On an unnamed planet untouched by the confederations of space farers lived a little girl and her...
A Girl and Her Friend
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On an unnamed planet untouched by the confederations of space farers lived a little girl and her friend the robot. The robot was out of date in several ways: Its parts were rusting and falling... apart... its speech was failing. It required constant maintenance. Yet every day she would work on it: Tightening bolts, replacing parts by making new ones in her forge, and doing some minor programming to maintain its speech functions.
Yet she longs for human friends. Not machines. One day, as she is making herself and the robot breakfast, she starts a friendly discussion with the robot.
"Do you think anyone will ever come to this planet and find us? I am too poor to afford a ship and we have no means of communicating long distance here." The little girl sniffled teary eyes. Her friend was filled with sadness yet could not cry for them. It must soldier on.
"Do not worry my friend. Someone shall find us. I know it." And the robot's words made her feel better. They went out to work in her garden, which was harvested water and vegetables and flowers. Sometimes she cooks with her vegetables or turns them into fuel for her friend.
Sometimes she feels like crying deep in the night. Yet the robot consoles her when she wakes up crying and she thanks and hugs it tight. Truly no human could ever replace her friend.
Then one day one of those space faring peoples came to their planet. Right by their tiny shack for example. He crashed down from his damaged ship and landed in a flaming crater, which quickly died down as the sand around it filled in and deprived it of oxygen. He greeted the girl and the robot and asks their names? He says his is James. That's it: Just James. She was a little suspicious and gave him a sideways look.
"Then I'm just Autumn. And my friend has no name. It never chose one." The robot nodded silently to confirm that it had no name.
James helped them the best he could. The girl was not of age for any kind of relationship so he never tried. They simply tried to salvage scrap to forge into useful items to repair his damaged ship. One day they finally escaped that planet. Where did they go? They went to several different planets to find a new home, as James revealed, his academy kicked him out.
The first was rural. The people were closed off to outsiders. You had to be born there to have any clout at all. So Autumn and her friend tried building up their reps to naught. They were banned forever from that planet when they accuses her of abusing the trusts of the townspeople with her sad little poor girls' act.
The second was a big city filled with bright lights on an eternal night. More accepting yet peoples everywhere and the robot was scared. It couldn't power down at night. The little girl, James and even another friend they made--an empath--couldn't fix the robot's sleeping woes. So they left that place too.
Autumn was beginning to feel hopeless when she, James, Sh'arri the empath and the robot found their new home. Another city yet smaller and started as a small town. They lived in a community of outcasts on the outskirts of the city. Peoples left them alone. What were they to do? Throw themselves at the mercies of strangers? Yet the more they opened up to the city-planet the more friends they made... or at least temporary acquaintances that would help them. And finally they were happy.
Yet she longs for human friends. Not machines. One day, as she is making herself and the robot breakfast, she starts a friendly discussion with the robot.
"Do you think anyone will ever come to this planet and find us? I am too poor to afford a ship and we have no means of communicating long distance here." The little girl sniffled teary eyes. Her friend was filled with sadness yet could not cry for them. It must soldier on.
"Do not worry my friend. Someone shall find us. I know it." And the robot's words made her feel better. They went out to work in her garden, which was harvested water and vegetables and flowers. Sometimes she cooks with her vegetables or turns them into fuel for her friend.
Sometimes she feels like crying deep in the night. Yet the robot consoles her when she wakes up crying and she thanks and hugs it tight. Truly no human could ever replace her friend.
Then one day one of those space faring peoples came to their planet. Right by their tiny shack for example. He crashed down from his damaged ship and landed in a flaming crater, which quickly died down as the sand around it filled in and deprived it of oxygen. He greeted the girl and the robot and asks their names? He says his is James. That's it: Just James. She was a little suspicious and gave him a sideways look.
"Then I'm just Autumn. And my friend has no name. It never chose one." The robot nodded silently to confirm that it had no name.
James helped them the best he could. The girl was not of age for any kind of relationship so he never tried. They simply tried to salvage scrap to forge into useful items to repair his damaged ship. One day they finally escaped that planet. Where did they go? They went to several different planets to find a new home, as James revealed, his academy kicked him out.
The first was rural. The people were closed off to outsiders. You had to be born there to have any clout at all. So Autumn and her friend tried building up their reps to naught. They were banned forever from that planet when they accuses her of abusing the trusts of the townspeople with her sad little poor girls' act.
The second was a big city filled with bright lights on an eternal night. More accepting yet peoples everywhere and the robot was scared. It couldn't power down at night. The little girl, James and even another friend they made--an empath--couldn't fix the robot's sleeping woes. So they left that place too.
Autumn was beginning to feel hopeless when she, James, Sh'arri the empath and the robot found their new home. Another city yet smaller and started as a small town. They lived in a community of outcasts on the outskirts of the city. Peoples left them alone. What were they to do? Throw themselves at the mercies of strangers? Yet the more they opened up to the city-planet the more friends they made... or at least temporary acquaintances that would help them. And finally they were happy.
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Did their happiness end? Yes: One day the robot was simply too malfunctioning to continue on. It died that evening. Before it died it told the girl that she was the one true friend it had ever had, it liked James and Sh'arri yet they had not known it as long, or shared as much memories. Autumn kissed the robot's face and bid it goodbye as its eyes turned dark.
Sh'arri silently wept. Yet her emotions could be felt around the room. James being a tough man with jokes in him tried to tell one:
"Knock knock. Who's Not at your doors this time?" Everyone looked at him funny and then carried on.
Autumn couldn't take the loss of the robot anymore. She wept in her room at night as quietly as she could. And all her tears and sorrows could never bring her friend back. So Autumn asked Sh'arri for advice first.
"What should you do when a friend dies, Sh'arri?" Autumn looked inquisitvely out from her auburn hair, which has a tendency to conceal parts of her face with her bangs. The empathic, blue skinned woman thoughtfully considered and then responded level headed like.
"Do not mourn them. Celebrate them with passion. Remember the good things about them." Sh'arri stroked the girl's hair and patted her on the head. Autumn smiled. What a nice way to remember a robot that had helped her cook meals, garden, harvest water and more.
Next she asked James Just for advice. He sat down on the communal chair in the area where the outcasts gather for meal times. He stroked his manly chin and then:
"I've seen someone die only once during a training exercise. I was told there was no way she could be saved and that... was part of the training. So my only advice is to remember: You can't save everyone." James said sternly and looked Autumn right in the eyes to show he meant business.
