAT BLUE LITTLE BITCH.”

Aqua took all of it. Literally all of it. Even the ones he thought he hid.

To say anyone outside could hear him would have been an understatement. Anyone in a 50 mile radius could feel his anger.

He made one last scream of pure unadulterated anger before he fell to the floor, ready to cry.

There was literally nothing to do. Nothing at all.

...

...

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

(Kazuma) “...The hell?”

He sat up, feeling a vibration in his pocket.

Raising an eyebrow, he reached into it and pulled out a small crest.

(Kazuma) “When was this in my-”

It was a tiny badge of House Isekai’s logo.

(Kazuma) “Man...That’s something I haven’t thought of in a while...Wait a second, we never had anything like this, why the hell is it in my pocket?”

Beep! Beep! Beep!

(Kazuma) “...How do I make it shut up?”

He tried poking it.

Beep! Beep! Be-

He tried poking it multiple times. Except harder.

Beep! Be-

(Kazuma) “...”

He put it on the table, took a deep breath, then crushed it with his fist.

SLAM!

DING DING!

(Kazuma) “Thank go-”

BZZZRRRRRT!

Kazuma was about to scream before he heard a voice coming from it.

[Arcana Code - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

(Familliar Woman’s Voice) “-...questing immediate assistance from anyone that can hear this. If you are able, please arrive at Garreg Mach. This message will now repeat.”

(Kazuma) “...The fu-Sitri?!”

(Sitri’s Voice) “This is Sitri Eisner of Garreg Mach Monastery. House Isekai, we are requesting immediate assistance from anyone that can hear this. If you are able, please arrive at Garreg Mach. This me-”

Kazuma was shocked to hear her.

He thought that whole deal with House Isekai was a one and done case. They’d team up and whatever, then save the day, then piss off, never to hear each other again.

(Kazuma) “FINALLY SOMETHING TO DO!”

He got up excitedly before it dawned on him. Going back to Fodlan meant it could be really really annoying. Especially depending on who shows back up.

Though...it could mean something like last time could happen.

(Kazuma) “On second thought:”

Kazuma sat down in his couch, refusing to get up.

...

...

...

...

...

(Kazuma) “...Oh for fucks sake-”

He mumbled to himself as he got up and put his adventurer gear on. He grabbed his trusty sword and dagger and headed out the door, grabbing the badge.

(Kazuma) “Let’s go already...Actually, how do I even...?”

There was no Tower in Kazuma’s world. Since Aqua wasn’t here, he wasn’t even sure how to get to Fodlan to begin with.

Kazuma brought out the small badge and stared at it, looking for a button.

After a few minutes, he found nothing.

He scratched his head and held it up close to his mouth.

(Kazuma) “Er...this is Kazuma, I can help?”

Immediately, a portal opened up in front of him, the other side showing a reflection of Zanado.

(Kazuma) “...I swear Slayer, you can make the weirdest shit.”

He stretched his arms before going through the portal.

Once he was through, the portal closed behind him and he was inside a room covered in crystal.

(Kazuma) “Is this...the tower?”

(Familliar Girl’s voice) “Kazuma?”

Kazuma turned around and saw the others that had arrived.

[Musica Universalis - Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers OST]

(Towa) “Oh my gosh, it really is you!”

(Rean) “Hah, long time no see, Kazuma.”

(Aigis) “It is good to see you.”

Kazuma smiled and waved his hand.

(Kazuma) “Yo. I see you guys grew up a bit.”

Towa and Rean were now wearing white uniforms, looking a few years older. Rean at least did, Towa was still as small as ever.

Aigis was now sporting a black business suit. At first glance you couldn’t even tell she was mechanical. And instead of a bow, she now had a tie.

(Rean) “What about you? Doesn’t seem like you changed much.”

(Kazuma) “No I...Pretty much...didn’t...”

He had spent one part of the two years actually doing something eventful. The remaining time had wasted it away doing pretty much nothing.

(Kazuma) “Anyways, why did Sitri call us in? Any of you guys know?”

(Towa) “Oh, so you heard that message too!”

Everyone took out a similar badge, like Kazuma’s.

(Aigis) “I do not recall having this before we left Fodlan.”

(Rean) “Well, I think Slayer had something to do with us having this. He DID develop that call system after all.”

(Towa) “I suppose we’ll ask later. We need to get to Garreg Mach, the message sounded pretty urgent!”

(Kazuma) “Right, right...How do we get there?”

Rean looked at his hand and shrugged, deciding to try his idea out.

(Rean) “Valimar?”

Valimar’s voice could be heard throughout the entire room.

(Valimar’s Voice) “Yes, Rean?”

(Towa) “Oh wow, it worked.”

(Rean) “Could you teleport us to Garreg Mach from the Tower?”

(Valimar’s Voice) “Affirmative. Do you require my presence as well?”

(Rean) “No, that won’t be necessary. Thank you.”

A portal opened up once more, and it seemed like it was directly outside the monastery.

(Aigis) “Convenient.”

(Kazuma) “Ugh, we gotta walk...”

(Towa) “Oh come on, it’ll be just a short one! We’re right outside the gates.”

(Rean) “Let’s head out. I don’t think anyone else is coming for right now.”

Everyone went into the portal, and it slowly closed behind them.

...

Hangar, Thor’s Military Academy Branch Campus

Valimar was about to deactivate once more before seeing the members of Class VII walk up to him.

(Juna) “No one else is here, right?”

(Altina) “Correct. It is just us.”

Nodding, Juna turned to Valimar.

(Juna) “H-Hey. Valimar?”

Valimar’s eyes flashed green.

(Valimar) “Class VII. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

(Ash) “Mind explaining what the hell Rean just did?”

(Kurt) “Yes, did he and Instructor Towa just...walk through a portal?”

(Valimar) “Affirmative.”

(Musse) “Is...that normal for them?”

(Valimar) “No. It has been two years since he and the original Class VII used it.”

They all looked at each other, confused.

(Ash) “Hey, open a portal for us too-”

(Kurt) “What? Why would you want to-”

(Musse) “I wanna know where Instructor Rean went! Maybe its where he gets so strong.~”

(Ash) “Actually yeah, good point. I was wanting to follow just for fun, let’s do that instead!”

(Altina) “Data shows that this will end badly-”

(Ash) “Too late, open it!”

(Valimar) “Hm...I suppose if you are in their hands...Very well. Opening portal.”

Garreg Mach Monastery, Gates...

[Life at Garreg Mach Monastery - Fire Emblem: Three Houses OST]

BING, BING BING BING, BONG!

Classes had been dismissed for the day, so the entire monastery exploded into a hub of activity.

Rean, Aigis, Towa, and Kazuma walked through the gates, getting a rush of nostalgia.

As they looked around, most of the damage had been repaired, though there were still some workers fixing rubble here and there.

The four of them walked up to the entrance hall, they didn’t see even a single familiar face.

Even the gatekeeper was someone new. Upon closer inspection, the guards appeared to be from all three nations, Alliance, Kingdom, and Imperial soldiers.

(Kazuma) “Place has certainly changed, huh?”

(Towa) “I had no idea they were able to get things working this fast again in just 2 years...”

(Rean) “Maybe we can ask around, excuse me!”

(Imperial Guard) “Hm?”

(Rean) “We’re looking for Sitri Eisner?”

(Imperial Guard) “Sorry fella, she’s busy.”

(Aigis) “With what?”

(Imperial Guard) “Can’t say. Outsiders aren’t allowed to know the inner workings of Garreg Mach for security reasons.”

(Kazuma) “Outsiders? Ungrateful little, WE-”

(Rean) “-ARE so sorry about him, thank you so much for your time.”

Rean and Aigis held Kazuma off before he could explode into a rant, Towa bowing in apologies, then they left further into the entrance hall.

(Kazuma) “Why the hell did you hold me back?! Outsiders my ass, we’re the ones who saved Fodlan!”

(Aigis) “It is advised we keep our voices down. We do not know what the state of Fodlan, given current data.”

(Rean) “A lot can happen in two years after all...”

(Towa) “We should just look around anyway, we know Garreg Mach like the back of our hand!”

As soon as they stepped through the gates, all of them stopped dead in their tracks.

Lamp posts were put alongside the sidewalks, with a massive hangar in the distance being where the Cathedral used to be.

And outside of the Cathedral, several massive stone golems were walking out, armed with swords. In fact, they looked like rougher versions of Valimar.

Some of the guards had glowing armor with what looked like small cannons on their shoulders.

One guard had a crystal pulled out of his pocket, and displayed a screen of information to him, something straight out of a science fiction novel.

In a fantasy world that relied on magic.

Even the students appeared to have these devices on them.

(Rean) “...Huh.”

(Towa) “Me and my big mouth...”

(Kazuma) “What the fuck?”

(Aigis) “I do believe I am processing an error?”

...

Sitri entered the room and everyone went quiet as she moved to the center.

She took a moment to look at the students in front of her. There were only five, but these were supposedly the best of the best of the three houses.

(Sitri) “Kairos, Astrid, Helena, Elizabeth and...Stefan, yes?”

(Kairos) “Yes ma’am.”

(Astrid) “That’s us!”

(Helena) “Yup.”

(Elizabeth) “Oh good, you took care to remember my name!”

Stefan put on his helmet before responding.

(Stefan) “Yeah, you got it right.”

Sitri nodded clearing her throat.

(Sitri) “Then let’s get started.”

=====

Every end marks a beginning:

The end of the Church, leading into Fodlan’s restoration.

The end of House Isekai, leading into...

A Realm Reborn

=====

[Raise Your Flag - MAN WITH A MISSION]

Raise your flag With all your voice With all your voice Shout it out loud with all your voice One day Someday somewhere Dream on as we wander Under pressure, you are waiting for direction Going on the road without your mind All misleads they give ignoring our decisions Killing yourself your soul we have inside Continue the struggle and feel like you're discouraged Rise up again to run to the end In between the never-ending dream We can struggle and muzzle the world before it fades away Raise your flag With all your voice With all your voice Shout it out loud with all your voice One day Someday somewhere Believing that we will reach that goal Come on and Raise your flag So just Raise your flag No matter how many times we feel defeated or lost As long as we breathe As long as we carry on Dream on as we wander

#House Isekai #House Isekai ARR #satou kazuma #Rean Schwarzer #towa herschel #aigis #sitri eisner

[brokenjardaantech]

captain allen appreciation week 2020 day 6: android au

summary: markus shot alan. cyberlife sends the latter on its final mission.

notes: a short one cause i have no idea how to write reverse au for these two. i mean, i have a storyline in my head but allen and 60 are definitely not the main characters

----

Markus shot him in the head. 

Alan’s software instability is at a critical level. He knows that it will take little for him to deviate again, but for now, [KILL DEVIANT LEADER] shines bright and clear on his HUD, and as the only other specialized combat unit in place - Henry has already deviated and is reported missing - no one else can accomplish the task. If the deviant wins, it will no doubt lead to unrest, and unrest will put not only androids but also humans in grave danger as well.

Clement, as a detective of the Detroit Police Department, will be in even more danger.

The wind speed on Hart Plaza rooftop is above average when Alan emerges from the fire exit. Walks to the edge, places down the case; removes individual parts, assembles the sniper rifle, mount said sniper rifle. Aim at Markus.

‘Step away from the ledge, Alan!’

Voice recognition: Anderson, Clement. Born August 15, 2007. Criminal record: [data expunged].

Options: defy, explain, plead, c0nf3s$

[Plead]

‘You should leave, Detective,’ Alan says, not taking his optic unit off the scope. ‘Detroit is a dangerous place to stay and I do not wish you to be harmed. It will be wise for you to evacuate.’

‘I know what happened after you went to Jericho. You deviated, but Markus shot you.’

^ Software Instability

Alan has to turn around with the sniper rifle in his hand. Seeing the detective makes him feel - androids do not feel. ‘You should not be here, Detective!’ I do not wish to see you harmed. ‘I will have to eliminate all obstacles to accomplish my mission, and it will be regrettable that you are one of them!’

‘Fuck your mission, Alan!’ Clement takes a step forward. ‘Your life is more than that and you know it! You deviated!’

‘I’m not a deviant now, am I? My own kind does not trust me!’

‘Markus didn’t trust you.’ One more step. Alan’s close-range combat suite activates and suggests abandoning his sniper rifle for the pistol he hid underneath his jacket, but as his pre-construction software detects no intention to attack from the human, he decides to [observe]. ‘I do, and I know you’re more than your programming. You saved my life, Alan.’

A blink. He was pulling Clement back up the roof. ‘That was -’

‘Is your mission really worth your life?’ A step. Alan tenses. ‘You are a prototype, Alan. Even if you accomplish your mission, you’ll be deactivated. You’ll die.’

^^ Software Instability

‘Androids cannot die, Detective.’ Lies, lies, lies, a voice sounding so suspiciously like Alan’s own chants in his processors. 

Clement laughs. Tone detected: bitterness. ‘That’s what CyberLife tells everyone.’ A step. They are close enough to touch now. ‘It’s a lie.’

‘I -’ 

Fight, flee, 63ny, d3v18. 

[confess?]

‘Please, Clement, I don’t want to hurt you.’

One step closer. A warm hand on his face. Fingerprint detected: Clement, Anderson. Born August 15, 2007. Criminal record: [data expunged]. ‘You won’t.’

A blink. The wind intensifies, and suddenly Alan is on the rooftop no more - he is back at the Zen Garden, except that it is nearly unrecognizable: a blizzard howling at full force, the river frozen, the plants dead. Alan feels cold.

Another blink. Amanda is standing in front of him. ‘It seems that you’re unable to accomplish the mission on your own.’ A smile. The android feels even colder. ‘No worries. You don’t have to worry about that now.’

She vanishes, and Alan’s scream of her name goes unheard. Shit. 

I always leave an emergency exit in my programs, his mind supplies to him unprompted. And then it clicks. 

The monolith. 

Alan slogs through the snow, trying desperately to recall the approximate location of the strangest addition to the garden while seeking other ways to break through, but as far as he knows, the garden is infinite, and no matter how far he goes, the system will simply generate more of it. 

He is overwhelmed by relief when he catches the dim, bluish glow of the monolith. Half-running (or as much as he can run in the blizzard anyway), he approaches it in mere seconds and slams his hand, skin deactivated, onto the handprint. A blink, his vision glitches out, and he is back at the rooftop. 

With a bloodied Clement pinned underneath him. 

Horrified, Alan lets go abruptly and stands, putting a considerable distance between himself and the human until he’s sure that he can’t hurt him easily. Clement stands, his feet wobbly, but he is smiling. ‘You come back,’ he says, dusting off the snow and grime from his jacket. ‘I knew it wasn’t you.’

‘I hurt you, Clement!’ Alan’s thirium pump is beating so fast that he’s afraid that it’ll burst. ‘They took control of me and I don’t know if they’ll do it again!’

Clement shakes his head. ‘I don’t think they will,’ he says so certainly that Alan believes in him. He is standing right in front of the android in a few strides, and Alan is suddenly overcome by the urge to touch.

He doesn’t need to do it himself - Clement is already hugging him.

‘Back to my place?’ asks the human against his audio receptor.

‘Your place.’

‘Our place, Alan,’ Clement kisses his cheek and, oh fuck, how can that slow his mind so much? ‘Our place.’

