Marvin and Amir had a simple task: infiltrate the lab where Ainsel had conducted their initial round of clinical trials and look into what had happened there. Amir had found the place thanks to Grace Alvarez's files; it was currently undergoing a cleanout, with drones and viruses wiping all traces of it from existence.
Infiltrate. That word rather scared Marvin. Amir suspected that some of the files and equipment were still lying around but would be guarded by automated sentries. These drones weren't equipped with guns but still packed a punch.
"Aren't the cameras gonna pick us up?" Marvin asked.
"We'll fire a single-wave EMP. My department invented it—it blinds all cameras for two hours."
However, Amir explained that there was no single-wave EMP for the drones, and if they were to use a broader EMP they would risk damaging the lab's data.
After some more planning, they planned a route through the lab, and Ishaan volunteered to join them. Marvin was surprised but more than happy not to be left alone with Amir.
The lab was in the Sector 8 grasslands, but on the opposite side of the city from the morgue. The compound lay entirely below ground, with no indication it was ever there. Only when Marvin dug up two feet of dirt did they find the metal hatch that the map had specified.
Marvin scanned the empty surroundings as the others went through. Then he lowered himself down the ladder and closed the trap door.
Amir had set off his EMP a few minutes ago—a large cylindrical generator that he'd placed in the grass. He and Ishaan wore exoskeletons and helmets, while Marvin was fully equipped inside of his cyborg frame.
They descended into a dark, circular corridor. A railroad ran from one abyss to another, and a singular screen flickered above the three of them. It was a subway station, probably for transporting patients and supplies.
The lab was on the other side of the subway tracks. For now, they walked down the platform, looking for a door. Their flashlights swept along the black walls, highlighting occasional rust or mold. Otherwise, the lab was holding up quite well. There was no sign that anybody was trying to cleanse it from existence.
Soon, Ishaan fell into step with Marvin.
"If we find out Ainsel did kill you," he began, "what do we do?"
"Report them to Hosaka, I guess," Marvin said.
"What if Hosaka knows already?"
"They don't," Marvin said. Inspector Kobayashi led an anti-corruption team whose entire purpose was to prevent this.
Still, Ainsel AI was powerful. Saeyung Park held a high position on the Hosaka Roundtable. She wouldn't go down without a fight.
"Probably," Ishaan said. He rubbed his temples. "But what if it's not Ainsel who killed you? I mean, all this talk about the Memory Bank has got me thinking…"
Marvin turned to him in surprise. He couldn't be implying…
"I had plenty of reasons to want you dead, Marvin," Ishaan muttered. "What if I just forgot it all?"
Marvin shook his head. "You're helping us now. That's what matters." Besides, the fact that Ishaan would admit this meant he had a pure heart.
But what does that say about Caroline? She constantly avoids talking about her memories.
Marvin forced himself out of that rabbit hole.
They finally arrived at a door out of the subway waiting room. Marvin stepped forward, shielding the other two, and pushed its doorknob. The metal panel slid open, revealing a similar but narrower corridor. No lights, no texture on the walls or floor. The ceiling was abnormally high and could barely be seen even with Marvin's night vision.
At first, Marvin dismissed the noise as stray gusts of wind. Then, he figured there were people and cyclists passing by above them. But as the sounds got louder, he couldn't deny that they were coming from inside their tunnel.
They weren't footsteps, but rather treads, wheels running along the ground. Marvin squinted into the darkness ahead and saw faint turquoise lines form in his vision. Something was approaching. Something that took up nearly the whole width of the hall.
Amir nudged them, signaling to look for cover. The walls were smooth, but Marvin remembered the hidden doors in Ainsel AI's main lab. He ran his hand along the wall, and sure enough, he soon found an indent. He then found the handle and began prying it open. Amir and Ishaan joined him in the effort, and they slipped into a room. The door slid shut behind them.
The walls had expanded into a circular room. The three of them were surrounded by examination chairs, each with a strange helmet above the headrest, similar to a Bessmer chair. Wires ran from the helmets and chairs into the walls, and beside each chair stood a monitor.
The strange thing was, on the other side of the monitor were carts of dangling IV tubes and surgical equipment. Every pair of forceps and scissors was carefully arranged on their table, as if waiting for the next operator to use them.
Amir walked towards one of the carts and picked up a syringe with a gloved hand. "It's a sedative," he explained to the others. "Stops the heart, makes it appear like you're dead."
