It was may 25th, 29479 when Kyarash "Legaron" Davoudi composed the scripted message to Taren Gorslin, general of the Back Company. "Portman is still alive, in captivity by Omni-Tek"
Jenae Godfray, President of Assembly was observing Kyarash with six eyes. Her own and four of her metaphysical concoctions. "Kya, why do you want to do this?" The big atrox was leaning back on a 3-seater which seemed to fit only one person his size. The question confused him. "Why not? Didn't think you'd object to this. If it means a loss for Omni-Tek and a win for us. Then al the more reason. Aside from how much fun it would be to stir up some ruckus.. Let them know that just because half the population is pre-occupied in the shadowlands it doesn’t mean we have forgotten our goals"
Jenae sat down in front of him and put her hands on his knees. "That's not what I meant. Why do YOU want to do this? The keepers profession is not really cut out for infiltration. You're our keeper.. Assembly needs you here."
The look on Kyarash saddens as he sits up. "Jen, our clan has to have someone in on this operation. Kotras and Cher are getting married and Cord does a better job at interviews than I do. Most of the others are either not strong enough or on a need to know basis." He pauses for a moment and takes a sip of water. "Other than that I’ve taken some interest in Omni-Tek prison and reform facilities. I'm the one fit for this job."
"You seem to have made up your mind." The look on Jenae bares a hint of both sadness and disapproval, but also understanding when she hugs her advisor. "Gonna miss you Jen. We're gonna throw a big party with lotsa pie like we always do when this is all over." As she stands up and walks toward the exit her manifestations follow her. Before leaving she turns slightly. "I hope you understand that I have to demote you from your Advisor status and title."
The transformation was done. Kyarash stood uncomfortably in the doorway wearing an Omni-Tek maintenance uniform as Taren nodded approvingly. Everything from his application to his NCU board and implants were stripped from any trace of Clan origin. "I feel buttnekkid without my faithfuls right now.." Taren waved the notion away with a smile "Let's just hope you won't be needing them.. Owh and there's one last thing. You won't be able to use any Omni-Tek life insurance stations as that will blow your cover.." Taren turns around and starts unloading a bag. Kya shakes his head in bafflement "Wait...what?". Taren turns back smiling. "Don't worry big guy, that's why we've got this." She shows him a machine that looks half her size and twice her weight. "This is a portable insurance station.. You set it up someplace where no one else comes and use it for yourself." Kya looks back and forth from Taren to the device while poking his left ear with his pink finger. "So this is.. portable.. ok.."
The face of the opifex leader of the Black Company turns soft. “Kya, do you really want to do this?” Kyarash picks up the bag to define its weight. “Why does everybody keep asking me that? Yes, I’m just... not used to all this.” She smiles and pats the atrox on the shoulder. “You ready? You’re gonna do great, if everything goes well this will be big blow to the corporation.”
Kya grins back and starts for the exit. “I’ll do my part. You make sure you givem nothing less than all hell!”
The doors of the prison facility in Rome-HQ are tall, grey and multiple. Every entrance to one of the wings has a double-door tunnel where you go through. The first one, the entrance, has two guards and a scanning device. Kyarash holds up his transfer papers and almost chuckles at an inside joke when he realizes that they still call them that even though nothing of the sort is made of paper anymore.
“Please stand next to the scanner" says the smaller guard. Kya guesses him to be an opifex but can’t be sure because of the full body armor. He taps the floor with his feet as he waits impatiently for the light to go green. The light turns red.
Kyarash feels a panic surge coming up his spine but gets a hold on himself before the guards turn to face him. Remember your training he thinks to himself revering to the rapid covert ops course Stefano had given him in Tir. “When someone think’s you’re lying don’t try to prove anything, just get offensive.”
Kyarash lets out a big sigh and pulls an asymmetrical face emphasizing his impatience. Before the guards can say anything he starts ranting about defect machinery. “Don’t you get tired of these frikkin scanners and malfunctioning machinery.. Now I know why they sent me here.. Let me just start with this scanner then I guess..” He turns to the scanner feeling it up as to find a sweet-spot on it. Then with all his power slams a fist on a spot he knows the identifier chips are located. The sound echoes and resonates for another 20 seconds.
“What do you think you’re doing?” says the guard that looked opifex. "What I'm supposed to be doing.. maintenance..” The guard aims his weapon at Kyarash. “By slamming it with your fist?” Kya doesn’t flinch and shrugs rather than putting his hands up. “It’s called percussive maintenance.. Just doing my job.. You should do yours and let me pass since the light turned green..” The guard looks towards the light and then turns back to Kya skeptically still not lowering his gun. All of a sudden he bursts out in laughter. “Percussive maintenance!! That’s classic! hahaha.. He’s clear!”
I can’t believe that worked...