Autumn wasn't sure what to think and believe about that advice. What about machines whose minds could be transplanted into new bodies? Autumn soon became obsessed with ideas of virtual immortality. She tried to experiment first on her own mind, stealing memory storing flash devices, and implanting her nightmares into them. They came out as little more than meaningless ink blots growling threateningly.
Then she opened up her friend and tried to take what she could of the memories of its brain so to speak. That attempt worked better as she changed flaws in the lines of code she hadn't seen before. Yet she was still a far ways away from actually creating an entirely new body and mind to replace her irreplaceable friend. Add to that she did not know how to completely construct a completely new body anyway.
So she sought the help of the Moon Robotics Company. Writing them a letter that states her best friend a robot was dead and she was so, so sad about it... so sad in fact that she was willing to work off whatever debts may be amounting from what she asks of them: "May you help me build a new body for my friend's amazing mind?" And to her surprise they answered.
"To Autumn: Your story has touched the heart of our CEO and he and his team are working tirelessly to make your friend a new body. No paying required unless doing so becomes cost prohibitive, which we do not see happening.
Thank you,
Moon Robotics Company."
Autumn held the letter she received close to her heart. She could feel it racing, and her thoughts, with excitement and happiness. Now her friend could live on. And then: What about her? What about when she became frail and old and near death's doors? The thoughts chilled the youth to her bones and she even layered her tight purple shirt with butterfly designs with a sweater, brushes her hair and teeth, takes a bath and then heads out to meet with the CEO of the MRC.
Anyway when they got there the pretty receptionist lady told them to sit and wait. While they waited they briefly conversed about getting old, when the body and mind cannot take anymore of life, so what do you do about it? Autumn's naive little girls' answer was to, "Live youthfully forever, right?" James shook his head sadly.
"You can't live forever, Autumn. My friend Fiona should know. She was a cadet just like me at the academy and they set up a rigged game. One of us was GOING TO die and there was... nothing we could have done.
But you: You're witnessing a real not a staged death. It's different I suppose. You could make a new body to house his mind but eventually... everyone's got to die sometime, you get it?" James instructed Autumn carefully. The auburn hair girl nodded meekly and they wait more to meet the CEO.
The receptionist told them that their time had come and a worker led them back to the boss's area. He was kinda old himself if she were being honest. Gray to white hair, kind of balding and wrinkly. And even having obvious dental work done. He as well walked with a cane. Autumn had asked James to accompany her alone because Sh'arri's talents to let peoples know her emotions might make others mad at them. And James knew what it was like to lose all your friends when he got kicked out of school for... being a pilot of a space craft when he wasn't really so good at it, was he?
"So, building a new body, huh? No doubt you want state of the arts replacement parts and not some hack job. Well, I'm Mr. Goldstar and I can help you. Not just help you I can definitely do what you ask. Where are the flash memory sticks you told me about? We shall need need them later so that we can fit them exactly into your friend's new 'brain.'" Goldstar smiled fatherly like at Autumn to charm her and disarm her suspicions. Why, he was only doing good, right? Autumn thought him a harmless old man and shows him her collections of memory devices.
"These have all the memories I could s-save...." Almost breaking into tears she used a facial tissue to dry them and visibly composed herself by relaxing her entire body until she could hand them over to Mr. Goldstar. He technically did not need them yet he could tell it was more of an act of purging a ghost from her life, and bad memories, than abandoning her friend's new life.
Autumn, James and Sh'arri were given hotel stays courtesy of Goldstar. They had a shared room for the girl and the woman and a separate room for the man. Who snores... loudly.
Autumn and the empathic woman stayed up for a big part of the night. Sh'arri wondered aloud: "Should we trust a big deal company that may have... dirty secrets we do not even want to know?" A feeling of unease came from her and made Autumn shiver.
"How do you do that anyw-anyways? Like... making o-others feel what you... feel?" Autumn asks with trepidation and scoots closer on her bed to Sh'arri's bed. Sh'arri did not mind Autumn as a girl and actually felt motherly towards her. So she allowed such closeness and closed her eyes momentarily taking deep breaths as her emotions faded like smoke from the airs.
"My talent comes from having a part of my brain most of my kind do not have. Since we are given jobs at birth mine was to be a counselor or social worker... some kind of intellectual service job. So I had a lot of time to train." Sh'arri laughs and tosses her hands up, sets them on her lap and continues her story.
"I was given an experimental drug... at the time... to increase psychic activity in my brain. They told me of the possible side effects: Nausea, suicidal ideation, blacking out... so: I got my powers from taking prescription meds if you want to be technical." Sh'arri laughed airily and flipped some of her long hair back behind her shoulders. Autumn went back to bed, again and again every nighttime praying and hopeful that someone anyone would make her friend a better body than she ever could.
Next morning around 9 they were led down a series of locked doors and hallways. Lights were so bright Autumn had to bring something small enough to fit in her purse for eyes protection which was: A pair of cheap black sunglasses. Autumn tapped James and struck a fashion model's pose hoping Sh'arri or the worker did not see? James laughs.
They enter the room where her friend is being kept. Unfortunately it no longer appears to be her friend. It appears much bulkier, it has attachable weapons and Autumn could guess some built in ones.... And its gentle eyes were now angry and full of hatred.
"How could y-you do... THAT to my friend?" Autumn girlishly raised her high pitched voice even higher. Not angry like just like: She wanna some answers somewhere.
Then the CEO appears from an office door overlooking the robot. Leaning against the railing he exudes confidence in his decision.
"This planet is going to war soon. You sould have seen it coming. I know it sounds crazy but just--Just hear me out: Reptiles. And they know how to make machines too, and they have wasp mounts about the sizes of heavy duty military vehicles. We need a new and better soldier, one that can fight but also, let me assure you...." Autumn cut him off mid-sentence.
"How could you say that stuff? It's not a... toy... is that what you think my friend is? I do not watch the news much however I think I would have noticed if reptilian aliens were around being hostile to our planet."
The man grew agitated and his jaws clenched and he tries to explain that they have already been here for years in disguises. James knew something might go wrong so he threatened the man with an empty plasma pistol until they knew how to activate their friend and ran out of there. The CEO did not try to stop them. He installed a tracking device in the robot for that.
They fled to an abandoned apartment building. Autumn collapsed in sorrow onto her knees. Yet she did not cry for the lost opportunity to return him to the way he was. She simply requested the machine they "stole" tell her if it was okay or not? It said it did not know.
"Do you remember who you used to be?" Asks Autumn with trepidation. Playing a bit with a lock of her hair, as its new appearance was very war like. Not the smaller, humbler salvaging machine she knew. It said it remembers... faintly... yet its new programming was hindering that.
