Brotherhood of the Machine (IC Thread) [PG/14] {02}

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx followed along wordlessly and without complaint or resistance as Doctor Sally led him through the hallways, his head drooping lower and lower as he walked. When led into Sally's office, he quietly sat down in one of the chairs with his head hung low in shame, looking very much like a child that knows they just did something very bad.

[Azlan]

Intensely focused, Morgan narrowed his eyes as he prepared for the next step.  A few sweat drops beaded on his forehead as he took a long breath and the he moved, lightning fast.

A small tuft of green drifted and settled on the floor, an expert cut had pruned his bonsai to perfection.  The plant truly beamed, ever so happy to be next to his new table fountain with the fox statues.

Morgan placed the pruning shears in their small tray and returned the kit to its drawer.  Removing the excess tree bits, he checked his calendar and retrieved the last of his remaining gear and placed it in his car.  He opened the garage door and was surprised to find a feral city fox sitting calmly in his driveway.  It blocked his exit from the garage by car so he approached it.  The animal did not seem perturbed by this approach.  He stood in front of the creature, a female it appeared to be, and kneeled down.

"Go away lass, I need to leave."

The vixen tilted her head.

Morgan shrugged, "Well if you are going to hang around, go root the voles up out of my yard.  Those pesky little things."

As if waiting for permission she bounded off to his grass and began sniffing about.  Morgan just shrugged and hopped in his car, heading off towards the base.  He looked back to make sure the fox had not slipped in under his garage door as it closed, but she happily searched about his yard still.

 

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan watched nervously as Jexx was led away by the doctor.

"I'm worried about Jexx," he told Jackson.  "He could be a plant from the Brotherhood without his knowledge.  If there's some kind of programming left in him, he could go off like a timebomb."

[Ryudo Lee]

Jackson shook his head.
"If he were a plant from the Brotherhood, I'd have been shot already.  He's had ample time and opportunity.  No, I think he's going to be alright.  After all that's been done on him, he needs time to reacquaint himself with people." He says. "Our spies have been snooping around, trying to get more information on what was actually done to Jexx.  We've had little success, but eventually we'll be able to crack this mystery.  In the meantime, I've been assured that Jexx is going to be alright, although maybe a little unstable, but we can handle that."

[Tapewolf]

"I'm a bit more concerned about the possibility of dormant conditioning," the doberman replied.  He'd read Impostor by Philip K Dick.
"If there is any such thing it may be triggered only under certain conditions.  Still - if you think that's unlikely, I'll trust your judgement on it."

After all, the same question could be asked of me...

[Ryudo Lee]

"I do think that it's unlikely.  The Brotherhood has never been very good with subterfuge.  Every last spy they've sent into our ranks has been quickly uncovered, and Jexx doesn't fit with how the Brotherhood spies operate." Jackson says.
Jackson takes a long drink from his coffee, eventually draining it.  He places the empty mug on the table.
"And there's something to be said about trust as well.  The rebellion hasn't lasted this long by not trusting people.  Especially people who want to see the Brotherhood taken down." He says.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

The cow cook enter with a cart with enough food for twenty people, and everyone breakfast food know to anhro or man.  "Oh, I didn't know you had company, I would have brought more food."

"That is quite enough Radee...ah I ll let you know if we need more.  Please, leave us for now, dear." said the doc

"Okay You two be good. Just ha'lor if you need anything, or when you are done, you hear!" remarks Radeen as the otter girl pushes her out the door.

Doc Sally turns to Jexx, after closing the door on Radee.  "Jexx, please don't mind her, you can have anything you want from this cart... Goddess, I could feed half the city with this." 

"Jexx, I  If you need to talk, I am willing to listen, or scan you don't mind.?" asks a worried Sally.

PBH

[Tapewolf]

"I can't argue with that, Sir," Dorcan said.  "Perhaps I am being a bit paranoid.  In any case, whatever ails him, I hope he gets over it soon.

"You know, Sir, I can't quite remember what you said earlier.  Did we have a set schedule for today?"

