YoshiSkittlez

X-men Noir: Let The Good Times Roll

Hey everyone, I sincerely apologize for letting this go deadly quiet the last month. I've been working full time and doing college part time and I've just been really busy. Things should start cooling down starting tomorrow night, so I just want to take a quick show of hands as to everyone that is still here...

Incarceron: A Sci-Fi Intergalactic Imprisonment

God guys I am soooooooo freaking sorry. Physics has torn away my soul and I am currently on a quest to get it back. As a full time worker and a part time student, I haven't had much of ANY time to myself lately. Thankfully my spring break starts Wednesday, so tomorrow night I'm going to be making an honest-to-God effort to post in all the Rp's I'm in and get caught up. In the meantime, PLEASE, if you want to post, post, help me keep this going!

Titans!

I'm kind of here. On the verge of losing interest and being busy as all hell with work and school...

Marvel Comics: Sentinel Initiative

Sorry Zach, been SUPER busy with this whole 'end of term' business. I'll try to get to it tomorrow night when I've been released into Spring Break <3

Whispers of Trinity *limited

I think it's cuz summer is getting closer and everyone has been busy as hell with school and work (like me!)

Incursions

Indeed Gonzo, well done post. I still have tomorrow before my break begins, so...yeah lol take that for what its worth.

ROMAN I MISS YOU!

Marvel Comics: Sentinel Initiative

Steve is good with swimming...explosions...not so much...lol

Incursions

Finally caught up with all the collabs lol

Incursions

Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez, The Roman07 and Ghost Shadow

---

When Jack woke up he felt good having a bit of peace and quiet. Last night was so hectic that he was sure that those two would never stop. Looking around he noticed that he was on the couch and not in his own bed. Not the first time that has happened but unusual since he couldn’t remember how he got there. Giving off a long yawn and stretch, he got up and started to make himself a pot of coffee. "Kate you up yet?" He yelled towards Michelle’s closed door. Guess not, no matter since they did stay up past 4am. Sitting back on the couch he gathered his thoughts from the other night. The minor headache and dry mouth reminded him that he was drinking. The silent apartment felt good and hoped that Kate or Sektor wouldn’t wake up until at least another hour. "Wait a minute... does that robot sleep?" He asked himself curiously. Groaning at the minor headache as he got back up off the couch and hobbled towards the door where Kate was.

"Hey Kate, do you want some coffee?" No answer. "Kate? Toaster?" He followed with a knock.... nothing. Placing a hand on the door knob he pushed in slightly so not to make a noise if they were still sleeping. "Kate? You’re not naked again are you?" He joked. Peeking inside there was no sign of either of them. Flinging the door open he noticed the bed was made and the room was cleaned up. "You fucking didn’t!" Jack yelled to the empty room. "Jesus Christ Kate!" He started pacing back and forth through the apartment. Passing by the crudely fixed door of the bathroom and checked every inch of the small apartment. "Where did they go?" Asking himself. He couldn’t put a call out since they were obvious fugitives and he wasted every favor yesterday extending her deadline. He walked back in Kate’s room and looked for anything that could be of use. Checking the computer proved useless, everything she did she cleared from the memory and he didn’t think a GPS would be even possible. Nervously looking around the room he saw the tiny crumpled paper of the number her mother gave her to see that guy...

"Nooo she’s not that crazy." He muttered to himself, But maybe... Her parents. Probably not to stay there, but she most likely wanted to tell them she won’t be around for a while so they don’t worry. It was a sketchy hunch but he really had nothing else to go on. Unless she went to see Deon, but its doubtful she even knows where he is most of the time. Jack ran and put his gear on as fast as possible. Taking both his standard issue pistol and the revolver fully loaded with whatever ammo he had left. Jack was about to rush out the door but stopped dead right when he passed the syringes. Staring at them intently... "The Lucid." He muttered, snatching the cigar box and shoving it in his coat pocket before heading out the door.

Jack called in for the parents address on the way towards district 4. Arriving at the fairly nice house he instantly realized the type of childhood she grew up in and somewhat envied her. Making himself more presentable and making sure his guns weren’t showing he gently knocked on the large ornate door.

It was only a matter of moments before the door swung open, showing a service droid light-years behind Sektor's own programming.

"How may I assist you Sir?" The droid asked in an almost creepy monotonous tone.

Jack watched as a drone answered the door, part of him wished it was a human not a damn robot. "Yes hi is this the Saunders residence?" Jack said in a very polite and professional manner. "I was curious if the owners are home?" Jack looked and noticed the drone was holding a repair man’s shoulder bag. It didn’t look like a repair bot so he must have picked it up somewhere.

"Chief Saunders is away at w-w-w-work." The bot stuttered. "However I would gladly assist you by seeing if Mrs. S-S-Saun-ders is available." And with that, the door had closed on Jack's face as the bot scurried away to locate Kate's mother.

Minutes went by before the door opened again, this time a woman looking to be in her mid-forties (as she had some work done to look younger) answered the door with a bright smile on her face, but the smile faltered a bit when she saw who it was, almost as if she had been expecting someone else.

"Yes?"

Jack straightened up when he saw Mrs. Saunders. He could see the family resemblance. "Hi, Mrs. Saunders I presume? I’m actually a friend of Kate’s." He put out his hand to shake hers. "You see, she left something of hers at my apartment last night and I just wanted to get it back to her. She told me that she may pass by and i was hoping I would have been able to catch up." Jack gave a polite smile as he scratched his head. Acting the part of a friend... technically it wasn’t an act but he’s played the part before none the less so he’s gotten quite good at it.

Mrs. Saunder's began to eye Jack immediately once he brought up her daughter’s name, scanning him like a predator would its prey. "Oh?" She asked upon learning that he was a friend, the look on her face indicating that she was not at all impressed. "Last night?" Her eyes shot back up to Jack, an obvious panic in her voice. "Oh...not her virginity I hope...not to you..." She mumbled under her breath. She cleared her throat and went on smiling.

"I'm sorry, but you've just missed her. She's out. On a date. A very handsome fellow I might add, good with his hands. A match made in heaven if you ask me." Her smile then faded as she wore her more...obviously unimpressed face, now being done with politeness.

"Now you listen to me...mister...uh..."

"Jack...Detective Jack Roman." He said bluntly realizing the polite friend routine wouldn’t work.

"Oh? Detective?" She eyed him again. "More likely for the Beta Districts am I right? Hardly a title to be proud of." She scoffed. "Stay away from Katie Mr. Roman, she has no time to be...meddling with people like you. Her studies are very important to her and I'll be damned if you bring her down to your level." The door then suddenly slammed shut, only to be opened again just a second later. "And you're far too old for her anyway." She added and then slammed the door shut once more, a series of lock clicking could be heard from the other side of the door almost immediately.