He then hooked one of the computers up, played around with a motherboard, and turned on a monitor. It displayed a blank blue screen. No matter what commands he typed, it remained blue and unblinking.
Just then, out of the corner of Marvin's periphery, a dim light turned on. It came from a circle in the ceiling. The three of them spun around to see the circle unfolding, exposing a cylindrical duct. Four humanoid drones dropped into the room.
For some reason, Marvin expected the guards to say something, like, "stop!" But no, these drones were smarter than that. They immediately charged.
Marvin was caught off guard and took two hits, but quickly found his bearings as the batons clanged uselessly against his hull. He punched both guards in the face. These drones weren't the most fluid nor bulky, and a few hits to each of their heads decommissioned both. Amir and Ishaan fought their own drone. Their exoskeletons left some of their body exposed to the stun-batons, but they moved faster than Marvin and blocked the weapons with their arm-plates. Amir tossed his opponent to Marvin, which he caught in a headlock and bashed its head in. Ishaan threw his drone over next and it met a similar fate.
Marvin looked at his hands, wondering if he should've been feeling something. That had been a rather violent takedown, considering how he had plasma daggers at his disposal. Better to save those, he supposed.
Four more drones dropped from the ceiling, then an additional four. Four of them attacked Marvin while two went for Amir and two went for Ishaan. Marvin barreled through his assailants and caught one by the arm. He dragged that one along with him and slammed it against the wall, crushing its torso. He caught a taser and tore it out of the drone's hand, then jammed it into the robot's head. The remaining two drones struck him in the arm and head. He drew his arm shield and swiped it at the closer drone's neck, decapitating it, and then kicked its body at the last drone. It toppled over and Marvin stomped on its head.
Ishaan had incapacitated one of his drones and led the other to Marvin. Marvin fractured the robot's head with a swift punch.
A dozen feet away, Amir tackled one of his drones into a monitor, causing it to explode in a shower of sparks. The other drone jabbed him in the stomach, hitting the exoskeleton's frame, and Amir leapt onto it, grabbed the back plate on its head, and tore it open.
Marvin winced. He'd been no less violent, but it seemed strange coming from a human— no, a person in the flesh.
The three of them gathered in the center of the room and shared a brief moment of solidarity. That hadn't been half as bad as they'd thought.
Then an ear-piercing buzz caused them to spin around. The door they'd entered from was now glowing red as something burned on the other side. Something was trying to get in.
Marvin had a feeling this was the same machine he'd seen at the end of the hallway. From its size alone, he doubted they could fight it.
They looked around for another door and found one between two examination chairs. Marvin pried it open and held it for Amir and Ishaan to slip through. As he was about to go in, something burst through the other door and shook the room so much that his hand slipped off of the door handle. It slammed shut, leaving him alone in the room.
Wheels entered the room, followed by a series of mechanical clicks. A red beam swept along the chairs.
Marvin pressed his back against the nearest chair, willing his circuits to be quiet. The wheels grew louder as the machine approached, the circle of light on the ceiling cast the faintest shadow over Marvin. It was far larger than he would've liked.
The wheels stopped turning, and Marvin primed his arm-shields. If he had speed on his side, he might be able to beat whatever was behind him.
The chair was ripped off of the ground. Marvin spun and jumped at the machine, and was immediately swatted to the side. He skidded to a stop, sat up, and realized he'd made a very big mistake. This drone was over four times his size, set upon hefty tank treads and boasting four arms: two giant claws and two smaller stunners. Its torso was a black block, and it had no head, just a thin red visor near the top of its body.
It swept one claw at Marvin, catching him in the shoulder. He was flung to the other side of the room and crashed into a monitor. Electricity sparked at the edge of his vision, and he frantically moved away. He drew his mini sabers, slid under a claw, and sliced a shallow gash in the robot. Its body rotated and two pincers closed around his abdomen. Marvin jabbed at the claws, but his sabers barely dented the metal. The drone began to squeeze, and Marvin put his motors in overdrive, trying to pry himself out. No use. His sides began contorting ever so slowly, metal creaking, bolts flying out one by one.
Marvin's gaze fell on the drone's elbow—the joint was a mere wheel and axle, plus a ball-bearing with wires running over it. Marvin slashed at the wires, and the drone dropped him. Its claw hung open for a moment, giving Marvin enough time to run for the door. Behind him, he heard a snap as backup wires took over the claw.
As he neared the door, it slowly began to slide open. Two pairs of hands were pulling at its side. Marvin jammed his own arms in the crack and shoved the metal panel all the way open. He fell into the darkness with Amir and Ishaan, and the door slammed shut behind him.
