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Prospecting

The ship rattled as it entered the orbit of Omicron Minor, the shuttle inherently voicing its complaint to the extra variables, alongside this vessel would be two others, Nephthys’. They served as escort crafts to the designated cartography team, which were tasked with further exploration of the surface of Toledo. The team inside were gearing up for the inhospitable terrain of the planet’s surface, their objective was simply to find locations which there was either a tactical advantage or where minerals might be found. The equipment they had was pretty standard, drilling probes as well as scanning equipment to get a map of the geographical layout of some terrain. The three crafts land on the surface of the planet, the engines melting the snow under it melting as they cooled down, the two pilots of the craft were the first ones to get out, they were just to stay with the ships. The Cartography team that exited the ship already had its own guards with it who were armed with assault rifles and there were four of them in total, they also doubled as muscle when one of the less physically inclined cartographers needed a hand. Jamey was one of the first cartographers to exit the ship and he did so with a menial show of reluctance with a strong gust of wind causing the man to shiver involuntarily. Jamey hooked his thumbs into the straps of his back pack and casted a glance over his shoulder.

“Let’s get to it, the faster we do this the faster we get back to base where hot chocolate will be waiting for us.” Hot chocolate was something he uses to believe was just a novelty, but with the new found home of Toledo he learned to not take it so for granted, becoming one of the more favorite drinks among those that go to the planet, even more so then alcohol, although it was understandable why some people got heavy in their drinks. He felt a hand on his shoulder as Ruby would pass him giving him a soft smile. His daughter, which he wasn’t so happy that she had followed him into this line of work but she was someone he was to hard to dissuade when she made her mind up. He drew up beside Ruby as she would look down at the map in accordance to where they would need to go, they were already at one corner and would need to trek the rest of the way to the other three points to put the geographical scanners down.

It had been a number of hours of the two trekking through the snow before they came upon a suitable place to put the second scanner node which was set up by Jamey from the backpack he had been lugging about, he gently rubbed at his shoulders trying to remove the soreness as Ruby set the device’s programming as she was more efficient than him at it. He secretly detested technology and that was mostly because of his poor technical skills that never seemed to flourish like his daughters. “First ones set Dad, just got – let’s hope the others aren’t having any complications.” A nervous smile was present on her lips as this was mostly to the fact that these particular devices were of her own creation and this was their first they were being utilized. She moved back some distance and looked on in hope as Jamey touched the PDA equipped to his wrist putting in his authorization code and then held his wrist toward his daughter. “Hey squirt, have the honor’s your device after all and if something goes wrong – least I won’t be at fault.” An easy going chuckle escaped from his lips as his daughter merely smirked back at him and shook her head. “Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.” This only dispelled her nervousness temporarily as she touched the PDA to enter in the command with a dainty hand, which she drew back and started to wring out. The node activated and started to hover in the air, a red light emitted from it for a few moments before it shifted to one that was less noticeable to human eyes, it started to trace over the landscape.

They had placed several more after they returned to the ship before they finally made camp. The other group of cartographers had checked in via short wave radio some time ago that they had come across a complication and would be along momentarily. Those that had stayed behind to guard the ships had gone to their location to find out what the complication was exactly, leaving just the two Order pilots, Jamey and Ruby at the camp sight. The pair had set up the tents as well as set up the various equipment that they had brought with them for the camp site which helped make it more bearable, one of which was a projector, an old piece of equipment but the two were sentimental and preferred to watch the images on two dimensions rather than the three. They had just put a movie on when ruby noticed a small flickering of light in the distance which caused her to stand up while her hand gripped her father’s shoulder to get his attention, which he turned his head in response to her and the along her line of sight. She moved quickly towards one of the Pilots ship which they preferred to stay in, knocking on the man’s door. Kane opened the back of his Nephthys and lofted a brow at the woman before him and issued a sigh. “Something I can help you with Ruby – I was about to head to slee~.” He found himself pausing when he saw the look on her face and he quickly lost his current demeanor and adopted a more serious one as he quickly got on a coat having not needed for her to speak to know that something was happening, he was one of their requested guards more for the reason that he did not complain and seemed quite secluded which was something Ruby and Jamey had enjoyed due to the nature of the Orders overbearing nature. “I don’t know what’s going on – but only one of those who went out, is coming back – there simply isn’t enough light.” Kane nodded curtly and moved out the door as he processed what she said, he had his rifle ready as he looked to the direction of where she looked and it was true enough there was only one and without radio contact. “Get to the shuttle, Zac and I will handle this.” Ruby hurried to her father, where the both of them locked themselves within the shuttle.