Sh'arri suggests: "Why don't we work on that then? It might be a bit unorthodox for a machine yet I suggest: Hypnosis to recollect your past. Is that okay?"
The robot nods slowly. Then the session begins sans all the relaxing muscles stuffs, as it had none, and then on to a peaceful guided visualization session of a quiet forest.
A forest full of trees where birds of prey live. With smaller nicer birds like humming birds too. She describes them in detail since on the robot's home planet they mostly just had vultures for years. Then comes the part about a babbling brook with clear, fresh water. And the robot and Autumn working in a garden. Now the remembering of its past was about to start.
"What was your daily routine with Autumn?" Sh'arri asks and folds her hands and sets them on her skirt.
The robot describes that after Autumn repairs it and does personal hygiene they... oh, what do they do? That's right they water flowers and vegetables with water from a machine that sucks it up from anywhere in the desert they can find. Next Autumn... says something... about her parents. And usually cries.
"What? I do not." Autumn states indignantly. To which the robot actually lets out a small giggle type laughter, which sets Autumn giggling too. It seemed to have worked although more questions reveals that its daily routine was all it remembered for now.
Sh'arri silently wept. Yet her emotions could be felt around the room. James being a tough man with jokes in him tried to tell one:
"Knock knock. Who's Not at your doors this time?" Everyone looked at him funny and then carried on.
Autumn couldn't take the loss of the robot anymore. She wept in her room at night as quietly as she could. And all her tears and sorrows could never bring her friend back. So Autumn asked Sh'arri for advice first.
"What should you do when a friend dies, Sh'arri?" Autumn looked inquisitvely out from her auburn hair, which has a tendency to conceal parts of her face with her bangs. The empathic, blue skinned woman thoughtfully considered and then responded level headed like.
"Do not mourn them. Celebrate them with passion. Remember the good things about them." Sh'arri stroked the girl's hair and patted her on the head. Autumn smiled. What a nice way to remember a robot that had helped her cook meals, garden, harvest water and more.
Next she asked James Just for advice. He sat down on the communal chair in the area where the outcasts gather for meal times. He stroked his manly chin and then:
"I've seen someone die only once during a training exercise. I was told there was no way she could be saved and that... was part of the training. So my only advice is to remember: You can't save everyone." James said sternly and looked Autumn right in the eyes to show he meant business.
Autumn wasn't sure what to think and believe about that advice. What about machines whose minds could be transplanted into new bodies? Autumn soon became obsessed with ideas of virtual immortality. She tried to experiment first on her own mind, stealing memory storing flash devices, and implanting her nightmares into them. They came out as little more than meaningless ink blots growling threateningly.
Then she opened up her friend and tried to take what she could of the memories of its brain so to speak. That attempt worked better as she changed flaws in the lines of code she hadn't seen before. Yet she was still a far ways away from actually creating an entirely new body and mind to replace her irreplaceable friend. Add to that she did not know how to completely construct a completely new body anyway.
So she sought the help of the Moon Robotics Company. Writing them a letter that states her best friend a robot was dead and she was so, so sad about it... so sad in fact that she was willing to work off whatever debts may be amounting from what she asks of them: "May you help me build a new body for my friend's amazing mind?" And to her surprise they answered.
"To Autumn: Your story has touched the heart of our CEO and he and his team are working tirelessly to make your friend a new body. No paying required unless doing so becomes cost prohibitive, which we do not see happening.
Thank you,
Moon Robotics Company."
Autumn held the letter she received close to her heart. She could feel it racing, and her thoughts, with excitement and happiness. Now her friend could live on. And then: What about her? What about when she became frail and old and near death's doors? The thoughts chilled the youth to her bones and she even layered her tight purple shirt with butterfly designs with a sweater, brushes her hair and teeth, takes a bath and then heads out to meet with the CEO of the MRC.
Anyway when they got there the pretty receptionist lady told them to sit and wait. While they waited they briefly conversed about getting old, when the body and mind cannot take anymore of life, so what do you do about it? Autumn's naive little girls' answer was to, "Live youthfully forever, right?" James shook his head sadly.
"You can't live forever, Autumn. My friend Fiona should know. She was a cadet just like me at the academy and they set up a rigged game. One of us was GOING TO die and there was... nothing we could have done.
But you: You're witnessing a real not a staged death. It's different I suppose. You could make a new body to house his mind but eventually... everyone's got to die sometime, you get it?" James instructed Autumn carefully. The auburn hair girl nodded meekly and they wait more to meet the CEO.
The receptionist told them that their time had come and a worker led them back to the boss's area. He was kinda old himself if she were being honest. Gray to white hair, kind of balding and wrinkly. And even having obvious dental work done. He as well walked with a cane. Autumn had asked James to accompany her alone because Sh'arri's talents to let peoples know her emotions might make others mad at them. And James knew what it was like to lose all your friends when he got kicked out of school for... being a pilot of a space craft when he wasn't really so good at it, was he?
"So, building a new body, huh? No doubt you want state of the arts replacement parts and not some hack job. Well, I'm Mr. Goldstar and I can help you. Not just help you I can definitely do what you ask. Where are the flash memory sticks you told me about? We shall need need them later so that we can fit them exactly into your friend's new 'brain.'" Goldstar smiled fatherly like at Autumn to charm her and disarm her suspicions. Why, he was only doing good, right? Autumn thought him a harmless old man and shows him her collections of memory devices.
"These have all the memories I could s-save...." Almost breaking into tears she used a facial tissue to dry them and visibly composed herself by relaxing her entire body until she could hand them over to Mr. Goldstar. He technically did not need them yet he could tell it was more of an act of purging a ghost from her life, and bad memories, than abandoning her friend's new life.
Autumn, James and Sh'arri were given hotel stays courtesy of Goldstar. They had a shared room for the girl and the woman and a separate room for the man. Who snores... loudly.
Autumn and the empathic woman stayed up for a big part of the night. Sh'arri wondered aloud: "Should we trust a big deal company that may have... dirty secrets we do not even want to know?" A feeling of unease came from her and made Autumn shiver.
"How do you do that anyw-anyways? Like... making o-others feel what you... feel?" Autumn asks with trepidation and scoots closer on her bed to Sh'arri's bed. Sh'arri did not mind Autumn as a girl and actually felt motherly towards her. So she allowed such closeness and closed her eyes momentarily taking deep breaths as her emotions faded like smoke from the airs.
"My talent comes from having a part of my brain most of my kind do not have. Since we are given jobs at birth mine was to be a counselor or social worker... some kind of intellectual service job. So I had a lot of time to train." Sh'arri laughs and tosses her hands up, sets them on her lap and continues her story.
