Extracted - Part 11

[Sthurmovik]

Thanks for all of you who have stayed with me. Your reward is a bit of more traditional fembot content.

Part 11

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Stepping out into the courtyard Serena surveyed the aftermath from the previous night’s battle. Their building had been sufficiently far from the action so that the only damage consisted of some cracked or broken windows from the repeated concussions and various chunks of debris that had been explosively launched into the air. Lars and Fiona had done a preliminary check the night before, but even with the threat defeated it would have been foolhardy to wander around in the dark with so many tense security personnel about. However with the sun now rising higher in the sky it appeared that every staff member and able bodied Newcomer were out to clean up the mess.

As Serena walked towards where she assumed the focal point of the battle had been she began to notice a number of long burn marks running along the ground, through trees, along buildings or just about any other physical surface that happened to get in the way. The pattern of fire appeared to be from some sort of handheld weapon with the stream of energy wiggling around like the spray from a firehose instead of the clean crisp lines normally generated by mech walkers and other beam carrying vehicles. As Serena continued on the energy burns gave way to outright physical damage with craters and gashes torn in the soft soil and, more alarmingly, several buildings that had been partly or completely destroyed. Serena stopped and picked up a sandwich board listing the previous day’s specials at New Beginnings that was laying face down on the walkway. Looking into the open air burnt out husk that had been the Welcome Center’s one saving culinary grace Serena sighed as she recalled her attitude towards Lupa.

“Your friends saved a lot of people last night.” Serena jumped as Lieutenant Atherton’s voice suddenly appeared from behind her. “Thanks to their warning we managed to get most of the Newcomers into safe locations and our security forces were in place when the creature showed up looking for another meal.”

“If you don’t mind I’d like to see it. I know you’re trying to keep everything hush hush, but I’d like to have a look at whatever kind of life form could cause this much destruction,” said Serena in a low voice, unsure if she was feeling anger or sorrow, but knowing the event would require some form of closure.

“I’ll be happy to show it to you...as soon as we have something to show,” growled Atherton, her anger not nearly so muted.

“What?” said Serena in disbelief. “You didn’t kill it? How on Earth did it get away?!”

“The creature has the...ability... to protect itself with energy shielding and can project multiple beam weapons simultaneously in addition to a variety of physical attacks. We gave it everything we had, but the only affect our weapons seemed to have was to just piss it off more.” Atherton uprighted a plastic chair and sat down, a pall of weariness sweeping over her face. “Flying Officer Sanchez managed to strap a couple of anti-tank missiles to one of the transport shuttles and those managed to finally drive it away.”

“So what’s the plan now,” asked Serena.

“Lomez ordered an evacuation of all the Newcomers, but its going to take time as some are currently involved in very delicate neurological and physical medical treatments. We’re trying to bring in additional military forces, but a lot of the heavy weapons haven’t been used in so long that its going to take several days to get them prepared. Likewise reserve military units are going to take time to recall. We barely got enough reinforcements from the rest of the Province to cover...to cover our losses.”

Atherton took a deep breath, staring at the ground.

“We suffered 34 killed, seven in my unit alone. There was one…” the Lieutenant’s voice began to choke up. “...she was running to cover and the monster just grabbed her and threw her into its mouth. She was still screaming when it swallowed her. I...I’m so tired Serena, but I can’t sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see Tanya, screaming as the thing eats her.” Blair looked up at Serena, a look of desperation in her tear-filled eyes. “What do I do? I’ve never lost anybody before and I know this isn’t the end. It’s going to come back and its going to keep killing people.”

“Go get some meds to help you sleep, but don’t overdo it because you don’t want to be in a stupor if the creature shows up,” said Serena in a forced neutral tone. “You have to be the strong one for those under your command. I know it won’t be easy, but you just have to find a way. Being sleep deprived on top of that won’t help matters any.”

Atherton went back to staring at the ground.

“We all find ways to cope and time will do its thing. It will get easier even if it never gets easy,” Serena sighed, kneeling down and embracing Blair, just to reassure her that she wasn’t alone.

The Lieutenant’s breathing slowed until she finally nodded. “Thank you for your help, I need to get back to with the cleanup and preparing for tonight.”

