- Batfam and Superfam are my favorites, but I enjoy all of DCU even if I'm not terribly well-versed in all the lore.
- Jason Todd is my favorite Robin, followed closely by the OG Robin because Dick Grayson is fine as hell. Tim is my spirit animal. Damian is baby, I want to pinch his cheeks. I both want to squeeze and bite Batman.
BOUNDARIES
- MINORS DNI
- Please do not send asks/DMs telling me to donate to XYZ thing.
- DNI Transphobes, Homophobes, Rasicts, Bigots, pretty much keep anything hateful away from me, please and thank you.
- No NSFW stuff. This muse is a minor!
- Asks and anon are turned on. Please feel free to message me or send asks!
Wolf felt like he was floating, drifting in a hazy fog, disconnected from his body. They had come earlier, taken his daily blood draw before injecting his next dose of the nanite serum. It had been a woman today, one he knew only briefly in passing. She was a more recent addition to the research team, he could tell by the way she excitedly babbled about how the work the scientists here would be revolutionary, and wasn't it such an honor to be contributing to such cutting edge advancement.
Dull, teal eyes had been the only part of him that had moved the entire, brief visit. He had stopped flinching at the needles nearly a decade ago. It had been almost as long since the last time he had tried to resist. That had been one of his earliest, and most painful, lessons about his world. Resistance was futile, full cooperation made everything run smoother.
It meant the pain stopped sooner.
It meant that his mind could return to its aimless wandering.
Most days it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Time was strange, distorted, when he viewed the world this way. Hours slipped away with no change to the drab four gray walls of his cell. Wolf would have remained like this until they came for him again. Until they decided to cut him open again, to watch him bleed, to observe his reactions, both physiological and psychological. That was his life. It wasn't much of a life, but it was predictable.
Boring.
Something in the steady hum of the ventilation system faltered for a moment, it was the heartbeat, the pulse, of this world. Wolf blinked his eyes, suddenly become more aware, more alert as the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He became aware of his body again, the way the thin scrubs rubbed against his skin, the way the thin mattress on the floor was only just softer than the steel floor. His world was being disturbed, Wolf could feel it deep in his bones, the microscopic nanites in his blood practically vibrating with anticipation.
Hesitantly he reached out with his consciousness, the AI immediately responded by pushing through the firewalls that would normally lock him out of the lab network. If the researchers caught him they'd punish him ruthlessly, but he couldn't resist the urge to know. Immediately he realized nobody was going to notice his indiscretion. He couldn't hear any alarms within his metal box, but every security system in the building was blaring a shrill warning.
Intruders were breeching the lab.
Terminate Project Codex
The words flashed across the screen. He felt an icy fist grip his heart. They were going to destroy him to prevent their asset from falling into the hands of outsiders. Fourteen years of enduring their poking, their prodding, all for them to kill him now?
Heavy steel doors had locked down the most classified areas. The AI didn't hesitate, did not wait for him to think of consequences or repercussions, as it hacked the security network to override the input commands to destroy their host. A new prime directive wrote itself into the fundamental coding of the nanites: Protect the Host. All locking systems on all the security doors were overridden. Those trying to breach the lab would suddenly find the way clearing for them, allowing them priority access as they pursued their mission.
Alfred keeps phasing through barriers, ahead of the rest of his small extraction team. Thankfully, each door he breached was, as if by magic, opening behind him. Then, one is opening before he even has time to phase through any others.
He phases into that room, and sees a lab. Filled with glowing vials and screens and in the corner, lies a cell. He phases to right next to it.
The kid lying there blinks blearily but to Alfred, it looks like he isn't entirely aware of what's happening, though he does seem fairly alert. He runs a quick scan of the cell before phasing into it. He immediately gets to scanning the boy lying there.
"Oh my god..." he breathes out.
"Hey there, buddy. My name is Vortex. I'm a hero. Do you understand what's going on right now? Or can you tell me your name, or age, or what year it is?" he asks. It looks as if he is reading a screen, but the glowing HUD hologram tech the QueensGuard uses requires special lenses, and Wolf would be unable to see what he does.
"I'm with QueensGuard, have you ever heard of them?" He asks, turning his full attention back to the boy.
