Chapter 7: Family bonds.
After a few more days, Nero finally started baking his goods! Bread of different kinds, cakes and pizza had been added to the menu. Thanks to a few weeks of practice, baking for his brother, he had gotten very proficient with it. Maro loved being the taste tester too. It was always impressive just how good his little brother was with this stuff. He merely helped with mixing at home. At the job though, Nero had to focus a lot on baking now. Claude helped out here and there, but baking wasn’t much of his focal point in the kitchen. At least, not in that direction.
While all that happened, Maro got used to spending a bit more time with Zoe. Nero had a few responsibilities to take care of, like baking and shopping. Occasionally, Maro even headed out to fetch some stuff for his brother. Although while out in the shopping district, the older droid couldn’t quite shake off the feeling that he was being watched… As a result, he started to hurry a little bit here and there. But after another week, his paranoia started to settle a bit.
Today, Maro was heading out to hang out with Percival and his friends. They occasionally invited him over for games and stuff during off-times. Initially, it was just Rorik’s idea, until Percy opened up and did it himself a few times. But once Nero tagged along and brought some baked goods along, the whole crew started to like the androids. Lately however, Nero was a bit occupied with his baking for the club. Something that he was sure wouldn’t last forever, but right now, he had to offer variety to see what sticks.
Maro arrived at the mercenaries office. It doubled as their place to stay while they were at the station with a standard small apartment living space on the second floor. Once there, Maro rang the door. Holding a pie that Nero made specifically for the occasion. He was greeted by the bulky Hyena with a smile and waved him in with a friendly “Hey there, Maro! Come in” before stepping aside to let the android pass. They headed right upstairs, where Percy was lounging in a beanbag chair, playing video games. Not a sight one got to see often, to have the wolf relax instead of doing tech stuff. He was only in his boxer shorts though, which didn’t seem to please Rorik too much. Putting his hands on his hips in a stern pose: “Come on now, Percy. I told you to put something on. We have a guest!” Meanwhile the wolf just glanced over, too focused on the game he was playing to avert his gaze for long: “Does it matter? Maro, you mind?”
The droid stiffened up a bit for a moment, always a bit nervous with the wolf’s attitude: “No! Not at all.” Just a moment later, one of the doors in the hallway opened and Jay rushed out. “Maro! Did you bring your brother? I NEED some of that banana bread from last time! Oh…” She noticed her guest holding a pie instead, “Now, that's not a banana bread, but if it is only half as good, I ain’t complaining.”
The android was used to their antics to some degree, chuckling at the tall feline woman. “I’m sorry, but my bro is too busy today. But I can ask him to make you some! He is … very busy with trying to find a good variety for the club. You guys should check in there if you wanna get some of his baking!” Maro explained, placing the pie on the table. Everyone was set to get one piece, but Terry was missing. The android was confused about where they were. Though no one seemed to know, Percy filled in where the others didn’t pay attention: “What do you think? He went out to hook up with some chick. Let him. Who knows how long our job will take starting tomorrow.”
Maro took a seat and cocked a brow at the wolf: “Oh? You guys are gone for a while again?”
Jay was too busy to stuff her face with the piece of pie she took, and Rorik was a bit too afraid to get in her way for now. So he nodded at their guest: “Yeah, just like … three or four days. Nothing all that special. It's a government job. They found something related to your friends, aka the suspicious ones. We are meant to check in that they aren’t doing anything fishy in a different system. Can take a while.
Maro had no idea what that could mean, but the more comes out about those guys, the better. If there is nothing to worry about, that will come to light as well for sure.
Maro had his own slice of pie, then joined Percy in some games! Though as usual, this was a bit of a lost cause if it was any kind of competition. The wolf had no chill and his … ‘special’ mind was overly competent at controlling a game. Luckily, that also meant co-op games were a breeze. Unless he messed up at which point Maro could swear he saw Percy’s eye twitch.
Rorik and Jay mostly watched. Only the Hyena took a turn to play against Maro in one of their games once while Percy took his share of the pie. This was much more fair for the android for sure. Being on the more simple side when it came to competitions, Maro definitely got the upper hand over Rorik in no time!
Of course, since they had to head out eventually in the morning, the mercenaries had to get some rest. Having enjoyed his stay, the android said his byes and wished them good luck, before finally heading out back home. But before he left, they still had to ask him something...
It was pretty late. Nero had long finished all his preparations and was just kinda relaxing by himself. Watching vines, videos and playing some games as well. But he knew where Maro was, and how they could get when around friends! So there was no worry. After the tiredness caught up to the younger sibling, he just opted to go to bed. Maybe Maro just stayed there a little longer tonight. By tomorrow, he would have to be back anyway. They had work to do.
The next morning, Nero woke up, just to find Maro still not in his bed. Now, the younger droid became a little concerned. Did his brother stay at the mercenaries place? But he wouldn’t do that without messaging him, would he? Nero couldn’t believe that he was the one getting all worried this time around.
Giving it the benefit of the doubt, the baker prepared all the food he had prepared for the club today, before heading out straight away. At Varié, Maro was still nowhere to be seen. So he hoped that would change in the next few minutes. Not even getting ready until he would see his brother. By now way too concerned. Once that didn’t change even after his shift started, Nero headed into Inukira’s office. The Protogen was there, laying half over the table, passed out. It looks like he worked the whole night through something. But the droid wasn’t here for jokes. He walked up to the desk, put his hand on his boss’s shoulder, then started shaking them enough to see that visor turn on with a small startup blink. Inu groaned, then yawned as he straightened up in his chair. Scratching the back of one of his ears, before lazily staring at his employee: “Wha? Nero? How late is it…”
Nero didn’t have the nerve to take it too easy on the proto, clearly being very nervous right now: “Mine and Maro’s shift just started. But that is the problem. Where is Maro?”
Inu slowly woke up, not quite catching on right away with his sleepy brain still catching up. “Uhm … isn’t that what I would ask you?” He wondered, stretching his arms and back.
Nero cocked a brow: “Exactly! He is missing! Where did he go? After he went to our friends yesterday…” Then it clicked. He could ask the mercenaries! “Right! I can call them and see what they know…
Inu came to some more and grumbled a bit: “If I didn’t know better, I’d still ask if they are trustworthy. But you wouldn’t be here if they weren’t. And they pay generously when they eat here!”
Nero barely listened, instead typing in his contacts with the mercenaries. Sure enough, Percy picked up right away: “Hello? What is it, Nero? Thanks for the pie yesterday by the way.” The wolf sounded the same as usual. The droid on the other hand was very tense: “Thanks, so he was there? Did he spontaneously tag along with you or what happened?” Percy visibly cocked a brow and tilted his head, a hint of concern even visible on his face: “Him? You mean your brother? No, we don’t take people along if we don’t need to.” So for Nero, this meant he had to have left, but there was no reason not to be sure. “Well, yeah. Maro is missing. He didn’t come back home, and isn't here at work either. I gave him the benefit of the doubt at first, but he clearly isn’t anywhere. To be found. Maro would never just stay away without telling me.” The younger droid explained with growing concern. Percy then looked over, presumably to his partners, before back to Nero. “Well, if we weren’t already almost through the jump, I would have offered to help you out. But all I can do is keep in touch if we find something on the job. No promisses.” Percy replied, neutral, but giving a certain hint of care. And of course, this ticked off Nero. Something MUST have happened! He hung up after nodding, then directly faced Inu, who by now also started to grow suspicious: "That's it. I can't work like this. I will go and check the whole space station! Even the business district if I have to!”
Inu then walked around the desk and put his hand on their shoulder: “Calm… Go ahead, but leave the business district to me. I will check in on the main suspect in case someone is behind this.” Nero only nodded and headed for the door. “Good, call me if you find anything.” He said, then heading out to search the entire colony.
Once Nero left, Inu shook off what sleepiness he had left. He had his own suspicions, but first, he had to take a quick tour of the Club. Natalia had to be informed that she was in charge for a bit and if anyone knew something. Zoe was desperate to help and check too, but the Proto just had to tell her off. Someone had to play the waiter while Amanita was not present yet. Once done, Inukira headed out himself.
