Entry date: 12FEB2050
Apparently even hell freezing over cannot stop the utter bullshit of this city. It is days like today that make me wish for a reassignment to the Manaus office, at least I wouldn’t have to watch over Project Lazarus. On that note, expecting a meeting with HR to discuss the incident involving the now former project lead of that project.
February 12th, 2050. ReVitaLife Megatower 1, Gateway City, Missouri.
Caroline Turner’s alarm chimed in her auditory augmentation implant at half past four in the morning. With great reluctance, she pulled herself from the synthsilk sheets of her bed and looked out the window to watch the rain pelt down onto the window of her fortieth floor suite as she looked out over the neon lights that fought back against the oppressive grey of the stormclouds. The governor of Missouri had already declared a state of emergency for the impending ice storm with conservative total ice amounts expected to be about forty millimeters.
As she watched the ice forming on the window, she remembered her grandfather telling her stories about when a mere half inch of ice, which is only like thirteen millimeters of ice, would cause all movement in the region to stop. He was born in a time when this area was basically three cities with a network of suburban areas connecting them. She struggled to imagine the area only having about 2.7 million people in it, as the megacity was home to just over 50 million people now. He would tell her stories about how the tallest building in the entire world was only about 830 meters tall and the tallest building in the area was the Gateway Arch, which is a tiny 192 meter landmark that was nearly a century old now. Her building, which was a third of the size of any one of the “The Big Six” towers, was still 60 stories and with the broadcast antennas on the top of it, reached 255 meters at the top.
The chime of her auditory implant mixed with the name “Captain Hoffstead” appearing in her vision pulled her from her walk down memory lane. With a thought, she accepted the vidcall, which put an image of Captain Hoffstead in the top left corner of her heads-up-display. As she saw that the captain was in his corporate uniform, she had to wonder if it was just how his Personal Management Agent always rendered his appearance or if he practically lived in one of his uniforms. Caroline always had issues keeping her PMA from rendering her in anything other than her current clothing. The thought made her immediately thankful that she had crashed in her clothes last night after going to the bar with her friends last night.
“Sergeant Turner” the captain started, “I hope I did not wake you”, while his words were polite, his tone was the same cold, commanding way that he spoke to everyone. “I have a change to your assignment today. You will not be on the cargo run today. Project Phoenix had a breakthrough and requested a tac-team present for the test.”
“Sir, I thought Project Phoenix was red team’s. If I may, why are you calling me instead of Sergeant Mendez?” Caroline asked as she moved over to her coffee machine, pressing the button to start herself a cup.
“Special request from the project director” was all the answer the captain gave.
“Roger. Give me thirty, and my team will be there directly.”
“You have twenty-five” and with those words, the captain’s image disappeared from her sight.
“Whiskey Tango Fox” she muttered to herself, baffled at both the sudden change of assignment and the curtness of the captain just hanging up on her. “At least I have time for my coffee”. She pulled the cup from her machine, taking a long inhale of the warm steam coming off of it and enjoying the aroma from it. “There is nothing like the smell of real coffee, that synth shit just can never get it right” she thought aloud, before taking her first drink of it. With a thought she sent a ping with an attached message to her team that read, “We’ve been reassigned, instead of babysitting boxes down to Dallas today, we are staying local. Project Phoenix requested us, muster in 20.”
Exactly twenty minutes later, Caroline and her team were sitting in a briefing room on the security level being briefed by Captain Hoffstead. The assignment was simple on the surface, Project Phoenix had finally resolved the data issue that had been plaguing them for the last two years and were ready for their first live test.
“For those of you that are unaware, Project Phoenix is the next evolution of our anti-aging technology. As you know, our most popular product line is our suite of nanobots that repair organs and can correct minor RNA/DNA degradation. That technology alone increased the life expectancy from eighty years to one hundred and fifty, and provides a substantial QoL improvement across all age ranges.” the captain paused for a moment giving the proper reverence to the corporation’s achievements, “Project Phoenix aims to within the next decade to effectively invalidate the concept of life expectancy. I know I don’t need to tell you how valuable a technology that can provide immortality is.” With the captain’s words, Caroline swore that she could see his eyes flash credstick orange before he indicated that the mission brief was over using his customary “Questions?”