The AI flew through the network, rewriting thousands of lines of code, the doors that opened were a clear pathway to Wolf. In the heart of the facility, in the security control room, gathered scientists and security personnel frantically tried to execute protocol commands. Hard drives were having information dumped, deleted, evidence of their illegal research destroyed. Above all the most important order was issued:
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Wolf had never experienced the AI rebel against command. Normally his body would have moved on its own to obey, control seized by the system. Data from the cameras that covered every corner of the lab flowed into his mind. He saw the infiltrators, one of them seemingly using teleportation to scout ahead of the others.
Smart.
Analyticalally he could admire the way they way they were sweeping through the building, obviously searching for something. For him? It would make sense. He was the most coveted experiment in the lab, the scientist talked about it all the time.
His breath hitched softly when the first intruder breached the lab. What was he supposed to do? Did he stop them? No such order had been issued. Did he obey them? Again, unclear. Wolf blinked his eyes slowly. Things were happening rapidly. The intruder was next to his room. He could sense the scan of the room. Or the nanites could? Was it the same thing? Too many questions, not enough answers, and he was out of time.
Fingers twitched slightly against the mattress as the man appeared beside him, but otherwise the boy remained still as a statue. Wolf managed to bring his eyes into focus back on the room, gaze shifting to look up at this intruder unhurriedly. Although it seemed like this individual felt a little more urgency about the situation if the rapid questions were any indication.
Hero?
Wolf's lips parted, barely, before closing again. Speaking was allowed when spoken to. The system was not giving any direction, and the AI was busy countering the research purge, backing up date, triggering failsafes. He swallowed and tried again, voice raspy, almost hoarse from disuse and dryness.
"Wolfgang Burke, subject designation zero-zero-one Project Codex. Age fourteen. Year -" His eyes flickered back and forth rapidly for a few moments as he attempted to process data, came up empty, "-Unknown."
Likewise the name QueensGuard meant nothing to him.
Alfred nods, smiling softly if a bit upset that someone so young would be speaking so robotically... It's not the first time he's heard this tone and it won't be his last, but it never gets easier. "Alright, buddy. It is very nice to meet you Wolfgang. We are gonna go ahead and get you out of here. How does that sound?" He asks, pulling out a mask and two ear pieces for the young teen. He shows him how to put them on.
"Now you should be able to hear me, and only me in these. How's it sound?" He asks.
He types a few keystrokes in the air and hums, slightly displeased. "Okay... slight change of plans. We need to go hide, let some people slip past us, so we can go ahead. Do you know a good place to hide?"
On his HUD displays he sees a map of the facility, and everyone in it. He sees blinking red dots move closer and closer to their location. He bites his lip, and helps Wolf stand up. He holds Wolfs arm firmly, but not too tightly.
"I'm a meta, I teleport. Is it okay if I teleport us?"
Wolf wasn't sure why this man called him buddy, but he blinked slowly at the question. He wasn't sure how it was supposed to sound. Vortex made it sound less like he was being stolen and more as if this was a rescue mission, which he didn't understand. The word hero was not something that meant anything to the young test subject.
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
With that console command and refusal still echoing in his head it wasn't difficult for Wolf to decide that maybe it did, in fact, sound like a good idea. Course of action decided, he simply nodded and sat up, allowing his apparent rescuer to help him put on the mask and ear pieces.
"Communication secure, audio clean and clear." He confirmed automatically, voice still sounding raspy. His eyes glanced at the empty space in the air that Vortex kept looking to. Some kind of special projection or hologram was his guess. It probably required some kind of special reading device. The intruders were certainly well outfitted. The QueensGuard, he had said. Wolf would have to look them up later.
For now he filtered through the live feeds of the security cameras, noting the way Vortex's expression looked displeased even as he tracked the security forces of the lab heading in the direction of his containment cell. The AI began locking down the doors between them. They'd be forced to engage manual overrides, that should slow them down at least a little. He could buy them some time to make a swift exit, not a terribly large amount of time, but time nonetheless.
Wolf didn't resist as he was helped up from his bed. He didn't need help, but it was best to comply. An idea reinforced by the fact that Vortex held onto his arm even once he was on his feet. The AI process whirring in the back of his mind as he stared blankly for a few moments.
"There are no security cameras inside the specimen cold storage. They would not think to look there. It is therefore the most logical hiding place. I am ready for transport." Wolf didn't seem to think a place labeled cold storage would be an issue for someone wearing only thin scrubs and with bare feet.
