Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness Read online

  Chapter Two

  The Rogue

  6:43 P.M...

  The Sanctum...

  Within the dark Chamber...

  Desk lamps lit up the faces of the analysts and the supervisors as they observed Pandora's data with interest. The project was very important to the Council, so it was very important to them.

  "Lower the Center Screen," Mr. Morta commanded from the middle of the room.

  A screen four by eight foot lowered long ways from the ceiling. It positioned above the Council and in the center of their table. The screen could be viewed from both sides. It displayed an outline of a female body. Each of the major organs were visible on the screen and had bio-data streaming beside them.

  An alarm sounded and stopped. In bold red letters at the top of the bio-screen, First Evolvement Achieved, blinked. Prattle between the analysts started as charged enthusiasm filled the Chamber. The supervisors quickly quieted the frivolous talk, knowing their employers would be irritated with the idleness.

  "Good... Good..." Mr. Morta said. "Pandora has achieved Ginn's Alpha Phase."

  "You mean Arcamedes' First Evolvement," Mr. Decuma corrected.

  Mr. Morta questioned, "Does it matter by which name we call it? It is the same thing. It is still the beginning of Pandora’s metamorphosis."

  "True, but will Pandora take the path Ginn laid out or will Pandora take Arcamedes'?" Ms. Nona asked. "What Pandora decides to do will determine which name the stages go by."

  "Until the path is clear–" Mr. Morta started, "–both men's descriptions can be used." He studied the Center Screen's data on his laptop. "As predicted by both men, Pandora's first stage is the ability to sense the presence of bio-mechas. Pandora’s body is preparing itself to combat the Un-Men. Look at the subject’s bio-electricity. The levels are high enough to trigger the Beta Phase."

  "Yes," Ms. Nona said. "The genetically altered epinephrine hormone we created for Pandora, dubbed Ultra-Epi, acts as a supercharged neurotransmitter. If Pandora can reach the next stage, it should have no difficulty dispatching the Un-Men."

  "If is the keyword." Mr. Decuma tapped across a H.H.C. touch screen with a pen stylus and pulled up reports from their operative. "Argus details Pandora has not responded to the Un-Men’s presence." Mr. Decuma turned to his laptop. "Can Pandora achieve the Second Evolvement?" He typed on the keyboard, pulling up more reports. "Pandora seems to be withstanding the conditioning." He stated with concern, "If it does not react soon, the subject will die, and the Pandora Project will end."

  "Patience," Mr. Morta said. "We did not blindly pick the subject. Wait."

  Back in Etna Toys...

  Heart racing, Kat hid behind the overturned table and continued to wonder, "Why are these men trying to kill me? Why? Did I do something to them?" She glanced at the Beretta lying on the floor not too far from her. It lay beside its open case. "Or maybe I’m a wanted person? Maybe I committed a crime?"

  The Un-Men fired again, and one of the bullets grazed her left shoulder. The pain triggered a latent instinct. She scurried to the gun, grabbed a clip sitting in the case, and inserted it. Kat pulled the sliding block, and it made a metal clicking sound. She wildly fired six shots over the cot. She missed. "I don't know what I'm doing. I need to get out of here. Run. I need to..."

  She froze at hearing the men’s guns cocking, and something inside her clicked like a switch. The e-field (electrical field) of her body changed. The impulses that normally traveled down the optic nerve surged and caused a split feed. Part of this electricity rushed across her irises, giving her eyes a blue-electrical glow. As if she had been born with a gun in her hand, Kat fired four times and hit one man in the forehead and throat and the other one in the heart and lung. It was like someone had taken over her body. She didn't realize what she was doing until it was over. The one she shot in the head collapsed to his knees and fell back as the other one fired at her.

  "Crap! He must be wearing a vest," Kat thought and moved back to the overturned table. She took a deep breath, and rose, returning fire. The bullet hit the second in the head. He also fell to the floor.

  Silence followed and it was a maddening silence. It was one that cleared her head, let her think, and let her realize. Her fear turned to uncertainty and uncertainty to self loathing. She sat, leaned against the table, and bowed her head ashamed. In disbelief, Kat stared at the gun resting on her lap. "How is it, I'm good at killing?" Her next thought frightened her and made her sick. "Why do I feel nothing for these men I’ve murdered?" Kat put a hand to her mouth, feeling nauseous. "Is this the kind of person I am? A murderer? An emotionless killer? Sheez! Am I some sort of assassin?"

