G'day All....
Well I recall someone asking about Sylvie and Anri's escape from
Genaros - what happened to those friends that were left behind???
Most people would assume that they were blasted into a million pieces
by the Doberman that was hovering over them with it's gun raised - and
they'd probably be pretty close to being right (I mean if the Doberman
didn't get 'em the rocket exhaust would have) - what I decided to do was
look at the question of why they were up there in the first place, what
brought them to the point of looking for their freedom??
Anyways this is just the intro to what will become a much bigger story
by the time it's finished - I'd like some opinions about this please
Oh... a big thanks to SkyKnight (who cleaned up my grammar and provided
a few guesses about Genaros and the 33s Boomers....)
-----Brett
FREEDOM
A BGC FANFIC
by
Brett Handy
Sylvie shook herself and looked around the room, she was
lying on her back, a bank of monitors hovering over her. She
tried to rise, but found herself strapped to the table.
Suddenly a harsh light caused her to close her eyes, or risk
damage to her optic circuits.
"This one will be perfect", said a harsh voice, from
beyond the light, "Prepare her immediately".
"Sir", another voice answered, "I don't believe that
using another 33-S would be a good idea...".
The first voice sighed, "Manta, you've read the
specifications", it pointed out a little more gently, "Can you
suggest another Boomer that would be better suited to this
project".
"Well, as a matter of fact..", the voice now known as
Manta began to respond.
"NO!", the first voice cut him off, "We will not discuss
this further. Follow my orders!".
A door hissed shut and the bright light was suddenly gone
from her eyes. Blinking to clear them, she looked around and
finally got a look at the room she was in. She was in one of
the Bio-Labs that dotted the outer zones of Genaros; the large
window on one side of the room looked out upon the Earth.
"I'm sorry", came the second voice, from beside her ear.
Sylvie startled quickly turned her head, only to find
herself staring into a blue-green set of eyes. Pausing for a
moment, she took in the fact that the man belonging to those
eyes was about the most perfect that she had ever seen. His
hair was a striking white (not blond, but a pale white) and it
hung down to his shoulders, tied back in a ponytail. He was
wearing a med-tech's uniform and smiled sadly at her.
"Your designation is 'Sylvie'?", he asked, punching a
code into the keypad that Sylvie assumed unlocked the
restraints.
"That's my *name*", she replied, staring at the grey
steel of the ceiling.
"Of course", he said gently, stepping back as she sat up.
Now that she was sitting up she could see that he stood
about six foot tall. "Who are you?", she asked, "And how did
I get here?".
The man gestured for her to take a seat, "It will all
become clear in time", he replied.
Sylvie, not really known what else to do, sat down,
noticing absently that her seat afforded her a beautiful view
of Northern Europe. "Can you tell me why I'm here?", she
asked.
The man nodded, "To answer your first question", he said,
"I'm called Manta and the reason why your here is that Genom
Industries needs you for an important project".
Sylvie nodded, she knew Genom. After all; they were the
ones that had constructed her. Then she realised that
something was missing, "Where are my memories?", she asked.
Manta sighed, "I'm afraid that they were erased", he said
sadly.
Sylvie surged to her feet, "What do you mean 'erased'???
What happened to me?", she asked.
Manta gestured again for her to sit, "It's a long story",
he said, "To summarise, about ten years ago you were
deactivated and put into storage, and unfortunately at that
time, all your memory files were purged".
"Why?", Sylvie asked desperately, "I don't even know
myself anymore".
She began sobbing silently, Manta stood and placed a hand
on her shoulder, "It doesn't matter what you were", he said
gently, "It's what you do with your life that counts".
"Life?", Sylvie asked, blinking back her tears, "I'm a
Boomer".
Manta nodded, "You're a 33-S model", he said, "Which
means that part of you is living; besides whoever said that
life is judged on weather or not someone can bleed is a fool".
Sylvie nodded and wiped her eyes, "Thank you", she
replied, "Why are you being so nice to me?".
Manta shrugged and took his hand from her shoulder, "It
doesn't cost me anything to be nice", he replied, turning to
the door, "Now let's go and meet your new friends".