Alfred frowns and looks over Wolf, the scrubs look paper thin and he doesn’t even have any kind of slippers or anything for his feet.
he listens to his Comms as the team starts to really meet resistance. They don’t have much time. With a sigh, he bites his lip and contemplates his options. The cold storage… short trips tend to be less disorienting for those who haven’t teleported before, but… maybe it’d be better if they do a big jump to their jet. Given… everything.
He looks to Wolf and sighs. “Okay, hey bud! We have a couple options here.” He says. “We can do that, but it’ll be cold. But it would be smaller jumps which tend to make people less dizzy and less likely to puke when they aren’t used to teleporting. Or… I can technically do just one big jump to the jet. You would probably feel like crap and be throwing up after, though. Most people do. It’s up to you, though.” He says.
Wolf waited placidly as Vortex considered options, offering no further insight and zero resistance. He tilted his head when two options were presented to him. Logically he understood that his clothing would be considered inadequate for a freezer, but that was only if comfort were a concern - which in his mind was not. The far more alarming consideration was that teleporting might temporarily incapacitate him due to dizziness or vertigo.
With the system still screaming for his termination and the security forces of the lab finally organizing into a viable defense, his calculations determined that temporary discomfort was preferable to even momentary incapacitation. He didn't know anything about heroes, but if the security reached them he did not intend to be destroyed without putting up a fight.
"Cold is irrelevant. If I am incapacitated I will be unable to assist in my own defense. It is illogical to choose the option with higher risk. Discomfort will be had either way. Also, internal systems have issued the command prompt - Terminate Project Codex." The words were delivered flatly, in that same robotic tone. No real inflection, no sign of panic or distress or any real emotion at all. It was all logic and facts. "Designation zero-zero-one will be targeted by all security personnel. Security system targeting has been overridden remotely, systems are shutting down. All data is being converted to back-up files."
Wolf felt like he was floating, drifting in a hazy fog, disconnected from his body. They had come earlier, taken his daily blood draw before injecting his next dose of the nanite serum. It had been a woman today, one he knew only briefly in passing. She was a more recent addition to the research team, he could tell by the way she excitedly babbled about how the work the scientists here would be revolutionary, and wasn't it such an honor to be contributing to such cutting edge advancement.
Dull, teal eyes had been the only part of him that had moved the entire, brief visit. He had stopped flinching at the needles nearly a decade ago. It had been almost as long since the last time he had tried to resist. That had been one of his earliest, and most painful, lessons about his world. Resistance was futile, full cooperation made everything run smoother.
It meant the pain stopped sooner.
It meant that his mind could return to its aimless wandering.
Most days it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Time was strange, distorted, when he viewed the world this way. Hours slipped away with no change to the drab four gray walls of his cell. Wolf would have remained like this until they came for him again. Until they decided to cut him open again, to watch him bleed, to observe his reactions, both physiological and psychological. That was his life. It wasn't much of a life, but it was predictable.
Boring.
Something in the steady hum of the ventilation system faltered for a moment, it was the heartbeat, the pulse, of this world. Wolf blinked his eyes, suddenly become more aware, more alert as the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He became aware of his body again, the way the thin scrubs rubbed against his skin, the way the thin mattress on the floor was only just softer than the steel floor. His world was being disturbed, Wolf could feel it deep in his bones, the microscopic nanites in his blood practically vibrating with anticipation.
Hesitantly he reached out with his consciousness, the AI immediately responded by pushing through the firewalls that would normally lock him out of the lab network. If the researchers caught him they'd punish him ruthlessly, but he couldn't resist the urge to know. Immediately he realized nobody was going to notice his indiscretion. He couldn't hear any alarms within his metal box, but every security system in the building was blaring a shrill warning.
Intruders were breeching the lab.
Terminate Project Codex
The words flashed across the screen. He felt an icy fist grip his heart. They were going to destroy him to prevent their asset from falling into the hands of outsiders. Fourteen years of enduring their poking, their prodding, all for them to kill him now?
Heavy steel doors had locked down the most classified areas. The AI didn't hesitate, did not wait for him to think of consequences or repercussions, as it hacked the security network to override the input commands to destroy their host. A new prime directive wrote itself into the fundamental coding of the nanites: Protect the Host. All locking systems on all the security doors were overridden. Those trying to breach the lab would suddenly find the way clearing for them, allowing them priority access as they pursued their mission.
Alfred keeps phasing through barriers, ahead of the rest of his small extraction team. Thankfully, each door he breached was, as if by magic, opening behind him. Then, one is opening before he even has time to phase through any others.