"I was given an experimental drug... at the time... to increase psychic activity in my brain. They told me of the possible side effects: Nausea, suicidal ideation, blacking out... so: I got my powers from taking prescription meds if you want to be technical." Sh'arri laughed airily and flipped some of her long hair back behind her shoulders. Autumn went back to bed, again and again every nighttime praying and hopeful that someone anyone would make her friend a better body than she ever could.
Next morning around 9 they were led down a series of locked doors and hallways. Lights were so bright Autumn had to bring something small enough to fit in her purse for eyes protection which was: A pair of cheap black sunglasses. Autumn tapped James and struck a fashion model's pose hoping Sh'arri or the worker did not see? James laughs.
They enter the room where her friend is being kept. Unfortunately it no longer appears to be her friend. It appears much bulkier, it has attachable weapons and Autumn could guess some built in ones.... And its gentle eyes were now angry and full of hatred.
"How could y-you do... THAT to my friend?" Autumn girlishly raised her high pitched voice even higher. Not angry like just like: She wanna some answers somewhere.
Then the CEO appears from an office door overlooking the robot. Leaning against the railing he exudes confidence in his decision.
"This planet is going to war soon. You sould have seen it coming. I know it sounds crazy but just--Just hear me out: Reptiles. And they know how to make machines too, and they have wasp mounts about the sizes of heavy duty military vehicles. We need a new and better soldier, one that can fight but also, let me assure you...." Autumn cut him off mid-sentence.
"How could you say that stuff? It's not a... toy... is that what you think my friend is? I do not watch the news much however I think I would have noticed if reptilian aliens were around being hostile to our planet."
The man grew agitated and his jaws clenched and he tries to explain that they have already been here for years in disguises. James knew something might go wrong so he threatened the man with an empty plasma pistol until they knew how to activate their friend and ran out of there. The CEO did not try to stop them. He installed a tracking device in the robot for that.
They fled to an abandoned apartment building. Autumn collapsed in sorrow onto her knees. Yet she did not cry for the lost opportunity to return him to the way he was. She simply requested the machine they "stole" tell her if it was okay or not? It said it did not know.
"Do you remember who you used to be?" Asks Autumn with trepidation. Playing a bit with a lock of her hair, as its new appearance was very war like. Not the smaller, humbler salvaging machine she knew. It said it remembers... faintly... yet its new programming was hindering that.
Sh'arri suggests: "Why don't we work on that then? It might be a bit unorthodox for a machine yet I suggest: Hypnosis to recollect your past. Is that okay?"
The robot nods slowly. Then the session begins sans all the relaxing muscles stuffs, as it had none, and then on to a peaceful guided visualization session of a quiet forest.
A forest full of trees where birds of prey live. With smaller nicer birds like humming birds too. She describes them in detail since on the robot's home planet they mostly just had vultures for years. Then comes the part about a babbling brook with clear, fresh water. And the robot and Autumn working in a garden. Now the remembering of its past was about to start.
"What was your daily routine with Autumn?" Sh'arri asks and folds her hands and sets them on her skirt.
The robot describes that after Autumn repairs it and does personal hygiene they... oh, what do they do? That's right they water flowers and vegetables with water from a machine that sucks it up from anywhere in the desert they can find. Next Autumn... says something... about her parents. And usually cries.
"What? I do not." Autumn states indignantly. To which the robot actually lets out a small giggle type laughter, which sets Autumn giggling too. It seemed to have worked although more questions reveals that its daily routine was all it remembered for now.
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Note: There's a black char in here and I try my best to describe her without being discriminatory.
After a few more days and nights the four thought the worst was over. Goldstar had not tried to contact them and Autumn breathed a sigh of relief, which blew some of her bangs around a bit. Sh'arri was more skeptical as she could feel intuitively what a war hawkish man he was. And James? He simply wanted a better ship in case the need arose to flee the city-planet.
First came the phone calls. A little holographic display showed a black woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail saying she wished to "help them win back their friend's freedom."
Autumn trusted the message immediately yet James cautioned her against listening to whoever on the phone. Sh'arri said nothing and let her silent yet inoffensive brooding continue as she thought through who would be contacting them and how did they know?
"Do any of you think he put a tracking device inside Autumn's friend? Maybe she works for Mr. Goldstar and we're walking into something worse?" Sh'arri asks.
Her questions went unanswered at the time. James did not plan to take up the woman on her offer after coming to the same conclusions that the empathic woman posited.
However Sh'arri and Autumn jumped at the chance eventually to have help beyond their half-baked guided meditations to free their friend from his new programming. The weapons could be made non-lethal or sold to black market shops... still non-lethal, as they did not wish criminals to kill anyone, yet did those buyers have to know that?
The blue-skinned lady and the human auburn haired girl went to meet the black woman where she said to meet. It was a restaurant of fancy kinds. She looked... absolutely beautiful. Her hair done into dreadlocks and then tied into a ponytail, her clothes being a half-sleeve top with a business jacket over it. And a skirt and high-heeled shoes.
"Aw, you came. So good to see you. Let's get down to business: I don't know about the reptilian garbage Mr. Goldstar told you... oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself: Charity Cadence. And I used to work for the old man before I got tired of him turning every project into ways to fuel fighting." Charity sighed dramatically as her chicken and salad arrived.
Autumn ordered a mix of sodas. Sh'arri a small bread pocket filled with meats and a bit of sauce. Charity said she would pay and Autumn said yes immediately yet Sh'arri wanted to use the last of her monies and not burden a stranger.
They talked about how ever since Goldstar had been invited to speak with Mayor Gina he had become obsessed with reptilian aliens. She showed him, "Photographic proof," as he said... that even her own staff were not to be trusted. Both were paranoid and Goldstar started coming up with reasons for the staff's odd behaviors, or what he perceived as odd, and then from there....
Charity C had started her own robotics business yet it was slow going. Most people liked Moon better. Hers was called, "Fresh Start Robotics." Autumn sipped her mixed sodas and then asks:
"Can you... um, de-de-program my friend so it isn't so strange anymore? It doesn't remember everything about what we've done together, or much of who I am... he just wants to eventually fight these... reptiles or whatevs."
Charity assures Autumn that she had done tons of research on brainwashing and taken several programming training courses--More than she could count. So she nodded for finality, they ate their meals and then returned home to find... the robot was gone?
Elsewhere a white spy woman with red hair and spectacles on her face was looking for signs of reptiles. The mayor needed Goldstar's support at times and figured in her own paranoia to trust a single, highly competent agent to find out whether or not they truly exist?
