View source for The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1/Chapter 3

:[[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1|Index]] - [[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1/Chapter 2|Previous chapter]] - '''Chapter 3''' - [[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1/Chapter 4|Next chapter]]

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The timing could not have been better for Frances Stanley, one of the original members of Phillip Gaines' elite research and development team.  He was also one of the best.  He was second only to Gaines himself.


Stan had other plans.  He was very loyal to Phil and had access to much of the corporation's resources.  He was also anticipating the day of chaos and took steps to advance his own selfish ambitions, but mainly just for thrills.  Stan was very happy with his position at Gaines Corp.  He had free reign to experiment as he pleased and he had all the lab usage he needed.  But he didn't want to wait for Phil to take over Replico; he was eager to get his hands on ALL of their technology and do some research of his own.  And he had Phil's blessing.


Phillip Gaines would not be implicated but he would have his lawyers ready if Stanley got caught again.  After all, what are friends for?  He knew Stanley sometimes seemed like a reckless thrill seeker but Stan wasn't stupid and knew how far he could push things.  Phil didn't mind though, since they all usually benefited from Stan's independent little "excursions".


Stanley was all set for the Big Day.  He was planning to use Portia.  She was his favorite limited edition assistant whom he had personally upgraded and reprogrammed.  A tall, shapely, athletic redhead, she was also his personal body guard.  Beautiful and deadly.


He had his portable customized laptop with various port connections and some Replico uniforms he had won in a bet.  He was going to gain access to a major Replico outlet during the confusion to copy their main database files.  Given the early hour, Stan didn't expect too many obstacles.  That was the plan anyway.


He, himself, ended up hijacking a cargo truck full of parts and data while trying to escape, but not before assuming the identity of a technician he had found dead.  It was a good thing he had brought his assistant to protect him.


Well-armed male androids attacked after the download alarms went off.  Portia was able to shut them down but not without a fierce battle.  The androids at the outlet had heightened security programming, but she was programmed for combat far better than any machine on the planet.


By the time they reached the cargo truck Portia was heavily damaged, but not her unique and beautiful face.  Stan got her inside the truck along with a few females that she had managed to deactivate before she finally shut down.  He didn't know how to drive the big rig so he jammed the port connection into one of the deactivated service androids and overrode her access before she sprung back to life.  The outlet was crawling with them and they began to surround the truck.  He frantically convinced his "new assistant" to drive the truck away and fast!  The droids that were hit as they sped away didn't even seem phased.  He was free.


Despite the hour, the emergency services were out in force... only to become victims themselves.  Many never even made it out the door.


Frances Stanley went straight to Gaines Co.  It was relatively safe there since they had taken precautions, but they didn't anticipate this tragedy.  He knew that he couldn't stay there and that once it became obvious that Gaines Co. was not affected by the chaos, there would be an inquiry.  Why the hell wasn't Phil answering the phone?


"Hello?"  The sultry voice of the M-67 Monique casually asked.  Stan felt a coldness come over him since this was Phil's private line.  He asked if he could speak to Phillip Gaines.  "I'm sorry, Mr. Gaines is no longer operational.  Would you like to leave a message?"  Stan began to panic but soon came to his senses.  He ordered a myriad of equipment to be loaded into all of the company's mobile labs.  He copied the company's entire database and made back-ups of all their research, wiped the databases and sent tapeworms to all of their affiliates.


Most everything was automated and, given his high-ranking position, the few on duty didn't question his orders.  The convoy of mobile lab trailers ran on remote control and followed him to one of the dummy corporation buildings that was located downtown.  It was not in use at the time except by Stan.  The trucks found their final destination in the underground parking garage because when the terrorist blast came a few days later, there was no way out.


Suddenly the country had bigger things to worry about than pointing fingers so Mr. Stanley took the opportunity set up shop and to try to find an escape.  His answer came in the form of a Nordic young man named Kylan Renson who had been on his own since The Mistake and who had found refuge in the vast subway system.  He had also found a way into Stan's lair by chance.


Once free, Frances Stanley used some of his equipment to give off false radiation readings and give the blast area the appearance of a hot zone.  He didn't want any more visitors but was grateful for the one that he had.  Kylan seemed to know the area well enough to find some food supplies and anything else that he needed.  It was a start.  Kye was wary of working with the female androids after The Great Mistake and he was also suspicious of his new friend but didn't ask too many questions because he was running from his own problems.


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The dead could no longer be counted.  The stench of their bodies filled the tunnels and any pocket of space where the air vents didn't reach.  The gruesome task of clearing out the bodies went to the Replico droids after Kylan had located what was to become "The Lounge."  There was also the matter of shutting down the androids that were still active in some of the underground areas.  They didn't resist Stan's female robots that he simply called "The Girls".


A macabre ghost train became the last stop for the dead as the last of their corpses were loaded into the subway cars and sent on their way to a literal "dead end."  The only witness, a female survivor named Daniella, would become one of the first residents of The Lounge.


Now the long task of secretly relocating all of Stan's equipment began.  The vault of a bank was ideal for him to set up his lab and was near The Lounge.  It was separated only by a short tunnel.  Money was no longer of any value so no one would be coming to look for it.  The Vault's main entrance lead to many storerooms within it and the main chamber was perfect for his plans.  The first was to repair Portia.


Kylan couldn't understand why Stanley was so attached to this particular robot.  "Haven't you ever been in love?" was Stan's only response and the end of the argument.  Frances Stanley was rarely serious so Kye didn't pry when he saw the emotion in Stan's eyes.  Daniella was less understanding but didn't like the reports she saw on the television of what was happening Topside.  She loved her newfound freedom too much and saw this odd twosome and their little collection of servants as her chance to start over.


When Stanley finished repairing Portia, there were patches of slightly discolored skin because no tone matched hers, but no scars were visible.  Stan did an excellent job although some of her internal glitches were beyond his facilities... even with the parts from other androids.  Daniella started calling him "FrankenStan" which annoyed him at first, but he grew to like it (although he didn't tell HER that).  Just as long as no one called him "Frances."


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:[[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1|Index]] - [[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1/Chapter 2|Previous chapter]] - '''Chapter 3''' - [[The Enemy of My Enemy? Pt. 1/Chapter 4|Next chapter]]

[[Category:Keizo]]
[[Category:Stories]]