The Singularity Complex

[Blind Hemingway]

Episode One: Los Angeles, My Home​

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords.... I remember reading this from one of those handouts that the Humanists always hand you whenever you to some highly traveled gathering places such as the Shopping District.

Hello. My name is Sahar Fairchild. My name means "Sun" in Arabic. My father is European, while my mother came from somewhere in the Middle East. I never did get a chance to find out where exactly, though.

My father says that there was a disaster that occurred twelve years ago, where an overly large building that was owned by Nova Corps was hit by a massive explosion. This caused widespread death and destruction from the falling debris.

I can only remember certain facts about the event. I was wearing a pink dress that my mother had bought me. Father says that I was with my mother and a young boy with black hair on that night. That little boy is currently my closet friend, I know deep down that he'd be willing to give up his life for me, if need be.

The actual event occurred too quickly for me to remember it all in great detail. What I can say, was that there was a bright light. It engulfed us. My mother held me close and told, "Do not worry."

The next thing I remember was that I was in a hosptial room. My father, whom is a man that rarely cries had a flood gate of tears flowing down his face.

I lost my ability to walk that night. I have been in a wheel chair since then. I also lost my mother...So father has kept me close to him all the time.

It was later verified that the Blast Fall was caused by a powerful laser, fired from a military class weapon; and was shot into Nova Corps. The laser discharge converted itself into a massive, powerful lightning that obliterated the old NOVA headquarters. The blast destroyed everything near the location of ground zero.

What does this have to do with my story? Well relatively little....

 

[Vay]

LA​

Far from the mounds of rubble and active lava flows fed to the public bu the government LA, or whats left of it, does have a functioning society. Only the rules are very different from the outside. It is a land of gangs, yes, but far from savages squabbling over scraps there are rules, unwritten ones as well as deals and understandings. It is a scared landscape of alliances, conflicts and a small but wording economy.

Welcome to Lost Angeles.​

The day began with the sun peeking through the window of the oriental theater, the home and headquarters/fortress of the most powerful man in LA. As his 'guest' Dr. Cray enjoyed safety, hidden away in the only part of the US, and perhaps the world free of Nova Corps. Something he needed if he wanted to continue his work. The equipment he had at the moment was rudimentary at best but with Alek's resources and the promise that the end result would be worth it there was a chance that if Elliot culd convince Alek to fund his research thing could return to normal.

"So tell me again why I should risk my neck, not to mention invest a significant amount into your research?" His fingers were laced and held against his chin as his cool blue eyes looked at Cray. "You were developing a weapon, one that would have put Nova even ahead of the chinese when it came to nanoweapons..."

The man, despite living in a city under quarantine knew a lot about the global markets, one of his businesses was after all smuggling, and LA made the perfect place to never be caught.

"Yes... but the nanites could have other used too." Eliot repeated. "Medical uses. I believe I can program them to rebuild any tissue on a molecular level. Even nervous tissue...."

"Yes, so you have said.... But do you know how dangerous it is to even have stolen Nova property, let alone trade it?"

"They were only interested in a weaponized version, the medical..."

"Would still have your fingerprints all over it. I will talk to my contacts in Europe and the Middle east, if I can find a buyer for your technology there who I can trust, then perhaps it may be worth my investment."

Alek, stood a sign the meeting was over and Cray sighed in resigned frustration. "I understand."

He stood and turned to leave. It was time to cook breakfast and with Ada looking after Sahar he could look forwards to company in the kitcken of their small part of the ex theater.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]ADA [/BG]

[BG="black"]It was late in the morning, maybe around 9AM. Once again Ada found herself standing in front of the stove. She had been hired to be a body guard for Dr. Cray and his daughter Sahar, not to act like Cray's house wife.

She grumbled a little as she reached into the small refrigerator to grab several eggs. Ada was bored with just eating them hard boiled. It seemed that those hard boiled eggs had been their main staple diet for the past three weeks. Luckily, the night before she had been able to bribe one of the local black market vendors to trade in some broken robotic parts she had found in the ruins and get some ham and potatoes.

Ada then cracked upon the eggs and the yokes slid into the pan like gooey yellow water. She tossed in little pieces of the ham that she had cut up beforehand.