Jane the spy woman attended multiple City Hall meetings and looked for the movers and shakers that might be pushing strange policies or acting weird. Nothing. She roamed on building tops looking down at the streets for reptiles in disguise. Did she find any? No.
Finally she looked among the political, military families, as they would be most likely to be highly intelligent creatures with war like aggression in her mind. She met with several families of wars who told their tragic tales. She met with their children even and not a trace of evidence was found. Then she went to the conservatives and liberals.
Posing as a religious woman to get an audience with the politicians she asks them: "Do you feel like we'll ever be safe? Or will we have more wars soon?" Jane adjusts her glasses and waits for answers with her hands on her hips. Most of them gave standard responses about wanting to protect their city if it came to it. Carefully avoiding the actual questions by saying if it came to it.
Jane was forced to report back to Mayor Gina that nothing was happening. Mr. Goldstar was wasting money and resources chasing ghosts. Mayor Gina considered the evidence and then decided to try to force the truth out of him. She had him brought up on charges of mental instability and fraud for lying about reptiles.
As the police surrounded Moon Robotics they soon found that he too had... left the building.
After a few more days and nights the four thought the worst was over. Goldstar had not tried to contact them and Autumn breathed a sigh of relief, which blew some of her bangs around a bit. Sh'arri was more skeptical as she could feel intuitively what a war hawkish man he was. And James? He simply wanted a better ship in case the need arose to flee the city-planet.
First came the phone calls. A little holographic display showed a black woman with long black hair tied into a ponytail saying she wished to "help them win back their friend's freedom."
Autumn trusted the message immediately yet James cautioned her against listening to whoever on the phone. Sh'arri said nothing and let her silent yet inoffensive brooding continue as she thought through who would be contacting them and how did they know?
"Do any of you think he put a tracking device inside Autumn's friend? Maybe she works for Mr. Goldstar and we're walking into something worse?" Sh'arri asks.
Her questions went unanswered at the time. James did not plan to take up the woman on her offer after coming to the same conclusions that the empathic woman posited.
However Sh'arri and Autumn jumped at the chance eventually to have help beyond their half-baked guided meditations to free their friend from his new programming. The weapons could be made non-lethal or sold to black market shops... still non-lethal, as they did not wish criminals to kill anyone, yet did those buyers have to know that?
The blue-skinned lady and the human auburn haired girl went to meet the black woman where she said to meet. It was a restaurant of fancy kinds. She looked... absolutely beautiful. Her hair done into dreadlocks and then tied into a ponytail, her clothes being a half-sleeve top with a business jacket over it. And a skirt and high-heeled shoes.
"Aw, you came. So good to see you. Let's get down to business: I don't know about the reptilian garbage Mr. Goldstar told you... oh, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself: Charity Cadence. And I used to work for the old man before I got tired of him turning every project into ways to fuel fighting." Charity sighed dramatically as her chicken and salad arrived.
Autumn ordered a mix of sodas. Sh'arri a small bread pocket filled with meats and a bit of sauce. Charity said she would pay and Autumn said yes immediately yet Sh'arri wanted to use the last of her monies and not burden a stranger.
They talked about how ever since Goldstar had been invited to speak with Mayor Gina he had become obsessed with reptilian aliens. She showed him, "Photographic proof," as he said... that even her own staff were not to be trusted. Both were paranoid and Goldstar started coming up with reasons for the staff's odd behaviors, or what he perceived as odd, and then from there....
Charity C had started her own robotics business yet it was slow going. Most people liked Moon better. Hers was called, "Fresh Start Robotics." Autumn sipped her mixed sodas and then asks:
"Can you... um, de-de-program my friend so it isn't so strange anymore? It doesn't remember everything about what we've done together, or much of who I am... he just wants to eventually fight these... reptiles or whatevs."
Charity assures Autumn that she had done tons of research on brainwashing and taken several programming training courses--More than she could count. So she nodded for finality, they ate their meals and then returned home to find... the robot was gone?
Elsewhere a white spy woman with red hair and spectacles on her face was looking for signs of reptiles. The mayor needed Goldstar's support at times and figured in her own paranoia to trust a single, highly competent agent to find out whether or not they truly exist?
Jane the spy woman attended multiple City Hall meetings and looked for the movers and shakers that might be pushing strange policies or acting weird. Nothing. She roamed on building tops looking down at the streets for reptiles in disguise. Did she find any? No.
Finally she looked among the political, military families, as they would be most likely to be highly intelligent creatures with war like aggression in her mind. She met with several families of wars who told their tragic tales. She met with their children even and not a trace of evidence was found. Then she went to the conservatives and liberals.
Posing as a religious woman to get an audience with the politicians she asks them: "Do you feel like we'll ever be safe? Or will we have more wars soon?" Jane adjusts her glasses and waits for answers with her hands on her hips. Most of them gave standard responses about wanting to protect their city if it came to it. Carefully avoiding the actual questions by saying if it came to it.
Jane was forced to report back to Mayor Gina that nothing was happening. Mr. Goldstar was wasting money and resources chasing ghosts. Mayor Gina considered the evidence and then decided to try to force the truth out of him. She had him brought up on charges of mental instability and fraud for lying about reptiles.
As the police surrounded Moon Robotics they soon found that he too had... left the building.
After cops found Goldstar repeatedly stalking the "new and improved" robot (who either goes by 'he' or 'it' these days, what with its militaristic programming) they picked him up. Directly to jail and the robot was consigned to a shop to be a security guard after a convincing phone call from Charity C. It took Autumn, James and Sh'arri days to find it.
They were among those watching the trial take place. They saw every piece of evidence that Mr. Goldstar was not actually lying--he did believe in reptilian aliens invading our planet--except... the truly strange part was that he and other alien races were donating their DNA to create their own reptile monsters. Goldstar himself was now 40 percent reptile.
Mayor Gina testified that he did not know right from wrong. He had threatened everything from the mundane like not funding her campaigns to suicide to offing his rivals. It changed everyday, his moods change everyday, and so do his twisted amoral thoughts.
After hearing the defense attorney's arguments that war was a real threat with any new contact with others... and that there was no proof he had altered his DNA or traded genetic materials with others... the judge did not order a DNA test. She thought it best to punish Mr. Goldstar by having him in the custody of the local jail for 14 years. After which a substantial amount of his profits from his works would be donated back to the workers for following false orders. Mentally ill orders.
She banged her gavel and everyone filed out. The bailiff took away Mr. Goldstar who did not want to go. Autumn sniffled and hid her face shyly like. Why did the world create so much unhappiness for peoples who... in her eyes... need reptilian made up friends to feel in control of their own lives?
