“Moore’s law states that roughly every year, our knowledge of technology doubles. First there were computers, but it was not long, until we started exploring the human body as well. Prosthetics allowed amputees to live out almost normal lives. That was just the tip. Eventually, that unexplored temple, our Marianna trench, was the human body itself, full integration of man and machine. And, they created people, just like me.”
- Dane O’Breine
Chapter 1: Break
Have you ever had one of those moments in time where the world stood still? That perfect moment where every event in your entire life came to a head and you saw clearly for the first time? Where you saw the exact things you needed to do, too set straight all the wrongs that you had ever experienced?
I have.
Over the past months, I questioned my choices that led me to this exact moment in time. Why did I take the path that I did? Why did I leave my brother, my fiancé, and the rest of my life behind? What was I looking for? Did my search for who I am and who I want to be bear fruit?
For someone so decisive, I can be such a dumb shit. And, my mistakes kept me up during the darkest nights of my life, when the walls I built up fell and the strength inside faded. Then, all that was left was the sobbing cries of my heart.
Of course, these moments are rare, but I always wonder what my life would have been like if I had stayed with my brother, stayed on earth, instead of going up into space.
If I could, I would trade everything I know and every experience I have had for just one single moment of happiness, one breath of pure bliss. I would trade it all, just to hold Kaylee one last time and to drape my arms around my brother Kale’s shoulders. I miss that warmth, but all I feel is cold inside.
Ah, but I wish these moments of reminiscence could come at convenient times, they rarely do. In my case, it happened when I was freefalling through the sky, without a parachute, and holding a live grenade in each hand.
Fuck it all. Fuck the world, fuck my life, and a big whopping fuck you to Doctor Dobson. This is going to hurt. And if I survive this fall, I’ll search for my perfect moment, and set every wrong, right.
---
---two hours prior---
There was a man curled up in a ball at the corner of a padded white room.
He was a little taller than average, about six foot two. Had sinewy muscles that showed from underneath the tight white garment, made from a synthetic polymer that stuck to the skin. Even under the cloth, there was something off about his body. It was a bit too rigid with unnatural edges to his body, instead of the soft smooth curves that every normal persona has.
The jumper covered his entire body, from head to toe, except for his hands and from the neck up. The skin that showed was laced with small spidery lines, like his skin was the surface of a computer chip. They did not give off any light or appear to be active in any way.
His face was gaunt and rigid, like he was perpetually brooding and stern. There was a sense of sadness about the way he held himself, floating in the center of the room.
The man’s hair was short, straight, and brown. There was an unruly and obstinate quality to it. Like every strand was rebelling, sticking out at every possible angle imaginable.
Outside, he could hear his guards talking through the harsh resonators that were built into their combat suits. “Is the prisoner secure?”
A second voice started to chuckle through the static of his com unit. “Secure? You must be a new,” he laughed.
“I am sir,” the first voice responded.
“Let me fill you in soldier. This prisoner has not moved or said anything in the six months I’ve been here, except to eat and hook himself up to the electro stims for exercise,” the elder guard informed the new guard. “All you have to do is stand here and look dangerous.”
“But the other prisoners,” the first guard protested.
“Are the hardened ass holes of the earth. I don’t know who he pissed off, but he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy that deserves to be here in the no contact wing of the prison.
The other guard’s com screeched a bit. “This block is reserved for political prisoners,” he said. “Who cares if he is dangerous?”
The older guard paused for a moment. “Our orders are not to directly contact the prisoner in any way, just keep him in his cage. He must have pissed someone off good and hard to be tucked away like this. One day they will space him and our worries will be over,” he chuckled.
The first guard was silent.
The older guard seemed to notice the younger guard’s assault rifle, remembering something important. “You cannot bring that here. Strict orders from SHOK command to only use soft take downs,” he said with slight concern.
The younger guard just laughed a bit. “Just how important could it be? This kiptik assault rifle will take down any scrub, up to one hundred meters, no problem. I think it will be alright, this one time.”
