Chapter 21

"You." Rang through the headset and Astrid's processors had difficulty understanding it.

"Hiccup can you repeat that?" Astrid asked. "How can it be me?"

"Well not you you, obviously," Hiccup mumbled as he just stared at the woman in what he supposed was a stasis chamber. He'd heard of these. The rich had used them in hopes of prolonging their lives in the past. It didn't end well. "Remember your digital self?"

"Yes?" Astrid said this as more of a question. Since she couldn't see what Hiccup was seeing she was quite confused.

"I think this body is in stasis Astrid and it looks like a younger version of your digital self." Hiccup mumbled as he heard Astrid suck in a breath through the headset. "Astrid did you used to be human?"

"What?!" Astrid shouted suddenly and Hiccup had to cringe at the volume of her voice through the headset. "Hiccup, that's......... how? That science shouldn't even exist!"

"I don't know Astrid!" Hiccup hissed back but a lot more quietly. "How do you explain this body and your digital self?! They are nearly identical."

"I need you to find me a computer terminal." Astrid said. "It's the only way I can figure out what's going on here."

"Right.... Uhm...." Hiccup mumbled as he looked around, since seeing the woman in stasis he had been distracted. The room didn't look like it had any hub to connect to the system though so Hiccup exited the room and went to one of the other bulkhead doors. He was a bit reluctant to leave but he was sure that Astrid could figure this mystery out.

The corridor was as empty as when he had first arrived and Hiccup sneaked to the second door that was quite a few paces away. The door looked innocuous with paint chips peeling away and several bits covered in rust. The doors in this part of the facility looked old but they seemed well maintained as there wasn't a screech of metal when Hiccup opened the second bulkhead. The room was similar to the other one and the area above. It seemed to have been just a laboratory. Hiccup quickly scanned the room but no connection device could be found. "Are you sure there is one?" Hiccup whispered into the headset as he checked door after door and ventured deeper into the unknown.

"There has to be," Astrid said with a hint of frustration mixed in. "The labs we saw along the way and that stasis pod. They have to be connected to a network. The power outputs have to be regulated."

Hiccup stopped for a moment and mumbled "Do you think this area has another A.I.?"

"No," Astrid managed to say. "I can say with 90% certainty that these laboratories are just under the control of an automated system."

"And the other 10%?" Hiccup asked. He didn't want to sound pessimistic while sneaking around but he was very curious as to what would happen.

"Then....... We'd have a problem." Astrid stated.

After what was probably half an hour of sneaking around Hiccup managed to find a lab that was massive. The walls were dark grey and there were control panels all around. Near the back, the lab was separated by a glass pane and a set of stairs. On the other side was a massive sphere that was lit up. Hiccup assumed that this was the main hub.

"Astrid I think I might be able to plug you in." Hiccup spoke as he looked around the dark room. One of the workstations would have to do. "I wish you could see this," Hiccup said as he started booting up a computer. Hiccup found the right port to plug in Astrid's nanomachine drive and then he waited as the monitor screen flickered for a bit at the workstation. Numbers and data he didn't recognize started scrolling across the screen. Hiccup was so engrossed in watching it that he barely heard the footsteps approaching.

Hiccup's head whipped around at the sound and his eyes widened. He quickly clambered under the workstation he was at and hoped that the room would stay dark.

"Astrid......." He whispered into the headset. "We may have company."

Hiccup kept his head down as he heard the bulkhead door open. "Honey will you come back to bed?" A male voice said as two sets of footsteps entered the lab.

"Let me just check in here." The other voice said and Hiccup's eyes widened as he now recognized them. It was Mary and Hank. He also realized that he had left the nanomachine drive in the port on the workstation. Luckily the monitor was facing away from the door so it shouldn't be spotted easily.

"Why are you so paranoid?" He heard Hank ask with exasperation. "The alarm didn't go off."

