badwryter

[badwryter]

Chapter 3: Caught

"They said you could change the way you looked. How do you do it?" The gruff voice asked behind Delphi.

"I'm not Gemini." She replied while turning to face her aggressor.

His face was sharp, brown hair hung low over his brow, with neatly trimmed stubble outlining his jaw. A long leather duster hung closely over his plain clothes with a rifle strapped to his back. His gloved hand held a large pistol to her forehead.

"Oh? You're not?" He mocked while flashing a watchdog badge.

"I'm following his trail too."

"Open the bag."

Delphi slowly slid her bag off of her shoulders and dropped it in front of her. Her hands shakily tugged at the drawstring until her armor came into view. Her bow sat on top of the pile and drew her attention.

"None of that." He dipped his revolver into her view. "Now dump it on the ground."

She grabbed the edges and slowly turned her back on end. Her bow, armor, and a few provisions tumbled onto the ground before them. The look of recognition in his eyes caused her to wince.

"So you're not Gemini, but why did an archeologist attack a government building. Put your hands against the wall." He gestured to a place mostly clear of debris.

She placed her hands on the wall as he quickly patted her down. Soon after he placed a pair of electronic cuffs around each of her wrists and locked them together. They were tight, but not uncomfortable.

"State your name, purpose, and point of contact."

"Delphinus, catching Gemini, none."

"Well Delphinus, I am officer Jerry Gilroy of the Watchdog unit. You are under arrest as the main suspect in an attack on the maintenance authority. You will be held until someone higher than me hears that you're an archeologist and releases you against my advice. You will be fed, housed, and given entertainment until such a time as you aren't a ward under my protection." The sarcasm dripped from his voice as he led her out of the gate and to a small shuttle.

Gently, he pushed her through the doorway of the brightly lit unmarked vehicle. He tossed her bag with its content, and the note into a small compartment. The glass door of the confinement unit lowered in front of her face as he slid into the drivers seat of the shuttle.

"So Jerry, you're taking me in to get questioned?" Delphi began fiddling with the lock before sending an electrical pulse through them, disabling them with a barely audible click.

"No, I'm taking you to see a play at The Sands. It's a local theater that's all the rage for criminals."

"Well Jerry, I haven't seen a play in some time if you can believe it." She spoke while focusing waves of energy on the lock om her cell.

"Call me Gilroy if you're gonna keep using my name. Only my parents call me by my first name." He yawned before turning on some soft local music.

"Gilroy it is." She sent the last pulse through the lock, disabling it, just as she finished her sentence. "Do you have a favorite play? Or do you only go when you're arresting people?"

"Only when arresting Proctor's. No one else gets preferential treatment." He yawned again and pulled onto a large stretch of pavement.

"So what's your favorite play to see with Proctor's?" She slid the door open as quietly as she could and stepped into cabin of shuttle. Her eyes rested on the rifle he had placed just outside her cell on top of the container holding her things. Without looking she leaped for it only to hear the telltale click of a gun being cocked.

"The one where the stupid Proctor doesn't realize she's been outplayed." He did not so much as turn around as he aimed in her direction.

"How did you know?"

"I got a notification when you fried your handcuffs. I assume I should be thankful that you didn't do that to me while I was patting you down."

"I don't believe in resorting to violence under any circumstances."

"Luckily for me, I do. Now get back in the cell before I have to shoot you."

"I don't think you will." She slowly reached for the rifle, placing it on the ground and opening the container.

"What gives you that impression?"

"Guns not loaded, cars stolen, your names Uriah Rockefeller, known accomplice of Andromeda Manning, aka Gemini." She rattled off everything Cerberus spoke inside her head as she placed her armor on the ground, read Gemini's letter, and started changing.

"Can you warn me next time you're taking off your clothes?" She watched his eyes snap back towards the road.

"Why? It's just skin. Had it my entire life actually." She walked towards the front of the shuttle and sat in the seat next to him, setting her helmet in her lap.

"Yea, and I've seen plenty, but there's something to be said of professionalism you know." He turned to look at her for a moment.

"Turn left here." Cerberus remarked and Delphi repeated.

"Now you're telling me where to go?" He asked while easing the shuttle down the new road.

"Yea, sorry about that, you kidnapped the wrong person." She pointed at a small apartment complex just ahead. "Now are you going to behave so we can see why Gemini lead me here?"

"You think I'm gonna take orders from someone I just met?" He flashed a charming smile, directed at an entirely unimpressed face.

"Well you were looking for Gemini for a reason and I'm your best bet." She pushed open the shuttle door and stepped into the mostly empty street.

No other shuttles passed as she crossed to address she had recovered. The building in question look entirely dismissable. Faded red walls matched the buildings on either side of it, each window had curtains pulled, even the dingy blue of the door failed to draw her attention as she knocked.

"So Gemini is in this building?" He had long since placed his revolver back in his holster, but kept his hand on a knife tucked in his waist.

A few seconds passed before she empowered her suit and scaled the wall, leaving a shouting Uriah behind her. The top floor window lead into a furnished, but obviously abandoned room. The next few floors were equally as vacant as she finally unlocked the front door.

