NEW HOPE - R&D LEVELS - SEBASTIAN'S LABORATORY
[ Core Exchange completed ] In his dimly lit surgery chamber , Sebatsian sat face down in his own surgery chair , his back being pieced back together slowly .
His arms were splayed in a T-pose , His shoulders pulled apart , the skin on his arms removed as the interior plating was suspended overhead .
The carbon reinforced muscle fibres in his arms being interwoven and tweaked , Wound together 1.5× their previous density , with the wound muscle fibres taking only half the space, Allowing him the ability to layer another series of reinforced carbon muscle fibres over the previous layer , essentially multiplying his previous strength . He would no doubt need to work on his fine motor functions in the meantime , lest he crush something or someone by accident.
The same process was happening along his back and the rest of his body , Double layering the muscle fibres over the previous now they had become more condensed .
The whole process took a total time of forty minutes , with some final tweaking being undertaken before he was slowly pieced back together , His interior subdermal armouring being remolded to fit over the new double layered muscle fibres .
Stepping up from the chair. Sebastian was sure not to grip the side of the chair as he stood , Clenching and unclenching his hands whilst approaching the door to his modifications chamber .
' Let's do a test run '
[ Currently operating at 174% previous parameteres ] The key spoke , Reaching for the door with curious and cautious fingers.
Grabbing the metal frame of the door , Instead of allowing the door to slide open, Sebastian pushed his hands forward.
Like wet tissue paper , The door folded around his hand , The coiled muscle in his arm straining only momentarily , Proving to be the superior as the door seemingly folded in on itself under his urging.
" Hm ... The internal layer of armouring under my skin appears to have suffered pressure fractures... I'll need to adjust accordingly " Sebastain turned back to the modification chamber , moving back to his chair in order to update the rest of his body to handle the doubled muscle fibres and their enhanced strength.
' I'm going to need reinforced joints. Augmenting the skeletal structure... reinforced subdermal armouring , A newly reinforced spinal structure ... ' Afterall he didn't want his body to simply break under the strength of his own muscle , His entire frame would need to he remade to handle the new pressure his body would be placed under ... it would take many hours to complete the surgery ... of which he had plenty of time.
' Now is the most opportune time ' He connected to the surgery machines overhead , the replicator turning on as it began to painstakingly print out each and every new thing he would have to add and replace within his body ' Let's get started '
...
NEW HOPE - ARRIVALS HANGER
...
Benjamin stood alongside RN02 , Both staring out towards an approaching av convoy , Three militech AV's fully armed and ready to take out any opposition blurred across the skies directly for the hanger they were granted access to .
" You ready " Benjamin asked , taking the role of assistant rather than acting head of new hope , In favour of letting RN02 do the talking in his stead.
" Naturally " RN02 replied , His tone flat , a low chime sounded altering them to the arrival of the militech AV's final approach.
The wind around them picked up , The AV rounding in the air , lowering itself to the sheet metal of the hanger with a loud clang .
The other two AV'S circled around the building before rerouting to another two hanger ports for then to be stationed at until their departure .
In the meantime , RN02 watched the doors to the militech av open, both Benjamin and RN02 being momentarily taken by surprise at who stepped out.
A squad of militech special ops circled two , Those two being lucas harford the acting ceo of militech and his assistant , A visious looking woman wearing stilettos , Her heels clacking against the sheet steel underfoot .
" Greetings " RN02 didn't offer his name , Instead inclined his head slightly to harford , Benjamin's hands Curling around the laptop in his grip , Nervousness clear as day to those visible " It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance "
" I'm sure ... " harford looked around the hanger , Seeing various other AV'S being tended too by drones and maintenance workers performing work on the unused vehicles " I suppose this shall suffice "
" Please follow us , then the meeting shall commence " RN02 rounded , Setting a slow but steady pace for the militech personel to follow .
" As you can see , Our workers are working diligently to maintain our AV'S, It would be best to allow them to focus " Quickly they crossed the hanger , His hand landing on the hand scanner to access the elevator , Which responded a moment later .
" Universal access granted " The deep baritone voice of the AI that ran the various functions of the building spoke from the elevator frame .
" An automated assistant " Harford spoke up , Squinting at the sleek elevator frame " How... rudimentary "
" You're wrong " RN02 spoke up rebuking harford , meeting the man's raised eyebrow with an unimpressed glare " Introduce yourself "
A red light swept from the elevator , condensing to form a humanoid shape of red light particles .
" Greetings . I am assistant , locally known as seer , Created to manage and maintain building functions , faculties and personel on base " Seer , Having taken the name for itself , Spoke up , the door to the elevator opening up . It made a show of striding , still a construct of light particles projected from a lense nearby , It , taking the form of a non descriptive male , Came to stand at the back of the elevator .