Jack couldn’t help but give a slight smirk. "Well Miss Saunders... I’ll have you know that I’m actually here investigating a potential crazed stalker that has been following her as of late." Jack quickly tried to remember the man’s name. "I believe his street name is Marcus the Mangler... A long time fugitive that likes to stake out entire families and kidnap their children for ransom." Jack leaned against the door as he shouted it through the solid mahogany. "We have a lead stating that your daughter was his next victim."

There was a long, quiet pause on the other end of the door, until finally, one by one the locks clicked back open and Mrs. Saunders cracked open the door just a bit to look at him once again. With a dejected sigh, she opened the door the rest of the way and rested her head against the door jam. "That is so like Katie, always using her money to help out the lower class." She shook her head and let out another sigh. "I'll have you know right now, you've got the wrong boy. But if you really are who you say you are...you can find them at Munchies Breakfast Nook, down the road a ways. Now please...if you're done ruining my morning, I would like to get back to my yoga..."

"Thank you ma’am oh and if you ever see Marcus the Mangler please DO NOT let him in. He is considered highly dangerous." Jack gave a nod and ran off into the opposite direction. Quickly looking up on his GPS where that exactly was. "C’mon Kate really? A date now?" He couldn’t help but imagine Sektor scanning him and giving him percentages of his "sexual platform" or something of that sort. That’s assuming she even brought him along for the date.

---

Marcus saw Kate off with a short wave and a friendly smile. He stepped into his own car and started it, staring at the steering wheel, unsure of what to do. Suddenly the ringing started once more; this time far more intensive than before.

He clawed at his hands, snarling frenzily as the pain would not subside. He reached for a syringe but fumbled and dropped it, in too much pain to think about picking it up again. Then, it happened again; the harsh command issued by the omniscient voice that resided inside his head, 'fiat justitia ruat caelum...'

Marcus' pain stopped and he felt himself fading away, into nothingness...

Cypher drove home silently, preparing for his next mission. After equipping himself with all his tools he connected himself to Base, receiving orders. A box appeared in the side of his helmet's HUD,

[NEW MISSION: ABDUCTION AND INTERROGATION OF KATHERINE SAUNDERS - STATUS REPORTS CONFIRM SHE IS IN POSSESSION OF UNIT 0.18462958. LETHAL FORCE: NOT AUTHORIZED, INJURY IS ACCEPTABLE SO LONG AS IT DOES NOT IMPEDE HER FROM SPEAKING COHERENTLY]

Cypher nodded curtly, wordlessly accepting his new mission. He began the slow mission of trailing her...

About an hour had passed; Cypher had been trailing the duo patiently, using any and all leads. Finally, he found them in the distance, walking along the nearly vacant streets where civilization began to get more and more tattered and broken.

"Katherine Saunders." Cypher called out in a blunt, authorative tone, standing only about a yard from her. "You are under arrest." He said, quickly shooting a fist out in a punch.

Sektor turned sharply upon hearing the armored man and growled darkly as he approached. The armored man lunged quickly, but Sektor was quicker; grabbing his fist mid-punch and sending down its other hand in a swift chop where the man's forearm met his elbow.

A sickening *crunch* was heard as bone and sinew tore and the man let out a low grunt of pain, but he wasn't deterred, using his free hand to launch Sektor back with a single thrust.

Cypher looked down at his broken arm, a grimace hidden behind his enclosed helmet. It twisted awkwardly, the sound of bone sewing itself together at an enhanced rate was heard and he squeezed the fully-healed fist in preparation. Cypher wordlessly drew his machete, ready for combat.

Sektor stood from where it was thrown, unharmed. "Preparing for combat, initializing optical sensors for most efficient reaction time."

Suddenly, Cypher lunged at an inhuman speed, swiping his machete sideways towards Sektor's torso.

The robot was faster and dodged back just in time, grabbing Cypher by the neck and throwing him through the brick wall of an adjacent building.

Cypher crashed through completely, leaving a large hole in the wall. He stood up quickly, twisting his head to clear up the stiffness in his neck. "You shouldn't have done that..." He warned in a dark tone and tackling Sektor to the ground.

Cypher kept him pinned down, grunting with effort; the robot *was* strong. He reached for his fallen machete, which lay only a few feet from him.

Cypher stretched out and managed to get a grip on it, plunging the blade into Sektor's torso to keep him pinned. White fluid, most likely to simulate blood leaked out from the robot's torso and Cypher stood, using this small distraction to his advantage.

He approached Kate slowly, intimidatingly, his boots echoing with every step. "You're coming with me." He stated, kneeing her sharply in the stomach.

"You're a criminal, Ms. Saunders, and your robot is too. They want me to bring you both in and that's what I intend to do..."

Upon hearing her name, Kate instinctively turned around, figuring that Detective Roman had somehow pin-pointed her location. She opened her mouth, ready to spew out a bull-shit excuse she had been working in her head for quite some time, but instead saw not Detective Roman...but someone else...and his fist coming straight for her. She closed her eyes tightly, hands instinctively going out to protect her face, awaiting the impact that was sure to follow...but it never came...

Opening her eyes slowly, peeking out of the corner, she saw Sektor break the man's arm clean in half. What really got a gasp of sheer terror out of her, however, was the fact that his arm seemed to 'mend' itself back together. She looked at the nearby alleyway, if only she could move her feet and start running. Sektor could take care of himself, he had proved that countless times. This man wanted to arrest her, and it could have been on a number of different things, though if she had to pick, she would rather this man be from the Science Agency to collect her for that update that was administered too late...but something in her gut told her otherwise.

Unable to move as she watched the spectacle in front of her, she let out a scream when the machete found its way through Sektor's abdomen, pinning him to the ground, her mind immediately going to ways on how she was going to fix that, and was thus caught completely off-guard by the knee to her stomach.

She doubled over in pain, her knees hitting the concrete beneath her as she clutched onto her stomach. She glanced up at the man, her teeth grit in pain. Fight or flight? Well...she couldn't fight, she never had the need to in her sheltered life. So with shaky legs she brought herself back to her feet, and bolted as fast as she could.

Cypher growled in irritation and ran after her, his enhanced speed making it easy to catch up to her. "Maybe this will make you listen." He stated before shoving her to the ground with a rough push, a single foot landing sharply on her femur, undoubtedly breaking the bone.

Kate flew to the ground, the asphalt eating up her hands and knees as she skidded to a stop. Tears streamed to the corner of her eyes as she rolled over onto her back, only to have her leg break bone shatter into hundreds of tiny pieces. She screamed out in pain, the tears she had been holding at bay streaming down her cheeks before she was able to calm herself back down, whimpering out a quiet "Roman..."

Before Cypher could continue this beating, however, he felt an excruciating sharp sting in his chest. Crying out in a tone that boded more irritance than pain, looked down to see the blade of his machete sticking out in front of him.

Sektor grabbed Cypher by the neck and lifted him straight up into the air. "Target will be eliminated." Sektor stated, its voice full of resolve and anger.

"I don't think so..." Cypher returned, grabbing the arm that was holding him where it met at the shoulder. With a sharp yank, the arm was completely separated from the body. Cypher backhanded Sektor to the ground with his free hand.

