Chapter One

[__________Institutes]

The following is Chapter One of a short novela inspired by Anarchy Online and written by me! Heh. Hope you enjoy. There is no estimated time of release for Chapter Two, but check back! I had to make this story two posts long, as I am limited to only 15000 characters and the story is beyond that. Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: Some content may not be suitable for younger audiences...




August, 29474
Year And a Half Ago
The Grid, Rubi-ka


Dart sat quietly, his cells relaxing within the freedom of the Grid. Whenever he wanted to get away from the death, the destruction, or the war he would take a visit to the Grid. The way the Grid allowed your cells to flow freely through space and what seemed to be time was so very relaxing. It was absolute bliss to be able to absorb the energy of the Grid and to feel empowered by it.

Dart deserved the relaxation, after all he had been spending nearly eighteen hours a day in the labs trying to solve a recent puzzle that Omni-Med seemed to have fallen upon. It was almost constantly that Dart was given new lab reports to work on and investigate, after all he was the head doctor for his department at Omni-Med. The latest puzzle that Dart had to solve was something with a recent outbreak of mutants in the northern most Omni territories. Omni-Tek wanted a full report and examination on what exactly the clan’s role was with these mutants. He was actually surprised at the reports; rumors that floated about were large mutated creatures ranging from lets all the way to rollerrats were plaguing the borders of Omni territory and clan territory.

It was just a few more hours before he would have to go to work again. He had just taken off from work less than two hours earlier. If it weren’t for the Grid he would never be able to survive with only a few hours of rest. Dart couldn’t remember the last time he actually closed his eyes to sleep. All he ever did was go to the Grid and rest while he waited for his next day at work.

Dart had been with Omni-Tek all his life since his experimental creation by Professor Corlan Hymen. Dart was an exact clone of Corlan, his features were in exact replica of Corlan, all but his mind and soul. Dart was made that way, since law actually forbid cloning because no clone had the same soul as the person being cloned. This was known to cause havoc upon the scientific work, yet Professor Corlan created Dart with a separate mind, soul, and personality. Dart may have looked like Professor Corlan, but when it came to the nitty gritty Dart was nothing like him.

Dart was a brilliant creation, at the age of five years old he was already doing intense schooling on medical studies. It didn’t take much time to realize that Dart would in fact be a very bright and talented doctor when the time came for it. At the age of thirteen he became the youngest person ever in Omni-Tek history to officially be titled as a doctor. It would take Dart four more years of hard work before he worked his way up the medical chain to finally become Head Advisor of the Omni-Tek Institutes of Science, a small department within Omni-Med that did medical research and studies on issues within Rubi-ka.

At the age of seventeen he carried a burden on his shoulders that many would never consider carrying. Dart would never be able to see the dangerous path this life would soon take him through, for in just six short months Dart would be branded as a traitor to Omni-Tek and hunted down by Omni-Pol. Just within six months his co-worker and best friend would be murdered in cold blood and the Institutes’ life work would be destroyed. In just six short months…




March, 29475
Seven Months Later
Outskirts of 4 Holes, Rubi-ka


Dart sucked in the dusty air, trying to regain his breath, they had been following him for hours now and he just couldn’t seem to lose them. He even tried to grid, but they must have somehow blocked his communications with the Grid by some unknown means. Omni had a way of getting things down, no matter how impossible it may have sounded. Omni-Pol had been after him for a little more than a month now they had already killed Vawn and Corlan disappeared three days after Vawn’s death.

Dart figured that Corlan was as good as dead, and now he was the next target. All Dart could do now was pray to god, if there was such a thing, that He would save his life. Dart never could imagine the day that he would be praying to a god, after all he was created through science not nature. It was only desperation that he was praying to a god anyways, in hopes that some higher being would have mercy on him.

Another bullet whizzed by his head, they were getting to close and to dangerous. He had to get to clan territory and hope there were some clanners that would fend the Omni-Pol guards off. He was getting tired and he knew he wouldn’t be able to run for much longer, and the heat of the desert wasn’t helping much. A sharp pain shot through his upper arm, and an explosion of red flew from his arm and the bullet tore through his it. It traveled clean through; thankfully it would be an easy fix for Dart. Quickly he cast a nanoformula on the wound, it healed almost immediately. He could still feel the pain shooting through his body, even with the wound healed.

Dart stumbled over a sand dune, and the he saw it, an outpost. Was it an Omni outpost or a clan outpost? He wasn’t sure, but anything was better than being caught, possibly tortured, but definitely killed by the Omni-Pol personnel. He gathered all the strength he could muster and started off in a full sprint for the outpost. He could hear the sounds of the bullets roaring out in the distance behind him. They were a good distance away from him, but any sniper could easily take him out with one clean shot. To avoid any chance of being shot Dart moved in different directions zigging and zagging hoping a sniper wouldn’t be able to get a lock on him.

