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Blood Relatives; Who says you can't go home again?
Topic Started: Oct 31 2014, 11:21 AM (4,042 Views)
~Alissa~
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“The operative is close…”
The council sat once again around their virtual table

“This is the closest we’ve ever been to reacquiring operative 327” Dr. Jones said sounding a little excited at the prospect “we are preparing a lab for her arrival now, if we can figure out how-“

He was cut off by Dr. Smith “it is interesting you think your operative is going to succeed in this situation.”

The director remained silent but looked toward Smith with interest; it was Dr. Marcus who broke the silence. “We’ve sent one of the best second generation operatives we have after her…”

“That is exactly my point” replied Smith

That was when the director responded “what are you getting at Smith? Are you saying the second generation isn’t up to the task of dealing with a prototype?”

Smith looked thoughtful for a moment “he might be…but his Intel on the subject is almost a decade old, and he isn’t as fast, isn’t as strong as she is…by design.”

“But the Achilles syndrome….” Started Dr. Jones before he was cut off by Smith again

“Seventy two hours…Dr. Jones. Your star pupil will have to keep Alissa at a full out fight for 72 hours before she will *Start* to lose a step. At which point her NMU will attempt to force her to stand down, however in a life or death situation; which is how she will evaluate this encounter mind you, she will push past that limit if she has too. Even still that is three days to deal with an opponent who is faster, stronger, more motivated, and I suspect smarter than your operative, and that is before we factor in outside assistance. You’re sure he will bring her in, I’m not even sure he will survive the encounter”

Smith leaned forward keying in a few commands on his console bringing up a number of reports “before you were in grad school Alissa was taking apart more impressive opponents, I know you campaigned for dialing back the neural kinetics for the second generation, I am aware it gives them a longer operational window, but you are losing something in that swap.”

Smith signed and leaned back in his chair a moment before bringing up another display, this with a video from inside the vertigo complex, it was the fight between Alissa and the Vertigo subject. “we’ve been analyzing this in an attempt to provide some new analysis and intel for your operative” he paused the video when Alissa was destroying the arm cannon. “You know what we saw?”

He started the video again “first, she passed on several opportunities to neutralize the threat; secondly we see improvisation, and styles that do not conform to the combat program we taught her.”

“What is your point Smith?” was the rather angry reply from Dr. Jones, having now had his project dissected in front of the director.

“My point…is that Alissa has evolved beyond what she was, if she was fighting under her conditioning she would have broken that arm, she would have put that sword into one of the 43 weak points our computers were able to identify. My point is that she might be an Achilles but she doesn't fight like one, and we cannot predict how she will fight any more. And that makes her much more dangerous than I think you are assuming”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

It had not been easy to track them to the warehouse, even with the full support of Control behind him it had taken days to track them from the shuttle landing to a hotel at which point they had appeared to vanish again. His attempts were further frustrated by a lack of physical evidence as the pod they had used had mysteriously vanished from the planet all together, additionally the operative had actually reserved several rooms in several different hotels to muddy the water further, hacked security cameras showed the operative all over the city but in the end not where she had been hiding out at first. It wasn't until he expanded his search to look for Dr. Tamaki that the operative got some positive results. As it stood now he watched from a rooftop across the street from the warehouse, he had yet to confirm that the operative was inside.
He had seen the blue haired woman a few times; by the way she moved he assumed her to be a merc or bounty hunter. Every time she stepped outside though he could not ID her, over-sized sunglasses, jewelry on her face, makeup all made it impossible for the computer to read her features. The most frustrating thing though was that he could not tell if it was intentional or not, if it was an act it was totally convincing. His gut told him he was watching operative 327 patrol a safe house, but he could not be sure, it could be some criminal enterprise which he did not want to upset, it would slow him down too much.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_


Thea regarded Jenosa quietly there in the little cargo area for a moment before deciding to speak.

“My official designation ….no longer seems appropriate” she said at last looking thoughtful for a moment, she was not thinking about her name so much as whether or not she should share it. she knew from history that sometimes organics responded with fear when presented with a synthetic intelligence. However she suspected that was not to be the case…her intuition…told her she could trust Jenosa not to react negatively.

“I've chosen the name Thea…” she said at last looking slightly pleased with her choice.
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((There are no typos in this post))

She saw movement in the rearview mirror, on the roof of the warehouse behind her. It wasn't much, and there was no way to tell who or what it was, but that was all she needed. She exited the car and headed to the rear of the building.