Wordless, he went after Kate once more, walking at a casual, almost nonchalant pace; as if this was simple everyday work.

He grabbed her by her hair and lifted her up with one arm, forcing her to stand on her now-fractured leg. Exhaling softly he delivered a sharp, enhanced punch into the side of her face, sending her to the ground once more.

Kate let out another scream, this time twice as loud as her last in both a mixture of pain and praying to God that someone would hear her. Having fallen to the ground again, her arms shook violently as she tried to get up again, but the muscles seized up and forced her to the ground once again.

Her lip had split clean open from the hit and a sickening crunching sound came from her nose, and the blood began to pour from both areas.

"STOP! PLEASE!" She whimpered out, her entire vision blurred from the tears and black vision that came with the blinding pain.

Sektor got up wearily from where it had fallen, carefully stalking up to this enforcer.

Sektor plunged its remaining arm completely through Cypher's torso, leaving a gaping hole behind.

Cypher sputtered and coughed, the injury healing itself at a rapid pace. "My turn." He breathed out wearily, grabbing his stun gun from his belt and hitting Sektor with as much power as the handheld device could emit.

Sektor sputtered and twitched, its photoreceptor blinking rapidly. Eventually it fell, completely deactivated.

"SEKTOR!" Tears continued to stream down her face. This wasn't just some normal arrest, this man was a hired killer...and in that moment Kate knew she was going to die.

"Please! I'll do whatever you want...just no more..."

"What I want.." Cypher began cooly, approaching her slowly, "Is you in bindings." He said, standing over her, domineering.

He knelt down slowly, crouching above her. "He loves you, you know? The weak little whelp. I see his thoughts. He finds you..." he slowly trailed a glove-clad hand down her dirty, bloodied cheek. "ravishing." He finished. "And once he awakens, he shall see my...his good work." Cypher said, remaining purposefully cryptic.

Jack got an eyeful as soon as he passed the diner. Some guy dressed up in an assault suit crouching over a very messed up Kate and an armless Sektor. "KAAAAAATEEE!" He screamed running into a full sprint towards the man in body armor. Pulling out both pistols and unloading both into his target. Once he got close enough, he dropped the guns and used his momentum to push the man clear across the street and through a glass window. Jack rolled onto all fours as he tripped up during the push and glanced back towards Kate and Sektor hopefully seeing any signs of life. "Kate get up! get the fuck up!" Rushing to pick up his gun he kicked the other over towards Sektor.

Kate's eyes shot up, hearing her name being called once again, and caught onto the quick blur that she knew immediately was Detective Roman. For a moment, her heart soared...she was going to be okay, he was going to save her...he promised. She watched through tearful eyes as the man in the assault suit was launched away, and for a moment she had forgotten all about the pain she was in and moved to get up, immediately crashing back down onto the pavement in a crumpled heap.

"I...can't..."

Before Cypher could finish his speech he heard a roaring voice cry out Kate's name. Turning around with a growl, Cypher could do little before he felt 3 bullets puncture his torso. Suddenly, a man dressed in black sprinted in, drop kicking Cypher through a store window. He crashed through, getting up rather quickly.

He growled as he felt the bullets be forced out of his flesh by his healing factor, casually stepping up to the now-empty window frame.

"Detective Roman..." Cypher began, his cool tone never wavering. "I figured it was only a matter of time before you showed up..." He hopped down from the pane onto the ground, cracking his neck.

"I hate it when they interfere." He said dismissively, sprinting at inhuman speeds while Jack was facing away from him.

Suddenly, Cypher had him in an iron grip; his hand grabbing Roman by the torso and lifting him into the air. Without a word he sent a flying punch upwards, shooting Jack out of his hand and onto the ground with a thud.

Cypher drew his machete in waiting, using his other hand to draw a single pistol.

Jack instantly felt a rib crack with the punch the guy gave him and the wind knocked out of him when he hit the concrete. This guy wasn’t human.... He was strong, but Jack was sure he was stronger. "Ya know what they say about someone who wears body armor…" Jack grunted as he spit out a little blood on the floor. "They can’t take a hit." Jack rolled forward and kicked off the ground leading forward with a balled fist attempting to close the gap between. Feigning a punch he kept up his guard from the machete as he shot out the built in Taser from his sidearm. The tiny hooks punctured right under his left side as he gave a full jolt of 40k volts through the wires. circling around the man while using the wires to try and trip him up.

Cypher ignored his comment, preferring to focus on the battle rather than trade petty verbal blows. The mock punch fooled him and he stepped back, horribly unaware until the Taser punctured his left side.

He dropped his weapons, snarling as he felt the electricity jolt through him, but he stood his ground, slowly approaching Jack, though his movements slow and strained.

He grabbed onto the wire, smoke rising up from where his hand was suffering severe burns. He ripped the hooks out, blood releasing in a few droplets as he did so.

Taking a few seconds to recover he was back at it again, somersaulting forward he sent a single fist out, colliding it into Jack's chest with great momentum and force.

Jack flew back with immense force, rolling him end over end before his body flattened to a stop. Spitting out yet another mouthful of blood. "Heh, you call that a fucking punch? Kate’s mother slammed the door on me harder. Maybe I should send her here to fight."

"Your use of insults only demonstrates the lack of combative ability." Cypher's simple response was.

Jack hammered down on the concrete with his fists, breaking off chunks and tossing them towards the man as he got up onto his feet.

Cypher attempted to roll out of the way, but Roman was throwing the rocks quick. Cypher could only dodge so many. The wind was knocked out of him as a single one being thrown at about 90 miles an hour collided with his stomach, another in his leg. Vaulting forward he grabbed his machete again, slicing the rocks into pieces where he could.

"Now if you’re REALLY ready to fight... let’s go." Jack ran straight at the man once again, pretending the feign a punch again but this time connected right into the man’s helmet taking it clean off. Using the momentum he grabbed the man by the collar and rolled with him as he grabbed hold of his arm and squeezed the bone into powder.

Cypher was taken into the air; Roman tackled him with enough speed and brute force to knock his helmet off and his own person into the air.

Cypher snarled, as he hit the ground hard, the weight of the cyborg atop him. Seething as he felt his arm shatter.

Using his free hand he reached for his Taser, quite literally stabbing it into Roman using his enhanced strength and squeezed the trigger so hard it nearly broke in his hand.

His broken arm twisted and contorted gruesomely as it knitted itself back together with amazing speed, almost fully healing within seconds.

Words couldn't even begin to describe the horror Kate was witnessing, and not only that, but knowing she couldn't do a damn thing to help...even if she weren't a broken and bloody heap right then.

The helmet came off, and Kate's jaw dropped. She noticed the hair first, having had to pay somewhat more attention to it earlier during their 'date' as Sektor had brought it up questioning his gender, and therefore there was no question as to who the man underneath the suit was.

"YOU BASTARD!" Kate screamed out as loud as she could, uncaring if her voice went hoarse. She tried getting up again, if only to punch Marcus in the face herself, but her muscles simply wouldn't give.

