A
Alex Hart
On, 188604: Sky Guard barracks in Sybio.
Alex had called Jay to come meet with him in his small office. Jay had been acting strangely since his arrival, and people were starting to complain to him. Alex knew he needed to get to the bottom of this.
"Jay? Are you there?" Alex asked.
"Of course, I always keep my word." He said. "You wanted to speak with me?"
Alex beckoned Jay into the office. "I'd like to talk to you about your past. You keep bringing it up in cryptic ways, and its very hard to know how to help unless you tell me what's going on."
"Ok then. You want the whole story?"
"Let's start with the easy stuff. Who is chasing you, and why?"
"Have you ever heard of Psychopomp?"
Alex's fists tightened.
"I'm... very familiar with them. More so than I'd like."
"Well, they created me. I am a clone - mutated, but a clone nonetheless."
"Of who?" Alex asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
"Never knew. Apparently, he was the first successful product of their SSI program. I was a test. Disposable. "
Alex grimaced. "God damn them. I shouldn't be surprised. They had to test their cloning tech somehow. Listen, do you know what you were supposed to be good at? Any skills you were supposed to innately have?"
Jay contorted his face in thought. "I think they said something about piloting. And maybe some spec ops type stuff. Doesn't really matter, since I'm a mutation anyway."
Alex frowned. "I have a hunch on who you're a clone of. But..."
"But what?"
"But I'm not sure you'll like it."
"Why? I couldn't care less who the source was. Frankly, they're probably dead."
Alex sighed. "Sit down for a while, I've got a bit of a story to tell you." Alex said, pulling out a chair for Jay.
Jay took a seat. "Alright then. Looks like the roles have been reversed." He said with a sly grin.
"Listen, I used to be, until about a half a year ago, one of Psychopomp's experiments. About eleven years ago, they captured me and many other children and formed the basis of the SSI on us. I was a little different however, because before I was born Psychopomp messed with my genes to make me a great pilot."
"And you think I'm a clone of you?"
"Psychopomp cloned me a lot from what I've heard."
"Huh. Well, maybe that bodes well for my piloting skills. Looks like I could benefit from some training."
"I had ten years worth of training in that place."
"Ok then. Looks like that's out the window."
"That's not meant to be a discouraging statement. I think you can improve a lot, but there are just a few advantages that I was 'given' that are unique."
Alex leaned against a wall.
"So why do you think Psychopomp is hunting for you?"
"Guess I'm a liability... or maybe they want to research my mutation. Or maybe even Intel. Who knows?"
"Well, they'd have a hard time getting past all the people around here."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"So why do you still act worried?"
"I've seen lots of people die because of me. Whatever it is they want, they want it bad."
"This is a place where people are willing, and prepared, to fight for their friends."
"Sure, but I've seen what they can do. They'll stop at nothing, short of total war."
"I'm fairly sure that if Psychopomp tries anything they'll have one on their hands. Besides, you aren't the only one who's seen what they'll do to get what they want."
"I suspect it's this data chip I've been decrypting. It seems to contain Psychopomp data. The question is, what to do with it?"
"Well, I'd say finish decrypting it first. Then figure out what to do with it."
"But do we use it as leverage, or release it?"
"That all depends on what's inside."
"True. Whatever it is, they sure as hell don't want us to see it."
"Okay. I need to know if you're ready to trust everyone here now though."
"I suppose if you can trust them, I can as well. Just make sure we have an early warning system to spot them. It's only a matter of time until they find me here - better we catch them in space and keep them from ever reaching the surface."
"There's a sensor system. We spot every craft in the star system."
"I meant a listening station. Their encryption codes are on the chip - we could track their movements."
"Let's take it one step at a time. Decrypting first, then everything else."
"Fair enough. Anything else?"
"That's all." Alex said. "Feel free to go about your business."
Jay got up to leave, but suddenly turned around. "Oh by the way, when do I start flying that fighter of yours?"
"Of mine?" Alex asked.
"Yeah. You seem to have a lot to do with it, having the prototype and all."
"Well, once I'm satisfied you can pilot properly, you'll be assigned one."
"Alright then." He said, as he he walked out of the room.
