"Terraform this barren planet 
Frozen at the core (wasting away endlessly)
Reviving and awakingSomething worth fighting for (awakening)(Alive!)
And starting to breathe(Collide!)
With eternity(The light!)
Glowing underneath(Ignite!)
A cleansing fire"
- "Project Terraform" - Soul Extract

What the hell? He thought as he snapped his hanging jaw closed. 

Her right hand clenched into a fist before she forced it to relax. Waiting for him to attack.

A breeze blew by pushing her hair around her head and he found his eyes drawn to the messy swirling locks.

He leaned back, rage building up inside of him. It had been over seven years since he'd set eyes on anyone from Neo-Tokyo. He wondered if he'd subconsciously known where she was from when he'd first beheld her coming through those grey doors. He closed his eyes, something ugly inside tried clawing its way out, whispering its promise of bloody revenge.

But as much as he was repulsed by her, he'd never been able to fight someone with their back turned to him. There was no honor in that, he couldn't make that feeling go away no matter how much he hated Neo-Tokyo and all it stood for.

He took a deep breath to calm himself while he studied her. She is in this prison too, she's an augment, just like you... That's what Dag would say, right? He couldn't quite make himself believe that. Her alert attitude but relaxed stance spoke military. Definitely trained, his eyes traced the muscles hidden under her shirt.

He forced the feelings of disdain down, simply curious, he told himself. She was a tool just like he was, and if he played things right, he didn't mind using her to escape. Neo-Tokyo had never stuffed one of their upper-echelons in here before. Why? What's your story?

"So what are you in for?" Her head swiveled around at him in surprise.

I am bad at this.

"What are we all here for?" She raised a hand and gestured around the prison yard. The other prisoners moved slowly oblivious to their observations. It was a stupid question and he should have known better than to ask.

He cocked his head studying her. He had yet to scan her, but he was hoping to build trust with her and scanning her without permission wouldn't help. "I was hoping you'd be a little more specific."

She shrugged, her brown hair bouncing forward. When he didn't move she sighed and stared at the sky again, "Why?" She brought her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She didn't want to talk, that much was evident. There was still nothing obvious to her that he could see.

She looked so damn disappointingly normal... And then he understood.

"You were blind." There were a few individuals that augmentation had been designed to help. She was one of them, he stared at her eyes and she looked back at him warily. It was subtle but the blue was perfect as it should be. Too perfect, not the random hits of nature but the patterned imitation of manmade with a small gray metallic ring that no one else would have noticed... Unless they knew what they were looking for.

"Among other things," She looked away. "I had a few...enhancements paid for by the... Nevermind... It's not like I can hide from the scandroids. Even if my augments aren't as obvious..." She glanced at the side of his head, "...as yours."

Red touched his head, he'd shaved the sides of his hair completely off showing his neural implants. The dull blue would light up when he scanned her. The do was permanent, he didn't feel like keeping up with it every day, one less thing for him to worry about... He wasn't ashamed of the implants. The two rows of blue lines that ran down the side of his head stuck out, especially when lit up. With them, he'd been able to communicate with his ship and more effectively the crew. Schematics and battle-plans he could project right out in front of him. Those were just the implants on his head; others had spread through his body, he'd been implanted with ammunition, a living weapon. He'd had possibilities, a future...

Another lie, he told himself. Now he was just junk.

Disposable.

And they'd disposed of him...

Captain, this isn't a good idea... The past intruded on him again and he forced it back turning back to the girl in front of him. 

Sure it is, Lars. I got nothing better to do.

The tech caught on quickly. People had flocked to it. With good reason, medical was the first to welcome it and then other augmentations had come along. Some good, some... not so good.

At first, the technology had been welcomed for those like this girl. Born crippled? Unable to walk? We can fix that. Your brain not connecting with the rest of your body? They could fix that. Faster military prowess? They could fix that too. A few enhancements to increase your sex life? No, they hadn't stopped there. That was the most popular commodity. The viagra of the current century. The ladies loved it after all.