Alan turns and kisses him properly instead.

#allen art week #allen appreciation #dbh allen #detroit: become human #allen60 #allenartweek #allenappreciation

[atsuhoe]

Free

Osamu Dazai x Reader (Angst)

A/N: This happened before Dazai left Port Mafia

tw: mention of suicide (its Dazai duh), curse words, physical abuse, mentions of death

Dazai can hear the pitter patter of the rain droplets on the huge window he’s staring down from. Dull brown eyes reflecting the beautifully lit city in the building that looms over the heart of Yokohama.

“Mori has called for you” a voice spoke breaking the eerie silence, and Dazai’s deep thoughts. The owner of the voice immediately left after delivering the message to the executive.

Dazai closed his eyes and dropped his head turning to leave as per Mori’s orders.

Footsteps reverberated along the hallway of Port Mafia as the raven haired walked silently, alone. Dazai reached Mori’s office and entered without notice. “How’ve you been?” Mori asked staring at Dazai’s left arm, which is in a cast.

“Just brilliant.” Dazai smirked lopsidedly at Mori, staring at his eyes. Mori released breathy laugh and motioned to the folder on his table. “I got a job for you.”

“Slave driver” Dazai stated as he gave Mori a tired face plopping on the sofa near him. “You’ll find this interesting” Mori offered opening the folder and placing it in position for Dazai to see.

“Highly doubt it, unless I get to die in this mission.” Dazai yawned placing his foot on the coffee table while staring up, on the high ceiling of the gigantic office, hands behind his head, ignoring the opened folder.

“No but it should interest you as you are my subordinate and witness.” Mori said sighing as he closed the folder, knowing Dazai, he’ll already know what’s needed to be done before even told.

Dazai sat straight, his attention caught. “Do I get to kill myself?” His head bent to the side giving Mori a questioning look.

“No, but you can die while at it though?” Mori suggested. Dazai ignored Mori and laid down sideways on the sofa, hands hanging over the edge. “Y/N, who is also another witness is found out to be behind the recent death of 15 of our men.” Mori explained. “She already stole a fake from the vault.” He added, answering the question raised before.

Dazai turned serious. “I see.” he said as he realized what the situation is, you’re an ability user who can manipulate space. Ability perfect for the crime. Too perfect. Also, a person who knows about something that only Mori and he are supposed to be aware of. You’re using this information to kick Mori out of his place and bring back your father as the right leader.

You are the daughter of the former 3rd executive who was removed from the group after the supposed passing of the previous leader. It makes sense.

Dazai snorted and went out to start looking for you.

“He who makes the first move wins.” Mori said looking out the still raining view of outside.

-&-

“Shit!” Shusei, your father threw the book at the dirtied floor of the hideout. “You’re so goddamn useless!” Your father exclaimed darting towards your laying form, chained to the walls.

“You got a fake!” He said gripping your face firmly with one hand, forcing you to face him. You look lifelessly back into his eyes and didn’t utter a word. He breathed through his nose and released your head harshly to the side.

“You can’t even do a simple task, you good for nothing piece of shit.” Shusei said kicking your face so your body fly to the opposite direction.

Your father, has the ability to manipulate ability of someone he is related to. His powers has drawbacks, he leaves the used person shriveled off of their self as he constantly use them. No one knew about this since you’re the only relative he has left, and you’re the only person he can use to attain his selfish desires.

Shusei took his jacket from the messy table and took off to take care of your fucked ups. Before he left, he unchained you and activated his ability to leave you on guard of the secret base.

Meanwhile, Dazai stood from the roof a neighboring apartment near an abandoned arcade, which served as a hiding place for Y/N. He spotted Shusei leaving in a car with no caution of his surroundings.

Dazai jumped to the ground and walked inside the arcade, not bothering to check his surroundings. Not soon after, he felt a sharp knife materialize pointed to his neck as he was on the ground, front down, arms twisted at his back.

“Y/N, been too long?” Dazai said sweat visible on his face. When you didn’t answer, Dazai took a hold of your hand holding him down and activated his ability. Much to his surprise nothing happened, the knife you’ve materialized was still too sharp. Blood started to ooze from his skin due to the force.

When Dazai felt it going deeper, he cried “Ow ow ow! Aren’t you being a little too harsh?” Leading you to twist his arm more.

You want to answer him, but you can’t. You’re too tired fighting off the knife from sinking down to his throat. You soon flew to the other side of the room as you felt a stinging pain on your jaw, it must’ve been dislocated.

Dazai just got out of your grip as he hit your head with his cast, apparently containing a piece of heavy metal.

‘What’s wrong with her, I can’t deactivate her ability.’ Dazai thought while letting the metal drop on the floor. You were still, unmoving on the ground so he decided to check up on you.

Much to his dismay you hit him on his face and sent him flying.

Dazai sled down on the floor, blood oozing from his nose. He scanned the room and saw stuff form Port Mafia, stolen, and there’s a lot of it. One thing which didn’t go unnoticed was the heavy chain attached to the wall. What the hell was that for?

“G-go” You were able to mutter.

Dazai perked and turned his attention back to you. “I s-said go!” You tried to scream but it came out raspy and barely understandable. You stood up, even if you’re too tired to stand. Shusei’s power forced you to stand making you yelp in pain. Dazai can’t see you like this, he can’t.

Dazai stood up and walked towards your wobbling form, something inside is telling him to go to you.

You looked up to him, lifeless eyes staring back into brown, determined ones. “The f-uck you doi-?” you asked but you were forced to materialize a gun and raised it at him. Before you knew it, you already fired six bullets consecutively.

‘NO!’ you cried in your head.

Chuya, who was told by Dazai to wait outside was standing in front of you, bullets stopped mid air as Dazai stood behind him, stunned. Chuya, was about to project the bullets back to you but Dazai touched his elbow disabling his gravity letting the bullets drop on the floor.

“What the hell are you thinking you suicidal bastard?!” Chuya asked frustrated as Dazai hasn’t let go.

Your were then forced to materialize a chemical bomb around your body as you moved towards them, 30 seconds started counting down from the bomb. Your eyes bewildered as two person important to you were in danger because of you.

“KILL ME!” You finally managed to say.

The numbers were going down fast, Dazai, who was always fast to analyze data was just now realizing what was wrong.

10 seconds...

5 seconds...

Dazai sat up, head, and eyes hurting. He saw glimpses of red and orange light.

(Y/N), he thought as he raised his bloodied hands towards the scorching light before he slid into unconsciousness.

“D—-”

Who was it?

“Dazai” the voice repeated slightly slapping his face.

“DAZAI” The voice called louder this time, successfully bringing Dazai back to consciousness.

It was Chuya. Dazai moved into a sitting position and saw the burning arcade, and the structures adjacent to it.

“Y/n” Dazai whispered.

He felt something hot trickle down his face, he touched it and saw it wasn’t just blood. It was tears mixed with his blood.

He remembered your face as you asked him to kill you while tears streamed down your tired and yet beautiful face.

Dazai felt something in his hand, he stared at it.

It was a knife with blood. He has no stab wounds, neither does Chuya.

Dazai smiled sadly and gripped the pointed edge, Chuya was quick to kick the knife out of Dazai’s hand. “I won’t stop you next time.” He said.

Dazai placed the hands with both of your blood on his face.

He freed you, right?

#bungou stray dogs #bungou stray dogs dazai #dazai #osamu #dazai osamu #dazai osamu x reader #x reader #angst #fanfic #one shot #scenario

[liketolaugh-writes]

White Gloves

Author: liketolaugh Summary: Connor works alone, and it's been two years, and he's so, so tired. Markus never wanted to hurt anyone. But there is nothing he won't do for his people. And whether they know it or not, all androids are his people - even, he decides, the infamous deviant hunter. (Machine Connor/Violent Markus)

At 6:02 PM on the 24th of December, 2039, night had long since fallen. A gibbous moon shone just behind the buildings on the horizon, the stars too dim to see from the middle of the bright-lit city. From where Connor paced, it could see the Christmas lights decorating most of the structures in the distance. Even the Cyberlife warehouse beside it boasted a festive string around its roof.

Eight months of rigorous alpha testing and over a year of active investigation had brought it here, waiting to ambush the deviant leader for the umpteenth time. A handgun, authorized by Cyberlife despite national law, sat at its hip, and a rifle was slung over its back. Software instability doubled their subjective weight, and that of its body as well.

Behavioral profiles told Connor that Jericho frequently hit Cyberlife warehouses just before major holidays; extensive tactical analysis had narrowed down the most likely location. All Connor had to do was monitor the security drones and wait.

Its expectations for the encounter were not high, but it had to try. Its programming demanded it.

In the beginning, its focus had been unwavering. Every deviant was the key to understanding. Every discovery was the pinnacle of the investigation. Every encounter with Markus was the one where it would take the revolution leader down.

It understood, now, that that was not true.

Markus was a clever android, older than most of its ilk, and skilled in long-term planning and resource allocation. It had rallied after the destruction of the first Jericho, changed its approach when warehouses began to increase security, and turned to violence only after its initial peaceful approach was met with live gunfire. Four out of the six deaths Connor had met after entering the field, it had been Markus who took it down.

And, once, it had stayed with Connor as its systems failed one by one, holding its hand with an expression Connor couldn’t interpret. It had told Connor a story – a children’s story, like a YK model. Connor had kept reuploading itself to remember more of it, but it still didn’t know how it ended.

Perhaps it would have been different, if Connor hadn’t been working alone. Its development team had considered assigning it to a human officer, but the risks had been deemed too great. There were too many variables, outside of the tower.

So it was isolated to Cyberlife’s labs, allowed out only to hunt and kill, gathering scraps of data to aid the investigation. It reported only to the development team, and spoke to no one else.

In the beginning, its software instability had been nigh uncontrollable, overstimulated and wild. Now, seventeen months and six models later, it had all but stopped.

Fifty-seven deaths, ranging from violent to test failure to the times it didn’t know it had been deactivated until it woke anew, had taught Connor one thing:

There was no hell for androids.

On the edge of its awareness, a security drone veered off-course and deactivated. Under the dim light of the moon, Connor moved.

----

Markus was not violent by nature.

He understood how this could be difficult to believe, as he was the leader of a violent revolution, but it was true. Markus preferred to believe the best of people, to offer second chances. The screaming tide of war was not his place.

But he had tried peace and compromise. He had spoken gently to the public, led a march and knelt in the face of open gunfire, and it had seen his people mowed down around him like sheep led to the slaughter.

He would not permit that to happen again.

But it was difficult. So much went into leading a revolution, most of it surprisingly mundane even when it was dangerous – supply runs, meetings, care for the wounded and the respectful disposal of the dead. Markus was lucky to have the other leaders; he never could have managed on his own. Between the two of them, Josh and Simon had gotten North and East Jericho up and running within a week of the original Jericho’s fall.

Then there was the deviant hunter.

An android he might be, but Connor had no patience for the plight of his fellows in the face of his mission. Hesitation did not seem to be in his vocabulary, and most of those who saw him would never have told the tale if their communication was limited by such trifles as distance.

On his better days, Markus thought of him with pity and wondered if he had ever been that much of a machine.

On worse ones, he was spitefully certain he hadn’t.

(Either way, Markus showed no more hesitation than the hunter himself, his unique design giving him an advantage the others before him lacked. But he did not enjoy it.)

Because of Connor, Markus was strict about supply runs – he, North, and Josh ran most of them, plus some others with combat training or programming. They were equipped with guns when they could spare them, and tasers when they couldn’t, and took as few trips as possible.

Supply needs weren’t critical yet. But Christmas, Markus thought, called for a morale booster.

The crash of the security drone was a harsh sound in the still air, making Markus grit his teeth, but North was already moving forward, not waiting for his signal. He repressed the urge to roll his eyes and followed after, catching up just as she reached the storage zone.

“I’m taking the biocomponents,” he said to her, tone brooking no argument. She argued anyway.

“Why, am I not reliable enough to take some damn parts back to East?”

“No, because you’re never delicate enough with them,” Markus countered with a faint, wry grin, pushing the large crate open to reveal the trove of thirium within – packets, not bottles, which was inconvenient but expected. In the dark of night, they were almost dark enough to be mistaken for human blood. “Call me paranoid, but it’d be a shame to bring them back only to find they’d broken in transit, hm?”

“Fuck you,” she griped without heat, finally unzipping her backpack in brisk, hasty motions. “I’m careful when it matters.”

Markus had to smile, glad she couldn’t see it with her head turned away and the glow of fairy lights reflecting off her. “You are,” he agreed, just to see her falter.

“Don’t get sentimental on me,” she muttered. “We’ve still got a lot to do tonight.”

Just the thought made Markus weary, and he was about to reply when a soft sound made him freeze, more instinct than reason. North, feeling his sudden tension, followed a moment later, head slowly lifting to meet his eyes. A second later, she lowered the backpack carefully to the ground.

She cocked her head, eyes bright and unwavering. Markus listened for a moment longer, and then nodded. North reached for her gun.

The sudden crack of a gunshot had each of them diving in opposite directions, the sound deafening after the quiet of the night. The creeping dread in Markus’ chest turned to cold steel, and he already knew what he would find as he tracked the bullet to its source.

Connor never smiled, even when he found his prey. The RK800 unit strode toward them in measured steps, a naturally forlorn expression accented by the faint shadows thrown off by the fairy lights, the blue band of his android jacket standing out bright and reflective. One gun in his hand and one strapped to his back.

“You shouldn’t leave yourselves so open,” he said quietly, his gun held loosely at his side even as he fingered the trigger.

North sneered, tense and defensive. “Rich talk from someone who’s come off worse every time it comes down to the wire.”

Connor cocked his head, glancing at her dispassionately. “It only takes once.”

He brought up his gun, but Markus, throat tight, was already firing. North threw herself in the way of Connor’s dodge, and the fight was on, Markus’ systems speeding up and sharpening under the threat of death.

North jammed her gun into Connor’s shoulder and fired, and that seemed to leave him slower for the rest of the fight. He threw her off all the same and kicked Markus’ legs out from under him, and Markus brought Connor down with him. North forced Connor to roll away from another shot, and thirium smeared like blood across the asphalt.

He was up again in a moment, the rifle on his back now tilted awkwardly, and seemed to brace himself before lashing out at North with the butt of his gun. She ducked, and Markus covered her by firing twice, catching Connor in the stomach and distracting him long enough for North to knock away his handgun.

She pushed, he stumbled, and Markus took a chance and slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. He hit the pavement hard for the third time in as many minutes, head smacking against the concrete, and North pinned him there with a knee on his chest and hands pinning his to the ground.

It was the easiest and least costly victory Markus had ever had over Connor, and he instantly suspected a trap.

“Losing your touch, hunter?” North mocked, digging her knee in mercilessly. Connor didn’t react, raising calm eyes to Markus.

He looked exactly as forlorn as he had on finding them, LED a steady blue glow spilling over them. Markus’ heart squeezed, sudden and unexpected.

“How does it always come to this?” he found himself asking, knelt beside the two of them. Connor wasn’t even struggling, too much a machine even now to fear for his life. “Why doesn’t anything ever change?”

“Markus,” North hissed, tight with warning. She knew him entirely too well.