  Within the Chamber...

  Mr. Morta cheered. "There!"

  Analysts and supervisors high-fived each other.

  Mr. Morta looked to the Center Screen as Second Evolvement Achieved flashed brightly. "The Beta Phase of Pandora's metamorphosis has successfully been reached." He reviewed a report from Argus. "Our operative has seen Pandora’s extraordinary shooting ability. He believes Pandora, when it is in the Beta Phase, cannot miss. It has far exceeded our expectations for the Beta Phase. We believed Pandora would have an aptness for terminating bio-mechas, but this..."

  "Yes," Ms. Nona agreed. "This will be a useful skill."

  Mr. Decuma interjected, "If it is true."

  "The data supports it, and Argus witnessed it," Mr. Morta stated and then questioned, "What more do you need to believe?"

  Mr. Decuma replied, "More data, perhaps, or..."

  Excited, Ms. Nona interrupted with a question, "Do you think Pandora can reach the Gamma Phase today?"

  "I believe we are jumping ahead," Mr. Morta replied. "There are still three Un-Men remaining."

  "Yes and does Pandora have skill or is it merely luck?" Mr. Decuma questioned. "More than half of the Un-Men remain. Can it defeat them as easily as the first two?"

  At Etna Toys...

  Leaves and other debris blew in through the open front door. Still feeling queasy, Kat stood and made her way to the men she gunned down. Her eyes crackled with cobalt current in the darkness of the warehouse. She reached the men’s side. A black oil like liquid oozed from the hole in their heads.

  "They’re not human, they’re...”

  She removed the tinted glasses of one, revealing not fleshy eyes, but glassy robotic ones. The colored orbs shuddered as power surged through its body. The spheres bugged out, and the Un-Man's hands gnarled with the mechanical pangs of death. Kat stared at its eyes. The red rings with black centers showed no spark of life. They were merely windows to the soulless.

  "They’re not human," Kat repeated, feeling a little better. "I didn’t kill anyone. I’m not a murderer.”

  The queasiness eased up, but her confusion remained as she realized, "They’re bio-mechas, model Un-Men. Why do I know this when I can’t remember the simplest thing like my name?" Kat searched them, found a spare clip on each of them, and placed the ammo in her right thigh pocket.

  lub-DUB... lub-DUB...

  Kat sensed more bio-mechas, and this time, she perceived their location. Three of them walked the grounds outside less than fifteen feet away from her. She franticly searched the plant for an escape as the Un-Men split up. One of them walked through a side entrance. The Un-Man fired at her. Kat ran, taking cover behind a row of machinery. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off metal, and she covered her head.

  Kat lost her concentration and the position of the other two. She dashed for the front door as more bullets whizzed by. She returned fire and hit her mark then continued for the door. She glanced back at the third Un-Man as it lay in a pool of inky sludge. The last two Un-Men suddenly appeared in the doorway in front of her. She ran into one and fell backwards. With uncanny speed, Kat fired twice before landing on her side. She struck the floor hard and knocked the wind from herself. The first shot disabled the Un-Man with the gun. The one with the Bowie side stepped her second shot with electrical speed as if the Un-Man a
nticipated her actions before she took them. Kat inhaled, sucking in needed air as she held her hurting ribs.

  The Un-Man drew its Bowie and stared at her curiously. None of the others had done that. Its dot-light glowed brighter and brighter until it appeared as if half its face burned. "The Pandora Project..." the Un-Man sang out, not in the usual monotone of its brethren. The orange colored dot-light changed to deep red, blood-red, and the Un-Man gazed at her as if probing her soul. "Pandora..." Its voice was sadistically mellow and toyed with her, making her feel violated. "Pandora, I have found you." The Un-Man smiled as if it took pleasure in the hunt. "Target acquired." It took a step as she scurried backward on her hands and feet. "Moving forward with termination." The Un-Man lunged for her with the blade.