Atherton stood up and walked back over towards a group of soldiers who were trying to figure out what to do with a walker that had one of its armed sliced off with an energy beam. Serena wandered off in another direction without any aim or purpose beyond just trying to gauge the scope of what had happened the night before. After climbing over a rather large pile of formed granite from a collapsed wall Serena suddenly found herself standing face to face with Lomez, who looked like he had aged about 10 years overnight. Without even pausing to greet her, Lomez grabbed Serena by the shoulders and pushed her into the debris strewn interior of a ground floor office.

“Hey hey! No need to push,” Serena protested. “I assume there is something you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Yes Coronel, I...we…I wanted to ask for your help in dealing with the, situation we’re having here,” said Lomez a bit hesitantly.

“You mean the extraction monster.”

“Yes, the monster that was...created when those synths from what you call the Unity went through our arrival process. I am asking if you or anyone from your team could help us. I fear that the situation may beyond our current ability to manage,” Lomez continued, clearly conflicted about having to ask someone who was, for all intents and purposes still an outsider, for assistance.

“What kind of help. I’ve given your people all the information I have about these creatures and what they are capable of.”

“At this point I am asking for your skills as a warrior. Whatever weapons, equipment and intelligence assets we have, they are at your disposal. I will instruct my local commanders to abide by whatever tactical advice you can give in order to defeat the creature,” said Lomez, all of his previously exhibited confidence and arrogance now replaced with desperation, desperation to protect the people that he cared most about.

Serena was left dumbfounded. Ever since her arrival she had seen Lomez as her chief antagonist in the “Escape from Sanctuary” tabletop game, but now it was like the person she had been playing against had just scooped up all his pieces and handed them to her. Serena’s silence prompted Lomez to continue speaking.

“You and your friends have all sorts of special abilities like the wolf who can change her shape or the felinoid that can manipulate energy like the creature. Please, you have to help us.”

It was at times like these that Serena truly wondered if she had been stuck in some punishment simulation for past crimes long forgotten. To accept Lomez’s offer would be to put herself in the situation of having to either betray her friends in a fight against a powerful foe where victory might be impossible, or to betray Lomez and shit all over her sense of honor.

“There is one way I can help you,” Serena said coldly. “You let me call my people and they will come and deal with the monster. I can provide whatever assurances you need, but you’ll have to trust me.”

Lomez exhaled, not surprised by Serena’s answer, but nevertheless still disappointed by it. “That is one condition I cannot accept.”

“Then I can’t help you,” said Serena.

“Can’t or won’t,” Lomez shot back, trying to keep his anger in check.

“Can’t...I mean what I say. I can’t help you, at least not this way,” said Serena.

There was another awkward silence as both experienced leaders considered their positions and realized that they didn’t have any more to say.

“Thank you for at least considering my offer,” Lomez responded as he turned to leave. “Sit tight and we’ll inform you when it is time to evacuate. You might want to get your personal items together in case the Welcome Center is shut down for an extended period of time.”

Serena just stood there, her mind racing around as she realized that the victory condition for her game had nothing to do with escaping and moreover, she was losing badly. A look of determination formed on Serena’s face.

“Like it or not Lomez, I’m going to save this place...my way.”

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Returning to the dorm a bit in advance of the planned team rendezvous time, Serena found Marrin out in the courtyard watching over Bea as the raven-girl eagerly examined the severed walker mech arm that had fallen from the sky the night before. Sideling up to Marrin, Serena gave her fellow Sister a light embrace and looked on as Bea, now much steadier on her two legs, flittered about, her head looking this way and that.

"Thanks for looking after Bea while we were out Marrin. Do you mind staying on a bit longer while my team and I have a little meeting?"

"No problem Serena," Marrin replied. "It's been rather enlightening to just stand here and watch Bea explore the world through new eyes."

"Well I wouldn't want you to get bored on my account. Oh, just FYI Lomez ordered an evacuation of the Welcome Center so you might want to look into that. It's going to take a little time and I suspect that able bodied persons such as ourselves are low down on the priority list. Still, if you have your own transport vehicle you might want to start packing it up," Serena offered.

"No, I used public transportation, but thanks for the warning. No sense in me running around with my head cut off. I'm sure I'll be notified at the proper time," Marrin responded with the level headedness typical of her kind.