Betrayal

Thirty minutes passed before Ruby could no longer stand just sitting and waiting, she moved up toward the cockpit where she set her hands down on the nook of one of the consoles to help hoist herself up which allowed her to get a glimpse of the three people standing out in the snow. She could see the movements of Kane while he confronted the figure on their knees, his weapon was at the ready which only striked her as odd. Jamey came up behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders gently as a way of reassurance, he knew she was worrying as she had the similar expression as her mother when she reached such a state. “Everything will be al~.” His voice was cut off by the sound of a gunshot. Ruby let out a shriek, Jamey mightn’t of seen it but she did and she could only watch on in horror as Kane stumbled and fell to the ground a vapor of red mist dispersing into the air. The scene to her was one from the horror books and she could only stand in shocked silence with a hand up to her mouth, her heart beat drummed heavily in her ears. She watched as the man’s head turned to her and the man who was previously on his knees move to pick up Kanes equipment which he issued another shot into the Kanes body dispelling any belief that he could have survived. Just as she was finally coming back to her senses the ground shifted out from under her causing her to stumble and fall. She hadn’t heard her father calling out to her and he was too busy preparing the emergency launch to take notice of his daughter’s state. Jamey’s hands were trembling which did not help in the least with what he was trying to do. With the engines finally ignited and the shield up they started to make their way off the ground when the first few rounds from the assault rifles raked themselves against the shield of the ship, the ship made a second lurch as the cruise engines finally kicked in and the two remaining ‘guards’ quickly moved towards the fighters, the sound of sobbing brought his attention to his daughter. “Ruby? Ruby!? Are you alright, Ruby talk to me come on.” The Nephthys’ move to peruse the vessel but instead set a course back the way

The bay doors closed with a clunk and the room would pressurize once again, emergency crews quickly rushed from the doors being that their entry was done so with such haste as well as to what they communicated, Jamey moved an arm around Ruby’s shoulders and pulled her into his side setting his chin on the top of her head. Jane made her way quickly toward them, Jane being Jamey’s wife and he greeted her with a worried but warm smile. “Honey, take Ruby home, it’s okay I’ll deal with this.” A depth of sadness was president in his voice and a moment of eye contact was all she needed to understand what had happened, she placed a protective motherly hug around her distraught daughter and sought to lead her away. Jamey would be left alone for a while shaking his head trying to make sense of what had happened, he checked over the data gathered from the three drones and frowned when one of them showed up with an anomaly in its data. It had detected something metallic and with a life sign as well, he slipped the PDA into his pocket as he was approached tby the CO of the recent undertaking of the cartography missions. “Jame.” The man said as they shook hands firmly. “I don’t know what to say Rob other then the other team reported in they came across some complications – we set up camp and were just getting ready to watch a movie when Ruby saw the a light in the distiance – had Kane go check it out with the other guy that was placed with us, he shot him.” Jamey shook his head as it made little sense to him. “We had to fly out of there; I feared they would come after us.” Rob moved a hand into his beard rubbing at it roughly, a mannerism he adopted when thinking thoroughly. “Right, well Jamey.” Rob moved to place a hand on his shoulder. “Just go look after your daughter for now, I need to figure out what agents were signed to your detail, I’ll keep you posted.” Jamey nodded his thanks. They both turned away from each other with Jamey heading to try helping comfort his daughter and Rob moving to his logistics officer. “Everything’s prepped?” The logistics officer nodded. “Yes sir, our two agents have secured the sight – we’ll be ready to move it out within the hour.” Rob looked over his shoulder with a slightly regretful expression. “Let’s just hope that this is bloody worth it – Killing our own to keep this a secret seems stupid – we don’t even know what it is, other than it was here before us.” The Logistics officer lofted a brow at rob. “It’s best to not question those that have your balls in a vice, Robert, don't forget as to what you have at stake.” With this the officer turned from him and continued on with his tasks.

Karma

Robert had had retired to his room that night with a sick feeling in his gut, a heavy sigh escaping his lips as he would rub a hand over his short cropped hair in frustration. This was not how he had wanted to serve the Order. He moved up from the bed and went toward the shower rooms of the ship, he removed his shirt when he entered the room and cleaned up. Life aboard a war ship didn’t exactly provide much private novelties such as a shower. A hopeless feeling gripped him heavily and he wept softly. He later returned to his room where he found the logistics officer waiting there for him. His heart dropped into his feet although he successful hid that as he moved over to sit and lay on his bed. Inevitably the man spoke

“A teams been arranged to explore the object that was found, you’ll approve them.” Robert would only turn his back to the Logistics officer and shake his head letting out a sigh; the man taking this for compliance would head for the door. “We are Humanitarians contrary to what you might think, we just aren’t philanthropists.” The officer glanced over his shoulder for a moment before exiting Roberts room.