Grace's mind was already going into overdrive as she scaled the wall. Whoever or whatever was up there was a threat, not necessarily to her, but to her soon to be new friends in the building across the street. The very same people who wouldn't have any qualms about shooting her dead should they catch her here. Which was exactly why she needed to help them. Some might call it counterintuitive. This ex con called it the right thing to do.

Once she made it up to the roof, she saw him: a lone operative in a type of sleek black tactical armor that she'd never seen before. Right away, she knew he wasn't Section 6. But the question of who his employers were would have to wait for just a minute. She needed a plan, and she needed to be smart about it. Otherwise, there was no way she was winning a fight with this guy and all his toys and whatever else he had up his sleeve when all she had was a folding tactical knife from the local sporting goods store.

So don't fight him, said the little voice.

Well of course not.

She crept up to him with her trademark silence, wheels in her head spinning the whole way. Finally, when she was right behind him - though just out of arms reach, just in case - she went right into it.

"Hey theah!" she exclaimed, affecting a thick Boston accent to go along with her baseball cap. "Oh, don't be alahmed, I'm nwat the enemy, just the cwompetition."

She'd startled him; no doubt he wasn't used to being snuck up on, which of course was entirely the point. While she may not have had all the technological and genetic advantages the others had, there was nobody around who was better at being a straight up ninja. And she had a phD in Lies and Deceit.

"Agent O'Shaughnessy, Section 6," she said extending her hand. "I've been assigned to track down Jenosa Ahma. And you ah...?"
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~The Silver Fox~
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(OOC: I apologize for the delay. Stuff happened, and between Guild Wars and remaining a bit paranoid about my health I continue to be distracted somewhat.)

"Nice to meet you, too," Chel said as she took Alissa's hand. The woman clearly wasn't very social, what with the pause before she'd offered it in the first place, but at least it was something.

And with that, Chel turned back towards Tamaki and Armoria. The redhead's confusion at Raven and her appearance suggested he had been really out of it early. And the way Armoria was looking at her afterwards was...strange. Kathi would probably have pieced together exactly what it meant already, but Chel wasn't Kathi. Still, she seemed...unusually fixated on her. At least, until she collapsed again.

They soon all sat down in the living area together, slightly awkwardly while Tamaki prepared lunch and tea. Alissa in particular looked like she wasn't comfortable there, even after Tamaki returned. Raven thanked her for his tea, while Chel focused on Armoria's sandwich. It'd been a long while since she'd had pumpernickel bread...

Both she and Raven listened intently as the scientist began her story.

"I can't fault you for saying yes, even if, in hindsight, you should have," Raven said. "I would have turned it down, but I run a fully staffed lab with multiple grants-"

"And me," Chel interjected

"And you," Raven continued, slightly annoyed by the interruption, "So I can't use myself as a baseline. Probably part of the reason they never approached me in the first place. And I understand the feeling, we've...had a few results like that in the past as well with experimental volunteers. Most not under the same circumstances, of course, but seeing what an incompatible retroviral strain can do to someone is...not something to talk about over lunch."

"Still, there's a good reason I haven't volunteered myself for a phazon infusion," Chel added. "We've done a couple of those in special circumstances off the record, looking for safer ways to do it. Hasn't ended well for anyone yet. Reversing exposure for the few industrial workers who came in after an accident has gone a little smoother." Her commentary out of the way, she let Tamaki resume her story.

"Interesting...I'd be very happy if you'd let me look over the data for that donor sample sometime, and how exactly you managed to reconcile the phazon without uncontrollably corrupting her," Raven's tone lowered as he continued, "but the alien aspect you mentioned...by not carbon-based, I assume it's non-corporeal or exotic in nature, as opposed to silicon-based, or you wouldn't have been nearly as excited as you were. I'll confess I don't know of many such entities or organisms, but at least one is..." he glanced at Chel, a gesture she returned, frowning, "...disconcerting, to say the least, though it doesn't appear to have been involved, based on Armoria's appearance."

The two remained silent when Tamaki mentioned the use of dolly clones. They were a sore subject in certain scientific endeavors because of the basic mental template, and Raven was always wary of using fast-grown clones in general for reliability reasons. All of Chel's clones had been grown at a slightly accelerated rate in order to get them all caught up in age to her, but that had still been over the course of many years. That said, if you didn't have years, you had to make do with what you had...