******
Anri sat talking to Meg, Lou and Nam, they had just
finished cleaning up their quarters. Manta had informed them
that he was bringing the next candidate down to meet them.
Nam was lounging on her bed, brushing her long black
hair, "I don't see why we had to clean", she grumbled.
Anri smiled, "Nam, we want to make a good impression",
she replied.
Lou and Meg were sitting playing a game called 'Poker',
Manta had taught them the game a few weeks ago and they had
become hooked, "I still don't see why one of us can't use the
damn thing", Lou argued with Meg.
Meg carefully arranged the cards in her hand. "Manta
already explained that none of us had the right personality
program", she said, discarding three of her hand.
"Manta, this and Manta that", Lou pouted dealing out
three cards to her opponent, "I still don't see why we have to
listen to him".
Meg laid he cards on the table, "Full house", she
replied, "And the reason we listen to him is because he's the
only one that treats us like we were human".
"And the fact that he's so cute", she added, after
scraping up her winnings.
Anri giggled, "I'll second that", she said, "he *is*
cute".
Nam nodded, "I agree", she said, shaking out her hair.
Lou grumbled, "Alright, I agree", she said, "But should
that really make a difference to *us*?".
Anri sighed, "Well, I guess that our designer decided
that we should have an appreciation for the male form", she
said.
Nam nodded again, "It's a pity whoever it was decided to
give us feelings as well", she said.
The four friends looked up as the chime to their quarters
rang out, "It has to be Manta", Anri guessed.
"Of course it's him", Lou said sarcastically, "He's the
only one who actually knocks".
A moment later the door opened and Manta stepped in,
followed by the newest member of their little group, "This is
Sylvie", Manta said, introducing her.
Sylvie looked at each of them closely, "Are you all...",
she began.
Meg nodded, "We are all Boomers", she replied, "Like
you".
Manta nodded, "I'm sure that they ladies will fill you in
on what you need to know", he said, "Now I must attend to
other duties".
Sylvie looked a little nervous, "But you still haven't
told me why I'm here", she said, to his retreating figure.
Manta smiled, "I'm afraid that if I remain much longer,
your reputations might become a little tarnished", he replied,
walking from the room.
Sylvie looked after his retreating figure and then turned
back to the four women in front of her, "Is he for real?",
she asked, "I may not have my memory but his behaviour seems a
bit a-typical".
Meg shrugged, "You get use to it", she said, "At least he
can control himself, the other technicians are a different
matter".
Anri nodded, "You're lucky he was around when you were
revived", she said, "Some of the other men around here are not
so 'gentlemanly'".
******
"Hey look at the new toy!", called one leering
technician.
"She makes me wish I weren't married", commented another.
"Hey, what difference does that make?", laughed a third,
"It's not like she's was a *real* woman".
Sylvie had been prepared for this kind of reaction from
the human workers. The other four had told her not to expect
any form of courtesy unless Manta was around. She set her jaw
and followed Anri down the long corridor, linking the living
area with the experimental weapons wing.
A pair of C-55 class Boomers guarded the access way, but
stepped aside after only a momentary glance at her ID card.
She passed through an airlock and was scanned for weapons
before being allowed to board one of the hovercars that
provided the main transport into and out of the labs.
"Don't worry about it", Anri said, "one of Manta's
favourite quotes is 'empty vessels make the most noise'".
Sylvie nodded and turned to watch the lights stream past
the car, they travelled for nearly four kilometers before the
car stopped and the computer informed them to exit. Anri led
Sylvie through another series of checks, into the main lab.
Already seated in front of a terminal was Manta. He adjusted a
few more settings before turning and greeting the two with a
smile.
"Good morning", he said, "I've been waiting for you".
Anri nodded and took what was obviously her accustomed
place in front of a terminal. Sylvie seemed taken aback, "You
let Anri operate the computer?", she asked, astounded.
Manta nodded, "Her reaction time is much faster than a
human technician", he said and then gave Anri and little
smiled, "She's also a lot more pleasant to be around than a
lot of human technicians I know". Anri giggled a bit and then
turned her attention fully to the work in front of her.
