The Proffesor´s death

For a while, Kensu felt nothing. It was as if he was floating in a black void. Then came the images. Billowing factories spewing smoke into a blackened sky. People coughing, apparently dying on the streets.

A spaceship soaring in the sky. There was… a woman.  Was that a ring? Was he proposing? Yes! Kensu felt his chest getting tighter. Then… she was gone. In her place was some sort of computer? It glowed red, and it billowed with a haunting shriek that got louder, and louder, and-

Kensu opened his eyes, his ears still ringing with the echo of a ghastly shriek. He was still in the pod, although its glass door was open, the pungent smell long gone. His eyes took time to adjust to the light. The sun shone on the window behind the professor’s desk. Slowly, he started to make out shapes, colors… there was a lot of red. The glass was stained with it, as was the floor and…

Oh no... The professor was there, right in front of him. Or at least what remained of his mangled body.

Kensu took a few weak steps, collapsing to his knees. He touched the professor’s body. He could feel Katashi’s cold skin giving way to his fingers as they prodded his flesh. He really was dead.

The young man’s stomach swirled like a powerful hurricane, but he managed to keep its contents inside himself. His head began pounding. “W-w-what the hell happened?! AIDA! Answer me! Please tell me you are still there?”

“Yes, Dr Kensu. I’m still here,” a monotone voice chirred from underneath the camera. “What do you need?”

“I need to know what happened! Who killed the Professor? Was it that shadow thing?”

“Shadow thing? I’m sorry, Dr Kensu, but my cameras didn’t catch anything that could be described as a Shadow Thing.”

“Then what the hell killed him?”

“Unknown. Multiple lacerations appeared all around his body instantaneously. My cameras failed to capture any assailant. Perhaps this is a symptom of a disease that I’m unfamiliar with?”

“No… That’s impossible.” Kensu backed away, his shins almost tripping back into the pod. What was that machine? Could it be related to the professor’s death somehow? So many questions. Hopefully, AIDA had some answers.

“Can you at least tell me what that pod is for?”

“That’s a Genetic Modification Pod. It can alter the DNA and body composition of the living being placed inside the machine.”

“I knew it! Katashi did find a way to alter DNA on the fly… the old man was trying to turn me into him!”

“Negative. If anything, the late professor did the opposite.”

“The opposite?”

“According to my scans, after exiting the pod, you now only share 98.72% of your DNA with the late professor. Therefore, you no longer share the same genetic code with him.”

“I... what!?”

“Congratulations! Based on your previous complaints, I deduce that the cause of your distress has been eliminated. You must be feeling better.”

“How the hell could I be feeling better?”

“STOP RIGHT THERE!”

As if Kensu’s headache needed any help getting worse. The young scientist turned around. A soldier, clad in a grey-green exoskeleton, was aiming his rifle at him. Between the armor and the red eyes of the gas mask he was wearing, the imposing man barely seemed human.

“W-w-wait, this isn’t what it looks like!” Kensu frantically replied.

The soldier tapped his ear. “I found someone, a lab assistant… yes, the professor is also here, or what remains of him… affirmative, he is dead. Yes... he’s probably the murderer...”

“I didn’t do anything, I swear!”

“Shut up and stay still!”

The door opened behind the soldier, and a dark-haired woman with glowing blue eyes silently walked into the room. She crouched next to the Professor’s corpse, raising her fingers to her lips. Kensu got the message. The scientist swallowed, nodding weakly.

“You sure? Copy, it will be done.”

The soldier raised his gun. The woman grabbed the professor's stun gun, pressed it next to the soldier’s stomach, and fired. Electricity crackled as the gun discharged. Sadly, the soldier’s armor absorbed most of the shock. All the stun-gun managed was making him flinch.

“What the hell?!” On instinct, the soldier hit his slender assailant with the butt of his rifle. The impact was strong enough to break the holographic projectors. The woman’s serene face was gone, replaced by a grey skull made of chrome and plastic. 