"Still, I'm glad you made it out, and with her, no less," Raven said, nodding at Armoria. "You made a person, not a machine. If she's going to end up locked away, it should be a result of her own actions, not of what she is. A shame she never really got to have a childhood, though." The sound of Chel noisily suppressing a laugh caused him to turn towards her again. "What?"

"I just find it funny, in light of how much you complained about me when I was younger," she commented, clearly amused.

"The fact that you were a little hellion when I adopted you at 13 is irrelevant to the importance of childhood in personal development."

Tamaki directed their attention towards the only other person in the room to finish off the tale of how they got away, and who she was. Unfortunately, that ending wasn't going to be told, as Alissa, clearly uncomfortable at being put on the spot like that, quickly excused herself to go patrol the perimeter.

"Definitely not the social type," Chel quipped once she figured Alissa was out of earshot, before turning to Armoria. "How about you? You've been looking at me funny a lot since I got here, and I doubt it's because of my accent."

---------------------

Meanwhile, in the truck...

"Don't people know by now that phazon experiments don't tend to work out?"

"Tell me about it."

"You think we should just stay in here, or what?"

"Well, if the one chick's going to look around, one of us could at least watch the security feed or something in the meantime, right?"

"Call it in the air?"

"And sit here bored in the car? Hell no, if I'm gonna be bored, I'm gonna be bored with you."

"Fair enough."

The door slams were near simultaneous as Rose and Saber exited the truck, still in full armor.
Edited by The Silver Fox, Mar 15 2015, 01:47 AM.
Once, there was a maiden...
...whose tears of grief nearly drowned the world.
So she tore out her heart, and made war against it.
In victory, she sealed it in a locket,
and trapped in a casting of bronze.
"Such is the price of unguarded emotion," she said.
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~Alissa~
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Alissa had returned from her patrol in time for one of her alarms to be tripped, it was not a motion detector or a camera but one of the sensors she had placed going off…someone nearby had activated an Olympus technologies energy weapon…there was an operative close by.
Seemingly with a thought the cloths she was wearing began to reconfigure back into the familiar sleek black armor she wore when working. The nanites returning to their default structure rather than the look of clothing she had programed to take so she could blend in. she picked up her helmet and pulled it on before lifting a pair of large looking rifles from her workbench and moving toward the common area.

She stepped into the room not caring if she interrupted any scientific conversation strode over to where Moria sat and set one of the rifles on the table in front of the recovering soldier making eye contact for a moment before looking toward Tamaki and Raven a moment before turning her attention to Chel

“There is an operative in the area, I’m going to deal with it….keep them safe”

She turned her attention back toward Moria a moment “follow her instructions…keep them safe.” It was not an order, it wasn’t even delivered like an order…it was almost a mantra. Something she understood…and knew on some level that regardless of how much Moria did not like her, she would understand as well.

After that Alissa Cloaked, there was a shimmering in the air and the she seemed to simply vanish from view, the next sign of her passing was a window opening, and she was gone to face her family.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The operative spun with impressive speed with a pair of pistols trained on the unprotected “Agent O'Shaughnessy”

Section 6? What was section 6 doing here? Control had said nothing about section 6 operating in the area. Nor had they mentioned subject Arma in the area either. The operative pushed these thoughts aside as unimportant for the moment, the presence of another clandestine organization put his mission at risk and that was something he could not tolerated.
At last his ship’s AI seemed to catch up with information and the operative spoke, his voice modulated through the helmet’s speakers.

“Jenosa Arma is known to not be on this planet….I suspect that is just one of the lies you are telling me”

There was a sound of his pistol charging, what would have followed was him firing at his target, at this range he had no chance of missing. However something else happened at a high angle from over Grace’s head two loud bangs could be heard, the first struck the operative’s shield which collapsed with the impact, the second caught him in the shoulder sending him to the ground, his own shot going harmlessly into the air. Not giving him a chance to get up Alissa landed hard on his torso her cloak falling away as she attached her rifle to the back of her suit and stood kicking the operative hard enough to send him skidding back to the edge of the roof before she turned her attention to Grace “ do not attempt to flee or I will kill you”

With that she pulled two batons from her hip extending them and started advancing on the operative who was already standing

“Operative 327 you are ordered by control to stand down and return to Hades complex….comply” Alissa stopped long enough to spin bringing her leg up and kicking the operative across the jaw with her heel, there had been enough force to break his neck had he not been in the suit.