It was later that day the Robert made his way back to his dispatch office and went through the paper work. He signed the sheet of paper that the Logistics officer left on top, conveniently, he then submitted it through where a small group of squad of agents were. Rhys picked up the paper and looked over the signature to check it was all in order and then nodded towards Robert who did not return the gesture, instead he just got a narrowed eyed glance. Rhys made his way back over to his team as he folded up the paper and placed it within one of the breast pockets. “Alright, gear up – we got clearance, want you all in the ship by five.” Clary and Chou who were the Medical and Tech experts nodded moving off to the nearby equipment requisition to retrieve their equipment, in contrast Victor and Rhys headed to the Armory where they would receive their tactical gear. The four converged on the shuttle together where they stored their gear in the storage area. Rhys looked amongst his group his eyes lingering on Clary for a moment longer than the rest.

“Right, We’ve got a unidentified structure we are assigned to explore, Clary and Chou, I want you in between me and Victor at all times, Chou make sure you pay attention to your devices, we don’t exactly know what to expect there, Clary – be cautious and try note any difference in the atmospheric components. When we land, me and Victor will deal with our first objective, and then move on from there.”

Clary would take the pause to speak up. “What can be expected, we aren’t really expected to go into this blind – are we?” Although her voice had started off confident it gained a more questioning tone toward the end, it wouldn’t have been the first time they were given a mission that had a lack of Intel provided.

Rhys could only shake his head with a sigh and they all knew what that had meant. Rhys moved around to check the others’ harnesses, making sure they were all secured. Clary reached out a hand and placed it on Rhy’s arm as he checked her harness, a sympathetic look in her eye before withdrawing her hand. Rhys managed a weak smile before moving to his own seat and settled down; locking the clasps into place he struck the bottom side of his fist against the wall. The ship lurched slightly as it moved from the hanger to the docking bay area. The shuttle settled into the undocking chamber, when it departed the vessel it was aboard then it would head down towards the planet. The trip itself was rather uneventful. The ship settled into the snow with the engine’s radiating heat causing some of the snow to melt and manifest a small puddle of water, the legs sunk deeper in but the landing zone was well chosen. Two Nephthys fighters lingered nearby with their pilots in between them conversing with one another, seeming to lack any attention towards the new arrivals. There were a few bodies of the cartography team out in the open, simply being left where they fell. Rhys and Victor were the first two to exit the shuttle while the other two prepped their gear. When Victor had exited the ship, Rhys reached out a hand on his shoulder signaling him to remain at this position; a brief exchange of eye contact told each other all they needed to know. Rhys trudged up to the pair kicking up a bit of snow as he approached, he noticed the bodies nearby though made no outward reaction as he came up before the two. “Agents, Zac, Benjamin, it’s good to see you here, anything of interest to report?”

“Nothing that we know of – discarded the Cartography team before they could tamper with anything, on orders of course. The only thing we know that it’s has metal structuring and it isn’t one of ours, we need to be quick about this as the rest of the Order will want to have this area covered, I would prefer not to be here when they decide to send out a second team to follow us up.” Benjamin spoke first to prevent his companion from putting a word in, he shot a warning look towards Zac and for a moment they would share a moment of eye contact. The sound of metal scraping against plastic brought his attention to Rhys, what he was now looking at would be the last thing he would look at. Two synchronized shots rang out through the Tundra and both Zac and Benjamin fell backwards, a spray of blood entering out from either of them as they hit the ground. Rhys looked over his shoulder towards Victor and gave an encoring nod, he also jerked his head towards the body which the both of them knew as to why. Victor slid the rifle around to his back while he moved through the snow, his boots crunching as the compacted the white powder, it was apparent that some new snow had fallen recently as his footsteps were uneven and a lot of it was less settled than if it had been here for a while. Victor dragged the bodies of the dead cartography into a pile together where both Rhys and Victor splashed fuel over them before lighting them, it was the least they could do then just leave them face down in the snow, this same consideration wasn’t given to either Zac nor Benjamin as they did not deserve such honors. Clary and Chou used this moment while Victor and Rhys were holding the small ceremonial burning to head over to the entrance of the structure they were meant to explore, Chou noticed the drones used to help chart the land was next to the entrance, likely gathered by Zac and Benjamin after they had killed Kane. Chou plugged the device into her PDA device and went about retrieving the data that was on it, she would get a scan of the outlaying land as well as an indication to the shape of the structure. It was a ship. Clary had her own equipment out taking readings of the air near the entrance but she would find nothing of note only old and stale air.

When Rhys and Victor came over they both joined up with Chou and Clary who had finished their initial assessment. “It looks to be in the shape of a ship, not one I recognize but a ship none the less.” Chou unjacked her device from the drone and stood up. Victor moved to take Clary’s place at the threshold, his eyes vigilantly scanning for anything that would be considered out of the ordinary, which there was plenty.

“We need to go in there all the same, we have an objective to complete, I’ll go in first while Victor will head up the rear, Chou and Clary, you’ll be in between – Clary I want you to monitor the sensors to make sure we aren’t walking into anything hazardous to our health and Chou, I want you on the scanners to try see if we can pick up anything that’s still operational here.” Rhys slid his riffle around from his back putting the stock of the rifle into the nook of his shoulder while he casted a look towards Victor.