Red chuckled inwardly, wondering how many idiots were in here because their augmented junk had been picked up by scandroids.

The Purge had been ruthless and without mercy. Anyone with any kind of 'augments' was rounded up and locked into the Helion 7 prison system, and then they threw away the key. It didn't matter what the augment was. Cyborgs, plug-ins, all the synthetic terms you could dream up were now slurs to be hidden from polite society. 

"What are you smiling at?" Her voice brought his attention back to her. He realized he'd been staring at her, not quite seeing her but remembering.

"Ghosts..." He answered. 

She lifted an eyebrow at him, still wary. He wasn't making a good impression on her.

"I'm Red," he said. "You?" His eyes searched hers, looking for the reason she was talked about. Why was she dangerous? She couldn't have much taller than five feet. And she was scrawny. He preferred his women to have a bit more meat on them.

She was still sitting on the bleacher seat in front of him, legs were drawn up, arms wrapped around her legs. Like a frightened child. She looked like the least threatening person in the entire facility.

That was the point, wasn't it?

He knew she wasn't as helpless as she was making out. Part of his training in the past had been to study people. Her eyes bore a hardness that didn't match the rest of her youthful looks.

"Ember." She answered filling the silence. She studied him for a moment taking him in, much as he was doing to her.

"That's not your real name."

"I barely know you, why the hell would I tell you my real name?"

"Touche," he said. "Fine Ember, how'd you get here?"

"What's with the Inquisition?"

He eyed her, "Honestly, I'm bored. Got nothing better to do. You?"

She lifted an eyebrow at him tacitly. "It's nice to meet you... and all--"

He stuck a hand out to shake hers and she took it reluctantly.

"--but I think you're full of shit," she finished.

Red stared at her, his lips forming a smirk of their own, and his grip tightened on her wrist. He flipped it over and straightened out her palm in one swift motion avoiding contact with it himself. The skin tightened across revealing several implants embedded in her palms and fingertips. He gasped at what he was seeing. Small circular sensors, that made a connection with a certain kind of ship. Not to mention the ones in the fingertips, that could drop a grown man permanently. His eyes widened in surprise. There was no mistaking these toys.

"Hey!" She tried jerking her hand back her eyes full of fear and then anger.

A Vesper, one of the most advanced cyborgs ever created was sitting in this prison with him.

That explained a lot.

Actually, it didn't. They were supposed to be dead. All of them.

Ember jerked her hand back to her side closing her fingers over her palms. Her body tensed and an angry stare on her face, but he made no move towards her, just openly stared. He put a finger to his forehead, tapping to scan the area. All radio frequencies that he could reach at least were silent. No one was here looking for her.

A Vesper could connect to a ship so much more than any pilot ever could. In fact, they were the ship. Most people assumed that a Vesper was an android, a mechanical being.  Most started out as a crippled, becoming augmented to the extreme to be useful. Neo-Tokyans had strange concepts on what it meant to bring honor to their families. Vespers only came from the upper class, Neo-Tokyan families, but out of those, it was either those who were considered the most disposable. The status quo was only going to be maintained by those loyal to their houses. They were too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. Which was why they were only taken from the upper classes. Their loyalty had to be absolute. The Purge had killed them.

What the hell was she doing here? They were supposed to be dead.

"You're military, aren't you? You have more neural symbiotic connections that most people I know, except for me."

She had scanned him and he hadn't noticed. He wasn't surprised in the least. He had augments that could do a lot of damage, but she had more.

Neo-Tokyans... All the same.

"Hey look," he put his arms up. "I think we can help each escape... I'm not going to tell anyone what you are... You know what will happen."

"Why not?" She pinned him with a stare. "What does it matter to you? Clearly I could just get this over quickly-"

"Don't," he said putting a hand on her arm. He swiftly withdrew it as if she'd touched him with her hands fully charged. "It took me seven years to get that attitude, you don't get to lose hope in two days."

