_LOG8_

_LOG8/Entry_1:_ 0700hrs

"Anda Rin, sir. Are you alright?" Detective Lau's voice rings in the air.

"Huh. Yeah, I'm alright, detective. Thank you." Anda says  the detective helps him to his feet.

We are back in the elevator as it climbs to the top floor. Detective Lau shows concern over his key witness:

"What happened, sir?"

"Had my soul pulled out and was on top of a mountain. I know who I am … well, was."

"Ah, the Reverie Program. A very nifty tool you designed, sir. How much do you know, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Up until getting blown to bits at the end of the war."

"Ah, yes. Quite a spectacular scene, right there. But you've still got another 155 years of blank spaces to fill, sir."

"Yeah, I wanted to be pulled out. Felt like I should get the rest from someone."

"Hmm, if I could sum it up in as little words as possible to describe you, sir; it would be 'Icon', sir. Just got a heads up that the Zenith himself is en route to our location. That'll give us enough time to go over the crime scene."

"Crime scene?"

"Yes, sir. We're just coming up to it."

Anda takes in the last moments of tranquility the elevator radiates as he can feel the uncertainty grow within him before they reach the top floor.

_LOG8/Entry_2:_ 0702hrs

The little opening offers a peek into what's on the  top floor. But Anda can only make out how pitch black it was and he knew it's not because of the lack of light. The elevator comes to a stop and Detective Lau slides the grill open to enter the floor first as he studies Anda's behaviour.

Anda then realizes the walls have been charred to an abyssal darkness and may have found the source of the smell that's been lingering in the building's top floors. 

What were once walls that made out the apartment units in the rest of the building have seem to melt away leaving only the foundations of the structure that keeps the roof from caving in. The only light source was from the morning light outside coming through a perfectly circular massive hole in the ceiling. It acts as a skylight for the whole world to see what's in the centre of the barren floor. Anda steps out and is taken aback by what's in the middle of the vast and open level.

What's on display is far from anything sightly — the charred remains of four corpses. Each corpse is lying on a pedestal, still intact and have their arms neatly folded over their ribs. Together they made an 'X' formation to line up with the hole in the ceiling with their heads in the middle and their legs facing outwards. The only thing left of them were their bones exposed except for one that still had its burnt flesh smoking into the sky.

Anda approaches the middle of the floor and cannot help but notice the corpse with its flesh still intact, he can identify that it's a woman from the facial structure but what he was drawn to was the expression of her charred face, it wasn't agony or anguish — it was solace. Her face exudes an air of peace and acceptance of her life ending. Anda is unable to take his eyes off the sight. Detective Lau breaks the silence with an assuring tone:

"They were already dead for about two days when their bodies were incinerated, sir."

"They're not augmented?"

"No, sir. Top-O-the-line prime human DNA was found from the samples I took. The first findings of fully natural humans for over 150 years."

"Who are they?"

"No leads on their identities. The lady over there is almost sixty-years-old but facial re-imaging shows the complexion of a healthy thirty-year-old. The other three males are slightly older. They're all somehow related, so it leads me to believe they were conceived the good ol' fashioned way."

"What else did you learn from the samples you took?"

"Just from their bones, forensic anthropology indicates they had a pristine diet coupled with a living environment that exposes them to an above average muscle and skeletal growth. Probably gained from genuine labour and a routine to survive in their habitat because their physiology would match a prime twenty-something elite athlete during the pre-Aug era."

"How did they survive without any Augs?"

"Firstly, they're not exposed to the radiation on the surface. They can't be living off world either cause living in a low-gravity habitat would show poor physical attributes. They won't survive in sub nautical cities either. Their lungs would probably implode."

"Kinda suggests there's a Garden of Eden somewhere."

"I haven't come to that conclusion, sir. I'm leaning towards the four of them being the horsemen of the apocalypse, sir."

"You know, I'm starting to feel this 'sir' nonsense I get from you is a load of bull."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, sir. I have always been an admirer of your work. I've set my attitude proficiency higher so you don't get the wrong impression of me. Speaking of impressions guess those didn't make any to get your attention."

Anda traces with his eyes to what the detective is referring to and finds more corpses! But these bodies weren't as ceremonious as the four in the middle. What Anda thought was mounds of debris that surrounded the middle turned out to be the remains of Augs.  Their bionic implants bend their bones to grotesque positions, while their augmented limbs are warped out of shape.  

The Detective records and analyses Anda's genuine look of disbelief and shock, then finally says something when he's sure of his observations:

"The Zenith is approaching the area, shall we go over any more questions you may have on our way to the lobby…sir?"

"Get me out of here, detective."

As both men make their way to the elevator. They ride the elevator again, this time descending to rendezvous with a much needed familiar face.

_LOG8/Entry_3:_ 0715hrs

The elevator begins to descend, leaving the grisly scene behind with much more questions left to be answered.

"Detective, you've run their DNA on every existing records?"

"The four? Yeap, but nothing came up from data that predates the war either. Whether it was intentionally wiped is up to debate. The other 39 are the tenants of the building," the detective says as he takes out a tobacco case and rolling paper from his inner coat pocket slightly revealing the number of side arms he's carrying.

"It looked like a funeral pyre" Anda says while observing the detective rolling his cigarette almost therapeutically.

"A rather elaborate one, if I may so myself. It was a meticulously controlled explosion, not a typical arsonist's handiwork. Scans show mixtures of aluminum compound, iron oxide, traces of magnesium and thermite. Thermal mapping of the area during the incident recorded heats of up to fifteen-hundred degrees Celsius" the detective explains as he finishes rolling his cigarette and offers it to Anda.

"No, thanks. So, what's your take on all this, detective?"