Dart was running with all his power, he had never ran so hard for so long in his entire life. He never had the need to though, but now was more of a time that he needed to. Then it hit him like a brick wall, the feeling surged through his entire body and then his legs buckled. He fell to the hard ground, his hands halting the fall, but the fall cut the palm of his hands up and scratched him up a little. He forced himself to breathe in the air, forcing his lungs to work even harder. He was now in one hundred percent suppression now, they could not harm him any longer, but they could still capture him and bring him back to Omni-HQ and interrogate him.

Dart heard the shouts of the Omni-Pol personnel as they rushed from the sands of the desert to the outpost, and as quick as he could turn his head to see the four men a group of clan guards were on top of them. A storm of blood erupted from the battle, as weapons were being thrown about, the sound of fire guns erupting into the dusty air.

Then there was an unmistakable shout, “He has a grenade!”

Louder than thunder at your feet the grenade exploded, shrapnel flew in all directions as the bodies of guards and Omni-Pol personnel were thrown into the air with a violent force. The air smelled of smoke and the stench of burnt flesh lingered in the air. The blackened bodies of people were all that were left of the guards and the four Omni-Pol personnel. It was over quicker than it had begun, and now over twelve people were dead and several injured.

Dart could see the injured victims of the explosion crying for mercy from the burns and shrapnel. Dart wasn’t injured, he was a good distance from the gate where the grenade went off. Quickly he was on his feet, running to the injured, trying to heal what damage he could heal. Most of it was simple work taking hardly any effort at all, but as he moved closer to the epicenter of the grenade blast, the wounds became much more gruesome and harder to heal completely.

Several other people scrambled among the victims of the explosion, panic was widespread as everyone was realizing that the grenade that went off was no simple grenade, one of the worst kinds. Dart could see the shrapnel that exploded from the grenade, needle shaped, much like a drill bit. It was a flak grenade. The blackened faces of individuals ran in a frenzy trying to find help with their wounds, or someone else’s wounds. It was utter chaos in the midst of hell.

“Doctor! Help me, please! Doctor!” The shrilling voice came from a man, his face covered with black soot and blood. Dart couldn’t figure out how the man knew he was a doctor. It took only a moment to realize that he was still in his Omni-Med medical uniform. Dart had been wearing it constantly as a cover while he ran from the bounty hunters of Omni-Tek. Of course with the recent trip he had the last week the uniform was torn and ragged. He had gone from Omni-HQ to the north and was now on the outskirts of 4 Holes. The journey would not have taken so long if it were not for the fact that any mode of transportation other than walking would have had him caught long ago. The Grid was inaccessible and the wompas were just the same.

Dart missed the Grid. All the relaxation that the Grid offered him and the bliss it was to him. The Grid was like a drug, once taken you begin to get addicted to it and then can never be broken from its grasp until you are slowly weaned from it. He knew he would never be able to go into the Grid again, or at least for a long, long time. Omni-Tek was true to itself when it came to finding the targets they hunt. It was rare to hear of any suspect getting away from the clutches of Omni and Dart could see why this was so true. Omni-Tek did not care how many men it lost to capture one person, as long as that person was caught and de-briefed and then put to work again for Omni-Tek, only this time in the mines. There was no way in hell Dart would be caught and then thrown into the mines for hard labor, even if the brainwash would say he worked all his life in the mines. He was a genius not a slave. He was a doctor.

He was a doctor that needed to save lives. He needed to save the lives of these innocent bystanders that were dying because he brought Omni-Tek here. Then in a violent shock of smoke and lights the world came back to view. In front of him on the ground was a man, his face blackened with ash from the fire that was roaring. Blood streamed from the forehead of the injured man. Dart saw the cause of the blood, some of the shrapnel was embedded in the top of the man’s skull. The spiral shaped rod stuck a little more than an inch out of the top of his head. It didn’t penetrate fully, and hopefully there was no contact with the brain. Dart carefully grabbed the piece of shrapnel and twisted the rod so it would rotate out of the skull.

Dart slowly filtered out a nanoprogram to ease the pain, and slowly heal the wound. He needed a little more energy before he could actually remake the shattered plate of the skull. He had to save his energy though. With the slow heal being filtered through the victim’s Nano Containment Units he would survive long enough for Dart to return and finish the job.

Dart was on the next victim before he even realized it. It was a much simpler wound than the first, only a shattered forearm with a deep gash. Another wound from a piece of shrapnel, this piece going clean through the arm of its victim. Dart was able to fix it in a matter of seconds, and was then onto the next victim with lightning speed. There was no time to waste; he had to save these people. It was his fault they were in this predicament and Dart was determined to fix it.

Within a few minutes Dart had gone through sixteen injured victims and none were lost. He couldn’t find any more victims that needed his help, many were already dead and several were able to move about and was helping the injured. Dart was glancing around trying to find the needle in the haystack, and finally after what seemed to be several long minutes he spotted the man, slumped up along a tin wall sitting down. Dart kneeled down beside the man, and quickly checked the wound, it wasn’t fully healed. The nanoprogram must have expired. He checked the pulse of the victim hoping for some sign of life. Dart knew it would be hard for the man to withstand the pain of such a wound, and especially a wound to the head like this one. There was no pulse.

Dart’s fist collided with the wall of tin with a thunderous grumble. He held his fist in his other hand from the sharp pain and grumbled under his breath. “Damn it!”

