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The database was at his fingertips. Metaphorically, of course.
It was something p.AI.nter had only dipped into once before now – to see what assets were at his leisure to use in their mission of slowing down the expendables. He hadn’t looked beyond the few flagged entries for subjects currently within Hadal; he could care less, really. All that mattered was getting out.
Until the duo appeared, of course.
It only took him one visit as opposed to Sebastian’s three to realize they were friends over foes – though the initial annoyance of his fishy friend was amusing to say the least, p.AI.nter wasn’t about to go making new enemies. They had so few allies as it was – besides, he did feel quite a bit safer knowing there were two strong assets able to help in their collection and protect them from more desperate expendables.
Having said that, their visual genetic makeup did make him curious – so he took advantage of the system Sebastian had hooked him up to, and began to peruse in his spare time.
A small thing, it was, to go through the thousands of files in-between mowing down expendables. It was a welcome distraction, at least – he’d rather not consider the weight of his actions, thanks.
(Does karma apply to robots? Hopefully not. Soulless, right? Oh, God, please let that be true.)
It only took a week for him to finally stumble upon one of interest, and he kept it flagged until he’d gone through them all – finding the second closer to the end, and incomplete.
The second was Cece’s, and there wasn’t much of note – just comments about their apparent exclusion from the circadian cycle of life and death, and a curiosity as to why, though with the lockdown they’d had little chance to actually delve into it. Plans for post-retrieval vivisections and experiments were written down, which made him scoff to himself. As if any of them would let that happen. Cephei deserved to remain a mystery to Urbanshade – he knew from watching through cameras after every death that they went through enough without the invasive poking and prodding.
And so it was on to the first – and that is where they did stutter briefly with surprise, skimming over the first bit of information.
It was Audie’s – and they’d been here before.
Attached to their file were audio logs and security footage, not unlike Sebastian’s – and just like with his, p.AI.nter had the courtesy to not open them. The thumbnails of the videos were enough to make their circuits fire off, disconcerted with the scenery. The document itself was where he kept his attention, and after reading through enough of it, he felt ill.
Immediately, they switched to the camera feeds, skimming through them. Knowing his schedule, he would be…
There!
Around some of the earlier floors, he caught the hint of a tail disappearing around the corner into an office, and quickly tapped into that door’s monitor, looking through it at the monstrous shape within.
“Sebastian!”
Head fins twitched in surprise, and said serpentine saboteur turned to face the screen, bumping the corpse he’d been plundering out of sight for his friends’ sake.
“What is it? Someone coming?”
“No – but I found something,” p.AI.nter responded, feeling antsy; “I got curious about our topside friends, and found their files.”
Again, Sebastian’s fins twitched, though this time with intrigue. He seemed to hesitate, thinking on his next course of action before he grunted and nodded, already progressing out of the room.
“Where’s the nearest printer?”
“Five doors up, a left and a right. I’ll open the way.”
“You’re a marvel!”
The praise made something in them swell with joy, and he quickly switched to the room in question, watching the machine spit out copies of the documents in question. Sebastian arrived moments later, and p.AI.nter shut the door behind him for safety as he approached the machine to collect the documents, looking them over with a discerning expression.
“... Coral bones, sea angel physique, broken cycle – gotta be Cece.”
“Not much on ‘em.”
“Must’ve been a newer addition,” He grunted; “It’d make sense. She seems pretty lost most of the time.”
“Be nice!”
“I am! It wouldn’t surprise me if any humanity is new to her. That’s just the truth of it.””
p.AI.nter huffed, but sobered up quickly when Sebastian swapped to Audie’s file – blinking in surprise at the amount of content there were between two pages.
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah. I went ahead and unredacted as much as I could.”
Again, Sebastian grunted, moreso to indicate he’d heard his friend in the first place, as he set about skimming the document. They watched as his brow furrowed, his fins twitching and tail lashing hard enough to knock over a chair. His expression morphed from nonchalance to disgust and anger, a glimmer of empathy and humility in his eyes as he finally released a slow breath and lowered the documents, staring at the ground in thought.
“... Fuck. The logs…”
“Yeah.”
“... They don’t even know about all this.”
“Yeah…”
A beat of silence passed between them before Sebastian inhaled again, turning towards a file cabinet and opening it gingerly, looking for two empty folders to steal for the files themselves. p.AI.nter watched him for a moment, then piped up again.