Nero was rushing right over to the shopping district. There wasn’t much hope that he would find anything there, but a start is a start. Just as he rushed in, he almost ran right into a familiar face! It was Bram! They lightly collided, just for Nero to grab him to make sure the hybrid didn’t lose balance. “Oh god, sorry. I am in a hurry Bram.” He explained, but before the droid could move on, Bram stopped him: “Hey hey, calm down for a second. What's wrong, Nero? And since when do I just see you by yourself without your brother?”
The androids had run into him every so often. He was a trusted acquaintance, but never really got on another level with the two. Although his … interest in Maro was not overlooked by Nero, he had bigger worries than to think about that. “Well, Maro is missing. Not at work, not at home since yesterday and not a single message from him even after I texted him. I don’t know what happened, but I need to find him quick!” The droid explained, a bit shaky in his tone. The concern started to show itself in his overall demeanor. Bram was quite shocked by this himself! After all, he DID genuinely care a lot more about Maro than he probably should: “Oh fuck, you should have come to me right away! Look, I will drop anything I am doing right now and help you look around for any clues, how about it?”
Nero couldn’t help but smile briefly, shaking the mercenary’s hand. “Y-yes! Thank you. How should we get started?” He wondered, very inpatient. But luckily, Bram didn’t waste any time at all: “You keep looking around here, I go and check the industrial area and hangar bay. I'm gonna make sure to look through everything I can find and let no one leave before I get to check their cargo! Let's meet here again in an hour.”
The droid replied with a quick “Understood”, before running right off. And so did Bram, heading right for the industrial sector.
Inukira was already on his way through the entrance of the business district. The guards seemed a little distracted compared to usual, but they just gave Inu an affirmative nod, knowing he was well authorized to be there. Aside from that, nothing appeared out of the ordinary. The protogen eventually reached the Avalon building. The reception greeted him as friendly as ever and upon asking for his cousin, the woman quickly called the office. But shortly after Inu received an unusual response: “Oh, Mister Avalon himself appears to have passed out over a night shift. We had been notified about this being the case by the staff working right under him. You might want to come back later”
Inu just scoffed, displeased by that response and headed for the elevator anyway. “I don’t care if he is asleep or not. I will make use of my authority and see him right now.” The proto said with determination as he headed right into the elevator. All the receptionist dared to reply quietly was: “Please, don’t get me in trouble…” before the doors closed.
On the elevator ride, Inu took note of some of these details. His brother fell asleep overnight? That was what happened to him too. He only now realized that he didn’t remember having stayed up that long, nor worked all that hard. A mere coincidence with such effects? Not very likely. But he would get answers from Leifer in no time.
Once the doors opened, he took a step out of the elevator and heard a high pitched beep right away! The elevator locked behind and the automated system spoke in a feminine robotic voice: “Emergency lock-down. Please wait for the problems to be resolved.”
This wasn't good. What was going on? “Someone had to be behind this”, he thought, then spotted a small motion sensor near the elevator. This was telling. Inu then rushed right into the large office room of his cousin and found … nobody. Leifer wasn’t here to begin with. And no one even knew about it. Then there must be more to this after all!
Immediately, the Protogen went to the desk and contacted the reception. Notifying them that they need to fix the elevator or he will be stuck. She was shocked and immediately sent someone to figure it out. In the meantime, Inu checked all the drawers and files on and in the desk. There was not much to be found that helped him at all though. So he went to check the other offices that were on this floor along the corridor leading up to Leifer’s big one. There were a handful of duds, most of which just mentioned various business matters one would expect from Avalon. However, one was a little different. This one’s Avalon related business was only covering a bunch of vague notes and references. Many things about various techs. Primarily body related modifications, enhancements and biotechnology. Sure, Avalon also worked with this sort of thing, but non of this seemed to be any local projects. They appeared more like foreign tech, found in other places. Eventually, one of the papers mentioned a location. One that stuck out to Inu right away. But he also heard the robotic elevator voice say something, figuring it was back in action. Not risking being found snooping and getting into trouble himself, the proto headed right out and waited for the elevator to arrive and the technician who fixed it greeted Inu with a friendly smile. “All back in working order, Sir! Come right in!” He said, and Inu did just that with a nod. No smiles, no words exchanged. The proto was too lost in his thoughts. What did all this mean?
He barely stopped to tell the receptionist that Leifer wasn’t even here, which visibly shocked her. And after that, he just left. These people couldn’t have anything to do with the whole thing, or they wouldn’t have made it this easy. No need to involve them further.
In the meantime, Nero had returned to the meetup spot. No one seemed to know anything and he couldn’t find any clues or suspicions to go off of at all. But a few minutes later, Bram also returned. He looked over a list that he now carried around. But once he noticed Nero, the mercenary just halted in place. “Yo, I checked everything, but this isn’t helping us very much. No one at the hangar knew a thing, I even used scanning tech to check some of the cargo in a bit of an illegal move right there and the best I got is this list of ships that took off between the time you said your brother left home, all the way up to now. We can't tell who any of them belong to though. Nor what they carried.” Nero was starting to get frustrated: “There has to be something we can do… I swear, if this is a lot of nothing, I will give my brother an ear full for making me worry so much.”
A bit later, on his way back towards the club, Inukira just so happened to also pass by the shopping district. Hearing the android’s conversation with Bram and joining the two of them: “Oh, this is something, alright…” He started, causing Nero to perk up and look towards his boss: “Inu! Did you find any clues or…?”
Inu nodded. “Absolutely. I went right to Avalon to check in on some suspicions I had. You know, getting worst case scenarios out of the way. … They are real. My cousin is gone, there was a trap in the office to get whoever goes up there stuck to buy time and everyone was told that my cousin is probably asleep from overworking himself.” The protogen then proceeded to tell Bram and Nero about what he heard from Leifer last time he was invited. About the CEO’s interest in the androids and how much he would have liked to have them studied for tech advancements. This pretty much painted a picture for the three of them. Nero elaborated and put it all together for three of them to clear it all up: “So, you are saying your cousin went to have Maro kidnapped, planning a whole thing in this lab somewhere on the planet down below us and tried to waste as much time as possible being found out. Fucking prick… I will wring his neck for messing with my brother!”
Both Inu and Bram were slightly taken aback from the change in the usually friendly and kind android. But as the hybrid looked over the list again, he noticed something: “Oh hey, that checks out! One of the ships late in the evening yesterday took off down towards the planet. It was the only one. Although apparently it is not listed as an Avalon brand space-ship.” Inu shrugged it off. “Well, of course he doesn’t want to make it too obvious.” He concluded, obviously rather angry himself.
Nero was brooding for a moment, thinking about his options. He even sent a message to the mercenaries that his whole suspicion was as good as confirmed now. And after that, the android turned towards the mercenary: “Hey, Bram. You said if I had a favor to ask, you’d be here to listen, right?”
Bram simply smirked wide, already knowing what the android was thinking. “My ship is in the hangar. I will blow the place sky high with ya all you want! Meet me there in half an hour. The sooner you are ready, the better.” And Nero replied with a nod straight away, before running off. Inu just grumbled, angry with the whole situation. He didn’t say a thing, so the mercenary just shrugged it off and went to prepare for his latest mission.
Nero gathered the most basic things. But he also put on some more fitting clothes that would be better suited to sneak around and potentially do combat with. Being close with some well equipped mercenaries comes with a few benefits in terms of form-fitting battle suits. Although he could never afford having them build him truly high tech equipment, nor was he allowed to carry weapons. And it wasn't like the siblings were expecting to require a license. He carried a few basic tools, a knife and a set of bandages, just out of principle really. All carried in a small bag, as he headed out for the hangar.
Once there, the first face he met however, wasn’t even Bram. It was Inu. The protogen was in a much more suiting attire himself. Leather armor. And unlike the droid, Inu actually had a full on handgun strapped to his hip. High tech, laser with stun features. A pretty common self-defense weapon. He stood there, leaning against what could only be assumed to be Bram’s ship. “Oh hey, Nero. Finally got here as well?” The club-owner almost teased.
