Stuck in Momentum

Act 12 - Despotism

I am forced to play puppet to the monarch and his subjects. When all I want to do is cut my strings, why are you the one to tie my hands?

Mayu's slumber is interrupted when she hears a loud noise echo through the speakers across the facility. The automated voice of a Sentinel speaks, causing her to cover her ears.

"A test subject, the reanimated corpse by the name of Daniel Ohlsson has escaped containment and is headed towards a small town south of this base. All Agents are assigned to retrieve it and prevent any civilians from being harmed."

Mayu: "Ghh... what...? What does that even..." She rubs her eyes and sits up, trying to process what she just heard. "A test subject? I don't think I've ever heard that name before... Daniel."

Mayu climbs out of bed and gets into uniform as quickly as she can, leaving her room and moving to the cafeteria, only to find it empty. The last of the soldiers are rushing out.

Mayu: "Skipping breakfast today? Damn..." Mayu sighs and moves to the hangar. She sees Team Lunar with Sergeant Rubies first and notices that there are several Sentinels, soldiers, and unfamiliar Agents getting ready to move out compared to her previous visits.

Rai: "Yo, Mayu! We-"

Rubies: "Mayu, good, you're here! I need you to take these other clowns down and find that freak, NOW! You and your team are the best out of everyone here!"

Mayu: "Oh, uh... this is all a little sudden, isn't it?"

Zeno: "You kidding? Have any of these other losers fought lawless vigilantes far and wide? I don't think so!"

Rai: "We didn't even get to eat breakfast... speaking of... morning, Mayu!"

Mayu: "Morning... nearly fell out of my bed because of that announcement."

Rubies: "That's cause this is an emergency... whatever that thing is doing, it's going to end up falling into Scorpius custody soon..."

Rubies: "I read the reports, Mayu. The one that you assisted on your first mission, that's the one named Daniel Ohlsson... his brain was extracted from his body during the Saisei incident, and his corpse was used for reanimation experiments... Orion took him after the slaughter that set him loose, and we've been working on improving his functional brain ever since..."

Mayu: "..."

Mayu: "Wait... that was him? Rufus?!"

Rubies: "Mhm... you helped out an empty corpse. The halo on its head was the new 'brain' if you will."

Zeno: "Brain? No way could you replace his old brain like that."

Rubies: "The halo on its head was connected to an artificial nervous system that moved the entire body... reports say that the reason it's going berserk is that it had been receiving memories of its former life... chances are, it doesn't get what it's even seeing. Who knows what it could do?"

Mayu: "I... wh... I thought he didn't even have a name! So, that means I don't have to call him Rufus? But a past life... that... that must be... I never really thought about it before, that he was a person once..."

Rai: "Yeah, getting memories like that... must be rough. He might just go crazy and attack innocents in the process."

Mayu: "..."

Two Agents pass by the team. The first one is a young woman, who looks to be the same age as Mayu, with a gray and green suit of armor. Her hair is long, and a shining silver color. Connected to her armor are two large, mechanical gloves that reach down to the ground. Next to her is a younger girl, with the same silver hair and a green uniform. Several small, fly-sized drones surround her.