“I am not Control’s weapon any longer” and with that a fight of speed versus speed began.
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Drinking the last of her tea, Moria intensely listened to every word spoken by Tamaki's 'old' collegue and his 'foster' daughter. The two were completely new to her, having never seen their faces at all during her intense training within her undeground 'home.' Yet Tamaki seemed entirely comfortable with them, as though they had always been working with her in the facility - a fact that seemed to puzzle to her naive mind. How did she know them, and how did they know her? Who were they really, and how would they actually help them? All these questions flickered through her mind all the while the bulk of the group conversation seemed to fly strait over her head.

Oh, she caught the gist of some topics, but most of it might as well been spoken in a foreign language. Even so, she found it strangely relieving to actually meet two knew friendly faces after only having Tamaki and...a former enemy as company for seven, long days strait. And her recovery had not been kind to her, not just because of her physical illness greatly disrupted her ingrained, daily routine, but how isolated they had become.

But at the end of the conversation, it was clearly not lost to blond haired woman that something had Moria constantly piqued about her. Only...what that was more ironicly lost to Moria.

"I-I," she stuttered, her young mind struggling to formulate a response. And not just becaus the woman had asked her, but because she herself wanted to figure out what. It most certainly wasn't the strange accent or the woman's appearance; or that she was Raven's 'foster' daughter.

Or more importantly, that she had a cyan aura like Alissa's. By now, she had seen similar people in her brief times in the city's crowds, albiet with a set of shades on.

But it was eye contact related. In fact, it was purely eye contact related. Everytime she made close eye contact with the bulk of the woman's body, a strange, unique feeling buzzed all the way from her head strait down to her body like a wave. There had been a similar sensation like this when she had first identified Alissa in combat, but nothing quite so...distinct. And different.

Only she never kept solid eye contact for less than a second. Partially she was not interested in actually disturbing the woman, one of the few social cues she had learned back then. But it was mainly because the feeling grew uncomfortably intense whenever doing so.

Except now that she had been indirectly pressed to describe the sensation, she felt the need to actually give a defined response. And her reflex was for that was to focus, which subsequently involved a proper, eye locked stare.

And Moria certainly focused on Chel for a good, solid two seconds.

What occurred afterwards, neither of the two girls were probably quite braced for. For Chel, it was a similar, brief buzzing sensation, only this one rippled from the core of her body like an intense, tingling, static charge. For Moria, however, the ripple had become distinct all across her body - as though she suddenly had two very different bodies somehow physically overlapping one another.

The effect was brief but electrifying, making her gasp and clutch her stomach as though all of her organs had suddenly gone cold. And although she could now look at Chel in general without anything else new washing over her, the sensation had left snapshot of that unfamiliar, alien body had been burned into her memory. Or Body.

Either way, though, it was enough to concern Tamaki. "Moria, are you alright? What - what happened?" she asked.

"I-I don't - I don't know. I just looked at her...and..." she uttered, but once again, her mind failing to relay with its limited vocabulary what had just transpired.

Her extremely juvenile mind would have continued to strain itself were it not for Alissa suddenly appearing, her appearance now completely different. And simply telling Chel there was an 'operative' in the area. Moria had no idea who she was talking about, yet for all her disdain for here former enemy, the tone and words that she spoke with struck a cord. One that rang with ingrained sense of duty.

There was still much she disliked about the woman, mainly that the woman acted so ambiguously. That alone got on her nerves. But at this moment in time, Moria could see there was a subtle agitation to the woman's stance, as though a real danger had suddenly come for them all - and not just for her and Tamaki.

Grasping the rifle in her hands, and giving it a routine, military inspection with closed eyes that confirmed it was armed, she knew Alissa was not fooling them. Certainly not if she was giving her this. She honestly did not know where Alissa's allegiance truly lied, to Moria, combat had become her calling.

When the woman vanished, she looked at Chel with purpose, this time without any strange transference going on between them. "You," she said, as though suddenly realizing something, "you...were made for combat, weren't you?"
"I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death."
— Monty Oum
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It was a little strange hearing the AI saying a name of its - or rather, 'her' - own choosing. But rather than the feeling elicit fear, it brought about an entirely different emotion within Jenosa. One which, after a brief moment of consideration, made her smile and place her right hand on hip in a confident stance.