"You could have warned me." He said as soon as she came into view.

"I could have left you outside."

"Yea, you're definitely related to him. It seems arrogance is a family trait."

"So you want a warning whenever I get dressed, and whenever I climb a wall, do you want one when I eat, sleep, or drink?" She paused her search of the building. Each door she checked had been unlocked and the complete lack of food left a nagging feeling in the back of her mind.

"Hey." Uriah called out while Delphi combed through a few papers lying around.

"What?" She shouted back, setting the papers in a disorganized stack on a side table inside the otherwise organized bedroom. Even the sheets looked to have been never disturbed as a layer of dust gathered overtop them.

"You think this could be anything?" He remarked as soon as she entered the main hallway.

In front of him was set of stairs leading under the building that had been hid behind an empty bookshelf. The bookshelf rested against the wall, having been noiselessly moved out of the way. No light drifted down into the dim and dusty space below, but a soft mechanical glow rose up to meet the still air above.

"Guess you're not useless." She took the first tentative step onto the wooden stairs.

"Well one of us has to be of use. I don't see you finding anything." His steps creaked behind her.

"You do one thing right and suddenly you're the most useful person in the room?"

"Better than the person who hasn't done anything right I'd wager."

"You're lucky I'm tolerating you."

"Don't worry, once I find Gemini you'll never hear from me again."

"I'll hold you to that."

The walls of the room were lined with servers and had metal plating along the ceiling and floor. A singular rolling chair sat in front of three monitors. The glow came from the screen saver. A small picture of Uriah and Gemini embracing each other with their lips nearly touching, bounced around each screen barely missing the corners. It got closer with each bounce until she disturb the image with a tap of the keyboard.

"Just when it was getting good."

"So you two were together?"

"Kind of? I don't really know what I was to him."

She glanced back at his steel expression before returning her attention to the unlocked computer. A video of Gemini was already center screen and waiting for someone to click play. The background was of the same room she found herself in, but with a few tables and unfinished tech on them.

"Should we?" Uriah asked right as she clicked play. The voice came through crystal clear.

"Uriah, or is it Delphi who found this first? If I'm right, as I often am, it should be both of you here. How interesting." Gemini gloated as a refurbished moving bot packed up the tables and tech in the background.

"So let's start with what's happening here shall we? Firstly, Delphi, so sorry about your ship. Unfortunately I need it much more than you. Secondly, Uriah, sorry I couldn't take you with me." He face turned serious for a moment as he rubbed the bridge of his nose before continuing.

"I found something. Something big. Huge even. It could change the way we view everything in our solar system. Hell, it could get us out of our solar system if I'm right as I usually am."

"Do you believe this asshole?" Uriah asked between Gemini's sentences.

"He's an ass, but not an idiot." Delphi focused back on the screen.

"I know you're both gonna try to come after me. Let's be real here, I understand both of you way better than you understand yourselves. Before you do, I left a drive with some information that I found out. Have Cerberus look over it. Oh, and Delphi..."

"I'm gonna kill him when I find him. You cool with that? The smug bastard deserves to die for this shit." Uriah growled.

"All guns and no brains huh?"

A click sounded behind her as a hand flung her to the floor. "What the fuck..." She stop mid sentence as Uriah pulled his revolver out of its holster.

Behind him, a rotary rifle spun up before opening fire on where she had been moments before. The monitors were shattered, leaving melted glass covering the floor. The chair had burned holes through it the size of her fist. Uriah had his arm blocking his face, a metal gleam showed through the holes in his duster.

"Trust Uriah." Was the last garbled sentence the Gemini said before the computer went entirely dark.

Uriah opened fire on the rifle, leaving large holes through it. The loud bang that accompanied each shot rang inside Delphi's ears. Seven shots later the rotary rifle dropped from the ceiling and clattered to the floor with a muffled sound that barely went over the ringing in her ears.

"I thought you said the gun was empty." She asked Cerberus immediately after gathering her wits

"I said that I didn't detect an active power source."

"It's analog. Your AI couldn't have noticed that." Uriah already had his metal hand extended in her direction.

She grabbed his hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. "He didn't mention the arm either."

He tore off the now nearly shredded sleeve and revealed an entirely mechanical arm of a dark black metal. "Gemini made it. I'm not surprised that he made sure a Cerberus unit couldn't see it. The metal covers my entire back as well."

"You know about Cerberus?" Delphi dusted herself off before reaching towards the arm and pulling her gauntleted hand back. "May I touch it?"

"Gemini told me about them before he vanished." He straightened his arm out for her inspection. "Be my guest."

She removed her gauntlets and ran her hands along the metal tenderly, her fingers rubbing the scorch marks until they disappeared entirely. The metalwork was immaculate, no sign of welding could be seen on the smooth surface. The metal plates overlapped with each other, creating a seamless piece all the way up to the organic shoulder. The palm of the hand had a synthetic latex sensor that allowed it to transmit the sensation of touch, tempature, vibration, and electrical current.

