Bowers, Kelvin C.

Intelligence

YEAR 2190, 8th Month Day 24

Modern society has changed from what we know of today. Technology has developed to
the point where manual labor ceased to exist, and human supervision were mere
formalities. Automated machines called ​Assistance Robots ​(AR) replaced workers for
menial labor such as food preparation and cleaning. Nearly all forms of transportation
have a system in place to reach the intended destination, save for illegal customs.

There have also been developed humanoid machines that assist humans in their day to
day activities, and have proven to be useful in more than isolated scenarios. They were
released with the name ​Animated Neural Machines​, or as the public called them,
ANIMA​.

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Fwoosh

The wind mercilessly crashed into my ears. Perhaps running or open air vehicles would
provide the same effect, but I didn't have the leisure to continue thinking about it.

I can hear their frantic footsteps echoing in the vents behind me. I expected that, given
that I barged into their base and killed the door guards. I ignored them as I continued to
crawl in the vents.

"Hey! Did you find that bastard yet?" A loud voice screamed as the voice echoed through
the metallic walls of the vents. Their boss maybe? Let's call him boss for now.

"No sir! After losing him when he killed the guys in front, he disappeared on us." A
younger, but firm voice replied to the boss.

I proceeded to move forward as they argued before splitting up once more.

Looking towards my display, I was in between the middle of the base and the entrance.
Not far, not near, and certainly not ideal, given the time constraints.

"Hey!"

A female voice sounded in my communicator, but most field agents liked to call it
intercom.

"Are you dead yet!"

"No, ANMSU-94. I'm alive and kicking. Now stop bothering me or I'll really kick the
bucket." I sardonically replied to the pleasantly sounding female voice that I've come to
associate with headaches.
"Good," she said. I could almost hear her motions of fake coughing. "Now, you're at
sector B4, a bit of a ways off from the central room... and would you please kindly call
me ​Susan​?"

I could hear the murderous intent from her overly polite words as she stressed her own
name across the intercom, but I decided to promptly ignore it.

I cleared my thoughts with a light shake of my head and proceeded to the next location.

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As I reached the end of the vent shaft I was in, I was greeted with a warehouse filled with
shipping crates. I couldn't see what was inside, but I do see Boss overlooking the
inspection of the crates whilst shouting at his intercom - presumably at his subordinates.

"Susan, acknowledge."

"..."

No reply, huh? "Susan, I repeat, acknowledge."

"Yes, Rudolf?"

I inwardly sighed. Looks like ignoring her when she wanted me to call her ​Susan is biting
me in the ass.

"Do you have something that you wish to tell me?

I sighed once more. "Yes. I'm sorry... Susan. I was wrong."

"Indeed. Now, how may I be of assistance?" She said while I faintly heard suppressed
snickers.

"I'm in a big warehouse with a lot of shipping crates. A lot."

I took in the scene once more.

"They look like stacking up, and the end is obscured by the towering crates at the end," I
paused for a bit. "What I can see though are AR's (Assistance Robots) bringing small
boxes. Judging by the logo, they might be military gear."

"Hmn... looks like you're at the warehouse. They only have one in the whole facility but
it's subdivided into sectors. Looks like you're at Cargo 4, the military sector."

"They look to be transporting the equipment though, know anything about that?"

"Sorry Rudolf, that's all I have for you."

Right, so basically I'm going in blind.

"Acknowledged. Comm's out for now, Susan."

Creak

The vent sounded out while I removed the cover and squeezed out. I took a moment to
recollect my bearings and started to stalk through the crates.

My goal wasn't to incapitate each and every machine and human I come across with.
Only to destroy the production line at all costs. To make matters clear, I was in Octagon
Industries, the leading manufacturer for all aspects of AR's and ANIMA's. Household,
public service, and most important of all, military.

The most significance difference between AR's and that of ANIMA's are AR's follow
through a set program and is supervised by humans if on field work. House AR's only
move on command. ANIMA's on the other hand, are given freedom of thought to a
certain degree; artificial intelligence, so to speak. That doesn't mean, however, that they
are totally free. No, they are bound by certain directives that ensures they do not go
haywire. Examples of which are "Do not hurt humans" and "Do not disobey orders"
among many others. This has proven to be effective for all traditional ANIMA's.

Beep

"Sorry to disturb you, Rudolf."

Susan, or Animated Neural Machine Special Unit 94, was a case of a non-traditional
ANIMA. Unlike her counterparts, she was given freedom of thought - or perhaps she
gave it to herself after being given the processing power of 10 supercomputers in her
body - without dependency on a server.

"Plans have changed. You need to clear the mission fast. It looks like they're
transporting the weapons to go on the offensive on us."