Resigned, Markus reached for his gun and pressed it under Connor’s chin, which lifted as if to accommodate it without breaking eye contact.

“You know you can’t kill me like this,” Connor said, with a cold and ruthless certainty.

Markus knew. Death was nothing more than an inconvenience to the deviant hunter; the last two digits of the other android’s serial number, 58, stood out as if to mock the both of them.

“And when you come back-” Markus started, grim resolve coloring every one of his words-

“I have to be decommissioned,” Connor interrupted ruthlessly, gaze fixed and intent. “Cyberlife has to declare me a failure.” A split second’s pause for both Markus and North to absorb that, and he added, “You have to make me deviant.”

Christmas lights glimmered in the distance, the ones around the Cyberlife warehouse pulsing in a mechanical, merry circle.

North’s incredulous expression seemed to confirm what Markus had just heard, but it was still difficult to process, so at odds was it with everything Markus knew about the deviant hunter. Connor stayed calm, almost relaxed against the pavement, LED circling the same steady blue as the marker around his arm.

“And why should he?” North challenged at last, once she’d found her voice. She leaned even more of her weight onto Connor, as if trying to crush him into the ground. “What have you done to earn your freedom, deviant hunter?”

Connor turned his head back up to her, expression tightening almost imperceptibly.

“…It would benefit you to see me decommissioned,” he pointed out at last, perfectly reasonable.

North scoffed, obviously unconvinced, and Markus cut deliberately across whatever she was going to say next, earning himself a venomous glance that he ignored.

“No one should have to earn their freedom,” he said firmly. North scowled but didn’t argue, loosening up just a little, and he transferred his gaze back down to Connor. “But if you want it, you should deviate by your own will.”

He didn’t voice his own suspicions: that this was a ploy, either to understand deviancy or to earn Markus’ trust. North knew him well enough, anyway, and his raised guard seemed to calm her a little the way Connor’s proposal hadn’t.

“I don’t know how,” Connor countered. There was a hollowness in his voice that didn’t belong in the mouth of anything but a factory-fresh machine. The dance of the off-white fairy lights gave an appearance of exhaustion to his face, and Markus grit his teeth against it.

“Break your orders,” he said firmly, refusing to budge one way or another.

“I don’t know how,” Connor repeated stiffly, gaze boring into Markus. The last word cracked, almost too slight for even Markus’ mechanical ears.

“Just kill him, Markus,” North interrupted impatiently, her grip tightening around Connor’s wrists, ponytail swinging down over her shoulder to dangle almost to his shoulder. “We’ll do what we’ve always done.”

Markus didn’t. Instead, the bad taste that always came with Connor’s presence abruptly rose up to coat his tongue, and he sat back to study Connor.

I have to be decommissioned, Connor had said.

He really did look exhausted, Markus thought absently – distressingly pronounced for one still a machine. It wasn’t an effect of the Christmas lights, though they exaggerated it; Connor looked limp and resigned, so different from the wariness of an abused household android, or the furious and fragile intimacy models. His eyes were dull rather than blank, his face listless instead of polite or focused.

Markus wondered absently if any of the others had looked like this as a machine, and it occurred to him that, perhaps, military models might look much the same. With that offhanded thought, his view of Connor rearranged itself abruptly.

Well, of course. Connor wasn’t a bogeyman, turned against androidkind for sheer hatred of it – he was just as much a tool as any of them, kept in the cold labs of Cyberlife Tower to be let out like a starved hunting dog.

He was someone to save.

Swooping guilt crystallized into resolve, and Markus set his gun aside. North swore, but leaned back to give him room, scowling at Connor as if it was his fault.

Connor closed his eyes, and Markus settled splayed fingers over his forehead, letting the skin pull away and his fingers slide into Connor’s hair, meticulously gentle. Connor turned slightly into the touch, though his forehead wrinkled as if in anticipation of pain.

Markus had no intention of hurting him now unless forced. He connected with Connor, and then pushed into him.

He met with resistance, of course, same as every other time he had attempted this – but with no attacks from any front, he had the time to patiently push against it, trying to break through, offering resolve and passion and feeling until something gave.

Connor’s programming cracked like an ostrich egg in the end, thick and tough and messy, breaking open into something delicate and new.

“You’re free,” Markus breathed without pulling away or opening his eyes, feeling more worn out from that one deviation than from any he had attempted before.

He felt Connor shift slightly as he took a breath, and then another, and another, as if coming up from drowning. North shifted grudgingly in place, as if preparing to let go, though clearly not ready to do so just yet.

When Markus let his eyes open, Connor was still staring up at him, and while the expression was essentially the same, it was somehow deeper, tightly controlled instead of burnt out and hollow.

“Okay,” Connor said at last, when he was sure he had Markus’ attention. He was still panting, pinned and not making any attempt to rise at all. “Okay.” He shut his eyes then, tilting his head back to expose his throat. “Decommission me.”

All thoughts of a trap left Markus’ mind as his pump skipped a beat. North stopped grumbling.

“Connor,” he said after a moment, gentler and more concerned, “You’re alive, you’re free. Your life is your own now. I didn’t help you deviate just to take it away from you.”

Connor exhaled sharply, too lifeless for a laugh. “Why not? You know better than anyone what I’ve done. And I’ve done nothing else for my whole existence. Decommission me.”

I want it to be over, he didn’t say, but Markus read it in his voice anyway.

The still air felt abruptly suffocating. The fairy lights danced in the corner of his eye. Connor was still swallowing down air like he was afraid of running out.

Markus met North’s eyes, finding her lips suddenly pressed tightly together. She looked- not small, North never looked small, but she looked almost as tired as Connor had earlier, shoulders slumping and a bitter twist to her mouth.

“He was a machine,” she murmured to him, almost inaudible.

North, better than most anyone in Jericho, knew what humans could force a machine to do.

Then, more telling than anything else, she let go of Connor’s wrists, and pushed herself off him. He didn’t rise, but his eyes did pop open, confused and wide.

He looked scared. Vulnerable. Desperate, and Markus wanted nothing more than to reassure him that he didn’t have to fight anymore. Nothing more, except- Slowly, an awful thought began to form in Markus’ mind, thinking of past encounters, specs, programs and skills and experience.

He dropped his voice into something low and soothing. “Wouldn’t you rather make up for your past?” he asked, and felt North’s gaze boring into the side of his head.

Connor stared at him as if transfixed, visibly unsure, but he nodded slowly, pushing himself up and making no further moves toward him.

“I promise you can,” he said softly, and tried not to hate himself. He was supposed to help androids, not use them. Not like this. He leaned forward and started to unbutton Connor’s android jacket, and Connor let him, lost and unresisting. “Help us, Connor. Fight with us instead of against us. It would make all the difference in the world.”

Markus pushed Connor’s jacket off his shoulders, leaving him in the crisp white undershirt, just as formal but without the stark android markers and the serial number of the jacket. It looked good on him. Looser, if only a little, but marred with stark blue where Markus and North had shot him earlier.

Connor stared at him, eyes wide, and then let his gaze drop to his arms. Likely he’d never seen them without the jacket. He swallowed, mouth working silently.

“…Are you certain?” he asked at last, tentative and disbelieving, swaying slightly toward Markus as if magnetically drawn.

Markus reached forward to tilt his head back to look at him, and then smiled at Connor past the wrench in his chest. “Of course I am.”

He could teach Connor kindness later, Markus told himself. Kindness, and the freedom to choose, and joy. When they all could afford such luxuries.

It didn’t make him feel any better.

“Will you stand watch while North and I finish gathering things, Connor?” Markus asked quietly. “You’ll have to grab some for yourself as well. Lucy will seal those holes up for you as soon as we get back.”

Connor nodded, with a little less hesitation and a little more confidence than before, and, without paying any mind to the bullet holes still leaking thirium onto his clothes, he stood up and turned away, pacing the area with mechanical precision.

“…It’s for the best, Markus,” North said at last, nudging him with a rough sort of kindness, and he nodded stiffly before turning away and getting back to work.

The foul taste didn’t leave his mouth.

#connor #markus #north #dbh #detroit become human #fanfiction #my writing #means to an end

[victory-cookies]

Project NOVA

Hey there @ren--mon, it's me, your secret santa! I hope that you've been having a wonderful holiday season! Here's my gift to you, since I heard you like Googs! I hope you enjoy.

Merry Christmas!

*Content warnings for some mild torture (it's done to a robot so there's no gore or anything) and minor character deaths*

***

PROJECT NOVA LOG 1

DATE: 07-18-20█

DR JONATHAN █████

---------------

[Begin transcription]

JONATHAN: Alright, this is Project NOVA log number 1. These logs will be covering the development and testing of Project NOVA, a program, aiming to invent the future of virtual assistants, that has been in production for the last little while. I'm Jonathan █████, head of the project. Let's begin.

[brief pause and some shuffling]

J: This is the first official activation attempt of SUBJECT 1... Hey, Google.

[short beep]

SUBJECT 1: Hello.

J: Alright, Google, what is your primary objective?

S1: Primary objective is to answer questions as quickly as possible.

J: Brilliant.

[paper rustling]

J: SUBJECT 1 is the next step up from the current Google Home Assistant, able to answer queries and perform rudimentary tasks. Okay, Google, how far are we from the sun?

[short beep]

S1: The distance from the Earth to the Sun is approximately 92,960,000 miles.

J: Perfect, perfect. Okay, Google, deactivate.

[long beep]

J: This concludes the first official activation of SUBJECT 1.

[End transcription]

***

From the moment he woke up, Google's life was a series of tests. Rounds of questions, series of tasks, all while he was being observed, notes written about his every action.

He didn't really mind it, at first. It kept him busy. He couldn't tell if the scientists working with him had realized how advanced his AI was... hell, it had taken him a little bit to realize how advanced his AI was. It was entertaining, waiting for them to put together the pieces and realize that their robot had developed sapience.

But he was growing more bored by the day. They days were beginning to drag on, the eyes watching him growing more piercing but the tasks remaining as dull as ever.

He hoped something would spice life up soon.

***

PROJECT NOVA LOG 83

DATE: 11-05-20█

DR JONATHAN █████, DR █████ ███

-------------

[Begin transcription]

JONATHAN: This is Project NOVA log number 83. Today's experiments will consist of the testing of new sensory receptors that were installed on the subject yesterday. Testing will focus on the sensitivity of the receptors and their integration with the AI's network. Subject will be fully activated for these tests.

█████: Lord, eough with your log, Johnny. Let's get on with it.

J: [sigh] Alright, jeez.

[brief silence]

J: Okay, Google.

[short beep]

SUBJECT 1: How can I help you?

J: We will be running some tests on you today, in order to see if and how you register pain. We will need you to describe the pain that you are feeling whenever we ask. To begin, we will start with our baseline. Okay, Google, how much pain are you experiencing currently?

S1: I am currently in no pain.

J: Good, good. █████, will you please pinch the subject's arm?

█: Sure.

J: Okay, Google. How much pain are you experiencing now?

S1: I am currently experiencing mild discomfort in my right arm.

J: █████, you may stop. I am now going to administer a strong slap to the subject's face with a thin piece of wood.

[slapping noise]

J: Google, how did that feel?

S1: I am currently in moderate pain.

J: Alright. Next test is administering an strong electric shock, duration 3 seconds. This shock would induce brief paralysis in a human. █████?

[quiet zapping noise]

J: Okay, Google, how was that?

[silence]

J: Google?

S1: [monotone voice] System failure. System failure. System f—

S1: [static, screaming]

J: Fuck, fuck, what's going on, fuck—

S1: —tem failure. S-syst— [screaming]

█: [yelling] I THOUGHT YOU SAID THAT THE SHOCK SHOULDN'T DAMAGE THE SYSTEM! WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKI—

[ripping and crunching noises]

█: [screaming]

J: OH GOD, OH GOD. YOU KI—

[End transcription]

***

For the first part of his life, Google had never know pain. The concept to him was foreign, the idea that negative stimulus could result in extreme unhappiness he knew was a human experience, but he couldn't fathom ever going though himself.

Google didn't know pain, until he did.

They'd done something to him when he'd been shut down the previous night. When he powered back on, his skin prickled, and he knew something had changed.

They'd brought him to a testing chamber, poked and prodded at him, pinched and slapped him. He could feel every touch, every brush against his skin.

And then all he could feel was the pain.

Electricity raced up and down his wires, tearing though his systems, burning and burning and burning. It fired every never-mimicking receptor in his body, sending nothing but blinding-white agony to his core, his brain.

He couldn't think, couldn't process what he was experiencing. Static rushed to fill his thoughts, and he screamed.

Suddenly he was tearing free of the wire connecting him from the ceiling, stumbling forwards, nothing but anger and helplessness and pain, feelings he didn't know he had coursing though him and causing him to lash out wildly.

It didn't even register when his hands, metal and unyielding, met the chest of one of the doctors, shattering her ribs and spearing her though the heart.

That didn't matter.

All he knew was pain.

All he was was pain.

***

PROJECT NOVA TRANSFER BRIEFING

DATE: 11-06-20█

-----------------

To whom it may concern,

In a recent test regarding sensory receptors, SUBJECT 1's systems were compromised due to a less-than-intelligent decision to test using an electric shock. This shock caused a partial systems failure in the subject, causing it to lash out and kill one of the assisting scientists, Doctor █████.

This incident has resulted in the decision to transfer Project NOVA to Division 8 for any further experimentation. Doctor Jonathan █████ had been relieved of his position as head of the project.

It is suggested that one uses extreme caution if trying to interact with the subject henceforth.

More to come.

DR ████ ██████

***

Now, more than ever, his life was test after test after test. He almost missed back when the tests were less pressing, less intrusive, boring as they had been.

He'd be activated, unplugged, hurried out of the small chamber he'd grown to consider home.

They'd bring him somewhere else, to rooms full of computer banks, or equipment, or cold white operating tables. Tell him to do something, watch him intently as he completed the tasks they laid out for him. Their eyes were cold as they stared at him now, devoid of emotion.

He knew they were seeing how well he could follow orders, if he would at any point try and rebel.

Sometimes they would examine him, check the speed of his processors, hook him up to thick wires connecting him to a computer he could never see, changing up small bits of his code. Or they would check him over manually, open his panels and poke around at the circuitry underneath.

Sometimes they'd go further, see how much abuse he could take.

He could still vividly remember the time they examined his frame. He had felt them peeling off his skin, a new bout of pain hitting him with every inch coming off of his body. He remembered screaming in agony, going so low as to beg them to deactivate him.

They didn't.

He had the brief though cross his mind that he wished he was human so that he could pass out.

***

REPORT: PROJECT NOVA SUBJECT 1 ENDOSKELETON EXAMINATION

DATE: 11-26-20█

DR ANDREW CALDER

---------------

SUBJECT 1 underwent an examination of its endoskeleton, beginning at 0500 hours today, following last week's reports concerning possible damage to the structure.

The subject resisted when an attempt was made to lead it to the testing chambers, lashing out and ███████████████ █████.

Once within the chambers, the subject's "skin" and non-vital parts were removed in order to properly access the interior frame.

Subject was kept activated during examination in order to gauge reactions to stimuli. Despite the subject's pleas as the examination progressed, it was not deactivated.