"Thanks again Marrin," said Serena as she walked up behind Bea, embracing her with a kiss to the cheek when speaking close to her ear. "Hey, I'm sure you heard me about the meeting, is there anything you'd like to add?"

Serena suddenly found herself wrapped up in Bea's arms, the large black wings closing about them as the part-avian began to make out with the surprised Sister. Completely discombobulated by a mix of intense passion and surprise, Serena was vaguely aware of something being pushed into her hand before the bright daylight returned as Bea folded her wings back in and stepped back.

"Wha…." was the best Serema could manage as she became aware of the Federation issue computing tablet that was now in her right hand. Bea winked then turned back to the walker arm leaving Serena to recover her faculties and find a quiet place inside the dorm where she could review what she had been given.

"So just let me know when you're done your meeting," Marrin called after Serena as she wandered past.

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Setting up the Cone of Silence was a bit more complicated with five humans and a macro feline, but the team had had a couple times to practice over the preceding days and managed to get the whole contraption engaged without looking completely ridiculous. Once everything was ready Serena began to speak.

"Alright, as I am sure you are all aware this isn't just a powwow on our morning intelligence walk. The situation with the creature is far more severe than I had anticipated. It was able to stand up to everything the local security forces had to throw at it by making use of powers similar to, yet more developed than what we have seen with Fiona. The creature now represents a clear and present hazard to our well being and moreover the Welcome Center is now under an evacuation order which would in and of itself disrupt all of our planning up to this point. Therefore I have decided that we need to make our move to leave at the earliest possible point."

"It's about damn time," Captain Dunn said rather emphatically.

"I can see that you and Bea are of similar minds because she gave give me a little gift this morning," said Serena. "If any of you had been wondering just what exactly Bea had been working on so furiously over the last week I have sent copies of her report to all of your devices. There's an executive summary that I encourage you all to read, but in the interest of time I'll summarize it further. The tech that we need to construct an Inter Dimensional com unit that can break through the local interference is currently stored in a vault in the admin building. The information systems here are what one would expect of an advanced precursor civilization and that means we can't rely on cheap hacker tricks to get us inside, at least not with the tools we have or the bodies we're in. That being said, good technical security doesn't mean the staff her practice good operational security. To compliment the human intelligence the rest of you have gathered, Bea has been on a tear gathering up every available piece of open source information she can find ranging from the purchase patterns in the vending machines to the social media profiles of all the staff."

"That's my girl!" exclaimed the Captain, his eyes welling up with pride. "I knew it! I knew she was up to something."

"Ho-ly shit," said Lars as he scrolled down through the information. "She's got floor plans, the staff schedules, break and meal times." Lars gasped. "A heat map of admin building corridor activity? How the hell did she manage that?!"

"I know they don't look it, but these buildings are incredibly old," said Serena as she double checked the appropriate section in the report. "Apparently they started having major issues with leaky plumbing and electrical grounds. Maintenance added a whole bunch of sensors to help detect these and hooked them into an unsecured wireless network. Any time someone uses the bathroom or activates a workstation Bea can see it. Now remember because Sanctuary doesn't use any advanced AI they don't have any automated systems that could easily connect the dots and figure out what we're up to. Anomaly detection and response would have to fall to a person and because it's all hands on deck due to the monster…"

"Nobody is watching the store," said Lupa rubbing her hands together, clearly a bit giddy from all the cloak and dagger.

"We still have to get into the vault," Lars pointed out. "I'm sure we can get the run of the admin building, but that vault is going to be protected by the high tech security you just said we couldn't hack. Also it doesn't take an advanced AI for someone to notice us on CCTV or for a more mundane anomaly detection system to do the same."

"I have a plan B that should solve that problem, but it means betraying Lomez and then hating myself for it, but given what's already happened in this mission one extra regrettable action will probably just blur together with the rest," Serena remarked with uncomfortable seriousness.

"Well what's plan A then?" asked Lupa.

"I was thinking that Fiona here could perform her little parlor trick and ask the door to open or just use her mind to rip it out of the wall. Either one works, but I'd prefer not to get into a firefight with the same people that need to defend this place from the monster. So what do you say Fiona? Do you feel up to the challenge?" Serena asked.

