03-07-2018, 10:14 AM
The ride through Tier 2 was filled with sullen silence, Hiro sitting in the back of a trooper van with 6 other soldiers. However, these weren't the normal white armored EPD patrol, but rather the sleek black troopers he'd only ever seen in groups of one or two. Never standing still either. Always proceeding and hurrying towards some objective. Science Troopers. The martial wing of Imperial R&D.
No jocularity with these fellows either. Every attempt of Hiro's to lighten the mood was met with impassive silence, and so he too lapsed into brooding. Commander Caasjuun had mention remedial training upon his return, but this couldn't be what she meant, right? The Android Project?
DH Kaelvala was up front with the driver, and had provided Hiro with a dataslate about his department and the Android Project as a whole. Or at least what Hiro was cleared to know about. Apparently, they wanted to study his combat tactics and techniques in order to develop new cybernetic augments and technologies for field use. Still, they could have been a bit nicer about pulling him in, instead of literally kicking in the door.
When they arrived at their destination, Hiro was pressed in the center of the formation of science troopers and hustled along towards a large glass building, pyramid shaped, that he'd seen numerous times in the distance but never visited himself. The dressed down samurai was sped through a dizzying maze of corridors, lab bypasses, and turbolifts before the mass of troopers around him parted and he stepped forward into a harshly lit laboratory.
DH Kaelvala stood by another person, a woman in a tan labcoat wearing glasses and a bright smile. She addressed Hiro directly, while Kaelvala moved to the side and began working at a massive computer bank, bringing up schematics. "Agent Protagonist, wonderful. I'm very glad you're here." She gestured to a long table, padded and teal. "Would you please lie down so we can do our preliminary scans?"
Hiro almost immediately bristled, but then shrugged and resigned himself to what he had been expecting the moment he heard the words "Android Project". The schematics Kaelvala was inspecting only confirmed it. Apparently the man thought he was ignorant or just a gormless simpleton. Goddamn stuffed suits.
The samurai laid down with a heavy sigh and looked up at the doctor. "I know what you're going to do me, you know. I'm not an idiot." She smiled down at him. "Wonderful. Then we don't need the restraints." She turned away and prepped a syringe with clear fluid in it. "Let me drop the pretense then. I promise you, you won't feel a thing. We have a special method of anaesthesia that I'm sure someone with your background will appreciate."
The needle sunk into his forearm, and he felt a numbing warmth spread though his body. The doctor went on. "Look at it this way. You'll be even more effective as an agent afterwards. You'll be a living example of what the Empire can achieve technologically. And you'll be even more powerful. Omni giveth, and the Empire addeth."
Hiro rolled his eyes as his vision started to fade, one last quip mumbled from his mouth before he went out completely. "Just don't cut off my d-"
************************
"...ecision, and I told him when he made it. But you know Da5id, am I right?" The crowd laughed, a mass of friends, acquaintances, and family gathered at round tables. He had a champagne flute raised upwards, standing at the podium as he continued his speech. "So, to Da5id and Juanita, I wish you both the very best. Many happy years....and maybe a couple kids, eh?" Another burst of laughter, and clapping as Hiro stepped down from the podium.
Da5id stood up and took the microphone, the short brown haired computer nerd beaming like the sun. "Hiro Protagonist, ladies and gentlemen. My best friend. Now..." He pulled out a small cylindrical tube, and clicked it. Music began pumping into the room, and the tables slowly pulled away to reveal a dance floor underneath. "Let's really get this wedding started!"
People started to file out and dance as Hiro drained his champagne flute. Hard to believe, his ex and best friend getting married. All of his friends were starting to age and settle down. Meanwhile, here he was, single again.
Scanning the crowd for pretty faces he could ask to dance, something started to make the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He ignored it. For some reason, he couldn't recognize anyone in the crowd.
Then it hit him.
This hadn't happened. He had never been here.
He'd spent Da5id and Juanita's wedding nearly naked in a public park, getting drunk on Hennessey and slicing leaves from trees. He'd wound up in the drunk tank.
The tuxedo melted from the confused hacker's body and the scene shifted to a park at dusk, the breeze chilling his bare skin as he clung to a bottle with one hand and the hilt of his sword with the other. "Wait, this isn't right either. This happened already." He slurred, the alcoholic haze creeping over him.
Hiro wasn't any of these places. These were just memories. And his body...didn't feel real. It felt like he was merely piloting it, rather than actually inhabiting. But the last time he'd felt this sensation...
