Sylvia

Sylvia walks quietly a few steps ahead of you as you crouch and approach the edge of the tree line. The foliage is dense enough for you to remain hidden from view as you both look out to the remote abandoned forest research facility. Gazing out across the long abandoned plaza Sylvia pulls out a small pair of binoculars from her jacket pocket. She tracks the movements of several hovering security drones all bearing the insignia of The Obsidian Talon, a mercenary group known across the galaxy. She watches the patrol patterns and where their routes overlap as the machine gun armed drones hover along their pre-programmed paths. She looks at the facilities main entrance. The heavily damaged glass front doors are fitted with a large device across the front keeping them secure. Sylvia lowers her binoculars and turns to you whispering. Looks like we’re not getting in the front. Fortunately Obsidian only seems to want to stop people getting too close. We’ll be safe if we keep our distance from the building, I doubt those drones will pursue us far though. Sylvia grins and waves her hand dismissively as you mention the machine guns. She starts slowly creeping through the forest again as you slowly circle the facility looking for a way in. Sylvia leads you around the rear of the large five story building. She holds her binoculars to her eyes again, looking at more hovering drones through the tall chain link fence surrounding the rear. She whispers to you Damn what were the Obsidians looking for twenty years ago? It doesn’t make sense, I mean what were Genesis Automata working on for a mercenary group to come to our sleepy little moon and invade the lab? Sylvia continues to watch the movements of the drones as she creeps towards a section of the fence at the forest boundary. Carefully she takes a pair of heavy duty wire cutters from her back pack and slowly cuts some of the PVC coated steel wires weaved into a diamond pattern. She bends the cut wires leaving a hole in the fence big enough to get through. She points across the court yard to the loading dock and the pedestrian entrance, the metal sliding door mangled open by an explosive charge. You both watch as the drones patrolling near the door hover shakily, they move much slower than the other drones leaving a convenient blind spot on their route. Years of exposure to the elements seems to have taken a toll on them. You both crouch run across the courtyard hiding behind stacks of empty crates and pallets until you make your final dash into the building. Oh shit! Security must have been brutally overwhelmed. You both look at the bullet cases on the floor of the darkened storage area. Sylvia pulls a small flash light from her pocket. She shines the light in as you peer through the check in window of the small security office. Stains of long dried blood are visible on the carpet tiles and splattered on the back wall around bullet holes clearly from a few different bursts of semi automatic fire. You both move through the warehouse, noticing pallets, crates, boxes and manual handling equipment abandoned mid task. Looks like they only hit security. I remember Dad saying a few friends of his used to work here, they said they weren’t sure how many got killed back then but most were let out alive. You carefully make your way through darkened corridors decorated with clean lines and neutral colours, clearly intended to be functional while still providing a pleasant environment. Daylight comes in through the windows of the outer rooms, there’s nothing too out of the ordinary, abandoned possessions and work stations in small labs left mid job. Papers and coffee cups are left in small meeting rooms. You walk ahead of Sylvia as you enter the bright lobby. The area is open and a large skylight gives the illusion of an outdoor space, sunlight shines down from the roof. Bags and briefcases are left on the floor most look like they were trampled in a panic. Wow they hit this place hard and fast. Sylvia points at the large main security check point at the front entrance, more bullet casings and blood stains on the floor at the security desks, bullet holes riddle rear partition walls. Hey look there. Sylvia nods towards the row of elevators, a security override key is inserted into the control panel for one elevator below a swipe card reader. The door is open and the tastefully wood panelled interior is illuminated. Sylvia smirks as she starts walking towards it before looking back at you with a little grin. What are you waiting for? It’s got power. It would be rude not to. You step into the spacious elevator that only has two buttons for floor selection “G” and “5”. Sylvia prods the button for the fifth floor while stating the obvious. I guess this is authorised top floor access only. The elevator comes to a halt. As you step out into the fifth floor reception area Sylvia gives a little whistle at the plush carpet, and the leather couches in the seating area. Glass walls to the various meeting and board rooms lining the corridor allow natural light in to the corridor from the external windows. Well isn’t this swanky? Sylvia gazes into the elegant board rooms as you pass towards the main office space. A handful of bullet cases lay clustered on the ground as the corridor opens into a shared workspace with several finely crafted wooden desks and leather swivel chairs. More bullet holes, this time in the ceiling. Warning shots. Sylvia muses out loud. She sits on a desk next to a small heap of lanyards on top with ID cards attached and grabs one gently swinging it around. They made a mess in here didn’t they? The desks have all been searched and computer terminals have also been taken leaving just unattached cables. The sliding door to one of the private offices has been forced open. Sylvia puts the lanyard over her head letting the ID card dangle from her neck. She saunters over to the door and reads out loud the name plaque next to it. Doctor Fiona Winters Chief of Cybernetic Research. Sylvia beckons you to join her in the ransacked office. The desk draws are open, the built-in bookshelves and cupboards at the back of the room have been searched, as has the built in wardrobe. Books, spare