S1E1: Order is Gold
Last modified 5 months, 2 weeks ago
Selene Kelvarus, Praetor of Hyperion City’s elite enforcement order, stood in her immaculate uniform. A directive had just come through: a Red, one of the city’s android labor class, had become corrupted. Its neural network was failing, driving it mad. The incident was in the Blue District, an unusual place for a Red to lose control. The official order was to subdue. In her mind, Selene heard a different word: neutralize.
Flanked by a few of her fellow Gold officers, Selene strode through the city streets. At her side, a panther-sized creature paced silently. This was Dex, her glow-cat, whose bioluminescent spots currently pulsed with a calm, white light.
Her comm-link crackled to life, a Grey officer’s voice filling her ear. "Yes, the Red started showing signs of corruption about four and a half minutes ago. It lashed out at its fellow Reds and when our Greys made an attempt to subdue it, it overwhelmed them. We have one of our men who is heavily injured and another one that is trying to hold it off. We evacuated the work yard and barricaded it within there."
"How many fatalities?" Selene asked, her voice clipped and professional.
"We haven't been able to get close enough to the wounded Grey to see if they've bled out," the officer replied. "One Red looks as though it's been completely ripped apart, but it is just a Red. No casualties of any Blues or others that we can see from this moment. Property damage at the moment is at a minimum. My superiors would appreciate if that stayed that way."
"It will be taken care of. Thank you," she said, ending the communication.
They arrived at a manufacturing building near the district gardens. A perimeter had been established by the Greys, the hulking, seven-foot-tall enforcers of Hyperion City. Inside the cordoned-off building, lights flickered erratically. Selene approached the Grey lieutenant in charge, a mountain of muscle who looked down at her.
"Praetor," he greeted her. "We just sent in two of our own, and according to one of the scans from my forensics team, one of them is in critical condition, and the other one is lightly damaged. I would send more people in, but Reds can be very unpredictable when they're corrupted."
"Understood. And are there any other innocents inside?"
"There are some workers who are trapped in one of the small display areas, but they seem to have barricaded themselves in. The Red does not seem to have a specific target. It seems to be wailing at whatever's near it. Hence my men."
"This will be done quickly and swiftly," Selene assured him.
"We've been told to subdue it," the Grey said, leaning in slightly, "but personally, I wouldn't mind if the thing got broken to pieces. Retribution and all that."
Selene didn’t respond, but a small smirk played on her lips as she raised an eyebrow.
"We'll keep the people from coming in," the lieutenant said, stepping back. "You do your work, Praetor."
"We'll be back in 15 minutes." She turned to Dex. "Stay." The glow-cat immediately sat, a silent, patient sentinel. Selene and her three Gold guards entered the building.
"Stay on my six," she commanded. "Look left, look right. Head down that hallway. And you, down there." She pointed, dispatching her team with sharp, efficient gestures. They nodded without a word, melting into the corridors. "Let me know on comms what you find. Get everyone out that you need to get out. I will handle the Red."
She moved deeper into the facility alone, her senses on high alert. Down a long corridor, she could hear heavy, ragged breathing. She approached a door that had been tampered with, the datapad beside it smashed. It led to the facility’s fuel and boiler rooms, a volatile location for a fight. The sounds grew clearer: exhausted breaths, the clang of metal on metal, and the sharp crackle of sparks.
The door was locked. She activated her comms again, this time to a private channel. "Dorian, come in."
The signal shot across the Blue District to a towering, hook-shaped building. Inside a glass-walled laboratory, her brother, Dorian Kelvarus, spun around. He was younger, dressed in a large purple coat with intricate gold embroidery. He touched the side of his face, where a cybernetic golden plate and a glowing eye had replaced a childhood wound. The eye flashed neon green. "Selene, what is it?"
"I'm at the Garden. I'm handling a situation with a corrupted Red. I need your help."
"What can I do?"
"I'm on the first floor. I'm outside of the server room. You know where the internal core is. And I need to get in."
"Lower facility. Icarus, bring up the schematics," Dorian said, turning to his desk. A chrome, dome-shaped robot, Icarus, floated up, its metallic tendrils plugging into the console. A holographic grid of Selene’s location materialized in the air. "Alright, I see someone did a number on this door."
"Just get me in please."
"Alright, looks like you've been told to subdue this one."
"Get me in."
"Say please," Dorian quipped. With a theatrical wave of his hand, he manipulated the hologram. On Selene's end, the datapad by the door lit up with the Kelvarus family crest—a golden hawk. A heavy 'thunk' echoed as the lock disengaged. "Will that be all?"
"That will be all. Many thanks," Selene said, cutting the connection.
Dorian sighed, looking at Icarus. "It says subdue. We'll see if she keeps her word."
Selene slid the heavy door open and stepped into a massive server room. Sparks rained down from damaged consoles. She moved cautiously between the rows of machinery, her head on a swivel. Towards the back, she heard whimpering and the unmistakable scrape of heavy metal on concrete.
"Come out now and nothing will happen to you," she called out, her voice echoing in the large chamber. "We'll take you in quietly."
Silence, then a labored breath. Propped against a far wall was a wounded Grey, a piece of shrapnel piercing her side. She was holding pressure on the wound, her helmet cracked, one terrified eye looking at Selene. She weakly gestured to the left. Selene put a finger to her lips, then tapped her wrist, a silent promise that help was coming. The Grey slumped in relief.
The scraping sound returned, closer this time.
"If you come out slowly, everything will be done in a more bureaucratic manner," Selene said, her body angled towards the sound. "Do you understand?"