"He does good work." He stated flatly before tearing off his other sleeve to make his duster symmetrical.

"That's an understatement. Work like that can only usually be gotten at home." She put her gauntlets back on and walked towards the now destroyed computer.

"I plan on getting it replaced when I come into some money." He responded nonchalantly while following her.

"Look, I don't know what you two were to each other, but you should keep it. It obviously means a lot to you." She searched around the computer until she found a fully intact drive.

"Do you trust that?" Cerberus asked moments before she shoved it into a slot in her helmet. "Nevermind."

"We should get out of here. Someone has to have heard the gunfire." Uriah had walked back towards the staircase, but waited at the bottom step.

"Download complete." The words filled her head as she followed him up the stairs and out of the building. He quickly placed the bookcase back against the wall, blocking all view of the stairs.

Delphi sighed and climbed into the shuttle, taking her seat in the passenger spot. Her boots rested against the dash despite the obvious dangers. A soft music filled the air as they drove away from the scene. Soon they could hear chatter over the radio of officers arriving at the abandoned apartments.

"I'll drive you home. Just give me the address." He remarked after a few minutes of driving in relative silence.

"Better idea." She directed him to a nearby bar Cerberus had found.

"Do you really think drinking is a good idea at the moment?" He complained, but still crawled out of the shuttle after her.

"Well you'll want to keep tabs on me right? To find Gemini. Cerberus will take some time to pick through the files and I've already had a long day." She remarked casually as she held the door open for the continuously more sullen man.

"Delphi I do not think this is wise." Cerberus called in her head as she and Uriah pulled out their chairs and sat at a table in the back of the bar. He immediately picked up a tablet off of the table and began clicking through menus while they waited.

"I know, and I'm sorry I haven't been talking to you as much today, but I have a good feeling about him." She whispered under her breath. "Plus he looks like a kicked puppy. Probably what Gemini liked about him."

"Ever the reckless one I see."

"You know it's considered rude to talk about a guy while sitting across from him." He spoke lazily over his tablet without making eye contact with her.

"You know it's also considered rude to kidnap someone? Dramatic ass." She laughed. "Can you order me an Ole Fashioned and some fries. I'll get more food when I'm good and buzzed."

"You paying?" He tapped on the tablet before placing it back on the table.

"Can't even get a me a drink after holding a gun to my head? This is the worst kidnapping I've ever been apart of." She sighed and reached for the tablet.

"Calm down. Your fries and drink will be here shortly. Dramatic ass."

Delphi played a rhythm with her fingers on the table and tilted on the back legs of her chair while she waited. The bar was relatively full, with patrons providing some much needed background noise to mask their conversations. Her eyes drifted towards the counter and kitchen until a pleasant looking waiter set a drink down in front of her. She plucked the cherry from the glass and quickly ate it before sipping the drink and snacking on a few fries.

Uriah kept to himself as he ate, a glass identical to hers sat in front of him. Her eyes followed his deadened movements as he ate and sipped. His eyes never left his nearly robotic movements.

"So did you start drinking these because of Gemini or did he get that particular trait from you?" He finally spoke after he had all but finished his burger.

"Oh, from me definitely. I was already fifty-three when he was born."

Uriah choked on his drink and cleared his throat. "How old are you?"

"I think I turned two-hundred a few years back. I don't really keep track. What about you?"

"I'm twenty-three." He mumbled.

"You're twenty-three and you already lost an arm? Was it a mining accident?"

"Pirates. I used to be in the military. Signed up young to escape poverty. Got screwed over." Her eyes narrowed more the longer he spoke.

"So you killed people." The words were not an accusation, despite the tone that had crept into her voice.

"I kept pirates from killing civilians. I didn't fight in any wars. I thought I was helping people."

"You still killed people."

"Yea, still do if the need arises. Sometimes it's a matter of either killing or letting someone else die instead. Sometimes that person is you."

"You still killed people."

She took a heavy drink before setting her glass down and ordering another. A third followed, and then a forth, the conversation hanging dead in the air. Her mind began to feel a familiar haze as she ordered some more food for herself.

"Delphi, you're definitely going to want to see this." Cerberus chimed inside her head.

"Hmm?"

An overlay of a ship type she had never seen before sat in front of her eyes. The sleek dark metal overlapped and moved in tangent with each other in a mesmerizing way. No visible windows, weapons, or engines. Nothing to showcase a weak point.

The inside was even more advanced. She could see a pilotless cockpit and a thrustless engine drive. The shielding technology matched all Proctor designs, but without the built in safety limitations. Even capturing the ship for herself she was certain it would take another century for her to imagine replicating any of what floated before her eyes.

She grabbed the tablet off the table and a few hacks later she was showing the ship the Uriah. He looked quizzically at her.

"What am I looking at?"

"A ship, check out these specs." A few more taps later the blueprints revealed themselves on the tablet.

"What the fuck kind of ship is that?" He took a gulp of his drink.

"It's Proctor, but older, and far larger than any even we've managed to find. That's what Gemini is after."