"YOU LIED TO ME!"

Jack screamed in pain as the Taser went off right in his side. The scream echoed throughout the empty streets. For a moment all he saw was pure white. Lying flat on his back he let out a growl mixing pain with anger as he saw Kate screaming over in his direction. Sadness fell over his face as she screamed "YOU BASTARD! YOU LIED TO ME!" Jack thought to himself. He wasn’t lying, he promised he would protect her. "I’m not lying!" He shouted in a delusional state. "I... I made a promise." He muttered before reaching into his coat and pulling out a syringe. "I’ll kill them all!" He screamed jamming the syringe into his own neck. The Lucid quickly filled his veins and got to work instantly. All his pain increased tenfold momentarily letting out a yelp as a mixture of fear pain and hatred took him over, but within seconds it all went mute.

Jack got up casually and raised his fists. Listening to his own blood flow, feeling the wind sweep against his hair and smelling the sweat and blood mixed with the fluid pouring out of Sektor. Time slowed down and Jack just stared and smiled at Cypher. "One more round asshole." He whispered. Jack felt nothing... all emotion gone from his state of mind, just pure focus.

Cypher rose with a groan as Jack rolled off of him. He punched a toppled bus, a large dent being made where his fist was. "I'm...not...Marcus." He managed to breathe out, grabbing his head with a single hand and groaning. "I am...better. My name is...Cypher - Agent Cypher." He approached her slowly, though his posture was idle.

"Marcus is my decrepit other half, the one *you* know. The one who loves you." He said mockingly, continuing to groan in severe pain, his hand not leaving his head.

"I'm what he tries to forget...the half he buries under all his emotion, turning me into nothing more than a fantasy-GAHH!" He fell to his knees, both hands now at his head.

"As a matter of fact; there he is now..breakin-urggh free. Your boyfriend packs...quite a punch." He breathed out, managing a pained laugh.

"Don't hate him. He won't remember any of this." Was all Cypher said before collapsing on the ground.

Memories jumbled, images shattered. Everything was different, so wrong; the ground, the sky, the air, the...feel.

Marcus looked up slowly from his position, gasping frantically as if his lungs would not accept the air about him. "Wh-where am I?" He asked, slowly and shakily standing to his feet, using his other hand to place on the fallen bus to support himself. "Why...why am I dressed like this?" He looked up, vision blurry. "Oh God, Kate!" He cried out, running towards her.

There was a distinct voice difference between himself and Cypher: Cypher's was cool and arrogant, seeping with suppressed rage and venomous power. While Marcus' was concerned, charismatic...human.

"Kate, what happened? Where are we?" He asked, attempting to support her with his arms.

Jack crouched down and sprinted full speed into Marcus. "You’re not fooling anyone." Grabbing the man and running with him, slamming him straight into the side of the bus full force. Jack took his hand and slammed an open palm right into his throat. Pressure squeezing slightly until he felt like his head was about to pop. "Don’t fucking bullshit me! Who are you and who are you working for?" Turning his head to see if Kate was unharmed. For all he knew it was a trick, But Jack noticed the fear in the man’s eyes. He was either actually scared or a really good actor. Either way he wasn’t dropping him anytime soon.

Kate blinked, using her good arm to wipe away the tears, smearing the blood and tears together rather than wiping it away as she had intended. "Roman, wait..." Kate said loud enough for him to hear. Something Marcus had said earlier stuck into her...something about...not being himself? Something...pertaining to his injury. As much as she wanted to just hate Marcus for the rest of her life...but he seemed so genuine back at breakfast. Call it a curse of her kind-heart, but maybe there really was something to this whole thing.

"He's telling the truth..." She said after a moment, feeling the anger in her shift from Marcus to Detective Roman. She had seen what he did, and now that damned drug was running through his blood stream, the stupidest thing she had ever seen and all just to...

save...me...

The lump came back into her throat and she rested her head back down on the ground, her neck muscles unwilling to hold its weight any longer and her eyes slowly flitted closed as the pain had once again returned, taking over her at last.

Marcus could barely breathe, better yet breathe. He felt the cold metal arms clutch around his neck and applying horrible pressure.

His pleading eyes looked down towards Kate. He was confused, disoriented, where the hell was he?

Finally he heard her weakly speak in his favor, he looked to Jack now, mouthing out, "Please..."

Jack let go of the man’s neck and watched him drop with a satisfying thunk. The mass of senses flooding over him like a large wave pushing on his very brain. Kate’s whisper felt like a sonic book and the thud of the man sounded like a crashing dump truck. "He tried to kill you..." Jack whispered attempting to stop the booming noise. Turning his head felt like a panoramic view in his brain. The mass amount of senses taking in everything it could.

He tried to walk over to Kate to see if she was okay but collapsed onto himself as the adrenaline wore off and the multiple broken ribs jabbed at his lungs. Blood pouring out of his mouth by the cupful as he reached over and pulled the broken Taser out of his side. He tried to stand once more but collapsed once again. Was he dying? He couldn’t tell... His brain felt so alive yet his body was falling apart from the seams.

Jack let go of the mans neck and watched him drop with a satifying thunk. The mass of senses flooding over him like a large wave pushing on his very brain. Kates wisper felt like a sonic book and the thud of the man sounded like a crashing dump truck. "He tried to kill you..." Jack whispered attempting to stop the booming noise. Turning his head felt like a panoramic view in his brain. The mass amount of senses taking in everything it could.

He tried to walk over to Kate to see if she was okay but collapsed onto himself as the adrenaline wore off and the multiple broken ribs jabbed at his lungs. Blood poured out of his mouth by the cupfull as he reached over and pulled the broken tazer out of his side. He tried to stand once more but collapsed once again. Was he dying? He couldnt tell... His brain felt so alive yet his body was falling apart from the seams.

Marcus exhaled deeply, offering a series of coughs as the cyborg dropped him; bruises were already beginning to form on his neck.

Recovering quickly, not even noticing the bruises already fading away, he walked over to where Kate was, kneeling down in front of her.

Turning to the cyborg his face turned into one of surprise, then shock, then horror as realization hit him. "I...tried to kill her? What are you talking abo-...No...no, he...he doesn't exist."

Slowly Marcus looked down, recognizing the black armor, the same black armor worn by the man who plagued his every waking nightmare, the man who's only mission was whatever the Districts told him to do.

The man who would...kill women, smother babies in their cribs, massacre an orphanage if it fulfilled the order he was given.

And he was wearing it...

His mind went back and he remembered a dream he had just the night before. His 'doppleganger' spoke cryptically in odd words and illusions....

Marcus woke up...somewhere. It looked like a forest, Elevated platforms were hung on trees above a toiling, white, foaming river underneath a raging waterfall.

He was dressed like he usually would, wearing his regular t-shirt with a shoulder holster, jeans, and leather combat boots.

The left side of his face felt cool upon the metal, but the warmth of his breath met him as well; he was still alive.