This was the routine that she underwent most mornings. Elliot Cray was not a very good cook. The first time he prepped a meal, it make Ada want to vomit. While she was no master at cooking, she did have experience as a solider making meals on the move.

The door then opened. Dr. Cray entered, looking stressed and fatigued.

"Where's Sahar?" He asked when he noticed that his daughter wasn't already at the table.

"I let her sleep in." Ada said. "She's running a slight fever and a girl in her condition...I didn't want to try and move her around. That's your skill as a parent."

The smoke alarm then went off. "Oh for the love of!!!" She had burnt the eggs.

"Well, these are going to be your's." Ada joked to Cray. "Judging by your looks, that Russian jackarse didn't seem thrilled with your offerings..."[/BG]

 

[October Knight]

Seattle, WA

Sometime after midnight

View attachment 5027Twelve long years living in an isolated mind. A mind that grasped at memories that remained just out of reach. Alex had painted himself a picture of what happened that day, but it wasn't his memory. It was like a movie; A fabricated event that he had created for himself in order to cope with the traumatic event. However, it wasn't all bad. In some ways, Alex thought, it was indeed a silver lining. For one, he had no real memory of his past life, so in turn, he had nothing to miss. For another, after the explosion, most Criminal enterprises were brought to their knees, leaving the Triad to pick up the pieces, becoming the only real proprietors of Crime within Seattle. This made Alex Trembosa's life much easier, as the first ever partial cyborg employed cop, his crime fighting had a focal point.

Behind the wheel of his unmarked police cruiser, against the back drop of the city, Alex watched and waited, as he often did during stakeouts. It gave him time to think. He was parked outside of a Noodle house that doubled as a money laundering station for the Triad's operations. As usual, Alex was working alone. He liked it that way, and the fact that they sent a partially cybernetic cop to the dangerous missions alone didn't even bother him. He knew what he was, and for the most part accepted it.

A sudden flash, followed immediately by the tell tale crack of a high caliber pistol made Alex jump. He reached for his own weapon, a custom made revolver made to exact specifications, perfectly fitting Alex's hand. It wasn't as powerful as some of the other guns supplied by the department to the rest of Settles finest, but for Alex it was perfect. He scanned his surroundings, taking in a sharp breath before swinging open the door on his cruiser.

There was another shot from inside the noodle house. Alex, always one to throw cation to the wind, despite the amount of heat it brought down on him, cocked his weapon and made his way to the entrance. At the very least he would be able to slap the Triad with a 'dispersion of a fire arm within city limits'.

 

[Vay]

Cray chuckled maneuvering around the table. "Just remember not to undersalt them." he checkles again as Ada rolled her eyes. The scientist's appetite with salt was in general only matched by his appetite for everything else. "That russian in a business man and knows we have nowhere else to go. Hes going to try to take everything for himself I just know it." he sighed "Well I'm going to check on Sahar.."

He pushed through the door and smiled at the girl in the bed stepping up to his daughter and placing a large hand on her forehead. Ada was right she was warm and as her eyes opened. "Breakfast is almost ready." he said, "Do you want to eat there or should I bring a tray?" He would normally do the later but since their departure from Nova, Ada had always done her best to beat him to the kitchen and he felt the least the could do was eat in the same room.

As he spoke he spoke he moved to the dresser and kneeling down opened the bottom drawer, lifting a medical bag from inside and placing it on the bed. He snapped it open and reaching inside and pulled out a syringe and a bottle. "Are we ready for today's dose?"

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]SAHAR [/BG]

[BG="black"]The young brown haired woman had been awake for a while now. Ada was not a very quiet person in the morning. Sahar always would claim that it was because that woman was always a deadbeat drunk. Sahar never saw eye to eye with Ada. Potentially, there was some kind of rivalry between the two. That is, at least in her mind.

She never trusted the various other women that had showed up in her family's life after the Singularity Event that caused her injuries. Sahar longed for the days when they could go back to the city of Seattle and live a normal life. All this quick movement from place to place annoyed her deep down.

