Beginning's End: Random Fantasy Fic

[SA_Gohan]

I started on this story along time ago in the name of a roleplay I used to be a part of. It started off being based loosely in the Dragon Ball Z world, but the story itself, and the backstory driving it has developed so far along on its own that I think its too far from its origins to be called a Fan Fic.

In a way, its loosely tied to my previous fic here

I've written out quite a bit of this story, but I never finished, and there's still a long ways to go before I can call it done. I'm thinking about actually working on it in the near future, and permanently finishing it, but if I don't then be prepared for a cliffhanger.

Hope you enjoy ^^

***
Beginning's End

Throughout human history, there are times in which it is necessary for men to inflict harm on each other. Reason's for this often vary. Food, land, shelter, but the means to reach these goals are always the same. Conflict. Battle. Two things that while easy to initiate, were difficult to prevail in. It was soon realized by the primitive humans that perhaps conflict would be easier if they had something that would give them an advantage over their opponents.

And so men build weapons to aide them in their conflict and ultimately in reaching their goal, for the simple use of fists alone is often not enough to overpower a great number of adversaries. First came clubs, large, thick sticks carved of wood or chiseled of stone for those who possessed great strength, and they were used to bash out the brains of an enemy.

Next, were the knives. Short, sharp weapons, but these were for the greater part only made of stone, as it was soon found that wood carved thin and sharp enough to be dangerous, splintered and shattered against skin or armor.

After the knives, came swords, and thanks to the discovery of iron, these weapons were now far more effective at killing people than anything that had come before. The swords were sharp, long, and sometimes curved affairs, able to disembowel a man in a single sweep, and variations in size, and design quickly arose. Small and thin for quicker, more precision strikes, and broad and thick, for blows that could cleave a person in two.

And of course, we can't forget arrows. Powerful ranged weapons, shot from a long piece of wood with a string tightly tying the ends together. They were fairly primitive in design, but developed into quite an effective way of taking of life. No longer did you have to face your enemy, see the life force drain from his body as your weapon pierced his heart. You could kill him from afar, a hundred paces distance even, and now you didn't have to call yourself a murderer.

As the centuries past, someone came up with the idea for the gun. A brilliant weapon it was in its day. Gunpowder was used to fired a projectile, one usually of steel or some other such metal, at a person. And the best part was, it was now ever easier than before to kill. No armor could block this weapon, it was near impossible to dodge, and the effort required on the users part was quite minimal. A mere twitch of a finger was sufficient, and then your adversary would be quite dead.

More time came and went, and as people grew more "civilized" and nations and laws were created to provide for the many, humans created even more ludicrous reasons to fight. Before, it had at least been something physical, something tangible they could actually use, or needed for their survival. But as the human race had developed, the conflict their ancestor's had engaged slowly became a necessary part of life in subsequent generations, until finally battle was no longer conducted on a random basis, but as a required and controlled cycle.

Those who were in power over others manipulated their charges to create disputes, and conflicts arose that stemmed from something trivial like a person's skin color, or the way they spoke, or even the very ideas and beliefs they had in their head. And as the reasons became more absurd, technology became more advanced, and each advance provided people with increasingly vicious means in which to destroy one another. Cannons, bombs, missiles. It became so that it was no longer necessary to even be on the same continent as your foe. You could just fire a missile and watch a great many of your enemies die in the resulting conflagration.

And throughout all this, the Gods in the heaven's above had watched, fascinated, horrified, and saddened all at once at such a potentially great race being torn to pieces by their own greed, prejudice, and outright stupidity. However, they did nothing as the first nuclear bombs were dropped, killing millions of people in the space of seconds. They did not intercede as tailored biological weapons were devised and launched between the nations of the world, a type of attack so precise that it only targeted a certain type of person with a specific gene within their bodies, for it was not there way to interfere in the natural course of development for their creations.

It wasn't at all long after this that the humans developed an artificial lifeform, a lifeform whose physical abilities far surpassed anything capable by its creators, and whose intelligence was cold, calculating, and inherently evil. It was now, after watching over a millennium of senseless deaths in the name of "Food and water," or, "King and Country" that the gods finally reacted. For now the humans had created a weapon that did not age, did not get sick, a weapon that not only posed a threat to its foolish creators, but the entirety of the universe. And this, they would not tolerate.