The droid just scoffed: “So you wanna have a piece of them as well?”
“Look, my cousin and I never got along. But this? I finally got an excuse to beat some sense into him, so I'm gonna take it! Oh, yeah. And Bram was here a moment ago. Just taking care of something before we can head out.”
Like on cue, the hybrid mercenary returned just a moment later. He was dressed in a pretty advanced combat suit. Greeting Nero the moment he saw them: “Oh, there you are! Ready to head out? This baby here will take us down to the planet in less than five minutes.” The canine tapped against his space-ship, opening the door on the back of it, which turns out to be the entrance.
The ship was a bit on the bulky side. Just a simple spacecraft that had enough seats and cargo space, while also fast enough to get to places in no time.
Nero nodded in turn and was about to just head right in the moment Bram did: “Yeah, definitely. Lets not waste any time and get going then.”
Bram agreed and headed inside, followed by his two guests.
On the inside, the ship was a decent bit cramped. Clearly it served as Bram’s home, judging by the bed on the side of the main room. He even apologized for not keeping it a bit more organized. But towards the front of the craft, there was the cockpit. And enough seats for four. This wasn't a tour of the place after all, so they all just took their seats and got ready. While doing all the checks on the machine to see if all systems are ready, Bram directed a few words towards Nero: “By the way. While the engine is warming up… Does Maro have a suit like you are wearing? They look fucking nice on you…”
Nero just narrowed his eyes at the Mercenary. “Look, I usually don’t mind comments on how much you might like me or my brother and all that flirting, but can we focus on saving him? My mood isn’t exactly good right now.” Nero replied with a, for him, unusual seriousness.
“Right right! My bad!” Bram returned nervously. The last thing he wanted to do is to piss off the androids.
Soon after, everything was ready, and they got the ok from the hangar to take off. So they did and headed right towards the planet below!
On the way, Bram elaborated some of the details: “Alright. To prevent smuggling and such, most crafts have to announce their travel details. AKA, where they are intending to go. Of course, no one keeps surveillance and once you reach a place, you can always just take off somewhere else too if you want to make sure they take record of your arrival. Unannounced departure is considered a suspicious activity. It can even lead to fines if you do it often enough. Anyway… this particular ship supposedly headed to a facility down on the surface, almost directly down beneath us. We will not be able to land there however. These places have sensors for nearby space-crafts. And the last thing we want is to alert them right away. So I will land us about a Kilometer away from the goal. I will get to a handful of problems this causes once we land…”
Nero could only wonder, meanwhile Inu had a handful of ideas of what those problems could be.
The ship landed with a thud in a small clearing. Nothing unusual happened, but the three were finally able to leave the ship. Feeling some real gravity pull them down to the ground again for a change. It was a slightly above average mass planet, so to Inu and Bram, the gravity was a little more difficult to handle. Nothing they didnt get used to soon enough. It was part of the danger of this world.
Just as Nero was about to get up and leave the ship, Bram and Inu stopped him. The mercenary continued his explanation like he promised: “Wait, Nero. The path from here to the building isn’t far. But there are other problems. You see, this planet is not inhabited for a reason. The nature here is excessive. In fact, I will need a filtration device, and bring one for Inu as well. Staying outside for too long will otherwise give me oxygen poisoning. But another thing… A lot of oxygen means larger lifeforms. This planet is riddled with large fauna. But worst of all: Super advanced predators. Those things can get up to the size of a building! Mammals, reptiles, you name it. We have to stick together and keep our weapons ready. They should work on them no problem and in the end, those creatures are still just wild beasts trying to survive, so they won't take a fight that is too dangerous.”
Nero was a bit taken aback. He heard there was some form of danger that kept people from coming here, and why it was usually not allowed for bystanders to just take a ship to the planet. But this? That sounded a lot more serious. The droid nodded, saying “Understood” as he waited for the other two to get ready. And then, all of them stepped foot on the lush, forest planet they found themselves on.
The trees were big, but looked normal otherwise. Same with any other plants. It was almost like they were miniature, if it wasn’t for some more average plants as well. Bram took the lead. He knew exactly where the facility was thanks to a satellite mapping device. In the meantime, Nero just looked up. Scanning the sky. Eventually spotting a dot high up above them. Poking Inu with his elbow: “Look, I can see our home from here.”
Inu didn’t seem too amused, nor interested. But just sighed as he rubbed his arm: “I think I need a break after this…” After which Nero just got concerned. “Are you ok, Inu? If something is wrong, I gladly listen. We are friends after all. My own worries don’t overshadow my care for you!” Nero reassured his boss.
The visor just showed a droopy, depressed expression the whole time. “I’m sorry, but am I really? A friend should have told you about my cousin’s intentions. You guys would have been more careful that way. Besides, this whole mess is caused by MY family in the end. Please… let us just focus on the mission for now. Your brother is more important.” Inukira replied with a somber tone, not willing to even continue the conversation, and Nero could only wonder why they were so rough on themselves.
A kilometer was not a long distance, all things considered. However, despite there being somewhat of a path, this was not a civilized planet. It was crude, uneven, no dirt-roads that formed over years. In the distance, there were sounds of all types of creatures. Even Bram proved to be rather on edge: “Listen you two. We might be safe right now, but this can change at any given moment in time. Don’t drop your guard. Especially you, Nero. You don’t even have a weapon and I didn’t bring a spare that would be safe for you to use.”
Both of them knew Bram was right, but they had a hard time actually keeping their head clear and focused on their surroundings. The concerns or guilt, whatever it was the two were struggling with respectively, was pretty hard to ignore.
Not much later, Bram rejoiced. He spotted something in the distance. So dawning some of the climbing based features of his suit, he excused himself to get to the top of the nearest tree. Scouting ahead and indeed, they were rapidly approaching the Facility. Tall antennae could be spotted in the distance. Just as this happened though, he just saw the trees nearby rustle and shake. Leaves knocked loose along with growls. But where he could immediately deduce what this meant, it was way too late to warn the others. Not that it was likely they even properly heard him from all the way up here!
Down on the ground, Inu and Nero weren’t oblivious to the noise. But knowing the threat was approaching was only so useful. This was a large beast for sure, they knew even before the creature appeared. But when it did, it was almost stunning! Nero couldn’t believe it… A large mammalian beast. Blueish gray fur, large paws and big, sharp teeth. It was gunning right for Inu, as if to try and snatch him up with his maw. The thing looked like an in between of a wolf and a fox. Sleek, not quite the size of a building, but huge regardless. Luckily, Inukira was not as stunned as Nero. He pulled out the gun and shot a blast right into the creature’s gullet as it practically lunged at them for a bite. The shot hit, the pain immediately shifted the animal’s focus. Shutting its muzzle with pained yelps. But it instead tried to stomp on the little thing that hurt him. His large paw coming down above Inu, about to squish the protogen. But just as Inu cowered, unable to dodge in time, he realized he was fine. The shadow of the thing above him is still all around. But when looking up, Inukira saw Nero. The android had stepped in, hands up, grabbing at the beast’s paw to keep it from pushing down any further. Since it was more of a slap, the pressure wasn’t the same through the entire ordeal, but it was still one hell of a strength test. Nero was using all his artificial strength his body could provide, struggling to keep it up. “Y-you alright, Inu?!” He asked, strained and struggling. But the Proto just nodded, in utter awe at the sheer strength the android could muster despite his slender frame. But he could also tell it was their limit.
