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	[[Stories\|← Story Archive]]		[[Stories\|← Story Archive]]

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	[[Stories\|~~Back to the story archive~~]]		[[Stories\|← Story Archive]]

	[[Category:DukeNukem 2417]]		[[Category:DukeNukem 2417]]

Spaz: /* Part 14 */

2015-03-05T03:45:59Z

Part 14

Show changes

Spaz: /* Part 13 */

2015-03-05T03:42:15Z

Part 13

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Spaz: /* Part 12 */

2015-03-05T03:36:28Z

Part 12

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Spaz: /* Part 12 */

2015-03-05T02:44:09Z

Part 12

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Spaz: /* Part 11 */

2015-03-05T00:40:11Z

Part 11

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	=Part 11=		=Part 11=
			“....y'know, if I was human, I think I'd start feeling sick right about now.”

			Mary Robinson's remark earned her a slightly annoyed glance from Selwyn McElvoy, but given the state of the E-Lin gynoid on the table before them, it wasn't completely unwarranted. “I take it you've read the report of how she was found?” he queried.

			“Face-down, and face-less, in a hotel room,” Mary replied, “shirt missing, still in terminal mode.” Indeed, the front of the gynoid's head was utterly bare---save for a touch-screen where her face should've been. “Charging cord reported missing---later found in her luggage.....nothing was taken out of her room, and everything checks out with the other reports of E-Lins being...well....'accessed' and left in terminal mode.” She glanced at the lithe body of the E-Lin, currently clad in a black silk bra/panty set and---apart from the missing face---looking impressively healthy.

			“We've received similar reports from all over Silicon Valley,” Selwyn informed her. “Despite her temporary lack of a voice, Miss Hynde has been responsible for setting up my calendar and all appointments regarding the repair of every E-Lin unit affected---”

			“What does her missing her voice have to do with setting up your calendar?” Mary asked.

			Selwyn paged through the E-Lin's recovery report. “I have to answer the phone in her place....not exactly the most convenient arrangement, especially in this particular situation.”

			“Well, at least Miss Hynde didn't have to put up with the marionette treatment from the Chairman,” Rae muttered, adjusting the Cliff Richard t-shirt and jean shorts she'd been asked to wear in lieu of her preferred attire (she'd stashed the clothes in Anton's repair lab during a previous session). “Why the hell the House lets their girls have the option for external control is beyond me....”

			Mary gave her a look. “They're probably set to run on external control in emergencies---”

			“External control by ''their own'' people,” Rae countered. “I'm pretty sure they never would've volunteered to be puppeteered around the building the way they were...and not by the Chairman.”

			“I never said they did,” Mary replied. “I'm just saying....oh, forget it.” She returned her attention to examining the E-Lin. “This whole thing...one of our own going so far beyond what we know as acceptable just to destroy Epsilon.....it feels wrong. Like....”

			“A bad dream you can't wake up from?” Rae quietly offered, her tone now more sympathetic than adversarial.

			Silently, with more than a hint of fear in her eyes, the blonde gynoid nodded.

			McElvoy ascended the stepladder set up so that he get a better look at the E-Lin. “Her personality shell programming should more than likely hold up even after the full, ALPA-spec defragmentation of her hard drive,” he noted. “Unless Oberon has gone so far as to alter her core files and programming...” He frowned. “Miss Lawson had a theory, earlier....she was under the impression that Oberon might be following us. If I were more paranoid, I might be under the belief that we're being observed by him as we speak.”

			“You're ''kidding'',” Mary groaned. “We're inside ALPA HQ, there's no way---”

			“This building has, if I remember correctly, been breached before,” Selwyn reminded her. “I wouldn't depend entirely upon the security systems, if I were you. And has anyone made any progress on apprehending those responsible for the security breach---”

			Rae and Mary stared daggers at him for a moment.

			“.....my apologies. I was only inquiring---”

			“Just do yourself a favour, mate,” Rae quietly replied, “and don't mention it again. Please.”