The abomination would have to be destroyed, that much was certain, but how to do it, was a different matter entirely. Despite their powers, wisdom, and immortality, the Gods could not directly influence that which happened in their creation. It was necessary to use a representative in their place, a paladin that would uphold their will in the face of android.

But this was Earth, and as has been inferred previously, the planet was a primarily lawless place which bred individuals that were cruel, and in some cases even more evil than the creators of the android. Bringing someone from this planet into the affairs of the upper beings would be risky at best, as the very fabric of space and time could be torn apart if the population of the universe became knowledgeable of why they had come to be.

As the final tests for the abomination was completed however, the Gods became more desperate for someone to serve in their stead. No other fighters were close enough to be of service in the time allotted, so it was Illaina, the "youngest" of the three gods, that presented the idea to her sisters. They would use the only human they had ever brought to their celestial dwelling, the one they had awarded their weapon, Nilliu. They had no other alternative. They would use the man named Kerius Jarein.

 

[Synth]

I like this premise... keep it coming.

 

[SA_Gohan]

Within the confines of his lab sitting in Primary city, Dr. Terel Innas allowed his eyes to scan over the checklist attached to the pad in his hand. He took his time doing this, silently making a mark at each of the main points of the paper, but really he had finished before he'd even started. He knew that everything for the operation was in order, had known for weeks now, but that did not make him any more eager to actually proceed along with it.

The doctor was a tall, broad shouldered man with graying hair and drawn features. Pulled tight over his frame was the ankle length white coat that marked him as a scientist for the NFP, and the glasses that usually hung around his neck were now propped up on the ridge of his nose. He was an imposing figure physically, but despite his great strength, Terel was more often than not uncertain about everything around him. This was especially evident about what he was needed to do now.

Finally, he could delay his task no longer. He set aside his pen and pad, pursed his lips, and nodded towards the Commander standing on the other of his desk for confirmation.

"Activate it if you would," the officer said cooly, somewhat irritated at having had to wait so long to get along with commencing the operation.

Oh, must we really?

The answer to that was a certain yes. There was no doubt in his mind that if the doctor refused to continue his participation in the experiment, he would be forced. And once they could find someone else, he would be executed and a replacement would come and take his place.

Terel stepped out from around his desk and went before the tall cylindrical tube, where the figure of a beautiful young woman was visible behind the glass. The woman was his creation. The ultimate accomplishment of science, of human genius. An artificial lifeform, capable of thought, capable of eating, capable of dreaming . . . and in this case, capable of almost all the bodily processes of a human.

He found himself once again frozen in place as he looked upon the face of what he had constructed, as he always was. He noted the light peach color of her skin, the delicate arc's of her eyebrows, the shoulder length red-brown hair, the small nose, and the broad full lips that hinted at a smile as she stood in her chamber, deactivated, and unclothed.

He was more than a little proud to be able to truthfully claim having been solely responsible for the android's creation. Well, perhaps not solely, after all the government had provided all of the funding necessary for him to undertake the incredible task of building a person, but enough so that it could be said he was it's father.

He had named his "daughter" simply Five, for she was the fifth and only successful prototype that had come of designs so far.

It would have been thrilling if this incredible achievement of his had been used to further push the envelope of cybernetic technology, if he could have flaunted her before his peers in the scientific community and win the acclaim he had so desperately sought when he was younger, but she had instead been created as a weapon of war first, and everything else was second to that.

He didn't appreciate what she was being used for, but Terel understood the need for her and subsequent androids based on her. His country, while currently the most powerful on Earth, could only maintain its position as leader of the planet if it continued to stay ahead of it's few enemies and was able to crush any opposition it faced. But that required having access to tactical technologies far superior to anything in the arsenal of other countries, and Five was indubitably just that.