"Of course I can do it Serena," said the hybrid tigress with the utmost confidence, her eyes swirling into a bright green. "I can handle the door and the sensors and make sure that nobody get’s hurt."

Serena smiled. "I knew I could count on you. So, from what I got from the report the optimal time to carry this out is from 3 to 5 hours after midnight."

"What if we're under attack by the Monster?" asked the Captain.

"I'll consider that a convenient distraction and the mission will go forward. Even if there isn't an attack this place will be on a mix of high alert and sleep deprivation. All to our advantage," Serena's answered.

"Can you brief me or the Captain on what exactly your plan is to build an Inter-D com unit?" asked Lars. You shouldn't be a single point of failure on this. Also are you absolutely sure that the vault has everything you need?"

"As long as my android shell is in the vault we'll have everything we need. Well, almost everything," said Serena with a smile. "Welcome Center policy is to hold all seized tech for at least six month in case the owner wishes to file a challenge. Anything older than six months is sent to a central repository at regular intervals."

"Once again I am forced to be “that guy”," said Lupa, "but I have to point out that there are quite a few ethical considerations with our exit strategy. Slipping out like thieves in the night is going to leave everyone at the Welcome Center in great danger until whenever the regular military can show up. On the other hand if Fed drop ships show up with a regiment of Marines I doubt that many on this world are going to be very appreciative."

"I'm going to do two things," Serena stated flatly. "First, I'm going to get us all home alive. Second, I am going to make sure that monster can't hurt anyone else. How I go about accomplishing those two goals is my choice and mine alone. Remember it is literally my job to make these types of decisions and I don't take making them lightly. You all know who I am and what I've done so if you don't happen to agree with what I'm going I'll have to ask you to trust me. Are we clear?"

Serena looked around the little makeshift tent making eye contact with everyone as they nodded or agreed.

"Ok, we've got 8 hours left in the day. Stay close because I don't want to have to go find you in case of attack. Fiona, get all the practice you need, but don't get exhausted before the main event. I want everybody up and ready by 2am. Get what sleep you feel is appropriate."

The meeting adjourned and the Cone of Silence was broken up with the group members then going their separate ways with only Lupa staying back to talk with Serena.

"It might not be easy for you to balance your two goals."

"I don't know Lupa. I'd like to think I'm due."


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The Administration Building sat in the middle of the Welcome Center adjacent to the medical and physical plant facilities. Around in it all directions were the residential blocks for Newcomers and Staff as well as the shops, recreation facilities and offices for the various human service departments. The light and airy architecture matched that of the rest of the complex, but much of the rear half of the facility consisted of a large windowless box with the façade doing its best to ease the drab exterior. A shiny 8 story glass tower rose from the center of the low rise complex below and while just a shade shorter than the library, it afforded the various managers and department heads a nearly unobstructed view of the entire campus. In the darkness the whole building appeared to sparkle as small flying insects were gently nudged away by the energy shielding that protected the obvious target from attack.

While many in the Welcome Center were trying to grab a few hours of fitful sleep, the top floors of the Admin tower were packed with decision makers, soldiers and staff that were trying to determine the location of the creature and anticipate its next movements. The night so far had been quiet. Evacuation operations had been halted to allow more weaponized transport shuttled to get into the air with sufficient unobstructed airspace to allow for fast high speed maneuvers. Way down below in the lobby a few isolated souls camped out on the plush bench seating, unwilling to go home in order to stay close by their action stations or unable due to damage from the previous night's attack. It was into this lobby that at precisely four hours and seven minutes past midnight Captain Thomas Dunn strode dressed in one of the generic Sanctuary jumpsuits. Finding an unoccupied seat in the corner of the room behind a large potted plant he pulled out both his Fed and Sanctuary computing devices and then launched various tools to monitor the information leaking out of both the admin building and the Sanctuary social network in real time. Once fully plugged in Dunn sent a single word text message to the other members of the team.

"Ready."

Serena thrust her Fed tablet into her pocket as soon as she got the message.

"Captain's ready, all we need now is the goose," Serena said softly as she pushed Bea in a wheelchair out in front of her. Slowly she and the rest of her team approached the side door that allowed staff to walk over to the gym from the Admin Building. She heard an electric beeping noise followed by a loud ker-chunk as facility shift supervisor Amy Williams left the building for her regularly scheduled 4:30 workout session.