They didn't bother to talk. They raced through a hallway, not caring for their destination. Behind them, a shriek resounded as the drone began burning through the door.
They soon found an open archway to their right, leading to some storage unit. Ishaan found a lever by the arch and pulled it. Miraculously, a gate lowered and sealed the opening, and lights turned on throughout the room.
Marvin couldn't care what was in the room. He just wanted to get out of this place; they were way out of their depth.
Amir seemed to agree as he pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "I'm sorry. This was a mistake. We need to leave."
Marvin nodded, but Ishaan held up a finger and gestured around them. There were rows upon rows of drawers, each with holographic labels. Two computers and a few operating tables were tucked away in the edges of the room.
Another morgue. One far more intact, though. Perhaps this was how Ainsel received test subjects.
"Let's look for his name." Ishaan pointed to Marvin.
"You're not serious," Amir said.
"This is our only chance to incriminate Ainsel," Ishaan said.
"It will be if we don't get out of here. That thing—I have no idea what it is. It's not on any of the files."
"You're giving up that easily?"
"Excuse me?"
"I thought this was your whole thing, that you wanted to prove Ainsel's doing shady stuff."
"Ishaan." Amir lowered his voice. "Be honest. How much of this is you wanting to clear your reputation?"
Ishaan flared his nostrils. "Does it matter? Look at where we are! Marvin, don't you think—"
"Yes," Marvin found himself saying. He swiveled his head around, observing the morgue's cabinets. "We should search this place."
Amir stared at him for a moment, mouth slightly open.
Marvin told himself that it was because they only had this one chance to find something against Ainsel. That finding a way out would be futile anyway with that drone hunting them. Maybe they could hack into the lab's systems and disable the creature.
Just admit it. This is an excuse so you can see if Ainsel really killed you.
"Fine," Amir said at length.
Marvin winced. He would not let the others get hurt because of this.
They walked around the room first, looking for Marvin's name on any of the drawers. By pulling the lever, Ishaan had lowered four gates on all sides of the room, and the only way out was through numerous vents near the floor.
After a minute, Marvin, Amir, and Ishaan confirmed with each other that they couldn't find a Marvin Yao on the drawers. There was no sign of the drone yet. Maybe it thought they'd gone farther down the hall.
"The computers?" Ishaan suggested.
Marvin nodded. They would persist. He wasn't just doing this for himself. All the suicide victims from the psych ward and their families deserved to know the truth, whatever it was.
Amir activated one of the computers while Marvin and Ishaan stood guard. They stood facing opposite gates, but Marvin found himself gradually backing up towards Ishaan.
"How bad did you get hit?" Ishaan asked.
"I'm alright," Marvin said. His torso was a little deformed, but it wasn't like he could feel it. "Are you okay?"
"I wasn't the one locked in that room," Ishaan said.
That's true.
"Guess I should apologize in advance," Ishaan continued. "If we don't find anything and that thing ends up killing us…"
"I think you should apologize to Amir."
Ishaan chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose."
The computer let out a ding as Amir logged in. He scrolled through the files and found folders pertaining to the morgue.
"I'll download everything two weeks before and after 10-4," Amir said, pulling out a hard drive and plugging it in. "That's when the other morgue was shut down."
"Thank you," Marvin said. He still had reservations about the police chief, but knowing he was willing to risk his life to stay by their side was a comfort.
Just then, he heard a scrape of metal behind him. He rotated his head around and stared, along with Amir and Ishaan, at the gate six feet away from them. Something was grinding against its door.
Then, with a deafening screech, the gate began to lift.
There was no time to do anything about the computer. Marvin, Amir, and Ishaan dove for the vents. Marvin went for the farthest one. He was able to remove the grate, back himself into the shaft on his stomach, and reattach the grate. But before he could back further into the vent, the gate slammed shut again and the drone stalked into the room.
Marvin didn't dare to even prime a motor. He tried to shut down every process in his body, silence himself as much as possible.
The drone moved slowly, stopping every few seconds to sweep its scanner across the room. The tip of its treads appeared in Marvin's field of view. Froze as it scanned, then moved forward again. Marvin nearly adjusted his cameras upwards to get a glimpse of the rest of the robot, but realized that it would make noise.
Six black wheels passed by the grate and continued onwards. After another minute, the drone seemed to reach the other end of the room. There were two thuds as it planted its claws below the gate.
But instead of the ensuing screech, there was only a ding.