However, she still remained on her bed since she felt ill. Fevers seemed to becoming more and more common ever since they moved to the ruins of Los Angeles. To Sahar, the thought of trying to walk on her own was daunting at this time. While she could still stand, her legs were too weak to hold her up for long periods of time without her getting exhausted. Besides, she liked the fact that her father still woke her up in the morning. It was one of the few true comforts she had known in her life on the lamb for the past few months…Or was it years now?

"Good morning, father!" Sahar said with a large grin on her face.

"I hope that you have had a super morning so far!" She always seemed to have a chipper attitude around Elliot Cray. While she hadn't known her mother, the impression she had on Elliot reminded him almost exactly of his wife when they were first dating

She coughed. "Sorry!" She squeaked, "I think it'd be better if I stay in bed today. So breakfast here sure sounds appealing to me."

Thus began her normal routine of every morning. Dr. Cray would grab a syringe from the medical drawer as she liked to call it. These shots were stabilizing the little machines inside of her. Sahar didn't know how they functioned. Elliot made sure of that. He didn't want to put Sahar's life on the line. Any would be kidnappers would find it impossible to research the nanos without his knowledge.

"I'm ready."

She flinched a little when the needle was inserted into her. Sahar was used to needles but wasn't fond of them. The young woman then smiled once the medication was done. [/BG]

 

[Vay]

Cray smiled warmly, he always did around Sahar. After the accident he had been worried how she would adjust to her injury, but now he often though he had taken it worse than she had. He turned her onto her side and with a well practiced hand inserted the needle into her lower back right above her injury. It was where the largest concentration of the machines milled about inside her.

"Try to get some rest I'll bring you something to eat soon." he down planting a light kiss on Sahar's forehead before removing the needle from the syringe and replacing it in the bag. He had almost become a medical doctor, in fact with the qualifications he had he could be. He already knew what he would give her it she didn't get better on her own.

Back in the kitchen there was at least a better smell than burned eggs and Eliot's stomach growled audibly. "I'm going to take Sahar her breakfast in bed he said picking up the plate that so far didn't have anything burned on it. "Then I guess its back to waiting for our.. 'benefactor' to make up his mind. Maybe if you bloke his spine he'd be more cooperative." he chuckled at his own joke before heading back to the bedroom.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]ADA [/BG]

[BG="black"]"Don't forget the toast..." Ada said, as she handed Elliot another plate for Sahar. "She needs more carbs. Sahar's a skinny little thing."

Deep down Ada hated sounding like a mother but Sahar did need someone besides for her dad to take care of her. While this hadn't been part of the original contract, Ada has slowly been taking over as the "other." Though she hoped it was more sisterly than motherly.

Ada then took a bite out of her burnt eggs. She then gobbled it down without complaint. Food was food.

"If he remains a stubborn Slavic SOB, then I'll bitch slap him around." Ada chuckled back before Cray went back to Sahar.

When Cray returned to Sahar's room, Ada then pulled a granny smith apple out from one of her cargo pockets. The "Russian" as everyone called Alek. Coming across fruit in this pirate colony was highly uncommon. Alex had a habit of leaving such prizes out in the open for Ada's taking. If fruits were rare, single women were even rarer. Ada knew deep down that the Russian was trying to court her. However, she had no intention of belonging to a class of low lives. She might have been more into to Unregistered Class but she had fought for America....So she was no longer one of them.

She looked up at the hall. Cray had pasted several newspaper clippings on the wall, in attempts to much this small space somewhat more personable. Living in a run down theater turned fortress wasn't exactly homely.

A clipping of Dr. Heinrich Brakman was hung on the wall with great care. It had been 18 years since his murder and 12 since the Singualirty event in Seattle. Ada often wondered if Cray had some connection with the Humanist movement. If so, it disturbed her. She had a little know secret. She was one of the so called Altered; meaning she had robotic parts to her. The Humanists were against Androids. Though...Cray had indeed injected his daughter with nanos, so maybe he wasn't a full pledged political member.[/BG]

 

[Vay]

5 men, all of them trusted enough to put his life in their hands without a thought. Well except Alvin, he'd drop it. But everyone could be trusted, well everyone except the one not included in the 5.