“Nothing familiar about it, Rhys, can’t tell if anything isn’t how it’s meant to be – I don’t like this one bit.” Victor didn’t wait for Rhys reply, instead he moved towards Chou where he would help her with preparing her equipment, it was a habit the four of them got into as it helped to prepare themselves faster, in contrast Rhys moved to help Clary.

Clary let out a deep sigh, she had avoided any eye contact towards the bodies as death wasn’t something she was yet use to. She fumbled with her device slightly before finally getting it set how she wanted, Rhys who was next to her helped to get her pack back on before reassuringly patting her on the shoulder. “I don’t have a good feeling about this.” Rhys only nodded in response before the four of them set up in their formation and then started into the structure.

The internal layer of the ship was made of a smooth glass like substance; this almost caused Victor to lose his footing when he stepped on some snow that had accumulated near the entrance. He was able to correct himself in time but it wasn’t something that was exactly smooth. Chou had moved a hand out to help steady him in which he would nod his thanks before they descended down the ramp. They continued down the hall way while Clary seemed to be marveling at the design of the architecture of whatever this was, she made a few glances down to her device but never found the readings to differ at all. As they continued on they would pass quite a few sealed doors, Chou had tried to gain access to these but it seemed she was unable to find any linking into the computer systems of the ship along with the problem that it didn’t seem to be powered at the present time. What first alarmed Rhys was the fact that there seemed to be only a pathway, the doors seeming shut very specifically which guided them down in a single direction allowing no deviation. Rhys would look over his shoulder to Victor and shook his head with a dissatisfied look. He didn’t like this one bit, but before Rhys could say anything regarding this it was Clary who spoke in a rush. “I’m picking up nearby life signs!”

Chou would also check her gear and she too would find a reason to speak up. “Seems there is some minimal systems online, maybe something we can tap into.” She glanced up to Rhys and showed him the directional indication of where the signal was coming from. Straight ahead of them. Rhys continued on the lead moving more slowly now given that there was supposedly life forms up ahead but with the lack of any noise and the end of the path way coming into view he soon realized just what they were coming upon. They would enter in a Cryo-sleep chamber where only five pods seemed to be in use. One held the figure of an adult while the others contained the silhouettes of children. They were human.

Lazarus

The shuttles engines cycled down and started to crackle. With a hiss of satisfaction the bay door of the ship would descend down lightly connecting with the floor with a dull thud, the occupants abandoned the ship with little regard to their cargo other then the sheets sprawled across the top which was to prevent someone from getting a peek at their cargo. A pair of agents who were already assigned to cargo moving duty moved past the group as they exited the ship. There had been a small argument between the group as to what to do, the most popular was to leave the cryo-pods there and have a retrieval team come and pick it up but when they had radioed in their decision had been circumvented with the logistics operative clearly stating that they were to obtain and secure their discovery as well as to recover any operational equipment from the ship. They had started with the cyo-pods hauling them outside and setting them into the shuttle’s cargo hold but as they brought in the last one together, the adults one. An explosion of snow had disrupted what was a tedious task. The ship that was under the ice exploded in a white hot flash and all of the internal equipment was vaporized, what they had not known was that the ships AI was still functional and had detonated the ship when the parameter of having no life signs aboard were met. They watched the pod with the vague knowledge they would never know who they were or why they seemed to be important, they had only questions that they also knew they would never get answers to. The group retired to the bar for a few round of drinks before each splitting off in their own ways.

Clary entered the room stripping off her excess of gear and fell into the bed in exhaustion; she buried her face into her pillow to smother herself before going slack, she was much to tired to take the rest of her cloths let alone change. It wasn’t long before she made the effort to get up once again, sleep seeming to have abandoned her despite her bodies demand for it. She had had this problem in the past and now she made the attempt to change, though first she gathered a set of cloths before heading out her door. She returned back to her room after having taken a shower in the crews wash rooms, thankfully they were separated by gender. She rubbed her hair between her towel covered hand with the same vigor as if she was trying to start a fire with a stick. When she had finished her hair was a messed up ball of frizz. She shied her clothes off and adopted on a pair of pajamas. when she went to slip back into her bed, she would finally notice the note that was left on top of her pillow. Medical facility 0900. her shoulders drooped slight as she scrunched the note up, once again getting up and moving to open her rooms first aid kit, she took the lighter from it and burned the note leaving the remnants smoldering on the table. She finally sank into her bed for the last time and drifted off to sleep.