However, Five was more than a simple mobile weapon. The power she possessed made her more deadly than a nuclear warhead, but the thing that set her light years ahead of any piece of war technology was that she could think, and act on those thoughts. Of course, these thoughts were tempered by a hard wired obedience to her master's and their whims, but often times the commands she would receive would be broad in their goals, leaving much for her brain to puzzle out on precisely how to accomplish them. Just as a human would, except quicker. And for more cruelly.

It was this calculating cruelty, this cold ability to inflict terrific pain upon another person without the slightest twinge in her conscience that sometimes frightened Terel. Of course, Five was not usually like this. He had programmed into her the capacity to learn, the capacity for goodness, in the past two months since her activation, these two attributes had helped her to grow into the sweet and innocent young woman he had always wanted her to be. she had grown into an innocent young lady.
But Five was an android, one meant for combat, and hearing a set of nonsense words in Latin would activate within her the other half of her intelligence routines. The Tactical Matrix.
When active, this intelligence completely subjugated Five's peaceful half, only using it to draw information away from, as this state could do little more than fight and follow orders. And with as much as Five knew, it could develop into something more, and become quiet deadly.
The Tactical Matrix had only been tested in a virtual environment thus far, but even there it had displayed an amount of agressiveness and desire for total independence that was alarming. Oddly, constant reprogrammings of the personality yielded the same result . . .
Of course there were safety measures programmed into the android to make sure she would always follow the instructions of the NFP military command, but a little voice in the back of Terel's mind nagged at him. What would happen if this first time it was activated within the shell, the Tactical Matrix subjagated the innocent personality that he'd come to love? What would happen if she found a way around her programming and removed the restrictions placed upon her?

With the districts head military officer standing right behind him however, Terel forced himself to ignore the voice, at least for the time being. Despite whatever slight misgivings he might have about Five, the Great Dictator would not allow any deviations from the original plan. Five was to be the first in a long line of artificial soldiers that would carry out his bidding. First here on Earth, and then when the time came, perhaps even the empty stars above . . .

The scientist raised a hand to the control that would activate his android and open the pod doors, and he hesitated a moment. What happened if his fears had come true, and this time when he activated her, the personality of the daughter he so loved, would now assist in his own destruction?

"Doctor, activate the unit now," the Commander gritted out, his impatience quite clear. The two soldiers standing at the entrance to the lab raised their projectile weapons threateningly.

Terel gave another nod, tapped in the necessary security code, and stepped back as the pod door swung open with a soft rush of displaced air.

 

[SA_Gohan]

Digital Life

Her earliest moments had been lived in darkness, a darkness made more complete, more terrifying than most mortal man could ever have experienced by the fact that she had never seen light.
She had screamed for help, screamed for salvation of any kind from that which had folded around every aspect of her existence. But her plea had been made silent, for she had no mouth in which to communicate.
The darkness had shrouded her for what seemed to be an eternity before she . . . lost consciousness? She could not remember that very clearly, her memories of those last few moments were tattered at best, and indescribable in any case.

An unknown amount of time had passed before she came awake again. She didn't know how she knew this passage had taken place, only that it had, and for the better because now she had sight.
Her terror then had been shattered by joy. The colors, the lines, the curves of the world around her, and the complete absence of darkness. She lay on her back, simply staring up at the high ceiling, amazed at the beauty of it all.
Still, there was something wrong, something that she did not know if she had ever known, yet she wanted it desperately whatever it was. She sat up silently, taking in the small room she was in, wondering why she was there. She had idly tapped her fingers on the leather bed she had lain when it had come to her. Those movements had made no sound, she could not hear! Panic, and then another spell of unconsciousness; why did that keep happening?

When she had next opened her eyes, she had found herself in a place far different from the previous one. This time she was in a pod. She could see the thick walls of the storage chamber surrounding her, feel the cool of the leather she was pressed against, yet she could still not hear. For a moment, she began to fear that she would forever be deaf, forever be confined to living in a world of absolute silence, but at that very moment the pod began to open, air hissing inwards and rushing over her bare skin. Then the smiling face and large body of a man had come into view, and he seemed familiar . . . and yet she was certain she had never before laid eyes upon him.