"Excuse me? Would you mind holding the door for us," Serena asked, pushing Bea into the light, Lupa, Lars and Fiona standing a bit behind. "We have to get to the bio analysis lab over on B wing."

"Oh sure, let me get out of your way," Amy responded as she stood off to one side of the walkway, reaching back in to hold the door open. "Careful, watch your head there."

Fiona smiled as she ducked down to squeeze through the human-scale doorway.

"Thanks, doors have been bugging me all week."

Once inside Serena continued to push Bea out ahead in the wheelchair, but signaled for Fiona to come up directly behind her.

"Are we off the grid?"

"Yup, it's pretty simple to lock nearby sensors into just feeding back the same data they were sending before we entered their viewing area. Anyway it looks like Bea was right, this place is deserted," Fiona observed.

"Let's hope it's not too deserted because I'd prefer not to wear you down with multiple locked doors.

The hallway soon opened up at a junction. To the left could be heard the sounds of heavy equipment at the loading dock. To the right the hall continued on to the Admin tower's freight elevators and main data center. Straight ahead was a two part inward opening blast door with a security station set into a recess in the wall. I helpful sign informed visitors that they would need to use security station B until 0900 hours.

"Lupa, Bea, into that bathroom," Serena commanded in a low clear tone. Lars, with me behind the security station. Fiona, remember you stand right here and look like you don't fit."

The large quasi-tiger nodded and sat back against the wall trying to look bored while the other members of the team vanished from view. Serena knew that this part was going to take a little good luck, but she nevertheless had confidence that people moving stuff generally can't be bothered. Still, when her ears caught the sound of an approaching electric cart her heart began to skip a rather alarming number of beats.

"Um, can I help you?" asked a male voice.

"Oh," Fiona's voice echoed a bit in the large, brightly lit hallway. "I'm here for a meeting with Tajel Norun and her team. Turns out I can't fit in the room so they needed to find an alternate location."

"Ha, I can see the problem. Alright, just watch yourself. This building’s got pipes running everywhere below the ceiling beams."

The sound of the cart started up and headed in the direction of the loading dock. Serena made an exaggerated brow wiping motion to Lars. It wasn't long however before a new sound started up. This one was a low rumble that got louder and louder before stopping completely. Yellow lights suddenly started flashing as a warning buzzer sounded. With surprising swiftness the foot thick blast doors swung back into recessed pockets to allow a pair of techs pushing several fully loaded mecha rocket pods on a bright red ordinance cart through. The rumble started up again as they pushed the cart past the security station and took the wide corner en route to the loading dock. One of the two men caught sight of Fiona as they passed.

"Hey, would you mind giving us a hand here," he laughed.

"Sorry, I'm kinda waiting for a meeting here and besides, I probably wouldn't fit where you're going," Fiona responded, laughing a bit herself.

As the tech turned his back and began to push again, Serena had already stepped out from behind the security desk, dashed through the doors and held the "door open" button on the control panel. Lars followed, as did Bea and Lupa responding to a low “all clear” growl from Fiona. Finally, when she was sure the techs were not going to look back Fiona turned the corner and ducked through the blast doors herself before they were allowed to close.

"What did I say?" Lupa smiled. "Nobody can resist a cute kitty face and fur."

"I am pretty adorable," Fiona replied, giving Lupa a playful pat with her paw.

"Ok, so far so good," said Serena, mostly to herself as they began to move through the halls in the high security part of the building. "Armory is down below via those elevators, tech locker is straight ahead and to the right, but before we go there I'm going to need a little break."

Serena ducked into a small lunch room while the others looked on in confusion as she casually opened the refrigerator and began to examine the staff meals contained within, ultimately selecting a reusable plastic container holding some sort of vegetarian wrap.

"Sorry T. Barlow, but right now I need this more than you do," Serena announced as she pulled out the wrap and took a bite.

"Um, are you ok there Colonel?" asked Lars.

"Peachy," said Serena, her mouth full. "Lefs go"

The group set off again and turning a corner they came face to face with the door to the tech vault at the end of a blind hallway. Still munching on the wrap Serena stood off to one side and motioned for Fiona to take the lead.

"All yours Fluffy."