Clary was awoken by her internal cloak before her alarm, switching it off before it had the chance to sound, she found it incredibly irritable to say the least and half an hour lost of sleep was a worthy sacrifice then having the thing blearing out its insistent alert. She did what she could to dispel her grogginess which mostly consisted of rubbing the sleep dust from her eyes. She moved over to her previously discarded equipment and pulled out her PDA device, connecting it into the ships internal frequencies. Coffee: Black, the request made its way to the mess hall. She hoped there wasn’t a back up of requests at this time, minimizing the devices options she would check the time 0813 which gave her a little under fifty minutes of free time. She exchanged her cloths for the medical officers garments that bared her name on the chest pocket. Clary R. Wilson. As she exited her room she was tying her air back into a loose pony tail to prevent her hair from getting in her way, her PDA slipped into the pocket of her pants, when she entered the mess hall she had gotten a few nods of those who she had once helped stitched up. When she reached the counter she would find her mug at the front which was a pleasant surprise. “Thank you.” She called out appreciatively to those behind the counter, though they were out of sight and she wouldn’t receive a reply. She walked out the door she had previously entered and made her way to the medical wing.

The empty cup sat on the bench of the medical officer’s private room where she had been waiting reading a book for the past thirty minutes before she would notice the chief medical officer come in, she would stand to salute him though her heart would skip a beat as she noticed he was followed in by the logistics officer, she was left speechless as she would be left feeling very much out of her depth. She normally had to deal with the man indirectly, Through Rhys or through the chief medical officer. She forced herself to swallow before moving her hand back to her side. She heard the officer let out a sigh of discontent as he used his index and middle finger on the cover of her book on the table to turn it around to him, a brow lifting in question. She moved defensively to claim it but when his hand pressed down on the cover and the man’s had pressed over the cover and his eyes fixed on hers she become unnerved enough that she would step back. “You’ll be assisting Quade today on examining yesterdays find, I expect that you know the procedure in this.”

With his eyes still fixed on hers expectantly she could only find herself nodding not trusting her voice to come out steadily, she was thankful when he turned and left seeming content with her answer. “Clary, we are going to be taking a few blood samples and checking on their vitals, we have tried to wake them up but it seems that they are remaining under despite our attempts.” Kindly Quade tried to provide her with a distraction. “Okay.” She merely replied and moved towards the medical store room, completely leaving the book behind, though Quade set it into her locker for her. When she returned with a medical cart with a small surplus of equipment as well as a few sedatives, just in case the patients awoke incontinently.

Awakening

Upon entering the secured medical room which housed the five people she had previously helped to recover. She was shocked to see that not all were children as first thought. There was one that had fit that description, but the rest seemed to be reaching their adolescent stages. Two of the older ones despite being children, were quite toned. She shook her head, being rather confident that before they had all been children. With Quades lack of a reaction she summarized that they had been removed out of the pods in this state. She considered her previous encounter and came to the conclusion that with the husk of the pods having been covered in frosted. That it had obstructed her view of the full proportions of he recovered humans. She glanced across to Quake, who was already taking samples from the first subject. He usually just liked to get his work done; she had proven herself to be competent enough to work without constant supervision. She prepped a needle as she looked across to her first subject. That she was to obtain a sample from. He had dirty blond hair and a stocky build even at this stage of his adolescence. She pressed the needle into his arm and found that she had to apply extra pressure as the skin seemed to hold an unusual density. When she finally slid the needle into a vain she would draw some of the blood into the tube with an unusual difficulty once again. She had thought that the blood was coagulated but when she looked up to the monitors to see that the readings were quite strong. She applied her thumb over the spot where she had drawn out the needle out. As she drew her finger away she to apply a band-aid she would notice the lack of surfacing blood and shook her head.

She repositioned the medical trolley to the foot of the next subject’s bed. She looked across to the vitals as she was prepping a needle. The display read as this one being Subject-17. In slight contrast to the previous subject that she had just gotten samples from, this one had a more lean build with raven black hair. Reaching out and taking his arm she was about to inject the needle when she realized how warm his arm was. She shifted the syringe into her left hand while her right moved to place over his forehead. The result she found was alarming in which she was about to turn and call out to Quade. However what happened next caused her to faultier in this and lapse into silence instead.

Subject seventeen’s eyes opened, his gaze fixed on Clary and she became captivated by his eyes. It was not due to the odd coloration, nor was it because of their old soul appearance but it was their piercing quality. She had failed to notice that he had reached out and took a hold of the syringe that was in her left hand. The auditable sound of class breaking finally brought her back to her senses. "Q-Quade!" She stumbled back from the subject, her voice carrying a slight tremor despite her lack of fear. Quade who had just finished drawing his last sample and was about the draw the syringe out turned his head towards her. His eyes metaphorically almost popped out of his eye sockets. In what was a blur of speed to Clary, subject seventeen had left the bed and charged at Quade. Quade himself had failed to react in time as the male warped an arm around his throat, his hand left the syringe before he was able to take it out. A dull thud echoed as Quades head connected with the opposing wall, Clary heart skipped a beat. In part to the brutality demonstrated. Spurring into action she went for the alarm and struck it repetitively in panic. A strong clinking sound echoed and she realized the door had locked; the lack of the siren had her question the true function of the alarm. She turned around to look at S-17. In contrast to what she had seen before there was now a tender look in his eyes as he drew the syringe from the others arm. It shattered across the floor spilling whatever was content was in it.