After a bit longer however, the beast let up on pushing, instead swatting at Nero. Sending the droid flying as the impact was enough to break bones. The claws even slashing away at his right arm and leg in the process. Nero gasped and cried out at the shock of it all, but before anyone could check on him, the beast was roaring as if ready for another attack. But just as it looked like it would be getting at least one of them, a shot hit the beast right in the eye. The yelping was loud and telling, and the bravado turned into fear as the beast immediately turned tail. The shot came from Bram, of course. He was dangling upside down from the tree he was trying to get off of throughout the entire encounter, proving his shooting skills to both of his clients. Though sadly, it was a bit too late. The damage was done, and Inu rushed over to Nero, calling out his name in a hurry: “Nero! Are you alright!?” But the android was not quite responding. He clearly was conscious, shivering and slowly opening his eyes with a grunt. The wounds on his arm and leg looked vaguely red, but quickly made sure to prove just how artificial he was on the inside. None of that mattered to Inu, nor Bram by the time he finally joined them. And at last, Nero managed to come to his senses properly: “Nnnnff… G-god, here I almost forget I have pain sensors… And then they are triggered like THIS? F-fuck…” Bram then began to examine the android’s wounds. Feeling the arm and leg, as well as many other places that might have been injured by the impact. “It does not look like any of your bones … uhm … main structural frame, was damaged. Everything seems to be in place. It looks like your body stops the bleeding of your artificial blood on its own. Given the lack of danger of infection, do you think you can go on or do we have to turn back?”
The gashes were huge, almost entire parts of his thigh were gone. But Nero still shook his head. “No, we need to move on. My brother needs us. Let me just…” He started before trying to get up. Not managing very well until Inu helped him. But once the android was back on his legs, even if one was heavily damaged, it still carried him well enough. … Not without visibly shaking though, “See? I can keep going. Lets not waste any time before another thing shows up…”
Mentioning that, Bram scoffed: “Oh, right. You know, I forgot about that for a second. We need to move.”
Inu kept supporting Nero and together, they approached the facility relatively swiftly. The android didn’t need full support to remain upright, luckily enough. Both his left limbs were weakened, but not out of commission. Inu felt even more guilty now, but was first and foremost worried about his friend: “Why did you do all that? What if you broke? Your brother would not have wanted that, you know?”
Nero scoffed. “Come now, Inu. You are my friend. If you wanna blame yourself for your family’s actions or not is frankly irrelevant to me. I do not care who you are related to. It wasn’t you who did it, and you didn’t expect your cousin to go these lengths. What am I supposed to blame you for? Hell, without you, we wouldn’t even know where to go.” The droid elaborated.
By this point, the three of them had reached the main gate. The facility was protected by electric fences and sounds that animals despised, tuned to not be heard by the people actually coming here. But Inu kept on the conversation instead: “I don’t know… It's not easy not to blame myself. Maybe for now, let's just make sure you and your brother both get out of this. Ok?”
Nero just smiled in his usual friendly fashion. Although some of the pain clearly still present and making his expression a bit twitchy.
The three of them headed around the building, where Bram found the landing pad with the exact shuttle on it that they were tracking. But something else stood out to the mercenary: “You know, don’t you think it is kinda off how much they care about keeping ship sensors up, yet there is so little security? The entrance over there is literally just a series of ray-shields to stabilize the oxygen.” He said, heading right for the entrance. But it seemed like Inu had a few answers ready. “There is not much need for defenses. They have something in play to keep the fauna away and otherwise, this is a basic research outpost. By the looks of it, it is one of the older ones. Avalon had invested a lot into these research projects from what I remember. What use a company like them has for researching this planet is beyond me though. Point is: No one would have a reason to raid these places. There is nothing to be gained. At least, not once you got the chance to come here. And besides. Unnecessary defenses not only cost, but also make you look more suspicious to the government. Like you got something to hide.”
Bram just hummed, taking in the information while peeking into the lab to check if everything is clear.
On the inside, the lab had a lot of heavy machinery. All of them being merely for loading and unloading cargo, or working on machines. It looks like there had been a few vehicles used to explore the planet safely in the past.
Nero kept limping along with Inu, looking around the place as well. They checked out if there could be any clues strewn about where to go or the like, but ultimately, the place was empty. Useless even. The only boxes that were newer were some basic Avalon-brand boxes near the only door. But after looking around for a little while, with Nero taking a seat to rest for a second, suddenly the transmission of the vehicle bay started up. Everyone was shocked. Had they already been discovered? And then, a female voice broke through the intercom: “Greetings! You all are not supposed to be here. Dad can't have you roaming around, or he won't get his studies done in time. And I can't afford that to happen. Who are you anyway?”
Nero looked towards the observation and control room to the side of the bay. The blinds were closed, but someone was clearly behind it. No one could tell who or what they were talking to though.
Inu got mad right away, not even giving whoever they were interacting with a moment to keep their friendly act: “Shut it, we are here to get a friend back. You have one chance to hand them over and maybe we forget about this.”
The voice seemed a little displeased by his tone. “Hmpf, who would have expected anything less than such audacity from Avalon Protogens. I don’t see why I should even bother delivering any of your demands! In fact, I should just make sure you gotta stay here until dad can see what type of punishment you need.” She said with a cold tone through the transmission. What she meant was a bit vague at first, but there were no security doors in a place like this either. So instead, the woman made the giant ceiling crane spring to life! Immediately, it unfurled and turned, facing Nero, who quickly was supported by Inu to get a move on and dodge a grabbing attempt from the machine. But the moment it twisted and readied for another grab with its pincer, sparks began to fly from the rail at the very top. Metal bending, creaking and cracking. Then it budged, the rail had given out and kept on creaking as if bent further and further. What was about to happen was very obvious. So knowing he was just slowing down Inu, Nero used all the force of his right arm to forcibly push the proto out of the way right into Bram’s arms, before the thing came crashing down hard! Along with scrap and rubble from the ceiling that had given out.
It all came crashing down, fully trashing a good portion of the vehicle bay. Bram immediately cried out for Nero who didn’t get out. The transmission just finished with a quick “Geez…” after which whoever was there had ditched the room entirely.
The silence was almost deafening. Inu was shocked that Nero had sacrificed himself like this. An android like him was sturdy, but surviving about a ton of metal? There was no guarantee for that. If the heavy machinery dropped on his head, he might be done for. But before they could grow silent, they heard some metallic sounds. Like scrap being moved from behind the whole mess. And then, a voice: “Inu? Bram? I-I am alright! Are you?”
A weight was lifted on both of them. The android was fine. And Inu immediately went to try and drag the heavy rubble and metal out of the way. “Thank goodness, you are alright. Wait a moment, we will get you out.” The Protogen reassured. But not even a moment later, Nero replied: “No no, you two have to keep going! I will find a way around. There is a door here that supposedly leads down, so maybe I can find a way of my own. Save my brother, will you?”
Reluctantly, Inukira sighed. He couldn’t really move any of this, not even with Bram helping out. Hell, not even Nero could move any of the heavy stuff right now. If only he wasn’t in a bad shape. “Alright, fine. But we wont leave without you, you hear?” Inu growled back at him. Not at all happy with the situation, but willing to focus while he knew Nero was alright. Bram nodded, then immediately headed to the door that led further into the facility. It was open, so he nodded further inside. Weapons drawn and ready for threats, just for Inu to pull out his own gun to prepare for any type of encounter they might face along the way.
Nero in the meantime had to get out of the rubble. He was entirely unharmed from the crumbling ceiling, but instinctively, he was concerned about his injuries getting dirty. Even if that wasn’t necessary. Once fully back up, he looked around. But the only way for him to go was a door. Where did it lead? He didn’t know exactly. But the sign implied it was going to a lower floor.
The droid had to move slowly. The pain was negligible by now, but the weakness could lead to him falling all over again and making it worse once more. Using anything to lean on for support, Nero opened the door and was greeted with a fire-exit type of stair. Made of thin metal grating. The moment the droid stepped onto it, he already dreaded having to go down. The lighting in the room was sparse, but he could see the floor. It was a solid story or two down. But Nero kept going.
He slowly made his way down the first stair. More and more sounds of decay could be heard from the metal construct. Then, half way down the second stair there was again this telling noise. Metal bending and tearing. And suddenly, with a loud snap, the rust of the stair took its price. It broke loose, and the worn out parts left attached towards the bottom half of the stair couldn’t support the android. The leverage put enough force onto the structure to bend the stair and then, Nero made another mistake. Trying to hold on to the left side of the railing. … With his injured arm. The pain was immediate and the strength in that arm was so low as well, causing him to drop down the rest of the way down to the bottom of the room.
