Episode 20: Finding Mouth / Biomechanoid

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Episode 20: Finding Mouth / Biomechanoid

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EPISODE 20
Section 10 leaves under cover of darkness. A Merchant transport, the Theodoris, is the only one available for that trip.

However, on their way out, the flight is obstructed by something on the runway. A large biomechanical cyborg thirteen feet tall. The plane cannot stop in time and breaks a landing gear veering away. The group responds and a firefight ensues. A well-placed grenade from Ben brings it down but not before it eats three rocket blasts.


FINDING MOUTH / BIOMECHANOID


Shoun discovers on a remaining limb from the cyborg a serial number…

ASY-SYS-24--BAAL9745719-2692888

The ASY-SYS-24 is what she is talking about. It looks like this thing rolled of a regular assembly line. How many of these things could exist? But the first four letters after that: BAAL is equally as interesting.

Linking with the computer brain is possible but very hard. Some parts are Biological but some parts are electronic capable of being accessed. The only thing discovered is that it has a simple cyberbrain that gives its directives. Basically the directives are an assassination order on Sharron. Shoun finds a total profile on him…it got his face from the camera at Nanoplant.

Section 10 takes another flight to Columbia…


MAGDALEN RIVER, COLUMBIA

They land by the Bungalow. Furniture and equipment are strewn about it in front of it. Someone has stripped the bungalow and surrounding area of any useful equipment. All technological baggage is gone or destroyed. Everything else is intact, but in disarray. Odd that is seems to have happened some time ago. Part of it is a completely intact Mian statue of a mythical bird.

Section 10 hears noises from nearby.

Arriving there, Section 10 find three huge makeshift tanks attacking a large truck convoy with weapons on it. The fight is quite intense. As it turns out, Rav moved from the place sometime ago because of the increase in drug farmers nearby and the turf wars that have broken out as a result.

Section 10 infiltrated a fight, pushing for a quicker victory. A few of the drug runners know where Rav has moved to…deeper into the forest.

They find the house near another river. Rav has a few natives working for him. As Section 10 enters the area, the first person they meet is Elina Clarke, a young (24) blonde scientist standing out in her lab coat and miniskirt. She peels from her electron microscope to look up. She acts like a secretary, not at all surprised by their arrival. She is not expecting anyone…but acts like someone just entered an office in the middle of the city. Both her and Rav sport English accents

She leads the group to meet Rav. He is around 50.

Rav’s wetwear computer sits in the back of the room. Rav works on a human limb suspended in fluid. He is friendly but doesn’t know anything about terrorists, biomechanoids or whatever. He is a cybergeneticist. His goal is to create artificial life without the need of any micro-machines or cybernetics. The Biomechanoid designs sent to Scalia were speculations Scalia asked for. They were never meant to be built. He was never an employee of Phyrine and is honestly surprised they are still around. He does work on Biomechanics but it’s his goal to create the successor of the android, which he believed, was always a temporary stopgap technology. The future is with androids that resemble humans in almost everyway. Biomechanical replacements and augmentations would act far better than cyberized ones and people would not be loosing their “humanity”…But for Rav, it’s all about the perfecting of Bioroid technology. They use organically engineered Neurochips similar to Asuda’s developed model but the organs would resemble synthetic versions of real ones. Bioroids would be the one true android that can develop personalities and independent thought.

During the conversation, a silver Manji necklace falls from his shirt. Greg sees this and switches topics quickly. Greg mentions he has the same symbol.

“Oh…you know Doctor (Corina) Zheng Ti?” He asks.

Section 10 presses how he knows about Manji. He is confused and finally opens a drawer and removes a photo. The photo shows 5 people—two women and three men, standing in pose with an old-style cyberbody behind them. They are all in their mid 30s save for two who are in their 60s. There are three Euro/American and two Asian. One Asian woman sparks attention.

“That’s Zheng Ti. She was…a genius.” The photo depicts the Lazarus group, a think tank formed to develop the evolution of mankind while simultaneously creating technologies that would better keep mankind progressing without destroying the world around him. Lazarus had its roots in Environmentalism when the old guy, Dr. William McCleary, formed it. He stands next to Enoch Phyrine.

Section 10 immediately thinks this is the group they have been looking for—the terrorist cell Legion. Rav laughs and scoffs at the idea. If that were true, then he would be one of those terrorists since that is him on the far right. The photo is almost 30 years old. The members starting from the left are:

Enoch Phyrine, William McCleary, Catherine Nuvena, Harrison Rav, Corina Zheng Ti. They were the best in their field. They all had at least two PHDs and were gathered by McCleary from all over the world…which is one of the reasons why the group disbanded in the middle of World War III. But not before developing the prototype Micro-Machines designs adopted by every corporation in the field. However, it was only supposed to be the beginning. They always tried to blur the lines between man and machine. Both sides need to meet in the center. Micro Machines and Cyberization was only supposed to be the beginning. However, no one seems to care about how far the group really went in speculation before collapsing.