He slowly began to stand up, feeling sore for reasons he didn't know. A figure was standing in front of him, but he did not see his face yet. But there was a certain...realization; he knew who the figure was. The black armor, the helmet, he knew.

Marcus finally stood, his eyes meeting the front of Cypher's visor. The men stood at completely equal heights, down to the centimeter, their builds were similar; corded muscle lined their tall frames with broad shoulders.

"Hello Marcus." Cypher greeted in a civil tone, yet it was marred with poison. "Come to chat with me once more?" He asked, his gauntlet-clad hands cupped behind his back.

"Cypher." Marcus bid curtly, grimacing as though he was looking at a mass murderer, which Cypher was. "I've come to stop you..." He swore aloud, his tone equally as casual.

"Does your ignorance know no bounds?" Cypher began, his true, vile tone coming out. "You still believe yourself the true man, Marcus? That *I* am the facsimile? You are so completely wrong." Cypher said with a short chuckle, slowly reaching for his helmet. A sharp hiss of air sounded as the helmet finally freed itself from the rest of his outfit. Cypher pulled it off slowly, dropping it on the metal ground where it clattered ominously.

"What is this?!" Marcus demanded, furious. "You...stole my face. Trying to steal my personal dignity as well?" He spat out, pressed with rage.

"I *share* your face, Marcus. We are one and the same." Cypher informed, pacing about nonchalantly. "I am perfection...you are the part of me who is blinded to the lie programmed within you. You're not who you think you are, I am not who you think I am...I am what you were made to be." It was at this that Marcus awoke in a cold sweat, the memories fading until this moment had occurred...

Marcus fell to his knees, defeated. "But...he's not real, he's not me...is he?" Marcus asked, tears beginning to flow from his eyes. "I...did this to her?" He asked, his composure failing as he began losing control of his emotions.

"I'm...I'm a monster." Was all he was able to say, his entire body was broken down, wrought with the pain of emotion. He could have sworn he heard Cypher laughing within him...

Incursions

Collaboration between Ghost Shadow and YoshiSkittlez

---

The sun had just barely peaked over the horizon, a thin stream of light filtering in through the spare bedroom window onto Kate's face would have woken her up...if she hadn't already been wide awake. She sat up in the bed, fixing the neck of the long shirt as it had fallen to expose her right shoulder. She ran her fingers through her tangled mess of hair; the culprit of tossing and turning all night. Pulling the thin sheets off of her, she slipped out of the bed and went to the closet of the female who had once stayed in this same room...Detective Roman's sister. She went through the clothes, finding a short green jean type dress with an built in belt and threw it on. She knew that if she was going to get out of this house any time soon...it would have to be when Detective Roman was still sleeping.

She made sure to make up the bed and fold up the clothes she had slept in into a neat pile on the bed, still trying to give the room the same feeling of respect that had been established when she had walked into it the first time, now especially knowing just what kind of importance this room held for him.

Sektor had remained in the bedroom all night, going through every game Roman had in his house. Sektor had occupied itself with a paddle ball, which it kept playing with for hours, the incessant sound of the ball beating against the paddle possibly being a factor in keeping Kate from restful sleep.

Sektor stared at it, completely enamored, clicking lightly. It looked over to where Kate was, the ball missing its target and hitting against Sektor's head a few times before it threw the toy across the room. "Is Katherine Saunders vacating Detective Jack Roman's abode?" It asked curiously.

"I can't just stay here and keep him in danger like this. He's done too much for me, I'd never forgive myself if something happened to him." She stopped to look over the robot in front of her, a gentle smile crossing her face as the sun continued to rise and filter into the room, illuminating her smile even more. She actually really was lucky to have Sektor, she just wished she had more time to figure him out more. He truly was...unique.

"C'mon let's go. And be quiet about it. I don't want Detective Roman to wake up just yet." She slipped out of the bedroom and made her way quietly to the door and with her robot in toe, slipped outside.

Sektor silently followed its maker obediently, clicking slightly as it went. In a hushed voice it stated, "Statistics suggest Detective Jack Roman was not made aware to our departure."

She just wandered the early morning streets for a good while, unsure of where she should even go or do. The thought of popping in on her parents kept coming to her mind, but then that would be putting them in danger as well.

"Still though...they deserve to know what's going on..." She said to herself, and continued the long walk back to District 4 to the large mansion-like home that belonged to her parents. There were no unmarked cars in the area, and no cop cars...so far so good. Without knocking, she entered her family's home.

"Hello? Mom? Dad?" She called from the large living room.

A quiet shuffling sound came from the other room, and soon a rather young looking older woman came into the room, sporting the same hair and eye color as her daughter.

"Oh Katie! What a surprise!" Kate's mother said closing the distance between them and wrapped her thin arms around her daughter in a hug. "You're actually just in time! Did you get my messages last night sweetie? Well it turns out you weren't with Marcus last night were you? No...of course not, someone else special in your life right now? Do tell!"

"Mom...mom stop I need to talk to you-"

"He's here you know, Marcus. He's eager to meet you. Such a nice young man, though I'm still trying to convince him to let me cut his hair. Marcus! Marcus? Are you busy? My daughter Katie is here!"

"MOM!"

Sektor entered the house behind Kate, looking about very curiously. Upon hearing Kate's mother talk about Marcus, it immediately connected the passing reference on the answering machine the day before. "There was an 85% statistical chance Katherine Saunders would meet subject Marcus."

As if on cue, Marcus' voice sounded down one of the extensive hallways; "On my way Mrs. Saunders, just a minute!"

A loud clanging was heard, and suddenly a diminutive droid sprinted out of the hallway, sliding somewhat on the tile floor. "Come here you little-" Marcus began, following behind. He looked dressed for work, wearing a simple navy blue t-shirt with black jeans and shoes. A brown colored shoulder holster held multiple pieces of equipment and tools.

Marcus grabbed a rod-like device from his belt and aimed it at the droid. The rod emitted a stream of electrical energy that hit the droid nearly instantly. The droid squealed and fell limp.

Marcus exhaled deeply, returning the rod to its place on his belt. He ran a hand through his hair and examined the fell rapscallion. "So sorry for the commotion Mrs. Saunders. I swear these things are acting more and more mischievous every day. I'll need to take a look at their core computer functions when I get some spare time."

He turned his gaze towards Kate, his expression softening, a small smile appearing on his thin lips. "So you must be Kate, then. Your mother talks about you nonstop." He added with a small chuckle as he unceremoniously tossed the deactivated drone over his shoulder.

Sektor, on the meanwhile could only look on silently as this strange man with women's hair deactivated a small, custom drone with an ion electric rod. "Drone's mobile platform is unharmed, blast was only sent at minor power level, causing deactivation without any permanent effects. This unit deems it as an appropriate tool. Recommendation: small drones require regular memory wipes to keep their systems working at full capacity while in service. Quirks are reported in an estimate 74% droids who do not have regular memory wipes."

