Installed Dreams (4)

Breakout

Content Notes: Sci-fi/Horror. Part of The Cog.

Previously: Mira obtained an illegal microchip which allowed her a window into an entirely different reality, and witnessed things which felt more real than anything in her life had before. For this and other dissenting behaviors that defy BiOptima regulations, Mira has been detained by the corporation that rules over Terra-2.

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Episode 4 : Breakout

“Delaura has confirmed her status. System reset at 3AM tonight.” Johnston bowed his head, hiding his eager-to-please gaze. His reverence was clear in the way his body curled in on itself, shrunk down to the most palatable bite.

“Yes, very good,” his Mistress purred, running a smooth ebony hand over his lean cheek. His head tilted against her palm, savoring the touch.

Her hand slid lower, a possessive graze along his throat before stopping to lift his chin. As his dark brown eyes raised to meet her, her other hand pushed a button on the side of her desk. The door locks let out a mechanical crunch as they sealed the two of them into the dimly lit, scrap-metal construction that passed for a private office.

“I’ll be attending this one, but… we have time.”

Johnston’s eyes lit up, “Yes, Miss.”

“Stop that. This isn’t work,” she let her hand fall, standing from her seat to move around the desk.

“Sorry, Aisha,” he beamed at her as she sat against the desk in front of him now.

“Good boy,” she let her hand ruffle his hair as he kneeled.

SYSTEM RESET IN 5 MINUTES.

BIOLOGICAL ENFORCEMENT DEPLOYED.

“Sleepers?” Aisha pulled her curtain of blue microbraids upward, twisting and wrapping until she had a secure pineapple bundle atop her head.

Johnston confirmed her suspicions. According to their intel from Delaura and Wasp, at least seven Sleepers would be guarding the facilities while the BiOptima Security Management Service went down for maintenance. They’d need to evade or neutralize the guards and be out before the system restarted.

SYSTEM RESET IN 3 MINUTES.

“Everyone in position?” Aisha whispered, leaning close over Johnston’s shoulder as they squinted toward the back security door of the squat, grey detainment facility.

Johnston nodded. Aisha laid a quick kiss against his neck before standing upright, pulling her 3D printed weapon from its holster.

Owning the gun was illegal on Terra-2. Printing it was an even greater infraction. But what they intended to do tonight was a crime unheard of on this disc; if BiOptima got their way, no one would hear of it after the fact either. Wouldn’t want the general public to find out that their all-powerful overlords failed to track down and prevent dissent from taking root.

Terra-2 never had a visible resistance presence because there is no resistance. That doesn’t happen here. When it does— no it didn’t. Restricted memory. Access denied. Despite this public perception of peace, somehow hundreds of people made their way into branches of Aisha’s Dreamer movement.

Years of effort, recruiting, shadow lurking, losses… It was time. Mira would be the first, the one who would actually get through. Delaura’s convenient proximity to her detainment gave them a wealth of data on her reaction to the Dream. Everything was perfectly aligned.

SYSTEM RESET IN 60 SECONDS.

All they had to do was pull her out and get her to the door. And hopefully all of them made it out to follow behind.

The lights on the building flickered briefly into blinding brilliance before their fluorescent white strobing shifted to a dull red glow.

SYSTEM MAINTENANCE IN PROGRESS.

Aisha nodded once toward her lover before they parted ways, in the shadows between the throbbing red glow half a dozen shapes slid along the walls toward individual entrance points. The goal was extraction in under 15 minutes, avoid the Sleepers where possible and keep moving.

A radio-like static echoed in Aisha’s head as she leaned against the wall, weapon aimed at the metal door next to her, followed by a series of electronic beeps.

“You’re in,” Wasp’s voice crackled, the communication chip always faced interference when their operations took them too close to BiOptima’s secure facilities. A mechanical thunk from the door confirmed Wasp’s notice.

Aisha held her breath as she swung the door open. If all went to plan her team should be inside the building now, securing the hallways while Wasp worked their way into the backup security system to ensure they remained invisible long enough to avoid raising the alarm.

The halls that led to the detainment cells were lit with the dim orange glow of emergency lights while the main system was down. The effect was ominous, the soundproof walls dulled even the refrain of Aisha’s footsteps along the concrete floor. She willed her steps to be even softer as she creeped forward, weapon drawn and ready to silence any Sleeper that crossed her path.

