Corona took a seat at the conference table and hoped Jack wouldn't let his anger at Shadow overwhelm him again.
Jack and Taura entered the room, followed by a hulking draconid with purple skin and black hair that reached past her waist.
"Still don't believe me, eh?" she said. "Even when the DNA test confirmed it?"
"Nope." Jack walked over to the seat beside Corona. "For all I know, the test results were faked. And that whole 'we're from the future' thing is a bunch of shit. But even without that, if someone overheard you referring to us as your parents, it'd bring up too many questions, don't you think? So if you don't mind, just call us by name."
"Wouldn't be the first time I've had to do that." Boiler chuckled at their expressions. "Long story." She shrugged. "Okay, fine … Jack."
"Much better." He sat and slipped his hand into Corona's.
Taura took the seat on his left and held his other hand.
Corona watched Boiler for a moment before deciding to ponder the situation later. Boiler had wanted to meet with them and explain everything, but so far there hadn't been a day when all four of them were free at the same time.
Oh, well. We'll get this sorted out eventually. She shifted her weight, trying to move her tail into a less uncomfortable position, and waited for Machiko and their client to arrive.
Their boss strode into the briefing room with Winslow close behind her. Corona kept an eye on the door for a moment, but Shadow didn't appear, and Corona released a quick sigh of relief. As sorry as she felt for the poor girl, it would be a long time before Jack got over the stunt she'd pulled yesterday. The last thing any of them needed was for him to be distracted by his own temper.
"Let's get started." Machiko sat at the end of the table, leaned forward, and faced Winslow.
He sat across from Corona and fidgeted. She waited a few more seconds and raised a brow ridge.
"What's this all about? Why did we have to fight our way through an army of your company's own mechs to get you out of there?"
"It's, uh, it's about a project we were working on. And by 'we,' I mean a rather large team of cyberneticists and software engineers. I was actually a very small part of it. All I did was write a portion of the software. The mechs were trying to prevent me from leaving with the evidence."
"Software for what?" Jack kept his solid obsidian eyes aimed at Winslow.
Winslow stammered and slumped forward slightly. "For … for the, uh … the project."
"I already don't like where this is going," Taura muttered. "What project?"
"Ah. Well." Winslow cleared his throat. "It's something we were working on for possible military use, but the potential applications go far beyond that."
"Well, hooray." Jack's lip curled. "Get to the goddamn point."
"Okay, okay." Winslow glanced around and fiddled with his glasses. "Project Revenant. It's … well, it's a process that revives the dead."
Taura's mouth fell open. "The medical applications for that are obvious. It'd be worth hundreds of billions to …"
"No, not like that. It can bring corpses back to life, but only to a certain point."
"What the hell does that mean?" Jack snapped.
"Basic bodily functions are restarted, cybernetic systems are implanted and software installed. Other modifications are made where necessary." Winslow tugged on his collar. "Only certain memories remain accessible, such as police or combat training, if it's still intact. Or whatever other mission-specific experience the subject has."
Corona growled and held her hand over the end of her muzzle. Her tail lashed around and her red eyes glowed brighter. "I feel like I'm gonna puke."
"It wasn't my idea!"
"But you were a part of it," Taura said. "Why would anyone …?"
"Military applications," Jack grumbled. "And who knows what else."
Taura grimaced and rubbed a hand over her face. "This would let you 'recycle' soldiers who are killed in action. They could be put back together, enhanced with cybernetic components, programmed for new missions, and sent back into battle. Or used for assassinations or sabotage. They'd be difficult to stop and using them for the most dangerous missions would keep living operatives safe."
"That was the idea, yeah." Winslow couldn't meet her gaze.
"So, creating Taura and me and all the others -- that wasn't good enough, eh?" Corona snarled.
"Well, you may have noticed that creating chimeras for military use didn't work out too well. Public outcry over the creation of a slave race, and all that."
"And what do you think would've happened once the public learned about the use of dead fucking bodies for the same purpose?"
"Not only that," Jack added, "but how exactly were you planning to get your hands on suitable corpses? Were you gonna settle for raiding morgues all over the city for the ones you wanted, or were you gonna pick out certain 'candidates' and arrange accidents for them, or some shit like that?"