			Even as Miss Hynde moved to stand near Selwyn, taking a defensive stance, the roboticist nodded. “I was mistaken in thinking that the issue had ceased to be a sore point here,” he admitted. “And for that---you can stand down now, Miss Hynde---for that, you have my humble apologies.”

			“Apology accepted. Now, then...” Mary turned her attention to the E-Lin. “Think we can use her to track him?”

			Miss Hynde's eyebrows arched in surprise at the idea---and Selwyn was quick to offer his opinion. “That,” he declared, “is an intriguing example of conjecture, Miss Robinson....if Professor Malvineous finishes repairing the myogel leak in Miss Lawson's leg soon, we may in fact be able to back-trace Oberon's activity through our unfortunate E-Lin....” He paused, noticing Mary's perturbed look. “By 'unfortunate', I was referring to her encounter with the Chairman. She can be repaired, reactivated and sent on her way with no lingering memories of her involvement with this sordid tale...”

			“Sounds good to me. SO.....is Anton done fixing Vicki's leg?”

			Rae's question was answered by the sound of something being knocked over in the other room, followed by Anton calmly (but urgently) asking Vicki to please stop kicking at things with her good leg.

			“Guess that answers that question,” Mary replied. “So....”

			Three minutes later, Anton and Vicki---sporting a freshly-sealed left ankle---entered the room. “Apart from your reflexes going into overdrive,” Anton stated, “you've got a clean bill of health.” His attention turned to the E-Lin on the work table; “I assume you need my help getting inside her head?” he inquired, striding over and taking a look at the gynoid.

			“We were just posing that question,” McElvoy admitted.

			“Figured that....just give me a moment to---Vicki, what are you doing?!”

			The brunette gynoid was standing over the E-Lin, staring at the touchpad built into the other robot girl's cranial casing. '''“Expanding my sensory horizons,”''' she stated, not looking back at Anton. '''“It's getting me a lot farther than the old method would have---Oberon put in plenty of ways to trip up anyone who might try to use an ordinary computer to look through her file indexes.”'''

			“Fascinating....” Selwyn climbed up the stepladder once again to get a better look. “Care to tell us what kind of view you can get inside her mind?” he asked.

			Despite her focus on the task, V.I.C.I managed a smirk. '''“Ever see Johnny Mnemonic?”'''

			“Once or twice.”

			'''“Well, it's nothing like that. It'd be impossible to describe in purely human terms....just be thankful for stuff like GUIs and OS shell programs. As for why that wouldn't help you out right now....”''' Despite her robotic monotone, V.I.C.I gave a remarkably lifelike sigh. '''“Fake index tables of contents, dummy files and a metric ton of encryption....on practically worthless files. Oberon must've figured that he'd be under fire from the ALPA's best and brightest....”'''

			Her eyes narrowed. '''“...and more importantly, he wanted me to be the one to find all of this.”'''

			Without warning, the E-Lin sat up, the screen built into her head lighting up and projecting an image onto the far wall. “Guess he wanted us all to see it,” Rae began, only to stare in wide-eyed shock at the display.

			''“Mother of God,”'' Anton whispered, crossing himself instantly.

			The image on the wall was Oberon himself, stripped to the waist and looking as if he'd just been assaulted---more than likely, by Epsilon. ''“If you're watching this, things have already gone too far for the ALPA as a whole to contain,”'' he stated, ''“and either someone's been killed or Epsilon has descended into rampancy. I have a feeling that Agent Lawson is among you....”'' V.I.C.I scowled as Oberon's lips twitched up into a smirk. ''“....and since we've already had one exchange of truths,”'' he continued, ''“I feel it only fair to let her have one final chance to see if her...preferred tactics will be enough to stop me.”'' Shouts in the background, the crackle of nearby flames and screaming pedestrians confirmed everyone's worst fears---the message had been recorded at the sight of Epsilon and Oberon's earlier clash....before V.I.C.I had confronted Oberon.