The door consisted of an unpainted metal expanse about 10 feet square. It was hinged inward and at one edge was a simple red-green light combination that indicated the locked or unlocked status of the door. On the wall was an authentication kiosk that clearly required some form of physical token as well as a biometric scan and access code. Fiona ignored the kiosk and walked directly to the door, placing her paw on the lock status indicator and then concentrating on the internal tech that made it run. Immediately the look on Fiona's face indicated that she may have bitten off a bit more than she should chew.

"Is everything ok there?" Lars asked after about a minute.

"The electrical engineering in the lock is a….bit more robust than what I encountered in the vending machines. I'm having to account for…multiple logic pathways and redundant systems. It's…quite tricky. Like standing on my hands while balancing plates on my feet….and touching my tail to my nose…all at the same time."

"Don't worry about making analogies," said Serena. "I know you can do it."

Fiona grimaced as she focused in on the computer that drove the locking mechanism while at the same time making sure that none of the several sensors watching over the door would notice anything out of the ordinary. Sweat began to drop from the ends of the fur under her chin. Lupa looked at Serena with alarm as Fiona's legs began to wobble. Serena stopped eating and focused on Fiona, hoping that somehow her will could buttress the great cat's. Then suddenly Fiona let out a predatory roar, the onlookers unable to determine if it was in defeat or triumph until the mass of metal swung inward granting access to the vault. Serena walked forward gently rubbing Fiona's sweat-moistened backside before poking her head into the dimly lit room before them.

Lupa also edged forward cautiously, temporarily overwhelmed by the drama of their success. "Can you see anything?"

"Yes," replied Serena softly, "wonderful things."

The whole group quickly pushed into the vault with Fiona pausing by the door as she entered.

"What do you want me to do with the door Serena?" she asked looking a bit puzzled.

Serena looked around at the door for a few seconds. “Better close it in case someone walks by. You did manage to get it open the first time, I’m sure you can manage again.”

"Well yes" Fiona responded weakly closing the door with an ominous clunk, "but I'm going to need to sit down for a bit before I try again.”

“Don't worry the cameras,” Lars offered, “they’re for audit purposes only. Bea’s report said this place has no connection to the outside world."

Totalling several thousand square feet the tech vault was outfitted with a combination of floor to ceiling racks arranged in close library style rows for miscellaneous items, chest high metal tables providing two levels of storage for cybernetic bodies/body parts and wall racks for weapons and other tall items. All of the storage appliances were packed to the gills with tech treasures that made even Lupa's greatest discoveries look pathetic in comparison thanks to the sheer variety of what came through the portals.

"By the creators," Serena exclaimed in a hushed voice. "I'm counting…three, four, five, six Class 1A Dom-Guardian bodies…just on the top level alone! My team could crack a planet if we had those."

Lars had come to a stop letting his fingers run across the shiny metal surface of a human scale robotic wolf. "Holy shit, it's a fusion suit. I was wondering where that furry came from because you never see these anymore!"

"Yeah, for good reason,” sneered Lupa, slightly offended by the humans' flawed attempt to copy her species. “If you wear it long enough the fusion become permanent. It’s no surprise those things were pulled off the market.”

"Ok, ok, we're not here to window shop. Everybody should know what we're looking for so hop to it because I don't want to still dicking around when everybody else wakes up," Serena admonished as she fought her own kid-in-a-candy-shop urges.

As all of the synthetic bodies were stored sequentially based on order of arrival it didn't take long to locate Serena's android shell which lay on the lower level just a few back from where the available table storage space began. While Lars searched the racks for an appropriate power supply, Lupa and Serena worked to manhandle her naked former body up onto the tabletop where they could work on it.

"Ugh, it's a lot heavier when I'm not in it," puffed Serena, her human arms wrapped under her robotic ones as she did the majority of the heavy lifting,

"Why do you think I prefer being the one on top?" chided Lupa who was holding the legs.

"I don't know," Serena shrugged as she let her end of the body down on the table with a dull thud. "I suspected it was a wolf dominance thing."

"I'll show you dominance," muttered Lupa while rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, I know you will," Serena shot back with a sly grin.

"Hey Serena," Lars called from across the vault. "I think I found a couple of regulated batteries that will do what we need."

"Great, bring them over and we can get down to work."