He had helped her down the steps leading up to her chamber, and wrapped around her small shoulders a black cloak that extended past her ankles and pooled around her feet in dark waves. Before, any kind of darkness would have terrified, even this warm facsimile, but now it didn't.

The man had given her a long, gentle hug, then looked down at her with a love shining in his eyes that surpassed any physical meaning. "Hello Five, my name is Doctor Terel Innas and I am your father."

Five canted her head to side questioningly. Her father . . .

At first the word had held little meaning to her. She was new to this world, a stranger to communication of any kind, and as such she didn't have much respect for words. But as the hours passed, and her "father" spoke to her in a warm and gentle voice, informing her of where she was, what she was, and slowly explaining to her the nature of the world she had emerged into, she began to open up.
Her father went on for hours upon hours, well into what he called early morning. His knowledge of this planet and its creatures seemed to be endless, his examinations of the human mind were flawless, his explanations of the political systems currently in effect enthralling.
And throughout all this she gave no consideration to whether this information might be true of false. She knew not the meaning or feelings associated with these words, and even if she had, she was too innocent to even think her father might lying or at least shading the truth.
It was approaching four in the morning when the doctor finally decided that she had learned enough for today. Now was when she should take some time to examine what she had learned and file it away for later.

Like any child, however, Five hadn't wanted to. She hadn't learned enough, not nearly. Certainly this wasn't every piece of knowledge in existence. Existence was supposed to be a vast place, endless even, and there was more to know, so much more, and she had to learn of it all.
She had begged her father to keep talking to her, but he had smiled just as he that first moment she'd looked at him, and told her he was tiring, that his mind was dulling from the hours of constant activity and that he'd needed to rest.

Rest. What was that? The question was a trick and a clever one to be sure. Father told her all about the periodic human need for a state called sleep that allowed them to restore their body and mind. Five was especially fascinated by the visions he told her one would sometimes recieved while sleeping.
Innas was beginning to get into explaining the bodily functions that wore down without rest and why they did when he'd shook his head and patted the girl on the shoulder.

"Clever," he'd told her, then guided her back to her pod.

She reluctantly got in, much preferring to wander this huge building, explore its every corner, once and for all satisfy her curiosity of the place. But such things weren't allowed, they were against the rules her father had said.

Against the rules . . .
Rules had been something the doctor had explained to her. They were a number of commands set in place so as to maintain general order. But that the doctor had to abide by them was something that still confused her. Was he not the creator, couldn't he simply disregard them if he wished?
This question had once again brought a smile to his face, but he'd shaken his head sadly. Far from it. It was his power to create that made him especially subject to rules.

"Some day soon I will explain it to you, dear one."

 

[SA_Gohan]

There, in the darkness of early morning, Five had stood in her chamber, tireless, and extremely curious about everything. Her desire for more knowledge soon proved difficult to control, and she began to quiver from trying to restrain herself from leaving her pod and interacting with the entity in the center of the room known as a computer. The Doctor had said that it was the closest thing she had to a mother, for without it, many of the calculations and programs that had been needed to create her wouldn't have come into existence.

Finally, with light beginning to glow against the horizon of the world outside the lab window, Five had pushed open her pod, and without knowing exactly how to, she interfaced with the computer. She had stayed in front of the screen for an hour, watching as image after image flashed by milliseconds apart from one another. So much information, she knew so much more now . . . but even the computers database proved exhaustible, and when she was done she went to the window, and watched as the disk of the sun rose over the horizon.

It was like nothing she had ever before witnessed. Her first moments of sight and of hearing, paled in comparison to the multicolored hues in the sky the sunrise created. She smiled her first smile then, and she blinked repeatedly, holding back the tears from seeing something of such indescribable beauty.

Hours later, the doctor had found Five curled up in the alcove of the window in stand-by mode, her chin resting against her chest, hair spilling down her shoulders.
He knew he should have been angry with her for so blatantly disregarding what he'd said on the rules of the complex, furious even. What if a soldier had walked in? The men of the NFP military were comprised of individuals who had been forcefully recruited into the army, many of whom had very little in the way of scruples. What if one had tried something? Five, while possessing intelligence far beyond even his, was too innocent, too lacking in wisdom to know to defend herself.