The landing was harsh, and the pain in his limbs immediately returned from the heavy strain, but otherwise, it was merely a decently heavy impact on his butt. Nothing he couldn’t walk off. Sadly, the room was somewhat flooded. A few inches of dirty water have built up down here, soaking and staining the droid’s fur and clothes. But Nero didn’t care. He shook it off once he got back up. Taking a few steps around, cursing his own misfortune and pain audibly.
The room he was in was tall and a bit long. But he could see the dim light above another door towards the end of the room. At the very side of it. The room was very dark otherwise. It didn’t scare Nero at first. … Until he realized, he was not actually alone…
“Hello? I heard you cursing…" said a voice from the end of the room. Nero froze up for a second, but the sound of the voice was very … devoid of emotion. Not robotic, yet with a bit of an artificial undertone. “Uhm, hello! I … didn’t mean to barge in, whatever or whoever is talking.” He returned carefully. But then the stranger continued, talking calmly: “Oh, no worries. I am the least threatening thing here, I assure you. Now, who might you be? Another failed test-subject? I can see you are weak too.”
Nero carefully approached the source of the words, and the closer he got, the more did the limited light there was outline a … person. But this one … they looked very sickly and damaged. … No, almost unfinished. But what exactly this person was meant to be was hard to tell. It looked more like an animatronic than a traditional robot or android.
Nero was still nervous, but he replied honestly: “I am no test subject. … Well, not technically. My name is Nero. I came here to save my brother from someone. Are you also a captive?”
The robotic individual tilted his head. “Really? You look artificial. I can see it in your damaged limbs. But yes. Unintentionally, I became a captive. A captive of my misfortune, of circumstance. My name is Nouvele. I have been trapped in this room for … a long time. No one is looking for me.”
Nero blinked, looking at the door. It was slightly elevated, with a metal grate in front of it with clearly missing stairs as well. It was a little below chest height for the android, and the stranger was visibly taller than him. Even if he was sitting against the wall like that. So he just went “Uhm…” In a confused tone, he climbed up to the door and checked. It was open. “What stops you from leaving?”
Nouvele followed Nero with his gaze, then just stared for a little while before sighing. The mechanical creature didn’t seem to judge the android for his lack of assumptions: “My body barely functions. Allow me.”
Nouvele turned to crawl on all four towards the door. Trying to drag himself up onto the elevation, but after some audible strain, just slightly lifted himself up. Sure, climbing wasn’t easy for the android either with his injuries, but he still managed. This guy though? No chance. “You see? It is … a failure in every way. This is why I was discarded. … Or rather, forgotten.”
Nero knew immediately this wouldn’t do. He could not let the stranger just be like this. They appeared about on the same level as himself in terms of mental capacity. For however long they been here, it must have been a torture.
After a bit of thinking on it, Nero settled on it. He was going to help them. “Alright, I get you out of here, you hear? You come along with me, together we find a way out and you tell me what happened to you along the way, how about it?”
The stranger just stared again. But it was more of a glare of surprise. Someone who wanted to help him? Clearly not a thing he encountered a lot. “You want to help me? … I mean … sure. I will gladly tell you what I know.” He replied, some disbelief in his voice.
Nero just chuckled to himself: “Of course! No funny business and I will help you out! Just stay there and give me a second…”
The android went back down to the wet floor below, going up behind Nouvele before grabbing them as best he could. The whole damaged limb problem again made itself a nuisance, but along with Nouvele trying his best to crawl up and into the door, it just took a bit of effort until the strange robot could make it out of the room for the first time in who knows how long. And Nero followed suit after just a quick breather from the effort.
In the hallway they found themselves in, Nero found Nouvele, trying to stand up. Struggling a lot, visibly. By the time Nero limped into the hall as well, he simply helped the fellow mechanical being to get up properly. Even offering himself as support. “So, we can take a moment to relax now that we are out of the wet area and you tell me a bit about how you ended up like this, hm?” he asked politely.
They nodded, agreeing freely with a small smile: “Of course. Just let me take a moment. I have been stuck here for a long time and have to sort my thoughts…”
In the meantime:
Bram and Inukira were on the way through a hallway or two of their own. Sneaking and being careful, never knowing what would be waiting for the two of them. Of course, they had to track down that girl first and foremost, so Bram mentally followed the path she must have taken. Mapping out a route for the two of them as best he could. But many doors were jammed or otherwise blocked off or broken. The place was only kept in good enough condition wherever needed by whoever was occupying it. The path the girl took wasn't at all direct. It leads through a few abandoned labs first and foremost. But after a little while, they arrived into a decently sized hall. Nothing tall, but large. And in it, there were a few broken down robots. Some standing, some laying on the ground. But also a handful neatly laid out on beds. It was clearly a medical area of some kind. … But then why were so many robots here? Before they could ask themselves that however, the girl showed herself! On one of the elevated railed off sections in the back of the room, she stood and walked into view. A remote in her hand. The girl was clad in a fancy looking cocktail-dress. But other than that, she didn’t look any older than Maro and Nero. A fox, by the looks of it. Bushy tail, and quite a pretty one at that. But those limbs… All of her limbs were artificial. And her motions weren’t the most smooth in the world either. “You! … You two… If you didn’t come here, that whole accident in the vehicle area wouldn’t have happened! You got exactly one chance. Plead for forgiveness and I will perhaps find it in myself to use these robots here to unearth your fallen friend so you can leave and bury him honorably. But you have to promise never to return!”
Bram didn’t waste any time, putting on a rather relaxed demeanor: “But he is…” Though before he could keep talking, his mouth was covered by Inu’s hand to silence him, “Sure, like it was OUR doing to get that crane moving! You are not pushing your irresponsibility onto us! Stand up for what you’ve done!”
Bram was confused at first, but quickly understood that Inu was trying to use what she thought had happened to his advantage. And it worked. One could see the serious look on her face briefly fade into a worried, guilty look, but it was equally as quickly replaced with a furious scowl. The manipulation turned her to anger and with a few taps on her remote, one after another of the robots started to come to life. “It was an accident! And it wouldn’t have happened if you just stayed away! Prototypes, show these assholes the exit! Any amount of force needed is authorized.” She ordered the machines, which seemed to have enough AI to understand basic commands. Those robots were all humanoid in design, almost like skeletal bases for something similar to the androids. However, they were made from basic metals and didn’t appear to be remotely sleek enough to fit under a realistic exterior. And just after that, she ran. Distressed, from what Inu could gather. But he didn’t get to keep his eye on her for long. The shabby looking androids were surprisingly quick. Just a few big steps and one almost grabbed the Protogen by the neck! And it almost succeeded, if it wasnt for Bram’s quick reflexes, shooting the thing in the chest. “Phew, nice save. I can't drop my guard at all it looks like.” Inukira said, readying his own gun as he gave the mercenary a thumbs up.
However, the prototypes don’t appear to be very phased. And those weren’t even stun blasts.
The two of them were fighting back. Shooting the robots initially just knocked them back, sturdy to a point it frustrated Bram. So much so, he eventually pulled out his assault beam-rifle. Rapidly firing energy bolt after energy bolt into the chest of the nearest prototype. At first, it just budged, stopped by the impact. But after just enough hits, it started to spew sparks. And once hit enough times after that, the machine started to malfunction. Twitching, not moving from its place and finally, shutting down in a system failure. The other robots appeared to realize the threat however, and with a monotone, robotic voice, they reacted to the damage their comrade had taken: “Threat level detected. Violent take-down required. Target survival, secondary”
With a short “Oh fuck”, Inu quickly danced around a few swings from one of the four remaining robots, spotting a sizable metal pipe further into the room. He rushed for it, heaved it over his shoulder, and just when the next robot came close to him, he swung the pipe over his head, crushing the robot’s head outright in the process. Bram, who was busy yelling while unloading clips into another one of the machines while he was cornered by it, finished the thing before it could lay a metallic claw on him. Quickly rushing to Inu’s side after with an impressed whistle. “Damn, look at that. Not so weak after all, eh?” Bram asked with a tease, grinning at the protogen. Inu scoffed, crossing his arms briefly: “Like us protos are just a face-monitor. There is more to it than that, I have you know. Although I doubt I come close to Nero in strength.”