The older guard laughed out loud. “Just remember not to bring it next time. I am sure it is okay this time. See you in the mess hall bud,” he said and the prisoner heard him leave.
The prisoner hugged his knees closer to his chest and tried to forget this snapshot in time. They blurred together like all the rest.
A small hissing sound, just to the prisoner’s right drew his attention. A small square slit opened in the pure white siding, designed for delivering ration sticks. But, what came out was not a ration stick.
He uncurled himself and reached over, grabbing the contents. “A holo-“ he coughed. His voice cracked from disuse. “A holo stick?”
The holo stick was about as long as the prisoner’s finger. It was a black obsidian solid plastisteel that had a single black button on the bottom. It was designed to hold one single holo message.
He triggered a button and activated the stored information inside.
A small image of a man appeared to hover just over the top of the stick. It flickered in and out, through the spectrums of full color and military camo green.
Suddenly, a shock went through the prisoner’s body. The person was very familiar, someone he never thought he would see again. It was his brother. “After all this time,” he coughed, “why Kale?” The residual feelings from their parting were still there.
The figure in the holo paced back and forth. It was a man dressed from head to toe in the black and white military fatigues of the UEDF, united earth defense forces. In the holo it was hard to tell Kale’s height, but the prisoner knew his brother was just a little shorter than he was. Kale also had the same unruly hair as the prisoner, but he kept it in check with heavy brushing. Their faces were close to one another in likeness, but Kale’s was subtly accented by his exceptional intellect.
Kale stopped pacing and turned to the holocam. “Dane,” he said gravely, “I don’t know how to say this, so I’ll just say it. She is dead. Those bastards killed Kaylee.”
Dane’s back straightened violently with surprise. His hand went to his chest and he felt his heart begin to burn. It was like a single knife to his soul and it plunged deep into his being, burrowing into the center of his soul and then it felt like a piece of him was ripped out with the force of one hundred exploding suns.
Kale continued. “Those bastards took her from us, my best friend and your…I don’t know what the two of you were in the end,” he said, shaking his head as tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly whipped his finger across his eyelid. “Damn you Dane, fucking damn you to hell. You could have…you should have been here!” he screamed in anger at the camera as his voice cracked with emotion. Then he stopped and rubbed his eyes, obviously sublimating his emotions. “Dammit, that does not matter! Not anymore, now that she is cold.”
Dane was breathing hard. His vision blurred and he could barely concentrate his eyesight on the image, though it had his full attention. His chest hurt and every bone in ached with self loathing, anger, hatred, pain, and agonizing grief.
Kale punched a wall to his right. “I still blame you for leaving and for what happened with Kaylee, but you could not have known that she was…” he said and trailed off for a moment.
Dane was hanging on Kale’s every word and his hands were shaking. They shook so hard that he dropped the holo stick, but scrambled to pick it up. His entire world was focused on that stick and what Kale was saying.
Kale seemed to stare through to Dane’s soul and his penetrating glare became tampered by a slight warmness that he could not hide. They were brothers and it was showing through, though it was vague, Dane saw it. “They killed Kaylee, while she was holding her in her arms. She is too beautiful to have a bastard like you for a-” Kale said and trailed off a bit as mist entered his eyes.
Then, his gaze steeled again. Kale got a bit closer to the holo camera, so that all Dane could see was the outline of Kale’s face. “Brother, Dane…I need you now. You have to get back the last positive thing that is left of our fucked up family. And, I can’t do it on my own. Eve was born eight pounds and six ounces. She is too beautiful to have a bastard like you for a father…Dane…you are a father,” he said and tears began to well up in his eyes. For the first time, Kale smiled and then tears fell down his cheeks. “Dane, you are a goddamn father,” he whispered. “I can’t do much, but I can open the door to your cell. You will have to figure out what to do after that. You always do.” Kale backed away a bit and reached into his coat pocket, then held something towards the camera, so that it filled the view completely. It was a picture of a baby girl.
