[center][h3]A Bug in the System | Part II[/h3]
[sub]collab with [@Peaceless][/sub][/center]

The power core bay was growing quiet as the engineering teams were led out into safe areas. Outside, the guards on patrol took over the task of coordination, allowing Scotts to return inside. The red-eyed cyborg’s expression was hard to read due to various protrusions and strengthenings of her jaw, cheeks and brow, but her half-narrowed eyes contained a kind of impatient mischief that made the officers feel very mortal.

”Good, good.” She looked around as the last few engineers left, the men glancing apprehensively at the terminals they were leaving behind, as their duties were fully relieved to the AI. ”Very professional. I guess we can begin.” Their guns still trained on her, she made some make-believe stretches while finishing up the full systems diagnostic that was running in the background ever since the EMP reset the artificial part of her brain recorded. It was time for a test run. A fluid stretch downwards, a loud crack, and the black figure was suddenly flying towards Lowery. Her feet left sharp marks on the grates in the bay’s walkways as she crossed the distance towards the security officers with forceful, unnatural leaps.
 
For a fraction of a second Agent Lowery had lowered his guard just enough, while scrubbing through identifying information in his HUD, allowing the thrusting sprint from the cyborg to catch him flat-footed. But a second before she collided with the man, her direction switched abruptly sideways and she leapt out of engineering.

“Bitch!...” The Agent growled through clenched teeth, partly for being caught off guard and wondering just what the hell was wrong with this lady. He quickly aimed his pistol and fired two stun shots which clearly sent sparks and ricocheted off the creature’s exoskeletal frame, before sprinting toward the exit in tow.

“Well, you were right Noah...” He mumbled under his breath before speaking up. “I need you to track her path of egress, locking down all related corridors ahead of her.”

Lowery quickly switched to an open broadcast Security channel.

“All agents, Code Red, Engineering level. Currently in pursuit of suspected stowaway on foot, possibly armed and dangerous. Highly resistant to standard stun munitions. Sending image and ID scans to visors now.”

Chief TreVayne reviewed the holo-screens, which displayed a three-dimensional breakdown of everything NO4H had on the suspected cybernetic female stowaway, taking special interest in the scanner readouts of it’s “environmental suit”. 

“Noah, give me everything you have on potential weak spots of the exoskeleton. I know they exist, everyone has a weakness…”

The Chief switched to the open Security channel.

“Listen up folks, I want this [i]thing[/i] found and apprehended for questioning. No alarms, we don’t want to stir up more civil unrest than we’ve already had to deal with.”

“Sir, should we inform Admiral Locke?” One of the Dispatchers turn in his chair as he addressed the Chief.

“Not unless we have to…”

The combined view of overwatch cameras as well as rotating, high-resolution ones gave the pursuit the feeling of a car chase. The black-clad perpetrator zig-zagged between obstacles on her path, leaping over some makeshift barricades the on-site security would bring up, her jog well over the sprint speed of the fastest human. 

“Sir, the armored exoskeleton covering the subject is made of interlocking plates over their entire body, making it highly resistant to trauma and light arms fire,” NO4H droned while the screens switched between cameras to keep the cyborg in view. “Except the face. The subject’s speed as well as their spectrographic emissions limit the variety of materials used in their manufacture. According to my database and a tentative ballistic simulation, Anti-ship and anti-armor weapons have a high chance of penetration, but may damage the ship if fired inside. The main structural weaknesses of this armor are the joints, which may be penetrated by sustained fire of medium caliber weapons.”

The cyborg suddenly broke sideways into an adjacent corridor, noticing a bulkhead closing some hundred meters away. The screen showing the map to the Chief of Security would flicker as NO4H calculated alternate targets for the intruder, as well as interception routes for the involved security forces scattered on the ship. The path chosen as “most dangerous” led to one of the armament supply bunkers, and due to obvious design priorities, had very easy access from the main corridor leading from the security bay.

At least, that’s what she hoped would happen.