Then she and her allies searches the mall where the robot was. They find it patrolling around looking very angry. Autumn was afraid to approach it and shook visibly. Sh'arri placed her hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently calming the young girl down.
"Um. Hi... do you remember me still?" Autumn asks the robot. The robot nods and says nothing. It still looks angry and on alert.
Autumn couldn't take it. She starts crying right there. Not even the empath's waves of good feels could stop that little teen girl from crying her eyes out. James even tried to console her with a soft, for a manly man like him, hug. She finally calmed down and then...
Her friend's eyes changed noticeably. It was rewriting its own personality to what it used to be. Because crying girls break its heart or what?
The robot went over to her meekly and set down all its--now non-lethal as it was merely a guard--weapons. It hugged her too. It said it was sorry for forgetting the years they spent together and she said just knowing it was safe from wars now made everything better.
AI that could rewrite itself? Did that robot just perform an act of machinery evolution? From a basic if you will 'reptilian brain' to a more advanced... almost human... way of looking at the world? Autumn only knew how to program very lightly so she couldn't say. They all went home after the robot quit its job.
What they did not know was that Goldstar still had people out there loyal to him. And they visit him in his facility and ask what he wants? He says he wants the girl and the robot to feel the pain he feels. Not kill or anything. Just... neutralize, or drive them mad, or something like that. "Be creative." He says with a smile.
The first way they tried to make Autumn go crazy like their boss was by taking control of random electronic devices around the outcasts' areas. If they had cell phones they would display disturbing texts, which Autumn did have, so every day she'd get a new more ugly text from... someone.
Next thing they did was give all local law enforcement the names and faces of the four friends. Now if Autumn ever stole foods and drinks to survive they'd know where she went to pick her up and what she looked like. However after she saw an increase in police activity where they lived she starts wearing wigs, different makeups and sunglasses and different clothes. She does not have a lot of these or high quality yet she does have some and uses them to the max to hide herself.
Turns out Sh'arri can change certain features about herself like her facial shape, hair length, skin color and eyes colors. She as well makes good with extra clothes or hats or different makeups.
James was the hardest to disguise because he felt like he did not need a disguise. It was insulting to him to pretend to be someone else. The girls tried to explain patiently yet he did not listen and just went outside to go work on his space ship. That's when the sound of sirens came.
Two officers steps out of the car. They tell him he is under arrest and slap on the handcuffs. Then they read him his Miranda Rights.
The robot decides to come help, as it had been left where they stayed mostly, helping the other residents do chores. It came out and shot a non-lethal round of tranquilizers at one of the male officers. He was out like a light switch.
Since tazers and pepper sprays and clubs don't truly work on robots... the other officer... simply got in his car and drove away. The robot broke the handcuffs and ate the metal for fuel.
"Are you doing well, Mr. James?" The robot asks with a bow of respect.
James says he's fine with a big grin on his face.
"Didn't know you could break handcuffs with just your hands. That'd be handy when they come after us again... and they will... so we got to go." James said kind of sadly. Luckily his ship was pretty much in working order and the city wasn't so small that the cops would find them if they simply relocated.
Where did they choose to go? Fresh Start Robotics. Charity greets them at the doors and welcomes them inside. Seems it's just her and some mousy girl with blonde-and-pink hair. She looks posh and speaks with an unidentifiable accent. Yet she rarely speaks except to greet new customers.
"Did you like the phone call I made for you guys and girls? I got your friend assigned to a place you'd easily find it... or... him?" Charity leans on the counter she stood behind and looks quizzically at the robot. It merely nods separately for both 'it' and 'him.' It seems to like the male gender sometimes.
They asked what do they do now? Simple Mz. C replies: Get a fresh start and come work for her if they want to? No pressure of course. And she laughs prettily.
Autumn is old enough to work yet not smoke cigs, go to wars, vote or drink alcohol. So she is assigned to take part in keeping inventory on an electronic touch pad where the adults would not be. James is assigned to work in their space travel technology department. Sh'arri as a receptionist and scheduling lady.
Meanwhile a woman named Jane (full name 'Jane Doe') is furious that her company's president got taken off. She actually works for both the Mayor and Goldstar. She despises the new woman they elected and schemes to have her exposed for wrongdoing somehow. And while she's multitasking with that she still searches for signs of reptiles. Not knowing that she herself could have parts of them inside of her DNA.
Jane scouts all over the city... looking for Autumn and their crew... and finally sees the girl exiting the Fresh Start shop and going to a hotel where she was put up by her boss to stay at for one night before she could cash her paycheck. Soon followed by the ship's pilot and the empath. Perfect. Her lips formed a feline like smile.
Sneaking through the darkness she makes her ways into the building by posing as a relative of Autumn's. Her mother to be exact. Autumn is thrilled to hear her mommy's still alive and flings her door open to find...
Being handcuffed by a spy and taken for a hostage. She dragged the girl, who could not scream because of threats of harming her, to Sh'arri's room. She used handcuffs to capture her. Next was James's room yet he wasn't done with his shift yet. When he came back she was waiting on his bed staring at her two handcuffed, tied up captives.
"So tiresome to play these little games. You shouldn't have asked my boss for help if you really meant you wouldn't like what he did for you." Jane Doe said venomously. She shrugged then as James's face paled at the sights of the women tied up and helpless.
"Don't worry. I'll release all of you. When I'm done having fun." Jane Doe broke off into peals of giggles and then stood up in a flash ready to be rough on Just James.
They were among those watching the trial take place. They saw every piece of evidence that Mr. Goldstar was not actually lying--he did believe in reptilian aliens invading our planet--except... the truly strange part was that he and other alien races were donating their DNA to create their own reptile monsters. Goldstar himself was now 40 percent reptile.
Mayor Gina testified that he did not know right from wrong. He had threatened everything from the mundane like not funding her campaigns to suicide to offing his rivals. It changed everyday, his moods change everyday, and so do his twisted amoral thoughts.
After hearing the defense attorney's arguments that war was a real threat with any new contact with others... and that there was no proof he had altered his DNA or traded genetic materials with others... the judge did not order a DNA test. She thought it best to punish Mr. Goldstar by having him in the custody of the local jail for 14 years. After which a substantial amount of his profits from his works would be donated back to the workers for following false orders. Mentally ill orders.
She banged her gavel and everyone filed out. The bailiff took away Mr. Goldstar who did not want to go. Autumn sniffled and hid her face shyly like. Why did the world create so much unhappiness for peoples who... in her eyes... need reptilian made up friends to feel in control of their own lives?