Tears were also running down Dane’s cheeks. The shock and surprised, mixed with the horror that followed were almost unbearable.
To Dane, the picture was heavenly. She was so perfect, like a little angel, so new, and so full of promise. To most, the cold realization that strangers had his daughter and that the same people killed Kaylee who was at the center of so many strange feelings and unsaid things would have sent normal people into shock. Dane exploded with anger, but it did not control him.
Dane pushed his feelings into a single line and he let the emotions in his heart take hold. But, they did not control him. Instead, he used them to focus it into a passion to get his daughter back and avenge Kaylee.
The door in front of Dane slid open.
There was an odd moment as the new guard looked about for the gust of wind that accompanied the new age door as it opened. “Huh?” he said and turned around, then he saw Dane get up.
A sign on the wall outside the cell read. “Caution! Do not shoot the prisoner,”
The guard laughed. “To hell with that!” he said and opened up a volley of bullet fire on Dane at point blank range.
Dane was sent flying into the wall from the gun blast.
The guard looked down at his weapon with surprise and admired it for a moment. “This kiptik assault rifle really is a beauty,” he exclaimed and pulled the clip out a bit to look at the rubber bullets that were loaded inside.
The trooper popped the cartridge back into the gun and looked down at Dane.
Even from under the all white jumpsuit, the guard could see small sparks of light that were bounding around on Dane’s skin, especially from the chest area where the prisoner had been shot. The little pinpoints of light pulsed to different parts of Dane’s body, along those strange alien looking pathways under his skin.
Dane slumped against the wall. His head was hanging limp. At point blank range, even rubber bullets kill.
---
A spaceplane escaped Earth’s orbit and headed towards orbital station Outlook 6. A man in a white coat looked out the windows nonchalantly. He was staring at orbital station outlook 6.
The spaceplane was designed for short burst take off and landing, specifically to operate inside Earth’s atmosphere and also in space for short distances. It was perfect for ferrying back and forth between earth and the seven outlook space stations.
The man in the white coat was old, in his late sixties at least. He had a perpetually disheveled body that had seen the ravages of aging, much more than most. His hair was haggard and hung down passed his eyes and his skin had long jagged wrinkles. His mouth seemed to naturally fall into an arrogant cynical sneer and his eyes had the gleam of extreme intelligence. Even sitting, he seemed to look down on the rest of the twenty or so passengers with disdain, like they were less than human.
A woman dressed in a stewardess outfit walked up behind the man. “May I get you anything sir?” she asked.
He waved her away and did not say a word.
A monotone voice opened up. “To your right, you will see the orbital station Outlook 6. It is a prison designed to hold enemies of the united earth nations. We will be stopping briefly to let some of our passengers off. Do not worry, it is completely safe and we will only be here for a brief period of time. Please prepare for docking procedures. Buckle your seat belts and place your trays back in their original configuration. Thank you!” it said.
The man in the white coat rolled his eyes and left his tray hanging over his lap.
The stewardess floated to his side and bent down. “Sir, please put your tray away,” she said sweetly.
He looked over at her and raised a perturbed eyebrow. “No,” he said simply.
Her surprised expression was enough for him to smile a bit. But, she looked back and forth with a panicked look on her face and walked away. She did not come back.
A docking extension extended out to the spaceplane and the man exited, followed by no one.
The hiss of oxygen that flooded the chamber caught the ears and there was a wet wafting cold that seemed to permeate the air. A set of heavy sliding doors that normally separated the ship from the cold outside, slid open with a sullen hiss and the man in the white lab coat stepped inside Outlook 6. The doors closed behind him and locked with a clamping metal on metal sound.
The station rotated continuously on a spinning axis and created simulated earth gravity, so Dobson was walking.
A woman was there to greet him. She was in her thirties and wore a tight fitting white jumpsuit that complimented the clean walls of the station nicely. “Doctor Dobson I believe?” she asked courteously.