She crossed the corridors in lurching leaps, each bulkhead slamming shut just a few seconds behind her. They were catching up. One of the paths ahead already contained security guards and a barricade, and she was hailed by light arms fire that slowed her down by the few seconds that took some loose plates on the side of her face and over her head to interlock, forming a mask of the same material her body armor was made. She leapt over the barricade, knocking the helmet off the head of a security guard with her knee, and dived into the closing doors of the next bulkhead. Unfortunately, by the time she reached them the gap was narrower than her shoulders, and shrunk even further when she attempted to sidle through it. For a second that seemed to stretch forever, she pushed against the gigantic doors with her back and hands, and somehow slipped away into the next corridor.

The bulkhead she next faced had just finished closing shut. It was an intersection, and one of the side corridors, now closed, connected with one of security’s main transport veins. It was time to wait.

Gavon smiled as he stared at the footage of the cyborg caught in the center of a crossroad, all four bulkheads closed and locked tight, giving them at a least a few minutes of breathing room. He considered the possibilities based on NO4H’s current information and a rather slimmed down biomechanical schematic of the suspect’s physical make-up, showing key points of vulnerability along the interlocking plates of her armor. For a moment, the Chief couldn’t help but wonder what this creature used to be, perhaps part of some military experiment run on human test subjects? The thought disgusted him at best, never understanding why man felt it necessary to merge flesh and machines to the point that their humanity was all but lost somewhere in the wires and gears of [i]“engineering marvels”[/i].

“Listen up” He addressed the command room as well as the field Agents on the comm, pulling up level schematics on the holotable, pinpointing the cyborgs exact locations and sending the information to each officer’s visor HUD.

“It’s time to end this. Peacefully if possible, but end it nevertheless. I can’t have this thing running all over the damn ship unchecked, and until we know otherwise, consider the suspect armed, highly erratic, and dangerous. Based on current Agent proximity, we’re going to need a squad of six positioned at the main bulkhead door leading into the Security transit tunnel. The squad will be be accompanied by three [b][url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/95/e8/3f/95e83f7bf3d369cd2953a0460f525767.jpg]ARX45 Security droids[/url][/b] who will rendezvous with the squad and position themselves directly in front of the door, prepared to apprehend and secure the suspect as the door is reopened. As a bonus, Noah has located weak points throughout the cyborgs armor, and will highlight them via visor HUD. You will need to switch to higher caliber lethal rounds and aim for non-vital areas to [i]disable[/i] only if suspect continues to resist...”

Chief TreVayne paced back and forth, crossing his arms as he continued skimming through the cyborg’s bio readouts on the large holographic image in front of him.

“And if this thing likes to run, then let’s see how well she runs with her knees blown to hell. TreVayne out.”

SecCom erupted with chatter, and the next several moments was a cacophony of communication exchanges between central dispatch and the six field Agents chosen to regroup and make their way to the target location. The ARX45 Security droids -deployed and and programmed with specific protocols by NO4H- emerged from their holding areas hidden behind false walls that were scattered throughout the Vitae. The two needed were closest to the target zone and made it to the bulkhead doors, positioning themselves as instructed, a minute or two prior to the field Agents arrival.

Meanwhile, the cameras from inside the room showed unrest. The cyborg made a few fast walks around the room’s perimeter, touching the walls at certain points as if to try and listen to someone on the other side. Eventually she stopped in front of a wall, [i]climbed[/i] it to about two meters of height, and clung it for some time. A panel detached from the wall and slid down it, while she pushed her arm into the resulting hole. A second later, the room was in darkness, all video feed of the perpetrator lost.

“One moment, switching to emergency power,” NO4H hadn’t even finished that sentence and the feed returned, in greenish light, showing the cyborg walking around the room again. She stopped at a different point, repeated the process, and the video feed gradually disappeared again. Her vitals and heat signature remained on the Vitae’s map, but the room was now a dead zone to observation. The security chief’s monitors used to viewing the room’s interior switched to its exits, and the congregation of security forces in front of one of them. The video feed also vanished from the HUDs of the security officers outside.

The room was now officially a killzone.

[center]-------------------------------------------------[/center]

“She’s a persistent pain in the ass to say the least.” Gavon shook his head and smirked, watching the visual layouts switch from video to thermal imaging, giving off mostly layered patterns of blue and a few warming tones that outlined her physical form. “But enough theatrics, Noah open a two-way comm channel within that room, provided the audio is still in tact.”

“Affirmative, audio capabilities are at within acceptable parameters. Opening channel now, Sir.”