Dart jumped up from his position next to the dead man. He was red with anger. Angry because he was unable to help save the man he thought he would have time to save. He was wrong, he should have known better than to assume he would have enough time to save the man. The wound was too bad to just think he could come back and fix the damage. Dart kicked himself mentally, continuing to think how stupid he was for what he had done.

Dart stood still, his eyes transfixed on the man dead before him. He hardly, if ever, lost a patient he was working with. Yet, he lost this one. It was completely understandable to others, concerning the conditions in which he was working in. In Dart’s mind it was a totally different matter. He was a doctor, trained to keep those alive no matter the condition, yet he failed that. In his own eyes he was a failure.

Dart was known to beat himself up over trivial things. To him, what may have been trivial was nothing but another challenge for him in which he had to complete. Dart covered his face with his blood soaked hands, releasing the overwhelming sigh of sorrow. He would not even attempt to tell himself that he tried his best, because he knew he didn’t. He could have done better, as anyone could have, but he didn’t.

The chaos around Dart had some to a violent halt, as it had begun, violently. Dart was unaware of the silence that lingered. All he could hear was the cursing his was giving himself in his thoughts. Then finally, with a jolt of shock and realization it hit him. He had to leave immediately. He had to leave ten minutes ago; he had already given Omni enough time to track him down.

With a sudden burst of energy Dart was running away from the outpost, he was running towards possible freedom. He was running towards Clan Territory.

[__________Institutes]

June, 29475
Three Months Later
Tir, Backyard 1, Rubi-ka


His eyes remained locked on the ceiling of his apartment; he was literally counting the imperfections his ceiling had. It wasn’t as if he had anything better to do with his time than to sit back and count the cracks and leaks this metal prison had. Dart remained in the apartment since the day he arrived in Tir. That was nearly two months ago, and the only time he truly left the apartment was to meet with an Operative of the Council of Truth. They promised him so many things, yet he could not speak with Radiman himself. Not even through a private com-link, due to security issues. Dart understood the security issues of actually meeting Radiman in person, but no allowed to speak with him over a private communications relay? Sometimes the nervousness of the Clans made Dart sick to his stomach.

Dart was asked to remain in the apartment area until further notice. Sure the first few weeks of being trapped in the backyards were fine, the scenery was lovely, but eventually it became dull. Once in a while Dart would poke his head in the training grounds to sneak a peak at all the new faces that began to trickle in. Often he would offer his healing as assistance to help the new people adjust to the sudden change. It isn’t often that you go from a job of mining to a job that involved hold a gun most of the day.

Dart now knew what it was like to have something he was addicted to yanked away from him for good. He craved to be in the Grid once more. It was his true home and he missed it more than ever. If Omni would only leave him alone and let him live his life again, but he knew that would never happen. Dart closed his eyes, trying not to think of what might become of him if Omni was to find where he was. He needed to think of something else, he needed to relax. Dart needed to sleep.



June, 29475
West Athens, Rubi-ka


He couldn’t hold back the anger anymore as the growl slipped from his throat. He was more than pissed, this was the fourth time they aborted a mission while he was in the heart of it. He knew he was some type of distraction, but from what? This was the last draw. He was sick and tired of being put out on the limb, risking his life so they could sit pretty in their Ottus leather chairs. “I’m out. No more will I play your games. The Council wants suicide dummies? You can look elsewhere. I will not take part in a suicide mission anymore. Good-bye.”

“You have always been welcomed to leave since you joined. It was your choice to join, and it is your choice to leave.” Spoke a tall skinny man. “The Council holds no hatred to you for leaving, we are glad you have done what you have for us.”

“Yeah, and your sorry I’m still alive.” In a burst of rage and curiosity, Vawn spun around slamming his hands on the table, “What the hell are you guys trying to do? You send Operatives out in the field, knowing full and well they will most likely get killed, yet you don’t care?”

Vawn increased the tone even more, the shouts became threatening yells, “Why are you doing this? What is your plan?”

The man leaned back in his Ottus leather chair and shrugged, “I can’t say, I’m not at liberty.”

Vawn glanced around the sandstone building, the room littered with trash and sand. It was apparent the doors couldn’t keep the sandstorms from littering even the insides of a building clean from the sands of Rubi-ka. If one thing was always constant on the planet, it was the abundance of sand. Vawn hated sand, just as he hated the man sitting before him.

Vawn’s glare met with strange man’s eyes for a moment. Vawn could tell this man was stronger than he looked, possibly an assassin. “Why don’t you have any guards?”

“Why would I need them? You are not a threat to me, if you wanted me dead you would have already done something.”

Vawn growled once more, his eyes narrowing. He once again slammed his hands on the table, and quickly ripped the communications bracer away from his wrist and tossing in the lap of the man. Vawn stood straight up and began to walk backwards, there was no chance in hell he would turn his back on this man now, unless he wanted to have the knife or bullet, which ever the man had, in his back.

The man grinned and motioned for Vawn to be off, “Good day Operative, until we call again.”

“When you call, you better pray for your life that I don’t answer.”