The scientists sneered. “Who else would I be girl?” he asked rhetorically.
She nodded graciously, easily ignoring the gruff comment. “Ah yes, please come this way,” she said motioning him along the corridor. “May I ask for the reason for your visit?” she asked courteously with a smile. “It is not often that someone such as yourself would visit.”
Dobson looked over at her angrily. “Do I need a reason girl? I designed this station,” he said sharply.
She bowed her head slightly. “Of course, excuse my impertinence, but this is the first time you have visited our humble station,” she replied.
Dobson scowled and even though he was much shorter than her, he still seemed to disdain her fully. “I have questions about one of your prisoners,” he said.
The woman nodded. “I see. Please, in here,” she said, motioning Dobson into a room on their right.
Inside there were a number of suspended holo monitors that flashed in the air. The guards motioned with their hands to change monitors out using motion sensors built into the walls, designed to understand specific human movements.
When Dobson entered, one of the security team turned and saluted him. “Doctor Dobson, it is good to have you sir. Please, take a seat,” he said pointing to an empty cushion that was built into the wall. “May I ask the reason for your visit?”
Dobson snorted, perturbed. “I truly disdain being asked the same question twice. You are all useless idiots.”
The woman interjected. “Doctor Dobson is here to request information about one of our prisoners,” she said.
Dobson nodded. “A Dane O’Brien,” he said.
The station security team captain thought for a moment and turned to one of his men. “Pull up the dossier on Dane O’Brien and put it on the main monitor,” he requested.
The subordinated complied and a picture of Dane, along with his basic information. “Dane O’Brien, six foot two, one hundred and eighty pounds. He was incarcerated roughly three months ago for a classified offense,” the station captain scowled. “Every offense is classified it appears. In those three months, he has not been allowed contact with any living person. He has been fed through a food slit made with pneumatic tumblers. Take down instructions require soft anti resistance techniques. Security gel and stun batons are allowed,” he stated. “What is your interest in this prisoner?”
Dobson nodded. “Ah Dane my boy, it has been too long,” Dobson said, walking over to the holo screen and seemed to caress it lovingly where Dane’s face was, like a father would their child.
---
The SHOCK trooper walked towards Dane and prodded him with the barrel of his kiptik assault rifle.
Then, the trooper reached up towards his mic. “Trooper 4251 reporting in. Shooting to report in-“ his voice was cut off suddenly as he saw a movement in the corner of his eye.
Dane exploded from a sitting position and grabbed the trooper by the neck with a powerful palm slam that lifted the SHOK trooper clear off his feet. Then, Dane powered him over his shoulder and drove the trooper head first into the ground with a resounding crack.
The SHOK trooper hit the ground with a loud snapping crack as his spine broke from the impact.
Blue energy pulsed up and down Dane’s arms from the exertion. He felt the dormant functions of the strange weave that was under his skin begun to come to life.
Dane had felt his arms swell with strength as soon as he was hit with the bullets, augmented by the strange technology under his skin. He flexed his arms and felt the sinewy muscles bulge with newfound strength.
Dane rubbed his chest. “Son of a bitch that hurt,” he groaned, but could already feel the bruises healing.
Dane heard a hustle and bustle outside the door of guards that heard the gunfire and he peaked his head out. Two more SHOK security force members were running down the hall towards him. They did not see him and when they were close, Dane dashed out into the open. They did not have much time, but they managed to fire a couple shots in Dane’s general direction, some of which still hit on his legs and arms, showing their quality SHOK training, despite the surprise.
Dane stumbled a bit from the impacts, but kept going, running forward, through the attacks and into melee range. Dane slapped one of the guns aside and punched one of the guards in the gut, cracking the armor from his strange unnatural strength.
The guard doubled over in pain and depressed the trigger instinctively.