He phases into that room, and sees a lab. Filled with glowing vials and screens and in the corner, lies a cell. He phases to right next to it.
The kid lying there blinks blearily but to Alfred, it looks like he isn't entirely aware of what's happening, though he does seem fairly alert. He runs a quick scan of the cell before phasing into it. He immediately gets to scanning the boy lying there.
"Oh my god..." he breathes out.
"Hey there, buddy. My name is Vortex. I'm a hero. Do you understand what's going on right now? Or can you tell me your name, or age, or what year it is?" he asks. It looks as if he is reading a screen, but the glowing HUD hologram tech the QueensGuard uses requires special lenses, and Wolf would be unable to see what he does.
"I'm with QueensGuard, have you ever heard of them?" He asks, turning his full attention back to the boy.
The AI flew through the network, rewriting thousands of lines of code, the doors that opened were a clear pathway to Wolf. In the heart of the facility, in the security control room, gathered scientists and security personnel frantically tried to execute protocol commands. Hard drives were having information dumped, deleted, evidence of their illegal research destroyed. Above all the most important order was issued:
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Wolf had never experienced the AI rebel against command. Normally his body would have moved on its own to obey, control seized by the system. Data from the cameras that covered every corner of the lab flowed into his mind. He saw the infiltrators, one of them seemingly using teleportation to scout ahead of the others.
Smart.
Analyticalally he could admire the way they way they were sweeping through the building, obviously searching for something. For him? It would make sense. He was the most coveted experiment in the lab, the scientist talked about it all the time.
His breath hitched softly when the first intruder breached the lab. What was he supposed to do? Did he stop them? No such order had been issued. Did he obey them? Again, unclear. Wolf blinked his eyes slowly. Things were happening rapidly. The intruder was next to his room. He could sense the scan of the room. Or the nanites could? Was it the same thing? Too many questions, not enough answers, and he was out of time.
Fingers twitched slightly against the mattress as the man appeared beside him, but otherwise the boy remained still as a statue. Wolf managed to bring his eyes into focus back on the room, gaze shifting to look up at this intruder unhurriedly. Although it seemed like this individual felt a little more urgency about the situation if the rapid questions were any indication.
Hero?
Wolf's lips parted, barely, before closing again. Speaking was allowed when spoken to. The system was not giving any direction, and the AI was busy countering the research purge, backing up date, triggering failsafes. He swallowed and tried again, voice raspy, almost hoarse from disuse and dryness.
"Wolfgang Burke, subject designation zero-zero-one Project Codex. Age fourteen. Year -" His eyes flickered back and forth rapidly for a few moments as he attempted to process data, came up empty, "-Unknown."
Likewise the name QueensGuard meant nothing to him.
Alfred nods, smiling softly if a bit upset that someone so young would be speaking so robotically... It's not the first time he's heard this tone and it won't be his last, but it never gets easier. "Alright, buddy. It is very nice to meet you Wolfgang. We are gonna go ahead and get you out of here. How does that sound?" He asks, pulling out a mask and two ear pieces for the young teen. He shows him how to put them on.
"Now you should be able to hear me, and only me in these. How's it sound?" He asks.
He types a few keystrokes in the air and hums, slightly displeased. "Okay... slight change of plans. We need to go hide, let some people slip past us, so we can go ahead. Do you know a good place to hide?"
On his HUD displays he sees a map of the facility, and everyone in it. He sees blinking red dots move closer and closer to their location. He bites his lip, and helps Wolf stand up. He holds Wolfs arm firmly, but not too tightly.
"I'm a meta, I teleport. Is it okay if I teleport us?"
Wolf wasn't sure why this man called him buddy, but he blinked slowly at the question. He wasn't sure how it was supposed to sound. Vortex made it sound less like he was being stolen and more as if this was a rescue mission, which he didn't understand. The word hero was not something that meant anything to the young test subject.
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
With that console command and refusal still echoing in his head it wasn't difficult for Wolf to decide that maybe it did, in fact, sound like a good idea. Course of action decided, he simply nodded and sat up, allowing his apparent rescuer to help him put on the mask and ear pieces.
"Communication secure, audio clean and clear." He confirmed automatically, voice still sounding raspy. His eyes glanced at the empty space in the air that Vortex kept looking to. Some kind of special projection or hologram was his guess. It probably required some kind of special reading device. The intruders were certainly well outfitted. The QueensGuard, he had said. Wolf would have to look them up later.
