DETESTABLE

WRAITH (unfinished chapter)

JANUARY 19th, 11:13 PM, 2543.

Anton's was still open thankfully, being a late night bar; he didn't usually close until sometime in the morning. I didn't really memorize the schedule, and still have no motivation to memorize it when I can come during the day. The door whizzed open with a small noise, I heavily panted as I thankfully noticed Anton cleaning a class while watching the TV. Thank god, he's alright. "Hey..Anton." I heartily sighed, his eyes were full of sorrow and sympathy – his eyes never tore away from me. "Need a bartender to talk to?" he croaked with his regular raspy tone, I nodded somberly. He prepared a drink, different from my coffee; tears slowly poured from my uneasy eyes. I poured my heart out to the bartender before me, about my lazy dad who unusually sacrificed himself for my safety, the disappearance of Al, the chip I'd been given, everything. Anton was always keeping me out of trouble and usually keeping himself out of trouble, I was thankful that I was able to at least get this off my chest; it saved me the burden of carrying it alone onwards. I'm stuck. I have no place to call home and no family to return to. Perhaps it was out of pity, or maybe he understood my situation, but the next words to leave Anton's mouth felt like an ease to my problem. "My door is always open for you." His tone remained the same raspy one from earlier, I could tell he was affected by the things I'd said. "Thank you, Anton," was the only clear sentence I could croak out before tears enveloped my eyes once more. Once the tear fest had ended, Anton showed me to a small room in the back that was currently vacant – I had to be more careful on WR417H, perhaps I was being tracked and the detonation was my fault. Ripping myself from my thoughts, I made myself comfortable; setting down the system I had taken from home, I quickly set it up. My shaky fingers found themselves afraid to insert the chip that was given to me. Letting out a quick sigh, I placed the chip on top of the system and left it. I'll check it later. For now, I need to do some digging – reinserting the chip that Al left behind, I found a few more documents with different names. The classified encryptions were no joke, triple layered and overkill against cyberware that was meant for hacking. This security was good, but I'm better. Encrypting the files that were complacently sitting in the chip was tough, but once the deed was done; most of the files were more like blueprints than evil plans.

From first glance, I wasn't quite able to tell what the blueprint was of, but maybe if I took it to someone else they'd be able to know. I have to cover my tracks to not place Anton in any danger. The final file that was encrypted was an email, or a text or some type of message.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
subject: THE DAY OF RECKONING.

THE TESTING PHASE HAS BYPASSED. THE VIRAL INJECTION IS READY AND ARMED FOR ANY SCENARIO. WE ARE SUPPLYING EMBER WITH THESE INJECTIONS TO FULFILL OUR QUOTA.

GODSPEED.
FROM- $#@!()$#^@
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Viral..injection? I was always curious about how the lapse was able to enter — I never minded, but it was always something that wrecked in the back of my mind. Shakily my hands moved away from the keyboard formed from the technology engraved in my hand. The cold air left me shivering with worry, resolve, and anger; the hairs on my neck stood and goosebumps enveloped my body. Leaning back in my chair, I snapped a couple photos of the message that was in front of me.

This was a holy grail of information, and it would be detrimental to "EMBER" if it got out. Which raised another question, who were EMBER and why do they need these injections; not to mention the use that they could have for these other blueprints. Were they going to turn the entire world into Lapses? The questions were unstoppable as they flooded my brain – there were practically no answers to any of my questions in the leftover information in the chip.

My unsatiated curiosity would have to be put on hold for the current time; I can't be reckless and get Anton involved or hurt from this new-found info. Wraith could handle this all by herself — there was a reason that people sought her out for informational grabs; she could probably find more information about Ember on the net. Still...A viral injection? It was alarming to her the goals of this industry she'd been fooled by