Kya's work consisted mostly of repairing automatic cleaning units. He figured out the best way to conceal the insurance terminal was to put it somewhere nobody ever came. In this case it was the maintenance workshop, which looked more like a closet, especially with Kya in it. It didn’t take a lot of effort concealing it, since the room was packed with tinkering machinery. The only two people who had the key were him and his supervisor, a solitus old-timer named Gordon who never bothered going in there and didn't ask many questions. He just explained what the tasks were and made an exclamatory remark on how an engineer should know what to do, even if it's an atrox. He had hoped he would blend in from the start but it seemed some of the personnel still needed time adjusting to an atrox maintenance engineer walking around the place. It took him about a month or so before everyone was well used to his appearance. He had limited access into the Mainframe but there was enough information to be found in many ways. Through the small talk around the employees he figured out who does what around each department. When he got himself more acquainted it got pretty easy. Most employees didn’t bother with him being in a corner doing repairs. Some even left their stations on while they went for lunch. The information was up for grabs. Locations of where arrestees would be taken, dependant on affiliation, crime and punishment. Information on detainees and reformed and more.. Yet no mention of Adrienne Portman.. Nothing..
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OTPC: Omni-Pol Plugs Leak in Omni-Reform
Tuesday 24th October, 29480
Omni-Pol authorities, acting on intelligence reports, raided the home of a former Omni-Reform Agent, code-named 'Moniia', and found several items of Pro-Clan literature, and many discs containing highly classified information, packed and ready for transport. An immediate search was ordered of the area, and she was found ten minutes later, outside the Rome Blue Basic store.
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It had taken too long. A year and a half is too long. He’d heard the news about operatives being discovered and the army of red colored militants popping up. About several Clans attacking Omni-Tek facilities. He knew his time was up and he didn’t have the information he needed. Kya felt desperate, he didn’t know if any operatives had succeeded or not. It was close to bail-out time but he didn’t dare leave empty handed. He knew the risk of this. If one of the operatives had succeeded and the operation should be commenced it would be a hard time getting yourself out of your position.
Looking blankly at the wall Kyarash sat and commemorating on the days he had just joined those who had became his family, friends and companions. Once he was a child of Assembly. Now he felt as if Assembly had grown to be his child. Sadly he felt like a terrible parent. As if at times he had neglected his parenthood, where he would have missed parts of the growth of his infant.
He had missed out on parts where his Clan had prospered. The parts where it had problems and most of all where it had suffered.
Today he wanted to take a break and so he had. He took the bottle of 'Hit-the-floor-Jack' and poured some of it in the glass that sat quiet on the table. The sound of the liquor making its way out of the bottle that was gasping for air from its exit surrounded the room. His hands that were faintly shaking set the bottle back to its former position and he clutched the glass with his left hand. Momentarily he closed his eyes and breathed in, and then out with a heavy sigh. He lifted the glass up at the light bulb hanging dull and shining dim in the middle of the filament. The bronze colored shade of his drink had fallen on the table and the glass sparkled as his hand shook. He took another sip.
He rubbed his drunken eyes and set the glass on the table next to the solar-pistol. In his gaze he felt the presence of someone behind him.
When he turned his head a bit he saw Gherrit standing next to him.
"So where’s my drink then chum? Drinking all by yourself..."
Bewildered by his own unbelief he pressed his eyes close together and tried to focus. When his eyes opened he saw it was Kotras standing in the place where Gherrit stood merely seconds before.
"I suppose you are toasting to my wedding eh, big guy?"
He gulped.
"Speed, you don't know how sorry I am I couldn't..."
But the slim opifex had faded away before he had the chance to start the sentence. A female voice from in front of him surprised him in a scare.
"Having a party?" Jen was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "...Or is this what 'being a keeper' is all about?"
He wanted to say something but he realized that the people talking to him were no one other than himself.
He dropped his head into his hands. From around him he heard murmurs and chatter of his fellow Clan members talking to him, some frustrated and some sad, standing around him. He groaned.
"I....I miss you guys...."
The room went quiet and when he looked up he was by himself.
Kyarash was taking more risks than before, but even when finding lists he found none of Portman being in Omni1. Until the 10th of December, when going through some of the yet to be repaired droids he found a broken notepad stuck in one of the vacuuming robots. On it was maximum security transportation approval of one individual initials A.P. Nothing else, no date, no locations nothing. Kyarash had realized then that he'd been searching for someone who probably hadn't been there for a while now. The next day the news hit in everywhere. Adrienne Portman had escaped from a hidden compound in the Andromeda area. Kya didn't know whether to panic or get excited. He needed to get out of here, now.
The whole facility had been on full alert ever since. They still didn't pay much notice to Kya but he couldn't just walk out either. When he neglected work his supervisor didn't seem to care much so he had to resort to other measures. He turned to making bad repairs but that didn't seem to stir old Gordon much either.
One day Kyarash had enough of the idea that he wasn't even able to get himself fired from the company he's been fighting for so long. He checked up his life-insurance one last time and went up to the supervisors office. A cramp room covered with dust, which is ironic when you're the supervisor on cleaning drones. "State your business. I've told you not to bother me." Kya ignored the mans requests, walks up to one of the stations and slams his fist into it, leaving an obvious hole. "What do you think you're doing?" Kya had to do his best to hold in his laughter knowing it's the same question the guard asked when he first came in and he delivered the same answer. "Percussive maintenance." The supervisor now looked more than stirred. "Percus..heh.That's really funny trox, but that wasn't even broken!" He fumed. Kya smiled and replied "I beg to differ, lets agree to disagree.." Gordon held his head as if hit by the most incredible migraine. He rubbed the sides of his head back and fort to ease the so called ache. "You're fired... Get out.. Now..." He continued muttering about who's idea it was to hire an Atrox for the job in the first place.
I can’t believe that worked...