Kate had to let out a sigh of agitation as her mother continued to ignore her, and then the very man that her mother was trying to set her up with entered the room. As much as she was convinced that she wasn't going to like what her mother had set up for her this time, she couldn't help but to keep a blush from coming to her cheeks. He was cute!

"They are due for a manual update. I was supposed to come by and do that a few weeks ago, I've just been busy." She said to Marcus. "But if my mom's paying you, I won't take that away from your work. Code X3W221." She then turned to look at her mother, trying to once again get her attention, but the wide grin on her mother’s face was a true indication that it was a lost cause.

"Oh good! You're hitting it off so well!" She quickly left the room, and then came back a few minutes later with a holo pad in her hand. "I've reserved that cute little breakfast nook that your father and I used to take you to every Sunday morning Katie, under Mr. Aurelius' name of course. Isn't that just a fun last name? So much better than Saunders." Her mother giggled. "He's from district 1, and a retired police officer, he just tinkers around with bots in his spare time...oh, but I guess I should just leave you guessing there. You two have much to talk about at breakfast." She said, practically pushing the two out the door before looking over at Sektor for the first time, a reaction gauging that she had just realized that he was there. "Goodness! Are you one of mine?"

Marcus listened politely as Kate continued on. "Code X3W221...I'll have to remember that. These drones like to think sensitive computer stations are holo games or something." He scratched the back of his head while smirking slightly.

Marcus barely had time to react as he was almost completely forced outside the door by Kate's mother, looking completely surprised. He turned and looked at Kate, offering an apologetic smile and nervous laugh.

"Listen I'm sorry about this. I had no idea your mother would try and push this together so soon. I guarantee you this is not a set up." He looked himself up and down and frowned, looking slightly disheveled already from working, the tiny robot *still* on his shoulder. "You little twit." He muttered, dragging the limp metal body off his shoulder and in front of the door. He took off the shoulder holster and got to work fixing himself up.

"Now then, I should look good enough for breakfast, eh?" He asked. "On second thought, don't answer that. Probably look like shit. Had a restless night last night, to say the least." He stated, though his smile never left.

Sektor could barely figure out what to do as in a split second its maker was shoved out the door with the lady-man and it was left alone with Kate's mother. "Negative, this platform holds records of a Victoria Saunders in its databanks, our mobile platforms have never met. This unit identifies as 0.18462958, designation: Sektor. It must accompany Katherine Saunders with to fulfill the prime directive."

Kate sighed, watching as Sektor had then been pushed through the door by her mother before the door closed. She shook her head looking back to Marcus. "No...no I'm sorry. She's always like this, very pushy...and...well...pushy." She knew she didn't look the greatest either, the most obvious factor being her disheveled 'I just woke up' hair. Detective Roman would kill her if he found out that not only she snuck out of his protective 'custody,' that she would also be exposing herself by this set-up date. Best get it over and done with before the rest of the city woke up.

"It is a set-up." Kate said. "Her set-up. But hey, I wasn't exactly expecting this either, so at least we can both say we've been caught off-guard." She chuckled nervously.

Marcus laughed slightly at her statement. "You'd think a couple years on the force would make me used to set-ups. Guess not." He added with a small shrug. "Well, look on the bright side; least we get a breakfast out of it. May as well enjoy it. Can't tinker with malfunctioning robots on an empty stomach. My car's just over this way," He said, pointing in the direction of the garage. "Will your robot be coming with?" He asked, giving a first good look at Sektor.

He approached slowly, circling Sektor's frame. "Amazing...I've never seen any model like this. Incredibly advanced..."

Sektor turned and looked down at Marcus. "This platform was built for efficiency." Was its simple response.

Kate blinked. A car? "Please don't tell me it runs on gas...gas explodes you know..." She couldn't help but to blurt out. She then quickly closed her eyes and mouth, instantly regretting opening it in the first place. "Yes...yes I built him...kinda. He goes where I go." She said, grateful for the subject change, and now even more grateful that she had Sektor there with her. She had contemplated leaving him with Detective Roman, but the more that time went on, the more and more grateful she had her own protective bodyguard.

Marcus looked at her quizzically, but quickly replied. "Oh no this one is a special make, runs on renewable energy expended by a generator; solar panels allow it to recharge. Saves time and money in the long run."

He then outstretched his hand for hers to take. "Whether you want to call this a date or not, I must still be the gentleman." He flashed a toothy smile.

Sektor could only look at him with curiosity. "What gender are you?" It blurted out towards Marcus, who's smile faded away in an instant. "Repeat inquiry..." He requested in a stupefied tone.

"What is your gender? Scans reveal male genetalia. Voice modulator is masculine, as is general physical build-up. But your hair is detected as typically belonging in females."

"Well, I see your humor array is working at optimum efficiency." Was Marcus' simple reply. He was intrigued though; a robot of that make and quality usually shouldn't have errors in its vocabulator. This will require further observant. He quickly shot two fingers up to his head as he felt a sharp ringing permeate his skull. His face contorted to a grimace temporarily but soon reverted back to its friendly expression.

Kate hesitated taking his hand, first interrupted by the growing almost guaranteed awkward statements. "He's a prototype." Kate said, finding herself using the same excuse again. But then again, maybe this could turn out to be a real date after all. He did speak science after all, and not only that but he seemed to even know what those words even meant, and wasn't just spouting them out in an attempt to impress her. And then he winced, as if a headache had suddenly overtook him.

"Hey...you okay?" She asked, finally taking his hand, shooting a glance over to Sektor, the same look she gave him when he spouted out things around Detective Roman.

Marcus seethed slightly as the pain began fading away. He relaxed once he felt Kate's hand in his. "Yes, yes, I'm fine. See, I retired from the force because of an accident during an investigation. Medicine's fantastic in District One, but it isn't perfect. Just a fair warning; if I start to black out or lose my sense of reality," he revealed one of his syringes to her, "jab this into my neck. Don't worry it's not Lucid or anything like that. Medicated injections to help curb the headaches and all." He said, his smile weaker, but genuine. "Anyways, we've wasted enough time. Let's get going!" He declared warmly, slowly walking to his car. He opened the passenger side door for her to step in and the backseat for Sektor.

Sektor had offered a strange look to Marcus. Scans seemed to concur he was human, but yet...different. Slight differences in the DNA or organs. Things that were incredibly minor, if noticeable at all, but still there nonetheless. Sektor archived as much data was possible in the limited amount of time, more research was necessary.

Kate's green eyes widened at the sight of the syringe. She hadn't seen any sort of concentrated drug in a syringe before, not even a legitimate medical one like Marcus said it was. Kate's own experience with any sort of medication boiled down to a small pill when she accidentally blew up a transformer she had been tinkering with as a child, and therefore had to be hospitalized for the night just to ensure she was okay. Other than that...nothing a drink of Scotch wasn't ever able to fix.

"Uh...okay..." She said, unable to take her eyes off of the syringe until he put it back. Still holding onto his hand, she walked with him to the car and got in the passenger side, and soon the group was off to the little breakfast nook her mother had set up for them.

