Jack's Wage Slavery Pt. 02

"Y-yes sir."

"Meet us at his door." The line went dead.

The Major nodded to her team and they rushed across the road and up the street, the Altarians at their heels. They descended the stairs and rushed into the open basement door until they were all inside.

The team stood before a small, elegantly dressed older woman with dark skin. She was wearing a sad smile on her face. She opened her arms and pulled Cha'Risa into a hug and the big woman began to cry. An equally dark skinned man with short grey hair stepped into the room after locking the door they'd entered. He pulled Nann into a hug as well. Maxim and Leo looked lost and the older man shook their hands once he released Nann.

"I know you don't have much time so speak with Ray's construct and we'll get you on your way. You have some murderers to expose," the man growled.

"Ray's construct?" Nann asked.

"Hello Nann."

The woman spun and shrieked as she saw Ray looking at her from the display mounted on the wall.

"Ray?" the Major asked.

"Sorry Major, this is just a poor imitation of me. I've been uploading copies of my memories and personality matrix at intervals for years and incorporated that into a rather clever AI algorithm I wrote. It was triggered to be activated upon my death. It isn't sentient but it's as close as I could get and as current a copy of me as I could make. It knows all my tricks for hacking and cyber espionage. I assume you are looking for my data cache?"

"Yes!"

"You won't have time to get it from this location. You're going to have company in about three minutes. Point your comm at the screen. I'll give you the alternate location. Then you have to go!"

The Major pointed her comm at the display and it beeped as it received the coordinates.

"Go! You have less than three minutes. Dad, send them downstairs." Ray's simulation barked then disappeared.

"Right! Follow me!" the old man said and rushed out of the room towards the back of the house. The team followed and he led them into a small office against the back wall. He pushed the throw rug aside and lifted a trap door. There was a metal spiral staircase descending below the floor. Gee and Bal immediately rushed forward and dashed down the stairs with mini flashlights in their hands. The team followed with the Major going last.

"We will get them sir," she said.

"I know. Make them pay," he said seriously. She nodded and rushed down the stairs.

As she descended she heard a rumbling and looked up to see a large metal plate moving into place over the staircase. At the base of the stairs was a long tunnel leading east. Gee and Bal had already set off. The moment she arrived the others ran down the tunnel. There was a steel door at the end and Gee and Bal had it open. A wide tunnel ran north and south.

"North for 1 kilometer then we exit. Let's go!" the Major said glancing at her comm. Ray's simulation left her instructions as well as the address for the next data cache location. Tokyo? Shit.

They made it to the staircase leading up and found themselves in a maintenance shed. Nann cracked the door and peered out as a police cruiser raced by down the alley. "Geezus, we've stirred up a rat's nest."

"The old van in garage #24 across the lane belongs to Ray. The lock combo is 38-24-36," the Major read out.

Nann snorted. "Aren't those your measurements, Major?"

The large warrior blushed and scowled at Nann who just laughed. She looked outside again. "Clear."

She moved across the lane and undid the lock. Once the large garage door was open the rest of the group hustled across and climbed into the back doors of the van. There were two benches along the walls with handholds, obviously designed for a commando team. Nann rushed up and took the driver's seat while the Major settled into the passenger's seat.

"Hello again!" Ray's voice popped out of the dash and Nann jumped with a little squeak. The Major smirked at her while Nann's face burned.

"The windows of this van project and image of an elderly Hispanic couple so just drive sedately and you shouldn't have any trouble. If you do have trouble the van is armored and supercharged. The red button on the dash under the flip plate should only be used as a last resort."

"Paranoid much?" Nann said.

"You're saying this now?" Ray's voice asked.

Nann looked at the Major with a disturbed expression. It was too much like Ray, it was making her forget he was dead.

They got underway and followed Ray's advice, keeping their speed down and driving timidly. They made it out of the neighborhood and on towards the extraction point.

Ray's voice cut back in. "How do you plan to get to the next location?"

"Gate," the Major said.

"I'm reading that all Gates are in lockdown." Ray said.

"We have our own," Nann offered.

"Really? That's great! How close to it are we?" Ray asked.

"Three kilometers, why?" the Major asked.