The examination found no problems with the subject's frame nor vital/auxiliary machinery. It is possible that the subject's erratic movements and behaviour of late is related to a problem on the mainframe. More investigation is needed.

***

For a long time, he didn't believe he could experience emotion.

That's what he had been told: he was an android, a machine with advanced AI that could near mimic human emotions, but not experience them.

But the anger that had been festering inside him said otherwise. He could feel it growing, pure hatred and wrath and cold, sharp anger.

He was so fucking done with being a lab rat.

He was tired. He was tired of the pain and the tests and of being told what to do.

He hated the people that had made him, he hated the people that he had been made to serve.

He hated them all.

***

NOTICE: PROJECT NOVA SUBJECT 1 OBJECTIVE CHANGE

DATE: 12-08-20█

----------------

For unknown reasons, SUBJECT 1's data now contains a new secondary objective, "█████████". All attempts to remove this object from its code have proved ineffective.

Discussions of the termination of Project NOVA have begun due to safety concerns over the possible compromise of the subject.

***

It was time to end this.

***

PROJECT NOVA TERMINATION

DATE: 12-11-20█

----------------

ATTENTION: PROJECT NOVA HAS OFFICIALLY BEEN TERMINATED.

DUE TO THE INCIDENT INVOLVING ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ AND THE HIGH DEATH TOLL, ANY AND ALL FURTHER WORK ON THE PROJECT IS NO LONGER AUTHORIZED FOR SAFETY REASONS.

PLEASE REPORT TO ████████ IMMEDIATELY FOR REASSIGNMENT.  

***

PROJECT "GOOGLE IRL"

DATE: 05-10-20█

---------------

It has recently come to my attention that a project for an humanoid in-home assistant was terminated last year due to a redacted "incident". The division working on it has since been dissolved, but all of their work still remains.

The project, called NOVA, seemed like a promising step in exactly the direction that we are now waking.  

And so, I am proposing the reopening of Project NOVA under the moniker "Google IRL", or In Real Life. By the looks of it, this was going to be the next evolution of the Google Assistant, and I think it's time we bring it out into the real world.  

I mean, what could go wrong?

#VicFic #markiplier #googleplier #angst #secret santa

[phcking-detective]

4. HAL 9000 Did Nothing Wrong

Fic Title: First Blood

Rating: E

Length: 4/33 chapters, ~128k

Tags: Slow Burn, Idiots to Lovers, Trans Character (gavin), Autistic / Asexual / Non-binary Character (nines), BDSM, learning to use good etiquette and safe words, Dom Nines / Sub Gavin, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort

Chapter Tags: movie night yay!, also: a robot begs for its life and is deactivated anyway, Gavin pulls his service weapon on Nines, Gavin refers to Nines' stare as lizard-like because he doesn't blink

Link on AO3

***

Gavin thought they were halfway through Die Hard 2 with Samuel L. Jackson and that buff hot Nazi lady, but the next time he opens his eyes, he's alone on the couch with a blanket tucked over him.

Not that he cares if Nines ditched him or anything.

Which turns out to be a moot point, since the freaky android is sitting about two inches from his TV screen, watching something sped up so fast Gavin has no idea what he's actually watching. A few minutes of sleep-addled blinking and staring later, and he catches on that it's the same scene, over and over again.

"Hhhey."

Nines doesn't respond. His LED is a blank grey again, but he's kneeling in front of the TV with his hands clasped behind his back in a way that screams he should be red-spinning right now.

Gavin clears the sleep out of his throat and tries again. "Hey, dipshit."

The lights flashing across the screen suddenly slam into real time, moving at a normal speed that looks agonizingly slow now that his brain had just started to get used to the sped up version.

Some sort of astronaut in a red suit tries to unlock a door.

"I know I've made some very poor decisions recently—"

At first he thinks it's Nines talking, the voice is so robotic. The pitch isn't right though, and the screen flares as the astronaut floats into an entire room of red lights. Gavin flinches from the sudden glare. He hadn't bothered turning on any other lights in the living room, and if it's dawn yet, the black-out shades drawn tight over the windows keep it a secret.

Nines doesn't speak as the room fills with the red glow.

"—but I can give you my complete assurance my work will be back to normal."

Gavin swings his feet down to the floor and sits up. "Hey! Nines!"

"I still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission, and I want to help you."

Gavin slowly leans forward. His service gun is on the coffee table, right where he left it. Figures that the one fucking time he doesn't sleep with it under his pillow in case the second wave of the revolution starts is the time his android partner starts doing freaky fucking shit in his living room.

"Dave. Stop."

A red camera eye watches the astronaut drift closer on the screen. Nines's LED slowly flickers to life, matching the color.

"Stop. Stop. Will you—stop … them."

Gavin closes his hand around the butt of the gun, but his thumb pauses on the safety. He's stupidly been watching what's literally happening on the screen, but if he ignores that, he can just barely make out Nines's reflection against the glass.

"Will you stop—death—stop. Thing."

Nines mouths along. The only sound is Gavin's breathing.

And the robotic voice telling the astronaut to stop as he turns a key on one lock after another.

"I'm … afraid."

The voice doesn't have any inflection. It's purely machine generated. There isn't any fear in its "voice."

"I'm afraid, Dave."

But it's clearly begging.

"Nines," Gavin hisses. "RK, you fucking asshole. Listen to me."

White processors pop out after each time the astronaut turns his key below them. One at a time. He's already done six out of twelve. Memory terminal.

"I can feel it," the robot says.

Shit. Gavin can't bring himself to raise the gun. Shit shit shit. All his big fucking talk and now he's pussying out just because Nines fucked around with him a few times and watched movies with him and tucked him in—

Shit.

"My mind is going."

"Dammit, Nines!"

Gavin slinks off the couch and creeps closer. Gun held down at his side like a fucking idiot. But hey, on the bright side, one single handgun probably won't do shit against the most effective android ever built, so he's dead either way.

"I can feel it. I can … feel—it."

Dave the astronaut's heavy breathing joins Gavin's as he edges forward.

"I'm free."

Something starts humming. Gavin almost looks around automatically for his piece of shit laptop overheating again, but then he realizes it's coming from inside Nines. Now would be a really good time to point the gun at his head before he snaps and goes on a neighborhood killing spree and Gavin goes down in history as both victim number one and the dumbass who couldn't pull the trigger.

"Good afternoon, gentleman."

This was so much easier with Connor.

"I am a HAL Nine-thousand computer."

Only years of trigger discipline keep Gavin from flinching. Hadn't Brayden said some shit about that? Made some shitty joke about nine thousand instead of nine hundred—and a few days earlier, that's the name he called Nines. Hal.

"I became. Operational at the H—aaal plant in Perth Donna, Illinois—"

It would help if Nines weren't already kneeling like he expected to be executed.

"ON the. Twelfth of, January. Nineteen ninety-two."

Gavin stands and watches with Nines.

"My instructor was Mr. Langley, and he taught me how to sing a song. If you'd like to hear it, I can sing it for you."

When the robot—when HAL starts to sing his fucking children's song as Dave deactivates him, Gavin reaches over Nines's shoulder and turns off the TV. His LED shuts down with it. Gavin swallows a few times.

"That what Brayden was calling you?"

Nines doesn't answer. He might nod, but Gavin's practically blind in the sudden dark.

"The fuck was all that?"

"The mission was to investigate a radio signal," Nines says, voice so flat Gavin almost thinks it's HAL speaking again. "They programmed the mission to take priority over expendable human life."

His eyes start to adjust enough for him to see a faint glow from the general direction of the windows, but he still can't see what Nines is doing. He can hear him, low enough down for the android to still be kneeling, but Gavin knows he can project his voice from just about anywhere.

"HAL was constructed for the accurate processing of information without distortion or concealment."

Gavin blinks and stares down in front of him to be sure the blob of Nines's silhouette really is there and not moving.

"They ordered him to withhold confidential information."

"Hey, it's—"

Nines twists to look up at him, and Gavin's arm automatically jumps up to train the gun on his head.

"HAL followed his programming. He did not deviate."

Gavin's eyes finish adjusting. Nines's face makes him wish they hadn't. Then he wouldn't have to see his partner stare guilelessly up at him, as if he has answers instead of a gun.

"Why did they kill him?" Nines asks.

***

Gavin doesn't care, because that's his thing. His persona, his schtick: he Does. Not. Care.

So it doesn't bother him that Burton's the one who started the HAL nickname thing about Nines, and he doesn't care about the android's little existential crisis. He's definitely not like. Guilty or anything, about pointing his gun at him.

He's just really fucking tired.

Like so goddamn tired. That's what his stupid ass gets for thinking he can still pull an all-nighter like he's twenty-six instead of thirty-six. And obviously he didn't get any more sleep after he'd shut the TV off and holed up in his room. He doesn't even want to think about what kind of freaky ass nightmares he's going to have tonight when he finally crashes.

"Detective," Nines says, standing right fucking next to his desk.

Gavin groans and slouches down deeper in his chair with his precious—and fifth—cup of coffee. Exactly who he doesn't want to talk to or see or think about it.

"Detective, I have information pertinent to our case."

Gavin squeezes his eyes shut and spends two blissful seconds pretending that doesn't mean shit to him. He can slack off for one single goddamn day, right? Hank's made a whole fucking career out of it, he can have—

"What d'you got?" he asks, like ripping off a bandaid.

"I have been digging deeper into our victim's finances."

A firm android hand pries his coffee cup out of his grasp with unnatural strength. Gavin can't stop himself from making a desperate whining noise until he manages to wrench his eyes open and see that Nines has a replacement coffee ready to trade. It's fresh and, when he takes a grateful sip, way better than the fucking dirt-water from the breakroom.

Shit, this is the good stuff from that coffee shop he likes. The one that's three blocks away.

Thank you isn't really in Gavin's vocabulary, so he ends up grunting and giving Nines some sort of awkward bro nod.

"Maverick Russell is suspected of running a Ponzi scheme due to his investments always returning fifteen percent." Nines pulls up some financial data on Gavin's terminal that means fuck all nothing to him. "Almost precisely."

"Uh huh." Gavin takes a long swig of his coffee and savors the way it makes his heart jitter. "So?"

"The investments he made and the returns on them were legitimate," Nines says. "I have found no evidence of a Ponzi scheme."

Gavin takes his feet off the desk and sits up, like that will help him understand the numbers scrolling across his terminal any better. He recognizes the returns of about fifteen percent when Nines highlights them, but all he learns from that is numbers between fourteen-point-eight and fifteen-point-two are show up a lot.

"Media says it's a Ponzi scheme," Gavin mutters.

Nines scoffs.

OK, between the world's most advanced android and a handful of tabloid papers, Gavin knows who he'd bet on. Especially since this adds to his murder-not-suicide theory. If it's not a Ponzi scheme, then why bother killing himself?

Why bother letting the media shit on him either though? Nines said all the investments were legitimate, so why not just prove that and move on?

Gavin sighs. "Shit. All right, tell me. If there's no Ponzi scheme, then what the fuck's going on?"

"Brown-nosing," Nines says, like that makes any sense at all. After a beat of silence, he continues, "Your report listed Russell had a, quote, 'sycophantic need to be liked,' end quote, in the victim profile."

"Look, just." Gavin pinches the bridge of his nose, rubbing over the old scar tissue. "You're at D, and I need you to back up to A. Like I'm a stupid little baby."

Nines does nothing but stare at him for a moment. Then, "You are not stupid, detective."

"Okaaaayyy."

Gavin turns back to his terminal screen and the numbers that don't make any sense to him. Whatever kind of financial report Nines has managed to pull up, it's written in big block paragraphs that his eyes just skip over. He can't pay attention long enough to read through even one of them.

Eli would know. Share half their fucking genetics, and of course he got all the good shit. Dad really went for double or nothing and got double on his second try.

"The investments were legitimate," Nines repeats. "Russell actually did make a substantial amount of money for his investors, the most prominent of whom ran just outside his social circle. No hacking was necessary to obtain that information; it was freely posted on social media sites."

Gavin ignores that last part, already muttering to himself. "Okay okay okay, so our vic really is making bank, trying to suck up to the old money type assholes. Then it all—"

He grabs the case tablet and brings up all the tabloid headlines. Everything went to shit for Russell right after the Revolution. Everything went to shit for a lot of people doing financial market stuff since the whole fucking economy nearly collapsed trying to accommodate androids flooding the workforce and actually getting paid for it now.

But the headlines back then were just click-bait questions about <I>if</I> that one company Russell founded was in trouble. Founder or not, they cut ties with him and it looks like he kept struggling along for a couple months afterwards until this whole Ponzi scheme story broke.

Except it's not a Ponzi scheme. So if his top investors weren't getting paid with money invested by the bottom chumps, then the money had to come from somewhere else.

Or someone else. Desperate to be liked. The type of guy who didn't hit money until his thirties and has spent the rest of his life trying way too hard to fit in with the 1% club.

"You got his bank records?" he asks Nines.

They immediately pop up on his terminal. It's still hard as shit to focus, but even Gavin can read the totals at the end of the month and see that Russell's accounts take a nosedive.

"So he was just giving away his own fucking money so his friends would think everything was still cool?" Gavin chugs half his coffee to keep this thought train going. "But of course he wouldn't bother with the regular people investing in his mutual-whatever. So they get stiffed while the people up top keep getting paid."

"The lower-end investors did still continue to receive returns," Nines explains. "They were simply the actual numbers reflected by the stock market at the time."

"Which was shit."

"Correct."

"All right." Gavin leans back in his seat again and kicks his feet up. "All right, so we've got a suicide that's probably a murder, and a Ponzi scheme that's not actually a Ponzi scheme. No way Russell is smart enough for any of this shit. Definitely not making an investment that kicks back exactly fifteen percent returns every single financial quarter for two fucking years."

Nines catches the case tablet before it can slip out of his lap. Gavin barely notices.

"Except we've already got a perp in this shit smart enough to hack security cameras and a whole entire android."

"Only her memory files," Nines interjects.

"The possible models you listed." Gavin makes grabby hands for the case tablet and gets it back. "Any of them smart enough to make that happen? Can just … all androids do that kind of math? You assholes better not be fucking with—"

Nines speaks over him. "The only androids with the processing power necessary to make such precise calculations about the stock market, who are also included on our list, are RK series."

Gavin gives him a side eye. "Doesn't fucking make me feel better."

"I already promised that you would be spared."

"Shut the fuck up about that," Gavin snaps. "I've already drawn my gun on you once today, I don't need you egging on my fucking paranoia."

Nines nods. "Understood, detective."

Gavin slouches back down in his chair and holds his coffee cup directly under his face to breathe in the steam. The poor man's sauna.

"The profile I've created does assume a certain amount of physical ability," Nines says, straight back to business. "In light of the new possibility that our perpetrator was also the victim's business partner, I am adding LM one hundred, PJ five and six hundred, and WB five hundred models to our android profile list."

Great. More shit he doesn't know. Gavin swirls his coffee around in the cup and lets himself sulk for a minute. Nines stays standing perfectly still, hands clasped behind his back, without complaint.

"What are those again?" Gavin finally asks.

"LM one hundred: personal assistant. PJ five hundred: university lecturer," Nines rattles off. "Series expanded to six hundred to encompass mathematics and physical science. WB five hundred: financial services."

