Triptych

Chapter 14

HI again. So, I wanted to go a completely different route with this chapter but Lana doesn't listen to me hehe. Hence you witness my attempt at writing some actual action

Mac

Lana dozes off in the backseat as they leave the surface city. Mac has just adjusted her head in a more comfortable position when her head suddenly jerks up. Lana blinks her eyes in confusion, her actions freakishly robotic. "Lana?" Mac manages before Orion pushes her face down under the seat. She turns to Orion to see him disappear as camouflages himself to the car interior.

Lana looks around the car before speaking, "I'm in a hover, seems to be empty except me." She moves forward in her seat to peak ahead. "Self-driven, I don't recognize where we are." She narrates in a monotone voice and Mac tries to control her shaking as her worst fears are confirmed. "I can't access my live surveillance systems. The neural link seems to be tampered with." A pause. "Understood."

Mac can do nothing as Lana hacks into the car's navigation system and redirects them to a new location. She has a vague idea where they're headed now, and it doesn't bode well for any of them. Mac isn't sure if Lana is hacked or some dormant function is activated while her conscious mind was weakened. Orion's hand is a reassuring hand on the back of her head as she tries not to panic. Possible scenarios run through her head, each one worse than the last. Mac moves to the front seat and Orion relaxes a bit, pushing her further under the backseat.

The hover reaches the FOCUS high rise and Lana gets out, her movements jerky. She doesn't react when her head hits the roof on the way out, walking slowly towards the group of men standing at the doors. Mac extracts a button like device from her ring and places it on the door. Just like that, she can through to what's happening outside with no one the wiser. She recognizes Dr Yates standing with a middle aged man who's eyeing Lana with something like worry. Mac identifies him as Lana's father. He steps forward just to be stopped by Yates, who lifts Lana's chin up and seems to study her before nodding to the guards accompanying them. They escort Lana inside and two of them approach the car. Orion presses Mac's shoulder one last time before he reveals himself, stepping out of the car with his hands raised before they can spot Mac too. And so Mac watches her two friends be taken away to the one place she's afraid of.

Mac bites her lip, trying to stop her lips from tittering as she grabs the comm device Orion left behind. It looks like an old fashioned monocle, except she puts it on her right eye and connects to Orion's retina feed. He's explaining to the doctors how he found Lana walking alone late at night and just wanted to help. His credentials as a professional bodyguard help his story, but leave Lana defenseless. Her father looks more furious by the second and Lana searches around for Dr Stein. The old doctor is nowhere to be seen as Orion is dismissed with a thank you and Lana's unresponsive body is taken away, presumably to one of the labs to be rewired like some broken toy.

"Don't do anything rash Mac." Orion mutters as he walks out of the building. As if he felt her rage, as if he knew she had a hand on the door handle, ready to barge in and get Lana out any cost. "We'll regroup and find another way to help her, but you need to stay incognito."

"There's no time for that." She snaps angrily, fighting back tears. "It might be too late for that already and you know that."

The line cuts off, interrupted by another incoming call.

"Where the fuck are you?" Mac yells down the line.

"Why what happened?" Stein sounds breathless. "I needed to enhance my security before I contacted you but, I got made Mac. I'm really sorry I can't be your contact-"

"They took Lana" She breathes out, barely registering the doctor's words. "I don't- I don't know if they hacked her or just took over because she was drunk. But they took her."

"What do you mean they took her?" Orion climbs back inside the car and drives them back, his ears tuned in to the conversation. "They cant just make house arrests without raising suspicion, not in this district."

"Her father was suspicious because she's been asking questions I guess." Orion answers this time. "Apparently she's been second guessing herself and the upgrade."

Dr Stein swears in frustration. "Poor girl. I really hoped she'll have more time-"

"No" Mac snaps, cutting him off. "No we're not just leaving her there."

"Mac." Orion warns but she waves his hand away.

"NO. We're not bowing our heads in sympathy and letting her be another sad loss to the system. This isn't a normal case either. They could use her as a stealth weapon, completely rewrite her identity not to mention break a dozen human augmentation laws. We're gonna get her back. Meet me at the lab" She disconnects the call and turns to Orion. "You're not talking me out of this."

"No I'm not" Orion shrugs, meeting her eyes. "If you're planning on doing what I think you are, you're gonna need back up."

Lana reaches her apartment to find a group of people gathered outside. She scoffs in impatience, assuming they are fans. But they flock to Orion when they exit the hover and that gives Mac a pause. "Is this your back up?"

"It's not Hollywood standard I know." He replies wryly. Mac rolls her eyes before gesturing them all to follow.

There's a plan, that's been in the works for months now. They were just waiting for the right time, Dr Stein always stalling them because his loyalty to the original FOCUS vision held him back. He had no such qualms now, as he briefed her and a group of surface city workers on the workings of FOCUS. Meanwhile, Mac works at her computer to check on Lana, her thoughts running miles a minute. Her false links are still up, which means they haven't caught on to the fact that Lana isn't connected to the FOCUS web anymore. And yet, and yet they were able to control her the minute she dozed off. She jumps away from the computers in frustration, pulling at her hair.

"Do we know what happened to her then?" She turns to find Orion behind her, a glass of water in his hand. Mac ignores it.

"It's the upgrade" The words turn sour on her tongue, and she swallows bitterly. "Its- I don't understand how but its deteriorating her biological mind, slowly taking over it until- "

"Until she's just a machine" Orion finishes grimly. They share a look, Mac's dread and sorrow mirrored in Orion's face.

"A weapon" Dr Stein interjects. "That's the final goal at least."

"You didn't tell me"

"I didn't know myself" He sounds apologetic at least. "I started digging after Lana incapacitated trained professionals in her evaluation and Yates acted like everything was normal. It's why I got fired, my license revoked for good."

"You confronted him" Orion states. "How did you expect that to go?"

"Exactly how it went actually" He smiles suspiciously. "Yates is a conceited man who likes announce his brilliance at every chance he gets."

"We have a first person confession?" Mac demands, reaching for the recording device in Dr Stein's hand.

"Withreceipts" He assures her. "We're ready when you are."