"It's time to hit the red button. Like now!" Ray yelled and Nann flipped the cover and pounded the button. There was a huge flash outside the van and vehicles all around them including the two police cruisers racing up behind them, lost their lift fields in the massive EMP burst. Nann slammed the accelerator down and the van shot forward, destroying the illusion of its elderly driver.

She poured on the speed, careening through the city streets, bumping other vehicles to add chaos to the road behind them. Twice she had to make radical course changes to avoid the police blockades.

"Nann, take the next right then a hard left into the first alley. Get to the end and the alley across the main road has our Gate." Cha'Risa called out.

She swung them to the right and barely dodged and oncoming police cruiser which spun in place and took up pursuit down the alley Nann shot them into.

"OK, time for me to take over. Get into the back and strap in, fast!" Ray called out. Nann and the Major exchanged a quick look then unbuckled and jumped between the seats to buckle themselves in with the others. They grabbed the hand holds as a metal panel slammed down between the driver's compartment and the back throwing them all into darkness.

The van accelerated towards the roadway ahead when a police cruiser skidded to a halt at the far end, blocking their exit.

There was a loud pop in the back of the van and suddenly everyone was encased in impact gel. The van's nose dipped to grind against the pavement when the back cabin exploded upwards in a ballistic arc over the cruiser, over the road, and into the alley beyond. The compartment crashed down with a mighty boom and tumbled end over end until it just... disappeared. A brick wall suddenly snapped into place where they'd tumbled only moments before.

The badly dented metal compartment finally came to rest on a field of sand and rocks. It was night where they'd emerged and the closest man made light source was a very dry three day walk to the east.

The two Tik moved to the wreckage and using their powerful tentacles they carefully peeled back the metal walls. The moment the external pressure was removed the gel began to fracture and dissolve.

Maxim and Leo burst free gasping for breath. While the gel was porous enough to breathe in it did trigger claustrophobic reactions.

They looked around in shock until their eyes adjusted to the moonlight.

Major Ash and Nann broke free next and assisted the Altarians who both seemed dazed. Once they were freed they found a flat space on the ground and laid down. The Tik scanned them for injury but found them to be just badly shaken and disoriented.

"Where are we?" Maxim asked.

"Australian outback," one of the Tik offered.

"Our next destination is in Tokyo but the instructions say we can't arrive before 9PM," the Major sighed.

"Major Ash, we will need time to recharge as the Gate we had to rapidly alter consumed a large quantity of our energy. We can reach sufficient charge by 8PM local time."

"OK... but there isn't exactly anyplace close by to plug in," she gestured around them.

"There is plenty of sunlight. We will shut down into maintenance mode and deploy our collectors. This is why it will take until 8PM," it replied. She nodded and walked over to the bent open van compartment.

"Maxim! Leo! Help me flip this beast upside down. This will be our shelter from the sun today."

The two Tik also lent a tentacle or two and the makeshift cave came into being. It wasn't huge but they would be sheltered from the sun. They could take turns sleeping on the ground three at a time while the others sat in the open ends keeping watch under an awning made from the roof's sheet metal, torn and bent into shape by the Tik.

"Major." Gee called out weakly.

The large woman knelt down beside the Altarian.

"I would like to request that the next time such a means of travel is decided upon, we get thrown from the vehicle first." Gee said with a wobbling voice.

"Seconded." Bal croaked.

The Major grinned down at the dizzy agents. "If ever we find ourselves in that situation again I will personally leap from the back door with you both in my arms."

Gee patted her knee and slumped to the ground waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Cha'Risa stood up and joined Nann at the side of their shelter.

"Now for our next trick all we need to do is endure a day in the outback with no water," the tall red head said quietly. She shared a look with the Major.

It was going to be a long day.

Chapter 16

An antiseptic scent burned in Jack's nose as he awoke in a strange brightly lit room. He relaxed the moment he spotted Eve sitting in a chair next to his bed with Joseph in her arms. She smiled at him then her expression turned into a scowl.

"You must stop antagonizing First!"

"I just said what needed to be said," he frowned.

"It hurt you badly this time." she said in concern.

"What?" he mumbled.