A distorted, glitching laugh answered her. "Ha ha ha ha… that will be all… that will be all…" The sound of metal slamming against a wall punctuated the phrase.
Selene turned to face the threat. The Red was no taller than her, dressed in a standard construction jumpsuit. Its face was a horrific sight. Like all Reds, it was built to look human, but this one had torn away pieces of its synthetic skin, revealing the wiring and circuitry beneath. One eye dangled from its socket. It dragged a jagged metal pole, swinging it erratically.
As the Red lunged, Selene acted. She threw out an arm, unleashing a wave of pure kinetic force. The Red was lifted from its feet and slammed hard against the concrete wall behind it, dropping its weapon with a clatter. It slumped to the floor, twitching and sparking.
Selene walked towards it, picking up the fallen pole. "Subdue, subdue," she muttered to herself, as if trying to convince herself.
"That… that… that will be all… ha, ha, ha…" the Red sputtered.
A moment of decision passed, a silent roll of the dice in Selene's mind. To get it to be quiet, she swung the heavy metal pole. The impact was sickening, a crunch of metal and plastic. The Red went still. (A 50/50 Oracle roll was made to see if Selene would follow the order to subdue. A result of 51 or higher on a d100 meant she would hit too hard. The roll was a 91.)
"The situation is managed," she said into her comms. "Tell the Greys to come in. Clean up."
As she emerged from the building, a crowd had already formed. Students from the nearby universities and curious onlookers pressed against the Greys' perimeter. Cries of "Monarch! Monarch!" filled the air. A flashy reporter from the Violet District, draped in a purple robe, pushed through the throng with a camera crew.
"Monarch! How did you fell this corrupted Red?" the reporter shouted, a microphone thrust towards her. "We heard that it took out a Grey! Is this true?"
Selene kept her head down, her expression unreadable. "The situation is managed. Thank you," she said, her voice even and firm. She gave a sharp call, "Dex, to me." The glow-cat rose and moved to her side. Together, they pushed through the crowd toward their vehicle, ignoring the shouts and questions. On the reporter's broadcast, colorful emojis and explosions filled the screen, a digital crown awkwardly placed above Selene's head as she disappeared from view.
The body was brought to Dorian. It arrived on a floating stretcher, covered by a sheet.
"The directive was to subdue the Red," one of the paramedics told him. "Unfortunately, that was not the case. We were told to bring it to you to see if you can rectify any of the damage."
"Unfortunate indeed," Dorian echoed with a sigh. "Thank you. That will be all." He watched them go before pulling back the sheet. The Red's head was caved in. "What am I going to do with you, Selene?"
In his lab, the Red’s body was placed on a slab and subjected to a battery of scans. A hologram displayed its internal structure, highlighting the damage. As Dorian’s cybernetic eye analyzed the data, it twitched. He saw it then, hidden in the digital code. Someone had attempted to erase the Red's barcode, to clean it from the system. It was a highly illegal act, one his interns could not know about. He quickly dismissed them, sending them home with praise for their work.
Once he was alone, his comms rang. It was Selene. He let it ring seven times before answering. "This is Dorian Kelvarus, Senior Robotics Operations. Hello."
"Senior of Operations," Selene's voice came through. "I am about to rope in my contact, Maren Veythros. You know of him."
"Yes, I remember… Selene, what did we talk about? Subdue."
"Dorian, we don't have time."
"Fine, okay. I would love to tell you that you're wrong, but you are right," he admitted. "Something came up on scans on my end, we need to talk."
"It can wait. Trust me. You're going to want to hear this."
A third window opened in their holographic call. A large, bear-of-a-man appeared. Maren Veythros. Normally jolly, he now looked serious, sweat beading on his brow. "Hello, Dorian."
"Maren, it's good to see you," Dorian said.
"I don't have much time, as this is an open case," Maren began, his voice tense. "I need you and your sister to focus on this, and only this, for as long as you need. Do you understand?"
"You need both of us on this?"
"Both of you. I need the best minds."
Dorian leaned in. "All right. What's the situation?"
"I have a new directive for you both," Maren said gravely. "There are rumblings of a Red uprising. We get these every year or so, and they always amount to nothing. But this time, it's different. We have word of a Red rebel leader, and we must bring him in for questioning. We must subdue him, Selene."
"Did you hear that, Selene?" Dorian asked dryly.
"I heard it, yes. Of course," she replied, her face a mask of focus.
"What's so different about this uprising?" Dorian pressed.
"This leader is removing barcodes from Reds," Maren explained. "They're being cleaned, so they can't be tracked. You know how illegal this is." Dorian’s earlier discovery clicked into place. "Because they are being cleaned, we don't have a number. The Reds in this city, they outnumber us three to one. We need to snuff this out immediately."
"The situation will be managed," Selene stated, her voice cold as steel. "I'll find this Red leader. And the order to subdue," she paused, letting a small, sharp smile touch her lips, "will be followed with prejudice."
"Affirmative," Dorian added. "We will prevent catastrophe and restore order."
"It is of the utmost importance you find out how many have been cleaned," Maren stressed. "The Tribunal of Seven do not want this to get out. That's why it's just you two. I trust you." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "You will swear it here and now. Strength is duty."
Dorian and Selene spoke in unison, a vow they had known their entire lives. "Duty is order. Order is gold."
As the call ended, a palpable resolve settled over Selene. This was more than a mission; it was a crusade. A roll was made, a strong hit with a match! She was locked in, more focused than she had ever been. It was clear what her and her brother must do next.
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