Bram chuckled, still firing blasts at the two robots that were left. “Hah, fair enough. I am the most normal guy here! That said… Lets get this over with and save Maro! When this is over, I gonna take that cute fucker on a date!” Bram boasted, clearly excited from the adrenaline.
Inu snickered, a wide grin on his visor as well. “Oh, so that is what is motivating you! Some good old cravings for a nice ass can drive anyone onto the battlefield it seems.” Inu teased while offering cover for his partner. But Bram scoffed and waved it off: “Come on, cut me some slack. I am fired up! And feel like I deserve at least some dreams with all this effort.”
All that Inu replied was a small shake of his head. Not at all disagreeing and just giving the mercenary a “Fair enough” before continuing to fight off the remaining machines. By now, it was not much of a concern anymore to either of them. Especially as one of the robots left was slightly defective and couldn’t move one of its arms.
While the two finished off their fight, Nero was stumbling through the halls of the lower floor with Nouvele. The defective machine seemed to recall another flight of stairs at the end of it. But with Nero weakened, he was not exactly quick on helping his new acquaintance come along. This did also stick out to Nouvele, who quickly directed his concerns at the android: “You know, you do not have to help me anymore, right? I can crawl somewhere eventually. … Probably not up the stairs though…”
Nero scoffed: “See? That is why. Can't let you rot down here even longer now. You look awful though… Why not tell me what happened while we make our way forward?” Nero replied with a calm reassurance.
“Hm, let me think… My mind is a bit hazy because of how long I have been here.” The robot started, recalling his past: “Right I think It started a while back… Yeah, I was a kid at a special school. Paralyzed from the chest down. I had to sit in a wheelchair. Life was pretty rough… Cant have fun with all the other kids, never really made any lasting friendships. Everyone always forgot about me eventually. Except this one girl… Sherry. A fox. She had a muscle disease and said she wouldn’t live for very long if no cure was found. We got along so well. She couldn’t do exhausting things either, quickly had her body give out and collapse…”
As Nero listened, he could pick up some things. Not only did he have a similar case, but also … the girl from before. He didn’t know it was a fox, but perhaps that was her? Nouvele continued: “Sometime later in life, we just graduated, her dad suddenly showed up and told her all excitedly about a solution for her problem. He told her she might be cured after all and let her go and tell everyone. Then … he turned to me. … And asked how much I care about her. He was very genuine. Not at all judgmental or strict. He didn’t care that I was in a wheelchair. He wanted to know if I wanna help out, citing I was a smart guy and graduated with pretty good grades. It should have been suspicious to me how he even knew about this… A year later, I was already working in one of his private labs. He founded this whole, under-the-radar, company. I never knew where he took all the research and advancements from. Assured me another branch made breakthroughs every time. But then, he approached me again. He said he had been done with the prototypes that are now stored upstairs. He tested a lot of things on them, but would need the ultimate test subject. Someone who is in need of a new body! Me, being only a head and two arms in a wheelchair, of course didn’t take much convincing to begin with. Especially since I was personally involved and knew the research was getting along well. But he also promised me Sherry’s hand in marriage if everything went well. It makes me ashamed I never even asked her first before agreeing to that offer… Well, it was a test for a reason. … And the results are what you see in front of you now. My mind was successfully converted, but everything else? Mismatches, technological incompatibility, biotechnological degradation after days. And no self repair. In a body that kept tearing itself to shreds. Now, look at me. My body is weak, but not fragile. I couldn’t even end myself if I tried. But… I also can't go out yet. Sherry… She is a good person. She needs to live… The only reason I didn’t condemn her father for what he did to me, is for her sake. I played along, tried to help, until my body became too weak. And then, when I didn’t show up anymore because I got stuck in a room like that… He forgot about me. And she probably did as well. I have to know if she is alright though…”
All that was very touching for the droid to listen to, but Nero understood Nouvele a lot better now. In fact, they were the same thing! And Nero told him exactly that. Explaining the whole buildup to how he became what he is now. It was a lot to take in for the fellow broken android as well, but he felt a glimmer of hope. If a successful procedure is possible, couldn’t it save Sherry? … And by extension, him too? But of course, Nero also told the fellow droid all about his brother. How he was in a similar situation, and how he was almost the same as Nouvele. Doing everything for a loved one and getting screwed over by Sherry’s father. This also made him realize another thing. … The enemy wasn’t even who they thought it was at first…
Meanwhile, having finished their encounter with the hostile machinery, Inukira and Bram continued to search for either the girl, or the captives. But there was no sight of the cyborg. Instead, they ended up finding one of the big dissection halls! At first glance, it was just a large room, meant to house large creatures that were brought in for scientific autopsy. But after looking around, they heard mumbling sounds. Someone or something was gagged. Luckily, they just had to move around some into the middle of the room, past all the shelves that were blocking their view. And there, they found … a table with limbs tied to. All of which squirmed a bit. It didn’t take Inu more than a second to realize who they belonged to. These were Maro’s! But not just that, the owner wasn't far. Tied to a vertical platform just a few steps further, was the android in question himself! Naked for that matter. Bram rushed right over to the android, who’s gaze was locked on to the mercenary immediately, undoing the cloth that kept him gagged. “Maro! Are you alright? We are here to save you.” Bram reaffirmed. The droid on the other hand just made some spitting noises after his mouth was finally freed again: “Bah, t-thanks! But … be careful! They know you are here…”
While Bram rushed to Maro, Inu looked around in case he saw anything suspicious. But instead, he found his Cousin! The other protogen was tied up near one of the walls of the room, but just sitting on the floor. It seems he was out cold compared to Maro. This was a huge surprise. They were convinced Leifer was behind this, yet here he was, also a captive.
Inu rushed over and shook him, quickly getting his cousin to come back to his senses. The visor flickering back to life and, though a little dazed, he quickly recognized Inu: “Hmm? Inu? What the… Wait…” he then suddenly got riled up a lot more, “Where the FUCK is this piece of trash?! I will kick him out of his office! Literally! Through the window, right into space!”
Inu’s eyes narrowed visibly on the screen: “Yeah, I am glad to see you too…” Though the sarcasm was obvious.
Just as the two prisoners were done talking, a sudden gun-shot went off! That of a laser gun. The bolt was unpredictable, hitting Bram in the side. But … luckily it was a stun-bolt. Knocking the mercenary onto the floor, numbed and paralyzed for the time being. “S-shit! I should have, nng, seen this coming!”
Inu immediately took cover from the direction the shot came from, right next to the platform Maro was tied up against. And shortly after, climbing out from behind some crates, came a man. A gray fox, wheeling the gun in question, and a remote. Inu immediately pointing a gun in his direction, the clear true villain of this scenario just waved a finger dismissively: “I would not do that if I were you, Avalon wannabe. I got a body shield prototype. It might not last long, but I can hit this button right here and it will electrocute your friend there until his circuits are fried! I don’t NEED him alive, but I also don’t NEED him dead. Be good, and he will stay perfectly fine too.”
Inu grumbled: “What is this even about! My cousin, I can understand. He got money and the importance to ask for even more. But why get Maro involved?”
The stranger scoffed. “Money? You think this is about making a few bucks? I worked in the highest departments of Avalon, I don’t need no money. No, this is all for my daughter. I have spent the last eighteen years looking, studying and working to try and find a way to fix her dying body. But nothing worked. No medicine worked, no treatment did. Her muscles were a genetic time-limit! In comes Avalon! Big, super-advanced company! Does all this research on enhancements and shit. But look at that! Not even they seem to be able to fix it. Ultimately, just about a year ago, I heard of a project that replaces a body with an artificial one! So of course, with all the info I got, that’s what I tried. But I just can't get it right yet. And everything has to be perfect for my daughter! So here I FINALLY scanned out one of those androids with the help of my unaware parents in law, as they stumbled through YOUR unassuming club. What a goldmine!” He explained in detail. There were still questions, but it helped to see where this guy was coming from.