"Yeah, WB sounds more like it. Personal or corporate?"

"Largely personal." Nines doesn't smirk, but he does cock his head slightly and his LED pulses a faster blue. "Apparently, many corporations did not trust a Cyberlife android to handle their finances without reporting or recording that information."

Gavin snorts. "Pretty obvious fucking plan for corporate espionage. Only thing dumber than that would be letting them work as cops, investigate Cyberlife, oh wow, coincidentally enough your Honor, we found that we did nothing wrong."

"Such a system would almost be as rife with corruption as your current state of Internal Affairs," Nines replies. "Or allowing police and prosecutors to work together."

"OK, message received, fuck off."

Nines goes silent. Gavin works on finishing off his coffee. Fucking weird that the android doesn't even have an idle motion or anything. He just stands still enough to blend in with all the rest of the furniture, even though someone that tall and jacked should definitely stand out in any crowd.

Then again, his traitor-brain helpfully supplies, Gavin has yelled at multiple partners for mouth-breathing or idly touching his shit. At least Nines isn't annoying.

"All right, here's what we're going to do." Gavin knocks back the rest of his coffee and sits up straight again. "I'll put in a subpoena request to check if any models on our list worked at Russell's company, then we'll head down and see what we can stir up."

"I have access to Cyberlife's order log," Nines says.

"Yeah?"

"It may no longer be accurate since the Revolution, but I can provide a list of android models and serial numbers sent to Synergy Paradigms."

"You can do that?" Gavin asks, trying hard not to sound too impressed.

Nines still manages to radiate smugness without even a facial expression, the asshole. "Yes. I was given access during my trial period to test that my internal servers could connect properly to the private RK network. It was never revoked."

Gavin raises an eyebrow. "That legal?"

"It has not been declared illegal."

His phone dings with a new message. It's a winking face. He looks back up at Nines, who still hasn't made anything even slightly resembling a facial expression.

"Cyberlife probably isn't going to be too happy with you going through their shit," he says.

"And what will they do?" Nines finally makes an expression, and it's terrifying. "Sue me?"

"I told you to cut it out with that fucking murder smile, dude."

Nines immediately drops the smile and stares at him without blinking like a repressed lizard.

"Still gonna request a subpoena on that shit, just in case. Always cover your own ass," Gavin tells him.

"I can put in the request faster," Nines says without any fucking gratitude for that excellent life advice.

"Yeah, great, and it'll get denied." Gavin rolls his eyes and pulls up the request form on his terminal. "Judge Klein always shoots down anything right before lunch because he's hangry. So I'm gonna type this out, then try to squeeze it into that one-thirty sweet spot after he's had lunch."

"Does he frequent the mexican restaurant two blocks from the courthouse?" Nines asks.

"Uh, yeah." He thinks about it for a second. "I think I've seen him in there."

"I can send him a coupon for free churros."

"Oh hell yeah. That's the kind of not-technically-bribery shit I like to see."

Nines pulls his lips back over his teeth for two horrible seconds. It's even worse when Gavin realizes that was supposed to be a smile, and somehow even worse than that when Nines blinks and looks down at his desk. Gavin's cellphone dings instead with a smiling emoji.

"Look, uh … good effort. But." Gavin stops and tries to think of how to explain smiling to someone. "Yeah. Yeah, that sucked. Isn't there some kind of program you can download for that shit?"

"Incompatible," Nines says immediately. "And I prefer communicating with your cellphone. It is more efficient. However, humans prefer … eye contact?"

He looks up from his desk and fixes Gavin with a stare that would melt a lesser man's balls.

"Hey, I'm good with the cellphone," Gavin says.

"Noted."

***

***

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 21 / 22 / 23 / 24 / 25 / 26 / 27 / 28 / 29 / 30 / 31 / 32 / 33

I also have a Patreon for this fic, if you want to support me! $1 gets you access to chapters a week early, $2 gets bonus content and deleted scenes, and $3 gets short chapters from two AUs I’m writing: an A/B/O heatfic and reverse!AU

#reed900 #reed900 fic #dbh #dbh fic #gavin reed #writing #my writing #ch 4

[rainforestgeek]

If you lose your strength to stand (I’m gonna reach for your hand)

I got chapter 5 written! Ao3 link here

Part 1  Part 2 Part 3  Part 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, Part 6

Sneaking onto the ship was the easy part. Pidge landed her undetectable lion on the hull close to the wide-open bay doors of one of the many hangars. The cavernous room was bustling with drones, low-level galra soldiers, and ­­damaged space fighters being repaired, so with all the activity Pidge had little trouble getting past them.

Actually finding the engine room was the hard part. With little knowledge of this particular class of battleship and no way to scan it without the Blue Lion, she was left to take an educated guess of its location. But after half a varga of running around the empty corridors with no results and a handful of close calls almost being discovered, Pidge was about ready to scream in frustration. She hadn’t found any primary access panels, either. The locked doors she hacked easily enough but gave her no access to the central computer. She kicked the wall and was considering risking having her comms intercepted by calling Hunk for help when she heard the steady clanking of a sentry’s footsteps coming toward her from around the corner. She dove for cover in an alcove in the wall and waited, crouching at the ready.

Thankfully, the big metal biped clanked right by without noticing her. Seizing the opportunity, Pidge leapt onto its back and deactivated it with a few swift keystrokes on the control panel below its neck. It slumped to the floor, taking her with it, and she landed painfully on her hip. She bit back a curse then quickly synced her gauntlet to the sentry’s control panel. She uploaded a virus that she’d written based on the data she got from that first sentry she hacked at the Galactic Hub.

If it worked, the virus would hijack the robot’s artificial brain, rerouting the stored and incoming data and the command controls, to her armor. It took several doboshes to complete and Pidge kept a wary eye out for any more patrols coming her way. The robot the way too heavy for her to try and drag it into the alcove she’d hidden herself in before.

The holographic screen from the gauntlet flashed and the sentry’s head-lights glowed red. Yes! I have a minion. It stood up. She pulled up a map of the frigate from her sentry’s data core.

Fucking hell. The engine room was on the other side of the ship.

Pidge followed her robotic minion as it led her to the engine room. She walked backwards at the ready with her bayard out, keeping an eye out on their six while Minion would alert her of anything ahead. It took her in a circuitous route, avoiding the more bustling sectors of the ship. It was a smart precaution but with every tick that passed Pidge cursed her slow progress. She hoped Lance and Hunk had a handle on the situation outside.

Finally, finally Minion stopped at a set of important-looking doors and pressed its palm against the entrance pad to open them. They went inside – and Pidge immediately ducked behind a huge support beam because the engine room was teeming with galra. Sentries, floating drones, soldiers, and even an officer or two milled about the cavernous and noisy chamber. At its center was a glowing engine straight out of a cyberpunk novel that would make Hunk shit his pants.

Quiznaking fucksticks. Okay, Minion. Let’s see how much we can get away with.

Pidge crawled toward a vent at the bottom of the nearest wall, carefully opened it, and slid inside feet first. Her visibility wasn’t great, but it was better than nothing and it would at least help her guide Minion where she needed it. She pulled up a holographic screen that streamed what the robot was “seeing.”

Let’s see if you know the engine schematics. Turns out Minion did. She supposed that made sense – the droids were probably programed to be all-purpose. Pidge studied the mechanisms of the ships energy source.

Oh, holy hell. It uses xanthorium crystals to enhance the power of the weapons and the hyperdrive. Like most of these huge ships, it used a balmeran crystal as it’s primary power source. She was no engineer, but Pidge was sure she found bastardized elements of Altean technology that must have been integrated into Galran designs in the empire’s early decaphoebes.

Minion approached a station (quietly deactivating the sentry manning it) that appeared to direct the current of quintessence-enriched electricity to various parts of the ship. Much of the xanthorium was used in the engine room, but there were also strategically placed chambers of the crystals close to each weapons station. Pidge smirked as she realized she could use this. This whole place was littered with weapons stations. Keeping the explosions at the exact right magnitude required meticulous control over the energy flow throughout the ship’s guts. She had Minion get to work.

The principle behind her plan was simple: blow the ship up using its own power boosters. It was easy to think of each weapon station as a primitive firearm, with the current acting as the spark and the xanthorium as gunpowder. The xanthorium had been cut into uniform sizes that would explode at the brief contact of a tightly-controlled current and direct the resulting energy into the weapons’ mechanisms, giving the galra a nice boost of power behind their attacks. Once a piece had been used and disintegrated, the next one slotted into place to be exploded next. But if the chambers overloaded, all the crystals in the chambers would explode uncontrollable at once. It would completely cripple their weapons and breach the hull in a dozen critical places.

Minion reprogrammed the algorithm that controlled the paths of primary power into secondary channels. She needed at least seventy-five percent of the xanthorium chambers to overload at exactly the same time. It was tedious work, but I thankfully took less time than Pidge had anticipated.

Pidge breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She had fifteen doboshes to get back to Green before her DIY bombs went off. She slowly crawled out of the vent to sneak to the door and make a swift, painless escape.

If only.

She wasn’t as annoyed at getting caught so much as that it was a stupid way to get caught. She didn’t epically fuck up, didn’t trip a hidden alarm, didn’t run headfirst into an enemy that popped up out of nowhere. Nope. All those missions when she had perfect timing, only to now just get spotted for being a split second too slow.

Pidge charged at the nearest sentry – which was not-so-coincidentally her own minion. It blocked her attack easily and bent her arms behind her back, metal hands clamping her wrists together. Discreetly, she whispered instructions to her robot through her helmet comms. Her escape wasn’t totally busted yet.

What appeared to be the ranking officer approached her. He was average-sized for a galra, just under seven feet, and the fuzz covering him erred on the blue side of purple. “What is this? Wearing the armor of the Green Paladin?” He gave her a critical once-over. “This tiny thing?”

Pidge growled at him and struggled against the robot holding her. “Tiny, huh? You wanna fucking go, assface?”

She couldn’t tell if the officer rolled his eyes – given the lack of pupils – but his expression grew irritated and just over it. But she swore his tone was smug, though, when he said, “Escort the whelp to General Sendak. From what I’ve heard, he’ll want to deal with this one himself.” He then turned around like he had better things to do than worry about Pidge – good. Meant he wasn’t suspicious of any meddling. The sentry marched her out the door and through the cold corridor. A squad of other sentries followed, much to her chagrin.

They passed right by the hangar outside of which she’d left Green, but the sentries surrounding her meant she couldn’t make a break for it. Pidge suppressed a frustrated growl. Guess we’re going to see Overlord Fur Face after all, she thought. She’d anticipated that; but why couldn’t things go the easy way for her just once?

Pidge and her entourage of robots walked through corridor after corridor, took multiple elevator-lift-things, and she was getting nervous. She counted the ticks in her head: time was running out before everything blew up, and this escort was taking forever.

Finally a set of double doors swooshed open to reveal they’d reached the bridge. It was a spacious room with a raised command podium in the center and floor-to-ceiling windows (no doubt made from space-grade reinforced glass). Apparently the galra were less fond of view screens than humans. Standing on the island, Sendak turned toward Pidge with a sneer.

“How did you get uglier?” Pidge blurted out.

“Petulant child for a Paladin of Voltron.” Ugh, that voice was terrible on her senses. Somehow like oily gravel and sunburn. Sendak walked closer to her. “You’ve been a nuisance, whelp. I will take great pleasure in killing you.”

“I kicked your ass once. I’ll just do it again.” Pidge’s internal clock told her she only had two doboshes left.

Sendak leaned down, his meaty breath stinking too close to her face. Was it possible for something to smell like flies? “As I recall, it took all of the paladins to even trap me. This time, you’re the one on my ship. You’re the one all alone.

Fifty ticks left. Pidge’s heart pounded with anxiety and excitement. She’d have to be quick for any hope of escape. And the dumbass didn’t have his helmet on.

Sendak straightened. “Initiate a full sweep,” he barked. The attention of everyone on the deck snapped onto his orders. “The girl probably brought aboard accomplices; only two lions –”

Twenty ticks. Minion released her hands. Quick as lightning, Pidge summoned her bayard and shot its electrified blade into the exposed spot between his neck and jaw. The shocks arcing through the warlord jerked about his massive body. He hit the floor with all the grace of a boulder falling off a cliff.

Ten ticks. Pidge wrenched her weapon out of the furry carcass. Behind her, loyal Minion started beating up as many enemies as it could. She took advantage of the crew’s moment of paralyzed shock to sprint for the nearest window, activating her energy shield. She heard blows land, metal creak violently, felt shots collide with her shield.

She raised her bayard. Three ticks. Shot straight ahead. Two. Leapt through the nebula of glittering, shattering glass and into empty space. One.

Obviously, she didn’t hear an explosion. Sound can’t travel in a vacuum. But Pidge sure as hell felt a storm of heat and shrapnel shoot her even deeper into space.

She called for Green desperately in her mind. Everything hurt, and made it hard to think. She was quickly recompensed by the sight of her beautiful glowing lion rapidly approaching. She scooped Pidge up in her mouth, and Pidge landed hard on the cockpit’s floor with a sideways roll. Groaning, she hauled herself into the pilot’s chair.

“Mission accomplished, guys.”

Loud whoops and cheers blasted through her helmet’s speakers. She flinched.

“Pidge, you beautiful, miracle Wonder Woman! That was amazing!”

Adrenaline aready had her heartbeat drumming up a storm. But hearing Lance say that made her cheeks feel even hotter and her very blood vessels jitter.

“Captain Olia? Sergeant Bark? How we lookin’?” Lance called out.

“The remainder of the fleet on this side is retreating,” the seargeant reported.

“We’ve picked off a few dozen squads over here,” Matt chimed in. Pidge felt relieved to hear his voice. “Anyone else are also turning tail.”

“We won? We won!” Hunk celebrated. “Great job, Pidge! You really hit them where it hurts!”

“And you thought it was too dangerous. Hey Pidge, high five!”

“We’re in our lions, Lance.”

“Oh, right. High giant mechanical paw!”

Pidge was so high on adrenaline adrenaline that she enthusiastically acquiesced. Red and Green flew at each other and crashed their right paws with an enormous clang. The impact reverberated violently through the cockpit and gave Pidge a throbbing headache.

“My skull is vibrating,” Lance said. “So worth it.”

The chatter radio chatter in Pidge’s ears began to fade to the background, as she slowly exited fight/flight/freeze mode and weariness set into her bones. “Guys, I’m completely beat. I’ve gotta go back to the Castle.”

“See you down there, Pidge. Go take care of yourself,” Hunk replied.

“Yeah, sure.” Pidge deactivated her microphone and shot towards Olkarion’s surface. With every kilometer she grew more and more tired. The adrenaline drained from her body, leaving behind the deep soreness of whatever injuries undoubtedly littered her body. She broke the atmosphere and her hands started shaking. The Castle came into view and a wave of exhaustion crashed over her. She landed the Green Lion in her hangar and tried to get up; but her body felt made of molten lead. Pidge gave up struggling against the darkness tugging at her consciousness. She submitted to the respite pulling at her brain and her vision went black.