"Wha--"

"Look we're all trapped here too..." He gestured around him. What would Dag say in this situation? "All the same."  It was exactly what his cellmate would say. 

"You've ever seen a caged bird?" She whispered suddenly, her voice dropping low, a desperate look on her face. "That's me. I lived for that moment, connecting in, flying... and then they came and took my wings. I had no idea they would do that. I served them. I was well trained. And they took my ship. And..." Embarrassed Ember closed down for a moment staring at the bench in front of her. 

Red waited in perplexed silence. He felt his disdain drop slightly. He understood that. Hell, he'd lived that, he'd been in the same position once. But she was Neo-Tokyan, and if that became common knowledge... He would hate to see what the rest of the prisoners would do to her when they found out. It would be a bloodbath.

"So, do you want to spend the rest of your days staring at the sky?" Red pushed. "We can get out of here." He wasn't sure if that was the case. But he wanted her on their team either way. 

Ember stared at him and he knew he had almost won her over. At least Red hoped he had because from what he knew of Vespers in general, they were hard-core high technological masterpieces. And as much as he hated Neo-Tokyo, he was perfectly willing to have her on their side. 

"We were discarded like trash. Is that your plan?"

He was surprised by her question. Not because it was so unspeakably horrible, but because it was pretty much exactly what he had in mind. "No," He lied dropping his voice low. "I want to get our lives back. But I also want a safe place for us." He hesitated. "I know of a safe place for us at any rate..."

She gave him another hard stare eye to eye and Red realized he was being scanned in a different way, not with robotics, or sensors, but with a human mind debating on whether to trust him or not.

He put his best fake smile on.

The sun dipped low over the horizon sending a sudden chill through the air. She shivered, and  Red found himself staring openly at her, noticing small details: She was right handed, her left ear lobe was slightly higher than her right, her hair was a dark brown with a few strands of red in it, she self conciously kept her palms closed in a fist.

"Time to get back to our cells," Ember said standing up. Her hair rippled in the breeze, dancing around her face. Red now openly stared, fascinated by it. "I'm in if you ever figure out a way off this rock."

"I have friends, we can get out like I said, I know a place..."

"New Elysium?"

He froze. "How do you know about that?" Red's hands turned into fists again. Mistrust flared up, maybe she was a plant. He stared at her, vaguely remembering that their sensors would have more power than anything he had inside.

"Well, that satellite has been signaling down here for a few days on an alternate signal. Calling for a "Dag" and "Red" and mentioning New Elysium. And I have been bored so I switched between feeds when I sit up here... and I caught it."

Red was dumbfounded, "Signal?"

"Can't you hear it?"

"No...but I'm not a Vesper."

"They're your friends." It wasn't a question.

He could only nod as his throat constricted. A signal? "Can you send a message back?" He had a wild hope.

Ember nodded. "I'm not really at full strength, so I'm not sure how far it would go. What should I ask?"

"Ask them to locate a ship you can drive."

Ember raised an eyebrow at him. "You really think that they would have left a vessel like that here when one of the prisoners could steal it."

"Hey, I heard they slaughtered the Vesper pilots along with the AIs." He gave her a bitter stare. "Yet here you are. How did you survive?"

She looked down, closed off again, unwilling to say more.

Red stood and looked down at her, she was much shorter than he was. "Look we've got no reason to trust one another, but we both want to get out of here. I can help you with that."

"You mean I can help you."

Damn, she was going to be difficult.

"Yes, that too."

"I already said I was in." She turned away from him and walked away down the stairs. He watched her go. Other prisoners got out of her way. He noticed she didn't speak to any of them.

Red's throat constricted as something like hope pulsated through his being. There were still people looking for him out there. How many years had it been? He had someone who was possibly the most useful aug in the entire prison. Now he just had to make sure that she wasn't raped or killed during her stay here. She was Neo-Tokyan, so either was likely. Plus he had to keep his own feelings in check. He hated Neo-Tokyo, the elite, their ruling houses, and their system of governance entirely.

But mostly he hated how he'd once served it so willingly.

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