lab coats, women’s cardigans, and decorative items have been thrown on the floor. Sylvia muses aloud again. It makes no sense? I assume this Doctor Winters is who they were after, but why lock this place down with drones? Unless they were looking for something very dangerous or valuable? Sylvia casually looks at the mess on the floor. Her gaze settles on a small makeup bag that lies on its side amongst the items thrown on the floor, the zip is open and the contents have spilled out. Sylvia despite her tomboyish nature, picks up a tube of lipstick and removes the lid. She twists the base idly, curious to see the colour of the waxy pigment. A beep sounds and the robust back panel of the open wardrobe slides upwards revealing a hidden elevator. You both silently look at each other in disbelief. Sylvia looks at the inch of wine red lipstick now protruding from the black tube in her hand. Well... Doctor Winters. She certainly was a clever one…. The convex door of the cylindrical elevator is sealed closed with no buttons, a reader for a swipe card is the only feature on the blueish grey elevator a few inches to the side of the door. Is it just me or is that giving off hidden lab vibes? Sylvia shakes her head in amusement and looks at the ID card hanging off her neck. Pablo Rodriguez, Intern, One month temp pass, fifth floor is written next to a picture of a 20 something man. I wonder if Pablo here was expected to work wherever this goes? Sylvia looks at you with a quizzical half-smile, one eyebrow arched ever so slightly. There's a glimmer of mischief in her eyes as she reaches out and swipes the card with no expectations. A moment passes and Sylvia giggles, she’s about to speak when a few beeps come from the card reader, the door opens, with a synthetic voice from inside. “Welcome back Doctor Winters.” Sylvia’s jaw drops, her eyes wide with disbelief from experiencing two acts of serendipity in as many minuets. She takes a deep breath Annnnnnd the winner of the lets hide everything in plain sight award goes to…. Doctor Winters. She must have had this made up so she could keep it close to her office without having to carry it around with her. The interior of the elevator is clean with soft lighting in the cylindrical wall diffused through translucent plastic, and a durable blue carpet. Two arrow shaped buttons are present, with only the one pointing down illuminated. You press the button, the door closes and the elevator descends. A couple of minuets pass before the elevator slows to a halt, the door slides open, you both step out into the darkened corridor. Lights in the ceiling gently illuminate as motion sensors detect your movements. Like the main facility above the decor is clean and crisp without being sterile, Sylvia takes a moment to take in her surroundings. Wow, Dad’s friends never mentioned any of this, I wonder how many in the company knew? Walking through the corridor you pass a lounge area and another elevator exterior door. I wonder how big it is down here? And how many ways there are to get in? And just how dumb Obsidian are if they didn’t find a way in? Sylvia strokes her chin and nods as you counter with how good Genesis Automata must be at hiding secret entrances. You continue until you come to a larger pair of sliding doors. Prototype Test Area is written across both doors. Sylvia swipes the access card in the reader next to the doors. They part with a satisfying swish, the room lights up, cautiously you both enter, A sealed bio pod bed with a desk and a computer terminal occupy the centre of the large workspace. To the right of the room is an archway leading to an assembly area. Work benches fill the adjacent space, you can make out naked synthetic torsos and limbs on racking at the back of the room through the archway. To the back of the area you are in is another set of sliding doors with Dr.F.Winters written on them. Sylvia moves to the computer terminal and taps enter on the keyboard bringing it out of stand by mode. Ooooo, there’s a log open. Sylvia scans the text. Oh wow, no wonder Obsidian wanted this….. Sylvia begins to read the log out loud. Project Cognita. June twentieth. Progress continues at a very satisfactory pace. Development of the complex neural nets continues to exceed expectations, as does development of personality cores, and emotional matrices. Prototypes have already demonstrated excellent emotional range and personalities indistinguishable from real people. Miniaturisation of stable power cores now allows easy mounting in humanoid chassis, specifically in the chest cavity without affecting other components.Bio mass conversion has also been incorporated into the designs. Although unnecessary to the basic function and survivability of the unit, it allows for units to process foodstuffs into additional energy, allowing units to eat and drink. This also allows units to mimic bodily secretions, sweat, saliva ,etc…. Consideration has been given to interplanetary treaties regarding appearance of humanoid androids. Civilian production models will have certain imperfections with the design, notably a small data port located behind the right earlobe, and unrealistic iris colours allowing for a distinguishable near human appearance. We envision the units will be invaluable in the education system and the medical, psychiatric and therapeutic fields where a near flawless human appearance would be very beneficial. Similarly our units will be designed to provide friendship and companionship, even romantic relationships depending on customer needs and desires. A range of military models will also be produced. These will have none of the exterior flaws and will be indistinguishable from a real human. Because of the absence of an external data port these units will have wireless data transmission capabilities. We expect considerable interest from agencies looking for units programmed in espionage and infiltration. Sylvia looks back up from the screen. There’s a little more about ethics guidelines and safety protocols programmed in to stop the androids harming anyone. Sylvia looks through the glass of the bio pod bed at the dormant android inside Quite exciting isn’t it? She says with a little grin