  Kat rolled out of the way, and the blade struck concrete. She rose to one knee, aimed, and pulled the trigger. Click. The gun was empty. Click. Click. She pulled the trigger again and again, hoping a bullet would magically materialize and fire. The Un-Man slowly stood from its kneeling position, took two quick steps, and kicked her in the ribs. She grabbed her side, rolling to her feet as the Un-Man slashed toward her. Kat leaped back, defensively lifted her hands, and the blade cut across her left forearm. She cried out in pain as blood spilt to the gray floor.

  The Un-Man wiped the red plasma from the Bowie with its fingers. Its face beamed, relishing in the combat. "The Pandora Project," it whispered, fooling with her. "Pan–dora..." The Un-Man attacked with the blade. Swish. Swish. The air screamed with each slash. "Pan-dora, I have found you."

  She evaded the attacks and ran, rushing deeper into the dark building. "Why does it call me the Pandora Project? I thought my name was Kat." She ejected the empty clip from the Beretta, dropped it to the floor, and pulled one from her pocket. "Crap! Why can’t I hit it?" She inserted the new one in the magazine well, chambered a round, and fired twice behind herself. The Un-Man continued after her, ducking the shots. "Is this what I was dreaming of?" Kat wondered as she found another door and fled outside. "I wasn’t the predator, but the prey."

  Within the Chamber...

  Mr. Morta said, "Not bad for the opening test. Pandora achieved the first two phases. It delivered uncanny accuracy with the weapon we provided and successfully sensed the bio-mechas. Once it has achieved all the phases, Pandora will be the perfect weapon." He drummed his fingers together. "Set up another test, so we may analyze the range of its gifts and set Pandora down the path to perfection."

  Mr. Decuma nodded and typed up the documentation for the next test. He asked the male supervisor standing next to him, "Are the new reports on the project ready?"

  "They’ll be right over," he answered.

  Within a minute, the supervisor approached. "Here are the reports you requested on her, Mr. Decuma."

  "Her?" the Council said in unison.

  "Yes, her," the supervisor answered. He was taken aback by their reaction and added, “I was talking about Pandora.”

  "We do not refer to Pandora as she or her," Mr. Decuma reprimanded. "It is an experiment and is to be referred to as such." In disdain, he added, "To say she or her in reference implies Pandora has rights." Mr. Decuma made it quite clear. "It has none."

  "Of course, Mr. Decuma." The supervisor handed him the H.H.C. "My error. It will not happen again.” He returned to monitoring the analysts.

  Ms. Nona scanned the bio-data on the large center monitor. "There seems to be no adverse reaction to the Ultra-Epi. Though, complications could arise in the future. Also Pandora’s body is not rejecting the adrenal gland we genetically altered to create the supercharged epinephrine." She made a few notes. "We will have to monitor Pandora for any palpitations, tachycardia, anxiety, headaches, tremors, acute pulmonary edema, and hypertension."

  "Yes, some of those could be a problem," Mr. Morta stated. "We will see if it was wise to alter the gland instead of administering injections."

  Mr. Decuma finished setting up the test. "The Factory will be more than happy to assist us in the next field trial as one of our sister departments in the Sphinx Corporation."

  "The fact that they are developing the Un-Men as their new line of bio-mecha assassins does not hurt us either," Ms. Nona added.

  "Yes," Mr. Morta said. "The Factory’s earlier line of bodyguards was very profitable for the Sphinx Corporation. Now the Factory hopes to improve their power and standing by releasing an unmatched line of bio-mecha assassins. Pandora is an ideal forum to refine the Un-Men’s programing." He smiled, pleased with the project. "With Pandora's help, the Factory will be able to create the perfect killing machine."

  The female supervisor handed Ms. Nona a report. "There seems to be a problem." The Council woman read over the H.H.C. "Pandora has been unable to disable one of the Un-Men." Ms. Nona rechecked the report. "It is a Type Four model."

  "Terminate the test," Mr. Morta ordered, sitting upright. "Request that the Factory recall its bio-mecha. For Pandora to have destroyed four of the five Un-Men is not a failure."

  "The Factory reports a problem. The Un-Man has ignored its recall," Mr. Decuma relayed. "It seems they have a rogue on their hands."