Dane guided the weapon towards the guard’s friend and let the flying rubber bullets rip into the other SHOK trooper. There were enough shots left to knock the guard off his feet
Dane felt the kinetic energy from the explosive bursts of weapon fire flowing into his limbs, fueling him even more. Long lines of blue flashed up and down Dane’s body, causing his white jumper to flicker oddly in the clean smooth halls.
Dane grabbed his initial attacker by the head and ripped to the right, turning the guard’s gaze a complete one hundred and eighty degrees, snapping the trooper’s neck. He let the body go.
“Dennis, are you there?” Dane asked into the air. “God dammit Dennis, wake the hell up!”
A blip inside Dane’s eye was the first indication that something was changing.
Then, he felt the power that was surging all over his body begin to steady as Dane felt himself gain even more control over what was happening on his skin. The pathways of kinetic bolts of light began to feel more in tune with his mind. A blip inside his right eye popped up. It showed the different areas of his body, all showing a dark red, with small percentage values that hovered next to them. To the right, there was a small bar that was barely lit up. It had a ten percent sign that flashed briefly.
Dane heard a polite voice speak in his mind. “DNIIS online and functional. Yes sir,” it said in a mildly British clipped speak. “I am at your service and, may I say it is a pleasure to see that we survived, once again?”
---
The station commander was busy briefing Dr. Dobson, when he stood up in surprise. He immediately touched a communications unit, built into his wrist. Then, he spoke into the line mic stuck to his jaw.
The line mic operated by picking up the vibrations from his voice off the jaw. “Prisoner 6426 has escaped his holding cell. Three SHOK troopers are down, send backup to that location immediately,” he said hurriedly.
Dobson turned to the captain. “Prisoner 6426?” he asked.
The captain grimaced. “Dane O’Brien appears to have escaped his holding cell. We will take care of this momentarily,” he reassured Doctor Dobson.
Dobson started laughing out loud. “Take care?” he asked incredulously. “And, tell me how you plan to do that?”
The captain looked at Dobson curiously. “As we would any other prisoner,” he replied.
Dobson shook his head. “You have no idea what you are dealing with,” he said. “Captain, how many men do you command on this station?” he asked.
The captain thought for a brief moment. “Sixty, not including myself,” he replied.
Dobson just smiled. “That is not enough. You would know that if your security clearance was high enough, sadly it is not. Do you know how I know Dane?” Dobson asked.
The captain shook his head. “I do not,” he replied.
Dobson smiled haughtily. “I created the kinetic redirection and interaction suit that is bonded to his skin, much to your impending displeasure,” Dobson said slyly.
The captain grimaced. “Why didn’t we take it off of him?” he asked.
Dobson laughed again to himself, but obliged the captain. “Fool, the KRIS suit is Dane! The two of them are one in the same. It is built into his spinal column, skin, and even the very blood in his body. The KRIS suit is a self contained survival unit that can absorb kinetic energy,” Dobson cackled with glee. There was a hint of insanity in his eyes. “Pray you take him down, before he wakes the suit from its sleep.”
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Sleep?” she asked.
Dobson grimaced angrily at having been interrupted. “Yes. We incarcerated Dane in a low impact containment cell, so he could not feed the suit. It has been dormant for three months now, with no power of any kind. Since it has been in a dormant state, the nanites in Dane’s blood have to be fueled first. They will power up the thermite weave laced into his muscles, greatly increasing his strength. The next function to awaken will be DNIIS, digital nano intelligence interface system. It is a self contained AI unit that is stored in the nanites in Dane’s blood. The nanites will then have sentience and be able to repair any damage to Dane’s body and the suit itself. He will also be able to interface with any electronic construct through DNIIS. Throughout, Dane will be able to take more and more punishment as the spider weave mesh gains durability from the energy flowing under the surface,” the scientist said and there was a completely blatant sense of pride radiating from him.
The captain rocked back on his heels. “My god,” he said to himself. “He is a monster.”