Inu put things together effortlessly from there: “So … you kidnap him to find out how to make one of your own? Then why take Leifer as well?”
The fox guy threw Inu a few ropes, gesturing towards Bram to tell him wordlessly to tie the mercenary up as well before elaborating: “Oh, yeah. I have grown to distrust myself in handling all that high tech work. After my prototype broke entirely, I needed someone who is very good at doing this sort of thing. And I happen to know from experience that Leifer does most of the high-level machinery himself! Super curious that fucker, you wouldn’t think so the way he acts. Look, I would have let these two stay here in good shape after everything is done! Perhaps someone would have found them eventually once I am FAR away with my daughter. Under a new name, in a new life that she gets to enjoy to the fullest. If not? Oh well, none of my concern. But now you all add to it. So I have to make sure no one leaves this place for a long time once we are done…”
Leifer couldn’t contain himself from the back of the room: “Oh you better believe I will make you pay you dirty traitor!”
The fox sighed, tilting his head at Inu: “You protogens are a pain. I had to stun blast him until he passed out earlier, just to shut him up. Could always just gag the mouthy android, but him? A gag does nothing for you guys and your annoying voice-box. Although your android friend here found it funny to separate his body parts and almost escape. Had to forcibly tear them off and tie them down one at a time. Doesn’t look like that leaves any damage.”
“Who are you anyway?” Inu asked, following along with tying up Bram, having to prove that the ropes and knots were tight enough to not let the mercenary go loose.
The fox-man watched, keeping his own gun pointed and ready, always keeping the remote close as well. “I am Mortimer Sakura. Yes, that Sakura. I was never personally affiliated with the spaceship thruster company. My late wife was. However, before I could get involved more myself, she passed away early on in my daughter’s life in a ship crash. I was fine because I stayed home to take care of our child. I hate the company… They are irresponsible. But at least those old farts served me well to carry my scanners to find that android over there.” He elaborated, introducing himself fully.
Maro’s eyes went wide for a second, realizing who is to blame for him being here. “The old couple… You bugged them?!” He asked in disbelief.
“Please, I bugged a lot of people! Anytime a machine or piece of tech could be spotted on a humanoid being, it sent information. As much as it can from a simple scan of course. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not one of those pricks that thinks of you Androids as any less of a person. Looking at my previous boss over there.” Mortimer said with a rather cold tone to his voice, directing the attention towards Leifer, who was just squirming in his bindings: “You little… I can't let big advancements like whole consciousness transfers into a perfect imitation of a body openly be achieved by anyone but Avalon! That sorta thing is our entire business, if I just admit to someone else doing it first, what credibility do I have left? Besides, you are the one who told me about it to begin with! I didn’t know how you got the information, but I guess it's my fault for trusting my employees…”
Mortimer just scoffed. “Mhm, corporate bullshit, or arrogance. Pick which one you prefer. Isn’t your … What are you again? Cousins? Isn’t he a great fucking person? Hard to believe you really consider me the bad guy in the room.” The fox taunted almost.
Inu was a bit surprised to hear the exact details, even looking back and forth between him and Maro real quick. That does explain all the questions he had, but also left Kira’s mind very much cleared up: “Heh, I have to say… You are pretty impressive. No one managed to make me feel any less bad about having Leifer as a cousin in a long time. You did show me he got some hope left after all. Even if it is just a little. At least he didn’t kidnap an innocent guy and threaten his life!”
“Bah, and here I thought we were seeing eye to eye for a second. Guess you Protogens are all the same.” He dismissed Inu, who shook his head in turn: “No, not even in the least. My philosophy has always been that people matter most. I need money, don’t get me wrong. But money is a tool. It is something that enables me to provide. For those who come to my club, but even more so for those that work for it. Hell, I would pay you to stop this if it meant we could stop and all go home… But I know you don’t care about money anyway…”
Mortimer just scoffed at that again: “Well, I can give you an ounce of respect, but that won't get me closer to my goals. And so long as it doesn’t do that, nothing matters. Now, sit down somewhere, leave your gun on the floor and I will come tie you up in a second. Just be sure that any funny business will result in my previous threat…”
While all that was happening, Nero and Nouvele reached the stairs mentioned. They had ignored all the rooms along the hallways, but getting up said stairs was a difficult task in its own right. With his somewhat compromised strength reserves, he had to support every step the fellow droid made to get them up the stairs. It took a fair share of effort, but eventually, they both made it. Not without a few jokes here and there, and even a comment from Nouvele about how nice Nero’s body was. Not as a flirt, so much as a comment on overall quality. At the top, they opened the door into the room this stair led to. It was a staff room of some kind. But it was not empty. Just after opening the door a smidge, Nero heard someone talking to themselves. He could not make out the words, but once looking towards the table, he could see someone leaning onto the table. A fox girl! Quickly putting one and one together, he knew who this was. But why were they seemingly hyperventilating? Though Nero tried to step into the room quietly, Nouvele was far from sneaky, making subtle, but loud enough creaking noises while moving. Immediately, the girl jumped and turned to face the two. One hand on the table, the other to her chest, breathing even heavier. “Who is there?!” She asked frantically, before realizing it was the guy she thought she killed accidentally! It briefly stopped her breathing, almost immediately calming her, before she commented on it with a relieved sigh: “Y-you are alive after all! G-God, and here I thought I killed someone… W-Wait, what the hell is that?” She asked, pointing at the much less realistic looking android behind Nero. And he didn’t wait to let Nero do the talking for him: “Sherry? Oh my goodness, I have not seen you in two years…”
Nero stepped out of the way, only supporting the larger robot person. Sherry looked confused though. “Wait, who are you, and how do you know me? Is this why Dad told me to never go downstairs? Creepy things like this?” She wondered, not entirely sure what she was dealing with, and still considering Nero somewhat an enemy.
“Hehe, that stings, I admit. But not that I can blame you. It is me, Nouvele. Don’t tell me you don’t remember me.” The larger droid reaffirmed, although starting to collapse from the stress his body had been put on until now. But the words hit Sherry like a freight train. Gasping, covering her mouth as her body became shaky. “Y-You don’t mean … it cannot be… But…” She then rushed in closer to support the droid herself instead, “Dad told me you died in an experiment you did for my sake! I blamed myself for your death ever since! The little boy I grew up with … now turned into something like this?”
Finally, it was Nero’s turn to jump in. He could see the pain in Nouvele’s demeanor, as difficult as it was to see with his half deteriorated face: “Your dad had offered him to get to marry you in exchange for becoming his prototype. It wasn’t his idea at all. Then, when he got stuck in a room down there, your dad probably just hoped to be able to ignore him ever having existed since he became so weak that he was of no use anymore.”
Sherry scoffed, cocking a brow at the android: “Yeah, that's a good one, is it not, Nouvi?” But upon staring up at her childhood friend, she could only see a sad glare. Not a hint of denial. That amused look on her face disappeared visibly, slowly. Realizing it must have been true. She always trusted her dad, but Nouvele was even closer to her. “It can't be… How dare he promise my hand to someone without even asking me at all! … For the record, you ask me yourself, you hear? Just wait for a better time. And NOT with the permission of my dad!”
Nouvele blinked in surprise at her words, not even trying to process them right now with how dizzy he was becoming. “Mhm” was all he said, and then Sherry guided the droid to a chair to sit on, directing her words towards Nero: “And you. … You had no reason to help Nouvi, but you did. Both deaths I thought I was responsible for turned out to be false… What is it really my dad is doing? Put it on me, bluntly. No sugar coating.” She had realized by now that whatever her dad is doing seems a bit fishy. And Nero was all too happy to oblige and tell her in detail what happened and why he was even here…
Back in the grand dissection room, Mortimer just got done tying up Inukira. Finally able to relax, the guy soon heard his daughter calling out to him from the other entrance of the room: “Daaaaad!” Her voice sounded a bit more urgent, but not outright bad.
She headed right over to her dad and put her arms behind her back, looking up at him: “I have a question. How are we gonna go on after all this? I know you said we’ll need to go a good distance, but why though?”