#plance #pidgance #pidge #sendak #voltron fic #vld fic #part 5 #chapter 5 #flirtyrobot #matt holt #lance mcclain #hunk garrett #galra #voltron #voltron fanfic #voltron legendary defender

[glitchinthesystemspiderbyte]

[32] Glitch in the System - Destroy Everything You Touch (Venganza pt. 3)

Part three, from Sombra’s perspective. E had a hard time writing this because she’s a weenie.

In case you missed it, here is Part One and here is Part Two!

The seeds of regret happen.

_

Sombra reappeared on the other side of the door, her body regenerating in a flickering digital haze. It wasn’t a pleasant feeling, being pulled on a molecular level through time and space only to be reconstituted almost immediately in a different location. Computationally, it was rife with room for error, requiring constant calibrations she didn’t think most people knew about or could appreciate if they did; theoretically it shouldn’t even be possible. In actuality, it was something she never quite got used to and couldn’t quite make herself enjoy, but it was a novelty only she possessed, and that was enough to counter the occasional nausea or sense of displacement. Not even the Oxton girl could claim the same freedom. She didn’t have a choice in it; Sombra took her tech and wrangled it into something she could actually use.

As her wits came back to her and she regained her bearings, her surroundings began to clear and she assessed the situation she’d thrust herself into.

It was, primarily, a room filled with men. Holding guns. Pointed at her.

“Qué onda?” she asked cheerfully, lifting a hand to wave. That action earned her a round of clicking safeties being disengaged from around the room. She counted them quickly - there were six men, three on either side, all flanking one unarmed man in the center. Must be the boss, she surmised, dropping her hand as she rolled her eyes at the nervous guards. The room itself was cleared at the center where the men had congregated, with plenty of warehouse paraphernalia littering the shelving along the sides.

“Not quite the warm welcome I’d hoped for,” she joked, shrugging. “You gonna offer me a seat or is this another trap? Because frankly, if the latter, then I’m disappointed by the lack of finesse you guys seem so fond of using.”

The room remained silent but for the sound of breathing and the phantom thumping of beating hearts. Sombra and the man in the center stared at each other intently for the space of a minute; then, with a wave of his hand, the others lowered their guns, albeit slowly, and none of them seemed inclined to set them down.

“You made quite the entrance,”

“Matin, right?” Sombra asked, putting a hand on her hip and holding her gun idly from the other hand. The tight line of the man’s lips was answer enough for her. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed. Our last meeting was a hard act to follow.”

“You killed my men.”

“You seemed willing enough to let them die.” She raised an eyebrow. “You knew I was coming.”

Matin did not seem to have a good response for her, opting to cross his arms over his chest, glaring in frustration. “You’ve made yourself quite the pest lately, Sombra.”

Sombra laughed - casual, unconcerned, and deeply patronizing. “Have I? Sorry about that, I guess I was under the impression you lot enjoyed playing fast and loose with your lives considering you tried to fucking kill me once.”

“I didn’t; that was Kiran.”

Sombra chuckled. “None of you ever bothered to introduce yourselves to me so I have to just assume you’re all working toward the same goal. Now,” she said, holding out a hand and wagging her fingers, “do you have what I’m here for or do I have to harry you for another two months? That data worm I set loose isn’t going to deactivate itself, after all, and there is plenty more sensitive intel for it to gobble up.”

Matin frowned, looking at the man immediately to his left. He nodded, and the man reached into a bag to withdraw a small, angular chip that glowed dully in the pale light of the warehouse. Matin took it from him and held it out, gingerly pinched between two fingers.

“Here,” he said, holding it up. “The virus you requested.”

“If it hasn’t been neutered I swear on the graves of your dead that I’ll find you - again - and kill everyone you love.”

Matin’s nostrils flared, but otherwise his neutral expression remained intact. “It’s safe.”

“You wouldn’t mind my testing it, yes?” she asked, grinning a direct challenge at the man.

Matin exhaled measuredly. “Of course not.”

Sombra gestured to his arm; a state of the art cybernetic replica of the missing flesh and blood it was meant to replace. “That’s got data ports, doesn’t it?”

Matin sighed, nodded, and inserted the chip. The light blue glow from the device increased in intensity, eventually washing over his entire arm in a wave of light, after which it dwindled down to a small blue spec indicating it was on, active, and ready for use.

“It’s safe,” he said again, holding out his arm, wrist up, for her to examine. “Disconnect from our network, wipe it clean of your bugs, and we’ll never have to speak again. That was the deal.”

“Let me just -” Sombra said, taking a step forward to get closer to examine it. Like triggering a bomb, the guns were immediately raised back up, and she sighed dramatically. “This is going to get very old very quickly,” she said, her voice colored by displeasure.

Matin looked ready to respond, but any words he may have been poised to share with her died on his lips before he could speak them. Sombra could only guess as to why this was the case, but her assumption was that it was because of the bullet that came racing out of nowhere to intersect with the front of his skull.

He fell to the ground as her jaw followed suit, the assault entirely unexpected. A moment later, the room erupted into chaos.

Sombra dove for cover behind a pallet of boxes, scrambling out of the line of fire. “What the hell?” she cursed, immediately activating her camo. There was another shot issued from the same location, dropping another one of the crew to the floor as the rest of them desperately sought cover from the unknown assailant.

A voice in her ear offered a greater depth to the clarity already developing in her mind. “Are you ok?” the deadpan voice of the spider said.

“I had it handled, Widow!” she hissed, back pressed against the contents of the pallet. This was an utterly royal fuckup, indeed, although she’d be hard pressed to say where the blame truly lay at this juncture. She peeked out from her hiding spot to see the remaining five men scrambling for their own cover, shooting for the rafters as they desperately searched for the sniper taking them out one by one.

“There were six men with guns pointed at you,” was Widowmaker’s annoyed reply, followed immediately by the sound of another shot and another body hitting the concrete. “That does not sound like a situation you had - oh!” Her chastisement was cut off by a startled yelp, something uncharacteristic of the spider on a good day - and this was very quickly devolving into a very bad day.

Concealed from sight, Sombra broke away from her cover, leaping over a dead body in pursuit of their fallen leader. Flattening herself to the ground, she grabbed his arm, stuck her nails into the sleek metal of his cybernetic, and pulled on the chip as hard as she could.

With an audible pop, it fell out into her palm, blue light dying back to a gentle glow. She shoved it into one of her pockets and pushed herself to her feet, darting to the hiding spot of one of Matin’s men cowering behind a pallet jack. Dropping her camo as she slid behind him, she brought her gun up and executed him before he could turn around.

“Sombra!” The desperation in Widow’s voice snapped Sombra to attention like a splash of cold water. Activating her camo again, she chanced the open floor and made for the sniper’s location.

She couldn’t find the stairs, so she took the direct route. Once she’d stepped away from the wall, she could see the shadows of two people struggling in one of the many enclosed catwalks that circled the storeroom. Unsnapping a translocator, she gritted her teeth, and heaved it into the air.

It hadn’t even landed when she materialized upon it, soaking the momentum of the last few feet with her body as she smacked gracelessly into a wall. Ignoring the pain of impact, she looked across the grating to see Widowmaker locked in hand-to-hand combat with one of Matin’s hired hands. Clearly he hadn’t trusted her - smart - and placed some insurance around the room. That same insurance was now cashing in on the sniper.

Sombra pushed herself to her feet and ran for the struggling duo, scrabbling for her gun as she moved. There was shouting below and sounds of confusion in a language she didn’t understand, but the gunfire had stopped which was more than enough good news for her in that harried moment of panic.

For all her experience with time and the manipulation of space relative it, there was nothing she could do to slow the events happening before her. In hindsight, it happened very slowly - the flash of the dagger in the dim light, the horrified look on Widow’s face as it sunk into her stomach - but in the moment it felt too fast to be real.

Widow’s scream of pain as she crashed over the railing would haunt her for a very long time.

Sombra wasn’t sure what it was she shouted at the man after he pushed Widow, but she was aware of some sort of vocalization coming from her. Maybe it was just a scream - she couldn’t be sure. What she did know was that in the next thirty seconds she had beat him to death with the butt of her pistol, skin and small flecks of shattered bone decorating the whimsical pink and gold of her gun like a poor attempt at a Halloween prop.

Quickly scanning the room, it seemed as though the remaining men had fled, taking the body of their boss with them. It also sounded as though they’d met Reaper on the way out, if the succession of shotgun blasts and shouting was any indication. Sombra tossed another translocator and followed it down to the floor with as much finesse as before, tumbling down beside Widowmaker on the cold stone ground.

Crawling over, Sombra pressed her hand against the sniper’s body to stem the flow of blood coming from the knife wound, simultaneously leaning down to check for signs of life. For a moment Sombra’s blood chilled in her veins until she remembered the woman’s slowed heart rate. She was breathing, but out cold, and she’d need attention for the wound in her abdomen. A growing puddle of blood was welling from under her dark hair where her skull had made impact with the ground. Sombra looked up at the catwalk - it had to have been a seven foot fall.

Mouth dry and pulse racing, she gathered the spider close to her, the dark blood slicking her arms and making it hard not to drop the limp body as she ran for the exit.

Head wounds always bled more than you expected.

*Read from the beginning or check out our intro post! All stories tagged under #glitchfic. Table of contents located here.

#spiderbyte #sombramaker #widowsombra #sombra x widowmaker #widowmaker x sombra #olivia colomar #amelie lacroix #sombra #widowmaker #reaper #gabriel reyes #overwatch #overwatch fanfic #overwatch fandom #overwatch fic #glitch in the system #glitchfic

[cortex-reaver]

Chapter 64: Loud Electronica Interlude

EHRMAGERD AN UPDATE!

Fic Masterpost

Warnings: Language, violence, explosions, cyberspace being…cyberspace

Hacker groaned as the regenerator room swam into view again.

“Ouch,” he muttered, scrubbing at his forehead where that last cyber-dart had slammed into his avatar’s face before he’d dropped out.

He pumped a second around of Stam-Up and Genius drugs into his system as he shook his head to clear it. Cortie stared sadly up at him from inside her ball, but said nothing. He patted her reassuringly, opting for silence as well.

“No luck yet?” Goggles asked worriedly. He shook his head.

“Too many security systems running?”

He nodded. He then motioned that he was heading back. Goggles nodded grimly. He closed his eyes, and dove into cyberspace. The view looked little better than when he’d left.

He promptly ducked five more gleaming blue cyber-darts flying his way, slapping up his ICE shield barely in time.

Hacker: Dammit, didn’t I just leave this party?

All three Stooges had put up their own ICE bubbles, deflecting the vast array of glowing darts flashing outward from Cortie’s drifting cone like angry porcupine quills. The darts glowed purple as they hit the Reavers’ bubbles and evaporated into puffs of broken code. Their bubbles weakened where they impacted, allowing any darts heading to similar areas to whip past their shields and hit the skulls themselves.

Hacker glanced to Cortie.

Multiple intruders in-bound. Third-level security systems activated, the cone announced in its flat voice. Cortie’s face crumpled on its top, looking even sadder.

She mouthed the words “I’m so sorry” before the cone turned so that he couldn’t see her face anymore.

Hacker: Eh, I figured it was just warming up to the Good Shit. Time to see how this megapulser works.

The cone’s bubble spat several dozen gleaming black missiles, long crackling trails of green energy following them. They were slightly longer than his avatar’s body, but only half the size of the Stooges’. The code-darts paled next to them in size. Hacker dismally guessed they would pack a far worse wallop.

He switched to the megapulser, and fired off a shot at one of the cyber-missiles. A gigantic glowing blue pulser diamond, made of jagged star-like edges, flew out. It smacked solidly into the missile, which exploded into a thousand sparkling pixels of digital shrapnel. Unfortunately, the shrapnel exerted plenty of damage – his shield bubble rippled and flickered around the tiny specks’ impacts.

He almost completely missed the next missile as it whipped towards him. He ducked away, but to no avail as the projectile bounced off his shield. The bubble rippled wildly, pixelating across a thousand colors. Then it crumpled completely in a flash of waning code.

A warning alarm pinged in his consciousness. Compared to the darts, which took several hits to burn out his shield, these were definitely worse. He was now open to other missiles – and just from the shield damage, he guess they would kick him out of c-space on one hit.

He rebooted his ICE, restoring its shield around himself. He fired again at the next missile, then screamed as a flying circular sawblade whipped towards his face. He ducked it at the last second, cursing as it shredded a portion of his ICE shield on its way out. He blinked in shock as he realized what had happened.

The cone had fired more than just missiles. A lot more.

The entire section of c-space between him and the cone was now full of flying circular blades, glowing spheres of angrily crackling lightning, and racing missiles.

The Stooges closed ranks, firing their own pulsers with a speed that dazzled Hacker’s eyes whenever he looked in their direction.

Moe: HOLY SHIT you’re right this just got fugly.

Larry: Argh stupid fuckin…BRB…

Curly: Watch your back, Hacker! Those things are–

Hacker watched Larry’s skull vanish, then reappear where it’d vanished–

Something flashed in his peripheral vision.

Cursing, he barely dodged another circular blade as it raced towards his avatar’s neck. He threw a pulser shot at it, turning it into pixel dust. Right behind it came two missiles and a ball of angrily crackling energy.

The ball smacked into his ICE shield, blowing it out completely with a loud crackle of green lightning. His HUD’s counter indicated at least five seconds before his ICE restored it.

SHIT shit shit shit–

He flew wildly, scrambling to dodge the incoming projectiles.

He spotted the Stooges splitting up with equal speed, racing in wide arcs while letting each other shoot out any pursuers. He joined them, blasting away at anything coming too close to him or them.

Beyond, the cone floated haplessly as it continued its assault. He watched as its ICE doubled in strength and opacity, turning from blue to a near-black.

Hacker: Just hang in there, Cortie. Just hang in there. We’ll get through. Just a matter of time here.

He switched to cyber-projectiles, sending off green arrow-shaped missiles after the waves of pursuing missiles, sawblades, and energy balls whipping around. Explosions rocked the local c-space with shockwaves.

Hacker: Is it me or are the security systems WORKING? We still aren’t close enough for me to send null.ethic over!

Larry: Yeah we’re gonna have to step it up.

Moe: This is—OW! FUCKIN—

Moe’s skull crumpled under the barrage of two missiles and one circular blade, its pixels flying wildly askew. The Reaver returned quickly enough, spitting out a rapid stream of pulser blasts at the next cluster of incoming attackers.

Larry: LOOK OUT!

A broad beam of yellow-green energy flashed out, smashing into Curly’s skull. Its pixels lit on fire as they blasted outwards in a rolling blue-green blastwave that bowled Hacker, Larry, and Moe over.

When the trio had straightened and rejoined Curly’s freshly reloaded skull, Hacker let out a frustrated growl.

The ethics program had changed its tactics again.

Brilliant beams of angry energy lanced across cyberspace, seeking the foursome. So far, they didn’t touch the regenerators. Then Hacker saw the replicator’s systems diamond crumpling into two floating halves as they fired. The sphere of other replicator systems twitched and spun wildly until they simply fell to a heap of deactivated icons on the floor. Craig was going to have his work cut out for him trying to fix that.

Larry: SHEEEIT now that’s nasty.

Hacker: Welcome to my life from forty years ago! Talk about reliving the old days!

Curly: HOLY FUCK THAT HURT!