Dobson laughed out loud and a tear came out of his eye. “A monster? You think this is Scary? The suit is called a kinetic redirection and interaction suit. I am simply talking about mild physical improvements imbecile. Do you think it will just make him stronger and give him a slightly better version of a bullet proof vest? That only requires one percent of the maximum capacity of his suit to function. Once Dane reaches ten total percent, he will be able to run those functions indefinitely, then the nightmare begins when the suit awakens,” Dobson said with an arrogant smile. “Your pitiful mind cannot comprehend the horror he will unleash upon you then.”
---
”Dennis, I want you to interface with the local cloud and find the location of the central intelligence hub. I need information,” Dane said, referencing the computation cloud of data that surrounded any major structure. Normally, this cloud operated like an archaic wifi network, but could hold large amounts of data, suspended in open space, transmitting between different focal points and storing small bits on every electrical device in the station with redundant backups.
“Yes Dane. One moment,” Dennis said in Dane’s ear. A few moments went by as Dennis performed his search. “I have downloaded a map of the station and located the central hub.”
“Which way?” Dane asked.
“Head down our current hallway and take the first right,” Dennis said.
Dane started running forward. “Dennis, what functions of the suit are available now?” Dane asked.
“Currently, you have a 60% increase in strength. DNIIS capabilities are operating at 14%, biological systems nanite repair functions are at 30%, main suit functions are still not operational…hmmm,” Dennis said with a ponderous tone.
“What is it?” Dane asked as he ran.
“It seems a…anomaly is present in my system,” Dennis said.
“What kind of anomaly?” Dane said carefully.
“A limiter has been installed on KRIS absorption function. Without the helper add-ons for spider weave mesh, you will only have access to 40% main KRIS functions, instead of the full amount. However, even with the outer shell, you will only have access to 60%, instead of the full 80%. Reaching the 60% cap has terminal consequences. I would advise against it,” Dennis said informatively.
Dane scowled. “And, when I reach that cap?” Dane asked.
Dennis’ polite upbeat British voice understated the grim nature of the situation. “The built in inhibitor will destabilize the outer shell of the spider weave mesh, at first causing miniature micro explosions along the outer edges of the suit as kinetic waves collide with one another. These are not fatal. But, if this punishment continues an additional 10%, the pent up energy will burst inward into our body. We implode,” he said honestly.
Dane had to do a double take. “Implode?!” He said in surprise. “As in, the opposite of explode? Can you remove the limiter?” he asked.
“No,” was Dennis’ simple reply. “It appears to have been hard rooted into the core primitive functions of the suit, beyond my reach.”
“Can you hack it?” Dane asked.
“No, I do not believe so, but I will dedicate computation time to a fix and will provide a full evaluation soon,” Dennis replied.
Dane did not blame Dennis. The AI was designed to obey him and only him. It was completely dependent on Dane.
Dennis’ intelligence or DNIIS went beyond simple machinery. Most machines think linearly, one thing at a time. Humans think laterally, able to juggle multiple tasks and think about multiple tasks simultaneously. Biological AIs are different. They can think laterally, like a person and thus develop personalities of their own.
Dennis and many other extremely high end AI that were bonded with the blood cells, providing memory storage over thousands of small nanites. They flowed through the host’s brain and took root in unused neural centers, using them to simulate human thinking. Integrated biological AIs are able to access an additional 10% of unused brain power at no detriment to the host. This means the AI does not have access to motor functions or the limbic system and cardiovascular systems, since the host already had portions of the brain and nervous system dedicated to running those parts of the body. But, using unused brain power, the biological AI gains mental acuity, has the ability to regulate the nanites in the blood stream more efficiently, enhance certain bodily functions, such as allowing the host to access extra recesses of physical strength or trigger regenerative systems at a faster pace than normal, plus other functions. The AI does this with no detriment to the host, working in perfect harmony with existing processes.
Dane smiled a bit and laughed to himself. “Shackles and chains, they are afraid of me,” he said to himself and an excited smile graced his lips. “Good.”
-------------------
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