Marvin went cold. That was from the computer. The files had finished downloading.
There was a terrifying silence for a moment. Marvin kept his eyes forward, telling himself over and over again that the drone was not sentient. It couldn't have comprehended what that sound meant.
Then he heard a slam, followed by a series of reverberating clatters. Then another slam, a little farther away. Then another, then another.
It's striking the vents.
Marvin fought every urge to move away from the grate. If he moved, the drone would find him and catch him before he could get far enough away. But if he didn't move—
And then the claw was in his periphery. It stayed there, as if curious. Then it winded backwards, preparing to pummel into him.
"Hey!"
The claw stayed still. Marvin sharpened his microphones.
"Over here!" Amir shouted. The drone sped forward and was suddenly out of Marvin's periphery.
Marvin shoved the grate open and burst out, hoping to change the drone's trajectory. But it kept going towards Amir, who was standing in the open in front of the opposite gate.
Marvin ran for it. Amir ducked under the drone's claw and Marvin leapt past him, onto the robot's blocky torso, and thrust his dagger forward. Before the blade could make contact, a claw grabbed his arm and flung him off. He flew into a drawer, knocking it open slightly.
As he got up, he saw Ishaan grab the drone's smaller arm—the one with the stunner—and twist it. He wasn't powerful enough to damage the limb and was shaken off.
The drone spun to face Marvin, red visor getting a few degrees brighter. Marvin clenched his fists. The gates would take too long to open. They had to beat this thing right here, right now.
The drone barreled towards him. He backed up two steps, grabbed the edge of the drawer he'd bumped open, and pulled it out all the way while lunging to the side. The drone ran into the drawer, nearly ripping it from its hinges. It worked as intended though: the robot was stunned for a moment. Marvin ran behind it and tried to open another drawer, but an arm knocked him to the ground. The drone spun and headed towards him, but a drawer slammed into it from the side, pulled open by Amir. Ishaan stepped onto the storage unit and pulled open a higher one. The drone tried to move to a more open area, but Marvin had already trapped it with another cabinet. The drone grabbed the cabinet and ripped it from its socket.
For the next few minutes, Marvin rarely engaged the drone, distracting it while Ishaan and Amir occluded the room bit by bit, making every swing of the drone bump into something, killing its momentum. Soon, Marvin began landing significant hits. One of its stunner-arms chopped off. Part of its visor broken.
The machine started to get desperate. It tore through the storage units, throwing them at Marvin, Amir, and Ishaan. Ishaan managed to evade all of them, but Marvin and Amir were hit with one each. Amir's exoskeleton glowed dangerously bright and as he stood up, it crumbled into pieces.
I have to end this now. Marvin flung the cabinet off of himself and charged at the drone. The claw came his way, and he dodged at the last second, jumping onto a cabinet, then onto one higher, then one higher than that. His head grazed the ceiling—he was right above the bot.
He dropped onto it and, with the help of gravity, plunged his daggers deep into the chassis. He grinded his motors and began to push his arms apart, tearing a wide gash in the drone. His right blade swept out through the robot's visor. The red line went dark, and the two claws and remaining stunner-arm fell limp.
Marvin stayed there for a bit, making sure the machine was dead. Then he slid down and landed roughly next to Amir and Ishaan.
They didn't say anything for a few seconds, just panted and looked at each other in disbelief. Then something like a smile formed on the others' faces. Marvin had been scared for his life, and yet he'd never felt so exhilarated, either.
"Let's hope this was worth it," Amir muttered, dusting the remaining pieces of his exoskeleton off of his clothes.
The three of them headed to the computer. The download was complete, and a long array of text took up the entire screen. On it were names, dates, IDs, and descriptions. Acquisitions from the morgue, as the title explained.
"I assume this is how Ainsel got their subjects," Amir said. "They had them drugged, then put in a public morgue and marked as dead. Ties most loose ends."
Then they were shipped here and brought back to consciousness to be experimented on. It must have been why no one had connected the Sector 8 deaths to this place.
"So what happened? Did some of them escape?" Ishaan asked.
"Maybe. The authorities probably thought they were insane and sent them to the psych ward." Amir shook his head in disgust.
Marvin scanned the names on the computer, but honestly, he wasn't expecting to see his own. He'd been led to so many dead ends and further mysteries that it seemed dumb that his murder would be solved by some list on an abandoned computer.
But there it was: Marvin Yao, acquired from Septen Mortuary on 10-3. One day before the morgue had shut down.
His body had been bought by Ainsel AI.