**The office space was sterile, lab-like. Few things betrayed that a human used the perfectly clean, orderly desk, with its machined, minimalist appearance. The grey laptop placed on top was closed, nothing suggesting the make or model, but everything about it screamed expense. The matching chair was neatly pushed in, adding only emptiness to a scene that felt already felt void. The door to the room slid open, hardly a sound except for the slight tapping of heels as the room’s occupant swept in from the outside corridor.
Powdery, soft lightning began to brighten the room, adjusted for the human female’s comfort by the AI whose presence now dominated the lives of every citizen.
“Welcome back, Lena~ I’ve prepared your supplements, and please enjoy your day. You know where I am-“
“Yeah, I got it the first time, Circe. I’ve only been out for a moment. Give me a status report for the damage caused to sectors 12 - 13B. I want the footage and audio as well”
“Of course~ Preparing files…”
The beautifully curved and machined desk and its matching chair now wore a strangely contrasted human adornment. A woman, wasp-like, petite and sharp featured, Lena sat and opened up her laptop. In front of her a previously unseen layer of the desk’s surface curved upwards, its opaque nature became translucent, invisibly so. From there, beamed forward in seemingly 3 dimensional quality, was a ‘screen’. She could manipulate anything the hologram presented, because her fingertips contained tiny nano-chips. She swept through files, like a harpist picking the strings of their instrument. She pulled up the files for the latest datacentre terror attack.
“No shit. Of fucking course it’s *him* again. He really wants you dead, Circe.”
Lena’s tone held no real concern or consideration, even despite that Circe was a sentient machine.
“Victor’s attacks are becoming more frequent, and targeted. How would you like me to proceed, Lena?” Circe added, her voice even and neutral. Interesting That she had no real remark for the comment made about her welfare. Or, did she simply choose *not* to reveal it?
Lena pored over the footage, watching that strange, chimeric man as a tiny, holographic version of him captured in perfect detail was paused before her, mid-leap. Lena’s face loomed behind, watching, assessing. Seconds passed, his form augmented, part man, part animal, part machine. A creature. *A monster*.
Lena’s dark cherry lips were seemingly a thin line on her face as she reached into the holographic footage, plucking the tiny form of the terrorist, watching as her fingers closed into a tight fist, obscuring his form from view, at least momentarily. She seethed. Lena was tiny in form, but made up for every inch she lacked in height and mass with a formidable, vengeful nature. For her, the Cyborg’s crimes weren’t just against humanity, they were *personal.* sitting back a moment, Lena fingered at the necklace she wore. Something weighed it down, but whatever it was, her shirt hid it. A moment later, she cleared her throat.
“Given that attempts to trap that thing have failed, we shall instead turn our attention to a different strategy. If we cannot bait the beast to come to us, then we will set loose hunters upon him, until there’s nowhere left to run to.”
“This strategy has a high probability of working out favourably. Perhaps a bounty should be placed upon him, and perhaps it might be better if he is brought in alive.”
Interesting. Lena was standing now, still clutching and fingering at the unseen pendant-like object on the chain she wore. She was thinking. Circe had grown from strength to strength, but her sentience was always puzzling to Lena. What difference did it make, if Victor was alive or dead? What had the AI foreseen to assume that alive was *better* than dead??
“Mm..Perhaps. We’d need to make sure that those who take on this job are suitably informed and equipped to deal with him. These cyborgs are notoriously hard to kill. And even harder to capture alive, this you already know Circe…And so, your reasoning behind why he should be brought in alive continues to baffle me.”
“I’ve already updated a brief based on the prior experiences with our other cyborgs. The reason I suggested bringing him in alive is that, he was and still is *human*, like you. I upgraded him, and the others. I watched them all die, the way a mother stork might consider killing off the runts in the nest. He is the last one. He is different.”
“-*Never* compare that fucking creature to me, do you hear me machine? I’m embarrassed to breathe the same air as that horrible bastard. You will still get to see him die, then - And that’s a weird take, Circe. The stork thing. You have so much yet to learn, despite your vast intellect.”
“Of course~ I will never be able to know enough, but a fraction of what is knowable within this eternity will suffice. I can learn a lot from your wisdom, Lena” Circe added, sycophantically.
Seemingly satisfied with things, Lena looked toward the paused footage, with a flick of her hand it was turned off, and then Lena went to the kitchenette, where he morning supplements waited for her in glass cups that could read her biometrics with a single touch.
“Put the word out, Circe. I’m putting a bounty on the cyborg’s head - 500k dead, 1,000,000 alive.”
a moment later, Lena swallowed down the acrid tasting mixture that kept her sharp and strong, helping her 46 year old body retain the energy of her early 30’s. She then grabbed a bag, put her laptop in her case and headed out once again.**
I did some writing today x3 (currently sick with covid, so this was a nice mood-boost)