Sylvie looked around, curious as to why they would want
*her* to be here. "Follow me, please", Manta said, moving
towards one of the heavy blast doors.
Anri turned and gave her an encouraging smile, so Sylvie
allowed Manta to lead her into the next chamber, what she saw
next astounded her, arranged around the room were coils of
optical cable, all hooked into what looked like a clam-shaped
chair. "This is the neural link and monitor that I've been
designing", Manta said proudly, "The original design was made
by the famous Dr Stingray nearly twenty years ago, he was
attempting to imprint memories and personalities into a
computer, with some success".
He signalled to Anri, who was observing them from the
control room and a moment later the cables sprang to life,
pulses of light travelling backwards and forwards. Sylvie
lost herself to the patterns for a moment and then pulled
herself back to reality when she noticed Manta staring at her
intently.
"What?", she asked nervously.
Manta shook his head and smiled, "Oh... never mind, you
just reminded me of someone, that's all", he explained.
He walked up to the chair and patted it, gesturing for
her to take a seat, "This is why You're here", he explained.
"What does it do?", she asked, again trying to fathom the
optical bursts inside the multitude of cables.
"It converts neural impulses into electrical pulses,
which will provide instructions for a computer", he explained.
"But...", Sylvie began.
Manta held up his hands, "Yes, I know that it's already
been done", he said, "But never at the level we are attempting
here. If this works, a human will be able to completely
control an artificial robot, as if they were wearing it like a
powersuit".
Sylvie was slightly taken aback by his enthusiasm, "I was
going to say: 'I'm a Boomer, not a human", she explained.
Manta nodded, "Well the 33-S's main processor is the
second closest match for the human brain that we have", he
said, "So it makes testing and control over the experiments
much more precise".
Sylvie smiled, "Yes, humans do have trouble with
control", she said.
Manta grinned, "Well in this case it's a matter for the
Boomers showing the humans how to do things", he said, turning
and walking back to the control room.
"One question!", Sylvie said, before he left, "Why are we
in the maximum security section?".
Manta grimaced, "Well Genom insists that if the
technology were to fall into the wrong hands it *could* be
perverted into a horrible weapon", he said, "Besides, Mr Mason
insisted that this be kept a secret".
"Mr Mason?", Sylvie asked.
"I guess you could call him our boss", Manta replied, he
then pushed the door close button, "We'll talk later".
Sylvie turned and took a seat in the strange chair, "At
least it's comfortable", she thought to herself. Then she
began to follow the instructions that Anri called out.
******
Manta sighed and leaned back into his chair, trying to
relax. "I'm not asking", said Quincy's voice over the vid-
phone, "I'm telling you, the project is now terminated, you
will turn over all your research and equipment to Weapons
Research and Development staff".
"But Mason told me", Manta began.
"Mason is dead!", Quincy said, "and as far as I'm
concerned this little 'black project' of his died with him".
"But sir", Manta said desperately, "This technology could
lead to untold opportunities, not just new weapons".
"Good", said Quincy, "You can detail that in your report
to R&D, that will be all".
The vid-phone went blank, as blank as Manta felt inside.
This was nearly five years of his life, wasted, going to be
perverted into some horrible weapon. Manta stood and walked
over to the window, he knew that this day would come. He knew
that for all of Mason's protestations that it would never be
used as a weapon, that was exactly what his research was
destined for.
"Not this time", he muttered. Standing and walking over
to the computer terminal he began scanning through all the
documents, carefully reading and deleting each one. Weapons
Research would find little of interest in the datafiles.
He realised something, "How did Qunicy know my research
was going on?", he muttered, "If Mason had it listed as a
'black project' no one but him should have known about it..
unless". He thought for a moment before using his override
code to access the Weapon's Division files.
It took a bit of searching and hacking, but eventually he
found what he had been looking for, a file labelled 'D.D.
Battlemover' contained almost all of his project's technical
information.
He smashed a fist into the screen, shattering it
completely, "NO!, NOT AGAIN", he fumed. The Battlemover
looked like a nightmare, a walking death-machine, and it was
all controlled by *his* neural interface.
