Gunmetal Dark
By Angelina Vansen (angelina@gunmetaldark.com)

RATING: NC-17 overall, but this part is not.
CODES: Uber J/7
SUMMARY: Chapter 5 of my sci-fi uber sees MIA #223939 (Seven of Nine) return to the Network to find the suit's creator, Dr. Kaine Sigg (Janeway). However, it may be more efficient to start at the beginning.

5.

She spent the night mindless, hanging in her green stupor to save power for when Yimini came again. Sheltering under the overhang, letting the suit take care of everything. Without her Network connection, there was nothing she could do but pace the hills and grow more frightened at the countdown. Useless.

The suit woke her at sunrise, wanting her to move into the daylight so it could recharge. She obeyed, clanking her way out from her shelter and into the rays from the rising sun.

How cumbersome the suit seemed now she had been out of it, at least virtually. Heavy, alien, not a part of her at all. Everything about it felt intrusive now.

For the first time, she took a good look at herself, or rather tried to. Wanting to see how the suit was attached to her, wanting to see if there were any obvious ways she might begin to remove it.

Her arms, the plated cuffs the guns were hidden in, were the most visible part of the suit from her perspective. They covered her from wrist to elbow, leaving her hands bare. They were smooth and matte black with no panels or readouts or ports to be seen.

She ran her hands over them, trying to feel for something: an indentation, a button, a panel. She found nothing. Only the seam where they split when her guns emerged, but no external way to access it. She would need to be in black mode before it would open.

She felt across the breastplate, exploring by touch things she couldn't see. Again, it was smooth, the metal matte and strong, protecting the workings of the suit within. There were no external ways to access anything. A desperate grope of the back yielded the same results. Nothing. The suit was essentially impenetrable.

70

it said suddenly. The same flare of black power across her back, the same deadly fear quickening her heart.

She had to get out of this suit.

How was it going to kill her? Would it simply shut her down, stop regulating her body and leave her to rot in the desert, or would it be something more violent? Electrocution perhaps. Maybe it was instructing her to go out into the sun in order to power up for one final, deadly jolt. Perhaps it would just explode and leave her constituent parts splattered all over the hillside.

She was scared it would be painful. She didn't want to be alone. The suit seemed to be tighter now, crushing and tyrannical. She feared it would fall in on her, squash and shatter her.

She didn't want the suit there. She wanted to close her eyes, but even in the private blackness of her eyelids, a list of stats printed. Green on black, green on black. Repetitive. Awful. Number after number.

Then, a tickle in her open port, an electric prickling. Faint at first, at the very edge of the suit's awareness, and then it focused sharply into a definite presence. The Network.

A peculiar sensation, like a living thing she could hear breathing nearby. The suit sent a query up to space, and

SATELLITE YIMINI
PORT 776628
DRIVE G: RECEIVING
INPUT?

came through. Yimini was back overheard, just in range.

This time, she did not hesitate to connect. She pushed her password through her port and eagerly allowed that thick purple energy to envelop her and suck her out through the back of her own neck.

It felt wonderful, such relief, being built again limb by limb in this beautiful, virtual world, free from the suit. She flexed her fingers as her arms appeared, stretched her arms as far as they would reach, feeling the pull of every glorious muscle in her newborn body. She stroked the smooth skin of her belly and breasts and thighs. No metal, no suit. Her hair was long and pale and wonderful.

CONNECTED

appeared again in front of her. The same white letters. Then

STARTUP PROGRAM: TenkaTalk v8.0 INITIALISING
STARTUP PROGRAM: TenkaLook v3.1 INITIALISING
STARTUP PROGRAM: TenkaAssist v4.0 INITIALISING
STARTUP PROGRAM: TenkaTime v7.4 INITIALISING

came up beneath it in smaller letters. She was a little alarmed; that had definitely not happened last time.

A couple of seconds later, it was followed by

TenkaTalk LOGGED IN AS mia223939
TenkaLook LOGGED IN AS mia223939
TenkaAssist LOGGED IN AS mia223939
TenkaTime LOGGED IN AS mia223939

which then disappeared. She had no idea what any of it was. Nothing seemed different so she ignored it.

"Load Think Tank," she called. "Default environment."

Immediately, the thick wooden door materialised before her. She pushed it open and stepped into the stone room that lay inside. She was struck by how familiar and comforting this environment seemed. The seven figures huddled around their blazing fire were friends.