Argh! Something I really didn't need to hear. "Alright. I'll try to wrap it up as soon as po-"

Tak tak tak

I abruptly stopped speaking. I was hearing footsteps, but it didn't seem like patrols. The
attempt to conceal the steps spoke volumes.

"Looks like plans have changed yet again, Susan. I have bogies on me."

"Understood. Don't die just yet, Rudolf Anderson."

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Through the sound of our boots, I could hear my men as we proceeded to surround the
target. It was the bastard that killed two of my men at the entrance. Ha! No way you're
getting out this time.

I signalled to a corporal beside me to flank around with another beside him while the rest
of us went into a frontal collision.
We moved forward for a bit but-

Thud

I heard something falling hard. I had a bad premonition.

"Johnson, respond."

"..."

"Davis, report!"

Again, no response. Did the asshole get my guys that fast? This isn't good. Even with
superior numbers, with the amount of crates around us, it's basically a killzone.

"All units, acknowledge. We're gonna sweep through fast and clean. Two more of our
guys went down again and we're only against a single guy!"

I took a deep breath. Being angry won't help here.

"Yes, sir! Major Richardson!"

The rest of the troops spread out but not enough to be picked off without alerting anyone
else.

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Phew

Two down, I suppose. Now, the rest of them to go. I do a double check on my gear. A
couple of mags of pistol ammo and 2 grenades. Good enough, I guess.

I jump across a few crates only to see a few guys huddling through a corner, checking
every angle.

"Tsk."

Too close to shoot without them noticing. I take up a grenade and cook it for a few
seconds. Now, do not be mistaken. Grenades that are commonplace nowadays are
nowhere near the unrefined manner of destruction that the old days did, with exploding
shrapnel. Most people nowadays have either electronic attachments for convenience,
implants to improve capability, or straightup electronic body parts; Cyborgs as you will.
The grenades that are used now are EMP grenades. What they do is send out a pulse of
electromagnetic energy that outright disables most machinery - including AR's, ANIMA's
and incapacitate cyborgs.

Case in point, the ANIMA's that I threw the grenade at are mere sizzling debris now.

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"Shit!

I frantically ran towards the back of the warehouse.

"Davidson!"

No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen. A squad of top of the line ANIMA's, highly
trained cyborgs, wiped out before we knew what hit us! What kind of monster is he?

"Anyone!"

"Ah ah ah, Boss." A voice sounded out behind me.

"You!"

It was him! The intruder that wiped out my whole squad.

"Who are you?!"

I slowly back away, only to see a sealed door behind me.

"Who am I? Am I not the intruder you were looking for, hm? ​Major Richardson." He said
with a smile.

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"Who am I? Am I not the intruder you were looking for, hm? ​Major Richardson," I said in
a playful tune. To be perfectly honest, I don't particularly like this tone of voice. But, it
always serves to panic the enemy, so I use it regardless.

"Now, all of your guys are dead, and here you are, alive and well!" I stepped forward
exaggeratedly.

"You're not just an intruder! No mere intruder can take out an elite squad and have
intercom interference all the way down here."

He continued to breathe raggedly.

"Identify yourself!"

"Hmm..." Now this was problematic. How can I convince him to open the door?

Beep

"Rudolf."

"Ah, Susan."

"I see you're at the door of the objective. Good. That guy in front of you, Major
Richardson, holds the key to opening it. As briefed, you are to infiltrate inside and
implode the workshop."
"Understood."

As Susan and I's conversation came to an end, Boss shouted again, "Hey! You said
Susan right? I only know one Susan that can Assist at this level! And that's from the
highest branch of the military. We provide you with ANIMA's, so why are you here!"

"Tsk."

I let out a sound of irritation.

"You don't need to know that. You only need to open the door and I'll make it as painless
as possible."

On the contrary to my expectations, the madman started laughing, "Ha... hahaha...

hahahaha!"

"What's so funny?"

"You think we sealed this door because we wanted to protect what's inside?"

Boss pointed at the door behind him.

"We sealed the door to protect ourselves! You don't know what's in there!"

I was now close enough to dash through and grab him, which I did. "You don't say
anything. Just open the door and I'll know why."

Surprisingly, he did as told. He pressed his hand on the identification panel, opened the
door, and ran off.

"Rudolf, are you not going to silence him?"

I shook my head. "No point. Better to finish this ASAP than kill that guy"

"Understood."

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I walked inside the workshop. All I saw along the way were destroyed pipes and electric
cables. I expected carnage, but I guess this is much destruction in itself.

I pass through a long hallway with the same scene going on for a while. As I got deeper
and deeper, more destruction along the walls occured.