  "A rogue, you say?" Mr. Morta said and thought, "This Un-Man must be exceptional to survive so long against Pandora. This is most interesting."

  "Yes, like I said a rogue," Mr. Decuma answered and then asked, "Shall I have Argus assist the project?"

  "No, not at this time." Calmly, Mr. Morta folded his hands and leaned back in the chair. "Pandora must learn to survive on its own." He thought, "Anyway, we not only need to develop Pandora’s body, but its character. And what better way to develop character than to face adversity. In the past, great warriors went up against other great warriors to see who was better and test their mettle. Strength and endurance grows through conflict just as steel sharpens steel. The Rogue will be Pandora’s adversary."

  Chapter Three

  Kimberly Griffin

  About one year later...

  32 A.D.C...

  October 12...

  Tuesday...

  7:59 P.M...

  The Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office towered over the streets of the Hellenistic Sector, Business Vicinage. When the city was created about a hundred years ago, the Corporate Senate (the world’s ruling body based in the city) divided Noir into hundreds of sectors. Each sector was owned and governed by a corporation. The sectors were then divided by each corporation into smaller areas called vicinages. Sphinx owned and ruled the Hellenistic Sector.

  Each corporation policed its sector with its own corporate military. The world had its own civil police force which dealt in non-corporate issues like assaults, murders by non-Closers, and anything else the corporate military kicked to them. Authority always belonged to the corporations.

  The Sphinx Corporation Third Branch Office was one of many massive buildings in Noir. A mile high and half mile across and back this building stood as a giant in the city and dominated as a Titan before the age of Zeus.

  A woman in her late thirties sat alone within a waiting room on Level 150. In her left hand, she held a key chain of a pink bunny rabbit. She rubbed her thumb over a worn spot on the rabbit’s cheery face. She, Kimberly Griffin, raked her long blonde hair behind her ear and rubbed her eye. She looked at a man’s picture on the cover of the Conglomerate World magazine lying on a coffee table. The headline read, Topa, Climbing the Ladder of Success?

  She shifted position on the light brown couch and glanced at the secretary. The older woman typed on a keyboard. Kim sighed, impatient, and turned her gaze to a few landscape paintings decorating the open room’s white walls. Their purpose was to soothe those who waited. They were supposed to take one’s mind away from the stresses of the day. The paintings incited no such solace in her. She sighed again and turned to the secretary as the woman answered the phone on her desk.

  The secretary hung up and cleared her throat. "Ms. Griffin your father..." The secretary caught herself and said, "I’m sorry, I mean the Chairman will
see you now."

  Kim nodded, too tired to be irritated, straightened her aqua pant suit, and headed for the huge corner office. The Chairman’s position ranked third under the President and Vice President. Since Sphinx was one of the more powerful corporations in the world, that made her father a very influential man with vast resources and global connections. Kim paused outside his office, vexed to have been called in. She had just returned from the Light Side of the planet and was wanting to go home and sleep. She took a deep breath, silencing her anger, opened the door, and walked in.

  Two of the walls within the office consisted of ten foot high windows. The office’s bright lights reflected off the windows like mirrors. The Chairman’s desk sat off from the corner, giving him even more presence of authority like a king on a throne. Kim closed the door.

  The Chairman glanced up from a computer and stared at her with his light blue eyes as she entered. He was in his late sixties, but looked younger around fifty. He wore a dark gray suit. "Kimberly, good to see you," he said, stood, walked to her, and kissed her on the cheek.

  She didn’t return his affection and almost turned from him repulsed. The Chairman tried not to show his disappointment as he motioned to one of the chairs in front of his desk. She sat as he returned to his seat.

  "Are you still living in the apartment off of West 1000 Avenue?" he questioned.

  Kim felt uneasy being in his office, but bore the discomfort. She noticed his graying black hair. "Yes."

  The Chairman waited a moment before continuing, hoping she would say something. When she only stared at him, he asked, "Are you seeing anyone?"

  She didn’t answer as she thought, "As if I have time for a boyfriend, but that’s none of his business."

  He quickly moved to the next question, feeling awkward in front of his daughter. "How’s work?"

  Still showing a bit of fatigue, she answered, "Fine. I finished a Closing in Moscow three days ago." Her face softened as she glanced at the bunny rabbit.