"Welcome, traveller. Do you have a query?"

"Load session," she said, and a small thread went out from her port to the port on the table.

"Your file has been analysed," boomed the figure closest to her.

"Yes?" she replied, breathless.

"Each of the subjects has been cross-referenced with information existing on the Network. We have provided hub connections wherever possible. Would you like a presentation, or would you prefer to download the file?"

"Download," she chose. She wanted to see it herself.

The file thread came out of the port, thicker and longer than the one she had given them. Her port accepted it and she felt the suit file it somewhere in the real world.

"View file," she said, opening an interface in front of her.

The Think Tank had worked hard. Every possible reference for each of the names on the list was presented. Many of them had images; most had quite detailed career and education information.

Too much. She scrolled through it all, much as she had when she first received the list, hoping that something, perhaps one of the faces this time, would seem familiar. Nothing did.

"I require analysis of the results," she said to the Think Tank.

"What do you wish to know?" one of the figures asked.

"Who is most likely to have been involved in the construction and design of the Softsuit?"

For a moment, the Think Tank fell silent. Even the fire seemed to burn a little slower in the hearth as they processed and analysed the vast amount of information they had collected for her.

"The Think Tank recommends four possible candidates," boomed a figure who sat at the back of the group. "However, the Legal Department wishes to warn you that results of an analysis such as this are speculation only."

"Yes," she dismissed impatiently.

An interface opened beside her, displaying data to augment their conclusions.

"Dr. Camero Lorea," they began, and a picture of a slight, brown-haired man appeared on the interface. "Has a strong background in biophysics and has written several papers on the theoretical applications of Mainstem port grafts. We have hub connections for a series of recorded lectures if you would like to view them."

"Later," she said, keen to look at all the candidates first.

The Think Tank continued. "Dr. Firenze Derecha," they presented, showing her a dark-skinned woman with rather complex hair. "Recipient of the Hoger Award for her work on the development of the Tenkatech Augbrain Mark VI. We also have connections to several lectures and a weekly Network column."

She shook her head. "Proceed to the next," she instructed.

"Dr. Kaine Sigg," came the next one, and a picture of a fine-boned woman with neat red hair was displayed on the interface. "Considered an expert in biomechanics, there is little information on her work since she was recruited by Tenkatech. Therefore it is likely she has been assigned to classified projects. We have hub connections to ..."

"Wait," she interrupted. Something had clicked. Not in her brain, as her brain may as well have been looking at pictures of blank walls, but something in the suit. Recognition. A reference.

Quickly, she pushed a query back to the physical part of herself, into the suit, wanting to know what it had found.

The suit replied, opening another interface below the Think Tank's.

REFERENCE FOUND

it said.

"Clarify," she told it.

REFERENCE FOUND IN MAIN PROPERTIES

it replied.

TENKATECH SOFTSUIT AJ6249-9721-E
BUILD 7.008.766-ksigg-amichael-hgoboo-6643009
ver500-MIA#223939

There it was. She had seen it before, in the first moments of her existence back at the launching field. It had been there right from the beginning.

ksigg

highlighted for her by the suit. For a moment, she couldn't breathe.

She looked again at the Think Tank's interface, at the picture of the woman to which it referred. ksigg. Kaine Sigg. Doctor Kaine Sigg. She rolled the name around in her head, and then in her mouth. She said it aloud. The name she had been looking for. An answer.

Even in her virtual body, in this virtual place, she felt breathless and sweaty. Excited.

"Connect me to Tenkatech Biosystems," she barked at the figures by the fire. "I need to see her."

Eagerly, she turned for the door.

"Dr. Sigg is currently listed as Missing In Action."

She froze. Turned back.

"What ... what does that mean?" Her voice cracked, fragile.

"Missing In Action," defined the deepest voice she had heard yet from the Think Tank. "Absent after combat and not known to be captured, injured, or dead."

"Dead?" she asked, hearing only the last word. "Kaine Sigg is dead?"

"Missing In Action is the term for a combatant who has not yet returned or otherwise been accounted for as either dead or a prisoner of war," the figure continued from the depths of his hood.

"I need to see her!"

Only silence from the group.

A thought came into her mind, a thought of picking each of them up by their throats and throwing them across the room as hard as she could. But this was a virtual room, and no one really existed here at all.

