Designer babies, in theory, are a nice idea. You can select exactly what trait of the parents the baby should have, maybe add some other traits from a third party to make sure the child stays healthy. In reality, however, it is a tool used by the rich to make the perfect children. Creating a new kind of divide between the rich and poor that was even harder to overcome.

— Genetics 101 by Professor Jocobs

We slowly make our way to the company building, making sure to pay attention to all our sightlines. Getting jumped isn’t necessarily something I want to get used to. Bulwark, to my surprise, is not making all that much noise. Sure, he is not completely silent, but with such a bulky machine you would expect a lot more rattling around.

We make it to the front door, and a quick look inside shows a mostly empty lobby, with just one person sitting behind a desk. The only thing that stands out is the number of cameras dotted around the room.

My immediate thought is to connect to them, but to my consternation, they’re wired, connecting to some network I don’t have access to yet. So, I guess that leaves us no other choice but to walk inside.

Bulwark leads the way while I follow right behind them. Once inside, I notice how dilapidated this entire place seems, with chipped paint and ratty carpet. The singular person ends up being a beat-up greeting bot, making me seriously wonder if we got the right place.

“Hello?” I say, trying to interact with the bot.

“We..we..welcom tooo- akkke… chi poset” the bot gets out, with the noise of nails scratching chalkboard.

I wince slightly from the sound. “Yes, hello we have a meeting with the manager of this place. Where should we go.”

“Nnname” the bot replies.

“Ah, we are from Hopeful Dreams.” I lie through my teeth.

The bot nods. “Yyyou are no not on the aaggggennnda”

“Yeah, right, fuck this!” I say, summoning euthanasia and stabbing it through the bots chest. I use the electronic connection to get all the information the bot has access to.

“There isn't much in here.” Evelin informs me. “Not even an agenda. It was programmed to send away anyone that came in, using any means necessary. The only thing it has access to is an alarm trigger, and I am not even sure what that does.”

I nod. “Bot has nothing, just a panic button.”

“So, what do we do next?” Cierra asks.

I shrug, removing my sword from the bot. “Simple, gain access to the cameras. “I say as I stab up, impaling the camera on my sword.

“Hm, not much here either. The machine it’s connected to only has access to cameras in this room and the ones on the outside.” Evelin says after a moment. “These people really are prepared.”

“Just the cameras, here and outside.” I inform the rest of the group.

“What is our next option then?” Cierra asks, looking around the room with some excited energy.

I shrug. “Not really sure, but I really want to take over their server room now.”

“You can do that?” Yun Min asks.

“Maybe. I am not exactly sure where it is, but I am sure I can find it with the liberal application of teleportation.” I point out.

“But that would leave you on your own.” Cierra says, sounding concerned.

I nod slightly. “That's why I would like you to make some noise while I sneak in.” Then I turn to Yun Min. “Any thoughts?”

Yun Min shakes her head. “No, it makes sense. We lack information, and acquiring more would help us greatly in figuring out what is going on here. But it would put you at risk.”

I smile. “Don’t worry if it’s too much. I teleport right back.” I then turn to Bulwark. "Anything to add, big guy?”

Bulwark would like you to be careful.

“I’ll try my best.” I say, as I teleport down a floor.

Technically, the floor below doesn’t belong to The Akechi Project, but then again, I can’t find out who it actually belongs to. It's a mess of shell corporations, so instead I am using my corporate-trained logic to just assume that this also belongs to them.

As soon as my feet touch the floor, I start running. The halls are barren and pretty empty overall, so I start to doubt myself a little, until I run past a set of stairs going up to the previous floor. So, unless the architect was a complete idiot, these two floors belong to the same people.

Keeping that in mind, it is likely that the other floors are the same as well. That just leaves one question: where would you keep your servers with all your data? Well, in PsyCo, they have their own separate floor, so people can’t accidentally run into them. Plus, they have several security systems around them, while keeping the actual server racks pretty much in the middle.

So, the middle of the building is a good start. I teleport myself about a hundred meters forward. Meaning that I only have to correct slightly to be in the middle.

Once I find the centre, I start teleporting down, finding myself in several strange places. The first is a storage room with several boxes stacked on top of each other. The next one is a factory floor that has my air filter complain there is no oxygen in the air, and so on until I think I find it.

Granted, I did not land in the server room, but the temperature here is a lot higher, so it is likely that it is located close by. I start opening random doors until, Bingo; I found big stacks of the things. There is only a singular guard inside wearing a gasmask. Well, that can't be good.

Before I can do anything, one of Crow's swords jumps out and presses itself to the person's neck.

“I wouldn't move if I were you. They have a hard time reading intent.” I say, as I walk further inside, warnings popping up in my AUGS.