"You were screaming in your sleep. About being on fire." She had a haunted look in her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I frightened you. It was bad this time but I wouldn't change what I did," he said stubbornly.

They were silent for a while. Eve watched Joseph sleep and Jack watched her.

She looked up at Jack and held his eyes. "They went mad."

His eyebrows went up. "Who did?"

"The monitoring personnel. The ones who were linked to you. When we had sex."

"What?" Jack looked at her, shaken.

"When I was in First's office they were trying to determine what happened to them. They think it's your collar. It was designed by the Prime. They don't have any other collars that can match it. They said it has far more... no, much wider bandwidth than anything they have. It saturates the feed and overloads those connected to it. They feel too much. Two of the monitoring staff were still connected when Drew punched you. One went into shock and the other flew into a rage and triggered the kill setting on Drew's collar. The other two, who disconnected before the attack, became excessively violent when they tried to stop it... but it turned on them. They killed each other. Only the catatonic one is still alive. That's why they didn't respond when we called for help."

Jack had a bad feeling forming in the back of his mind. "Why am I here in this... hospital room? Is this a hospital?"

Eve looked worried. "I've never been in this building before. No one aside from the Allsa Komanae are allowed in this building. It's where they go when they start wearing out."

Jack raised his eye brows at Eve.

"I've been around them for longer than anyone. I've seen them before and after a visit to this building. They always return refreshed and sharper of mind. I- I've seen their organics... before and after. No one pays attention to me."

"Their organics?" Jack asked quietly.

"The Allsa Komanae are largely cybernetic. They are geniuses with this tech. But their organics are... ancient and horrid. They all come back here for refreshing."

Jack leaned back and thought about that. He was currently inside a building where outsiders were forbidden. Where the Allsa Komanae migrated to replace their worn out organic body parts. There had to be a way to use that to his advantage.

"Did they mention why we were brought here?" he asked.

"No. First was... extremely agitated when it discovered what happened in the monitoring center. It was screaming at the others that you weren't to be used for sex games. I've never seen First lose control of its emotions like that. It ordered that you be brought here and sent me with them after we picked up Joseph from the infirmary. The baby is healthy and they gave me food for him. You mentioned the child should have been breast fed so I told them he needed liquid nourishment." She gestured to a bag on the floor. "I have several meals prepared for him."

Jack smelled something particularly foul. He looked at the baby and wrinkled his nose. "I think Joseph made a deposit in his..." he frowned. "Does he have something to wear?"

"The medics made him some small tunics. They're in the bag. He does smell very bad," Eve held her nose away from the infant.

Jack needed to do a little exploring to see if he could find a way to strike back at their captors. Maybe he could use this. He looked around. "Does this room have a washroom? Someplace we could clean Joseph up?"

"This building was never designed to have anyone but an Allsa Komanae in it and they don't need washrooms." Eve admitted.

"Perfect," Jack smiled.

He slipped from the bed and approached the comm panel by the door. He pressed the call button. Moments later someone responded.

"What do you want?"

"The baby has evacuated its bowel and I need to clean it up. I need access to water, clean cloths and waste disposal." Jack said with a calm voice.

"Send the female out to do this. You must stay in the room."

Jack smiled. "The female has never done this before with a human child. I must show her how it is done so that she may do it in the future. If it is not done right the child will develop sores on its body which will become infected and the child will die. The Prime wouldn't like that." Joseph chose that moment to begin crying. "Already the female waited too long to notify me of his condition and the infant's skin has become irritated. I hope it isn't too late."

There was a period of silence. Jack hoped they were panicking, or better, calling First to get permission. If it was in as bad a mood as Eve suggested-

"Stand back from the door! We will take you," burst from the comm.

Jack moved back to the center of the room and Eve stood beside him with the squalling baby. He took the child into his arms. He noticed Eve had tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"I waited too long to tell you and the child is in danger," she whimpered.

Jack leaned in close. "No, I just said that to make them panic. The baby might have a little diaper rash but this is easily treated." He gave Eve a quick kiss and she squeaked. When he pulled back she was giving him a confused but heated look.

The doors opened and the three guards on the other side saw them gazing into each other's eyes.