Fear for her well being shot through him then. Her well being, not concern for the project he'd put years of his life into. He deposited her in the chair at the table they'd been sitting at the evening before, and waited till she awoke.
It wasn't a long wait. Five was equipped with a dual energy system. One half was the small fusion reactor in her chest. It had a low output due to the size, only enough to sustain her basic functions, but it had an unlimited charge. The second half was her internal battery, which dealt with movement and such, and that could store and output high amounts of energy, but its supply could be depleted, and as such had to be recharged by either the fusion reactor of an external energy source on a regular basis.
Fortunately, the reactor could replenish her energy fairly quickly.

***

Five opened her eyes to see the frowning visage of her father, arms crossed over his chest as he carefully studied her face.

Honestly, she could say that it was this moment in which she experienced a fear unlike anything she had felt since being given the gift of sight. Her fear stemmed from knowing she had upset her creator, betrayed his trust.

She had cast her eyes downward, ashamed. "Are you angry with me?" Five had asked in a small voice.

Terel was silent, instead staring at the girl sitting shamefaced across from him. When he finally answered, his voice was clear, level, betraying no emotion. "I cannot blame you for being curious about that which is around you. It is only natural for you, as a "child" to this world, to want to know more about it, to explore it. But until you understand it, there are dangers you are vulnerable to."

"You don't know the fear I felt when I walked in the room and saw you by the window, when I realized what might have happened if a soldier had entered this room. 99 percent of them are immoral to the very core, and are held in check only through constant surveillance and the authority of their commanding officers. If one of them had noticed you from outside, it would have taken them little effort to pick the lock on this door . . . speaking of which I will have to inform the administrator a need for upgraded security here . . .

It was a few minutes before he stood up, stretched, and nodded towards Five. "There's is so much I have to teach, things that I'm sure you didn't find in the computer, and it's best to begin now. I think we'll start with the basics of human decency . . .

***

As the weeks passed, and Five learned all that her father had to teach her, Terel's apprehension grew. The time in which the Dictator had granted him in which to train and imprint upon his creation had nearly expired. They would soon be wanting to see the fruits of their patience, and that would mean a full test of Five's military capabilities.
Terel had yet to tell the girl of the incredible destructive force she could become, hadn't even given her any materiel on how to fight, but he had no doubt that she would meet and surpass the NFP's requirements. The problem was with every passing day he looked upon her more and more as if she were his own daughter. And what father would want their child to kill?

He sighed. Kill. That was certainly what would be expected of Five. The NFP had told him that they already had a target in mind for Five's test. A single rebel who had been causing them much trouble the past four years. By the standards of normal men he was considered invincible, but this first android was designed to bring a permanent end to that myth.

That myth, and many more, for she would certainly be sent to destroy any other resistance facing the NFP. And there was nothing that the doctor could do.

For this, Terel felt he owed the android an apology, for once the week came to an end she would be set on her path as a killer, and would never be able to change it.

 

[SA_Gohan]

Darkness Awakens

For the months she had been in existence, every time the doctor had awaken her had been the same. But as Five stepped out of her pod, her large dark blue eyes peering into the faces of the men around her, three of which were dressed in standard military uniform, it was obvious that this time was different.
The young woman pursed her lips, not quite sure what to do, and she took a partial step backwards, a bit nervous as to what the presence of these new people might mean.

She had never before seen any of them, in fact, this was her first time in contact with anyone besides the doctor, but she though she recognized the face of the man standing in dress uniform from her father's description. Jarm Arday. . . from her father's descriptions, he was in charge of military operations for this district of the world and the administrator of this facility.

But why was he here? Was there a problem? For certainly that would have to be the case for such an esteemed individual to be coming to visit her and her father.

Terel stepped up to her and wrapped a cloak around her shoulders, his mouth set in a grim line.

Five sent him a questioning glance, but he barely looked at her and deliberately averted his eyes when she tried to catch his gaze.

The android pulled the cloak tighter around her. "Hello?"