"So we have a plan then." Ace said sliding the magazine into his silenced MP5. "Everyone except the doctor and his associates die." They were in the laundry room with Yin, the friend who had gotten them inside, and one of the russians who had been doing laundry when they had arrived. The latter was enjoying Octavio's tender embrace but at Ace's words there was a crack and the Russian fell to the ground. "Remember if you see the doctor's bodyguard leave her to me, anyone else... well you do what you do best."

"Ross, Ethan, take care of the lower floors. No one gets out. Octavio, take Alvin and take out the communications and take the east side of the building. Yin, you're with me, we're going after Alek, then paying the doctor a visit. Once I call everyone meet at the rally point and he get out of here."

He looked into the faces of each in turn from the nervous Alek to the smiling Ethan.

"What if I rum out of bad guys?" Octavio chimed in.

"Then you keep doing what you do best, theres enough to go round..."

He drew his sidearm and handed it to his brother. "Right is we're ready, lets get our doctor."

"Here you go." Cray said placing the small table on the bed and placing the plates on it. Yawning he sat down on the foot of the bed and watched her eat. "I Think we can skip your exercise today if you're shaky..." he had been up since 4 negotiating with that damned Russian and already he had a headache, nothing coffee wouldn't fix though, then he would go back to doing what he could to improve the bets that swarmed around inside his daughter. It wasn't much without equipment but he could at least come up with theories he could test later.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Sahar said cutting off his train of thought.

"I already did before you woke up.. I had another talk with Alek. Hes still thinking it over." he stifled another yawn before continuing. "Its been a busy morning."

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]ADA [/BG]

[BG="black"]"Well then...Since he's having some daughter-dad time. I might as well go have some fun." Ada thought to herself as she discarded the apple core into the trash disposer.

Ada decided to enter the hallway of the Oriental Theater. The original splendor of the theater had long faded into the pages of history. Ever since the government attack on the city, the land of dreams was no more. Plaster had was peeling off the walls. The original landmark had closed in January of 1985. At least that's what she heard second hand from the locals.

She could tell that it had been remodeled into a retail space. Every now and again, she saw ads for a store known as the Guitar Center scattered around the building. Ada certainly never heard of that chain of stores at all in her lifetime.

Ada then put her hands into her pockets while she walked. Several of the Russian's thugs were also milling around. They gave her cat calls and she in return gave them the finger. They mostly chuckled at this gesture. Their boss gave them orders not to harm any of his most honored guests. It was rare for women to be present in these parts and the Russian was the one that wanted her afterall...

"Hello, hello. Angel moy!" The Russian then entered the room. He curled his mustache and had a wide grin on his face. "I hope that all is well for you."

Ada cringed a little inside. If Cray wasn't paying her the handsome sum that he was, she'd have left this city weeks ago.

"Hello Mr. Alek. I am well." She said with a forced smile.

"Good, good!" Alek continued to grin. "You know...You still haven't answered my request for a private dinner."


[/BG]

 

[October Knight]

View attachment 5447Alex's foot steps fell heavy on the concrete as he approached the noodle house. He was calm, collected, but as always a pent up rage was building deep inside him. It started as a wild fire in his chest, but once fully ignited, the flame focused to a pin point. Alex, although shaky on the exact details of his accident, was able to safely assume that the pin point was directed solely on Nova corps. Once a cop. always a cop. Alex Trembosa had no problem what so ever on taking out his fury on the plague of the community, The Triad.

Alex's body was, in all seriousness, a well oiled machine. The cybernetics working in perfect unison with his meat parts, however, watching him would yield no indication if he was man or machine. As most of the partially cybernetic humans on earth today, his inner workings were precise and well constructed. In a way, Alex's fury could also be reflected back to himself. Inner rage in the sense that the reason he lived today was because of Nova Corps.

He reached the mirrored glass door of the Noodle house, paused, then put his foot through the glass. The next second he was inside the building, weapon drawn, a look of serene determination painted on his face. Inside the room were three men. Two standing, obviously members of the Triad, while the third was tied to a chair, his hands behind his back. Blood poured from his right leg, the knee cap having been completely destroyed from what Alex assumed was the gun shot he heard.

