The android had never been in the lower depths of the facility before. From what little she had been outside, the building looked like no more than two floors, but the elevator she was in had over a dozen floors to choose from. Aurelia wanted her to retrieve several delicate organic samples from the 5th level of the basement.
As soon as the elevator opened, she was blasted with cold air. Her silicon skin prickled at the drop temperature, and she started to shiver. The freezer room she was in was colossal, barely able to see the other end of the room, and it was just as wide. The room was lined with several isles of various samples from around the galaxy, almost every location a place she’d never heard of, barring a few she learned of during her time surfing the GalNet.
Isobel quickly grabbed the samples she was looking for after several minutes of searching, she found what she was looking for, placed them in the case the scientist gave her and hurried back to the elevator to escape the cold.
Once she reach the top, the elevator remained closed, and wouldn't open when she pressed the button.
“Addison, the elevator isn’t working.”
The touch panel shifted around, the buttons disappearing, to a blue image of a finger being held up to its mouth. Text ran underneath it.
‘The young miss is in trouble, and wants you to stay hidden.’
——————————————————————————————
“Addison, please send a drone in with a new centrifuge, this one needs repairs.” Aurelia moved away from the broken technology, and sat back down at her desk, shuffling through the mess of papers she refused to organise. She heard a knock on the entrance behind her.
“Mhm, come on, you don’t need to knock.” She said without looking up from her work.
“Well thank you very much for being so hospitable!” Said an unfamiliar male voice.
Aurelia’s heart sank, a level of dread she had not felt for decades swept over her as she froze in place. She closed her hand around her wrist, and squeezed tight, a faint blue light flickered to life under her skin.
“I have to say, young lady, this place sure was a toughy to crack into. You did a mighty fine job with your programming! Well done.” The man’s voice became louder as he walked closer and closer, shit leather dress shoes clicking on the linoleum.
“H-how did-”
“How did I bypass all of your security checks and get into the facility while remaining completely invisible to your TOMAI assistant? ‘Fraid it’s a trade secret sorry. ‘Specially since I gotta bring you back more or less alive. I’d appreciate it if you came quietly, nice and easy like.” The man spoke like a office worker out for drinks after work, his tone was so nonchalant, that Aurelia couldn’t help but feel panicked..
“Sorry, like I said to my last visitors, I’m not going anywhere.” A small laser popped out from a space in her wrist, and she spun around and saw nobody there. She looked around confused until she felt a knife sing into her thigh. She opened her mouth to scream in pain, but a cloth held by an invisible hand pressed against her mouth, and the world faded to black.
——————————————————————————————
Isobel watched as the feed from the workshop played. The man had disappeared from plain sight by pressing something on his watch, completely invisible. She then watched as a knife found its way into Aurelia’s thigh, and Isobel scrambled backwards in shock, dropping the samples she was carrying, watching as Aurelia slumped into invisible arms. Her body was then dragged out of the workshop, and out of view.
What do I do? What can I do? She wants me to stay here, she wants me to be safe. I can’t let her be taken away. I won’t let it.
She stood herself up and pulled the doors of the elevator. She struggled for a moment, her face contorting in frustration. All seemed lost. She couldn’t open these doors until Addison allowed and her creator was being abducted in front of her own eyes. Hysterical rage surged through her and the elevator doors began to give. The thick doors crumpled slowly, as she felt small twinges of pain in her arms, forcing herself harder and harder until the elevator doors were open enough for her to squeeze through..
Isobel climbed through the hole she made and immediately turned to race to the entrance. It had only been a minute since Aurelia was dragged off, so the man couldn’t have got far.. The doors barely opened in time for her to sprint through,coming out onto the plaza clearing.
Ahead she caught a glimpse of a man dragging Aurelia into the jungle, disappearing from sight once more. She chased after them, slowing down as her limbs got caught in the vines. She wondered how he moved so fast in a place like this.
To her east, she heard the engines of a starcraft light up. She immediately turned to the direction of the sound and sprinted through the dense foliage with reckless abandon, ignoring the branches and thorny plants as they cut and tore at her soft skin with ease.