Rav kept in touch with a few of them for a while. Asuda signed his life to Kenbishi but was allowed to continue his work in Neurochips with an unlimited budget. Enoch Phyrine formed his own group because he believed the cause was still sound. Rav hated the war so much and was so angry the first uses of cyberization were combat cyborgs, he ran away. He knew of Phyrine’s Demigod proposal and he even started a few papers for him. He never worked on it personally but knew it continued the work Lazarus started…He knows of BAAL and is aware of what it stands for: Biomechanical, Auto-independent, Artificially intelligent, Life form.

However, Enoch was the other older one in the photo and since Rav has not heard from Enoch in 15 years, he assumed he was dead. McCleary is also dead. He died from Cancer in 2006. Unfortunately, Corina is dead to. Chorea acanthocytosis took her a few days into her 45th birthday…about 10 years ago. She hung in there. That disease usually kills at 35. She, like McCleary, was never cyberized like the rest of the group. Her specialty was cyberpsychology—the study of the effects of cyberization on people and civilization. She also studied conditions that effected or came about from cyberization. She was the first to pen such a title. She was also a Buddhist and, like McCleary and the rest of the group, were fierce environmentalists…well…not so much Enoch. Corina was the one that sported the Manji all the time. She loved the symbolism of it and how looks can be deceiving. At last word…she was working at the Chieokure Facility in Japan before she died. Enoch should be dead and its a shock Phyrine is doing anything at all.

Rav also adds that his Biomechanical technology is the most advanced around. Only he managed to create the technology to regenerate biomechanics…he just finished it. It uses a technology similar to MicroMachines but they are generated inside the body without an outside injection. It allows the Biomechanoid…or Bioroid, to regenerate from simply ingesting organic material. This is the last step to finally perfecting his prototype Bioroid…Elina Clarke. She uses a variation on Asuda’s Neurochip and is one of a kind.

Section 10 is alerted by Satellite that their Tilt-Rotor was just overrun by American military. However, when Section 10 goes to square off with them, they find them all wiped out. There are three large parachute drogues nearby. Something is nearby.

Three Biomechanoids have landed here. Rav insists he never wanted them built…they were a test and were sent to his friend. He has no idea his friend was working for Phyrine and that Phryine would ever actually build them. It makes no sense. Enoch is not that kind of man.

Rav’s wetwear computer has some more information on the Biomechanic prototypes. The version 3 prototypes perfected the cumbersome Variant 2. Variant 1 was a masterpiece. Rav brings up the file:

“I present to you the Rav Biomechanoid prototype, "Spartacus". The Spartacus is 8.2 meters in height, 3.8 meters wide, and 2.8 meters long. Designed primarily for defense and protection, the Spartacus is self-repairing, capable of recharging it's storage batteries from just about any power grid including the Sun. The Spartacus's strength lies in it's multi-faceted combat systems. Equipped with neurally activated weaponry and nightsights, the Spartacus has the choice of using four primary limbs and two auxiliary weapon limbs. Weapon systems include: Dual Arm Mounted Gattling Guns, four foldout missile packs, and a Rapid Acceleration Armor Piercing Electromagnetic RailCannon. The armor consists of dual plated, reinforced, polyurethane plastisteel in an interchangeable honeycomb arrangement capable of regenerating itself after an encounter is concluded. The Neural Sensor Interface system is competent of anticipating actions, giving rise to increased maneuverability and targeting capacity. The 33rd Series BioComp system is designed for optimum Combat Effectiveness, suggesting more profitable ways of solving combat encounters with the least amount of energy."

Phyrine is here, in force, and they want the final segment of Rav’s bioengineering plan. Section 10 squares off with the American team, led by Brett Raiden (that’s not his real name), Sharron contact in the American Empire. They claim they were shot down by something. They agree to put aside their difference to escape together. Section 10 is chased through the forest and deals with the Variant 2 prototypes they find. However, they are then ambushed by the massive Variant 1, which chases them. All but Brett on the American side is killed as the group tries to make it back to the final American transport not destroyed. Sharron is separated and finds the chopper. He disabled the pilot and controls the craft himself. He flies back and picks up the group, now fleeing by jeep. A few well – placed Railcanno shots destroys the variant 1. Brett is allowed to return to the American Empire while Section 10 with Rav and Clarke are picked up by another Section 10 aircraft. They return to Japan.
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