Caroline’s second in command, Corporal Matthews, spoke up, “Sir, no disrespect, but we got yanked from a priority orange assignment to watch the white coats. That assignment was a contracted three thousand credits, it was going to cover each squad member’s rent for the month.” Matthews’s voice trailed off under the stern glare that Captain Hoffstead had trained on him.
“Is there a question in there Corporal?” The captain’s tone was unamused and annoyed.
“What is the priority code for this mission?” The corporal finally managed to get out.
“Violet”
That single word froze the room. All the bored fidgeting and idle equipment checks stopped. Violet was the second highest priority on the scale. The priority codes were jokingly called “the rainbow scale” following the order of colors in the rainbow, with “red” being the lowest priority and “ultraviolet” technically being the highest. Ultraviolet priority missions were practically myths, like the mission to neutralize the entire C-suite of Monsanto-Bayer’s Gateway operations, without leveling one of The Big Six towers and without leaving any trace to RVL (what everyone within the company called ReVita Life).
Caroline sat there for a moment, letting the news soak in and then with a nod she looked at the captain, “Captain, what exactly are we going to be dealing with? I thought that this was an internal matter.” The calmness in her voice surprised even her, that calmness quickly evaporated with the captain’s reply.
The captain pressed a button, activating the SCIF procedures for the briefing room, which produced a small scroll of errors to appear in Caroline’s vision, “PMA connection blocked. Communication Protocol Blocked. Recording Protocol Blocked.” She could see the rest of the people in the room had the same unfocused look for a moment as she recognized the faces of people reading similar scroll bars in their vision. After a moment the captain spoke, “As you all have no doubt figured, the following information is a company secret of the highest level. It cannot be shared with anyone outside of this room.” He paused for a moment as if he had not stated the obvious, but it was a common corporate tactic used as a verbal underline of the importance of the complete secrecy of the following information. “Project Phoenix is not named after the city, it is named after the mythological creature, its goal is to allow a person to transfer the mind into a genetically perfect match of their body, ideally at the absolute physical peak of that body. We have had the capability to copy all the data of a human brain for about five years now, but due to the fact that it had to be spread among multiple databanks, the upload into a blank body has been too slow and the body suffers mental issues because the brain starts creating data the moment it is activated. Our data tech partnership with Sandisk-Seagate was finally about to provide us with a databank capable of both storage and high-speed transfer of 2.5 petabytes. With that, today is going to be the first test of a complete upload of a stored mind onto a biologically blank.” When the captain finished he looked at the security team. It was clear that the priority code for this mission had nothing to do with the physical threat level, at least to the trained security, but the combination of threat to the scientists that would have no protective implants and likely no skills in subduing a fit individual that had gone completely insane.
Caroline stood and looked to her team, “No firearms, we will be in a confined space with multiple non-combatant assets. Stun batons and any close range non-projectile implants will be authorized for the majority of you.” She then looked at Guardsman First Class Kenji Higa, “Higa” her voice sharp and clear as she looked at the newest member of her team, a breaching and shotgun specialist, “You will be on the Mossberg”. Kenji replies to her words with a crisp dip of his head, halfway between a shallow bow and a casual nod. She couldn’t help but give a smile, remembering that Kenji came from a Japanese family that had spent multiple generations in the strict JSDF before moving to California in the mid 2030s. It would seem that his family kept up with the formalities, even with the paramilitary nature of RVLSF being much less rigid with the hierarchy of command.
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
A short ten minutes after the meeting, Caroline and her team were riding their way down the elevator into the sublevel research labs. When the elevator dinged, notifying everyone that they had reached sublevel 5, everyone exited the elevator to be greeted by a scientist that appeared to be in his mid-forties. Caroline reminded herself that with the perks of being a RVL employee, the scientist could be close to a century old now with the aid of the corporation’s de-aging nanobots and bioaugments.