Alex had called Jay to come meet with him in his small office. Jay had been acting strangely since his arrival, and people were starting to complain to him. Alex knew he needed to get to the bottom of this.
"Jay? Are you there?" Alex asked.
"Of course, I always keep my word." He said. "You wanted to speak with me?"
Alex beckoned Jay into the office. "I'd like to talk to you about your past. You keep bringing it up in cryptic ways, and its very hard to know how to help unless you tell me what's going on."
"Ok then. You want the whole story?"
"Let's start with the easy stuff. Who is chasing you, and why?"
"Have you ever heard of Psychopomp?"
Alex's fists tightened.
"I'm... very familiar with them. More so than I'd like."
"Well, they created me. I am a clone - mutated, but a clone nonetheless."
"Of who?" Alex asked, afraid he already knew the answer.
"Never knew. Apparently, he was the first successful product of their SSI program. I was a test. Disposable. "
Alex grimaced. "God damn them. I shouldn't be surprised. They had to test their cloning tech somehow. Listen, do you know what you were supposed to be good at? Any skills you were supposed to innately have?"
Jay contorted his face in thought. "I think they said something about piloting. And maybe some spec ops type stuff. Doesn't really matter, since I'm a mutation anyway."
Alex frowned. "I have a hunch on who you're a clone of. But..."
"But what?"
"But I'm not sure you'll like it."
"Why? I couldn't care less who the source was. Frankly, they're probably dead."
Alex sighed. "Sit down for a while, I've got a bit of a story to tell you." Alex said, pulling out a chair for Jay.
Jay took a seat. "Alright then. Looks like the roles have been reversed." He said with a sly grin.
"Listen, I used to be, until about a half a year ago, one of Psychopomp's experiments. About eleven years ago, they captured me and many other children and formed the basis of the SSI on us. I was a little different however, because before I was born Psychopomp messed with my genes to make me a great pilot."
"And you think I'm a clone of you?"
"Psychopomp cloned me a lot from what I've heard."
"Huh. Well, maybe that bodes well for my piloting skills. Looks like I could benefit from some training."
"I had ten years worth of training in that place."
"Ok then. Looks like that's out the window."
"That's not meant to be a discouraging statement. I think you can improve a lot, but there are just a few advantages that I was 'given' that are unique."
Alex leaned against a wall.
"So why do you think Psychopomp is hunting for you?"
"Guess I'm a liability... or maybe they want to research my mutation. Or maybe even Intel. Who knows?"
"Well, they'd have a hard time getting past all the people around here."
"Yeah, I can see that."
"So why do you still act worried?"
"I've seen lots of people die because of me. Whatever it is they want, they want it bad."
"This is a place where people are willing, and prepared, to fight for their friends."
"Sure, but I've seen what they can do. They'll stop at nothing, short of total war."
"I'm fairly sure that if Psychopomp tries anything they'll have one on their hands. Besides, you aren't the only one who's seen what they'll do to get what they want."
"I suspect it's this data chip I've been decrypting. It seems to contain Psychopomp data. The question is, what to do with it?"
"Well, I'd say finish decrypting it first. Then figure out what to do with it."
"But do we use it as leverage, or release it?"
"That all depends on what's inside."
"True. Whatever it is, they sure as hell don't want us to see it."
"Okay. I need to know if you're ready to trust everyone here now though."
"I suppose if you can trust them, I can as well. Just make sure we have an early warning system to spot them. It's only a matter of time until they find me here - better we catch them in space and keep them from ever reaching the surface."
"There's a sensor system. We spot every craft in the star system."
"I meant a listening station. Their encryption codes are on the chip - we could track their movements."
"Let's take it one step at a time. Decrypting first, then everything else."
"Fair enough. Anything else?"
"That's all." Alex said. "Feel free to go about your business."
Jay got up to leave, but suddenly turned around. "Oh by the way, when do I start flying that fighter of yours?"
"Of mine?" Alex asked.
"Yeah. You seem to have a lot to do with it, having the prototype and all."
"Well, once I'm satisfied you can pilot properly, you'll be assigned one."
"Alright then." He said, as he he walked out of the room.