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx's metal hands fidgeted nervously. He looked at the cart of food that was brought in. In all truth, he didn't recognize any of it. He had not in living memory seen anything like what was on the cart. He poked a few of the breakfast foods, before picking up a floppy white mass with a yellow center with his left hand. He tentatively took a bite of it, before making a little sour face at it. He held it in his hand, made his right into a handcannon, and quickly fried the stuff into a black, plasma-charred crisp like he did with the slice of meat back in the forest. He ate the rest of it quickly.
   Then Sally started talking to him, about what he thinks he should do. Jexx, still looking rather meek and small, decided on telling her what he already knew. Which wasn't much, admittedly, but she didn't know that the same thing happened in the forest.
   "Well, um...I really don't know. I don't know what this is about, or what's wrong with me. It's just...I suddenly got this felling to shoot something. I don't want to, but it feels like I have to. And, this isn't the first time it happened...you remember when the rebellion troops hooked up with us in the forest? And they started filing out? There were so many, and...I just felt like I had to shoot them. To keep that from happening, I stumbled into the woods, and let off some shots there. The same thing thing just happened in the food room, but it wasn't as strong, and I just barely got it under control."
   Jexx looked up at Sally. "It was easier to control this time, but I don't want to happen anymore. All I've ever known is the Brotherhood trying to kill me. But the rebellion...aren't. I don't want that to change. I think...you probably should scan my head, and find out what's wrong."

[Ryudo Lee]

Jackson shook his head.
"You guys are on special assignment.  You make your own schedules.  Just keep in mind that you should make a move as soon as possible.  The longer you wait, the further along they get with their construction." He says.

[Tapewolf]

"I'm aware of that, Sir."  Dorcan said.  "I'd like to get our plan of attack finalised this afternoon if possible, for that very reason.  Of course I'm going to be a little biased since I don't really have anything else to do..."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Good, You have a choice...... Jexx, that is what the BrotherHood really wants you to be, a weapon.  If you berserk here in the middle of Rebel HQ or even on a mission.  They win.  You are just going to have to choose... You can be Superman or a supergun.   First, let's see if they left any subroutines in your operation systems.  The Techies should have pick up anything like that, but anything could have awaken since then." says Dr Sally

The doctor scans Jexx with her medical scanner, and also looking at him with her magical eyes.  The magical scan finds deflections in his head.  There is a small part in a cyber part of his mind that was not active on his entrance scans data.  This is unknown shielded flash in  his mind .  Sally downloads her scan for the flash drive for the labrat.
  It could a self defence protocols for Jexx, but only the computer geeks would know for sure.  "I'll send this on to the lab.. In the meantime, try sitting down at the desk and eat something without burning it and the office down." said Sally  She runs quickly down the hall to the lab and ask that they research this with the highest caution.  Sally returns to her office ad makes herself some tea fro the teapot.

PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

   Sally delivered the data from Jexx's brain scan to one of the lab coats, who quickly took it to the tech room. He loaded it up into a terminal, and some other lab coats quickly begin their analyzation of the results.
   What they found was about the most fractured and empty mind they have ever seen a scan of. Right off, they found that Jexx's psyche is, or was, in pieces and barely managed to fit it back together, and not very well either. Further (but not much) analysis would reveal that Jexx's entire brain and neural processes bear the unmistakable sign of deep Brotherhood tampering. More specifically, Jexx's brain has been wiped clean of everything; every brain function completely removed and then reprogrammed from scratch, like any blank computer disk. And this was not done just once, but so many times it's virtually a miracle that Jexx even has any functioning brain processes at all, let alone being even marginally sane. Analysis conclusion would find that the most recent time he was erased, the reprogramming was interrupted by an unknown factor. This left random strings of artificial neural code floating around, which seems to focus roughly around "kill Rebellion", which can explain Jexx's erratic behaviour around large groups of people, particularly Rebellion, but the lines are already degrading. Shortly after his interrupted reprogramming, Jexx's mind somehow managed to spontaneously reassert basic survival instinct protocols. How this happened is completely a mystery, unless Doctor Joywaves also sent data about her own magical probe of Jexx. Then the conclusion might be drawn that Jexx's own unusual magic had something to do with it, as well as the reprogramming interruption. Shortly after that, other necessary functions, such as self-awareness and language, also spontaneously reasserted, until all primary functions were assembled in a poor patchwork configuration, resulting in his current fragment-mind. Jexx has only two years of 'real' memories.
   About the only thing that is certain is this; whoever Jexx used to be before this is utterly gone. Natural recovery is pretty much impossible at this point.

Dr. Joywaves' office

   Jexx listened to Sally when she told him to stop plasma-frying his food, but he was having some difficulty stomaching most of the foods from the cart otherwise because he hadn't eaten such things before. Eventually he gave up and asked if there were any freeze-dried rations around.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"RATIONS!!!.... Okay okay  Do me A favor... Take what you like or what you think you will like into the hanger... You cook? Your meal there.  In fact, I will just take this scone... and you can have the whole cart...Just don't burn up the cart...Goddess I know you are good with your cannons, Jexx.  But It is a little scary see them in a close space like this."   rants Dr Sally....she takes her scone, pushes the food cart to Jexx and directs him back to the hanger/conference room.