Alex fired, twice. The first bullet hit the Triad member square in the chest, while the second took the top of the others head down to the meaty brain tissue. Blood sprayed as the men slumped to the floor, each writhing with their last moments on this earth. Alex holstered his weapon.

Later that morning.

A news paper lay, front page exposed on the desk of the Chief of Seattle police. Alex stood, arms at his sides, awaiting what would no doubt be a chastising speech.

Two dead, Cybernetic cop responsible.
​

The headline jumped off the page in bold, black type as the Chief sat looking at it with a mix of regret and disbelief.

"Alex, How many times do we really have to go over this? In a situation like this, you call for back up! Can you say it? Back up!! The press is going to have a field day now, and they will not direct the public's hatred at the Department...."

"They were members of the Triad, Chief, and not to mention armed"

The chief went on, ignoring Alex's words.

"...they are going to direct it at you, the 'crazed machine strikes again' " He raised his arms, palms out with fingers spread as if predicting future headlines.

"I have no choice Alex, this is it for you in Seattle"

Alex was on the next flight, en route to L.A.

 

[Vay]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nn0_FjJvVHI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>​

The team split up. each man knowing what he had to do and very good at it. Yet Ace hadn't chosen his winglady because he trusted her ability to keep him alive. Just the opposite, he wanted to see what she could do.

"In position boss. Five uglies. I was wrong, today is turning out to be fun." Octavio's voice actually did sound pleased.

"Go, take them down. Remember we have to get the doc out of here in one piece."

Ace rounded a corner and ran into his first kill of the day, the silenced smg spitting death. Another pokes his head out of the restroom to investigate the noise but before Ace could send him on his way a black-clad blur zipped past and pulled the man out by his hair onto the ground, placed a knee on his back and grabbing his head twisted.

With a crunch there was one less goon.

"Check the bathroom, the Russian should be close by, this was one of his bodyguard."

"Okay, Yin, not only are you giving me orders, how do you kno...."

The woman held up the man's wrist, there was a mark burned into the skin, one the Russian had on all his bodyguard, so only they could get close.

MP5 raised ace sighed and went though the door assuming Yin would follow or stand guard. Really they were armed and on a warpath, would she really be squeemish over a bathroom?

He was wrong and as he left Yin smiled and looked to the ornate doors leading into the dressing rooms that had been turned into bedrooms. Maybe ace couldn't hear the voices on the other side, but one of them had a thick accent and the other was... female, seemed the russian was enjoying company, pitty he was about to be interrupted. Ace was going to kick himself for missing this.

The expression on Adda's face. It would tell a man paying attention what she thought of his offer, but Alek, wasn't.

"I am king of Los Angeles, the city of angels, I could give you the best wine money can buy, none of that synthetic crap... What do you say?"

"I'm on the job."

"My men have everything in hand, and the professor or octor or whatever you call him is waiting on my call. If you want to help him perhaps with a little... motivation..."

Her eyes cut him off and Alek almost took a step back.

"Ada, theres no reason to be like that. All I offer is a meal like you've never had. From europe, only the best meat, all the shellfish you could want all I ask is that over this meal we talk, get to know eachother a little better, no harm in that right?"

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]ADA [/BG]

[BG="black"]Ada wanted to smack Alex. She felt like saying go screw yourself but that'd just lead to him assuming that she was tsundere for him or something.

Just then, several shots came from just outside the door. Reacting, like any professional soldier would, she pushed Alex to the ground, while she rolled to the side.

"Get out of the way!" She the shouted at Alex. The Russian did has she ordered. Several more shots came through the door. Ada made use of a few of the heavy wooden desks that were scattered through the room. Alex hid on the sides, though by the next round, he was on the ground curled up into a ball.

Soon a young Chinese woman stepped in. She was wearing a paramilitary uniform. This was not an uncommon sight here in the remains of LA. Though a woman being here was.

<"I know that you're in here. Let's get this done and over with. You have something we want. If you surrender them over, we'll spare your pathetic lives.">

This was Yin Zhen Chu. She was not a true member of the Mercenary band that was currently attempting to steal away Sahar and Cray; rather, she was a representive of on of the Triads from Peking.