"Find her!" she bellowed at them. "If she is missing, find her!"

"Please clarify your request," she was told.

"Search for her!" she shouted frantically. "Search the Network. Search for Dr. Sigg. Kaine Sigg. You must find her!" She was insane, ranting, spitting. Wanting to grab them by the hoods and hurt them.

A brief pause as they collated. The fire spat and crackled. She paced the stone floor with her virtual heart full of blood and pounding.

"We have a hub connection for a Personal Office space, registered to Sigg, Dr. Kaine."

"Is she there?"

"Dr. Sigg is currently listed as Missing In Action," the Think Tank repeated.

"That does not matter! Connect me," she snapped.

"Granted," came the reply. "Tenkatech Personal Offices suite is now behind the door you entered from."

She turned and ran for the door desperately. Dr. Sigg would be in her office. If not there would be clues. She would find her.

She stepped onto the Personal Office hub, a small one with the words

TENKATECH PERSONAL OFFICE v.SLES-01514
SPACE #29083
HUB OF USER: ksigg

orbiting. The door was already in front of her, and she pushed it open.

Inside was a gentle room with gentle colours. A desk and a chair by one wall, a long couch against the other with spaces for several people to sit. Polished wooden cupboards and drawers and low, warm lighting provided by lamps.

But also a window. On the far wall, enormous, stretching almost from the ceiling to the floor. Stunning. For a moment she forgot why she had come here and just gazed.

She went to it and pressed her hands against the cool virtual glass. Outside there was an image of the sun setting on tall grey city buildings. Each kissed with orange light that spread hungrily from cloud to cloud and split into rays the colour of fresh blood. Birds sailed by in ribbons, singing.

She exhaled and the glass misted. Incredible.

Dr. Sigg had programmed this. Selected it. Imagined it. Just as she had programmed the suit. She, MIA#223939, was seeing something her creator had created. She was breathless at its beauty.

USER johnnymatei PRESENT IN THIS SPACE

materialised before her eyes suddenly, the bold white text projected into the view from the window and momentarily spoiling the illusion.

VIEW AVATAR?

She was startled and took a moment to respond.

"Yes," she instructed, curious.

She turned from the window and watched a figure appear, snapping into place midway between the door and the desk.

"Are you Kaine Sigg?" she challenged immediately.

She already knew it wasn't Sigg. The figure was male, hair too dark and far too young.

He gave her a peculiar look. "No," he said in a voice that suggested he thought her a lunatic. He eyed her warily.

"Who are you?" she demanded, approaching to examine him further. He was young, little more than a child, and he was dressed in bright colours, his trousers and short, slashed coat programmed to represent some sort of animal hide.

"Johnny," he told her nervously. She was taller than him and she stood close. Perhaps he found her intimidating.

"Why are you in this space?" she pressed.

"I came to download a paper," he cringed. "I'm taking Biosystems Theory and I need some research. My teacher told me to read Dr. Sigg's paper."

"Her paper?!" she spat.

"Yes," he stammered. "It's called T-Sync Future: A Second Look. Can I ... can I have it?"

"Yes," she said, stepping back. She had not intended to frighten this person; he was very young.

"Thanks," he said. An interface appeared in front of him and he tapped it twice. A white file thread came from one of Kaine Sigg's drawers and went into a port on his belly.

"Do you know the whereabouts of Kaine Sigg?" she asked, resuming her interrogation once he had the file he wanted.

"No," he protested. "I don't know her."

"She is classified as Missing in Action."

"Oh," Johnny shrugged his shoulders. "Like my Dad."

"I need to find her!" she cried, more in frustration than as a reply.

"Missing in Action means probably dead," Johnny said flatly. He looked at the floor, at Dr. Sigg's coffee-coloured carpet.

"No!" she insisted. "No, I need her. She is the only one who can help me!"

Johnny looked up and his young face held kindness. Compassion. Worry. "Maybe she's not dead. Just missing? It could be a mistake. Missing means they never found her body."

"You need to help me!" she pleaded. She lurched towards him, grabbing an urgent fistful of his black hide sleeve. "You will come with me and you will help me!"

His eyes widened considerably. "Erm ... sure, okay," he agreed uncertainly. "Why do you need her? Are you ill?"

"Ill?"

"Yeah, you know, unwell? You need a doctor to cure you?" He peered at her.