"I will see what the Lab came up with your scan in few minutes and I will met you in the hanger."

[Azlan]

Morgan made his circuitous route back to the rebellion base and as he pulled into the compound, he made sure to verify his GPS scrambler was still operating withing normal parameters.  His car could mask tracking and location satellites, short and mid range ground scanners, but it was still vulnerable to visual observation.

Choosing this time to park among the staff spots, he was careful not to park in any marked as reserved.

Not having a great insight into the base layout, Morgan headed to the lounge areas and had a look around.

[Arcalane]

Meanwhile, back in the briefing room, Exo was still going over plans and routes of attack. It had been doing so all night, and was fairly sure that the plan it had prepared would work.

It had even gone so far as to plug itself into the network to more quickly peruse the data available as well as download a few firmware & software updates (designed to tighten security and root out a few bugs in it's target recognition software) as well as more tactical data about the Brotherhood. On top of this, it was also manipulating and surveying a holographic display of the construction site and riverbed, examining every last detail it could find.

[Ryudo Lee]

Jackson shakes his head at Dorcan's comments.
"You guys have free reign to deal with the situation as you see fit." He says. "But I'd put money down on the assumption that Exo has spent all night going over the plans.  He does that sort of thing.  Maybe you should go and find him."
Perhaps it was a little strange that Jackson was calling Exo a 'he' rather than an 'it'?  But that's just the way he is.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx stood in the hallway that Sally shooed him into for a moment, slightly dazed. Eventually, he took the handle of the cart and dragged it with him off to the hanger she directed him to, which was fortunate as he did not know the layout of the Rebellion base himself.
   He hung out in there, out of the way, eating the food after thoroughly cooking it to his own ideal of perfection, until most of it was gone. Then he just stood around, not doing much of anything.

[Tapewolf]

"A good suggestion, Sir." Dorcan said.  "I wasn't sure if he was one to bother with sleeping or not.  I have seen synthetics who do and flesh-and-blood types who don't, so really, anything goes."  Not entirely sure how to excuse himself, he made his way to the briefing room, where sure enough, Exo was still busying himself with the plans.

"How does it look, Sir?" he asked.  "Any improvements over our tentative plan of last night?"

[Prof B Hunnydew]

Sally Finds Jexx in a underused hanger, one that was used more for storage than workshop for vehicles.  About 15 minutes after he finished eating, she walking in on him.

"Okay Jexx I know I did say a hanger, but I would have though you would have gone back to the Briefing room/ hanger I found you in earlier.  Well, this place is as good as my office, I supposes to talk about what the lab coats found,  Yet, if you want more privacy when you should come back to my office.  This data could be a little hard to take, but you may need it to be more personnel.  The Lab coats will be sending a copy of this report to Jackson, and he will keep it secret.  Just know that I am here to help you, Jexx.  the Brotherhood has makes many things which even they can't control, if it will do the most damage to their rivals, all the more reason to make them." remarks the doctor.

"So, Do you want the good news or the Bad news first?"  ask the otter as she sits on a crate...

PBH

[Azlan]

Morgan had finally been directed towards the command center to see Exo and after receiving the needed directions, he headed over to the location.

There he found both Exo and dorcan, "Good day lads, how goes everything?"

Morgan sported fine new clothes and was well rested, he smiled cheerfully at them both.

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx seemed slightly...timid...as Sally approached, most unlike him. His demeanor returned to normal as she stopped next to him and started talking. He listened somewhat nonchalantly, nodding at a few places.
   "Well, I doubt anything you could tell me would do anything but give me more reason to hate the Brotherhood, which I certainly don't mind. But if there really is any 'bad' news, might as well get that over with. Take the worst first and it only gets better from there."

[Arcalane]

The warbot nodded and gestured to the tactical display, pointing at the storage trench.

"Reports and input from personnel suggest that the trench is the best way to get close to the site. Ideally we strike under cover of darkness. Whilst it is not a major advantage, as many of the security personnel will likely be equipped with light enhancement optics, it may well give an edge to our assault. If they do, flashbang grenades may prove highly effective - perhaps moreso than usual."

It then points to a forest line to the southeast of the trench.