Ada then spoke, <"That's nice. But seriously, what brings someone like you here?">

Yin then fired into the air. <"Show yourself, woman! I make it practice not too kill one of my own gender. So just get your scrawny ass out of here, so I can take care of the Russian.">

Ada's Chinese was rusty but she knew enough to get by. The US Army made sure they could break Chinese codes and knowing several of the Chinese languages were key to successful raids into the Triad strong holds in Mexico.

She then stepped out. There was a smug look on her face. Ada loved to annoy the crap out of her foes. It wasn't often that she'd be able to fight against a fellow female soldier. <"Here, I am. Not really in the mood to fight anyways; so you can have the Russian. He's hiding in the corner; next to the pot.>"

<"So. You speak Mandarin? Very impressive, for a white girl."> Yin Zhen Chu said while holding up her AK-47.

There was a tension in the air. Neither of the two women trusted the other. The only weapon Ada had on her was her pistol. The guards had always frowned upon having an outside heavily armed...If a fire fight were bound to occur, Ada was a faster shot than Yin was, but there was no way for her to know this. She knew that the Russian had a weapon on himself almost 24/7....It was just a matter of getting to him first.

<"Oh yeah...I studied at Harvard before the war in Mexico. Wanted a challenge...So they recommended either taking Japanese or Chinese. Figured...The Japs are off in their own little world. Might was well, learn a useful lingo. Right?>" Ada said hoping to stall for time.

<"Don't give a shit. Leave. Now.>" Yin said in response.

Ada rolled her eyes as Yin moved down the hallway searching for Alex. Ada did nothing to stop her. That is until Yin cocked her head and took a better look at her.

<"Wait...You're that woman from all the photos in the office!>" Yin said. <"The officer said that there's a bounty out for you!">

Ada sighed and then drew her pistol. The machine parts in her fake arm reacted. She hated having too use her "powers" but it looked like she might need too. That was until, she felt a large hand rest on her shoulder.

"Ada, Ada..." The voice was that of a middle aged man, "Finding you here out of all places. Yin, you can lower your firearm. She's with us."

This man was Ace.


[/BG]

 

[Vay]

Of course Ada turned at the sound of Ace's voice. It was after all the voice of the man why taught her everything she knew.

"Edwards....? What is the military..." he stopped her by raising a hand.

"Its just Ace these days and I'm done with the military and with Nova, I take jobs as they come... So I'd appreciate it if you stopped pointing your gun at my employer."

"No you tell this yellow bi..."

Again ace stopped her completing his sentence, this time by stepping forwards and pushing the barrel of Yin's gun down. Anger flared in her eyes but she lowered her weapon and turned away without a word. Ace shook his head and sighed. "She worries me sometimes, but heres the thing, we're here for the professor, the Chinese want him and are willing to give him the facilities to do his work, he'll be safe with them."

"He'll be a slave with them."

"No more than he was with Nova."

"And he lift Nova, what makes you thing he'll stay with the Chinese?"

"Frankly not my problem. Ada, you're a merc, I'll cut you in on the deal, even split, you'll walk away with a tidy sum and the Doc will be safe. Whats there to say no to?"

Just then there was another shot outside the door and Yin returned dropping the lifeless body of the Russian to the floor a bullet hole right between the eyes, an executioner's mark.

"We're done here, lets find this scientist, unless theres another problem." She shot a glance at Ada before sliding a fresh clip into her pistol daring her to make a move against her.

He closed the door and looked over to the bed where Sahar lay. "Seems like its time to get you out of bed." he said wheeling the chair from the corner and maneuvering it next to the bed. "Come on Wheels." she never got too old for him to call her that. He helped her from the chair, right before from above them there was the sound of gunfire.

Cray froze and made for the door putting his ear against it and listening intently. He know if there was trouble Ada would expect them to stay put and wait for her, but if someone else got to them first he would need a plan.

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]SAHAR [/BG]

[BG="black"] Sahar adjusted herself as best as possible. Her father had invested in a nice chair for her. Even living life on the lamb, Cray wanted the best for his only daughter. He didn't know if there'd ever be a time or place that they could ever be truly free, but he would make sure that he loved her, even more than he did his own wife.