For now he filtered through the live feeds of the security cameras, noting the way Vortex's expression looked displeased even as he tracked the security forces of the lab heading in the direction of his containment cell. The AI began locking down the doors between them. They'd be forced to engage manual overrides, that should slow them down at least a little. He could buy them some time to make a swift exit, not a terribly large amount of time, but time nonetheless.
Wolf didn't resist as he was helped up from his bed. He didn't need help, but it was best to comply. An idea reinforced by the fact that Vortex held onto his arm even once he was on his feet. The AI process whirring in the back of his mind as he stared blankly for a few moments.
"There are no security cameras inside the specimen cold storage. They would not think to look there. It is therefore the most logical hiding place. I am ready for transport." Wolf didn't seem to think a place labeled cold storage would be an issue for someone wearing only thin scrubs and with bare feet.
Wolf felt like he was floating, drifting in a hazy fog, disconnected from his body. They had come earlier, taken his daily blood draw before injecting his next dose of the nanite serum. It had been a woman today, one he knew only briefly in passing. She was a more recent addition to the research team, he could tell by the way she excitedly babbled about how the work the scientists here would be revolutionary, and wasn't it such an honor to be contributing to such cutting edge advancement.
Dull, teal eyes had been the only part of him that had moved the entire, brief visit. He had stopped flinching at the needles nearly a decade ago. It had been almost as long since the last time he had tried to resist. That had been one of his earliest, and most painful, lessons about his world. Resistance was futile, full cooperation made everything run smoother.
It meant the pain stopped sooner.
It meant that his mind could return to its aimless wandering.
Most days it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Time was strange, distorted, when he viewed the world this way. Hours slipped away with no change to the drab four gray walls of his cell. Wolf would have remained like this until they came for him again. Until they decided to cut him open again, to watch him bleed, to observe his reactions, both physiological and psychological. That was his life. It wasn't much of a life, but it was predictable.
Boring.
Something in the steady hum of the ventilation system faltered for a moment, it was the heartbeat, the pulse, of this world. Wolf blinked his eyes, suddenly become more aware, more alert as the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He became aware of his body again, the way the thin scrubs rubbed against his skin, the way the thin mattress on the floor was only just softer than the steel floor. His world was being disturbed, Wolf could feel it deep in his bones, the microscopic nanites in his blood practically vibrating with anticipation.
Hesitantly he reached out with his consciousness, the AI immediately responded by pushing through the firewalls that would normally lock him out of the lab network. If the researchers caught him they'd punish him ruthlessly, but he couldn't resist the urge to know. Immediately he realized nobody was going to notice his indiscretion. He couldn't hear any alarms within his metal box, but every security system in the building was blaring a shrill warning.
Intruders were breeching the lab.
Terminate Project Codex
The words flashed across the screen. He felt an icy fist grip his heart. They were going to destroy him to prevent their asset from falling into the hands of outsiders. Fourteen years of enduring their poking, their prodding, all for them to kill him now?
Heavy steel doors had locked down the most classified areas. The AI didn't hesitate, did not wait for him to think of consequences or repercussions, as it hacked the security network to override the input commands to destroy their host. A new prime directive wrote itself into the fundamental coding of the nanites: Protect the Host. All locking systems on all the security doors were overridden. Those trying to breach the lab would suddenly find the way clearing for them, allowing them priority access as they pursued their mission.
Alfred keeps phasing through barriers, ahead of the rest of his small extraction team. Thankfully, each door he breached was, as if by magic, opening behind him. Then, one is opening before he even has time to phase through any others.
He phases into that room, and sees a lab. Filled with glowing vials and screens and in the corner, lies a cell. He phases to right next to it.
The kid lying there blinks blearily but to Alfred, it looks like he isn't entirely aware of what's happening, though he does seem fairly alert. He runs a quick scan of the cell before phasing into it. He immediately gets to scanning the boy lying there.
"Oh my god..." he breathes out.
"Hey there, buddy. My name is Vortex. I'm a hero. Do you understand what's going on right now? Or can you tell me your name, or age, or what year it is?" he asks. It looks as if he is reading a screen, but the glowing HUD hologram tech the QueensGuard uses requires special lenses, and Wolf would be unable to see what he does.
"I'm with QueensGuard, have you ever heard of them?" He asks, turning his full attention back to the boy.