"It's not a quadruple homicide since the victims were dead long before their fiery send off.  I can't imagine those Augs willingly thought they were there for a kumbayah moment. So arson, manslaughter and unauthorized hacking of neural controls, at least" the detective says as he puts the cigarette behind his ear.

"Can't believe you're so cool-headed about this, detective."

"I have limiters eliminating any unnecessary stress to my core unit. I've seen worst during the war but not as dramatic. Witness reports said it looked like fireworks before a massive fire erupted on the roof creating that hole, so the perpetrator wasn't hiding it either. I speculate the perp is sending a message."

"A 'message'... a public cremation of surviving members from a self-reliant human race that's been around without anyone knowing?"

"Is that a confession?" The detective asks as he observes Anda for any nervous ticks and signs that tell more than spoken words.

"I don't know. As far as I can tell, I was raised anti-Aug and served against the Augs in the war. Can't put two-and-two together that would explain if I did this" Anda says as his eyes gaze distantly, expressionless not knowing what to make any of this.

"I believe you. Everything is up to the Zenith now" 

The elevator is approaching the lobby of the building and the detective sneaks in one more question for Anda:

"Would you do it, though? To do such a thing as a massive middle finger to all the worshipers of augmentation."

"I don't know" Anda says while he ponders on what's been a spiralling for a few hours since he first regained consciousness.

The detective respects Anda's need for a moment of deep-thought as the elevator comes to a stop at the ground floor of the building.

_LOG8/Entry_4:_ 0719hrs

In contrast to the pit of darkness shrouded with mystery that haunts the top floor, the lobby's pearly floors bounces the sunlight coming through the panoramic entrance of the lobby. The detective slides the door open for Anda to go through first. Between the elevator and entrance, monolithic marble pillars line up on either side. Once they approach the middle of the lobby, Anda gets the signal to wait at the spot as Detective Lau makes his way to the entrance.

The detective begins to speak indistinctly until Anda adjusts his auditory augmentations to listen in on him:

"Hold fire boys, Lau stepping out. Anda is in the lobby awaiting the Zenith" the detective says exiting through the doors as he lights his cigarette.

As the detective finishes his radio transmission, Anda thinks about scanning the building across the entrance for any possible threats and as if having a will of its own, he hears a ping echo to where his eyes are looking. Through the ceiling above him, he can see the building across has dozens of armed individuals who have their sights on him and the detective. The combination of Anda's audiovisual augmentations maps out the building with the simplicities of sonar and electromagnetic waves.

More information pops out from the armaments their packing to the caliber rounds they're using, from the augmentations the sharpshooters have to a transcription of their radio chatter. Anda takes in the overwhelming  influx of data coming in as he stands motionless in the middle of the lobby. He then hears the booms of various jet turbines. He traces the source and his scanners pick up a fleet of single-seater hovercrafts escorting a Harrier jet. Tech specs of the flying fleet and it's respective personnel come flashing in Anda's heads-up display except for the Harrier jet in the middle, it jams his scanner and a radio transmission comes in:

"Been a long-time Anda-San. No use scanning my ship, I mean you no harm. See you in a bit" it's Mase Eo Azan's voice transmitting directly to Anda.

"He can jam my scanners?" Anda directs his thoughts to the A.I that's been guiding him so far.

"Yes, sir. He is the Zenith, after all" the A.I replies characteristically monotonous.

"So what, does that make him God?"

"In the current global context, yes. Biblically— almost, he still needs his technological powerplants on and off-world for terra forming or making it rain fire if he wills it."

As its escorts remain airborne, Mase's ship begins its descent. Its thrust vector creates a vortex of turbulent air on the wide freeway between the apartment and the building across. It seems to have no affect on the detective whose trench coat is flailing until the violent wind puts his cigarette out prematurely. Anda scans the detective out of curiosity and finds he's decked with a dozen point-44 caliber sidearms under his Kevlar trench coat. As for augmentations, he's almost entirely cybernetic.

The Harrier jet touches down and the cargo ramp opens. Mase in a navy blue modern cut double-breasted suit is emphatically adorned with a war-bonnet on his head made of gold pieces instead of feathers. He has an entourage behind him that's uniformly dressed in  full length grey capes and  chrome metallic helmet. They make their way to the entrance and Mase share a few words with the detective. Anda tries to listen in though Mase's words are indecipherable and Anda can only pick up Detective Lau's exchanges:

"..."

"Mr. Anda tells me he stopped his Reverie simulation after the Rainmaker protocol blew him to bits."

"..."

"Nope. My sensors didn't detect he was lying. He genuinely doesn't remember if he was at the crime scene or not."

Mase signals his group and Detective Lau to stay outside. The entourage opens the lobby door for him and removes his War bonnet, revealing the face Anda last saw in his simulations. Mase approaches the centre of the lobby smirking at Anda's vain attempts to scan him for his augmentations.

"Jeez, Anda-san. There! Scan all you want."

Anda's HUD is flooded with Mase's specification, he's fully augmented! Anda shrugs off Mase's remarks by saying:

"I'm still getting used to the Augs, Mase-san. It's really nice to see a familiar face" Anda says as he bows his head.

"I'm glad to have you back, Anda-san" Mase replies as he returns the gesture of respect.

"Back?"

"Yea, let's head to your floor and talk about it there" Mase says signalling to the elevator.

They both head to the elevator and while Anda is still wrapping his head around the hell he's been through, Mase notices Anda's stress levels are through the roof and breaks the silence

"Before we go any further. You alright to have this compiled under a new log?"

"Sure thing, I don't know how to—"

"Rhona, please file these recordings on a different log" Mase says while they enter the elevator before sliding the door shut.

"Most certainly, Zenith Mase" the voice in Anda's ear replies.

_LOG8/END:_ 0725hrs