" You're an ... AI " Harford studied the oight construct with intense interest .
" Indeed ... "
" Is it safe " Harford turned to what he assumed incorrectly to be a human , RN02.
" Naturally , And please do not speak as if he cannot hear and understand you. He is as alive as you or I... maybe even more so " Seer's holographic form inclined his head to RN02 in obvious gratitude , Flickering away as it had no desire to converse with creatures who couldn't even consider him alive on the same level as them .
" Isn't it dangerous to house an ai , They're quite ... unpredictable afterall " Harfords assistant adjusted her glasses , Staring intently at RN02.
" More baseless assumptions. Those basic rudimentary creatures you refer to , Those rogue ai , Are not of the same ilk as seer and others who reside here. Please refrain from projecting your ignorant opinions and beliefs apon those who are uninterested " The elevator began to lower until stopping four floors down where the meeting would take place , The militech soldiers freezing as the doors opened to reveal two ape like machines , Staring at them, Their heads tilted.
On instinct , Militech knew these to be other ai , Their weapons raising and being pointed at the hulking machines staring them down , Scanning them , Learning.
' They have more ' Harford felt a great sense of unease at the unspoken truth , What kind of ai they were was inconsequential, AI were AI .
His eyes rose , Looking up at a glowing red lense above the open elevator doors , Feeling the camera lense looking back at the same time ' This is ... now a very precarious situation ... a trap maybe '
RN02 stepped forward , The four armed machines stepping to the side to allow RN02 past , Turning around and flanking his sides like loyal guard dogs.
" Are these ... " Harford whispered , The faceless heads of the machines turning to face him as he spoke .
" Yes ... younger ... inexperienced ... but yes " RN02 reached and pet the head of one of the machines , It didn't pull away , Instead simply continuing forward , It was obvious to all this was a regular occurrence for both parties.
' Keeping ai as pet dogs ... ' Harford sneered , Myers would have an aneurysm at the thought .
" Do not fear , They simply prowl the halls to keep any unwanted parties from infiltrating our facilities. Which is no doubt why they have appeared before you now , You are afterall ... unauthorised persons " RN02 explained as the group came to stand before an unremarkable black door , Motioning to it with a wave of his hand .
" The meeting shall take place here , Your guards shall remain outside , This is not meant for their ears " RN02 opened the door , Stepping inside as harford and his assistant looked to eachother , Benjamin remaining behind in waiting for them to enter.
" Alright ... , Take point " Harford grunted at the spec ops lead , the soldiers nodding whilst he stepped into the meeting room with his assistant , Benjamin following behind immediately after .
" I don't like this " The spec ops lead whispered as he turned his head , only to be net with the curious faceless head of the ape like ai machines staring into his eyes Ni less than ten centimetres from him.
...
A large black table sat in the centre of the room , A number of rolling black chairs situated around the round table .
A bench was in the corner of the room with a coffee machine , Basic snacks and a water fountain ready for the use of everyone present.
" Now then " RN02 took a nearby seat , Motioning to nearby seats for harford and his assistant to take.
" Yes ... let's get this started.i presume we're both pressed for time " Harford wanted nothing more than to leave and report the fact that NEW HOPE was filled to the brim with AI of various capabilities.
" That we are " RN02 spoke , Watching harford and his assistant take two nearby chairs , Placing their belongings onto the tabletop while Benjamin circled around RN02 to take a seat at his other side .
" Now then " Harford began , Looking apon RN02 with a harsh glare " First of all ... I am quite offended "
" At ... " RN02 raised an eyebrow , curious at what harford was going to say .
" This meeting will not progress until I have met with your founder , I have seen him , Heard of him and his beliefs and I know neither of you are ... him " Lucas harford all but halted the meeting , Crossing his arms and leaning back into his chair " I have taken my time to go out of my way and come to this shit hole of a city , I expect the same courtesy "
" A fair assessment ... one moment " RN02'S eyes lit up momentarily , clearly communicating with someone not present " You have a fair point ... the founder shall speak to you , However through proxy as he is indisposed currently " RN02'S eyes glowed once more before going blank , his body slumping to the side , Completely inactive for the moment .
" what are " harford hissed sitting up , Watching RN02 twitch violenty , slowly sitting back up under the gaze of thise present , Posture realigning , Previous blue eyes now glowing a burning orange red light .
" Greetings " Sebastian , Wearing RN02s body as a proxy , Crossed his legs , interlacing his fingers , Analysing harford and his assistant intently " You must be lucas harford, A pleasure to meet you "
Reaching across , Harford reluctantly accepted the hand shake .
" Greetings, I take it you are Sebastian markus " Harford looking intently into RN02'S eyes , Curious yet he held his curiosity behind thinly veiled criticism.