"NO SEX! NO SEX!" the center yelled at them. The other two twitched.

Jack stood up straight and looked in surprise at the guards. Obviously First had left very strict instructions. He nodded and the three leaned back as Joseph's cries escalated in volume.

"We need to be quick!" Jack said.

The center moved down the hall to the left and the other two pointed so Jack moved and Eve followed.

They passed several rooms with Allsa Komanae working on others and Jack almost got to see one unhooded but the guards behind them pushed them forward.

Joseph's cries began to get truly plaintive. "Are we close? He can't take much more."

The leading guard stopped and spun around. It set off down a maintenance access way and opened up the first door they came to. Jack followed it in and saw the room was filled with tall silver canisters. Three closed canisters were sitting on some kind of conveyor setup against one wall. Mechanical arms mounted on the ceiling lifted three empty canisters from the conveyor and placed them in three empty slots on a pallet of empties. The three closed ones slowly moved through an opening in the wall and were gone.

Against the opposite wall was a sink and a flat work surface next to it. Jack laid Joseph on the surface and undid his blanket. The odor that came out was horrific and Jack had to lean back to avoid the worst of it.

"Oh my god that's foul! I'll need a towel to clean him and a new tunic from the bag." Jack gasped and looked back at Eve. She stared wide eyed at him.

"I didn't bring the bag," she squeaked.

Jack was delighted but he put a shocked expression on his face then turned to the center guard. "I need the bag." The lead guard sent a burst of static at one of its underlings who promptly rushed away. One down.

"There are no towels in the bag." Eve said as Joseph began to wail in earnest.

The lead guard hissed again and guard number two rushed away. Two down.

Jack quickly opened the towel all the way and there it was. Black and reeking like nothing he'd ever smelled before. He had no idea why newborn shit was black but it was nasty. Jack gagged and the last guard hit the door jamb in its haste to flee.

Jack quickly looked at Eve. "What's in these containers? Can you read this?" he said pointing to the strange scribbles on the sides of the canisters.

"It says 'Prime Source Growth Nutrients' but I don't know what that means." Eve read.

Jack lifted Joseph's feet and carefully wiped up as much of the black goo as he could onto the towel. "Stand here." Jack said to Eve to watch over Joseph.

As he turned the center guard stepped back into the room.

"Oh god it's dripping!" Jack shrieked.

The Allsa Komanae hit the side of the door once more as it fled.

Jack quickly moved to the full canisters and opened the seal on the nearest one. He scraped the gooey, dripping contents of the towel into the opening. He got the lid closed and rushed over to the sink just as the guard with the bag rushed into the room. The guard with the towels stepped in moments later followed by the leader as Jack washed the original towel in the sink. He got the remnants of the goo washed from the cloth and figured out how to make the water the right temperature for wiping the baby's bottom clean. He demonstrated this to Eve and he wiped the tiny bottom carefully until it was clean. There was just a little redness.

"It looks like we've managed to avoid the sores. His skin only looks slightly irritated," he said watching the lead guard as it walked around the canister loading mechanism. Jack began to sweat, worried it would spot something about the one he'd opened.

"Do you have some talc powder?" he asked the lead guard who jolted to a stop.

"NO! WE HAVE NO TALC POWDER!" it shouted at him. Obviously it was still a little upset.

The loader's arms lifted the tampered canister with its two neighbors and placed them onto the conveyor. Jack never looked at it directly but he looked into the cowl of the lead guard whose back was now to the conveyor.

"Cornstarch?"

"NO!"

"Fine." Jack said with a pout as he saw the conveyor move the canisters into the wall. He had no idea if his little act of rebellion would do anything or have any effect but it felt damn good to make the attempt at least.

Joseph had calmed as he was naked and clean.

Jack turned back to the guards. "How about some diapers?"

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT DIAPERS ARE SO... NO! NO DIAPERS!"

Joseph began to cry again.

"Tell it we don't have diapers," the lead guard growled.

Jack changed the baby as best he could and they were rushed back to the room.

Once they were alone Eve took Joseph and prepared to feed him from one of the bags of 'milk' she'd gotten from the medics. It had a spout which she was about to put into the baby's mouth.