Clary's initial panic gradually started to subside as she found life no longer in danger. What cemented his conclusion was the fact of his lack of attention to her, although she was aware he was mindful of her presence. A small amount of time eclipsed before she gained the courage to make her way cautiously to Quade. S-17's eyes turned to her as she checked Quades pulse; she had believed he had been dead. Her eyes tuned up to peer at S-17 who only regarded her in turn with curiosity and a lack of malevolence intent. He had moved around the four other subjects neglecting the fact that he was in a medical gown. Clary observed him as he started to breathe more heavily, as well as she noticed the sweat accumulating on his body. Hyperthermia. For some reason unknown to her, his body was slipping into that state despite the average temperature of the room. She started to become alarmed. Despite his previous actions. When he started to display dizziness as seemed less coordinated. She looked about the room but she could find nothing that provided her with a solution. The subjects head turned to the door just a few moments before it opened. His eyes holding once again the violent intent they did before. Despite the forwarding she was surprised when the Logistics officer came in with two fully armored agents. "Wai~" The sound of a shot ringing out silenced her as she had watched one of the agents aim their gun. The stun round struck the nearly incoherent adolescent, reducing him to a spasming heap. Bolting from the room despite the protest from the officer. she headed quickly to the supply room where she gathered a hypothermia blanket. When she finally entered the room once again she shoved past the agent who had tried to obstruct her path. "Let her in." The logistics officer watched as she applied the hypothermia blanket. He watched her as she cared for him as well as check on Quade, who they had hauled on top of the vacant bed, leaving S-17 on the floor. After a few moments of consideration, he left, leaving the agents posted at the door as well as the room locked.

Relocation

The summery of what been classed as project Delusion. It has been some hours since the episode in the medical bay. Since then Clary and Quade had been removed from the room. Subject Seventeen had failed to regain consciousness since then. Subject thirteen seemed to have the same problem; however it was in the opposite spectrum of temperature. Not for the first time he began to resent his assignment and it had become apparent that Clary was to play a part in it. It wasn't merely simply because of convenience. He had reviewed the video logs of what had transpired in the room. She had touched him and he had failed to react in any negative way, however with Quade touching the younger. The man’s mood had changed as if someone had just pulled a trigger. But it was also the premeditated reaction before he had even entered the room somehow he had foreknowledge of his approach. The subjects expression had marked the man’s stance and he didn't wish to put himself at risk by testing it.. He entered in the last snippet of information that was needed. Clary was now transferred out of the squadron she was in and another was assigned to take her place. Though it would probably kick up a fuss, it was something he wasn't going to change any time soon. Clary processed a unique charisma that would hopefully prove vital to gaining S-17's cooperation. He got up from his desk and moved out through the door. Prior to reassigning Clary he had made arrangements for three bio-dome to be requisitioned. One suited to more arctic conditions, one to the desert and the last to mild climates. He had also made the arrangements for freighters to be used to transport the five people that they had recovered. He keenly hoped that they were worth this effort. Richard entered Clary’s room, finding her at the table reading her book once again, her initial reaction to him had been empowering somewhat. This time however it was rather lack luster. “Clary.” He said in way of greeting as he moved to sit down across from her.

Clary this time lacked the nervousness that had manifested before. Now she was just unimpressed with the man. Locking her and Quade in the room with the five subjects had been a stupid action in her opinion. “Sir.” The word came out curtly despite her attempts to bestow a more neutral tone.

Richard couldn’t help but smile to himself. He took a data stick and moved to slide it across to her. “Congratulations, you’ve been promoted. You’ve been assigned to project Delusion, effective immediately. Freighters will be here soon to transport the subjects; you’ll be going with them.” As always, his tone held no note that he’d be argued with. Orders were Orders.

Clary had at first wanted to argue the point, but she knew it was pointless. Her lips pressed into a firm line as she did her best to not voice her mind. She closed her book and set it onto the table while she positioned her hands out of sight. Under the table she clasped them together in a way to help repress her agitation. “Is there any particular reason? The agency has its own scientists and medical professional. I am not exactly academically qualified for this.”

Richard set his hands onto the table. “That can be taught. But I have observed that you process a charisma with people. An example, for instance, despite being in the room with him. You came away unharmed.” His voice trailed off being that he needn’t recite that sequence of events. “I know you wish to stay with your friends, but you’ll do better for what’s needed in helping us with this. I don’t wish to waste time on trying to find people he might trust. It was distinctively apparent that he makes his mind up before even meeting the people.”