“What are you going to do?”
“Hold onto these and hide them.”
“... You’re not going to use them to –”
“Jesus, of course not! Not yours, not mine, not theirs. They’re not for sale, even for our freedom.”
Again, his tail lashed, and p.AI.nter winced, murmuring an apology. He softened, shutting the cabinet and tucking the folders under his jacket as he faced the screen again.
“I’m holding onto them. When the time comes – when we come to get you so we can leave this place, you need to delete them from the database. Yours and mine, too.”
“You know they probably have a backup, right?”
“Oh, absolutely,” He snorted, tossing his head to brush aside a lock of hair – though it quickly fell back into his face; “But it’ll make it more annoying for them to recover, and it means that any other corps that plunder the remains of this shithole won’t find any trace of us. Less bounty hunters.”
They hummed in understanding, and he opened the door, preparing to leave – before they spoke again, the words rushed.
“Are you going to tell them?”
“... No.”
That much gave p.AI.nter pause, and his brow furrowed.
“... But they deserve to know, don’t they?”
“Maybe,” Sebastian conceded; “But it should wait until we’re out of here. Learning shit like this… It’s a distraction. A risk. As long as they’re both going back up topside, any confrontations could jeopardize not only them, but our plans – my plans.”
Again, p.AI.nter hummed, sounding conflicted. Sebastian waited a second before he backed into the room again, squinting at the screen seriously.
“Don’t. Tell them. Anything.”
“Okay, okay! Geeze. You act like I can’t keep a secret.”
“You can’t . You decidedly can’t.”
Unimpressed, he left the room, and p.AI.nter spluttered with offense before disconnecting from the screen himself, returning to his primary monitor and sitting in thought on his own.
… Sebastian was right. He couldn’t keep a secret. Though hopefully he could at least keep it long enough to guarantee the plan’s success.
File : Pending Update, Active Case
SID 998137260Z-116 “Audie”
Z-116 comes from one of our sister facilities and was designed as a prototype for a military bioengineering experiment. By fusing the DNA of a beluga whale and a polar bear, the ideal result was an underwater soldier that could be a formidable force.
Dr.■■■■■■ was in charge of recruitment, and netted Audie, real name Audrey Boetha, using an advertisement for a clinical trial catered to hobbyist therians. Z-116 was the ideal candidate with no living relatives and no friends in their new town.
Unfortunately, many of the procedures had to be done without anesthesia, as tends to be protocol, resulting in hefty physical and mental trauma for Z-116. After the later procedures and testing, they would not stop screaming or attempting to attack personel until heavily sedated. Any attempts to speak with them at this time were met only with feral growling and violence.
When set loose in testing chambers meant to emulate Arctic conditions, Z-116 thrived, proving the genetic impacts of our experiment a success, though we have yet to remedy the defensive instinct that overtakes the subject.
As of ■■/■■/■■■■, Z-116 is marked for termination and pending finalization.
After signing a contract with the Ministry of Joy on ■■/■■/■■■■, Z-116 has been one of the subjects selected for transfer.
Transcribed notes from the Ministry of Joy to follow.
“Audio log, Dr. Brandy Hart, date ■■/■■/■■■■.
Although it initially went off rather poorly with their handlers, Audie has responded well to our marmalization, and is back to what I can only assume is their old self. Memories of anything prior to their stay have seemingly been blocked off, though as this still achieves the desired affect, we’ve motioned to let it be.
Now, this does wear off over time, so I’m prescribing two pills a day, with extra as required. Audie is simply too unstable in their right mind after what those ■■■■■■■■ did to them. While we must send them back, I will be petitioning for a permanent placement here at the Ministry, where they will not be a danger to themself and others. End tape.”After treatment, Z-116 has been transferred back into Urbanshade’s care following the lockdown of Blacksite Hadal. Due to their unique constitution, we’ve enlisted them in addition to the expendable program. With any luck, they’ll go feral and take out the Saboteur, making our jobs easier.
If encountered in the Blacksite, do not shoot. The Ministry still owns them, and we are beholden to return them alive. If they are feral upon encounter, try to trigger their diving gear – it’s uniquely rigged with a tranquilizer and tracker for our trained teams to collect them.
If found in the company of any of the shoot to kill targets, do what you must. Eliminating threats takes precedence over bringing them back alive.
File pending update. ■■/■■/■■■■