Categories > Games > StarCraft > Steel, Soul, and Spirit
Chapter 2: Breakaway
0 reviewsThey were created by the Terran Dominion, secret weapons forged from Zerg flesh and Terran steel. They were the ultimate war machines, unstoppable on the battlefield. They were incapable of questio...
2Original
/STEEL, SOUL, AND SPIRIT/
By
Gregory P. Wong
Chapter 2: Breakaway
Cassandra jumped in shock when she heard the door to the bay cycle open. Normally, she had used a specially designed lockout program to keep it from opening immediately. She spied the figure of Charles Thurston entering the bay. In the dark, he probably would not see her clearly. She quickly finished her final encoding and threw the copies into an incinerator bin. Just in time.
"Hello Cassandra."
"Good evening sir! I was just checking on the Cy-"
"Checking nothing you traitor. I've seen you with your programming. That is one thing you never do. You disobey, and you make me look bad to Mengsk. You got this coming."
Raising his arm, he shot her once in the chest. She collapsed in a heap to the ground. It felt so warm...
Some preachers had told her that your whole life flashed before you. Not true for her. What ran through her mind were only the few months that had first begun with the engineering of the organic Zerg, her decision to rebel against Thurston, and her dubious-at-best decision to use emotions to trigger the switches. Maybe she was getting what she deserved...
As she lay bleeding on the floor, she whispered to Straas and Szcraa "Don't let the take away your free will or your souls! Don't...." Then blackness came.
***
Something happened. Switches and codes fell into place, and the barrier software holding captive their minds fell away. S-213-no /Straas-/was free of his mental bondage. He glanced over and saw S-214-no /Szcraa-/shudder with newfound freedom. Straas stared down at Doctor Govalich, bleeding dead on the floor so that they might gain freedom.... They turned toward Thurston, the murderer's needle pistol still smoking...
***
"Heh heh heh," chuckled Thurston cruelly. "So, that's what you get." He looked out of the corner of his eyes. He saw the two Cyborgs move.
"This is an override code Cyborgs! Return to your places! Code Alpha-Delta-Tango-Bravo!" The damned geneticist had probably nulled the will-suppressing software he had had installed on them. No matter. The override codes were even more deeply implanted than the will-suppressor.
"No," replied S-213.
"What the hell! You can't talk!" he yelped out in shocked surprise.
"It appears he can, as can I," said the other Cyborg, S-214.
"And now, master scientist Thurston, you had this coming..." snarled S-213.
"Noooooooo!" he screamed, raising his needle pistol in defense. His hand scrambled for the remote alarm control.
His scream was reduced to a wet gargle as S-214's scythe cut his throat open.
As his vision faded to red, then black, Charles Thurston regretted ever being born.
***
It felt magnificent. The thought-prohibiting software had been erased, and Straas and Szcraa were "themselves". They had the minds equal to the most intelligent Terrans, and they had free will. A high, keening wail filled the air. The body of Thurston gushed blood on the floor. In his hand lay a device, most likely a remote alarm.
"It seems he has tripped an alarm. The whole Terran Dominion forces will soon be after us," said Szcraa.
"Then let us make an exit," replied Straas. Turning, he lowered the plasma cannons into firing position and blew hole in the holding bay. They stomped through the hole, and began to flee the compound.
***
As he and Szcraa fled from the research facility, the two Cyborgs began to chat over their comm system.
They fled over hills and dunes, passing native scantids that were foraging for food. The insectoid creatures turned and watched the two Cyborgs thundered away.
By
Gregory P. Wong
Chapter 2: Breakaway
Cassandra jumped in shock when she heard the door to the bay cycle open. Normally, she had used a specially designed lockout program to keep it from opening immediately. She spied the figure of Charles Thurston entering the bay. In the dark, he probably would not see her clearly. She quickly finished her final encoding and threw the copies into an incinerator bin. Just in time.
"Hello Cassandra."
"Good evening sir! I was just checking on the Cy-"
"Checking nothing you traitor. I've seen you with your programming. That is one thing you never do. You disobey, and you make me look bad to Mengsk. You got this coming."
Raising his arm, he shot her once in the chest. She collapsed in a heap to the ground. It felt so warm...
Some preachers had told her that your whole life flashed before you. Not true for her. What ran through her mind were only the few months that had first begun with the engineering of the organic Zerg, her decision to rebel against Thurston, and her dubious-at-best decision to use emotions to trigger the switches. Maybe she was getting what she deserved...
As she lay bleeding on the floor, she whispered to Straas and Szcraa "Don't let the take away your free will or your souls! Don't...." Then blackness came.
***
Something happened. Switches and codes fell into place, and the barrier software holding captive their minds fell away. S-213-no /Straas-/was free of his mental bondage. He glanced over and saw S-214-no /Szcraa-/shudder with newfound freedom. Straas stared down at Doctor Govalich, bleeding dead on the floor so that they might gain freedom.... They turned toward Thurston, the murderer's needle pistol still smoking...
***
"Heh heh heh," chuckled Thurston cruelly. "So, that's what you get." He looked out of the corner of his eyes. He saw the two Cyborgs move.
"This is an override code Cyborgs! Return to your places! Code Alpha-Delta-Tango-Bravo!" The damned geneticist had probably nulled the will-suppressing software he had had installed on them. No matter. The override codes were even more deeply implanted than the will-suppressor.
"No," replied S-213.
"What the hell! You can't talk!" he yelped out in shocked surprise.
"It appears he can, as can I," said the other Cyborg, S-214.
"And now, master scientist Thurston, you had this coming..." snarled S-213.
"Noooooooo!" he screamed, raising his needle pistol in defense. His hand scrambled for the remote alarm control.
His scream was reduced to a wet gargle as S-214's scythe cut his throat open.
As his vision faded to red, then black, Charles Thurston regretted ever being born.
***
It felt magnificent. The thought-prohibiting software had been erased, and Straas and Szcraa were "themselves". They had the minds equal to the most intelligent Terrans, and they had free will. A high, keening wail filled the air. The body of Thurston gushed blood on the floor. In his hand lay a device, most likely a remote alarm.
"It seems he has tripped an alarm. The whole Terran Dominion forces will soon be after us," said Szcraa.
"Then let us make an exit," replied Straas. Turning, he lowered the plasma cannons into firing position and blew hole in the holding bay. They stomped through the hole, and began to flee the compound.
***
As he and Szcraa fled from the research facility, the two Cyborgs began to chat over their comm system.
They fled over hills and dunes, passing native scantids that were foraging for food. The insectoid creatures turned and watched the two Cyborgs thundered away.
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