Entry and First Contact
Jackie glided through the final stretch of the maintenance canal, the hydro-shield's bluish glow washing over the walls. Her thrusters hummed softly, adjusting for the subtle currents as she approached the docking aperture. The faint, multi-layered hum of city life vibrated through the water—a precise, living pulse beneath the dome.
Inside the canal, the structural struts flickered under her ocular overlay. She didn't just see metal; she saw the city's skeletal-nervous system. She traced the network of aquaponic terraces, hydroponic feed lines, and high-voltage cryogenic energy conduits, each line a designated pathway linking the massive outer stabilization pillars to the central, pressurized dome. Everything was precise, calculated—down to the micron-level bio-filtration unit visible on the nearest strut. It made the city feel almost alive, yet the shadows of a profound, engineered tension lurked between the organized hum of machinery.
The passage narrowed, and her suit's external thermal sensors registered a subtle shift. The water temperature spiked by a controlled half-degree Celsius—the byproduct of the massive fusion reactor stacks deep beneath the seabed.
BDJ's calm voice echoed in her mind: Environmental analysis: Entry sequence initiating. Pressure differential: 1.05 atmospheres. Note structural integrity on Ring Column Beta-7 is reinforced with a non-standard polymer. High-tensile strength, indicative of a localized stress point or undisclosed heavy-duty machinery.
She focused on Ring Column Beta-7. Her enhanced vision zoomed, resolving the texture: a matte-black seam in the otherwise polished titanium-ceramic. It was a detail Nexus wouldn't leave visible unless they were supremely confident in their control. A sign of hidden infrastructure.
She came to the retinal scanner, apprehension thick in her chest. Lyra was beside her, radiating quiet confidence.
"I can probably hack our way in," Lyra murmured.
Jackie shot her a quick, cautionary look, then turned back to the retinal scanner. "We have Patrick's access code. We'll use the sanctioned entry point first. If it doesn't work..."
Lyra shrugged, her voice low. "Then the window closes, and it's a fight."
Jackie knew she was right, but she also didn't want to risk her friend unnecessarily. I'll take the risk, she thought.
She presented her eye. Before she felt fully aligned to the reader, there was a click and whirl.
The system hummed, and a robotic voice spoke:
"Cyborg. Jackie Cannon, plus one, access granted into Subaquilus One."
The door hissed and rolled away.
Far away, within the depths of the domed city, Kieran stood, facing a wall of monitors. A satisfied smile was plain on his face as he nodded.
"She is in. Good." He turned to a tall, thin man, fully human, without a trace of cybernetics. "Contact the operative with her, have her brought to you. Then, directly invite her into the resistance. We need her with us."
He gestured back at her image on the screen. "She is new to her cybernetics, and her systems are utterly unique. She will be an invaluable asset. She needs to be with the resistance, not Nexus."
The thin man nodded, the directive understood.
A soft, mechanical hum announced him before she saw him. A Nexus cyborg appeared at the docking bay's reinforced gate, stepping smoothly through the water with precise movements, sensors scanning in synchronized rhythm. The gate itself was a marvel of silent, engineered pressure—a trinary-lock hydrostatic seal built to withstand an oceanic breach.
Jackie paused for a heartbeat, observing the cyborg's signature. She didn't look at the optics; she looked at the energy bleed from its servomotor array. It was minimal, highly efficient. This was a Directive-class enforcement model, not a maintenance bot.
BDJ's calm voice echoed in her mind:
Visual scan complete. Personality analysis: Nexus operative. Model designation: Guardian-4X. Engagement protocol: non-aggressive, but all locomotion systems are operating at a sub-millisecond readiness index. Recommend neutral stance. Maintain internal dominance to assess approach.
Jackie's lips twitched faintly. 'Noted, BDJ'. She moved forward, without hesitation.
The cyborg approached in kind, its micro-optic lenses—artificial, but precise—locking on her ocular implants. The water shifted subtly around them, and Jackie could sense the low-frequency vibrations of its systems integrating with the city's ambient acoustic network. It was listening not just with its ears, but with the entire dome.
"Welcome to Subaquilus One," the cyborg's voice was steady, without inflection, delivered through an active sonic transmitter. "I am your liaison to Nexus Directive operations within the dome. Follow protocol: maintain status within central access corridor. Any deviation will be recorded and reviewed."
Jackie gave the faintest tilt of her head. "Understood," she said softly.
BDJ's voice whispered again:
Observation: operative confidence level high. Note: The Guardian's vocal output is synced to the dome's main security relay—a broadcast message, not a private one. You are being monitored by the system at large. Recommend continued passive engagement until city layout fully assessed.
As the cyborg led her through the central corridor, Jackie's ocular overlay picked out small, almost imperceptible signs of city life: maintenance bots (Model-T11) working in tandem on a ceiling truss; small human teams tending aquaponic terraces where synthesized bioluminescence fed genetically-modified algae; surveillance drones—tiny, metallic specks—that paused their tri-axis patrol patterns just long enough to capture her biometrics without intervention.
Her 360° visual arc pinged, and an overlay of Lyra's actions moved up for full view in her HUD. Jackie watched, while saying nothing and continuing her forward motion, as Lyra slipped into a smaller side corridor and vanished.
I guess we are separating, Jackie shrugged, a small, trusting smile touching her lips. Good luck. She trusted her. They would reunite soon.
Her fingers flexed on the thruster controls, adjusting for the gentle currents that guided her into the Central Courtyard.
The dome's interior was luminous now, a structured chaos of color and energy. It wasn't organic light; it was engineered illumination. Red, amber, green, and pale blue shifted like liquid neon, defining the tiers of residential terraces, the interlocking walkways, and the vast, layered aquaponic farms stretching to the dome's apex.
She continued on, following the room assignment downloaded into her systems at the docking bay. She wanted only to sit, think, and regroup. She was here, in a dazzling city, more than anything she had ever seen in Naya Kasol and beyond anything she thought possible.
The domed city stretched before her, and she realized the moment had come. She had been a cyborg for over six months now. It was time for her to understand this new world. The government of 2635, The Nexus Directive, and the Resistance were all gathering data on her.
It was time she gathered data on them.