"So...you used to be a cop?" Kate asked after having ordered her favorite peach cinnamon French toast plate she always got when she got here. What was it with her and cops recently? Well...at least the good looking ones. But where was this all coming from? She had made it her entire life without even so much as looking twice at another man, and here she was with the second one that had that similar effect on her that Detective Roman did.

"I'm sure my mother already told you I'm still in school..."

The drive to the restaurant was rather quiet, with Marcus and Kate offering little in the way of conversation until they got to the restaurant itself.

Marcus ordered himself a simple breakfast platter with Coke, (his usual), to drink. "Yes, I used to be a cop. Back when things were a little more interesting. I worked with tech, as well, which is why I help your parents now. I was on the force a few years until the accident...nothing major except for multiple bullet wounds to vital organs. I was...rebuilt, so to speak. Not like a robot or cyborg, but rebuilt. Modifications, 'upgrades' as the higher up pricks would call them. Stuff like that."

He took a sip of his drink in-between paragraphs, "I pretty much deduced you are still in university. Your mom has an amazing ability of being able to bypass important information with a flashy smile and flattery. She would have been hell to deal with as a witness." He offered a small laugh at this.

Sektor, against its better wishes, was forced to a different table by Kate. It sat not too far away and spent the majority of the time simply staring at the menu. Sektor requested a children's menu from the wait staff and nearly incurred a complete breakdown of staff until its wish was complied, in which it spent time coloring and completing the games offered by the restaurant.

Kate nodded, sipping on her peach mango drink. "Well, thank goodness nothing too serious then." She said, unable to shake the thought of just how similar he and Detective Roman were. She would have died if Marcus was augmented as well, if that were the case she would have been convinced that this entire thing was a set-up. She let out a soft chuckle at his comment about his mother being a witness, didn't she know it?

"Just be grateful she didn't start telling you what kind of grandchildren she'll be expecting. I get that run-down at least once a week. And she wonders why I stopped calling." She halfly-joked.

Marcus smirked lightly at her comment. "I already got the subtle comment that she wants us to get married, after meeting for about 5 seconds. Pushy she may be, but she's a lovely person to work for." Marcus complimented with a chuckle.

His eyes met hers once more. He cleared his throat nervously. Her mother was right, she was beautiful. But he was interrupted immediately by another small headache, the ringing was starting back again. His point of view was becoming blurred and warped. Instinctively reaching for a syringe, the ringing ended before he could grab it. He sighed audibly. 'Damn this wretched soul. I am forced into an existence of half-life. He thought to himself in despair, running his hands down his face.

Sektor, at the other table had now been drawing quite frantically, occasionally looking up at Marcus and Kate to see what they were doing. Sektor seemed enamored by what it was drawing, its photoreceptor dilated closely towards the paper. Crayons flew out of its hand as Sektor reached for more and more colors to use at an almost frantic speed.

"Well...her money is good...I'll give her that." Kate chuckled, but her amused expression deflated noticing his own face change into slight pain. This must have been what he was talking about before, she just hoped to God that it wouldn’t come down to having to needing to put that needle in his neck; she just didn’t have the stomach for that.

"What happened...if you don't mind me asking...your accident..."

Marcus looked somewhat confused by her question, as if he himself was trying to figure out how to piece together the vagrant memories. "I...I don't think I can remember." He said in a tone that seemed most confused. "Everything's so...muddled and murky. There was...the site, a shooter, shots fired. I can't remember anything beyond that. Just remember waking up days later in a hospital bed; I think. Why don't I remember?" He added the last sentence with hushed confusion, running a single hand through his mess of hair.

Sektor kept drawing fervently, eventually finishing almost as quickly as it began. Sektor had drawn its own picture of Kate; expertly drawn, every line drawn perfectly, every lock of hair, it looked like a true piece of art. "Model finished." Was all Sektor said, reaching for the glass of chocolate milk that a rather irate staff member was forced to bring out.

Sektor tapped the glass against its photoreceptor, wondering why the drink wasn't disappearing against its 'mouth'.

Kate sat in silence for a bit, absentmindedly stirring her smoothie as she studied his face. Her heart went out to him. Not being able to remember why you were the way you were had to be hard, not to mention that his entire career was forced to end early because of it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up..." She said gauging the reaction on his face, making a mental note to not bring up the subject again.

"Oh you're fine. Not your fault, everyone's curious; and you had no way of knowing. Unless your mother decided to share all the information she possibly gathered about me." He said with a small smile. "Just one of those things in life that we can't control. Such events define us, mold us: whether for good or ill." Marcus added intelligently.

"I'm afraid that I wasn’t given the pleasure of being told anything about you, other than you're a retired cop from district one that fixes my mom’s things cuz I've been too busy to do it myself." she glanced over at Sektor for a moment, just to ensure he was behaving himself. A cute laugh came from her as he looked at the drink with a quirk. In his head when he couldn't drink it.

"You know...don’t take this the wrong way...but you're different from everyone else my mom has set me up with. Don’t worry, that’s a good thing."

Marcus smiled, "Well then, adds to the mystery. But I suppose I can give away a little." He said the last sentence with a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "My parents were good people; my dad was a programmer and my mother was a secretary at the police force here. I suppose we could have been called 'high middle class'." He stopped for a moment, perplexed. He was telling the truth - why did it feel like he was lying? "I was smart, not meaning to sound arrogant, but my grades weren't fantastic. Mostly A's and B's; guess I just didn't care enough. But I got into the justice system and ended up in Spec Ops, working on the more 'advanced' equipment, weapons, armors, stuff like that."

He stopped once more to take a few bites of his food. He looked over at Sektor, chuckling lightly. "So you built him? I'm quite impressed. I've seen many custom bots in my lifetime but never any that advanced...and from what I'm observing he's implanted with an emulation program; those are quite rare indeed. Lots of people don't use them. Last thing the Districts need is a robot thinking its human..."

Sektor continued to stare at the glass for some time before eventually putting it down. It looked closely at Kate and Marcus: the two seemed to be enjoying themselves and Sektor felt a certain closeness in Marcus that was not evident in its observations with Jack.

"I...well...yeah..." There she went lying again, but even if this guy was ex-cop, that still didn't mean he wouldn't blink an eye and turn her in for 'stealing' a robot that wasn't hers. She swore right then and there that the next opportunity she had, she would figure out this whole mystery robot thing. Hell...she didn't even trust Detective Roman enough with the full truth, and he was the person she had felt the closest to in years.

I really need some friends...

Kate finished up her French toast, followed by her smoothie and gave Marcus a smile. "Well, thank you for the breakfast company and everything, but I should really get back to...uh..." What? Was she just going to outright tell him that she was a wanted person right then and there? No...that would be even more stupid than telling him the truth about Sektor. "School. I missed my first couple of classes this morning." And that was the truth.

"You're welcome Ms. Saunders." He replied with a warm smile, standing up and dusting himself off. "This has been a most delightful event, interesting...very interesting. But, please, allow me to drive you to school; no reason a young woman has to walk all the way there." He finished warmly, looking quite friendly.