The question quite surprised the man, as he had to think of a way to word it so she could reasonably accept it. But as this was happening, Maro watched with a bit of a blank expression. At least, he was, until he noticed that suddenly, his arms felt like they could move again. Checking again, he suddenly felt like his limbs were free, and after a bit of testing the waters, they began to move around, off the table. Staying low despite being able to float right back to his body. But that was useless. He knew someone must have freed him, but couldn’t care less at the moment on who it was. He knew where the button was to undo his restraints and managed to sneak an arm over to it, before hitting it. And with a swoosh, his legs were already ready to catch his body. Sadly, that was still enough noise to alert the fox who immediately pointed his stun-gun towards the noise and at Maro, interrupting him from making all those excuses. Maro was ready, holding up his hands. … Or rather, one of them, up in surrender. But before Sherry’s dad could process one limb being missing, it already launched itself at his right hand. Knocking the gun right out of his hand. Using the distraction, Maro then rushed in to tackle the guy to the ground. And though he had superior strength, the arm he didn’t have attached yet caused him to quickly get overwhelmed by the guy. Not to mention, Maro’d body was somewhat weakened from drained energy. Mortimer growled, eventually rolling around to get on top of Maro, struggling to keep the android down. “Why you little… How did you undo my bindings?!” He wondered, but before Maro could answer, another someone came in, kicking the guy right off of the droid. Sherry had used the brief interruption to free Bram. And he was not pleased: “Get off of him! You don’t get to be where I wanna be…” Sherry’s dad rolled a bit, but ended up next to his gun again. Getting up and pointing it right at the two. But before he could even bark out a warning, he heard another gun click next to his head, the sign of the safety setting turned off. This one had its stun setting turned off. And it was his daughter holding it up to him: “Drop it, dad. This is enough.” The shock on Mortimer’s face was priceless to anyone watching. “W-What? But Sherry! What has gotten into you?” He whimpered at her, dropping the gun as told.
The girl didn’t have it for any longer: “For years, I have gone through these awful replacements. Replace my arm here, my leg there. More surgeries, again and again. Every time I look less like I used to. Did you know I actually enjoyed the way I looked? Sure, I got my face. But I am more than that. I am a woman! How long until I can't even tell anyone that much anymore? I have seen what you did to Nouvele. What tells me I will be able to have a normal life anymore once I get my full body replacement? Besides… I might want to live, but not if it means ruining the lives of others, you know? You went WAY too far this time and even made me think that I caused the death of someone else. TWICE!”
Mortimer scrambled to try and find words for his daughter: “B-But, Sherry, If I didn’t do any of this, you will die! And I just can't bring myself to let that happen. Any means are good enough, even if I have to ki-” She interrupted him right then and there: “Oh fuck no you wont! No one is gonna die, just so that I'm gonna live. You will go to prison for your actions, you hear? And if you behave and stop being a bad guy, maybe I even refrain from disowning you. Anyone come here and tie him up please.”
While this was happening, Nero had been sneaking around, freeing Inu and Leifer as well. The protogen actually takes Nero’s hand, bowing in a genuine thanks, surprising the droid. Of course, it was him who had been freeing Maro’s limbs while Sherry distracted her dad earlier. Inu was all too glad to head right over and work on getting Mortimer tied up as well. He kept still pleading with his daughter, but it just went in one ear, out the other.
Bram held Maro’s separated arm by the hand and offered it to the droid to reattach, before also pulling them up right after. Maro smiled at the guy, choosing not to mention his comment when kicking the fox off of him: “Thank you very much for coming to save me! I guess I owe everyone now.” Bram just scoffed, hugging the droid briefly. “How about a date, now that you HAVE to pay attention to me and when we are over all this? Although, lets not kid ourselves by pretending I am good at romance! Haha!”
Maro couldn’t help but blush and scoff at him: “Fucking hell, I never meant to ignore you. Guess you deserve an evening or whatever! Just don’t be weird. But now, where is…” Maro then looked towards his brother. But his positive demeanor dropped almost immediately upon spotting Nero. Gasping in shock at the sight of the injuries his brother was dealing with. Rushing right over to his younger sibling. “Nero!” Maro cried out and threw himself at his sibling. Careful not to be too rough with the firm hug he gave him, before directing his attention towards Nero’s arm, inspecting it closer: “What the hell happened? Who did this to you? Tell me, I swear they will regret it!”
Nero giggled and waved it off nervously: “Oh, no worries. The beast already paid. Don’t forget, Sean can probably fix this no problem. For now, if you would excuse me for a moment. I have to help Sherry’s friend.”
Maro was not sure what this was about, but the comment about Sean was true.
Sherry went around apologizing. Starting with Bram, and finally saving Maro for last, given he was the one she had to say the most to: “I am incredibly sorry about what my Dad has done to you. He wanted to save my life, and he was willing to do anything for that. I don’t want to sugar coat it, nor will I forgive him so easily. But I hope you at least understand where he was coming from.”
Maro immediately recognized Sherry’s sincerity and knew all too well what she was describing, even putting a hand on her shoulder. “You know, I think I understand him better than you might think. The lengths I would have gone to save Nero back then, and even today, could lead me to dark places I am sure. What we do for those that mean everything to us is … scary. My previous body was perfectly healthy I have you know. Aside from a hormone deficiency perhaps…”
She giggled to herself: “Well, it is nice to see brothers getting along like that.”
Bram and Leifer decided to take Mortimer away to the ship he used to come here with. In the meantime, Nero and Nouvele finally joined Inu, Maro and Sherry. Nouvele immediately directed himself at the girl: “I am glad this is over. As much as it pains me that we could not save you. Any idea of what to do next? I … would love to join you with anything you do, but the way I am now, it will just be a burden.”
Sherry shook her head right away, but didn’t get to answer before Maro chimed in again: “Oh! You two need help, right! If it is that serious, we can ask Sean about if he can do what he did for us again! … Although he needs to finance the whole thing at this point, so you will probably have to pay for it, even if he is generous.”
Her ears perked up right away: “Wait. You are saying the person who did these bodies for you would help us?!”
Nero tilted his head. “Well, I don’t see why he wouldn’t. Sean isn’t a bad guy, and really, we would just be helping him if we get him more business! Hehe.” Nero explained.
Sherry and Nouvele looked at each-other, a hint of hope returning to the both of them.
Maro shook his head, slightly amused, before hugging his brother close to himself. “We should meet up at the space-station tomorrow, after we all had a bit of rest. Then we can ask Sean directly. Nero can probably take you to him as well If he agrees. I probably have to go back to work. Oh, and when you see your grandparents, Sherry, ask them about my family. Apparently we have some sort of loose connection!”
Sherry giggled and nodded: “Oh, of course! But for now, we should leave this place. Everyone is probably waiting. I will take care of Nouvele from here.”
Everyone agreed with that. Inu could only listen in on the conversation, although he apologized to Sherry too, for making her actually believe she had caused Nero’s death at the start there.
Once back at the landing platform outside the building, Leifer agreed to take Sherry and Nouvele along with him. He wanted to put his previous employee behind bars himself too after all. However, he insisted Inu join him. Not for any devious reason, rather than not being the trusting kind of guy after all that and wanting someone who can help him if need be. Inukira saw no reason to deny him and with a few quick byes, all of them entered the corporate freighter. It was a sizable ship, but mostly made for delivery. Still, it had enough space for all five of them.
In the meantime, Bram was already rushing through the woods by this point. He was going to bring the ship here, instead of having them all risk treading through the place with Nero already injured. By the time his ship emerged from the forest in the distance, Leifer was already gone with the others, heading up to the station. And a short time later, the mercenary landed on the landing platform. Nero and Maro just looked at one another as they waited for him. The older sibling nuzzles the younger into the side of the neck in a show of appreciation and affection: “Thank you Nero. I will make sure to thank you a lot over the next weeks, in any way you please! You will be coddled to the sun and back.”
Nero just giggled, amused, but appreciating the gesture none the less, leaning against Maro as well.
Once Bram opened the ship, they both headed inside, and with that, they could finally leave this planet for good.
End of chapter 7