Serena reached into her pack and pulled out a plastic bag full of the disassembled parts and pieces of one of the emergency transmitters along with an electronics repair kit packed in a good quality black leather case. For the first time since they had been trapped in the processing tunnels she finally felt like she was back in her element, able to actually do something as opposed to just sitting around talking or just wasting time. Carefully examining the battery packs that Lars brought over Serena nodded and set them down on the table next to the other supplies.

"Alright, that's everything we need," Serena continued, hands on her hips. "Cue the music."

"What music?" asked Lars, looking bit confused.

"It's a build montage. I'll add music in post."

"Um, nobody's recording this." Lars indicated.

Serena cursed softly. "Dammit, I keep forgetting I'm in a meat body. I'll admit it’s a fun place to visit, but living this way is really starting to annoy me."

"What, you're angry because you can't record your sensory stream," asked Lars. "We all have devices that will do the same exact thing. Watch, I'll put on my PoV cam.

Serena grumbled a bit about it not being the same before launching into her set piece of technical wizardry.

"So Lars I told you the plan earlier, but it's probably good if Lupa learned as well," Serena began, making sure her friend had a clear view. "What we're doing is modding a typical multi-band emergency communicator to give it full interdimensional capability," said Serena as she un-bagged main board from the disassembled unit.

"Now normally these devices are crippled to prevent reverse engineering of the underlying technology which, ironically, renders them useless in many emergency situations, but the good news is that the guts of the emergency units share many of the same chips as their bigger brothers with most of the functionality being stored in software because it's easier to delete and encrypt information than physical stuff."

Serena laid down the board and jammed her thumb into the belly button of her synthetic body. There was an audible click as a visible seam formed around her abs. Serena casually removed the assembly of synthetic skin and black muscle bundles and set it down on the table causing Lupa to quickly look away.

"Oh that's so creepy when you do that," said Lupa, closing her eyes for good measure.

"Oh grow up, it isn't anything you haven't seen or done before," scoffed Serena. "Now, where was I? Ah yes. As per mission instructions I removed my own internal Inter-D com unit, but held on to an encrypted version of the fully featured firmware. I just need to download it into my tablet," Serena instructed, plugging the small computer into a data port buried somewhere in the mid-section of her old body. "Then enter the decryption key, which I took a previous opportunity to memorize. Oh, one, one eight, da, da, da-da, da…" Serena continued, turning away to hide what she was actually keying in. "…three. Then just push the new firmware into the device."

"You really took the time to memorize that instead of just dumping it into a keystore?" asked Lars as Serena moved the link cable from her android body to the emergency transmitter board.

"Any synth will tell you, especially an NI synth like me, that it’s a lot simpler to wipe information off a data store then after it has been fully integrated into the mind. That's one reason I always say if something's worth learning, learn it for real," said Serena as she finished updating the emergency device. "Now the other thing we need is a proper antenna which I was also not required to remove for this mission."

Grabbing a screwdriver from her kit, Serena went back to work inside her body eventually pulling a hockey puck sized component with a couple of wires hanging down from it.

"I've always gotten good service from fractal antennas with a Hausdorff dimension in the 3.2 range. Now Lars can you cut the wires and solder them onto the main board where the crap antenna used to connect? When you're done with that can you also hook up the power supply?"

"Sure," Lars responded as he pulled the high speed soldering gun out of the kit, "but you know that all the power from these batteries is going to fry this cheap hunk of junk in a second," he continued with a bit of a wink.

"Thanks for pointing that out because that brings us to the last part of our mod," said Serena as she pulled out the reusable plastic container and shook the few remaining crumbs out of it. "We're going to need a high capacity fluid heat sink and fortunately I know just where some is."

Serena reached up and began to press around on her robot self's chest just under her exposed bust. After a few moments Serena managed to trigger the formation of a rectangular seam that defined the method to access the body's processor bay.

"Oh no, no no no!" cried Lupa.

"Why are you so squeamish about this?" asked Serena as she flipped open a small utility knife. "I've seen you hunt, kill and disassemble all manner of animals. How could this possibly be worse?"

"My prey doesn't talk to me," Lupa choked as she turned around again, clamping her eyes shut.