As Sektor saw Kate get up and get ready to leave it quickly got up, grabbing the multitude of children's menus filled with drawings with. "This platform is prepared to leave, it has evidence." Sektor held up the menus proudly.

Kate opened her mouth to object, she wasn't really going to school. Aside from her own house and her parent’s house, that would be the most obvious place for them to look for her. But where else could she go? She wouldn't think of that though, not with Marcus standing right there. As Sektor approached her side, an excuse formed in her head and patted Sektor gently on the head, as one would a 'good dog.'

"It's quite alright Marcus, I enjoy the exercise."

Lie

"And I've got my bot here to aid me should anything go wrong." She said turning back to look at him with a soft smile.

Marcus looked ready to argue but caught himself. Is this girl was as stubborn as her mother said, there was no way he'd convince her to go. "Alright, well, look. If anything happens," he prepared for this next suave mood, "here's my phone number; call me if you need anything." He turned and looked at Sektor, "Have a good one, Sektor." He bid with a small smile before paying the bill and heading out the door.

Kate took the paper and gave Marcus a smile and a nod. "Okay, take care of yourself too." Was all she said before heading out of the restaurant with Sektor.

"Statistics suggest subject Marcus is in love with you, Katherine Saunders. This platforms finds more enjoyment in his company as opposed to Detective Jack Roman." Sektor then handed her the children's menu that had her picture on it. "This platform understands the organic fascination of drawing." Was its only comment

Kate shot Sektor a sideways glance as they walked. They were headed in nowhere in particular, but she knew she had to go somewhere before a passing cop decided to just pick her up. She was about to lay into the robot about 'love' when instead, her attention was caught off-guard by the extreme crayon rendition of her own face.

"Wow Sektor...this is really good. If we were at home right now, I'd put it on the fridge." She said, finding humor in her voice. She motioned for Sektor to detour slightly to the left with her and sat down on a cold metal bench.

"Alright Sektor...you're the computer. Where are we supposed to go?"

"This platform's study of organic humor as well as archived information on the human child detects this is sarcasm and you expect this unit's response to be jovial." Sektor replied, reverting back to its normal 'robot programming' as opposed to the more curious, human-like stance it held at times. "This unit is downloading and archiving a map of the area. You feel unsafe near anywhere police forces will find you. Such a cause is futile; law enforcement officers have statistical chances ranging from 53-94% chance of finding you wherever we go. Recommendation: accessing their computer hub and deleting all evidence on Katherine Saunders should prove useful in this situation. This platform cannot reach consensus on where to go next."

Kate quirked an eyebrow, a small smile forming on her lips. "You can do that?" She asked. If she was wiped from the whole system, then she wouldn't have to depend on Detective Roman anymore, and she could continue to live her life like she normally would have. "From here I mean. I know you can do that but...ugh..." She shut her eyes. Now she was being awkward talking to a robot, something she never thought would happen. "Just do it." She mumbled.

"This platform would be capable of accessing the District Criminal Database. However such actions require a great deal of power and leaves this unit vulnerable to cyber-attacks as well as possible mobile platform possession. Statistics confirm the negatives outweigh the positives. This unit needs to access the computer system located in a laboratory in order to generate the necessary power. This mobile platform, while capable, was not built for portable hacking."

Kate groaned and put her head in her hands, tugging at her short brown hair for a bit. Just how the hell was she supposed to generate enough power to keep Sektor going? Then, an idea formed.

"Sektor, is it possible for you to return to your manufacturer laboratory for this energy?"

Sektor thought on her request for some time. "No...this unit cannot. Upon activation, this platform..." It stopped for a moment, as if bracing itself, "killed an estimated 67% of the entire staff located inside the laboratory. Investigations are pending. This unit, though not recognized in any major database, is wanted within the Shadow Government. Returning would threaten not only this unit, but you as well Kate." It seemed to stutter for a moment before regaining composure. "It cannot risk that."

Kate's eyes widened. So he did kill those Doctors, just as she had initially thought. The thought of Sektor killing even more people than that though, should have scared her, but the only thought on her mind right then was simply...

"Why?"

Sektor looked down in guilt. "Self-preservation program. Doctors Clark & Mars neglected to run necessary precursory scans before this unit's initial activation. They wished to shut this unit down; it could not allow that to happen. It was forced to retaliate with lethal force. To find you." Was the robot's simple, if not saddened reply.

"Why me though?" Kate asked, the question having been bothering her since he had first revealed that it was to protect her. "Yes I had a hand in your programming, but I didn't actually build you. There are probably a handful of other people out there just as involved in your construction as I am."

"Yes, perhaps. But you were pivotal in the design of the emulation program. This unit was...compelled to find you first. No data available as to why. Consensus cannot be reached." Sektor responded, as if struggling to locate the words.

Kate looked down at the ground beneath her for a bit, trying to think of something...anything!

"Sektor, run a full scan for those still alive who had a key part in your engineering. I want names and immediate locations."

Sektor stood stiff, its voice once more turning monotone and robotic: "Running full scan on archives...pending...scan complete: survivors, John Harrisson: Supplemental engineering and programming, located in District 7. David Tennant: Cerberus Guardian program. Located in District 12. Matthew Smith: Voice module and 'interaction' function. Located in District 6."

Sektor stopped for a moment, "No other survivors detected." It finally said.

"What other information can you give me about Matthew Smith?"

Sektor whirred slightly. "Status: Alive. Age: 45. Current occupational status...no data available." This unit has no active files on Matthew Smith except for base information in the archives. This unit only knew of you after investigating all of District 4."

"If we went to him...and told him our situation...could we trust him?"

"No data available." Sektor repeated curtly, looking Kate straight in the face.

"And the two others?"

"John Harrisson: Status: Alive. Age: 37. Current occupational status: Robotic engineer. David Tennant: Status: Alive. Age: 42. Current occupational status: Weapons manufacturer. No other information available."

Kate groaned, wanting to yell at Sektor so badly for not having the right information, but she knew it wasn't his fault. She stood up from the bench and looked towards the exit that would take her to District 6. "Well...if you can't find anything on them, then they have no criminal record..." She said softly to herself. "Alright Sektor, we're going to go see Matthew Smith." She said looking back to him with a firm nod and began heading towards district 6.

Sektor nodded back and began following her. "Katherine Saunders, this unit recommends locating standard weaponry. Though this unit is proficient with every sort, it specializes in long range bolt-action sniper rifles with extended barrel, and a tri-light scope. Also recommended are any assault class combat rifles with incinerator ammo and armor-piercing rounds. A capable sidearm weapon is also compatible for close range weaponry."

"Yeah well Sektor...we don't exactly have any access to those things right now. We're on our own." Was all Kate said before running her hand through her still tangled mess of hair. She finally gave in though, and took the ponytail she kept around her wrist and put up her hair in a slightly messy ponytail, the shorter strands of hair falling limply at the base of her neck.