"I need this doctor," she responded, looking around the room at Kaine Sigg's things. "If I do not find her, I will die."

"Oh," Johnny muttered. "I'm ... I'm sorry."

He looked at the floor again. Shifted his booted foot closer to his other one; shifted it back.

"How will I find her?" she demanded.

"If she's Missing In Action ... I don't know. She could be hurt, in a hospital, or taken prisoner by the enemy. She could have lost her memory and her dogplant could have been damaged. When my dad disappeared ..."

She was not interested in Johnny's dad. She was only interested in Kaine Sigg. "If that happened how would I find her?" she interrupted.

Johnny took a breath. "Erm ... I don't know. Keep watching military releases, see if she's found. You could leave messages for her."

"Here?" she snapped. "I could leave a message here and she would get it?"

"Uh, maybe. If she came back here. There's not much you can do really. Missing in Action means probably dead," he reminded her.

"You will leave a message," she told him.

"If you want," he offered nervously.

"Yes," she demanded. "Tell her I must be released from the suit. She must show me how to escape it!"

Johnny looked bewildered, but opened up an interface nonetheless. At the top, the white words

TENKAPAPER NOTES EDITION 99Q1

floated. She watched curiously.

"Okay," he began. "What's your name? Mia?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your name's Mia, right? Like on your Tenkatech ID? So I can say who the message is from."

Mia? Her name? She stumbled. It wasn't really her name, it was her system ID, the name stamped on her brain, bestowed by something cold that was probably part of the suit.

She could not explain that to this person, though. Explain that she was a soulless trooper with no name who had killed many.

Perhaps Mia was her name. She had no memory of any other.

"Yes," she said in a small voice, and watched it print up on the interface.

Mia. Kaine Sigg, you have a message from Mia.

Perhaps a name was important. Perhaps Kaine Sigg would respond better to a person with a name.

"And what ... uh ... exactly would you like to say? Something about a ... a suit?"

"Yes," Mia confirmed. "Tell her I am trapped in the suit. It has been cut off and it is self-destructing. I do not know who I am or how much longer I have left and I need her to tell me how to get out of it."

She shook as she said it; more emotion than she had felt before.

Johnny looked shocked, perplexed, his eyes wide on hers. "Is that true?" he asked in a small voice.

"Of course it is true!" she shouted, louder than she meant to.

"Okay fine, I'll tell her," he said quickly. Looking scared of her again. He went back to the interface, inputting.

"What kind of suit?" he asked. "Like armour?"

"Yes," she breathed. "Armour. Weapons."

"Okay," he said again, inputting.

Suddenly, she felt something. A new sensation, something pushing into her head like a long needle. Not painful; she doubted anything was truly painful on the Network, but intrusive, alien. She gasped and put her hands instinctively to her head. Johnny looked up from the interface in alarm.

EXTERNAL DIP:
SOURCE UNKNOWN

printed before her in white text. Something familiar was in her head, a familiar presence. The suit.

She started to speak to Johnny, ask him what was going on, when suddenly everything imploded. She saw

EMERGENCY DISCONNECT
PROTOCOL AAperfect5
SOURCE UNKNOWN

then everything was gone, sucked in on itself in a smear of darkness. She was liquid, Johnny was a warped speck in a distant universe, Kaine Sigg's office smudged and blackened to nothing.

Her body folded inward and filled out again inside the suit. Her lungs gasped involuntarily and she woke again to reality.

Shock. Panic. Surrounded by the hideous desert, hot with afternoon sun and clunky with the suit. Eyes blinking with the unexpected brightness of true daylight.

She didn't understand. Satellite Yimini was still overhead; she could feel it with her port. Why had she been ripped from the Network so abruptly? She hadn't even finished her message to Kaine Sigg.

She queried the suit and the suit answered

YELLOW.

Tactical mode. Her body responded at once, instinctively obeying the suit's commands. The suit had detected a threat and had pulled her back to fight it.

She listened to the suit, read the data it presented. It heard the noise of a vehicle below in the foothills. The vehicle stopped and two soldiers got out. Their boots shifted on the loose soil. The weapons in their hands were checked and readied.

She was no longer alone and the suit was preparing to fight.

CONTINUE TO CHAPTER 6


Send me a message!

Go back to the Uber Index

Go back to the Main Index