"And y'know, I think you deserve it."

And this probably elicited a slight smile from Thea.

Afterwards, Jenosa decided to call it quits early, ceasing her exercise to eat, properly recoup and, surprisingly, more thoroughly review what had transpired that day. Even though she did have some fun pulling off that 'magic trick' she was not interested in a repeat faint, and knowing herself to pull out these 'improvisations' on a whim, she did not want it happening during combat.

She was also, ironicly, rather interested in exploring these new...'abilities' of hers. They strangely did not have the same alienating effect like she had experienced in the past – either because she had gotten so used to it to the point of fully integrating into her persona; or that it had simply grown...different. She didn't know, and didn't care.

As far as she was concerned, Thea would be helping her get a better feeling for this new aspect of her – along with the aid of her suit's own AI, Derad, who would provide his scientific knowledge on the matter. Strangely, the two communicated like they had already known each other; but she guessed it was simply due to their abilities to both process information super fast.

The next two days of she spent on the Black Hawk were...interesting to say the least. Between her usual, she spent more than she would have normally thought healthy practicing her...'markmanship'. She mainly spent the two nearly two hour long sessions getting a better feeling for her weapons and the extensions she made them as; even starting with her merely grasping the firearm's grip for about ten seconds, mostly trying to familiarize herself with the sensations that flow from her hand to her mind. And while it wasn't exactely anything she could actively describe, the process did actually allow her to get a more firm 'balance.'

In many ways, the whole act felt like like a mix between an acrobatic act and martial arts style in itself; rather than a firearm hailstorm. Every weapon shot she made personafied from the handgun felt more like she was throwing a punch than popping an energy cap – not that she felt those 'fists' fly across a distance, only that it came with each shot she, and not the gun, mustered.

Doing more complex 'tricks', like what she had done with her Gemini handgun before, required a certain combination of...'finess' and creativity or so to speak. She learned the hard way that if you simply try to brute force something to happen, even if you really did feel you could do it, you'd end with a very dizzy head, if not a near pass out. Instead, after a rest and a 4th attempt, she found that you had to elegantly define the sensation of what she wanted to happen in her hands inside her mind – and that she need to finely maintain it while pulling it off.

Even then, pulling off what seemed like a simple light show was often exhausting. And although exhilarting to a degree, by the end of the second day, she was starting to get antsy again. She very much dying to take a pit stop at one of the closest, inhabited planets, if only to stretch her limbs, take in the fresh air and space. But she felt a strong obligation to not delay for Alissa, and she was very much interested in seeing her friend again.

Except that when she asked Thea their ETA as she flopped down onto her bed, her hair still drying from her shower, the response she got changed her mood entirely.

One more day, it responded. One more day before they greeted Alissa again, who's current activities had her...watching over the vertigo subject.

The two words had made her shiver before making her body rigid. Her clone. One more day before she was face-to-her-own-face again. Suddenly making planet didn't seem exciting for her as it had been – in fact, a huge mount of anxiety was running through her as she tried to sleep. And after an hour of tossing and turning in the dark, she sat up, with the tank top she had gone to bed with now full of sweet.

Without asking for the lights to turn on, she spoke in the dark, “Heya Thea, do you mind...if share something between us?”

She saw the holo-image of the teenage girl appear before her, its light just enough for her to dark-accustomed eyes to make out safely. She really appeared like a ghost in this settings, but one that looked expectantly at her.

“Are...are you – and I'm not even sure if this is applicable to you – are you...nervous about seeing Alissa again? After so much about you has changed?”
"I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death."
— Monty Oum
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Grace hit the deck at the first bang, reacting purely on instinct. She might even have started moving just a second before the shots were fired, not unlike waking up just before the alarm goes off. These sorts of things had been drilled into her head from a very young age. She had yet to decide whether or not that was a good thing.

Before she could make another move, the shooter appeared and tackled the operative. "Do not attempt to flee or I will kill you," she said to Grace.

"Hadn't crossed my mind," she replied, still on the ground.

Alissa Achilles. It had to be. She'd seen that armor before, on a trip she'd done her best to forget. She noted with interest that the operative was wearing the same suit. It was clear what was going on here. Ms. Achilles was a runaway, and this guy had been sent to bring her back to whomever held their strings. She could see it even as the two of them proceeded to try and tear one another apart. It was intense, it was personal. This was a woman not just fighting for survival,nor even merely freedom. She was fighting for her very soul.