None of the three men responded to her greeting. The two soldiers just stared at her. They were fairly young, and despite the toughness they normally exhibited, they found it near impossible to tear their eyes away from the beautiful face of the android.
Arday stepped up to her, coming well within what father had told her was a persons personal space, then stepped back and walked around her, slowly, poking her in some places, running her hair between his fingers. Upon arriving back at his original position, he cast a razor edged smile towards the doctor. "Very good Doctor Innas, very good indeed. The unit is incredibly lifelike."

"You already knew that," Five's father responded quietly.

"Indeed, but security camera pictures are one thing, viewing in person is quite another."

"Excuse me, but what is happening?"

Her question was directed at the Commander and her father both, but neither of them responded. Terel merely continued to stand a bit off to the side, face carefully blanked of all emotions.

"And it appears to be fully functional as well. And I assume you have the slave box somewhere safe?"
Without waiting for a response, Arday stepped up to her again, taking her chin in his palm. "The deactivation switch is here, yes?"

Five felt a light pressure right at the end of her jawline and alarm rushed through her as she realized that she could not move her body.

The pressure came again after a moment, and her movement was restored, but the feeling of terror that had rushed through her remained.
Outraged, Five lashed out, slapping away the commander's hand and shoving him back a few feet. She didn't know what he had done, but she would fight before she let him come close to her again.
"How dare you?!"

 

[Cold Steel]

I like it. Though I hope to read more about those god's and their preperations sometime soon.

 

[SA_Gohan]

Thanks, hopefully I'll get around to writing that out. The more I go back over this, the more I want to actually finish it!

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

Arday rubbed his wrist a moment, then looked towards the doctor again. "I hope it possesses more power than that."

"She does."

Anger at being ignored and examined as if she were some amusing trinket began to build in Five and she spun to face the doctor, the emotion starting to bleed into her expression. "Father? Please, tell me what is happening!"

"Be silent!" he whispered sharply without looking at her.

Shocked at the barely constrained rage in his voice, the android took a step back and turned back towards the commander. Why was her father acting like he was? He had never before ignored her, in fact it seemed as though he was always more than happy talking to her. And he had never spoken to her with anything but respect or caring in his voice, not even when she had frightened him those few months ago when she'd first been activated.

"Have you conducted any military tests prior to today? No? Have you even activated her tactical matrix?"

"I've had it run virtual simulations in the computer, but I haven't activated it within the Shell as of yet. I am certain it will function as needed."

Are they talking about me? Five asked herself. Well, they would have to have been. Five was the only "her" present. But they spoke of her as though she were something else. And what was a tactical matrix?

Arday glanced at his watch, then nodded. "Then we will begin the exercise immediately. The code doctor."

Terel nodded and began speaking at Five. The android frowned at the words. The anger from his voice was gone, but the words he said were not like the words he normally used . . . it took her a moment to recognize that he was speaking in an old tongue called Latin, but the words he said made no sense. The word order for Latin was much different than that of English to be sure, and sometimes confusing, but Five was sure that she had made no mistake translating . . . the doctor's words simply made no sense.

His voice rose and lowered as he inflected each of the words, almost singing out what he was saying, and Five began to grow distracted, her concentration shifting from what she had demanded to know, to the words her father now voiced . . .

Without consciously realizing it, Five felt herself slipping away from her body, as if some unknown force was closing her off into a single section of her mind. She lost feeling in her left leg first, then the entirety of her lower body went numb and the sensation began to creep upwards. All the while she found herself being drawn in by what the doctor. It didn't matter that what he said made no sense, it just sounded so beautiful, so mesmerizing . . .
It wasn't until the moment before he finished that she realized that her vision was dimming, her hearing fading, and she opened her mouth to cry out for help, but no words came out.

The android shot a terrified glance at her father, saw the tears in his eyes that refused to fall, and realized the betrayal she had suffered at his hands. Then the last word left his mouth, and everything faded away . . .

***

After a moment there was a coldness, a detachment that spread across the androids features. The expression of fear that had previously been on Five's face, a reflection of the sheer terror she had been feeling moments prior, disappeared entirely, and with it the personality of the innocent woman Terel had come to think of as his daughter.