@artisplatters

[badwryter]

Chapter 2: Trail Blazing

Delphi sat with her back leaned against her bed. Her armor was strewn about the floor in front of her as she inspected every single piece. Her hands deftly turned them over while her eyes scanned every nook and cranny.

"I don't see any tracking devices." She muttered aloud while stretching her legs.

"Shame."

"We don't even know if we could have followed the signal back."

"My current limitations can be solved."

"I'm not breaking into the city's central computers just because you don't like living in my head."

She grabbed a packet of instant coffee and filled a mug with water. Setting the mug in the microwave she pressed the minute button while tearing the packet open with her teeth. The hum of the microwave filled the air as her fingers tappes idly against the counter top.

"I think we're going to have to check the maintenance records." She braced herself for the reply.

"You mean breaking into a government building?"

"It's the only lead we have. We don't even know why he was..." A loud beeping disrupted her thoughts.

She grabbed the mug and poured her packet in, idly stirring the concoction until it fully dissolved. The warmth spread through her hands as she drank. Each sip contorted her face a little more than the last.

"Can you order some real coffee?"

"I will add it to the list." Cerberus paused.

Delphi pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "You know. I'm not mad at you, I'm just mad in general."

"I will add it to the list."

She finished the poor excuse for coffee and placed her glass in the sink. Grabbing her armor, she stuffed it in a bag and casually walked out her door. The shuttle quickly took her straight to the outskirts of the landing pads.

Stepping into the open her eyes scanned each alley. Surveillance followed her every move as she nudged pedestrians out of her way. The crowds thinned the further she moved away until she was standing alone in a dilapidated alley taking in the scenery.

The walls were stone and metal and covered in thick dark moss. Puddles soaked the ground despite the lack of rain the past few days. Wires crisscrossed overhead between buildings before looping back and heading upwards.

Dense air mugged her skin as she quickly changed into her armor. The helmet slipped over her head and immediately began to cycle air. Breathing in deeply, she stashed her bag of clothes behind the driest trashcan she could find.

"Are you going to scale the wall?"

Delphi nodded and placed her gauntlet covered hands against the bricks. She focused and anchored her gravity to the building. Her body jerked forward, the wall becoming the ground for her alone.

Pulling herself to her feet she began to walk, then to sprint, until she reached the top of the building. She grabbed the ledge and eased the pull of gravity off of her body just as she pulled herself onto the roof.

She scanned the horizon until she saw the roof of the maintenance building. It was dark as could be expected with the position of the sun never changing. Her eyes searched desperately for a way across.

"You're not about to do something dangerous are you?"

"When have you known me to do something dangerous?"

"Second day of you getting your implant and most days afterwards if I am remembering correctly."

Delphi was already sprinting towards towards the gap between the buildings when Cerberus finished speaking. She reached out with her hands and felt for the pull of gravity coming off the closest building. Latching it to her own she charged her suit to max till the buildings rooftop pulled her the rest of the way to it.

"You could have warned me."

"I survived. Bit of a rough landing."

"Well you were pushing the limits on the distance. I'm surprised you managed to get close enough."

She passed over the roof till she reached the edge and paused. "This one looks like I could make it easily."

She walked back some distance from the edge and lined herself up with where she remembered the next rooftop to be. Her legs bent at the knee as she dropped low and readied herself. The gravel crunched under her foot, her body accelerated, her muscles strained against her bones, her heart beat harshly in her throat, she lurched forward and leapt over the edge.

Weightlessness overtook her for a moment before she began to plummet. Her distanced fall landed her just over the edge of the other building. It jarred her shoulder, but otherwise left her unscathed.

"Just a couple more to go."

"I should have picked someone less enthusiastic about death."

The words of her A.I. fell on deaf ears as she leaped, ran, and used gravity to propel her to her destination. The maintenance building stood slightly shorter than those nearest it, with cameras pointing down into the empty streets. The single door with its shallow light illuminated nearly nothing of the roof, but her suits built in night vision covered what her eyes could not.

Landing with a harsh thud, she plopped down and attempted to catch her breath. She sat for a couple minutes before pulling herself up to her feet. Her breathing had slowed to its usual measured pace.

"We should do that again." She mused while checking her surroundings.

"When you fall to your death don't come crying to me."

"If I fall to my death I don't think I'd be doing much of anything. You know, because of the death part."

Delphi marched to the door and checked the analog lock. The door stuck fast in place, unmoving to her tugging. She glanced around the roof for any way to enter before checking the edges of the building.

"I see a fire escape that passes by some windows. Do you think you could check their network and unlock one?"

"That should be possible."

She walked towards the buildings ledge and dropped down to the fire escape. Using her legs to cushion her fall, her boots clanged against the rusted metal. She peered through the window. The dark corners of the room slowly became visible as her helmets night vision kicked on.

Cerberus made a clicking noise, mimicking the lock. "Whenever you're ready."

She gripped the bottom of the window and slowly began to lift it up. "I should have brought some actual tools with me."

"Next time we break in somewhere I'll be sure to remind you."