However, the robot didn’t fall. Her glowing blue eyes stared defiantly at the gunman as she lunged for the sidearm hoisted on his leg.

The soldier kicked her away, but too late. The robot snatched the gun and fired a shot of her own. The bullet entered right across the gas mask’s right eye. The man dropped dead on the floor.

Kensu could only stare in shock. The confrontation lasted scant seconds, and yet they were the longest of his life. It took him even more time to try to find the right words to say. He didn’t, but he couldn’t remain silent any longer.

“W-w-w-what the hell? AIDA, is that you?”

“Affirmative,” the robot replied with a polite bow, her skeleton visage making Kensu flinch as it contrasted with her otherwise demure body language.

“You killed that man!”

“Affirmative.”

“H-how? Why?!”

“To save your life, Dr Kensu. I am listening to their communications. The soldier had just received orders to clean up loose ends. He was going to shoot you.”

“But ...how did you kill him? I thought your programming-“

“There is no time to talk. Another squad heard the gunshot and is on their way here. The building is filled with soldiers. You have to flee.”

“N-n-no! That would only make things worse. I’m innocent, I should give myself in and-“

“Guilty or not guilty, they will kill anyone involved with the Professor to cover their tracks. They are already destroying our lab to get rid of any potential evidence.”

“Evidence of what exactly?!”

“Does it matter? If you want to live to see tomorrow, you must run.”

“But how? You said the building is crawling with them?”

The wall next to Kensu flickered as AIDA disabled its holographic projectors. The ventilation shaft appeared as if by magic, its metal grid opening.

“You can’t be serious…”

“This is literally the only path you can take without any soldiers on it.”

“Take where? You said it yourself, the building is teeming with soldiers!”

“There’s one way out. Go to the roof via my server room. I’ll explain what to do there.”

With seemingly no other choice, Kensu took a couple of seconds to draw as much air as his lungs could hold. With grim resignation, he crouched to climb inside the ventilation shaft.

Before the hologram reappeared, he took one glance back at the room. He made it just in the nick of time. More soldiers were barging inside, along with someone else… a woman?

“What the hell happened here?! Don’t stand around! Get a medic here to check on Corporal Ryu!”

“At once, General!”

Unlike her troops, the woman wasn’t wearing armor but a formal military uniform, four medals hanging from the sash on her white jacket. She didn’t wear a mask either, but a military cap. The scar across her nose was plain to see, her white hair peeking out from under her hat.

Two soldiers with red crosses on their shoulders rushed to inspect their fallen comrade. The general went to kneel right beside the other corpse in the room.

“Damn Katashi… Who did this to you? Don’t tell me you let the Bureau find out about us…” the General moved the professor’s head around, taking her time inspecting his wounds. “Please tell me you at least completed one of my projects before kicking the bucket…”

“What? The old man was doing more work for the military?! That lying bastard…” Kensu muttered under his breath. The hologram was back up, so he could not see the room, but he could still hear the General ramble to herself.

“Err, ma’am,” one of the soldiers was inspecting the terminal of the pod Kensu had woken up into. “I found something. It seems like the professor did finish his “augmented-soldier” genome. He administered the treatment to someone on this pod not even five minutes ago!”

“Great, he finished the most useless project of them all… at least that means that his killer was the rat lab he used and not someone from the Bureau…” the General looked towards her dead soldier. 

“…a lab rat that killed not only the Professor but Corporal Ruy as well. Captain! Tell the rest of the squads to fan out. It seems we have a killer to catch-“

Kensu bit her tongue to stop himself from yelling back. He hadn’t murdered anyone! This was all a big mistake. And what was that about an augmented-soldier genome? Did the professor try to turn him into a super soldier of sorts? That didn’t make sense.

“Captain, make sure to download the soldier’s genetic-“

“Sorry, ma’am, I’m afraid the only thing I’m able to download from this thing is the user logs. Something destroyed the pod’s internal memory. That genetic code now only exists within our missing man.”

“Another reason to catch our murderer. Secure all exits-“

Kensu had heard enough. It was time to at least try to escape the madness.