******
The door to the girl's quarters opened, and much to their
surprise Manta entered without knocking. "What's wrong?",
asked Meg curiously, noticing the large bag he was carrying,
apparently without effort.
He flung the bag down onto the floor, unzipping it, the
five girls gasped as they saw it was full of weapons, "What
are you doing?", Anri asked, dumbfounded.
"It's what *we* are doing", Manta replied, throwing Anri
a sub-machine gun.
She caught it by reflex, "Why do we need guns?", she
asked.
Sylvie frowned, "What's happened?", she asked.
Manta sighed and stopped handing out the guns, turning,
he walked to the one, small window, looking out at the
distorted view of Earth. "You five are all Boomers that have
special personality programs", he said, "You are unique among
your kind, because you can think and feel".
He turned to face them, his usually blue eyes, a deep
shade of green, "You can love and hate, you can think and
dream and most importantly you can need", he said, "Nearly
Twenty years ago a man named 'Stingray' had a vision of the
future that included a new race, helping humanity to the
farthest reaches of our world and beyond".
He paused and looked at each of them, "Do you know why
the 33-S was discontinued?", he asked. They shook their
heads, never having been told why they had been deactivated.
"Because you were too close to being human", he stated.
Anri blinked. "But... I thought that we..", she began.
"That the 33-S had a fatal design floor that rendered it
a possible harm to humans", Manta recited in a flat tone.
"BULLSHIT! the reason was that you were a free-thinking
Boomer and that was something the Genom didn't want, they've
only made that mistake once since".
Sylvie frowned, "So it's all been a lie then?", she said
quietly, "We *really* do have feelings that aren't just
'programmed responses'?".
Manta nodded, "Why do you think I needed a 33-S to test
my neural link?", he asked, "There was only one other Boomer
that could think for itself and Mason wouldn't let me use
him".
"So what do we do now?", Lou asked.
Manta shrugged, "The project has been cancelled and I'm
afraid that Genom will want you all shut down", he said, and
then he smiled grimly, "They'll probably want to shut *me*
down too".
Meg stood, cocking her gun, "We won't let that happen
Manta", she said defiantly.
Lou nodded, "They'll have to kill us all first", she
said.
Manta smiled, "Thank you all", he said, "but I think it's
more important that *you* all get away from here".
The five girls exchanged looks of disbelief, "You're not
going to come with us?", Sylvie asked quietly.
He shook his head, "I have to make sure that my work
isn't turned into a horrible weapon", he replied.
Sylvie smiled, "We'll come and help then", she declared,
the other four echoed her.
Manta shook his head, "You all have to try for freedom",
he said, "I can't have you risking yourselves for me".
Sylvie smiled, "We are free", she said, "And *I* freely
choose to help you".
Anri nodded, "Me too!".
She was echoed a moment later by Nam and Lou. Only Meg
remained silent, waiting till the other's looked at her
curiously, "Only kidding!", she said, smiling.
Manta shook his head, "Alright then, here's what we'll
do....", he began. It was decided that Nam and Manta would
secure the shuttle for them to escape in, while at the same
time, getting the 'Battlemover' - so at least they had
something to defend themselves with if something went wrong.
Sylvie, Anri, Meg and Lou would destroy the prototype neural
link and all the data in the lab.
Manta sighed and turned to leave, a hand caught his
shoulder. "Why are you doing this?", Sylvie asked. "I mean
helping five 'rouge' Boomers to escape, destroying years of
research and hijacking a shuttle".
Manta gave her a little smile. "Remember when I said that
there was only one other 'free thinking' Boomer?", he asked.
At her nod he grinned. "Well, your looking at him".
******
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Address: darkwnd@sv.net.au WWW page: http://www.sv.net.au/~darkwnd
Kane: "Master, the other children tease me..."
Old Master: "Have you learnt nothing from my teachings, Grasshopper?"
Kane: "What do you mean master?"
Old Master: "Well can you not beat the Sh#T out of them???"
-----Fast Forward (1990)
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