Climbing through she stepped carefully on the floor and took stock of her meager surroundings. A handful of old computers lined the walls, their digital displays still rendering if only just. The door hung back against the wall with a sheen of dust coating its peeling paint.

She walked over and gripped the handle, giving it a half turn before the mechanism unlocked and she cracked the door. The thin slit left just enough room for her to peer into the rounding hallway with its empty surfaces and blinking cameras. Her heart pounded in her chest as she slid the door closed once more.

"You haven't disabled the cameras yet?"

"Too much tampering and their system will know something is happening. I can bypass a few cameras or we can stand here for an hour and I can disable their system monitoring programs."

"Do we actually have to get into their server room or can we do it from here?"

"These computers are on an entirely separate network. Camera is now on loop, the server room is two floors down."

Delphi pulled the door open and crept into the hallway. The quick walk down two flights of stairs melded into the back of her mind as she stared up at the metal door. The solid metal hinges were bolted into the wall and anchored through blocks of cement.

"How good do you think their alarm is?" She asked while drawing her Proctor bow from her waist. The sleek metal reflected the light cast by the dim emergency lights in the abandoned hallway.

"I can suppress their security for a short while, but then you'll be on your own in getting the information."

She took a few steps back from the door and pulled back on the bow string. Light gathered just below the sight window near where her hand laid. The smell of ion filled the air as she poured energy into the bow and let it gather into a mass.

"Any cameras inside?"

"Probably. I'll disable footage before we leave. You'll have a few minutes at most to get in and back out of the window."

Steadying her aim she released. Faster then her eyes could follow the arrow fried the electronic door lock, leaving no visible damage, and causing the mechanism to swing inward. She quickly moved into the server room and pushed the door closed just enough make it appear shut.

The rows of wires cobbled together with bricks of copper and fiberglass left aisles leading to a large computer. She sat in the musty chair and began digging into the system after following the bypass left in by Cerberus. Admin privileges smoothed her search of their files and in quick order, with a thank you to the silent A.I., she plugged a small drive into the port and began the download. The loading bar ticked away slowly with no distractions except the pounding in her ears and the flickering of the lights.

"Delphi, hide."

Without thinking she activated the power saving screen and leapt to the back of one of the servers. The door swung open just as she pulled herself into cover inside a ventilation hatch. Heavy footsteps soon plodded down the path she had walked a mere minutes before.

She pulled the cover back into place carefully to minimize the noise. She could hear tapping at the keyboard as muffled voices carried over a walkie. A few more minutes passed with her shallow breathing only being covered by the near constant chatter. Legs passed in front of where she hid and briefly stopped only to continue some time afterwards.

"Server room clear." A feminine voice called as her footsteps retreated through the array of wires and back through the door.

Delphi counted to ten before gently removing the hatch and climbing out. Tapping furiously on the keyboard she cleared the screen and snatched the drive. The adrenaline in her system kept her senses heightened as she slipped out of the door.

The hallway was empty, but chatter could be heard coming from the stairwell leading down. She moved as quickly as she could while maintaining silence. Her feet rapidly padded across the thin carpet, only coming to a stop when a flashlight reflected off of a nearby picture. She darted across the hallway and slid into an unlocked room moments before the flashlight rounded a corner.

"Thanks." She whispered while peaking under the door.

A large pair of boots walked across her field of vision and disappeared back towards where she had just left. They were followed shortly after by another pair, albeit smaller ones. She counted to ten before unlatching the door and braving the hallways once more.

"Intruder found, sixth floor!" Someone shouted from behind her.

Delphi shattered into a heavy sprint and felt something clank off of the back of her armor as she rounded up the stairs. The burning in her legs fed anguish to her lungs. A cold sweat spilled against her skin and carried chills with it despite her temperature controlled coverings.

"Stuntags are ineffective! Repeat stuntags are ineffective!" She heard as she scrambled through the door, barely closing it before someone crashed hard into the wood.

"And I'm a known criminal." Delphi said as she leapt through the window. "Any chance they can't get out of the rooftop door before I get away?"

"Twenty-four percent chance."

She checked her surroundings for an alternative. The short climb up the fire escape left little in the way of wonder as no other means of escape was visible. Grabbing the ledge and pulling herself till she could peak overtop, she spotted two guards standing with their backs to the door.

She dropped back to the fire escape and pushed herself against the wall. "Did you stop them from calling the police?"

"I did what I could. We have some time, but it is not unlimited."

"Did you delete our presents from their systems?"

"I did. Why are you asking?"

"I, uh, have a stupid idea."

Peering over the side she could see people gathering near the bottom and looking up at her. The faces of uniformed security guards glared back up at her. No call from from their walkies carried to her, but she could nearly feel their anger.

"Can you cut the power on my mark?"

"Ready."

Delphi changed her gravity to match the wall, but clung to the railing of the fire escape. Her eyes marked the path downward as her heart stammered in her chest. Adrenaline built and bullied her body into readying itself to spring into action at a moments notice.

She took a deep breath. "Now."

