...Wait, what...?

-Allison

[Wednesday, May 11, 2163 - 14:12]

[Butterscotch HQ > 'Section L' > Hangar 4] 

Allison shook her head to shake off the sleepiness. She was still handcuffed and securely belted into her chair, but she had a blanket. What's more, it was a more comfortable blanket than she had back at the base. She started to recall the absurdity of the previous evening, of the enemy capture, the escape, and the reversal to the current situation: her capture.

She didn't know when she nodded off. She'd been far too apprehensive to sleep, and as if to answer the question, Emilia walked up, waving her ominous index finger. "Morning sunshine! You looked unsettled, so I hit you with a tranquilizer. We slept while you were out, after securing your truck."

Allison's eyes widened, recalling their reckless escape in her four-wheeled death trap. That was the only thing she would've missed, and despite its size and condition, she'd been fortunate enough to be allowed to bring it along. She looked at her beloved, mirrorless, and bullet-hole-riddled truck with gratitude. Emilia flashed a genuine smile. "Once we get all of the incoming bullshit sorted out, we can get that fixed. That's a bit of a while from now though, so don't hold your breath."

Jesse stepped up beside her. "You'll meet our captain, and then likely her boss. Expect a lot of cursing, yelling, and then cursing while yelling, in that order. If we're lucky, we'll all make it out in one piece."

Emilia smirked "I can leave in as many as five pieces. I think I have a higher survival chance." She stuck her tongue out playfully and then directed her gaze towards Allison. "We're going to have to keep you contained until we determine that you aren't a threat to security, not that I expect you to do anything. This is more to make sure you don't somehow transmit our location. It'll take a few extra minutes to land and unload because of the precautions."

Allison nodded as the plane began to descend, granting the small feeling of reduced weight. Emilia paid this no mind and unwrapped a minimuffin that she'd grabbed from somewhere, and presented it to Allison. "It's blueberry. Let me know if you're allergic. I have quite a few flavors."

Allison gratefully took it in her manacled hands, realizing that she'd slept through consecutive meals, and proceeded to discard any notion of manners as she practically inhaled the muffin. It was followed by two more, also offered by Emilia.

In the minutes it'd taken Allison to finish those muffins, a gentle jolt could be felt as the aircraft came to rest. Emilia turned, "This is about to be rather unnerving. Just follow their instructions and everything will be fine."

Moments later, the rear door to the aircraft lowered and Allison, Jesse, and Emilia were greeted by 9 armed figures in almost matching near skin-tight suits. Their faces were obscured by futuristic helms, appearing as if right out of some popular movie in which humans were thrown into computers. The white or purple glowing trim on their suits gave them an ominous vibe. Those in with purple trim had their weapons raised, while those with white stood behind, waiting.

Allison glanced around the facilities to see high walls, befitting of a place large enough to house aircraft, metallic-looking walls void of windows, and a mixture of stadium lighting intermixed with flashing orange and red lights, the type that would usually warrant caution.

Emilia and Jesse raised their hands and stepped forward, exiting the aircraft. Allison followed their lead and stayed close to Emilia. Jesse was separated from the girls and all of them were disarmed, including jewelry. Emilia smirked at the difference in thoroughness between their agency's enforcement team and the undisciplined guards who'd captured them the previous evening. The ones with purple light trim motioned them towards a room at the corner of the hangar. Jesse was being sent in the opposite direction. 

[Wednesday, May 11, 2163 - 14:19]

[Butterscotch HQ > 'Section L' > Hangar 4 > Medical bay 2]

Allison and Emilia were led to a medical room. Once the automatic door closed behind them Allison was relieved of her shackles and both of their clothing. Allison blushed but didn't protest as each of the glowing purple people had their weapons locked on each of them. Emilia, completely unbothered by her nudity, shrugged. "They're all girls. I'm pretty sure most of them aren't ogling you."

"...what do you mean 'most of them aren't'?"

"I'm checking you out" Emilia said teasingly, gazing up and down Emilia. "Hmm, not bad. Seems we're close in size too."

"....eh?!" Allison hastily moved to cover herself and turn away from Emilia's stare.

"Seriously though, you can just borrow my clothes until you get your own."

Allison paused and nodded, remembering that this entire exchange was scrutinized by no less than 4 people, half of which had weapons aimed at them.

"...OK, so, what do I do? It's warm enough in here, but I'd like to get dressed soon if possible."

The women in white trim approached with various instruments. They had blood drawn, and various samples taken. Their basic biometrics were also taken: fingerprints, height, weight, retina scan, and blood pressure.

...And then came a full body scan. The scanner lowered around Emilia first and did scanner things. It beeped and booped and the beings in white came and inspected her. Nothing seemed unusual, at least as far as Allison could tell, and Emilia was moved to the side and proceeded to rummage through a cabinet for a fresh set of clothes.

Next was Allison's turn. She stood at the assigned spot and waited while the scanner scanned. It spun, and as with Emilia, it beeped, booped, and then continued to beep some more. Allison was then approached by one of the white-lit suits with a hand-held scanner. and the other went to stare at something that popped up on the wall.

The image on the wall became clearer as they moved the scanner around Allison's left shoulder and Allison remembered, "Yeah, there's a chip there. It wasn't put there very well, and it pokes from time to time. They tried rewriting my primary chip too, but the inhibitor stopped them. Then they tried to modify that, or so I was told."