			“He '''''planned''''' for us to find this now?!” Mary gasped. “How---”

			A single glance from V.I.C.I silenced her as Oberon continued. ''“This ends where Epsilon began---the currently abandoned Block G facility on the outskirts of Palo Alto. We'll have had our little talk by this point, and I have a feeling I know how it'll turn out....but whichever way the pendulum swings, Epsilon will return to Block G, where its existence will come to its inevitable end. If you want to keep me from killing it....”''

			Everyone but V.I.C.I flinched at the chuckle that ended the sentence. ''“...I think a twelve-hour rest should give you the time to decide how best to...'handle' me.”''

			Within the projection, a car screeched to a halt somewhere behind Oberon. ''“Don't keep me waiting.”''

			The image faded to nothing, and the E-Lin sank back to a supine position.

			“So....he's planned for this,” Selwyn muttered. “I think---”

			'''“How soon will I be able to get to the Block G facility?”'''

			Anton, Selwyn and everyone else in the room stared in wide-eyed shock at V.I.C.I; “Vicki,” Anton quietly stated, “the Block G facility was owned by the Baron himself until very recently. The security systems haven't been deactivated, and if Oberon himself is there---”

			'''“He'll be waiting for me,”''' V.I.C.I finished, '''“meaning I have to do this alone.”'''

			“And risk getting obliterated,” Selwyn replied. “Need I remind you---”

			'''“I know he's trained to fight androids, and I know he'll pull out all the stops to take me down....and I don't care.”''' V.I.C.I paced the floor before the table where the E-Lin lay; “If I don't stop him,” she continued, using her human voice once again, “he might.....I don't even want to think of what might happen. It's nearly 3 AM right now...most of you need to rest.”

			Mary arched an eyebrow. “You're actually suggesting---”

			“I'm saying that I don't want him striking while we're all still tired. Kirsten's already been damaged....I don't want to lose anyone else.” Another sigh escaped Vicki's lips. “Anton, Selwyn....you can fix her, right?”

			The two roboticists didn't hesitate. “It won't be easy...but she can be repaired,” Anton replied.

			“It may take some time to reverse the effects of the magnet on her drives,” Selwyn added, “but we'll do what we can. Miss Hynde is certified to assist in repairs of this magnitude---her assistance will more than likely make our jobs easier.” The cinnamon-haired gynoid nodded in silent reinforcement of McElvoy's assessment of her repair skills.

			Vicki returned the nod. “The more help you have, the faster she'll be back on her feet. As for me...”

			Her eyes glowed a vibrant blue. '''“....anyone up for a few sparring sessions?”'''

	=Part 12=		=Part 12=

Spaz at 00:30, 5 March 2015

2015-03-05T00:30:57Z

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	With a sigh, Vicki laid back, resisting the urge to count ceiling tiles. “Just tell me when it's over....”		With a sigh, Vicki laid back, resisting the urge to count ceiling tiles. “Just tell me when it's over....”

	=~~Page~~ 11=		=Part 11=

	=~~Page~~ 12=		=Part 12=

	=~~Page~~ 13=		=Part 13=

	=~~Page~~ 14=		=Part 14=

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Spaz at 00:30, 5 March 2015

2015-03-05T00:30:35Z

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	With a sigh, Vicki laid back, resisting the urge to count ceiling tiles. “Just tell me when it's over....”		With a sigh, Vicki laid back, resisting the urge to count ceiling tiles. “Just tell me when it's over....”

			=Page 11=

			=Page 12=

			=Page 13=

			=Page 14=

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Beast - Revision history

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Spaz: /* Part 14 */

Spaz: /* Part 13 */

Spaz: /* Part 12 */

Spaz: /* Part 12 */

Spaz: /* Part 11 */

Spaz at 00:30, 5 March 2015

Spaz at 00:30, 5 March 2015