She thought quietly to herself Good taste in people. She was quite pleased with herself when Richard showed no recognition of this being though, normally she was more transparent. “Very well. But I at least expect to be reunited with my squad when this has been concluded.” Though she did have the distinct feeling that this wasn’t going to be a quick assignment.

Richard nodded, though they both knew this wasn’t going o be easy. “You’ll likely be leaving within the hour. I would suggest packing your things and saying your goodbyes.” He stood up after delivering his last line. There was little else he would need to talk with her about. “Oh, one more thing. Don’t share any information about what happened.”

When Richard had left, Clary folded her arms on the table and rested her head down. This really wasn’t the best day for her. With the little sleep she had, now she had to pack as well, to serve somewhere undisclosed. For once she was starting to crave her previous mundane life. She lifted her head from the table and wiped her eyes willing her tears away. Getting up from the table she started toward the door only to fall up short. She wouldn't be able to say goodbye cleanly and they would know that this wasn't voluntary. She turned on her heel and drew the duffle bag from under her bed.

Unwelcome Solitude

S-17 eyes opened after his mouth did, his body felt like it had been compressed in a vice. His head felt far worse. After the go ran finally escaped his lips he sat up. Still in disorientation he was unable to understand where he was. Muffled sounds assaulted his ears as he attempted to regain his composure. The welcoming chill of the air was a comfort at least momentarily. The whiteness was harsh on his eyes and he had to blink several times before the scenery finally became clear. The muffled sound cleared - into gibberish. The vague sense of annoyance at the sound only fueled his disregard for the insistent tone coming from it. He looked toward the source of the noise. After finding a solid bit of wood he had finally and vigorously silenced the noise maker. He looked out toward the landscape and finally noticed something he had missed before. There was a curvature to the horizon which passed over his head and ended in the opposite direction. Dismay ran itself thoroughly through him. Noting felt natural despite is appearance. There was a soft bussing that was spawned by his movement. This drew his attention towards the source. He detached the small object from the branch it was on the end of. The roots coming out of the bottom confused him; they seemed to be out of place. It took him fifteen minutes and two large rocks to finally open the shell of the object. Which he inspected, it smelt terrible, with an acidic tint. The scent itself was irritating enough hat he lost interest with it. He summarized that it was unpalatable and he had no interest in discovering if it was edible. He left the scattered remains behind and set off in a direction. He reached the edge of the horizon; he found it to be made of metal. It didn't just curve upwards but also around. He was in a trap?

For the next few hours he had frantically searched for his siblings but this was only to end in vain. In the end it took him to finally only be running over his own tracks that he ceased. During this however he had found a pair of tracks that were not his own. They were faint but follow-able. They disappeared into a part of the wall that had a slight crack in it. He was convinced this was the way out. S-17 fell back into the snow for a rest letting the heat off him bleed into the snow. He had been trying to break the door open with a rock for the past couple hours.

Richard had his index finger alongside his cheek and his finger tip against his temple. His thumb was hooked under his jaw as he was leaning over a terminal showing Subject-17’s Bio-Dome. He had apparently gathered quite the arsenal of rocks, some bigger than others. He had tried to pry as well as smash the door open. He didn’t seem to understand the philosophy that it was futile. “Least he’s persistent.” Disdain toward the man colored Richards tone. He looked toward the other monitors. The child and woman had not been seen for the better part of a couple hours while he eldest male seemed to be content on remaining static. The Firth one seemed to be just exploring his habitat curiously. The contrast of the reactions to their surrounding provided disheartening. Subject-17 had shown he was able to track. His resolution that he would break through seemed undimmed. Subject-3 had only panned his head seeing the walls of the enclosure and had barely moved since. Subject-16 a butchering nature to the child before they had been lost on the surveillance equipment. Subject-9 had followed Subject-16 and lastly Subject-7 wouldn’t stop walking around, his paths started to fall into patterns. His attention turned back to subject-17’s screen one camera was missing and he had thoroughly put the communications device out of action. Clary had laughed at the display, seeming to to fin his ignorance amusing. It actually had been Richards’s reaction that had amused her. His expression of barely repressed frustration had provided much satisfaction. He had resided to have Clary encounter Subject-17 when he had ceased his attempts bit it was becoming apparent that he would not be stoping any time soon. He reached over to activate the communications device and summon Clary.

The rhythmic pattern of the stone thudding against he door would finally cease. Subject-17 positioned himself back to rest in the now. These had been becoming more frequiant as he had been wearing himself out. The door opened for Clary and she stepped out into the Arctic Bio-dome armed with a arctic coat, a tray of food and a taser hidden within one of her pockets. S-17 had gotten a view of the thickness of the door and now realized he wasn’t going to be breaking through it any time soon. Clary set the food and water onto the ground. In contrast he would just stare at her. When he laid back down Clary sighed and knowing well enough he wasn’t going to ‘open’ up at all today she turned to leave. The door opened and S-17 had achieved the same speed as he had when he assaulted Quade. His arm slid around Clary’s throat as he moved them both into the doorway. This was predicted however and as the door shut behind them, gas started to leak into the room. Sending Clary into darkness.

