The name’s Mike. Mike Collins.
Gunshots ring out in the background
And I do what most people can’t.
“Go Go Go! Get to the evac! NOW!”
There comes a time in every man’s life where he must step up to face his fears.
Car tires screeching, doors slamming, bullets riddle the sides of the vehicle
For me, that time is now.
“Jesus Christ, BRIET’s not happy about us stealing that one.”
“Yeah, well we did just take highly classified intel, Mike. Don’t know what you were expecting.”
That’s Varenna Williams. V for short. My co-partner in crime, as you would put it. Ever since we became friends back in college we’ve been inseparable.
“Alright, well at least we escaped with our lives. Time to pop this baby open- shall we?”
“Not yet, you know protocol. We wait until we get back to HQ before we open the briefcase. We need the Head to review it.”
“Ugh, you’re so boring. It’s not like they would know we’ve taken a sneak peek anyways. Besides, it could be really important.”
“…which is why we have the Head review it. You should know that, especially being you.” She flips her golden locks over her shoulder and crosses her legs, brushing the folds from her suit. “Besides, it’s only a 2 hour drive.”
…
We pull up at the luxurious office building. A beautiful remote location, nestled into a mountainside overlooking a vast valley- someone would surely pay a lot of money to live here.
“Hey Phil, I forgot to thank you for the getaway. I should tip you a pretty shekel next time we drive together.”
“Go fuck yourself.” He retorted in a thick New York accent, before rolling up the window and pulling away.
I look up at the surrounding area. The beautiful reds and yellows of the trees caress my eyes. Ironic how the ECD decided to plant these Hasbio-engineered trees here, the very thing we’re fighting against. It does make for a nice change in scenery though.
“Well, shall we?” V asked. We start to stroll up the huge complex of concrete and glass, past the fountain that preceded the doorway. The doors slid silently open as we passed in. A receptionist is waiting for us.
“Ah, glad to see you two are back in one piece. The Head is waiting for you on the fifth floor.” The receptionist smiles slightly at us, her glasses glinting in the fluorescent lighting.
“Thanks Paige. Oh! Aaand,”- I grab the briefcase from Varessa’s hands- “We got the goods. No big deal.”
“Excellent, I’ll alert her right now. Head up to the office. And Mike-”
“Yes?”
“Don’t eat all the crullers in the break room next time. The techs are complaining that they didn’t get any.”
“Oh come on, they were sitting right there. Nobody was touching them so I figu- you know what? Nevermind, I’ll talk to you later. I have a meeting to attend.” We walk briskly down the hall to the elevator.
“You seriously ate all the doughnuts?” V asked.
“Hey, you don’t get to judge my eating habits.”
The head office was brightly lit from the front-facing window, having a good view of the front of the complex and the valley below it. Sitting promptly at a polished cherry wood bureau was Sherry West, the Head Director of the CIA’s Ecohazard Containment Division. A 74 year old stone faced, judge, jury and executioner of a woman. In other words, my boss.
“Please tell me you have good news. I have a major headache right now, and all the stress is not helping.”
“Well, I would know if we had good news, if someone would have let me open the briefcase on the ride back.” She ignored that comment.
“Alright, here’s what we got.” V sets the black case down on the table, and we both pull up a chair. “This was our final gambit, let’s hope it was worth it.” She undoes the latches.
“ALRIGHT NOBODY MOVE!” The Head screams and jumps up, we both get up in surprise. A small grey biotoy stands in the opened briefcase, with what looks like blades pointed at us. “NOBODY TOUCHES THESE DOCUMENTS- IF ANY OF YOU MOVE, I WILL HURT YOU.”
“What the fuck?” I whispered to V, “How did one get in there?”
“I have no clue,” she responds, “must have slid in just as I closed it.”
I could see now that the sharp metallic things on its back are actually some sort of mechanical enhancement, probably developed by BRIET to make these things into weapons. It was some kind of wing attachment, except it was completely made out of metal, folding in and out as it moved.