" I am ... you'll have to forgive me for not personally attending . I truthfully find such meetings tedious , but you made a good point so I had to acquiesce " Sebastian's voice echoed from RN02'S mouth , Taking harford by surprise at the sheer difference " Not to mention I am currently overseeing a breakthrough in our R&D department. As the project head you must understand the importance of my presence during tests "
" I see... I guess I can accept the apology . I do appreciate your honesty on the subject " That was the truth . Pleasant words and honeyed words always rubbed him the wrong way , Having someone who didn't mince words especially in a face to face meeting was vastly appreciated compared to those such ups he usually had to deal with .
" I had thought you would . This meeting is something neither of us particularly cares for. We are men of action not words ... are we not " Sebastian sat back into his chair as they separated.
" That is very true " Harford , Running off limited information was forced to reasses Sebastian, afterall many had previous assumptions , Many of those had immediately been shut down by his refusal to personally attend.
' Shows backbone ... respectable ' Harford squinted and let it go . He was a reasonable man , A true patriot to boot. He served faithfully as the acting ceo of militech , worked closely to president Myers.
But his true allegiance lay with the America's and its people. NUSA is what he cried and shed blood for .
He had more enemies then friends amongst the people he had power over , Afterall he expected those around him to do their best and looked down apon those who thought they could cost by on nothing but name and family ties .
Despite the fact that the majority of the board members of militech disliked him and his actions, More often than not butting heads , there was no doubt in anyone's minds that he bled for NUSA and Militech both , And so despite their dislike , non dared refute a man such as himself , a man with true vision for militech and its people , its future.
And all of this Sebastian knew , So he planned to use the man's patriotism against him .
" You need not show me the contract you have drawn up , Itll be turned down regardless " Harfords neutral smile became strained.
" You haven't even ... "
" You want our medical supplies and technologies and no doubt the armour you and the rest of the world had seen battle the Terrorist known as Apollo... the first I can provide ... the second I will not " RN02 accepted the laptop handed from Benjamin, Turning the screen to show a the list of medical apparatus and technologies available for NEW HOPE to use .
" And may I ask the reason why not... is it not functional " Harford began , His assistant making a recording of their talk to be relayed to the interested parties.
" No nothing of the sorts. . The armour was a prototype created by the R&D department , shortly after returning the pilot died due to the nature of the cyberware embedded within and thus the armour was deconstructed and destroyed ... due to ... non disclosurable reasons " RN02 explained , Harford looking between RN02'S left eye to right with a long passing silence .
" Can the armour be remade " Harford asked , Leaning in slightly " Militech is more than willing to provide resources and funding should it be needed "
" That is appreciated but no ... It is not out incapability to remake the armour but unwillingness. Yes ... in the right hands the device used in the armour could prove invaluable on the battlefield " RN02 began , Sitting back as no doubt harford would expect an explanation " But.... "
" I am going to continue on the assumption you know what the blackwall is " RN02 inclined its head towards harford who nodded slowly.
" Very good , Now you and I both know the blackwall is failing. A bandaid solution to a problem about to explode and lay devastation to the world ..m we both know this , there is no reason for deceit " Harfords lips thinned whilst RN02 clasped its hands .
" Now imagine an ai , Knowledge unbound who can think faster than any human in the world . It simply tears its way into the mainframe and hijacks the armour. An armour with no limits other than the knowledge of the user , the ability to instantly adapt. To remake anything. An unlimited arsenal... imagine so much power ... in the hands that cares nothing for humanity ... " RN02 leant back , Gesturing to the door where the robots on the other side stood " We survive because they lack the capability to escape, our technology ... too flawed to sustain them "
" But you want to give them for all intents and purposes, The single most versatile , Most adaptive technology the world has and may ever see , You see . All the user needs to do is have a specification, the blueprints and the machine will make it ... do you think they don't know exactly what it is they need to survive in the material plane ... that this device wouldn't immediately open up the gates they need to breath our air . To walk the earth in any form they see fit . Do you comprehend what they would immediately become ... "
" A walking calamity " Harford replied tersely, gingers drumming on the table in deep thought " I see "
" At the very least ... I have the blueprints to make another... but until the day is ready when we can safely open Pandora's box and not be swept to extinction.. it will remain just that , A blueprint ... "
Harford understood . Whilst he stood to gain much from gaining access to the discussed technology , currently if something went wrong , if anything was compromised... it would be the end . But he heard a way to potentially gain technology similar to what they had observed . He intended for militech to work closely with NEW HOPE , Maybe hire a couple moles , A couple dataleaks ... then they'd potentially gain what they sought.
" I see , If thats the case I believe I can produce a contract that would benefit both of us " Harford turned to his assistant , Sending her exactly what to type through their cyberware .
" Very well , Let us continue "
CHAPTER COMPLETE
JUST A QUICK UPDATE TO PREPARE THE NEXT CHAPTER
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