Sibling reunion

Not everything had gone as expected. The gas had done its job but only on one of the occupants. The chemicals that lingered in the air held no ill effect on S-17, the most he did show as a reaction to it was an initial sneeze. There was a contingency of course. The second layer of blast doors open revealing the same agents that had subdued him the first time, the two sought to align their rifle to intercept him. A round released from one of the gun’s chambers. The shot would have hit its mark had S-17 not ducked and weaved to the right sending the shot over his left shoulder. Using his right hand to push off the wall he rolled forward as the second round scorched the wall. Rising from the roll S-17 brought both his hands up at the underside of the rifles and caused the ends of the rifle to strike both the men’s heads. He had learned his lesson from the first time they had done this to him and he wasn’t particularly interested in reliving it. The two men had tried to react but with the speed at which S-17 had moved the effort was merely rendered futile. S-17 had neglected to take one of the weapons being that it was something he was unfamiliar with and thus not entirely comfortable using. He dragged the two to rest alongside Clary where some of the gas was still lingering ensuring that they’d remain under. He had remained on the verge of the blast door to prevent himself from being locked in. With the two agents added to the other section the blast door would activate sealing him off from them. A faint humming brought his attention up toward the ceiling, forgoing any previous decision he picked up the nearby rifle. The panels of the ceiling gave way with the turrets dissention; it turned towards the subject just as a shot rang out. The stun round impacted the turret overloading its circuits. S-17 let out a soft sigh and turned his gaze down the passageway seeing that it ended in a T section, he took five minutes of respite to familiarize himself with the weapon before moving. Silently he moved having mimicked the posture the two agents had before hand. As progress was being made he put more dependence on his hearing to alert him to future dangers.

Richards gaze remained fixed on the terminal tensely. Subject 17 had been proving himself more and more of a complication. Malevolence entered his mind twisting his thoughts to desiring 17’s death, although he paused and played the previous situation over in a loop. The incentive of opportunity would further dissuade him from his previously pessimistic thoughts, he just needed a lynch pin. Richard setup a pathway that lead S-17 to S-16 and S-9. Meanwhile Richard assigned a team to retrieve Clary and he two agents, another door had blocked S-17 from returning thus making retrieving them trivial, although Clary was already waking, from what he could see on the terminal. Zipping up his uniform full and heading down the hall way, he made his way toward where Clary was with the intent to talk to her first.
The first sight that his eyes were drawn to was not the few medical crew tending to the three previously unconscious personal, but it was towards the disabled turret. He paused for a small moment under it observing where the shot hand landed, one of the lesser armored pieces of the emplacement, so he was quick to assess. His hand moved through his hair as a sigh escaped his lips and his attention down casted to Clary, with two fingers he beckoned her over.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” Clary’s voice held a underlying tone of nervousness, what was more prominent was that of anger. Likely towards herself at her mistake.
“Don’t worry about it.” Richard said dismissively as she approached him, he turned and she followed. “What I wanted to talk to you about is you providing further assistance.” He held up his hand to dissuade her from any outburst. “I am aware of what took place, however I don’t believe the situation changed dramatically. He saw an opportunity and took it.”
Clary seethed in silence for a moment and did her best to dispel it with an exhale. “With undue respect, I don’t feel comfortable with this, I want reassurances to my safety before I am even to consider this. If you can’t provide that, then my answer is no.” Her tone gave no hint that she would accept any rebuke, so Richard merely nodded diplomatically.
“We will need time for preparation.” A tone of defeat escaping from him as he came to a stop and turned to face her. “For now, go rest. I will contact you when you’re needed.” Leaving her no time to make a reply, he shut the door between them and moved back to the console.

S-17 treaded carefully into the enclosure, he knew what it was exactly. What was inside here however was worth far more to him than his freedom. Methodically he progressed throughout the enclosure disabling any surveillance equipment or anything that looked out of place. It took a few hours but had downed enough of the equipment that he didn’t feel like he as being watched. Previously he found tracks while he had been going about his business, It was now these tracks he followed.
It took only a brief time until he found the two subjects, his attention turning directly to the female. He approached her without pause, he warped his arms around her tightly, his twin. S-17 moved a hand out to pull the young boy into the hug, ruffling his hair affectionately. Relief flooded through S-17 although as S-16’s hand came up to 17’s check she could feel the heat radiating off him, she frowned in discontent. S-16 sought to lead him towards the waterfall feature. Pressing him towards the water in determination. Despite whatever protests S-17 made S-16 would be win in the end and he moved into the water where the coldest part was.

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