The scientist extended his hand toward Caroline, “Sergeant, it is a pleasure to officially meet you, your great-grandfather spoke highly of you and is proud of your work and dedication to the corporation. You are truly an exemplar of the ReVita Life spirit.” the scientist said to her. With his words, it became clear that this scientist must be at least a project lead to have dealings with her great-grandfather and was likely older than his appearance. It was no secret that Caroline was a legacy hire, as her entire family worked for the corporation. Her great-grandfather was the lead inhouse legal representative, with both of his children working as midlevel managers, and both of Caroline’s parents also being RVL employees. Her father followed her great-grandfather’s lifepath and had become a lawyer for the corporation. While her mother was a simple secretary for the corporation when she met Caroline’s father, she now served as an executive assistant to someone within the c-suite. “So, what is your plan to keep the asset safe?” the lead scientist asked Caroline.
Caroline arched her eyebrow, “I think we were all under the impression that you and your team were the asset. But I get the feeling that there has been a misunderstanding.”
“Indeed, the asset is my patient, she must be protected at all costs.” His face serious, the face of a man that was wholly devoted to the words that he just said, and willing to pay any cost to have them become reality.
Caroline gave a nod and looked over the lab for a moment, before saying, “I have my team outfitted with less lethal kit and my corporal has our Atlas line of muscle modifications, so he should be able to hold the asset in place. The asset is unmodified, correct?”
“Yes, well, save for having a consumer grade data and interface implant.” Doctor Paronov said, Caroline finally got a look at his employee badge. It wasn’t within keeping with corporate policy to ask those in a higher tier of the orgchart their name if they did not offer it.
“Very well, my corporal will stand next to the asset, the rest of my team will be within reach to provide assistance, if needed.” Caroline looked up to the observation room that overlooked the lab room. “I assume you are going to be on the observation deck?”
“Correct” the doctor said.
“Perfect, I will be up there with you, to provide coordination and a bird’s eye view for my team” Caroline said.
The doctor simply nodded in agreement and with that, Caroline’s team entered the lab while Caroline and the doctor walked to the flight of stairs to the observation room. Caroline looked over the lab from above, it looked like a normal implant studio, if a bit more sterile, in the way an interrogation room is sterile. Her team fanned out just a little more than an arm’s length away from the body that lay lifeless in the implantation chair. Caroline looked over the asset, she was a girl, maybe a young adult, in appearance, with just a chest wrap and shorts that did little to protect her dignity. Caroline did have to admit that she was pretty, much like a doll is pretty, perfect in every way, with blonde hair that was that salon perfect mix of dark blonde roots but lightened towards the ends and was still glossy and Caroline would wager her last paycheck it was criminally soft. The asset’s muscles, even while limp and lifeless, were clearly defined. The brief was correct that the body that the brain data was going to be implanted into was perfect, and Caroline felt a pang of jealousy followed by embarrassment at getting jealous of a body that was literally grown in a lab to be perfect.
“Lacey” the doctor said, drawing Caroline’s attention back to him.
“Excuse me?” Caroline asked, confused.
“My daughter, Lacey. She was killed seven years ago. She was walking back with her girlfriend from a Cardinal’s game when a team of flesh peddlers grabbed them. Even in her original body, it was obvious that she was both fully organic and healthy, both of them.” The doctor stopped, a single tear running down his cheek. “It took the police two weeks to find them, and that was only because an alert nurse at the hospital reported her suspicion to her supervisor. A couple that had been to the hospital repeatedly for the wife’s failing liver suddenly had a private donation of a liver.” A sob cut off the doctor’s story, before he took a long gasping breath and continued. “It was Lacey’s girlfriend’s liver. I’m a horrible man, they were together for four years, they met freshman year of high school on the cheerleading team. They were so in love, and… and I can’t even remember her name.” The doctor’s face twisted in frustration before he stuck the glass window that looked over the lab. Caroline knew that feeling, the rage and pain from so deep inside that it had to spill out in violence.
“Doctor, can… how did you get Lacey’s memory?” Caroline asked, her curiosity getting the better of her, before she rapidly added on a plausible lie to excuse her curiosity, “I just want to make sure you aren’t attempting to upload the mind of someone that had been dead for weeks into a fresh body.” Saying it out loud, Caroline had instantly wished she just allowed her curiosity to be the driving factor of the question.