“This is Chief of Security Gavon TreVayne...” The digital sound crackled slightly as it echoed throughout the secured room holding the female cyborg. “...currently our Security team has your position surrounded and will be engaging to detain you for further investigation and questioning. I need you to cease and desist any further action that may be considered hostile, or we will be forced to use lethal means. Do you understand?” 

“Mr. TreVayne…” The cyborg’s harsh, heavily accented voice emanated from the speakers in the chief’s office.  The thermal sensors showed her form affixed roughly in front of the door that separated her from the security force prepared to apprehend her. “Do you realize, hah, that my only motive was to converse with you?” Her voice was slow, careful, with underlying threat. Like a cornered snake. “Please review the path I made from Engineering to this room, and consider the relevant engagements with impromptu security, and their results. This is the size of the bureaucracy buffer between you and the field. All of this could have been avoided if your men had passed the message.”

“Anyway, I would happily be interrogated,” she said after a pause, “And will cooperate with your security forces as long as they don’t give me a reason not to. I am being honest. As a show of trust, I shall tell you a few things: One - the security force you have prepared cannot prevent at least one casualty, if I choose to turn this into Kami-Kaze. Two - I have been awake for over eighteen hours and may require recharging very soon. This gives you a number of choices. You may apprehend me right now, wait out my reserves and capture me while I sleep, or put up heavy weapons behind that door to destroy me along with this room. Having said that, I offer you to make a return gesture of trust - have your men apprehend me with lowered weapons.”

“It interferes with my concentration, and technically my only crime is stowing away and daydreaming on the job. And maybe a slightly dented helmet. I await your decision, Mr. TreVayne.”

“Your ‘only crime’?” The chief retorted, scoffing at the cyborgs absurd demands and skewed idea of trust. 

“You do realize that you’ve not only slipped onto a highly secure military and civilian vessel bound for deep space with a fraudulent identification, but you’ve managed to resist arrest, completely ignoring a Security officer’s right to detain you under suspicions that I shouldn't have to list for you. And you’ve taken it upon yourself to dig an even bigger hole by evading law enforcement authorities, possibly putting the lives of this ship’s crew in jeopardy all because you wanted an audience with me?”

The Chief’s voice, rife with an underlying anger that had the potential to erupt into something even less desirable, ceased for a moment as he composed himself, speaking with his usual calm but stern voice. 

“And as for your request to ‘apprehend with weapons lowered’, that just isn’t going to happen as we’re not in the business of compromising with clear and present threats. As I initially mentioned, you will cease and desist, allowing my team to detain you as per Ark Security protocol, or your resistance will be considered an act of aggression and will be dealt with accordingly. Do I make myself understood? This is not up for negotiation. You have two minutes to comply. TreVayne out.”

Gavon gritted his teeth as he cut off communication, doing his best to keep personal feelings out of the decision to apprehend, versus his own judgement of simply destroying such an abomination without even thinking twice about it. But the rational part of him needed to know what he was dealing with, and whether the cyborg was indeed friend or foe.

The map still showed the cyborg in the same location in front of the door. She turned her head towards the general direction of the room’s PA speaker, the thermal scan on TreVayne’s screen missing the slight look of disbelief contorting her features. The anger in the chief’s voice didn’t fit with his words - he either didn’t hear most of what she said, or was simply too curious to destroy her on the spot. The question was, could she return the favor?

“This is not an attempt at negotiation.” she said, turning back towards the door. Her attempt at showing trust had always meant to be one-sided. “Please proceed as you see fit. I will try not to resist.”

[i]Try[/i] not to resist. The word slipped her tongue while she focused on just that. The weaponization algorithms she could barely keep in check faced with two hesitant officers with pistols; how would they react to a fully armed company with what felt like droids, at short range? The only way to control such a large amount of sensors and actuators, in combat situations, was to let prediction algorithms nudge her in the right direction whenever she was under threat. The alternative, turning them completely off, meant most of her concentration would be spent on actually moving, leaving her defenseless.

The cyborg looked at her hands, covered in dark metallic gauntlets that enhanced her strength to a point where she could rip a man apart. Taking off some of the armor was also an option, if worse came to worse. That “lowered weapons” request was a false hope anyway. If she was to work with these people, she’d have to learn to be near them...

[center][h3]to be concluded...[/h3][/center]