"The fake recon operation will set up here and allow itself to be discovered, but will actually have more personnel in the rear to back up the assault. From there we will create a diversionary frontal assault on the facility."

"Meanwhile," it then gestures to one side of the structure, nearest to the trench, "the team from the trench will advance up to here and gain access to the structure. There may or may not be auxiliary entrances via which to gain access. If there are no other ways to gain access then they will perform a flanking assault upon the forces tied up by the front assault group. The defenses will probably be of moderate strength given that the tower is still under construction and is unlikely to have had it's automated defenses installed."

It pauses, to let that all sink in, then continues.

"Either way, each team will be assigned a demolitions expert should the other team be neutralized or their demoman incapacitated. If both survive, demolition of the structure is assured, and in the case of incapacitation of one, the bombs could possibly be transferred."

"I am confident that this will succeed, but I have yet to relay the information to the other members of our team and thus have not recieved any input from them."

[Prof B Hunnydew]

"Jexx, the Brotherhood has left you very soul in rags, and your anger is raging on now because of that, but you don't have the last pieces of their program to piece together the way they want you to be.  Yet, there is somethings left which are dull or dimmed in your mind for their cause.  These dim "memories" are now clouding your judgement somewhat.  What I want to help you do is to find them and heal those false memories away.  I don't know if I can cure them all or If I can find them all this first time.  But we can at least take care of the ones on the surface for now.."  says Sally in a motherly tone.


"Okay,  Jexx, After looking through this scan report.. I think I understand some of my own readings of you.  So, here place your hands on my"says Doc Sally as she holds out her hands out in front of her palm up.  "Now, I want you to just think of the answer to my questions.  This is the first step to you finding your memories or what is left of who you are/were?  Can you do that?"

Sally leaves her hands out and waits from Jexx to place his hands on top of her.

(ooc) If he does with following (OOC)

She breathes soft and deep, and slow.  " breath with me Match you breathing to my"
After three deep breathes in sync with her, She begins

"Think of your mother " a pause" Do you see her?"
"Think of father?" a pause  "Do you hear him?"
" Brother or sister? Are they here?"

Sally watches and see what if anything come to the surface of Jexx's mind... As she also keep a eye on the angry red stabs of memories/emotions from the BrotherHood that seems to twists all Jexx's pain and emotions to blame the rebels.

PBH

[techmaster-glitch]

   Jexx listened with a stoic face as Sally described what happened to him. "Well, that explains a few things..." He muttered softly to himself  as she spoke. She then started talking about attempting to 'heal' him. He cocked his head quizzically as she talked about that. He realized she must be planning to help him with her curative magics.
   With only a slight hesitation, he did as she said, placing his metal hands on top of  hers. He then tried to start breathing as she instructed, matching her slow, deep, controlled breath with his own.
   "Think of your mother...Do you see her?" Saly asked.
   "Mother..." He said slowly. He felt a warm, light sensation as a small, steady stream of Sally's magic slowly flowed to him through their contact. "M...mother? No...I don't think I can see anything..."
   "Think of your father...Do you hear him?"
   Jexx concentrated. His eyes started to unfocus, looking at something beyond the room he stood in. "Father...father...wait, I think...I can hear something..." Jexx's markings, ever so slightly, began to glow. "Father...wait, father? Are you there? Wait, come back..." Jexx shook his head gently. "I thought I heard something, but I lost it." Jexx resumed breathing in synchronization with Sally.
   "Brother or sister? Are they here?"
   "Sisters...brothers?" Jexx's markings suddenly glowed a bit stronger. His eyes also began to aquire the same signature glow. "Wait...I can, no...no, wait, you're not my...brothers..." Jexx's eyes closed. The glow got stronger. "No, go away, you aren't my brothers...stop it...leave me alone, stop hurting me...stop it!" Jexx was now grimacing, and breathing harder and more erratic.

[Ryudo Lee]

Jackson was getting more and more questions and requests from other rebellion soldiers.  Once he had fielded enough questions to satisfy the soldiers around him, he got up from the table and left the mess hall.  As he was walking along the corridors, one of the whitecoats approached him and quietly handed over a report, and then left without a word.  Jackson looked over the report, it was the data that they just collected on Jexx.  Jackson calmly sipped at his coffee as he read the summary and risk expectations.  Jexx is being considered as high a risk as Exo first was, but the whitecoats believe, that with Dr. Joywaves' assistance, they can get through to Jexx, and make him as valuable as Exo has become.  Jackson carried the report back to his office.

Meanwhile at the Brotherhood construction site...