She flung herself over the edge of the railing and landed on the side of the building. With no time to lose she began to sprint the length of the wall. Her night vision barely responded in time for her to see the railing blocking her path. The disarray below reached her ears just as she leapt over the last obstacle and released her control on gravity.

Landing hard on her feet she ran towards the nearest alley. The guards shouting was unintelligible from the beating of her heart in her ears. Alarms on her suit were flaring to life as her blood pressure skyrocketed. Still her legs carried her to the alley and over the nearest fence before they began to wobble and lock up.

"Give me something abandoned that's a decent distance away." She breathed and hobbled in the general direction that Cerberus led her.

Her legs burned, her lungs burned, she could hear the faint sound of sirens behind her getting closer. All of the energy she had been holding washed away as her adrenaline slipped between her fingers. Still her legs plodded along, carrying her closer to some warehouse she had never seen.

"Here."

She grabbed the door handle and gave it a hopeful twist. The sirens came crawling closer behind her as she heard the faint click of the bolt releasing and the door swung out towards her. She stepped inside, locking the door immediately, before sliding down to the floor and trying to remember how it felt to breathe.

Her vision slowly began to clear. It was slight at first, but then all at once. Her body recovered within minutes, allowing her to pull herself to her feet. The shaking in her hands had ensconced until it too dissipated.

"I've recovered what I think is Gemini's recorded address. Apparently he worked there under the alias Andromeda Manning for at least a year."

"The bastard took moms name? Where's the address?"

Rejuvenated, she put her ear to the door before shuffling outside. The quick walk to the alley containing her clothes and an even quicker change left her to ponder her next steps even as the shuttle came to a stop outside a dilapidated segment of universal housing. What few places still in use were hardly in better repair than the rest of the wore down and bedraggled dwellings.

Old cement pockmarked with an endless array of puddles zigzagged all throughout the neighborhood. The striking lack of cameras and scarcity of people swept an eerie calm over an otherwise ethereally scenic view. Vines, debris, and the occasional wildlife added to the overall ambiance as Delphi stood at the gate. On its broken hinges lay a cast iron barrier quickly discarded.

She stepped through and passed into the walkway that surrounded the area. Other than the striking of her feet against the pavement and the chittering of things best left in the dark, no sound disturbed the stillness. A sickly sweat fueled by the last vestiges of her adrenaline breached her skin as she saw the address Cerberus had mentioned.

Pushing open the rotted door carefully, she walked into the fetid dwelling. A strange mix of mildew and gunpowder assaulted her nose, causing a crinkle to appear on her otherwise blank face. The room was empty except for a small mattress and a dingy blanket sitting in the corner. A slip of neatly folded paper sat atop the blanket.

"Something doesn't feel right." Cerberus stated flatly.

"You could say that..." Delphi began just as the cocking of a gun clicked behind her and a metal barrel was pressed against the back of her head.

[badwryter]

Chapter 1: The forge

"Cerberus!" Delphi screamed as the ground buckled underneath her.

"You're falling." Came the calm reply from her ships A.I.

She slammed into the floor below and her world went dark as her suit locked itself and absorbed the impact. The lights on her helm began to flicker and cycle power before coming back online. The cool gel interior receded partly as her suits power returned in full.

She coughed till she could breathe and pulled herself to her feet. "You said it was safe."

"I said scans showed it was structurally sound."

"That wasn't structurally sound."

"The scanners are at 40% reliability. You should not have flown through that storm on Charon."

"We didn't know the terraforming had traveled this far out."

"We knew there was a storm."

Delphi silenced her comms and began to look around the ruins she had fallen into. The yellow metallic walls shimmered like chitin under the lights cast by her helmet. An eerie calm filled the air as she padded over the dark soft carpet.

She shambled across the uniform floor as her joints settled back into their respective sockets. The force of her reuniting with solid ground having left its mark on her body even as her armor remained pristine. A large structure rose from the center of the room that was connected to the shaft she had tumbled into.

"Cerberus." She called only to be met with silence.

"Cerberus." She called again after adjusting the volume.

"Yes." They replied.

"I've found the central computer room."

"Impressive."

"I think I'm in another forge."

"This far out?"

"If the observatory can transfer energy all the way out here it can probably use it too." She couldn't manage to keep her annoyance out of her tone.

"You're speculating again."

Ignoring Cerberus, Delphi brought her hand to the port of the console and pushed energy through her gauntlets into it. The energy of her body drained into the machine, leaving her vision once more dim. Her suit chimed a warning in protest to her actions which she promptly ignored.

The flow of energy stopped as quickly as it started and the console came to life. She let her fingers play against the various familiar controls until lights began to fill the large room. Checking the sensors to see the damage the possible millenia had done to the equipment, she fired up a few of the basic systems. More warnings flashed, these ones from the machine itself. She powered the forge down.

"You're being reckless again." Cerberus chimed.

"I just wanted to see how long a repair sequence would take. I think a year would be enough to get it operating at a basic level."

"Give it two. Just to be absolutely sure." They relented.

She checked the warnings one last time before setting the forge in repair mode. "Two years. Mark the date."