“Alright little guy, we just want to get those papers under you, no need to-”
“I’m a GIRL for your information, and as I said, no one gets the documents while I have anything to-”
I rushed the toy. I tried to slice my hands as I got close, but I managed to grab its soft body before it could take any of my fingers, pinning it to the table.
“I. Will. End you! The thing thrashed and struggled under my weight, but was no match for my far superior mass.
“Uh huh, and horses can fly. Keep struggling- you’re just wasting your breath.”
The thing continues to struggle until security arrives, after which they subdue the thing and place it in a metal cage, taking it down to the tech lab to be evaluated.
“My, that thing could have killed me!” Sherry scolded us. “I would write you up for this, but to be completely fair I don’t think you would get the message.” She picks up the documents and begins reading. We sit there for about 10 minutes as she briefs through the papers, shuffling them around and taking notes. At around the 12 minute mark she gets up.
“Trials of the finalized Domination Compound will be held at New York City Site B on July 15th?! That’s in two days!” She gets up with the stack of papers and runs out to the hallway, disappearing around the corner.
“… So I guess we’re dismissed?” V asks.
“I dunno, maybe. I’m gonna go check on the techs. See what they’re doing to Shitrat Prime down there. Wanna come with?”
“No thanks. I’ve got to get some work done. I’ll see you around, OK?”
“Sounds like a plan, Stan.”
“Never say that to me again.”
I descend in the elevator with V, who gets off at the third floor. She gives me a little wave and a smile before the doors close. I descend to B1. The doors slide open, and I’m faced with a wide open concrete lab, sunlight streaming through the ground-level windows high above us. A young dark haired man, maybe in his twenties, was leaning on a table with his nose in a tablet. He looks up at me.
“Hey, do you need something?” He asks.
“Yeah, I wanted to find out whatever happened to that bioweapon you guys confiscated. Have you found anything out?”
“Oh, the one that scared the Head? Yeah, it’s in the eval lab. Let’s walk- I’ll brief you on what we’ve done so far.” He walks up to me and sticks his hand out. “Steve.”
“Mike.”
We start to walk down toward a hall at the end of the room.
“So far, we’ve been able to crack and disable BRIET’s remote access chip, and we’re trying to remove it as we speak. However, we’re trying to get into the thing’s blackbox as well, but it has a hell of an encryption on it. But we obviously don’t have a key and none of our known cipher methods are working. We’ve tried talking to the thing to get what it knows, but so far it’s been unsuccessful. We’ve also evaluated and taken apart those blades, and we’re going to run some diagnostics on them and check the microtechnology- that might take a couple hours. Hugo wants to bring the metallic components as evidence to the FBI, but we’ve already confirmed BRIET has come up with a cover up operation under the guise of a new Hasbio limited-release.”
“Damn, that was fast. What, like 3 hours they took? BRIET doesn’t mess around.”
We enter the eval lab. The bioweapon is constrained to the table, with 5 techs milling around the room, typing notes and taking samples. The thing’s wings have been removed and are laying on a synthesized rubber mat, of which pieces are being analyzed by a machine. The creature-replica was watching us, even while being cut open as the techs remove pieces from under its skin.
“So far,” Steve continues, “It hasn’t been compliant or willing to cooperate. However it could potentially contain useful information as to BRIET’s next moves, so we’re trying to get it to talk.”
“You won’t get anything out of me.” The thing says. “You’re better off just killing me. You’re wasting your time.”
“Nonsense- you must have something- names, locations, dates, anything. We need you to talk. Now, I’ll ask you again, what is the cypher?”
“I couldn’t tell you even if I wanted to. They’ll wipe my memories, just like they’ve done time and time again. I would rather die than go back.”
“Again, I’ve told you, we’ve cut BRIET’s remote access to your system. You can tell us anything.”