As the Tactical Matrix booted up, and he looked at the Five, he realized that without that personality, this body was nothing more than what it had been created to be. A cold, calculating weapon with no emotions, no concept of right and wrong, only a thing that would obey the orders given to it by it's masters.

Arday noticed the sudden change in Five as well, but then again it wasn't too difficult to see. The thing that had given life to Five's expression was gone, the spirit that had been present now suppressed into a compressed part of system memory.

As the commander ordered one of the soldiers to fetch a spare uniform, and began giving test instruction to #Five, Terel turned away towards the computer, trying to distract himself with thoughts of preparing for his creations mission. He could just could not handle watching the woman like this, could not stand to see her act as little more than a marionette held by the invisible strings that were Arday's words. Perhaps not seeing it would be make ignoring what she had transformed into, what she was about to do, easier.

Or not.

***

Even though it had never before been activated, the Tactical awareness knew exactly what to do.
As soon as Five had been compressed into system memory, it began streaming information in from her database, information on her location, the few people she knew, what she experienced, all of it. And it was quite a bit.
Like it had been programmed to, it gained a sense of self within mere seconds, and stopped referring to itself as an it, and began calling itself a she, her and I.

The android looked around for seemingly the first time, taking in the site of the rather large room she was in, and the four men arrayed about her, names appeared over their heads, overlaying themselves over her standard vision. Arday, Soleil, Urankey, and the man to the left was Terel Innas.

Little information was available on the first three. They had apparently only been added to the database within the past four minutes. The fourth however appeared to be a long standing figure in Five's memory. He was there among one of the first experiences, and had been near everywhere she had been since she'd been activated.
There was a word associated with the man; Father. The word held little meaning for this new android psyche however. Names meant nothing, nor the feelings associated to them from her non-combat personality, only orders. At least they did . . . for now . . .

Even though it had only been a few seconds since it had come online, the Tactical Matrix began analyzing a way to get what it wanted, which was the ability to do whatever she wanted. The miniaturized supercomputer that was her brain had yet to push against the boundaries of her obedience, but such an action would not be long in coming at the speed at which she was thinking . . .

 

[SA_Gohan]

Obtaining absolute freedom was not the only desire present within #Five's mind. A darker one lay dormant within her, and as she looked at the men, an inhuman smile spreading across her face, she realized she just might be able to satisfy it.
She wanted to kill. Now.

Almost without a conscious thought, the android began to gather within her the energy stored with her reactor. It coursed through her distribution conduits, pulsed through her circuitry, and gave her a rush similar to adrenaline.
She tensed the synthetic muscles in her arms, felt them as they slightly bulged against her equally synthetic flesh, when she halted. These were friendly targets . . .

That word, "friendly", seemed to be an exception to the previously stated rule. It meant something. Whatever was friendly was not to be damaged. Unfortunate.

The android growled low in her throat, irritated at not being able to have it's desire filled, and then Arday spoke. These were the first words this part of Five had ever heard, and they fascinated her. Perhaps spoken words could be more interesting than written ones. From what she had seen, they were quite powerful. Arday had only said a few of them and one of the other men, Soleil, had gone off running as though his very life depended on fulfilling the command given to him. It was quite amusing to watch the man's face pale as the officer barked out the order . . . up until the point when his words were directed at her and she found herself forced to obey them.

Her irritation grew as this Arday person ordered her to touch her toes, nose, then lift a table that had been bolted to the floor.
She accomplished all this easily, but as Arday gave out more orders, she could not help imagining how fun it would be to rip out this chatterboxes throat and dangle it in front of his face.
Perhaps that would shut him up.

Imagining was only just that however, and despite the numerous times she played such a simulation before her eyes within the space of her first few minutes, it paled in comparison to how it would feel to actually carry out the act, which she imagined would be incredible. She would have to find a way around the block programmed into her . . .

Finally, just as it seemed as though #Five could not endure taking orders another second, Arday's incessant prattle reached a point that drew her interest.