"They tried what?!" One of the white suit women shouted, while the other stood in what Allison could only assume was disbelief.

One of the purple people commented, "We're going to need all the information you have on the individuals responsible for that."

"...sure, but... why?"

Emilia clarified, "Trying to make direct modifications to a primary chip is frowned upon and highly suspect. Trying to modify an inhibitor chip is completely illegal... like Geneva II violation levels of illegal. It's also a violation of the Hippocratic oath, if I remember correctly. Even if they're in a different agency, that's not OK, and we'll look into what we can do about it."

"Yes, it is a violation, and it should be pursued." confirmed one of the white suits. "Anyone who tries that shouldn't be in the medical field in any capacity." That same person procured a hospital gown for Allison and then went back to reviewing the image on the wall with the other white suit. They looked like they were discussing amongst themselves, but didn't appear to be saying anything. They then moved around the room, reviewing all sorts of other data before approaching Allison once more.

"You don't seem to be transmitting any outbound signals, and don't seem to have anything to receive signals except for your primary chip, but that extra chip should be removed for a number of reasons. Preferably now, if possible."

"...Oh? OK, please do." Allison lowered the gown, exposing her shoulder.

The white suit next to her reeled back slightly, "I'm... not good with blood."

Stunned sounds came from everyone in the room, including the still-armed purple people. Her other colleague in white spoke, "You're on the medical team! How are you not good with blood?!"

"I have other specialties, OK!?"

"Don't let administration find out, or you might get put on Lambda..."

"...We're literally right here, you know..." Emilia said, incredelously.

Everyone's attention was now focused on the one who mentioned Lambda like it was a punishment. It was then that Allison realized that they had numbers on their sleeves, also glowing with the same light. This one was X19 and her colleague with the aversion to blood was X33. She was unable to see the numbers on the being she'd mentally deemed the 'purple people eaters', and was not inclined to look, as she'd be reminded of the weapons that stayed leveled against her.

X33 scoffed, "You remove it."

"My hands are too shaky for that. I can't even play most VR games without dropping the sensitivity by like 80%."

"...you're medical personnel, right?" Allison questioned.

""Yes,"" They both answered simultaneously.

"...and neither of you can remove the chip that you suggested removing as soon as possible?" The shrugs from the white suits answered in place of words. Allison looked at the purple people eaters.

"I break people, not fix them."

"Knives aren't my specialty."

Allison sighed, "Now what?"

Over at the wall, Emilia looked at the high-resolution image, over at Allison, and then at the remaining occupants of the room. "Hey, Ksi people, would there be an issue if I removed the chip?"

Their helms turned in each other's direction and nodded. "You have everything you need here, right?"

"Yeah. I'll need my field glasses, a change to my medical loadout, and a reestablished link to the Lambda support AI."

The purple agents paused as if deliberating the conditions presented. Emilia continued, "Imagine trying to explain to anyone's boss why not 1, but 2 teams found, yet failed to remove a chip that should clearly not be there. That's going to go over real well after the report about the inhibitor thing."

Everyone except Allison and Emilia gulped, and one of the Ksi agents nodded in defeat, "If you have everything you need, get the job done."

Emilia got to work, briskly walking over to a cabinet and inspecting its contents. She pulled out a pair of glasses and put them on. What came next was the concerning part. The color drained from Allison's face as she caught a glimpse of multiple disembodied appendages. There wasn't much blood left as she watched Emilia remove and replace her left hand and grab some sort of cloth. She stared at Emilia, unsure what to say or even what she was.

"Yeah, that's a common response the first time someone sees me switch hands. You might want to get used to it." Emilia tried to stay cheerful, forcing a smile, but the melancholy was evident in her voice as she approached.

"...uhm...I'll try?" Allison watched apprehensively as Emilia approached and casually opened and closed her left hand. "...be gentle, please..."

Emilia leaned next to Allison's ear and whispered, "Sure thing..." before not so gingerly pushing her down on the examination table. "It'll be over soon." Emilia's smirk paralyzed Allison in fear. Allison's mind went black for an unknown amount of time. She returned to her senses when Emilia leaned beside her, her index finger open, a scalpel sticking out of its tip.

"Hey, you alright? It was just the tip, so I'm already done." Emilia skipped back over to the cabinet and removed her left hand, replacing it with another one. She then grabbed a box and happily brought it over to Allison. Its contents were a collection of cute duck-themed bandages. Allison stared in momentary confusion while Emilia's eyes anxiously urged her to make a selection.

Upon making a choice, Emilia applied some sort of salve to Allison's shoulder, though Allison felt nothing. The bandage was applied and Emilia stepped back, as if admiring her handiwork. Everyone else in the room stared in what could only be assumed to be slack-jawed amazement. One of the medical team muttered, "She just performed an extraction in 27 seconds..."

Emilia ignored their amazement and walked over to the cabinet that she'd retrieved clothes from. She pulled out another set and tossed them to Allison. "They're clean. Oh, and the bandage is waterproof" she smiled.

There are clearly more than a few things wrong with Emilia, Allison thought. She questioned what other quirks this woman had, worried about how she'd be treated going forward, questioned if she'd made a mistake by coming along, and a great many other things. The resiliency of a cute bandage, that she herself got to choose, which was its own degree of luxury in her mind, was nowhere on her list of concerns.