“You think that matters? BRIET will just capture me again, they’ll take me back while you sleep, replace me with an exact replica and you’ll be none the wiser. You know what they’ll do to me? Once they find out about my betrayal they’ll take my memories. My friends, my experiences. Gone. They’ll leave me with just enough to know that I had lived, that I was once someone, but that they’d do it again. No more. I want this to end. Shut my systems down, incinerate my body. Let me die.”
Steve, I and all the techs stop what we’re doing and stare at it.
“Look, buddy,” I start
“NO! I WON’T LOSE AGAIN! NEVER! NEVER! NEVER! Never! Never…”
It started to break down. I think, for once in my life, I legitimately felt bad for one of these things. Steve and I step out of the lab.
“Alright, we know these things have emotions now, or at least some synthesized imitation of them. We might be able to use this to our advantage. Maybe we can-” I put my hand on his shoulder.
“Let me handle this one. I’m gonna need to be in there alone though.”
He contemplated this in his head for a second, before going back into the lab.
“Alright, everyone out. Agent Mike is going to handle this.” The techs grumble and shuffle out of the room. “Admittedly I’ve never been good at this kind of stuff. The floor’s all yours.”
I stand under the harsh lighting of the hanging bars. Now that I was alone with this thing, I could get a better look at it. The thing was roughly the size of a standard bio-manufactured horse toy Hasbio produces, but had significant alterations- probably done by BRIET. This thing was built for combat, not affection. It’s almost ironic that BRIET was weaponizing these things, but it’s well known that Hasbio has tried to recreate other animals as well, but had thus far been unsuccessful in creating anything other than Equidae and Bovines, the latter product falling off due to uninterest. Other species were harder to genetically recreate, and less stable. The thing’s legs were longer and more muscular. Its body more slender and agile- almost appearing as a miniature recreation of a horse but recreated with the vision of being a part of a task force. Its hair was not puffy and soft, but layered and sleek, almost looking like the sheen on a mallard’s contour feathers. It has a patterned navy grey color which probably helped it stay more concealed than its commercial counterparts. It stared at me intently, dried tears stained the parts around its eyes.
“So… BRIET wipes your memories huh? Is that a way to save money, or to harden you guys up?” No response. “I’m sorry, that was a bad way to start. Do you have a name?”
It was quiet for a minute, before responding, “No. My model is the REN series, in the 133827-N subgroup. I have never needed a name, nor have I ever been called one.”
“That sucks… Do you ever wish you had one?”
“This is getting you nowhere. You and your friends won’t get the encryption key.”
I sigh and pull up a chair.
“Look, would it make you feel better if I take off those restraints?”
“I could kill you if you do.”
“You know what? That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
I undo the plastic straps holding the thing down. It gets up and stretches, and to my surprise, doesn’t try to rush me.
“Well, you haven’t tried to kill me yet.” I inquire.
“Why would you do that?” It asks.
“Do what?”
“Release me. You know that I’m potentially dangerous, yet you let me freely move around. Why?”
“Well, it’s simple. No one likes being tied to a table. I think this suits you better.”
Silence.
“They… they told us that if we ever got captured, that they’d torture us. That we would meet a fate worse than what BRIET was giving us. You know, I thought that for the longest time. I lived in constant fear over what might happen to me if I stepped out of line. But here, somehow it feels more liberating than the BREIT warehouse. I-”
The biotoy started to break down again.
“Hey, it’s alright. No one here wants to hurt you. Far from it. You have the chance to help a lot of people right now. The world might be in danger, and you’re probably our last hope. We need you to help us- it’s very important. Please.”
It sniffles again, before catching what it was doing and regaining composure.
“Look, I can tell you what I know, I don’t know if I’m comfortable doing it around your friends.”
I turn around to look at the windows. The techs and Steve are staring through the window at us, some with hands on the glass trying to understand what’s happening in the room. I motion my finger across my neck at them, and they file away from the window quickly. I turn back to the creature.