“Lyssa, what is hydrogen sulfide?” I ask while looking at the messages.

It's a poison similar to hydrogen cyanide. Lyssa likes to point out that due to your genetic mutation, you have a higher tolerance to this chemical.

“So, it is mostly fine then?” I ask, feeling unsure with words like cyanide in the mix.

You won’t suffer any ill effects from the bits that you will breathe in while staying here. Lyssa, however, would like to point out that Hydrogen Sulfide is highly flammable.

I sigh. “Great, so it's safe until someone lights a spark. Guess I’ll put up a sign saying ‘no blue foxes allowed’.”

Lyssa would like to ask you to stop the foreshadowing.

I let out an indigent huff.

Lyssa will also put an extra lock on Euthanasia and ADHD just in case.

I nod my acknowledgement as I take out a cable from the server and plug it into my arm. Ah, fu.. Bad person, it's all bloody encrypted. Well, this might take some more time than I thought.

“Lyssa, can you get me some kind of uplink so I can download all this stuff?” I ask.

Certainly.

New Purchase: Anomalous Data Uplink 8.4

Points reduced to... 521

A little box appears in my hand, and I quickly open it and plug it into the servers as I call Sam and Mio. Luckily, they pick up quickly.

“Hey what’s up?” Sam asks.

“Do you need anything?” Mio asks.

“Hey, not much time. I am about to send you a bunch of encrypted data. Please help me sort it out and inform me of anything interesting.” I say as I walk out of the room.

I get two confirmations, and with that I disconnect the call. Okay, that is sorted now. I just need to find the security room. Getting camera visibility of this place would be nice, especially if they are using gas weapons.

As soon as I turn the corner, I run into a person, knocking them over while I stumble slightly. They're wearing a white lab coat. I summon my claymore and point the tip at her.

“Please stop, I have to save the children.” the woman pleads.

I blink in surprise. “What children?”

The woman points behind me to a staircase, clearly out of breath. “They're in danger.”

“Give me access to your AUGs,” I say as I drop a basic data shard at her feet.

The woman nods and quickly puts it in. A moment later, I have all her personal data and more. Naoko Yamada, journalist. I look back down at her outfit.

“You don’t look much like a journalist.” I point out.

“Undercover, needed more evidence to save the children,” she says between coughing breaths.

Maniac, she is suffering from the effects of the poison.

I nod. "Get out of here. There is poison in the air. I will get the children.”

The woman looks at me for a long second, then coughs again, then nods and runs away. With that as my start sign, I teleport to the stairwell, jumping down the stairs until I am on the correct floor according to Naoko’s map.

I quickly exit the stairwell and head into the hall. The map indicates several rooms. Sleeping courtiers, test rooms, play area, and a canteen. I quickly open up the schedule and compare it with the time. At this time, they should be at the play area.

I turn down the hall quickly, running to the indicated door and promptly slamming myself into it. Locked well, bi.. Birch, who cares about that? I quickly teleport inside the room.

The inside is… hell seems too nice of a word for this place. There is a thick yellow haze that hangs in the air, with several small bodies lying scattered around the play mat, small burns all over them from the caustic material. I quickly jump onto the closest one, turning over the body of a little boy. I quickly inject him with most of my nanites trying to heal them.

A moment later, Lyssa comes with news.

Maniac, it’s no use. They died a while ago. There is nothing more we can do.

“Fucking bitch asshole,” I say, trying to ignore the stinging pain in my eyes.

I slowly get up, walking to one of the few bodies belonging to an adult, and kick it into a wall while I scream, letting the tears freely roll down my face. Our body rapidly goes from ice cold to burning hot as I punch the door with enough force to make my hand bleed.

Then I notice something small cowering in the opposite corner. I want to say that I slowly approached, but I all but ran to the position. Huddled in the corner, mostly covered in a blanket, I spot two golden eyes staring at me.

Lyssa’s words from earlier spring to mind. I am resistant.

I try my best to swallow all my desperation. “Hey there, who are you?”

The bundle moves slightly so the person inside can better look at me. “I am experiment C4L1. Who are you?”

I slowly take off my mask and smile at her. “I think that I am your mother."

I move slightly closer, putting the mask on her face so she won’t inhale any more of the poisonous gas. "Let's get out of here, okay?”

The girl nods and slowly walks up to me. “Can my friends come too?” she says, gesturing around.

“They will come later, sweetheart,” I say, as I pick up the little girl, who can’t be much older than four years old. I just need to get her out of here.

“Hey Evelin, is it worth it?” I ask, past the massive lump in my throat.

“Is what worth it?” Evelin asks, sounding like she is about to break.

“Humanity. Is it even worth saving?” I say as I force open the door.

“No.”