She finally reached the edge of the clearing, where she could see the balding man dragging Aurelia up the cargo ramp of a landed Nekt Frigate. He looked up to spot Isobel emerging from the treeline, and tossed the unconscious scientist into the hold, making her disappear from view.
He quickly brandished a small plasma pistol from inside his sweater vest and shot at the Androids head, all within the span of a second. His aim was precise, and against any other target, it would have been an instant kill.. He recoiled in surprise when his target kept barreling towards him with frightening speed. Half of the skin on her face had melted off, revealing a singed tungsten skull underneath.
Isobel picked up speed, her footsteps leaving deep footprints in the grassy dirt, each step, a thump on the ground. He shot at her heart, a hole incinerating its way through her clothing instantly and continued through her left breast. The bolt was only stopped by another tungsten plate underneath the melted silicone. She grit her teeth as pain surged through her body, her right eye so damaged she could barely see through it.
He shot once more, when she was mere meters away from the cargo ramp, but she ducked underneath the bolt, and leapt through the air, tackling the kidnapper. The pair tumbled to the deck, landing several meters away from an unconscious Aurelia. He brandished a knife from nowhere, bringing it down on her spine, his eyes going wide with surprise when she released him and cried out in pain.
A menacing smile spread across his mustached lips, and he dashed to the side of her blind spot, then brought the knife down again, the blade piercing the silicon flesh with ease. A sickening clang rang throughout the air as the knife found its way into a gap in her spine. Isobel released him and scrambled forward, her left arm barely responding to any command, and her right leg was now as stiff as a rock.
She used her working arm to grab him by the scruff, and tossed him, sending him flying into the ship wall with a strangely dull thud, as his skin rippled like gelatin. The contractor recovered quickly, taking aim with his pistol once more. He shot at her with his pistol, landing in her other eye. Isobel reeled back in pain, something the contractor thought strange considering the metal she was clearly made up of. As she reeled away, he took this opportunity to lunge at her with his knife, ducking under a wild swing from the android, and stabbing her in the base of her spine. She cried out as her legs completely gave out under her, and with a heavy thud she hit the deck, barely able to see, barely able to move.
I can’t do this. I don’t know how to fight. I don’t want him to take away Rell.
She felt the plasma pistol to her back, and squeezed shut what was left of her eyes. The click of a trigger, followed by a thunderous noise rang through her ears, but she felt nothing.
She could barely make out the strange device coming from Aurelia’s wrist, and began to drag herself to her creator.
“Oh Isobel, you fought so well. I’m sorry you went through this.” Aurelia croaked. She pulled herself up on two feet, biting hard on her lower lip as she moved her thigh. The contractor was frozen in place, the center of his torso had been completely blown out, but there was no blood. There were no organs or anything but a blue goo, dripping from the hole. She felt disgust as she caught a glimpse of the frozen expression on his face, contorted in ways that were completely inhuman.
“I’m afraid I’m not strong enough to carry you. I’ve sent for drones to carry us back, we’ll need several of Addison’s drones just for you.”
White foam formed around each of Isobels wounds, preventing any leakage from her nanobot blood. She reached up to Aurelia, the thin, grey liquid streamed from her most intact eye.
“I-I-I” She kept tripping up on her words, her voice rough and mechanical. Aurelia fell to her knees in front of the android, unable to keep herself standing. She gently grabbed Isobels hand and placed her cheek in it.
“Shh, It’s okay. You did so well, even though you were scared.” Aurelia closed her eyes, and stroked Isobels silky synthetic hair.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” She cooed, her cheeks damp with tears.
Drones began to arrive,dozen’s cutting their way out into the clear with blades protruding from their arms. Two were carrying a stretcher, and Aurelia dragged herself on top of it, and was picked up by the pair of drones.
The rest each grabbed a limb of the immobile android, either of them struggling to pick Isobel up, their motors going into overdrive. They persevered, lifting her from the deck of the frigate and slowly walking them out.
Before the reached the foliage, a squelch could be heard behind them, and Aurelia craned her neck to look.
The contractors chest began to heal, sealing up, and his frozen limbs began to twitch.
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