“I can’t tell you anything yet, but, I have a deal for you.” It says cautiously, “And you’re sure they can’t reach me right?”
“Promise.”
“Ok- I’ll tell you anything you need to know if you make sure BRIET will never find me. I need to know that I’ll be safe from them. I can’t- I won’t go back. Promise me you won’t let that happen.”
“Look, you barely know me. You don’t know much, if anything, about my ambitions. But if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I don’t break a promise. So, how about this- if you promise to help us destroy BRIET and bring the misdeeds of Hasbio into light, I’ll promise to keep you safe… Deal?”
She stares at me for a long silent period, and I begin to feel the weight of the room.
“Deal.”
The biotoy told me it would cooperate with the techs for the time being, so I said my goodbyes and headed up to finish up my paperwork. After a few hours the sun had started to set. I check in with Paige in the lobby before I clock out, but before I leave I decide to wait and say goodbye to Varenna when she gets out. Admittedly I didn’t know when that was going to be. After about 30 minutes or so the sun had started to go down. I was deciding to go up to her office and tell her I was heading home when a man steps out of the elevator. John Larson, the head of affairs at the ECD. He doesn’t seem too busy tonight so I meander up to him.
“Hey, John was it? I’m Steve, we’ve met a couple times before.”
“Oh, Steve, how are you?”
“I’m great thanks. You know, besides the part where I almost got my head blown off in today’s excursion.”
“Good to hear. Did you need something from me?”
“Actually I wanted to ask you about that BRIET bio weapon that was confiscated today- what are they planning to do with it?”
“Oh, the one that gave Mrs. West a fright,-” he chucked for a moment, “It’s due for termination tomorrow morning.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, we don’t fully know what it’s capable of. BRIET could have installed any kind of transmitters on that thing.”
“But the techs have already scanned it. How would they miss anything?”
“Better to be safe than sorry I suppose. Now if that’s all I’ll be goi-”
“Do you mind if I keep it?”
“What? Why would you want to keep that thing? We already have everything we need from it. It’s useless to the ECD now.”
“I… wanted to study it some more. You know, for a side project.”
“Mhm, and what side project would that be?” He looks at me with suspicion.
“To… uh, reverse engineer these things, maybe develop a tool to extract information from their blackboxes in the future. Look, this is really important to me. Can I keep it for at least a little while?”
Larson stares intently at me for a moment.
“Keep it, if you want. It’s none of my business what you do in your free time. Just don’t come crying to us if BRIET shows up at your door.”
“Thanks John. When can I- ?”
“The techs should have already finished up with it by now. I believe it’s in a holding cell down there. Let them know I gave you permission, I’ll send an email later. If that’s all I’ll-
I was already off to the elevator.
“Yeah thanks, have a good night!”
Larson rolls his eyes.
It was kept in a small plastic carrier, with a metal grate on the front. The lights in the basement were all off besides a few automatic ones on the wall. I flip them on.
“Jesus. That looks uncomfortable.”
“… This is not what I meant by protection.”
“Yeah. I’m sorry- I should have been paying more attention. Good news is, you get to stay with me.
She glares at me softly.
“I’ll just… pick up your box.”
I walk out of the building, and unlock the doors to my personal car, a BMW. I put the crate in the back seat.
“Alright, I’m going to open the door now. Whether you stay or go is your choice. I’ll let you decide.”
I open the door. She walks out, but does not leave.
“I guess that’s a no for leaving then.”
I close the door and hop into the driver’s seat, starting the car.
“You know, I need a name to call you. Have any preferences?”
She jumps to the passenger seat.
“No.”
“Hmm, how about… Wren?”
Her eyes light up a little. Whether this is leftover programming or an actual reaction I have no way of telling.
“That’s fine.”
“Great, I’m sure there’s no way this could end badly at all.”
I pull out of the ECD’s campus and speed away down the mountain, the headlights illuminating the winding road.
“You know, I kinda of like you.”