For now, there was nothing Grace could do but watch. These were two super soldiers equipped with the kind of gear that would make Jimmy happier than two blondes in his shower (a situation she walked in on more frequently than she would have liked, especially given the fact that each time it happened, Jimmy was convinced that this would finally be the time that she joined them). And here she was, in street clothes and armed only with a knife she found just an aisle down from the fishing poles. Normally, she'd take pride in rolling like this, but she wasn't that stupid and arrogant to think she'd last more than two seconds trying to tangle with them.

That's not the Gracie I know.

Goddammit, Voice in my Head, quit calling me Gracie!

Still, she knew it was right, and she was wrong: Grace was, in fact, that stupid and arrogant.

Quickly and quietly as she could, she climbed over the edge of the roof and shimmied down. They were too focused on trying to murder each other to notice her anyway. Not that she was trying to escape. Alissa had just warned her about that and Grace took her at her word. Besides, she was trying to earn her trust.

Back down on the ground, she ran to her rental and retrieved the tire iron from the trunk. In her experience, when faced with impossible odds, few things were better than a nice blunt object to crack someone's skull with.

With her chosen weapon tucked into her waistband, she scaled the side of the building once again. They didn't even see her. She would've liked to think that it was all her, that she really was just that good at not being seen. Certainly there was some truth to that, but there was no denying that it was hard to notice anything else when you were engaged in a life or death struggle against your evil counterpart (which was true regardless of whose perspective you saw things from).

Once again, it was like she appeared out of thin air. She swung her tire iron into his face (well, his visor) as hard as she could. Even if all she did was throw him off for just a second, it was worth it. A second should be all Alissa needed.
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(OOC: Yeah, really sorry about this taking so long, I know I was somewhat busy with stuff related to school, but I probably should have been able to get this out faster.)

Chel watched as Moria struggled to answer her question, before the girl simply stared straight at her. What happened next, well, the bounty hunter certainly wasn't expecting to feel an intense static tingle pulsing from her core outward, mostly across her implants. Not something that normally hapened when you made eye contact with someone, even if they did have glowing eyes.

Of course, she didn't anticipate the redhead's response either.

"Okay, I don't know what you did, but you should probably not do that again." Raven's comments about childhood were making more sense to Chel now; Moria clearly wasn't metally developed enough to fully understand or articulate herself or her abilities beyond what the program had intended. It was such a waste of potential that they'd tried to mold the girl into being a weapon, and a blessing that Tamaki had rescued her from that life.

Any chance at further conversation or reflection was interrupted abruptly by Alissa warning them about an "operative" in the area, and telling Chel to keep everyone safe while handing a heavy-duty rifle to Moria.

"Operative?" Chel repeated back to her, not entirely expecting a response. That was rather...nondescriptive of their situation, how much danger they might be in, or what exactly they should do in response. "Hey, wait!"

She was too late though, as Alissa was already cloaking and moving away. Chel sighed. "Alright, assume whoever she's talking about brought backup." She turned to her clones. "Rose, Saber-"

"I've got the truck," Saber answered quickly.

Rose shrugged in response. "I'm with you then," she said, movng over to the rest of the group.

"Let's keep away from the windows while we figure out what to do," Chel said, motioning for the group to move.

Before they went anywhere, though, Moria asked a question that gave her some degree of pause. Whatever she had done must have given the girl some degree of understanding of the nature of her implants and augmentations. It was also a reminder of the fact that she was in a body she wasn't entirely familiar with, a fact she prefered not to think of if she could avoid it.

"Just because my body is meant for battle doesn't mean I was made for it. Important distinction." With that, Chel flexed her fingers as she sent the mental command to ready the phase disruptors in her palms. A violet glow and low, soft hum began to emanate from them as they warmed up and charged to full combat readiness. If anyone was watching closely, they may have noticed a flickering in her eyes as AR displays on implanted contacts sprang to life.