Winslow flinched as if he'd been slapped. Taura leaned back abruptly and clenched her fist. She glared at him and gnashed her teeth. Several seconds passed before she was able to speak.
"That was the plan, wasn't it?"
"I wasn't in on the planning." He kept his eyes focused on the table. "But … well, I assume that would be more efficient than waiting for the right people to die."
"You're a real piece of shit, Winslow." Jack shook his head and sneered. "You and everyone else on that project."
"Hey, wait a minute! We were only doing our jobs."
Corona snorted. "I'm sure the geneticists who created me and Taura said the same thing."
Jack put his arm around her. "Well, at least we have a chance to stop it. Once we get the evidence to …"
"Uh, yeah," Winslow mumbled. "About that..."
Jack leaned forward and spiked him with another glare. "What?"
"I had the evidence. I copied it from the servers and was carrying it with me when Shadow got me out of there. But …"
"What? Did you drop the external drive into a gutter or something?"
"The drive was booby-trapped." Winslow slumped forward and propped his head on his palm. "The company had a security feature hard-wired into it. When I climbed through that window -- when the drive was removed from the building, it was wiped automatically."
Jack stared at him and finally blurted a flat, "What."
"I've already had Mickey working on it," Machiko said. "The drive is blank. It's been wiped clean. Whatever files were on it, they're irretrievable." She arched a brow ridge and met Jack's gaze. "Which means you three will have to go back into the ADS building, extract the files we need, and find a way to get them out of the building without losing them like Winslow did."
Jack stared back at her. "What?"
"You heard me." Before he could reply, she turned to smirk at Boiler. "Care to back them up?"
"I've got nothing else planned for today." Boiler smirked right back. "I'll do what I can to keep the company security off their backs."
"Wait a minute." Jack shook his head. "We had to jump off the fuckin' roof to get out of that place, and now you want us to go back?"
"Well," Corona said, "there's something that'll work in our favor -- they'd never expect us to hit 'em again the very next day."
"Yeah -- because it'd be fuckin' stupid."
"Don't worry, Jack." Machiko aimed one of her cold smiles at him. "I'll be there, too, with my sniper rifle. You probably won't see me, but you'll know I'm there."
Jack grumbled and slouched.
"One thing that has me concerned," Taura said, "is the presence of innocent bystanders. If we go in during business hours, many of the people there will be doing jobs that have nothing to do with this project -- answering phones, accounting, shuffling paperwork, troubleshooting technical problems."
"That's why you'll be going in tonight, after most of the employees have gone home. You'll still need to watch out for a few people working late, but most of the people you encounter will be security." She stood and crossed her arms over her chest. "I suggest you stop by Lefty's shop and pick up the gear you'll need. She's got some new equipment for you."
"Oh." Taura's ears pricked up. "That's not playing fair. You know I'm a total mark for new gadgets."
Machiko grinned. "After you gear up, I suggest you study the building's layout, determine the best point of entry, and plan your escape. You may have to improvise once things get rolling, so don't set anything in stone, but at least have an idea of what you'll need to do at each step." She turned to Winslow. "I assume the files are in the main server in the basement?"
"Right. Since they know I copied the files from the computer in my office, you can bet they've tightened their grip by now. There won't be any outside access. You'll have to insert a media card or plug an external drive directly into the server."
"Oh, that's just marvelous," Jack muttered. "Remember what happened the last time we had to do that?"
"Yeah, that's how we ended up working for Machiko." Corona nudged his shoulder. "Come on, it could be worse."
"Yeah -- and sooner or later, it will be."
She snorted, stood, grasped his arm and hauled him off his chair. "Okay, that does it. We've got a few hours before the op starts, so let's pick up our gear and then head somewhere private. Looks like Taura and I are gonna have to screw that pessimism right out of you."
"Oh." Boiler grimaced and clamped her hands over her ears. "Oh. Oh, that's nasty." She started to say something else, but glanced at Winslow and cut herself off. She shook her head and waved her hand. "Anyway, guess I better get ready, too."
"Okay, then. If there are no questions?" Machiko made eye contact with everyone and nodded. "That's all for now."
"Great." Jack sighed and headed for the door. "Let's go get ready to be shot at again."
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