Then she and her allies searches the mall where the robot was. They find it patrolling around looking very angry. Autumn was afraid to approach it and shook visibly. Sh'arri placed her hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently calming the young girl down.
"Um. Hi... do you remember me still?" Autumn asks the robot. The robot nods and says nothing. It still looks angry and on alert.
Autumn couldn't take it. She starts crying right there. Not even the empath's waves of good feels could stop that little teen girl from crying her eyes out. James even tried to console her with a soft, for a manly man like him, hug. She finally calmed down and then...
Her friend's eyes changed noticeably. It was rewriting its own personality to what it used to be. Because crying girls break its heart or what?
The robot went over to her meekly and set down all its--now non-lethal as it was merely a guard--weapons. It hugged her too. It said it was sorry for forgetting the years they spent together and she said just knowing it was safe from wars now made everything better.
AI that could rewrite itself? Did that robot just perform an act of machinery evolution? From a basic if you will 'reptilian brain' to a more advanced... almost human... way of looking at the world? Autumn only knew how to program very lightly so she couldn't say. They all went home after the robot quit its job.
What they did not know was that Goldstar still had people out there loyal to him. And they visit him in his facility and ask what he wants? He says he wants the girl and the robot to feel the pain he feels. Not kill or anything. Just... neutralize, or drive them mad, or something like that. "Be creative." He says with a smile.
The first way they tried to make Autumn go crazy like their boss was by taking control of random electronic devices around the outcasts' areas. If they had cell phones they would display disturbing texts, which Autumn did have, so every day she'd get a new more ugly text from... someone.
Next thing they did was give all local law enforcement the names and faces of the four friends. Now if Autumn ever stole foods and drinks to survive they'd know where she went to pick her up and what she looked like. However after she saw an increase in police activity where they lived she starts wearing wigs, different makeups and sunglasses and different clothes. She does not have a lot of these or high quality yet she does have some and uses them to the max to hide herself.
Turns out Sh'arri can change certain features about herself like her facial shape, hair length, skin color and eyes colors. She as well makes good with extra clothes or hats or different makeups.
James was the hardest to disguise because he felt like he did not need a disguise. It was insulting to him to pretend to be someone else. The girls tried to explain patiently yet he did not listen and just went outside to go work on his space ship. That's when the sound of sirens came.
Two officers steps out of the car. They tell him he is under arrest and slap on the handcuffs. Then they read him his Miranda Rights.
The robot decides to come help, as it had been left where they stayed mostly, helping the other residents do chores. It came out and shot a non-lethal round of tranquilizers at one of the male officers. He was out like a light switch.
Since tazers and pepper sprays and clubs don't truly work on robots... the other officer... simply got in his car and drove away. The robot broke the handcuffs and ate the metal for fuel.
"Are you doing well, Mr. James?" The robot asks with a bow of respect.
James says he's fine with a big grin on his face.
"Didn't know you could break handcuffs with just your hands. That'd be handy when they come after us again... and they will... so we got to go." James said kind of sadly. Luckily his ship was pretty much in working order and the city wasn't so small that the cops would find them if they simply relocated.
Where did they choose to go? Fresh Start Robotics. Charity greets them at the doors and welcomes them inside. Seems it's just her and some mousy girl with blonde-and-pink hair. She looks posh and speaks with an unidentifiable accent. Yet she rarely speaks except to greet new customers.
"Did you like the phone call I made for you guys and girls? I got your friend assigned to a place you'd easily find it... or... him?" Charity leans on the counter she stood behind and looks quizzically at the robot. It merely nods separately for both 'it' and 'him.' It seems to like the male gender sometimes.
They asked what do they do now? Simple Mz. C replies: Get a fresh start and come work for her if they want to? No pressure of course. And she laughs prettily.
Autumn is old enough to work yet not smoke cigs, go to wars, vote or drink alcohol. So she is assigned to take part in keeping inventory on an electronic touch pad where the adults would not be. James is assigned to work in their space travel technology department. Sh'arri as a receptionist and scheduling lady.
Meanwhile a woman named Jane (full name 'Jane Doe') is furious that her company's president got taken off. She actually works for both the Mayor and Goldstar. She despises the new woman they elected and schemes to have her exposed for wrongdoing somehow. And while she's multitasking with that she still searches for signs of reptiles. Not knowing that she herself could have parts of them inside of her DNA.
Jane scouts all over the city... looking for Autumn and their crew... and finally sees the girl exiting the Fresh Start shop and going to a hotel where she was put up by her boss to stay at for one night before she could cash her paycheck. Soon followed by the ship's pilot and the empath. Perfect. Her lips formed a feline like smile.
Sneaking through the darkness she makes her ways into the building by posing as a relative of Autumn's. Her mother to be exact. Autumn is thrilled to hear her mommy's still alive and flings her door open to find...
Being handcuffed by a spy and taken for a hostage. She dragged the girl, who could not scream because of threats of harming her, to Sh'arri's room. She used handcuffs to capture her. Next was James's room yet he wasn't done with his shift yet. When he came back she was waiting on his bed staring at her two handcuffed, tied up captives.
"So tiresome to play these little games. You shouldn't have asked my boss for help if you really meant you wouldn't like what he did for you." Jane Doe said venomously. She shrugged then as James's face paled at the sights of the women tied up and helpless.
"Don't worry. I'll release all of you. When I'm done having fun." Jane Doe broke off into peals of giggles and then stood up in a flash ready to be rough on Just James.
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"Wait didn't you work for s-someone else before?" Autumn asked. She could swear Mayor Gina mentioned a female reporter in her testimony. The spy woman laughed and her long hair covered her face partially.
"Goldstar technically has more money and more of what I want so now I work for him. It's difficult when convicted to over ten years jail time however." Jane sighed dramatically and gently brushed away the red locks of hair from her green eyes.
"What are you going to do to me... and them?" James carefully questioned not making any sudden moves. Jane shrugged and said she'd probably just take their pictures and distribute them to bounty hunters loyal to her new boss. After that she did just such a thing yet before the selfies could happen the robot overhearing her loud boasting and came bursting into the room grabbing her camera phone and... consuming it.
It crackled as the robot crushed it in its jaws. Then the robot pointed at the door as if to say, "Game's up." Time for Ms. Jane Doe to find a new way to spend her time.
"No one would believe that we're controlling your phones, or your records at businesses, full access to everything ever electronically recorded about your lives. It's just too mentally ill." Jane said.
"Well you just told us so...." Autumn said and scraped her toes on the carpet of the room. About the only thing she could do with her body completely tied up.
