Adrastae

Surgery

The two stood in the room, a glowing re/re gate above them. Aeren, frightened, felt all over herself to make sure everything was in place. George did the same. He didn't often go through gates voluntarily, because of the very nature of them, and he absolutely hated using them unless it was necessary. When he was done, he looked up, and took off his hood. They were in another small room, this one made of ceramics. The door in front of them opened. A small boy walked in, about eight years old. His hair was in a bowl cut, and he was wearing a jean jacket and pants. His undershirt was also a dark blue. His eyes were intense, and yet colorless. His iris was only a few shades darker than the rest of his eye. The boy smiled, and it was no natural smile. Aeren involuntarily took a step back. Stone stood his ground, like a rock. The boy's mouth opened, and out came a quick stream of Adrastael. Stone responded in kind. The child then began to walk towards Aeren. All along the ceiling and walls, pores opened and strange, prosthetic arms came out. Aeren could not tell what they were made of. They reached towards the child, and lifted him up to her eye level. The child greeted her, in perfect Algonian. Algonian was the language of her specific human variation, Homo Algonis. It was what she spoke on Duo. Barely anyone outside of the Algonian region could speak it. But this little boy, who could be no more than eight, spoke it perfectly. He greeted her, as if she was below him. Her first instinct was to deal with this kid as he deserved, he should know his betters. But something stopped her. The child smiled at her. He was mocking her. The arms pulled him back, and positioned him in the center of the room. He switched to Edwardian, the common language. "Welcome, George Stone and Aeren Vestraadi! Glad to see you could finally make it. As you may already have guessed, I am Edward. Well, not entirely. I am a child who was originally brain dead, but Edward claimed my body for my own! My brain has been entirely removed, and replaced with a robotic one that can speak to the mainframe, and control this body properly. But that is aside from the point, I just wanted to share it with you. Isn't technology fun?" Edward smiled crazily at George and Aeren. The arms pulled him back towards a different door than the one Edward walked into. "Follow me, everyone." They dropped him just as he was about to reach the doorway, and he hit the ground walking. The two reluctantly followed Edward through the doorway. It led into a long hallway, with what appeared to be a dropoff into a large manufacturing facility. It was hard at work, but Stone could not see what it was making. Whatever it was, there was a lot of it. Aeren tried to reach past the opening out of curiosity, but her hand was stopped. She tried again. Her hand stopped when it reached the edge. "It's compressed air. Quantum states are fun to mess around with, eh? Soon, you, Aeren, will be very very familiar with them." And then he laughed a high pitched laugh that set Aeren's nerves tingling with anxiety. She feared what he meant. "Come along." Edward walked briskly ahead of them, gesturing wildly as he talked about the amazing things they would see. Stone interrupted, asking "But how will this help Adrastae? You said there was a malfunctioning gate here, or something. Why is a personal teleporter necessary?" Edward casually replied over his shoulder, "Oh, the gate here is fine. All three of them are. The real reason I brought you here is far more pressing. One of the independent empires is getting antsy. Their leader is speaking out, claiming that he wants to "shut down Edward once and for all". Ridiculous! He will try to tear this peaceful civilization apart!" The child made a wide ripping gesture as he said this. "Why are we needed then? I don't see why some little collection of atomic-age systems are of any matter to us." Edward only smiled, and shook his head. "Cracks in the foundation are what bring towers down." Aeren spoke up nervously. "But why are we needed? I'm still not understanding.." Edward finally came to the end of the hallway, which was another de/re gate. Stone shuddered. Edward gazed at Stone for a few seconds, then shook out of his reverie. He gave one of his intensely offsetting smiles. "Why, you two are to assassinate their leader. What else? You two are already skilled in fighting. Aeren in hand to hand, George here in the art of murder without being seen. George was already trained, and yet lacks his required tools. Aeren, you are to come with me through the gate, after Stone. We have something special for you we think you will enjoy." "Umm.. Who is we?" Aeren nervously asked. "Myself. I am one person, spread out over many bodies. The most correct way to describe it is "I are one." And while that is grammatically incorrect, it is nevertheless accurate." Edward's smile grew even wider. Stone became worried it might split the poor child's face. He wondered if the child's parents knew what had happened to him. "Go on then!" Edward gestured at the gate. Stone considered the possibility of his worry showing on his face. "Goodbye.. I'll see you soon, hopefully," Aeren said. Stone grinned. "It'll be fine. Edward isn't malicious. Good luck." And with that, George Stone took running start into the glowing field. Aeren could see him flinch as his body was utterly destroyed. "Don't worry, dear. He is perfectly safe. I am told that he has arrived all in one piece, and is now being shown to the armory by myself. He will enjoy what I have prepared for him, ha ha! And you will, too." An arm came out of the ceiling, and picked Edward up as he pulled a small device out of his jacket pocket. Aeren realized it was the same device as one of the men in the alleyway had. Edward came up to her before she could react, and slammed it onto the side of her head. She felt something stab through her skull, into the expensive implant she had attached to her brain. The last thing she felt was an intense power surge before she blacked out.