They were regular people, the Sleepers. Or at least they used to be. Their branch of BiOptima Enforcement was focused on monitoring and stealth. They were eerily quiet, all the way down to how they breathed. Mute, lacking in facial expression, and with eyes that moved more like a machine tracking movement than a human observer. Whatever BiOptima had modified within them, they came out… wrong.

Nothing moved in the halls as Aisha stepped quietly onward, but she flinched as another wave of static stimulated her auditory system.

“Mapping on. You’re almost there, just—“ Wasp’s voice became a background buzz along with every other thought as a tall figure stepped silently around the corner ahead.

The Sleeper moved forward slowly, scanning the halls in robotic sweeps, in the dim light their sclera glowed as though backlit. Aisha tried to stick to alcoves and shadow as she moved, but the obvious night vision negated the usefulness of that effort. The Sleeper’s gaze locked onto her as it began taking patient steps forward.

Aisha stopped in place, straightened out her shoulders, and rose to her full height in the center of the hallway. She kept her hands loose at her sides. Step by careful step the Sleeper closed the distance between them, then paused and held out a hand.

“No—“ Aisha couldn’t finish declining the silent demand to hand over her weapon; as soon as she opened her mouth a flash of darkness rushed in from her left. She barely had time to crouch as the Sleeper’s short staff sliced through the air where her head had been. An electric baton directly to the skull was likely lethal, definitely debilitating.

Without further thought she thrust her weapon upward against the stomach of the Sleeper, pressing down the trigger and sending a wave of electricity directly into the guard’s gut. It didn’t grunt or cry out, but she saw its mouth open in an attempt at expression as the force of the jolt took the shadow to its knees. Aisha didn’t hesitate before slamming the stun gun into the side of the Sleepers skull before it could rise and react again.

The Sleeper lay slumped on the floor in the middle of the hallway while the gash in its forehead leaked an over-exuberant stream of violet blood. Aisha grabbed the electric baton from beside the body. She barely hesitated before pressing the active end of the staff against the Sleepers neck. Its muscles tensed as she engaged the shock— three times. If it lived, its chips should be fried. Maybe it would go back to being a person before BiOptima tried to reclaim it.

Aisha touched the mottled, scarred skin on the side of her neck where her primary microchip used to be as she walked away from the body that now bore identical wounds.

Wasp had already disabled the cell locks by now, and Aisha walked into Mira’s cell with a grin on her face. She heard the whisper of her team inspecting other cells nearby.

“Well hello there little Dreamer, I heard you saw the real world.”

The younger woman looked up from her huddled position on the bare slab that made for a bed. Even in the dim light Aisha could see that they’d deprived her. Mira’s skin had gone almost translucent in detainment, ashen and pale compared to the photos of her prior to capture. Every Terran had distinctive purple veins, but hers were near black now and entirely too visible all across her body. She didn’t speak, though her head tilted to the side at Aisha’s words.

“You’ve been there before,” Aisha approached her slowly, and the girl didn’t flinch.

Mira’s bloodshot, black-rimmed eyes followed Aisha curiously. She stayed entirely still as Aisha stood beside her and pushed the matted brunette tangle away from her neck. There. On the back of Mira’s neck was a thick, dark purple scar just below her hairline.

Mira stared at Aisha for another moment after she stepped back.

“It was a dream— just a chip— but so real. I miss it already…” There was a gleam in Mira’s eyes as she whispered the words, a sudden realization that she was staring freedom in its beautiful, warm, brown eyes.

“It is real, it wasn’t just a chip, and you can go back. ” Aisha smiled again as Mira took her outstretched hand. “Welcome to the resistance, Mira.”

Wasp’s distorted echo reverberated through Aisha’s head again, warning of the approaching time limit. Aisha kept Mira standing and they shuffled quickly back through the path she’d entered by.

Back outside and distant from the detainment center, Aisha took stock of her team. They’d all made it out, two others were freed during their operation and were now on the move with escorts. The movement would grow. More Dreamers on Terra-2 with every passing day.

Mira would need a few days to recover before she was sent through the door.