Serena shrugged her shoulders at Lars before reaching in and severing the two fluid lines to the cooling unit that surrounded body's neurocrystal. Then, carefully pressing the plastic tub over the open chest panel, the two flipped the body over onto its stomach allowing the thick blue liquid to drain into the container.

"Ok Lupa, all done," said Serena, winking back at Lars.

"Alright...." Lupa started before turning around to see Serena's other body bleeding out on the table. "Ancestors!" Lupa spun back around, grabbing hold of one of the tables to steady herself.

"Perhaps you two should find a more orthodox way of desensitization," rumbled Fiona, who had found the strength to wander over and now pulled the distressed human form wolf into her soft fur.

Serena and Lars exchanged a guilty look before quietly righting the android shell and getting it closed back up. For her part Lupa made an effort to turn back and watch as her student dropped the assembled components in the fluid, poked a few holes for the power and data wires then sealed the whole mess up with tape.

"I don't know how "solutions" such as that ever occur to you in the first place Serena," remarked Lupa as she helped her friend put the shell back where they had found it.

"What can I say? The creators of my race eliminated many of the common human cognitive biases from our neurological model, including functional fixedness."

"Aversion to cannibalism is a feature not a bug!" Lupa shot back.

Serena turned and gave Lupa a good strong hug. "I'm sorry I freaked you out there. How about at some point I owe you a nice thorough brushing."

"Fine," Lupa humorously pouted, "but I won't like it."

Both were suddenly alerted to the objects being dropped on a metal table and turned to see Bea standing there with a variety of small arms obtained from the wall racks.

"Fun stuff," she said nodding.

"What's that in your other hand," Lars asked.

Bea lifted up a strange looking crystal composite object about the size of a football.

"Something for me!"

"Looks like we're all ready to go," said Serena as she shouldered a compact plasma rifle and slid a gauss pistol into the waist of her black tactical pants.

"Yeah that's great," said Fiona, "but I think you're forgetting about the door. The door you told me to close and the door I don't have a hope in hell of opening. There's just no way I can do battle with that locking system again especially if you want me to do things like keep the security sensors blinded."

"Ah the door," said Serena making a clear show of things. "Yes the door. Just what are we going to do about the door? Hmmm, let me see if I can work my magic on the door."

Serena walked up to the door with the rest of the group looking on with a mix of levity and confusion. She leaned in and touched the center of the visible locking device, then proceeded to make a few exaggerated facial expressions that came across more as constipation than Fiona parody. Finally Serena just stopped, kicked open a red metal box that was sitting off to one side, pulled out a shiny metal rod that was bent like a tire iron and inserting the socket end in a matching hole in the door began to unceremoniously crank the locking mechanism to the open position.

"There, noticed that when I first came in," said Serena as a matter of fact. "Vaults are designed to keep people out, not in."

“I can tell she’s feeling better,” Lupa whispered to Lars, “some of the theatrics are back.”

Serena stepped out into the hall and waited for her Federation tablet to pick up the network. It didn’t take long before she was bombarded by a string of text messages from the Captain who had been stewing by himself in the lobby for the last 20 minutes.

:: Everything ok out there Captain? :: Serena asked, taking a quick look out in the hallway.

::Elevators aren’t moving. Bathrooms and break rooms look to be empty. Still an hour until the next shift changes occur. :: the Captain texted back.

::Thank you sir. I know how hard it is to sit and wait while others do the deed. ::

Serena looked back at the rest of her team and gave them a thumbs up to follow her. Fiona was last out of the vault and swinging the huge door closed and re-engaging the lock. Acting like they belonged as much as any group with three quasi-humans and a bear sized hybrid feline could they walked past the armory elevators, out through the blast doors, down the connecting hallway and finally back into the night. Strolling out past the gym they saw Amy Williams walking back to her quarters still a bit wet from her post-workout shower.

“Hey, you folks get to the lab ok?”

“We did,” said Serena, “but they had gotten called away to another meeting so looks like we’ll just have to come back another time.”

“Well be careful. Looks like we got off easy tonight, but who knows how long it will keep up,” the staffer sighed, looking off towards the bright lights of the security perimeter.

****************************************************************************************************

[NukuNookee]

Coming along nicely, good plot development here. I'm looking forward to the upcoming confrontations...

[Sthurmovik]

Glad your enjoying it I really hope to write more in this setting.