Before I got to the end of the tunnel, the intercom beeped again.

"Rudolf, before you go, I wanted to let you know that what happened to Elena was..."

"Stop!"

"Rudolf..."
"It's fine, Susan. You don't need to say it."

I clenched my empty fist.

"It was no one's fault. Nobody thought Elena would go AWOL like that on a mission and
never to be heard from again."

"I'm sorry, Rudolf. I know you don't want to hear it, but I still wanted to say it. The Brass
(Upper Echelons of the Military) might be angry at the loss of a Ranger (Top Class
Operatives of the military. Most of the time are black ops or under the radar), but at the
end of the day, she was just another tool to them."

Sigh

Susan, you are too good of a person to me, despite all the arguments we have.

"It's fine, Susan. We all knew what we signed up for when we took the post."

It's not fine, at all. I seethe with rage when I heard it, but I needed to be composed, or
else I wouldn't have found the lead here.

"Susan... if I don't come back from this mission, I want you to forget about me."

"Shut up..."

"I might not make it back ali-"

"Shut up, Rudolf Anderson! You don't get to say that! Not after all we've been through
together." I could hear her sobs from the intercom, but, like she was before, I felt that I
needed to say it.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Susan."

I closed my eyes as I prepared myself.

"I'm going."

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Bzzt Kak

Loose and open electric wirings buzzed as they swayed from the ceiling and cracked
from the walls.

I continued forward with dread slowly filling up my emotions.

I reached the end of the hallway to be greeted by a large glass dome. There was nothing
much else in the room other than the loose wirings and broken terminals.

There seemed to be a humanoid figure in the dome, but I paid it no mind. I was here to
take the files from a certain terminal and destroy the workshop.
I proceeded to walk towards said terminal, but it was too broken for data to be extracted,
and I was at a loss.

As I was thinking on what to do, I heard a knock.

Knock

I thought it was the wind, so I ignored it.

Knock Knock

I heard it again, and I saw the humanoid figure up against the glass.

It was an ANIMA, though none that I recognized.

"...Hello?"

"..."

It continued to stare at me.

"Do you... not recognize me?"

"Am I supposed to?" I asked. I have definitely not seen neither a person nor an ANIMA
that even looked remotely like her.

"It's me... brother..."

As soon as she finished her words, it was like lightning in my mind.

"Brother... it's me... Elena" She said as tears fell on her face.

"You're lying!"

I screamed at her. It was unnerving. My built-up stress over the past few months and this
ANIMA stuck in a glass dome is spouting nonsense that she was my sister?

Bang Bang Bang

I shot at the dome to no avail. It was bulletproof, and she was safe inside.

"You don't believe me?" She held her hands atop her mouth whilst continuing to cry.

The words that came out of her mouth shattered me. She told of my childhood with
Elena. How we grew up, how we came about the military, and how we became Rangers.

"Oh my sweet baby, Elena."

I caressed the glass dome in front of where she was.

"What happened to you?"

She explained to me what happened to her. She was abducted from her last mission
because Octagon needed top quality specimens to perform their experiment on. We
twins were amongst the top candidates, and Elena was unlucky enough to get caught.

The experiment they ran on her was to see if a human brain could be interfaced while
keeping the personality intact. Special Units like Susan, unlike common belief of having
processing power equal to 10 supercomputers, were actually an integration of a
preserved human brain to a high quality ANIMA model. Hence, they are ANIMA but the
personality traits often form around the host brain.

The experiment they ran on her, however, wished to keep the ego intact as it is
transplanted to an ANIMA. A reach for immortality, perhaps? But I didn't want to think of
it. Elena was a victim, and we need to leave ASAP.

"Elena, we need to get you out of here! Octagon is moving their resources and they're
nearly done by now. I think they're gonna blow up the warehouse and blame the military
for it."

"We can't Rudolf. I've tried. I have access to everything here. I tried to overload the
systems but it just locked me in this Dome. I can't get out, and they sealed the entrance
so that they could bury me along with the facility."

Beep

"Rudolf, this is Susan, you need to get out of there soon. They're done transporting the
items in the crates and they're about to blow."

"Listen, Susan..."

I explained to her what happened.

"God... they are truly as inhuman as they said. To perform this experiment."

"Hey..."

I interrupted her.

"Remember what we talked about earlier, Susan?"

"You don't mean...?!"

"Yes, Susan. This is goodbye."

"No...!!!" I faintly heard her woes as I threw the intercom away.

"I won't leave you to die here, Elena."

"Brother..."

We touched each other's foreheads through the glass. Through fire and flames, since
childhood.
FIN.