"And why would anyone believe a woman without a name came in here to tell you she's leaving nightmare fuels on your phone? I'd even lie in court to make you all look that much crazier. You're already homeless street rats."
Autumn got kinda mad. She hated having to steal just to survive it felt dishonest and wrong. And then: Her anger washes over her 'cause... she too handcuffed and tied up to do much more than whimper, which she does. James approaches and Jane struggles with him.
Soon James has her pinned on the bed. He orders her roughly to remove their bonds. Feeling terror at being confronted with a more muscled opponent the spy gave in and set Sh'arri and Autumn free. Yet James wasn't done with her yet.
"There are no reptiles or you guys and girls are doing it to yourselves. I think You are the crazy ones... and... making a teenage girl afraid to sleep by showing her spooky texts and pictures night after night? You need to promise to leave us alone right now." James threatened.
Jane Doe had faced defeat much in her career as a double agent so she relented. She promised to leave them alone. Yet that still left the matter of... was there anyone else in Goldstar's pockets? And maybe it was time to see if any of these people were truly doing what the prosecutor alleged. So they staked out the black market areas they knew looking for: Illegal trading of genetic materials to create new monstrous hybrids.
The lights were on in a small abandoned house and the silhouettes of the occupants were seen. Autumn was the smallest and least noticeable so she crept around to look through the window. Sh'arri used her psychic talents to make Autumn appear invisible to watchers.
Inside some very posh men were actually trading cannisters of their genetic materials. Some of them looked reptilian too. So... the crazy one was right? Yet were they hostile to the planet like he said? If only she could hear what they... and then they shouted about intruders.
Chasing Autumn and the others back to near the robotics shop they stopped. One thing Charity was good at was protecting her employees. She came out flanked by two giant golem-like robots and the lizard men and women got scared off.
"You okay?" She asks them. They respond in their own ways and she is satisfied. The new development worried her nonetheless because... invasions right from your home? How would you see them coming if they could disguise themselves so well? Did that mean... and she laughed about it... that Mr. Goldstar was crazy yet innocent?
Unbeknownst to them a war had already started with the illegal splicing of genetic materials. The forests and rural areas surrounding the city were soon filling with creatures both intelligent and not. And all of them were angry about something.
At first they just sent out bounty huntresses to disable the beasts and bring them back for studying. One such huntress: Kayla Ash, was looking for reptiles to capture, and her partner Tara was too. They staked out the rural areas on the outskirts of town waiting with their tazers armed and ready. Pepper spray too... and less orthodox equipment hidden in their clothes.
It was tense and the battle claimed Tara's life. Kayla wept for her sister-in-combat. She even harbored unrequited love for her and that would never be resolved. She reported back to the police that hired her that Tara was dead and an invasion was soon to take place.
Notes: Last chapter next story gonna be more about I dunno high school teen girls or something?
"Goldstar technically has more money and more of what I want so now I work for him. It's difficult when convicted to over ten years jail time however." Jane sighed dramatically and gently brushed away the red locks of hair from her green eyes.
"What are you going to do to me... and them?" James carefully questioned not making any sudden moves. Jane shrugged and said she'd probably just take their pictures and distribute them to bounty hunters loyal to her new boss. After that she did just such a thing yet before the selfies could happen the robot overhearing her loud boasting and came bursting into the room grabbing her camera phone and... consuming it.
It crackled as the robot crushed it in its jaws. Then the robot pointed at the door as if to say, "Game's up." Time for Ms. Jane Doe to find a new way to spend her time.
"No one would believe that we're controlling your phones, or your records at businesses, full access to everything ever electronically recorded about your lives. It's just too mentally ill." Jane said.
"Well you just told us so...." Autumn said and scraped her toes on the carpet of the room. About the only thing she could do with her body completely tied up.
"And why would anyone believe a woman without a name came in here to tell you she's leaving nightmare fuels on your phone? I'd even lie in court to make you all look that much crazier. You're already homeless street rats."
Autumn got kinda mad. She hated having to steal just to survive it felt dishonest and wrong. And then: Her anger washes over her 'cause... she too handcuffed and tied up to do much more than whimper, which she does. James approaches and Jane struggles with him.
Soon James has her pinned on the bed. He orders her roughly to remove their bonds. Feeling terror at being confronted with a more muscled opponent the spy gave in and set Sh'arri and Autumn free. Yet James wasn't done with her yet.
"There are no reptiles or you guys and girls are doing it to yourselves. I think You are the crazy ones... and... making a teenage girl afraid to sleep by showing her spooky texts and pictures night after night? You need to promise to leave us alone right now." James threatened.
Jane Doe had faced defeat much in her career as a double agent so she relented. She promised to leave them alone. Yet that still left the matter of... was there anyone else in Goldstar's pockets? And maybe it was time to see if any of these people were truly doing what the prosecutor alleged. So they staked out the black market areas they knew looking for: Illegal trading of genetic materials to create new monstrous hybrids.
The lights were on in a small abandoned house and the silhouettes of the occupants were seen. Autumn was the smallest and least noticeable so she crept around to look through the window. Sh'arri used her psychic talents to make Autumn appear invisible to watchers.
Inside some very posh men were actually trading cannisters of their genetic materials. Some of them looked reptilian too. So... the crazy one was right? Yet were they hostile to the planet like he said? If only she could hear what they... and then they shouted about intruders.
Chasing Autumn and the others back to near the robotics shop they stopped. One thing Charity was good at was protecting her employees. She came out flanked by two giant golem-like robots and the lizard men and women got scared off.
"You okay?" She asks them. They respond in their own ways and she is satisfied. The new development worried her nonetheless because... invasions right from your home? How would you see them coming if they could disguise themselves so well? Did that mean... and she laughed about it... that Mr. Goldstar was crazy yet innocent?
Unbeknownst to them a war had already started with the illegal splicing of genetic materials. The forests and rural areas surrounding the city were soon filling with creatures both intelligent and not. And all of them were angry about something.
At first they just sent out bounty huntresses to disable the beasts and bring them back for studying. One such huntress: Kayla Ash, was looking for reptiles to capture, and her partner Tara was too. They staked out the rural areas on the outskirts of town waiting with their tazers armed and ready. Pepper spray too... and less orthodox equipment hidden in their clothes.
It was tense and the battle claimed Tara's life. Kayla wept for her sister-in-combat. She even harbored unrequited love for her and that would never be resolved. She reported back to the police that hired her that Tara was dead and an invasion was soon to take place.
Notes: Last chapter next story gonna be more about I dunno high school teen girls or something?