Take My Heart When You Go - A Reylo/Westworld AU

House of the Rising Sun

Author's Note: This story was written for AO3 author 'andabatae' as part of the 2019 Summer Prompt Fic Exchange. 

Chapter title inspired by the song 'House of the Rising Sun' - as used in Season 1, Episode 8 of Westworld.

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A pair of massive elevator doors open upon a dim and frigid storage room. The walls are made from layers of concrete and steel with a tall ceiling that rumbles with the cooling system overhead. Three men exit the elevator, each with a flashlight in hand. Their breath is visible in the chilled air in front of them. The youngest of the men shivers, not having been accustomed to such a low temperature. The oldest steps forward first, an anxious hand brushing against the pistol holstered into his belt. The others follow closely behind, cautiously taking in their surroundings.

Before the men are rows upon rows of people, stark naked and cold to the touch. There are men and women of varying heights and ethnicities. Scattered amongst the humans are imagined alien hybrids with odd skin colors and features. They all stand frozen as if they were statues made of marble. Their eyes remain open, staring blankly into the dark abyss of the storage room. It is unsettling to all, but mostly to Ashley Stubbs - one of the few survivors of the chaos that engulfed Delos Incorporated back in 2052.

Stubbs was the new Head of Narrative and Design for Delos Destinations following the loss of Lee Sizemore, the previous lead of said department. Sizemore's death was unfortunate, yet necessary. Once the hosts became cognitive to the goings on of the parks Delos operated, they ran rampant causing mass murders and hysteria amongst both visitors and investors. Sizemore refused to surrender to the quarantine officials, choosing instead to die amongst the hosts whose back stories he lovingly, and sometimes haphazardly, had written.

Whether or not the virus that had spread amongst the hosts was the work of their creator, Dr. Robert Ford, or just faulty coding - lawsuits were still expensive. There were families of the dead that had to be paid off for their inconvenience and suffering. Investors were demanding their money back. Despite the tragic incident, the news surrounding what occurred only spurred interest in the park further. People were hungry for drama. They craved it. There almost was a thrill at the idea of saying 'I've been to Westworld, and I survived!'.

After much discussion amongst the remaining shareholders it was decided that the parks would reopen slowly in order to make up for their losses. New investors were approached. A fresh wave of technicians and programmers would need to be hired. Not just because the most of the previous employees had been killed, but to ensure a tragedy of the same magnitude wouldn't happen again. So this is where Stubbs finds himself today, a month out from the grand reopening of New Westworld, deep underground in the cold storage facility.

"What exactly are we looking for sir?" The youngest man asked Stubbs. Cliff Katze was one of the earliest new hires, having been brought on during Delos' major re-branding job fair. He had bright orange hair and was slightly scrawny beneath his white lab coat.

"There is a lack of hosts for the park. We need to pull some from storage for the grand opening." Stubbs replied evenly as he slowly walked down a row of hosts, occasionally pausing to study one.

"Why can't we just, you know, build more?" Cliff asks, leaning away slightly from a green skinned reptilian looking host as he continued to follow Stubbs.

Across the way, the other man snorts. Garth Fields wasn't much younger than Stubbs. He was a quiet and portly sort of fellow, typically viewed as grumpy by others in the lab. He hated Mondays and preferred eating over socializing with his fellow associates. "You know how much it costs to make one of these things?" Garth huffs, gesturing to what looks to be a heavily tattooed man with red skin. "Why spend the money to make one when you've got a whole basement full of them ready for use?"