Vehicles with Brotherhood markings approached the site and were flagged towards the materials staging area in the riverbed.  These were fresh materials, along with just a couple of zealots for some added security.  Others dressed in plain clothes and hard hats came around and began unloading the vehicles.  Construction was beginning to move along.

[Prof B Hunnydew]

To Sally

Jexx's mind takes on a empty space with crystal balls or bubbles of memories floating but not connected to any tree or webbing like in a normal person.  Her questions were needed to find any good memories or tree roots and branches.   

With the questions of Mother and Father... She found Jexx's main trunk,  the memories of his first three years, but it was just floating and spinning.  It should be steady, an anchor to everything else.  His trunk was ripped at it's base, yet it was alive.  New memories were growing on the trunk as young leaves. of Jackson, and the team.  But she had to steady his psyche. 

His Mother answer was not a blank, he had no true memories but feelings of love and comfort.    She moved the stump to where these feelings were strongest, but she was also see many red balls.  False memories seemed to be strongest here.
His father answer brought an image bubble and Sally tried catch but it sailed away from her.  She looked and saw these red bubbles grew in numbers.  She soon saw that some had added themself to Jexx's tree  She brush some of these red memories from the tree.  Some popped to leave a red smoke or mist , but they mostly just drafted away to come at her again.    Sally also noticed a red mist or fog around her.  As she watch it change one of the clear memory bubbes into a red one.

"NO " The otter girl yelled as a memory of a kid's birthday party was change to one fully of Brotherhood zealots laughing and joking around as the children died.

"Jexx Jexx come here come here. Please...help me Come here. please." shouts Sally.  She dusted the party bubble off and rubbed trying to get the tainted off and out.  Sally pushed too hard and her hand fell into the ball, but couldn't touch anything inside, expect the young Jexx.  Sally poured her magic into the little Jexx and then the zealots disappeared from the party.    And the party memory became alive fulling Sally's vision.

Jexx finds himself in the body of a three year old cub sitting on a tree stump in front of a cake and candles.  He is at a birthday party with other kids and many balloons.  He has two red toy guns, and a young girl otter sitting to the right of him.  The rest of the rebel team are sitting around them sing happy birthday to him.  But they are all kids, too. That can't be right  Only Jackson is there as the adult who is leading them in the song.

Jexx remembers the scare Zealots who were there just a minute ago, and then Sally called him and pulled him onto this stump.   He is still anger at  at the scary brotherhood goons. He hates them and the many red ballons that are still here.

",,,Happy Birthday to you,  Yeah!.... Now make a wish and Blow out the candles, Jexx!" yells that otter girl, Sally.   

PBH

[Tapewolf]

Dorcan nodded solemnly as Exo outlined the current revision of his plan.
"I'd like to know when we're going to have a formal briefing about this," he said.  "I have a strong feeling that we ought to get down to it sooner, rather than later.  Among other things, we need to finalise who is going in each team, and who is going to command them."

He paused.  "However, I do have one question.  If we're going to be operating in darkness, given that the Brothers likely have internal nightvision or goggles if not, are we going to require nightsights also?  Personally I don't think I'll need them, but the more human members of the trench team are likely to."

[Azlan]

"I have no need of nightvision myself and I concur on the operational meeting.  The sooner we move on their position and neutralize the tower, the smaller the force we need to deal with."

Morgan looked down at his hands, "I prefer not to participate in wanton slaughter and unnecessary death.  I will always do what is necessary though."

[techmaster-glitch]

   Real Jexx calmed and softened a bit, eyes still closed, as Sally inserted herself deeper and deeper into his mind to stabilize him. The glow of his markings dimmed a bit.
   Kid Jexx, in the warped memory bubble of the birthday party, looked slightly dazed. His cybernetic limbs and markings were gone. He was just a little hedgehog cub.
   The three-year-old Kid Jexx looked around, slightly confused and afraid. He looked at all the young figures seated around him, laughing and having a good time, and the safe-looking adult behind them. They all seemed...familiar, somehow...
   His gaze then settled on the otter-girl next to him. "Make a wish? Hee hee...I know exactwy what I wanna wish for!" He then turned to the candles and blew them out, hard. "I want the meanies all dead...those meanies who hurt me all the time, I wanna kill them all! Bam! Bam! I'll kill them all mysewf! Bam, bam, bam! Hee hee, all dead! Bam, bam, boom! Kaboomy! Die meanies! Die!"
   Kid Jexx continued enthusiasticly shooting at make-believe targets with his toy guns.