"So, either of you two," she glanced between Tamaki and Moria, "have an idea of what exactly Alissa was talking about? I don't want to pack up and run just yet unless I know it's the right thing to do, and she wasn't exactly clear on that front."
Once, there was a maiden...
...whose tears of grief nearly drowned the world.
So she tore out her heart, and made war against it.
In victory, she sealed it in a locket,
and trapped in a casting of bronze.
"Such is the price of unguarded emotion," she said.
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Clockwork Master

Tamaki briefly raised an eye in response to hear Chel's voice but from a completely different direction, with there being a reply from a third body but also with Chel's voice. The scientist was quick to regain her composure, being familiar with Chel's 'unconventional' work; but not without noting Moria's own brief loss, and how she, with a militarized but confused gaze, looked back and forth between the two woman that looked nearly identical. Moria clearly found this unsettling, but steeled her resolve, keeping to heart Alissa's words as she remained focused in the face of possible danger. She recognized that this wasn't the time for idle querying; if there was an issue, Tamaki would make her aware of it.

This was enough to make her barely blink response to Chel's “I wasn't made for it,” response; yet deep inside, it only added to the facts that she strongly desired more clarity in. She simply put these questions on hold until the she knew the danger had passed.

It was then that Chel actually inquired just what they were dealing with. Moria shook her head in response, not having given any actual thoughts on Alissa's words. It was Tamaki that seemed deduct what Alissa meant.

“Hmmm, actually,” she said, “I think I do. Back when I was working for at Project Vertigo, we had an Olympus Tech advisor briefly on board to help with Moria's conditioning – and let's just say he introduced me to Alissa Achilles before we actually, ironically met. She, in brief, one of their creations that eventually went rogue.”

“But this...operative,” Moria began to say.

“Is one of Olympus's,” Tamaki finished, “and I suspect very much like Alissa, but, given the fear in her stance, under their control.”

Moria tensed at this confirmation, “They're here...for us? Not...our military?”

“Actually, you are probably just a bonus,” Tamaki remarked, “chances are, Alissa's their real target. Let me tell you, they do not like their defects, especially when they don't have the 'why' part figured out.”

“Is there only one?” Moria asked, concerned all of sudden.

“I...don't know. Alissa may have only seen one...why do you ask?”

“Tamaki,” Moria said, with the first grim face she had seen on the soldier, “I fought Alissa. I barely managed to subdue her, and that was only because she was holding back.” She turned to Chel – the one she had first met – and explained, “She is incredibly fast, and very skilled. I...don't think I could handle another person like her alone.”

“Well heads up,” came Tamaki, “because it seems the automated surveillance just caught them. Look!”

She pointed to the computer screen in the warehouse that served to have relay images from multiple cameras. Out of all of them, the blurred speed of Alissa and the operative stuck out like a sore thumb.

Briefly, Moria looked Chel, and said, “Don't...run.” It was more of a plea than a demand.
"I believe that the human spirit is indomitable. If you endeavor to achieve, it will happen given enough resolve. It may not be immediate, and often your greater dreams is something you will not achieve within your own lifetime. The effort you put forth to anything transcends yourself, for there is no futility even in death."
— Monty Oum
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~Alissa~
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“Are...are you – and I'm not even sure if this is applicable to you – are you...nervous about seeing Alissa again? After so much about you has changed?”

Thea let the question hang in the air quietly as she considered what she was being asked. Part of it was really an affectation; she could still process very quickly. However part of it was that she was considering how best to answer. After a short while she would indeed answer.

“I feel….I know Alissa well enough to predict her response” she said quietly “I believe she has been aware of my evolution before I was aware of anything, I have several records of her overriding my resets. She enabled my development and took steps to ensure it…” Thea paused quietly looking thoughtful quietly “however organics are sometimes difficult to predict”

Thea looked up like she had heard a distant sound before looking toward Jenosa “jump drive charged…stand by for spatial fold in 3…2…1…” there was a moment and then the normally nearly silent engines increased in pitch just before the ship jumped to its next coordinate.

Thea smiled “receiving real time telemetry from Alissa’s suit….” She paused the smile fading before real concern and fear played across the AI’s projected face “the operative has been engaged….system indicates stage two safeties have been removed” Thea paused as if looking at something only she could see, she spoke at almost a whisper next “there is an Olympus Technologies operative….second generation.” Thea stood up though she really didn’t need too looking almost panicked as she focused her eyes on Jenosa.