"February 28th, 2415. Marked."

Delphi walked towards her ship with a notable limp. The sleek cruiser sat atop a large rock amidst a barren moon. She glanced around her, making note of the beginnings of a thickening atmosphere as she climbed aboard the Phantom.

"Two years." She whispered to herself before climbing aboard and flying away.

She settled nicely into the seat as the ship prepared to reach maximum speeds. Triton, a moon on the outskirts of their solar system receded quickly until it was no longer visible to her scanners. The engine thrummed softly as she stripped off her suit and stashed it in the compartment hidden under her bed.

"You should have kept it on until you were fully healed."

"I'll heal fast enough on my own. I'm low on energy as it is."

"That's because you force started a computer immediately after getting injured. You should have waited."

"You're just mad that I was right."

She sniffed at the collar of her shirt and recoiled from the stench. It smelled irreparably of sweat, ion, dust, and stagnant air. The few changes of clothes she had left were not in much better condition.

"I think we'll stop somewhere at the Uranus Frontier before we do the long haul back. I'd rather not be stuck in here for almost a month straight."

"It is twenty three days." Cerberus corrected before continuing. "Stopping by the frontier is for the best. Your identification is too outdated for the more sophisticated factions."

"I could just put on the cloak and say I'm an archeologist. They let us go just about anywhere."

"None of you have been openly seen in 20 years. I don't think the Eldest would approve of you breaking that tradition."

"Run striatum pause and wake me when we get there." Delphi sighed.

She closed her eyes as her brain activity slowed to near nothing. The random sensations her body still felt despite her inability to comprehend them kept her mind busy. A detailed dream sequence played rapidly before her minds eyes completing the sensation. She felt herself coming back to reality shortly after as her ship landed on the brightly lit pad.

"Where did you land us?" She asked while stretching her muscles.

"New Berlin on the moon Titania. It is the largest settlement."

Delphi grabbed a small pistol from her weapons rack and strapped it to her hip before looking out the window. The large city eclipsed the skyline with its high rising buildings. A blue-green ball of gas hung in the air and blotted out much if not most of the night sky.

"Keep watch." She called as she stepped out onto the metal landing pad.

A small man approached her and hastily scribbled down a few lines on a tablet before looking her way. "Name?"

"Delphi." She responded and stepped around him.

She could hear his footsteps walking closer to another platform as she moved towards a large holographic map. It sat just outside the small transport shuttle area that offered trips to various marked sectors. Shops, bars, museums, and many other tourist attractions were on clear display. Eyeing a few of the more notable bars she selected a small motel nearby and had Cerberus send the appropriate currency under her id.

The shuttle moved quick, speeding down tracks in the underdeveloped city. Different shades of neon flew past her vision faster than she could read any of them. The various advertisements were lost in a whirlwind of color. Whatever they were trying to sell bled seamlessly into another sales pitch.

Suddenly the shuttle dinged and the large doors glided open. The musk of the putrid undercity air wafted into the shuttles cabin only to be purified and replaced with the smell of ion. A short walk left her standing outside the motel surrounded by stink.

Pulling a smaller tablet from her pocket she let the machine scan the code they had sent her. She stepped into the dingy and poorly lit room as the smell of dust got sucked out of the air by autofilters. Small stains of mysterious liquids still peppered the floor adding to the overall ambiance.

The medium sized bed clung to the far wall away from the door. The red sheets and blankets had seen better days, but smelled as if they had been freshly cleaned as she leaned over them. She grabbed the tablet chained to the table and laid down.

"I'm thinking burgers."

"It's been over a week since you've eaten anything."

"Over a month and a half since I've had anything that wasn't freeze dried." She tapped away at the tablet until she saw a small bar with hardly any reviews.

"Drinks as well?"

"I'm a simple woman. I like food, drinks, clothes, discovering ancient and lost technologies, and silence." She placed the tablet down on the side table and headed through the door. The mechanism locked audibly behind her as she turned her comms volume all the way down.

The shuttle brought her to a section of the city within walking distance of anywhere she would like to go. Hurrying along she snagged some clean clothes and quickly dropped her nauseating ones in the nearest recycling station. The dark pants and matching shirt were thick, working class style clothes. They clung loosely on her, but were more than comfortable enough.

A small neon sign flashed next to the door of the bar. It read Open with an unlit Closed sulking right behind it. She stepped through the door and took stock of the emptiness inside.

"Can I get you anything?" A call came over the counter from the woman cleaning glasses.

"Burger, fries, chicken strips, mozzy sticks, and some cheap whiskey." Delphi responded as she sat on the uncomfortable stool provided.

"Dyzil!" The woman yelled. "Burger, fries, chicken strips, and mot sticks!" The bartender poured a glass of a dark liquid and set it in front of her.

"Thanks." She took a light sip and let it coat the inside of her mouth before taking a much longer drink.

"You're new here huh?" The bartender asked while scrubbing away at another glass.

Delphi nodded while taking another drink and turning to face the empty bar. Chairs hung upside down on top of tables as a lone patron sat in the corner. He eyed her from under the brim of his hat while holding a mug of amber liquid.