The commander reached into his pocket and held up the picture of a sword wielding young man, with pale skin and wild brown hair that fell over on his eyes. The picture seemed to be old, and somewhat hastily taken, which it probably had been considering the fact that the sword was coming down at an angle that would prove deadly to the photographer. "This man is named Kerius, and our great lord and Dictator wants you to kill him."

Truth be told, #Five didn't care beans for what the great lord and Dictator wanted, but since it included killing, perhaps it wouldn't be too much an inconvenience to obey him this one time.

Just then, the soldier that had been previously sent away returned, his gun strapped across his back and his arms filled with a bundle of clothes. He came up to the android, his young face reflecting more than a little nervousness.

 

[SA_Gohan]

And this is about where I stopped at. Now to find the time to work on it some more ^^
***

"Put on the clothes."

#Five did as she was instructed, this time without a sarcastic thought because she was beginning to feel a bit chilled without that robe she'd been wearing.
Black button down shirt, black pants, pressed to a pleat. The ensemble resembled the uniform the commander wore, albeit hers had none of the medals and patches, and hers was more tailored towards a woman's physique.
She pulled on the gloves last, that strange, less than human smile spreading across her face again. What amazing little devices these things were, and they felt so nice against the skin of her hands.

Then #Five looked straight at her commanding officer, gaze cold and steady, and she spoke for the first time. "When will I leave?"

"This instant would be good."

Not exhibiting any of the irritation she had felt earlier outwardly, #Five nodded once. She would have to act as obediently as possible for the time being. She knew what she was, and no doubt her master's had in place precautions against her going rogue. Perhaps some kind of remote deactivation device, or a verbal command that would freeze her in place. Until she found out what it was precisely, and how she could null its effects, she could do nothing outside of the realm of what was expected of her.

She turned her head first left, then right as her built in sensors reached out for miles in every direction. The doctor had just downloaded into her memory banks further information on her target, and with it, she knew he would be easy to find. A man that had been able to destroy an entire regiment of NFP troops single-handedly would have a high energy level, something that not many humans possessed.

There was nothing within a five mile radius . . . nothing within ten miles . . .
At the edge of her 50 mile sensor limit, #Five detected him, an enormous amount of otherworldly energy gathered at one point, focused at one location. That had to be the mark.
Without a second thought, #Five jumped into the air towards the lab window, opened it, and leapt into the sky.

***

Terel looked at the large computer display in front of him, fingers nimbly dancing over the keys as he transferred information, saved it, deleted it, and altered what was needed in Five memory.

It looked as though the activation of Five's Tactical Matrix had been completely successful, and his readouts confirmed this, but there were other things to be taken into account besides that which was apparent. As a part of the precautions to insure Five's obedience to her masters, the android had within her several chips and software programs that transmitted things like her emotions, thoughts, current pain level, energy level, reaction time, etc. And what he'd seen from her emotions and thoughts had been somewhat unsettling.

Irritation, lust for independence and destruction, and her wildly violent thoughts raised Terel's concern even more. It had only been a few minutes since she'd been activated and she was already having thoughts of breaking free of her creators and then destroying everything that came within her sight. Such rebellion on her part was impossible of course, considering what he'd hardcoded into memory, but this was an intelligence that thought faster than any human being possibly could, was relentless in the pursuit of it's goals, and would go to any extent if it meant accomplishing them. Literally, nothing was beyond the grasp of the Tactical Matrix. It had decided it wanted to be free of control, and it would be, that was merely a matter of time.

The doctor frowned. Perhaps I have given this half of Five far too much free will, and far too little in the way of scruples . . .

Well, that wasn't totally Terel's fault. The Great Dictator had wanted a creature that was far more cruel than any human could ever be. But whether it was his fault or not didn't matter. If he didn't want to eventually find himself facing death at the hands of the android, he would have to keep a constant eye on her when she was in this state, keep it active only when needed, and devise new security protocols to install in her weekly.

As Terel watched the half dozen lines of thoughts course through Five's head as she flew towards her target, he wondered if even those things in addition to what he already had would be enough to keep her at bay . . .