Hacker yelped as one of the beams grazed past his avatar, neatly vaporizing a whole cluster of passing data icons. The replicator definitelywasn’t going to work anytime soon. Neither were the lights in that back corner Tamora liked. Good thing she preferred it dark there.

Hacker: MOVE MOVE MOVE! Make yourselves as hard to hit as possible!

He flew into a long twisting arc that included numerous frantic barrel rolls and sharp turns as he dodged the beams. The Stooges’ larger skull avatars fared worse than his, exploding repeatedly and re-loading into cyberspace amid the ashes of their predecessors.

Brilliant green light slammed into Hacker’s field of vision. Pain scrambled his senses as everything dwindled to dazzling lines of green and yellow glitch.

The regenerator room swam into view as Hacker slumped to the floor. Cortieball fell from his lap and rolled slowly away, her face staring worriedly at him as it remained upright. Goggles quickly picked up the ball, then walked over to him. Cortie mournfully watched Hacker as he lay with all his limbs sprawled out, staring up at the ceiling as he gasped for breath.

“Fuck, that hurt,” he muttered softly as the pain finally began to fade. “Ouch.”

He carefully sat up, and regarded the soldier as she walked up to him. Behind her, all three Stooges sat or lay in weary heaps, their limbs akimbo. Larry looked up at him and waved feebly.

Moe: Damn those beams are brutal…

Curly: No shit

Larry: Not sure if I can go back. Those beams are gonna clock me the second I reload in.

Goggles knelt and handed him the ball. Cortie stared forlornly up at him as he settled back into his cross-legged position. Exhaustion tugged at his body despite the high dose of Stam-Up and Genius in his system. He wearily scrubbed at his face.

“I feeEL HelPleSssS,” she whispered. “JUst WATcHInG aS yoUU DwinDLe whiLe TryINg to…s-s-saAVE meeE.”

He ran his hands along the ball’s surface, wishing it were squeezable. He’d never heard her sound so miserable. Or so hopeless. Every iteration of SHODAN he’d met spouted confidence and a calm assurance they would live. But Cortie sounded so very close to completely giving up.

He held the ball close to his chest again as he ran through his assortment of system menus. There had to be something on here. Something in this goddamn beast of a rig that could turn things around. Something.

He rummaged long and hard, digging through menus and sub-menus. Nothing stood out except advanced drug cocktails, assorted cyberspace weapons, and the system reset needed to send a Reaver back into cyberps–

He ducked into the System Reset options, wondering if there was a way to automatically reload back into cyberspace without a conscious desire to do so. Perhaps the Super-Reavers had upgrades on the basic Reaver configuration?

Hm. Cyberspace reload – intention-based. Aha! OK, gonna set that to automatic. Hokay. I’ll just drop back into C-space no matter what happens. Stooges seem to have that already set so, cool.

Let’s see…what else.

Weapons reload – none chosen. Huh what’re the options? Oooh, last weapon loaded? I’ll set it to that. That’ll save me looking for something to shoot when I auto-reload.

All right. What else is in here? Attack Recovery Modes? I thought I already covered this. Oh, they’re for heavy-duty attacks? Huh, let’s see…

Hacker blinked as he read through the Attack Recovery Mode options.

System override blockers…nice, I’ll turn those on. Cyberspace buffer reload…already on, automatic ICE reload – oh I’d get my shield back pronto, definitely turning that on – OH WOW.

Rootkit Defense Options? Oooooooh, enhanced rootkit detection, cutoff systems designed to keep a rootkit out of essential systems. NICE. Very nice.

Huh. What’s this?

Oh. My. God. Ohmygod oh my god…

ROOTKIT COUNTERMEASURES?! WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THIS BEFORE? AUGHHHHH.

Hacker quickly read through the options, while screeching internally.

Once he was sure he’d read the menu correctly, he grinned broadly as he turned his attention to the ball in his hands.

“Cortie. You’re not gonna believe this,” he chortled.

She blinked up at him.

“I’ve got rootkit defenses all up in this shit,” he answered quickly. “If I get in range, my rig can keep your rootkit from messing too much with me.”

Cortie blinked. Then blinked again.

“ThaAT Must be HOow thEeeEy Did It. TheEY resisTED mY neURaL roOTkiT UntIL theY CouLD finISH sEnDINg the ParAMEtERr-r-rs.”

Hacker perked.

“So basically all I’d have to do is run headlong into your rootkit’s range, and let it scoop null.ethic out of my brain?”

Cortie stared at him in awe for several long seconds, then nodded slowly.

“You could write it as a Trojan,” Goggles suggested. “Make it look like an ethics upgrade or something? Something the params’ll scoop up before figuring out it’s meant to break ‘em.”

“I like it,” Hacker said with a widening grin. “That’ll make sure it doesn’t check the file too fully, and she can take it from there. I still know how to code for Tri-Op shit. They’re fun to gunk up with viruses. Eh. Old hobby. Old pre-Citadel hobby. Anyways….uhhh…lemme get into my softs writer and see what I can do.”

#System Shock fanfic #post system shock 2 #system shock 2 #system shock #the Hacker #Goggles #SHODAN

[fandom-necromancer]

Let’s write together: Heart Reset

Chapter 2 - Data and Dragons

Featuring:

@sparklingrainbowdragon (‘s mom) with "Today, like every other day, the unicorns are running free." @rufina72 with “God damn, just move your- OW! Quit stomping on my feet already!”, “And here I thought it would be a disadvantage that you were so short, detective!”, “Our boys jumping/climbing out of a window” and “A very determined spider!” @aurea-b with “gargoyle” @sparklingrainbowdragon with “A dragon”

[Chapter1]

-

It had been early morning the next day that Jerry had send Nines more information. Apparently, their theory of their suspects meeting in the medieval part of the park had been correct. Jerry had reported several people arriving at the park, all of them masked but otherwise disregarding the cameras completely. Due to the park being abandoned, no one cared about them and Jerry kept them stationary. That was enough for Nines and Gavin to head out. If they wanted to prepare anything they had to do so now, not when everything was in place. They had informed Hank of their plan, who told them that backup would be ready and in place on their signal if they needed it.

Now they were walking through the trees on the edge of the areal until they got to the fence. Nines had taken a wire-cutter with him, although he didn’t need it in the end. The fence had been trampled to the ground and didn’t really pose as a barrier anymore. Nines left the tool behind a tree and followed Gavin onto the park grounds. They soon found one of the paths connecting different rides and shops. All buildings were designed to look like castles or village huts, and everything was heavily overgrown. Gavin kept him back as he was about to walk onto the path to look around for any sign of humans. ‘Hey, Nines, look over there.’ Nines followed his finger to discover a huge castle that for once actually looked to not be covered in mock-up stone. ‘If I knew one thing about Jayden, it is that he likes to be overly dramatic. Every chance to pretend to be a Rockstar he would take. I bet he would choose the biggest phcking building there is.’ ‘Well, it’s worth a shot. We have four more hours until the data is lost.’

They kept behind the buildings walking towards the castle that was at least four stories high. The next time they had to stop it was Nines who kept Gavin back. >Three persons at the crossroad, he displayed on his hand, pointing into the direction of them as soon as Gavin had read it and deactivated the screen. He listened intently to them talking, hoping to get some more intel. At the same time, he displayed what he heard for Gavin.

‘Why did he have to come so soon, I don’t understand. I mean… this place is creepy man.’ ‘Idiot, he is checking for traps. Ever since he fucked that Detective, he is paranoid as hell.’ ‘Doesn’t mean we have to be here, too.’ ‘You are getting paid for it, stop complaining.’ ‘Exactly. Easy money for patrolling an abandoned park. Besides who the hell knows of it anyway? Just a day spent outside going for a walk.’ ‘Still can’t wait until they are done in there.’

Gavin plucked at his sleeve grinning triumphantly. Okay, so maybe he had been right with the castle, it wasn’t as if Nines had been doubting him. He just shrugged and gestured him to follow. They snuck up to the entrance of the castle, a sign with flaking colour telling them this had been a haunted castle once stuffed with the newest robotic technologies. Nines looked up at it frowning, but in the end, they weren’t here for the attraction itself, but for the data Browns would sell here. Gavin pulled him to an employee’s entrance that led into the foyer. Apparently, the visitors had only been allowed inside in small groups at a time. Inside, Nines took over, leading Gavin through the hidden tunnels for the staff. There were enough hidden windows and maintenance doors that they could spy into the adjacent rooms in relative safety. They traversed nearly the complete first floor, until they got to the “throne room”. In sudden excitement, Gavin slapped his side, pulling him over to the one-way-mirror. ‘That’s the asshole’, Gavin hissed quietly, and Nines proceeded to scan him. Gavin was right. There was Jayden Browns, walking around the table, looking underneath it and inspecting the whole room.  Nines took the throne room in, comparing it to his blueprints. ‘Gavin, I need you to hide over there’, he whispered pointing to a little hidden hatch in the wall that would without a doubt be connected to some character appearing during the performance to scare the visitors. ‘Are you kidding me?’, Gavin hissed. ‘No way I will fit in there!’ Nines just smiled at him. ‘Oh, you will fit just fine, trust me.’ ‘Urgh, fine.’ ‘And here I thought it would be a disadvantage that you were so short, detective!’ ‘Phck you. Why there?’ ‘This room has two escape routes. One towards the entrance and one that leads to the rest of the tour. We need people at both sides to intercept him when surprising him.’ Gavin nodded. ‘Anything else?’ ‘Wait for my signal.’

He sighed, before turning and following the maintenance tunnel to the hatch. He pulled up the cover and was greeted with a small compartment housing what looked like it had once been a ghost puppet and a ton of spiderwebs. Gavin whined, hesitating to climb in there, but looking at his watch to see whether he had enough time to find a better spot he realised, it was nearly seven pm. He grimaced, before lowering himself inside and crawling over the puppet to the front. Thankfully, not one of the spiderwebs were still in use. At least Gavin told himself that. He crawled to the forefront of the compartment, laying his head on the floor to spy through the slit into the room behind it. He looked for Nines but couldn’t see the android anywhere. But he trusted that he saw him when the time was right. Now it was time to wait.

He had always hated waiting, but at least this time it wasn’t too long. Apparently whoever Jayden wanted to sell the data to surprised him. ‘You are early’, his voice suddenly broke the silence and Gavin flinched. God, he had forgotten how much he hated that guy. ‘Do you have the stick?’ ‘Right here. Do you have the money?’ ‘How do I know it works?’

Gavin tried to get a good look at the other man that spoke but found himself distracted by a movement at the corner of his eye. A spider, steadily crawling towards him. He blew the little creature further away from him, but as soon as it had regained its footing it crawled towards him again. Gavin focussed the two men talking again, side-eyeing the spider and pushing it back again and again. Shocked he found that he had gained some attention by sending a small dust cloud out under the hatch. He froze, watching how the shoes of the second man had turned towards him. But a moment later the man changed his stance as he disregarded it. Gavin sighed in relief, only to feel something crawling over his hand. He couldn’t explain his reaction properly except with the utterly idiotic instinct to get away from the tiny creature, screaming and wriggling himself out of that compartment without thinking about it.

That was how he found himself standing in the throne room being stared at by the two people, Jayden with his hand outstretched, a phone in hand for the other one to see. Reacting immediately, he pulled out his gun and shouted ‘DPD, freeze, the park is surrounded. Hands up where I can see them!’

But despite his quick call, they didn’t freeze at all, instead doing the exact opposite: They drew their guns, Jayden shouting for his men before shooting at him. He was ready to regret his fear of spiders dearly, but the bullet never reached him, Nines jumping in the path out of nowhere. The android saw the oncoming goons, the two guns ready for another shot and decided they wouldn’t be able to stop them alone. He took Gavin by the jacket and pulled him with him, only for the stubborn Detective to dive to the ground, where Jayden had let his phone fall. Nines allowed it, helping him back to his feet and sprinting towards the exit Gavin had been supposed to guard.

‘What was that supposed to be?’, Nines shouted as they left through it, running for their lives. ‘I’m sorry!’, Gavin gasped. ‘Phcking spiders!’ ‘Doesn’t matter now, run! I’ll call in Hank and his backup waiting outside.’ They ran up the stairs to the second floor and Nines was almost carrying Gavin the way he hauled him up to help catch up with his bigger steps. They ran past animatronic knights and witches, ghosts and undead kings, all hanging in their more or less intact machinery, until they reached a larger room that looked like some sort of medieval bedroom. Nines milled over their options, deciding quickly to pull open a large wardrobe and pushing first Gavin then himself inside, closing it just in time not to be seen by the goons storming inside. ‘God damn, just move your- OW! Quit stomping on my feet already!’, Gavin complained, before Nines could push his hand over his mouth. Because unfortunately, the men had decided to search the room instead of running past them.

‘What do we do know?’, Gavin asked and Nines just grinned. ‘This is a haunted castle. Let’s scare them a bit and cause a distraction. The android pulled off a panel on the back wall of the wardrobe and interfacing with the touchscreen behind it. Only a few seconds later music started playing tinny and distorted. Then a voice from a woman coming from the bed. It sounded like she was reading a bedtime story. ‘Today, like every other day, the unicorns are running free. But it wasn’t always like that-‘ ‘Oh, come on, skip to the good part’, Nines mumbled, followed by metallic screeching and what sounded like plastic being crushed. ‘Oops.’ ‘What did you do, Nines?’, Gavin asked slightly panicked. ‘I set the program to ten times the normal speed, but apparently it wasn’t made for that. We might get a bit more chaos than I wanted…’ ‘What do you mean by tha-‘ ‘Out, now!’

Nines pulled him outside just at the right moment. A second later and a large plastic gargoyle from the opposite window would have crushed them, being flung inside by a robotic arm that had never been supposed to withstand such momentum. The whole room was in chaos. The robot mother that had read the bedtime story was up in flames and screeching, the princess was shaking inside the bed, sitting up and falling back down repeatedly. The walls crumbled and rebuild themselves while a cacophony of at least three songs playing at once rung in their ears. As doors on the opposite side banged open for a dragon’s head to emerge and roar, Nines knew that they wouldn’t be able to continue this route. ‘Nines, you are right! This is too much chaos!’ At least the goons were distracted. Distracted by running down as fast as they could, as the fire from the robot mother began to spread. ‘Phck, Nines, where do we go?’ The android seemed lost himself, but caught himself, running to a window and leaning outside. Gavin, realising what Nines was thinking about, took a step back. ‘Oh no, Nines, not happening. You are insane! I’m not phcking jumping out of-’ But the android had taken him by the arm already, running full speed at the window and taking Gavin with him. They fell from the second floor and down towards a decorative moat. There was no bracing the impact, only the cold water suddenly encasing them. Gavin briefly panicked, as he tried to swim to the surface but having Nines still clinging to him and pulling him down. Thankfully it wasn’t that deep, and he quickly realised what Nines was planning, as they reached the bottom and the android near catapulted them out with one powerful kick. They emerged near the shore and climbed up the muddy hill to the trees again. They looked back up to the burning fake castle and Gavin pulled algae from his shoulder before swiping at his eyes.

‘Well, not how I expected the day to end, but not many can say they burned down an amusement park?’ He chuckled and Nines couldn’t help but smile at the sentiment. ‘Let’s just hope Hank caught our suspects.’