The AI flew through the network, rewriting thousands of lines of code, the doors that opened were a clear pathway to Wolf. In the heart of the facility, in the security control room, gathered scientists and security personnel frantically tried to execute protocol commands. Hard drives were having information dumped, deleted, evidence of their illegal research destroyed. Above all the most important order was issued:
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Terminate Project Codex: [Denied]
Wolf had never experienced the AI rebel against command. Normally his body would have moved on its own to obey, control seized by the system. Data from the cameras that covered every corner of the lab flowed into his mind. He saw the infiltrators, one of them seemingly using teleportation to scout ahead of the others.
Smart.
Analyticalally he could admire the way they way they were sweeping through the building, obviously searching for something. For him? It would make sense. He was the most coveted experiment in the lab, the scientist talked about it all the time.
His breath hitched softly when the first intruder breached the lab. What was he supposed to do? Did he stop them? No such order had been issued. Did he obey them? Again, unclear. Wolf blinked his eyes slowly. Things were happening rapidly. The intruder was next to his room. He could sense the scan of the room. Or the nanites could? Was it the same thing? Too many questions, not enough answers, and he was out of time.
Fingers twitched slightly against the mattress as the man appeared beside him, but otherwise the boy remained still as a statue. Wolf managed to bring his eyes into focus back on the room, gaze shifting to look up at this intruder unhurriedly. Although it seemed like this individual felt a little more urgency about the situation if the rapid questions were any indication.
Hero?
Wolf's lips parted, barely, before closing again. Speaking was allowed when spoken to. The system was not giving any direction, and the AI was busy countering the research purge, backing up date, triggering failsafes. He swallowed and tried again, voice raspy, almost hoarse from disuse and dryness.
"Wolfgang Burke, subject designation zero-zero-one Project Codex. Age fourteen. Year -" His eyes flickered back and forth rapidly for a few moments as he attempted to process data, came up empty, "-Unknown."
Likewise the name QueensGuard meant nothing to him.
Wolf felt like he was floating, drifting in a hazy fog, disconnected from his body. They had come earlier, taken his daily blood draw before injecting his next dose of the nanite serum. It had been a woman today, one he knew only briefly in passing. She was a more recent addition to the research team, he could tell by the way she excitedly babbled about how the work the scientists here would be revolutionary, and wasn't it such an honor to be contributing to such cutting edge advancement.
Dull, teal eyes had been the only part of him that had moved the entire, brief visit. He had stopped flinching at the needles nearly a decade ago. It had been almost as long since the last time he had tried to resist. That had been one of his earliest, and most painful, lessons about his world. Resistance was futile, full cooperation made everything run smoother.
It meant the pain stopped sooner.
It meant that his mind could return to its aimless wandering.
Most days it felt like the only thing keeping him sane. Time was strange, distorted, when he viewed the world this way. Hours slipped away with no change to the drab four gray walls of his cell. Wolf would have remained like this until they came for him again. Until they decided to cut him open again, to watch him bleed, to observe his reactions, both physiological and psychological. That was his life. It wasn't much of a life, but it was predictable.
Boring.
Something in the steady hum of the ventilation system faltered for a moment, it was the heartbeat, the pulse, of this world. Wolf blinked his eyes, suddenly become more aware, more alert as the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. He became aware of his body again, the way the thin scrubs rubbed against his skin, the way the thin mattress on the floor was only just softer than the steel floor. His world was being disturbed, Wolf could feel it deep in his bones, the microscopic nanites in his blood practically vibrating with anticipation.
Hesitantly he reached out with his consciousness, the AI immediately responded by pushing through the firewalls that would normally lock him out of the lab network. If the researchers caught him they'd punish him ruthlessly, but he couldn't resist the urge to know. Immediately he realized nobody was going to notice his indiscretion. He couldn't hear any alarms within his metal box, but every security system in the building was blaring a shrill warning.
Intruders were breeching the lab.
Terminate Project Codex
The words flashed across the screen. He felt an icy fist grip his heart. They were going to destroy him to prevent their asset from falling into the hands of outsiders. Fourteen years of enduring their poking, their prodding, all for them to kill him now?
Heavy steel doors had locked down the most classified areas. The AI didn't hesitate, did not wait for him to think of consequences or repercussions, as it hacked the security network to override the input commands to destroy their host. A new prime directive wrote itself into the fundamental coding of the nanites: Protect the Host. All locking systems on all the security doors were overridden. Those trying to breach the lab would suddenly find the way clearing for them, allowing them priority access as they pursued their mission.