"Father!" She yelped when the gun fire broke out. "What's going on??!"

When they moved to LA, Cray was unsure about where they'd end up. It was just chance that Alex found them. The Russian was a big fool and Cray knew this almost right away. For half a year, their lives were stable.

"Don't worry, Wheels." Cray said, placing his hand on his daughter's shoulders. "It's just a part of gang warfare. Someone is just questioning Alex's claim to the throne."

He had no idea what was going on of course. Sahar raised an eyebrow, "You're not a very good fibber, you know that right?" She said calmly. "Maybe we should find that annoying woman you hired and attempt to get outta here."

Sahar then looked behind her and stared into her father's eyes. "I know that she keeps a spare weapon or two around here. Since anyone with a brain knows never to trust a mercenary, I make it a habit of watching her."
[/BG]

 

[Vay]

"She'll find us if she can." he said, but then there were more shots a lot closer and Cray shook his head moving to the chest drawers and opening the top one. He tried not to look at the delicates inside as he felt below the drawn until his fingers grasped metal and he tore the gun free tape still hanging from it.

There was a determined gleam in his eyes that seldom showed itself, a sparkle that was rare even for Sahar to see. The last time it had shown itself was the night they had run away. "Wait here I'm going to make sure everything is alright." he said going over to the door and reaching for the handle, but before he could open the door it swung back and Ada was framed in the doorway. Faster than could be seen she pulled the gun from Cray;s hands and gave him a look.

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your hands off my stuff?" She scolded with only a hint of seriousness to her tone, but then she turned. "In here Ace, both of them."

Behind her the mercenary leader stepped up and his grin greeted the room. "Thank you Ada, good to know I can still count on you." The smile he gave her was more that one of a satisfied business partner or an approving mentor though it would take a teenager to see the significance of the look in his eyes.

"Ada, whats going on?" Cray asked his eyes showing anger tempered with confusion.

"I cut her in on the deal, she gives me both of you and I give her an even split. She gets a fat payout and you avoid unneeded bloodshed. Everyone wins, except the Russian."

"You sold us to him." cray spat, "We've knows eachother for how long and you.... mercenary."

"I.."

There was a metallic click and Ace's custom revolver came up to point at the professor, then slowly turned to the girl in the wheelchair. "The contract was for you with a bonus for the girl, if you give me trouble.... I'll be set for life even without the bonus... So you'd better start learning Chinese old man, your new bosses would appreciate it."

 

[Blind Hemingway]

[BG="black"]SAHAR [/BG]

[BG="black"]Sahar stared at Ace. Her eyes remained stern, very similar to what her father was doing just a few moments earlier. There was an emotion to her somewhat blank expression. It was those eyes. They seemed to be assessing the situation and on the same token, also checking out if there were any weaknesses in the man.

"Well." Sahar said, "I don't think that your bosses know the full story, then. Without either of us, they will be stuck. The cybernetics are within me. Without me, there's no way that they can reproduce the technologies. Even a brute knows the important of science."

"Ace! Put that damned gun down!" Ada said.

When Ace had been her superior officer in the US military, Ada had proved to be one of his most loyal and able soldiers. She was also one of the few that made him think more rationally. Ada felt her heart racing. She didn't want to get Sahar or Cray in trouble. She had grown attached to them whether she wanted to admit it or not. So loved them for the same reason she grew to love her fellow soldiers. They were the closest thing she had to a family, herself.
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[Vay]

Ada's defiance was a surprise, for both sides. A hand came to rest on her shoulder and Cray's eyes stared into hers. There were no words only a a slight shade of the head before Cray turned to push Sahar's chair.

"Not so fast professor, I want you where I can see you. Ada, look after the girl."

The first to join them were Octavius and the kid, the former taking up position behind Ada ans Yin made sure to walk with Cray. It would have been impossible for them to talk, but the look Cray had given Ada earlier it was clear he didn't want to.

"Alright gents we've done what we came here to do, meet up outside and lets get out to sea before someone decides to come and claim this place.