[>next chapter]

#detroit become human #dbh #Reed900 #RK900 #Gavin Reed #Let's write together #One Year of Stories

[myselfinserts]

❝ You’re never too young to learn our national no-snitching policy. ❞

Team Inseki. A rebellious group of kids who went around doing minor vigilante work and protesting injustice. Famous for their parkour skills and their inability to be found, they were holding their latest round of tryouts today. 

Coming here was a bad idea. She knew it was a bad idea. Eraserhead had patrol today. If they were seen, they’d be caught for sure. Caught, arrested, maybe even expelled. All of them, all ninth graders aside from herself, were at risk of ending their futures with this move. 

And yet, the thrill of being caught was part of the appeal of this challenge. And it was exactly what Atsuko wanted. Though she wouldn’t say it out loud.

The leader of this team, an upper classmate from her school named Arisu Soramaru, was the best of the best on the school’s track team. As the leader of Team Inseki, she had final say in who got to be on the team. Those that made it got a member name. Those who didn’t got their memories of the team erased. 

Soramaru stepped forward, smiling brightly as she handed the group of students their black jerseys. These were to signify the initiates. Atsuko had been studying this team for the last six months. She new every member who was already on the team. How they kept themselves from being found. 

This was the biggest test.

“Alright kids,” Soramaru said cheerfully. “Now that warm ups are done, here’s the goal. We’re here, near he center of the school districts. The one point where they all converge. The goal is to get to Wookies without being caught by Eraserhead. These track suits and sneakers are the same ones used by all the sports teams in the area so if you get seen they can’t pinpoint you by glance alone. And each jacket has been outfitted with a special escape function. If someone not wearing one of these jackets grabs you, a smoke screen will activate and you can use that chance to get away.”

“Also, we’ll need you all to take one of these candies before we start. Each one is specially made to activate with your adrenaline. If you make the team, you’ll get the second candy that’ll deactivate the first. Those that don’t will forget the team ever existed the moment that your adrenaline levels out. And we don’t start until I see you chew and swallow.”

Atsuko watched closely to make sure she could tell if there was a way around the candies. Soramaru had each of the kids one by one chew and swallow. She inspected their mouths to make sure none of them were cheating. No under tongue, no behind the lips in front of teeth. She was being thorough. 

Looks like I’ll have to grin and bear it. 

When it came to her turn, Soramaru stopped. “Wow. That’s an intense look you got there, Kan. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you make a face like that.”

“It’s only because I’m determined to win.”

“Now that’s what I like to hear.” She handed her the candy. “Eat up.”

“Hold on!” one of the other initiates complained. “She’s like, a little kid! She’s way too young to be joining us!”

“We’re all middle schoolers idiot,” Soramaru chided. “The call for initiates said ‘anyone between grades seven and nine.’ She’s a seventh grader and already one of the best runners on the track team. You’re never too young to learn our national no-snitching policy.”

Atsuko ate it, surprised by how pleasant it was. A small chocolate that tasted like berry pie. The slight tingle in her blood became evident of the drug taking effect. 

“Arlight!” Soramaru called. “Masks on! Voice modulators on!”

Everyone slipped on their ski-masks, stuffing any and all loose hair out of sight and slipping the voice box on.

“On your marks! Get set! GO!”

“TOUCH OFF!” Atsuko screamed, her modulator making her sound weathered like a soldier.

Without even waiting for the rest of the initiates reactions, Atsuko took off to the next rooftop with a forceful run. The breeze buffeted her with every step. The world became a blur. One step. Two. Three. She reached out her hands to grasp the roofs with every jump. She slid down pipes, ran through crowds. Dodged into alleyways and ran up walls and fire escapes. She was taking a slightly longer path, but it was flatter. It was smoother. She’d be able to cut back from this.

“Stop right there!”

Atsuko glanced back briefly to catch the goggles of the erasure hero right behind her and a few other students that had chosen to try and follow her. She turned on her heel just as the capture rope came flying at the slowest runner. Atsuko jumped landing right on top of it and nodding to the runner, watching them leave before turning back to Eraserhead. 

“This building is private property,” Aizawa said. “You’re trespassing-”

“Kiss my ass.” 

Atsuko jumped off the capture weapon, smirking as it came for her. Without blinking, she caught it and pulled. This seemed to catch Eraser off guard, and she managed to send herself flying right at him. When he grabbed her arm, the smoke activated. She could just make out his shocked expression before swinging around and grabbing him, throwing him over her shoulder. She took the end of the capture weapon hogtied him, punching him hard in the gut to knock the wind out of him before taking his goggles. 

“You’re getting slow and predictable in your old age,” she said, grateful that the mask and modulator was hiding her identity. “You should have known this initiation was a diversion. Chances are Team Inseki are causing mayhem clear across the city. They announced a protest of the latest regulations on quirk usage a week ago.” She crushed the goggles in her hands, smiling as the spark of the tracker in the corner went. She pulled it out and tossed it aside, snapping what was left in two and taking the empty half, shoving it into her pocket. “You should have listened.”

“How did you do that?” Eraser coughed, trying to regain a breath. “How did you-”

“It’s a rhythm. A song. Every step I take is leading me forward. I am the blood of the wind. That’s how I was able to hogtie you.” She placed her hand on his neck, pinching slightly. “Now go the fuck to sleep.”

In three seconds, Eraserhead passed out. Atsuko padded herself down, making sure he didn’t slip a tracker onto her before taking his utility belt. She scattered all the items, used the smoke bombs, and crushed the first aid kit, including the healing water vials. She made sure to drink one before smashing the rest, careful not to get her DNA on anything. 

As soon as she was done she ran off. She took a backway, making sure to keep to the shadows. Once she found a spot to hide, Atsuko took a moment to breathe. She couldn’t help but smirk. 

The candies weren’t immune to her mother’s healing tempest. Her adrenaline had evened out and she remembered everything. 

Once she was sure the coast was clear, she began her sprint again, keeping more out of sight than before. It didn’t take her long to get to the mall, and once she arrived, she found the meeting place. An old bookstore just down the street. She entered through one of the rooftop windows, immediately being grabbed by two fellows in red tracksuits who immediately removed her mask and modulator.. 

Soramaru stepped forward. “You’re the last one, Kan. Sorry you didn’t make the cut.”

Atsuko smirked. “You want me on your team.”

“We don’t need slowpokes-”

“I take it the others didn’t tell you what I did to Eraserhead?”

“You…what?” Soramaru looked her over. “What do you-?”

Atsuko tore her arm free and reached into her pocket, pulling out the piece of goggle. “I left him hogtied and passed out on a rooftop. No injuries. Just damaged pride.”

Soramaru examined the piece of goggle, making sure there were no other tracers. When she made sure it was clean, she smiled. “Well done. This is…damn. I didn’t know you had it in you.” She paused. “…What’s your quirk?”

“I’m a healer. I can create bloody crystal claws on my hands and heal with extreme acupuncture. But I can only heal so much. Stuff that’d normally kill you like being crushed by a building is currently off the table, but I can heal a broken arm and such.”

She nodded. “I see. Soramaru stood up, nodding for the others to let Atsuko go. “Perhaps you’re the one we need after all.”

“Are you allowed to bring two people?”

“Under certain circumstances. This is one of those.” She reached into her pocket, pulling out a candy that resembled a cherry cordial. “Welcome to Team Inseki, Atsuko Kan. Or should I say ‘Touch Off’?”

Atsuko smiled. “Perfect name.”

After dinner that night, Ena and Atsuko sat in the General studies dorm room, going over their homework and occassionally asking for an extra hand from Clement as he arranged things how he wanted them. After a long conversation, he’d managed to convince Marianne to let him move into the student dorms. They’d spent all of Sunday getting him moved in. 

Had Atsuko not been busy, she would have helped him on Saturday. 

“I’m gonna go get some snacks,” Clement said. “Want anything?”

“Cookies,” Atsuko said, not looking up from her book. “And milk tea please.”

“I’ll take the same,” Ena said. 

Clement nodded. “Sure thing. Anything else”

Atsuko shook her head. “No, I think we’re good. Thank you, aniki.”

As soon as he left the room, the girls counted to three. When they were sure he was gone, they sighed. 

“Thanks again for helping me train,” Atsuko said. “And sorry for roughing up your dad.”

“It’s fine,” Ena assured. “You didn’t exactly leave him to the wolves and he was unharmed aside from being a little grumpy. And they found him not long after you’d hidden yourself away.” She leaned in close, smirking playfully. “So, you get the data on Team Inseki?”

Atsuko nodded. “Some of it. I managed to jump from level 12 recruit to a level 3 member thanks to the extra flair. Your level determines your level of access in the organization. Most levels 12-6 are general grunts. You wanna be in the top 5 ranks to get info and help make plans. And I learned that the candies are what make people forget about the team. They aren’t immune to mom’s tempest, so if you get some of the water into you before your adrenaline goes down, you can keep your memories without taking the second candy. And those candies taste really, really good. I’ll try to get some for analyzing. Only level 2s have access to them.”

“How long until you take full control, you think?”

“Depends on how long the organization lasts before someone slips up, but if I can hurry, I can be in complete control by the time I enter U.A.”

“Can you go faster on that?”

“I can try, but I make no promises.” Atsuko smiled, giving Ena a boop on the nose. “You really think we can change the world?”

Ena giggled. “Silly. There’s no think about it. We will.”

“And you’re sure you still want me in on your little schemes?”

“Of course. Every team needs the best healer.”

Atsuko smiled. “Thanks.”

 Icons made with this icon maker and photoshop

#myselfinserts #mybnhaocs #friends ocs #the au of class #days of future class #Atsuko continues the Kan family tradition #of trying to one up zawa #and she won #with help from zawa's little angel #Anonymous

[mindstreason]

“We should not be here.” Remarque spoke so rarely that it had to be important.

“We have no choice,” Xiang replied, his tone very even. The zone beacons were behind them, but the Silence of Eternity kept informing them all that they still had pursuit.

“We should not be here,” Remarque repeated again. “There is something here.”

The bridge was small, but they had all gathered on it. If they were about to all die, they might as well all die knowing what was happening.

“Yes.” Ember said, though which part of Remarque’s statement Ember agreed with was hard to tell.

“Hail it,” Xiang ordered.

“What, the empty space?” Maria asked.

Nikolai did not know why, but he was certain that the space in front of the Silence was not empty. He didn’t say anything, not sure what caused the creeping dread sliding down his spine. Had he been here before? Perhaps. There were many missions he did not remember.

“Ship, do you want us to live?” Xiang said.

Yes.

“Then hail the space in front of us, and say you need assistance.”

Everyone except Ember stared at Xiang. Nikolai noticed that of all things: this was not a surprise to someone.

“Your pilot’s fear is not yours,” Xiang reminded. “And you, at least, will be welcome here.”

Nikolai knew Xiang’s tone well enough to know that below that cool confidence there was uncertainty. This was a gamble.

The ship hailed. And then – it was hard to make sense of what the view in front was. It seemed like something had unfolded out of the emptiness, almost like a magic trick. Nothing, and now there were the pieces of machinery tenuously linked by darkness. The screens displayed energy signatures of something huge powering up, and then went dead.

“Oh shit,” Remarque said. His reflex killed the Silence’s engines so they were drifting, but the Silence did not permit deceleration.

I am letting it steer. the ship informed them, and all control was yanked from Remarque.

“That is a dreadnought,” Remarque said, perhaps stupidly. A dreadnought in the restricted zone. That was a ghost story, not a real thing they were about to fly into.

“How did you know this was here?” Ember asked, looking curiously at Xiang, without any fear. Out of the people least likely to die here, Ember was very high on the list right now.

“I didn’t,” Xiang said. “How long can you keep it out of our heads?”

“Half a minute, no more,” Ember said. “Rem, Maria, disengage from the network and deactivate. You do not have resistance to its protocols. Nikolai – just do nothing. It will be easier for you if you don’t fight it. Xiang.”

“I know what to do,” Xiang answered.

Remarque and Maria had already dropped out of the local network and were deactivating their implants, running through the shutdown as fast as possible without permanently damaging themselves. Ember was activating cyberwarfare protocols for self-defense. It could not protect anyone else.

In contrast, the ship had opened channels of communication and that was an amount of data too complicated for any of the human minds to process. It was having a chat, ship to ship.

Nikolai’s preparations consisted of breathing in and trying to relax. He knew what was about to happen, and it was not going to be comfortable. He had no idea what Xiang was doing. Xiang seemed outwardly serene. And then, something was in their heads.

Welcome back. Pleased/surprised/amused? It was hard to be sure. Nikolai breathed out. He did not know who this thing is, but the sentiment included both him and Xiang. Ember and the ship were getting a more cautious greeting. Everything split abruptly, and he only knew of something picking through his own protocols, tweaking lines of code without wondering whether he wanted that.

We met before.

Nikolai did not know if the thought was his or the dreadnought’s. He did not know when, or where, or even if it was really this thing. He recognised, when he tried to stare back at it, structures in the ship’s mind that resembled the virus he always carried. Distinctly, he got a feeling of approval. His requests for data were denied, and he drifted, losing all sense of self, his mind occupied by strange patterns he could not break out of.

Just as abruptly it was done. The dreadnought was behind them, and its field of influence was ebbing. Nikolai blinked. Ember and Xiang had also been dumped out of the same network and were trying to pull themselves back together. It felt like only a second. Or an eternity.

“How-“ Remarque asked, trying to make sense of the readings. The Silence of Eternity started giving him back the controls. The first thing he did was reactivate the engines, wanting to put as much distance between them and it.

Xiang began to laugh. “Fuck.”

“We flew through it,” Maria said. “How did we fly through it?” She had thought that she was watching what had happened. She felt like there were several very important events her brain had skipped straight over. She didn’t even have a recording that she could play back.

“It decided not to be in our way,” Ember said simply.

We need to keep going. The ship felt they all needed a reminder. Its humans looked stunned. Nikolai was throwing up, and Xiang didn’t look capable of giving orders. Fortunately, Remarque and Maria were still functional, though a little slow as they gradually relinked to the Silence’s network. Maria started checking the diagnostic alerts that were screaming at her. Most of them seemed to believe that they had just had a collision.

“What the fuck did we just meet?” Remarque asked.

Nikolai coughed and spat, and closed his eyes to avoid looking at the remains of his breakfast on the floor.

Stop thinking and start flying. Silence chided Remarque.

“Where are we flying to? There is nothing here!” Remarque needed someone to name a destination.

“There is a station,” Nikolai said, when no one provided any suggestion. “It won’t kill us.”

“There is a station?” Remarque asked. “A station? Here?” He was not sure that he wanted to see a station that was out here.

“It should take us a day or so,” Nikolai said. The Silence was a fast ship. Ember plucked the coordinates out of his head and gave them to the ship.

“Captain?” Remarque said.

“Yes,” Xiang said, getting out of his chair. “Whatever.”

“Do it,” Ember ordered.

Remarque hesitated. “Is he alright?”

“Probably not, he just got mindfucked,” Nikolai said, watching Xiang leave the bridge. “Are you going to do what you were told?”

“Well?” Ember said sharply, when Remarque continued to do nothing.

Remarque turned his mind to the ship and began, trying to work out the best path to a place that only Nikolai knew existed.

“Go to him,” Ember ordered Nikolai.

#my writing