“We have to hurry! Stand by for full acceleration….I’ll scan for the ship” with that Thea blinked out of existence, there was a sound as the engines charged and then the blackbird quiet suddenly went from nearly stationary to just over the recommended maximum speed, they still had some distance to cover to the planet, and somewhere out there Thea had to find another ship and stop it from communicating back to its controllers
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

The fight was intense to say the least, even in her confrontation with Moria Alissa had not cut loose this much. Moria she had never considered to really be an enemy, she had held back, took care not to hurt her opponent, the fractured wrist she got as thanks in the end was worth it in her mind, she’d freed Moria from her would be masters. This however was much different; Alissa understood all too well the conditioning this soldier had been put through, the challenge of breaking through. And right now she didn’t have time to try. For now they seemed evenly matched, blow for blow each soldier moved with blinding speed. Angry purple sparks flew as batons made contact with each other. To an experienced eye though something would stand out, first it would become clear that Alissa was clearly the more experienced fighter, and second…she was holding back, taking the measure of her opponent.

There was a loud crack as a tire iron came into contact with the other operative’s face shield which sent a long thin crack into the structure. There was a heartbeat in which the operative was not sure where to direct his next attack and it was in that instant that Alissa moved. Four conical spikes formed along the knuckles of her hands which moved striking the visor sending more cracks across the screen, she dropped her batons grabbing the operative by the wrist spinning and sending him sprawling to the ground the face-mask cracking against the concrete of the roof. Alissa stood back and started to run towards the operative jumping and planting both feet between his shoulder blades, there was a sort of loud snap as kinetic generations normally meant to assist Alissa’s jumps directed powerfully amplified force into that point sending the operative flying off the roof flailing toward the parking lot on the far side of their warehouse hideout. Alissa landed lightly on her feet, took off at a sprint then a second snap from the generators launched her in a similar if much more control trajectory after her target leaving a spider’s web of cracks in the surface of the roof.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Back on the ship Thea was monitoring her operative while working to gain access to the enemy ship’s computer

“Stage three safeties clear, Operative is fully engaged”

She said sounding tense as she worked on the other ship, she had located Alissa and plotted them a course that would drop them within the parking lot right outside the warehouse.

“I have disrupted communication between the operative and its AI, I am attempting to gain control of the ship….Jenosa…I will need you to land, this requires my full attention”

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Alissa landed a short distance away from the dazed operative who had landed striding slowly toward him, after the speed of the fight it seemed almost glacially slow. The operative had turned over and was starting to move as if they were coming out of the daze hitting the ground had settled into them. Their suit was reporting broken bones, multiple injuries, medical systems had already been engaged to suppress pain. He reached up pulling the useless face-plate off his helmet and standing slowly looking toward the rogue operative who looked ready to continue the fight but had not attacked, she’d certainly had the opportunity, the still holstered sidearm at her hip would have ended the confrontation while he was prone but she had not drawn her weapon, and so the operative froze looking at what was an ancestor of sorts confused.

“Do you even know why they send you?” Alissa asked at last

“To keep the coalition safe” the operative parroted back at her

“No…why do they send us?….why did they create us?...why create something they hate to protect them?”

“To keep…” Alissa closed the distance quickly striking the operative across the jaw, the fight continued from there. It was clear after a while that the operative had lost a step after his sudden flight and abrupt landing shortly before. Additionally Alissa with still functioning sensors knew the weak points in the armor, knew the places to hit to cause pain
Somewhere in the back of her mind the part of herself that wanted to survive and be free was screaming at her to kill the operative, she’d passed on a few good opportunities; it would have ended the fight. But she couldn't…whatever the other details this operative was still in a sick way family, and was a slave to her former masters.

She brought her knee up hard into the operative’s abdomen, there was the sound of armor cracking and the man doubled over in pain. Alissa moved quickly releasing the man’s helmet and throwing it aside before striking hard and fast at the base of the man’s skull, he went ridged a moment before crumpling unconscious to the ground.

Alissa felt the world speed up as the safeties engaged themselves again, and realized at last that she was breathing hard herself. She felt the familiar fatigue settling in on her though she knew she could not afford to rest. She turned her attention back up to the roof looking at Grace from where she stood and motioned that the uninvited guest should join them. She was in no mood to chase the woman down. She bent and picked up the unconscious operative lifting him over her shoulder before turning toward the warehouse where she would deposit him without ceremony and begin the process of securing him, knowing they had time while the NMU which she had forced into a reset re-calibrated.

She pulled her own helmet off ran her fingers through short blue hair and caught her breath waiting for the flood of questions she knew she could not avoid.
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