The silicon samurai stood up with certainty, and the scenery began to melt away as his kimono jacket and other clothing formed on his body.
He was in the Metaverse.
No jocularity with these fellows either. Every attempt of Hiro's to lighten the mood was met with impassive silence, and so he too lapsed into brooding. Commander Caasjuun had mention remedial training upon his return, but this couldn't be what she meant, right? The Android Project?
DH Kaelvala was up front with the driver, and had provided Hiro with a dataslate about his department and the Android Project as a whole. Or at least what Hiro was cleared to know about. Apparently, they wanted to study his combat tactics and techniques in order to develop new cybernetic augments and technologies for field use. Still, they could have been a bit nicer about pulling him in, instead of literally kicking in the door.
When they arrived at their destination, Hiro was pressed in the center of the formation of science troopers and hustled along towards a large glass building, pyramid shaped, that he'd seen numerous times in the distance but never visited himself. The dressed down samurai was sped through a dizzying maze of corridors, lab bypasses, and turbolifts before the mass of troopers around him parted and he stepped forward into a harshly lit laboratory.
DH Kaelvala stood by another person, a woman in a tan labcoat wearing glasses and a bright smile. She addressed Hiro directly, while Kaelvala moved to the side and began working at a massive computer bank, bringing up schematics. "Agent Protagonist, wonderful. I'm very glad you're here." She gestured to a long table, padded and teal. "Would you please lie down so we can do our preliminary scans?"
Hiro almost immediately bristled, but then shrugged and resigned himself to what he had been expecting the moment he heard the words "Android Project". The schematics Kaelvala was inspecting only confirmed it. Apparently the man thought he was ignorant or just a gormless simpleton. Goddamn stuffed suits.
The samurai laid down with a heavy sigh and looked up at the doctor. "I know what you're going to do me, you know. I'm not an idiot." She smiled down at him. "Wonderful. Then we don't need the restraints." She turned away and prepped a syringe with clear fluid in it. "Let me drop the pretense then. I promise you, you won't feel a thing. We have a special method of anaesthesia that I'm sure someone with your background will appreciate."
The needle sunk into his forearm, and he felt a numbing warmth spread though his body. The doctor went on. "Look at it this way. You'll be even more effective as an agent afterwards. You'll be a living example of what the Empire can achieve technologically. And you'll be even more powerful. Omni giveth, and the Empire addeth."
Hiro rolled his eyes as his vision started to fade, one last quip mumbled from his mouth before he went out completely. "Just don't cut off my d-"
************************
"...ecision, and I told him when he made it. But you know Da5id, am I right?" The crowd laughed, a mass of friends, acquaintances, and family gathered at round tables. He had a champagne flute raised upwards, standing at the podium as he continued his speech. "So, to Da5id and Juanita, I wish you both the very best. Many happy years....and maybe a couple kids, eh?" Another burst of laughter, and clapping as Hiro stepped down from the podium.
Da5id stood up and took the microphone, the short brown haired computer nerd beaming like the sun. "Hiro Protagonist, ladies and gentlemen. My best friend. Now..." He pulled out a small cylindrical tube, and clicked it. Music began pumping into the room, and the tables slowly pulled away to reveal a dance floor underneath. "Let's really get this wedding started!"
People started to file out and dance as Hiro drained his champagne flute. Hard to believe, his ex and best friend getting married. All of his friends were starting to age and settle down. Meanwhile, here he was, single again.
Scanning the crowd for pretty faces he could ask to dance, something started to make the hairs on the back of his neck rise. He ignored it. For some reason, he couldn't recognize anyone in the crowd.
Then it hit him.
This hadn't happened. He had never been here.
He'd spent Da5id and Juanita's wedding nearly naked in a public park, getting drunk on Hennessey and slicing leaves from trees. He'd wound up in the drunk tank.
The tuxedo melted from the confused hacker's body and the scene shifted to a park at dusk, the breeze chilling his bare skin as he clung to a bottle with one hand and the hilt of his sword with the other. "Wait, this isn't right either. This happened already." He slurred, the alcoholic haze creeping over him.
Hiro wasn't any of these places. These were just memories. And his body...didn't feel real. It felt like he was merely piloting it, rather than actually inhabiting. But the last time he'd felt this sensation...
The silicon samurai stood up with certainty, and the scenery began to melt away as his kimono jacket and other clothing formed on his body.
He was in the Metaverse.
![[Image: MZSDl2O.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/MZSDl2O.jpg)