"Just call it a woman's intuition," Mary stated and Hiccup assumed she was looking around as he heard the shuffling of feet. "I just can't sleep right. Especially now that we have to sneak down here. What if someone actually found this place?"

"Honey everything will be alright." Hank assured her. "Project Re-Genesis is on schedule and we now have new subjects to experiment on."

"You actually want to start that again?" Mary could be heard asking in a strained voice. "Don't you remember subject J?!"

"Look honey. It's late." Hank let out a yawn. "Why don't we discuss the merits of human experimentation tomorrow. Once we've had our morning tea."

"Fine..... I do hate having to play nice with those people." Mary grumbled. Footsteps could be heard again as the bulkhead door closed with a clang. Hiccup was still hiding under the workstation, his hand against his mouth to stop him from screaming out of pure shock.

"Astrid," Hiccup whispered. "That was.......... That was........."

"I heard Hiccup." Astrid said with no emotion. "I heard. Just who.......... Those aren't the Drs. Hofferson I know." She whispered in the device. "I've managed to successfully connect to this area's systems." She added as Hiccup crawled out from his hiding place.

"How's it looking?" Hiccup asked. He looked at the monitor again and saw computer text still scrolling by.

"I am attempting to make a backdoor connection to my main system right now. Once that is completed you can remove the drive." She explained.

"Do you have any idea what they were talking about?" Hiccup asked. "Project Re-Genesis? Subject J?"

"It will take some time for me to sift through the amount of research data within this system. The operating system itself is fundamentally different from mine." Astrid explained. "But there is an area further ahead that I have found to be suspicious."

"What is it?" Hiccup asked.

"I don't know." Astrid stated. "I just know that the system is indicating a massive power consumption there. It will take me a while to get the logs."

"Or I could just go take a look." Hiccup suggested.

"Or that......" Astrid deadpanned and Hiccup thought she might be rolling her eyes.

"You can detach the drive now. I have fully integrated myself into the system." Astrid chirped as she was quite pleased with herself. "I shall do what you humans call lurking."

Hiccup took back the drive and slipped out of the huge lab. While Astrid now had control of the system it still wouldn't hurt to be cautious. He made his way down the corridors to the area Astrid had indicated. It seemed like an inconspicuous white bulkhead door. The same as all the others yet it felt cooler to the touch than the previous door as Hiccup pried it open. Inside was another laboratory but this one was kept much colder. Hiccup shivered slightly as the ice cold air nipped at his nose.

"The power consumption must come from keeping this area continuously freezing." Hiccup told Astrid who was humming through the headset as she was busy integrating herself with the rest of the system.

"The lab must have a specific purpose if it's being kept this cold continuously." Astrid said. "The camera system in here is old. I cannot see as well as m-" She was however interrupted when Hiccup said "Oh Thor!" in such a breathy whisper.

"Hiccup what?" Astrid asked with worry for a second time that night.

"Astrid we need to get out of here fast." Hiccup suddenly said. "But first is there a cooler around here!" He was looking around frantically. She could tell that from the subpar cameras.

"There are transport coolers in the cabinet below the third workstation. " Astrid relayed via the headset. "Hiccup what is going on?" She asked again as Hiccup quickly took a small cooler and then proceeded to take three oddly colored test tubes and place them inside.

"Hiccup?" Now Astrid started to worry more as Hiccup zipped close the cooler.

"Not here Astrid. I'll show you once we're back in the Bio-Nanotechnology lab."

Astrid didn't ask any more questions but she did make sure Hiccup got out safely. Once he was back on the upper floors he immediately headed for the lab with his package in tow. Astrid locked the door behind him and he went to one of the workstations.

"Hiccup what has you so rattled?" Astrid asked in concern as Hiccup carefully took out one of the test tubes.

"This," Hiccup said as he held it for her scanners and cameras to see. "A sample of the Midas drug."

AN: Next update will be Sunday! (Goes into hiding)