“We have had the ability to store memories on external databanks for nearly two decades now, in fact, it has been within your lifetime, Carrie, that we have been able to integrate weak AI that will interface with the neural network of your brain and allow a person to literally upload data directly into the brain.” The doctor gave a smile, his professional demeanor returned as he continued, “About a decade ago, we decided to test if the data in the brain really did change a noticeable amount with age and education level, so we copied hundreds of brains worth of data and compared them and we found that after about age fourteen, the amount of data in a brain is roughly stagnant, with variation of amount of less than two gigabytes.”
Caroline nodded and then looked back to the lab, the tech had just plugged a data transfer cable into the data port of Lacey’s lifeless body.
“Phoenix protocol starting” the voice of the tech coming through an overhead speaker. As Caroline watched the tech pick up an autoinjector, the voice continued “Administering epinephrine, and cortisol” and as the tech pressed the injector to Lacey’s thigh, there was an audible hiss over the speaker, then the tech said flatly, “Stand clear”. The whine of a capacitor charging filled the room and then Lacey’s body twitched as the current ran through it. A moment later, a steady beeping could be heard, followed by the announcement of “Steady sinus rhythm, delta waves stable, theta through beta still nil. Proceeding with memory transfer”.
Caroline looked at a bio-monitor on the wall, showing Lacey’s vitals, and she quickly realized that it was pointless, she didn’t have a clue what she was looking at so she turned back to watching the lab.
“The transfer should take about ten minutes” the doctor said from behind Caroline, she could feel him move close to stand beside her and watch.
Caroline turned to say something when an alarm sounded, and the tech’s voice came over the speaker again, “Shit! BP is spiking, pulse is elevated, cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine levels are spiking. Shit fuck! She is going into a neurostorm! Restain her!” The tech’s voice held pure panic in it.
Caroline wasn’t able to get an order out before Lacey’s eyes opened, and even from the observation deck it was clear that there was no higher thought in her brain, just pure animalistic fear and instinct. Caroline was helpless to do anything as she watched Lacey grab the data bank, still in its protective case and slam it into the tech’s skull with as sickening squelch of one kilogram of metal impacting an unaugmented skull like a makeshift flail swung by sixty kilograms of barely contained rage and bone deep fear. As the pink mixture of blood and cerebral fluid spread on the floor from the obviously dead tech, Caroline finally managed to issue an order, “Subdue the patient”. The order was superfluous, as her team was already attempting to subdue Lacey. The horror started to sink in as she watched Higa fire a kinetic stun round into Lacey’s chest, and the only thing it did was cause Lacey to sprint and full speed into Higa before slamming into him with her full weight. Higa’s head slammed hard against the wall and then bounced off the floor and a red “critical injury” warning flashed in Caroline’s vision over Higa’s form. “Amend that, neutralize her” Caroline’s voice was cold.
“No! You can’t!” the doctor screamed next to her.
“My job is to protect the corporation and corporate assets, that is not your daugh-” Caroline’s words were cut off by a powerful impact to her torso. She could feel her combat implants and hormone regulators start flooding her system with a cocktail of chemicals while warnings flashed through her vision. She tried to talk, but only a gurgling sound came out of her mouth. She tilted her head down to see the doctor’s arm buried in her torso, just below her sternum. She could feel the cybernetic actuators in the doctor’s hand attempting to crush her spine. Thankful for the titanium nanolattice that had been woven into her bones, Caroline was pretty sure that he did not have to grip strength to actually crush her spine, but she knew a firm pull might be enough to rip her spinal column from her body. The realization that she was likely dead already and her body just hadn’t caught up to that fact yet, she reached a hand out towards the doctor’s head.
“This isn’t how I pictured being inside of you Caroline, but I guess beggars cannot be-”
Caroline didn’t let the doctor finish, with all the speed and power that her muscles could produce, she grabbed the back of the doctor’s head with one hand, and pushed on jaw with the other. The speed and force she was able to generate twisted the doctor’s head completely around. His hand spasmed a final time inside of her, before going limp and slid from her with a sick sucking sound. The world then went black for her.