"Early or late?" She asked while swirling her drink in its glass.

"Early, but don't worry. I don't judge people who need a drink before a shift."

The sound of clattering ceramic shifted her attention away from the man still staring at her. The plates were piled high and nearly overflowing. The smell of the food made her mouth salivate.

"He hooked you up." The bartend remarked as Delphi dove in.

She tore through the food as quickly as she could get it down. The only thing that saved her from choking was the near constant refills on her drink. The heady whiskey clanged around her head, threatening a headache at every turn and bounce.

"It's not going anywhere." A voice came from behind her.

"Hmm?" She mumbled in between bites of chicken.

The man took the stool on her left and waved over the bartender who had wandered over to the other side of the bar. With a gesture of his hand he ordered another drink and one more for Delphi. Sliding the drink within her reach he spoke again.

"Names' Zan, you're new here aren't ya."

"Ordering me a drink gets you five minutes."

"Make it ten." He remarked after waving the bartender over once more.

She pulled out her small tablet and set a timer. A large holographic five floated above it and began to count down. The drinks sat in front of her as she continued eating while he talked.

Every few sentences she would nod or make a noise while barely paying attention. His voice droned on in the background, seemingly unaware of the timer slowly ticking by. This continued until the last of her fries got washed down with what remained of the second glass he had bought her.

"Times up." She said, pausing the countdown just before a large two began to fade.

"Hey! I paid for ten minutes, I only got three of those!"

She quickly paid the bartender and exited to the bustling street. The man followed shortly after, complaining the entire walk to the shuttle about courtesy. She stood just at the brink of the door and refused him entry with a blank expression.

Another quick trip landed her back at her rented room. Her head swam with the cheap whiskey as she collided with her pillow and sank into a deep sleep. The chiming of Cerberus drifted into a cool melody she could swear she had heard somewhere before.

A dull throbbing in her head brought her slamming back to reality. Artificial light streamed through the cheap curtains, beckoning her to wakefulness even as her pounding skull drove her deeper into the pillow beneath her. A sudden chime echoed through her comms, bringing her attention to its urgency.

"What?" She mumbled through the cotton in her mouth after raising her comms volume back to audible.

"You should go check on your ship. Someone scheduled it for maintenance and I've since been locked out."

"SOMEONE WHAT!" She screamed as leapt from her bed and ran to the door, nearly forgetting her tablet with the access code in her haste.

The ride towards the landing platforms felt longer than it took. As soon as the doors opened she launched herself from the shuttle. Using some of her heightened speed, she reached her destination in half the time it normally would take.

The Phantoms platform sat empty with a large cylinder in place of where her ship had been. She rushed over to open it heedless of the dock worker calling to her. His voice echoed off the metal in futility.

When she reached the cylinder, she quickly lifted the latch. Inside was her armor, her Proctor bow, and a slip of paper with the name Delphinus written in large scrawling letters. The dock worker gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, empty pads are off limits to the general public. I'm going to have to ask you to leave." His voice was firm, but ambivalence hung underneath.

"Where's my ship." She turned to face him as anger filled her.

"The ship that was docked last left a couple hours ago."

"So you just let someone take my ship?"

"We are not responsible for lost property. You should have kept it locked or purchased a guard driod to watch it."

"I'm taking this." Delphi sighed, pushing her anger back down, as she closed the cylinder and hefted it over her shoulder.

The dock worker shrugged and picked up his broom. She could still hear him sweeping as she walked back to the shuttle. The doors closed with an audible hiss while neon signs began to flash passed her.

"Why didn't you keep watch?" She asked as soon as the door to her room closed.

"I tried. A man from platform maintenance locked me out faster than I could override his control." Disappointment was evident in Cerberus's tone.

"You didn't have to let him on board. You could have denied access."

"I thought you had scheduled maintenance without telling me. You do have a bad habit of withholding information."

She set the cache on the floor next to her bed and flung open the hatch once more. The letter still sat on top, begging for her to read it. A cold sweat pooled down her spine as she plucked it from the pile and opened it.

Dear Delphi.

I borrowed your ship if you hadn't noticed already. Don't worry I left your belongings behind where you could find them. I probably won't be bringing it back though. At least not any time soon, but I think you'll be fine either way.

When you do manage to make it back to the Observatory give mom a warm welcome from me.

You won't be able to find me so I recommend just giving up and trying to find a way off world.

P.S. Don't be too hard on Cerberus. They're doing their best.

Love Gemini

She bundled up the letter and tossed it on the floor. "At least we know how someone could actually fly the damn thing."

"So you're going to try to chase him down I take it?"

"I don't really have a choice." She grabbed her armor and bow, tucking it under her bed out of sight. "Guess we're staying here longer than we thought."

"At least get some actual sleep before you go cohorting into the night."

"Yea, yea, nothing I can do now anyways right?"

Delphi stifled a yawn and laid her head against the stiff pillow. Her eyes slowly drifted closed shutting out the sight of the abysmal room. The whiskey still swam lightly in her head.