RPG: Biohazard (Page 1 of 3)

Name: Thomas Holston

Age: 28

Occupation:  Mercenary (Currently employed under the CCP)

Appearance: http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w188/mp5srt/swat.jpg
Based off of the dude on the bottom.  He has blonde hair and blue eyes and is about 6’2”. 

Weapon: http://vincentarnold.com/blog/wp-content/images/30.jpg
M41A Pulse Rifle.  Has 3 fire modes.  Single fire and burst fire.  As you can see there is a grenade launcher on rifle.  Carries a K-Bar type knife.

History: When Tom was a kid he always dreamed of joining the CCP mercenary corps.  But Tom always had a problem with authorities.  Formed a friendship with Matt Bor during training as they were always competing against each other to be top of the class.  They graduated at the top in basically a dead tie.  CCP lent them out for a few minor contracts but they have once again been called in by the CCP to escort some top secret something or other into one of the local CCP lab.

Personality:  Like I said earlier, he has problems taking orders.  Very hard on himself and is constantly pushing himself to do better.  Usually when bored he jokes. But when faced with situations is completely focused and rarely talks.

It was raining, as usual, and Leo was starving. This time of year there wasn't too much sunlight, and the local Chinese restaurant was crowded more than any other time of the year. Finally, it was his turn in line.

"You! What you want! Make it snappy, I have hungry people to feed!"

"Noodles. Nothing else."

"Good customer! He make quick order! He know how to succeed! Unlike you, fat boy!" (The cashier goes on and strikes one of the employees for being slow, while giving Leo's order to the cooks.)

Walking into the rain, waiting for a cab with a hot cup of noodles, Leo's phone rang.

"Hartigan."

"Hartigan? Good. Listen, we've got a 118 down on Maynard Street, at Gila Towers. Tracked your GPS, saw you were the only unit nearby. Check it out. Real mess of a case, so I'm told."

"Will do, chief. Hartigan out."

Hailing a cab, Hartigan finished his noodles and set off. About halfway to the hotel, Leo took out his phone again, this time dialing a number he hadn't called in three years.

"Cain? It's Leo. I've got something you might find interesting."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Leo Hartigan
Age: 36
Occupation: Chicago City Police Officer, Inspector of Homicide Division
Appearance: Leo
Weapon: Ryas XP 556 High-Power Pistol
History: Born and raised in the Windy City, Leo knows the streets well, and thought it would be in his best interests to defend it from crime and poverty. He has worked with Cain in several cases before (this okay Val?), although he has rarely seen the retired detective since his dismissal.

Downing the glass of Tsing Tao, Cain topped the bottle and took it to his liquer cabinet and put it away. He should head home now, Becky had already left and Giff had gone a while ago. He went to the sink in the corner of his office and splashed some water in his face. Tired...

beep beep BEEP

"Ughhh..." Cain wiped the water from his face and took his phone out of his pocket. He put it to his ear without bothering to look at who it was.

"Hello." Cain greated half heartedly

"Cain? It's Leo. I've got something you might find interesting." Called the familiar voice.

"You've got the wrong number."

"Mhm, we've got a 118 on Maynard Street at Gila Towers, an apartment complex. It just doesnt look right apparently. I'd appreciate it if you came down here and spared some of your experience before you croaked."

"I'm tired, i'm going home." Cain said popping a DM12 pill into his mouth.

"Sure. K i'll see you there in about 15." Leo hung up.

Cain was tired...but Leo was somewhat insistant. Well, Cain appreciated an interesting case when he could get them. He grabbed his trench coat from the rack behind his door and his blaster from his desk, clipping it into his holster.

------

Cain pulled up to Gila Towers in his spinner, a token from his days as a Blade Runner and then detective. http://www.rot13.org/~dpavlin/bladerunn … oncept.JPG   It still flew, however after his dismissal from the force he is unauthorized to fly.

He got out of the Spinner, closed the door and was making his way to the lobby doors when something passed his face and hit the floor at his feet. He looked down; a large drop of blood. He looked up; blood was dripping down the side of one of the balconies and had made its way to some other balconies below. Several large drops had made it down to the ground level now.

"Jeez..."

The lobby for Gila Towers was standard. The doorman stood being interviewed by Leo, Cain made his way to him.

Two street cops taking notes from some other residents in the lobby noticed Cain enter, and one was making his way to Cain. Cain recognized him, an idiot. And the officer surely recognized him. Cain's dismissal from the force through the Mayor's power was well known through the different divisions.

"What are you doing here Cain? Nothing for you here." The officer said, unknown symbols flickering through his visor's HUD.

"I'm walking. What are you doing here?"

"I'm arresting you. Thats I'm doing..."

Just then Leo comes from behind the officer and puts his hand on his shoulder. The officer looks to Leo with a face of resignation and walks off giving a skeptical look to Cain. Cain and Leo then began to make their way to the turbo lifts. Their conversation continued through the ride and till they reached the 78th floor.

"Doormans over there. I already talked to him and got a description of a weird perp who walked in here right before the murder. Tall, orangelit goggles, hat, trenchcoat and a black suit. He was wearing a skimask to cover his face and when the guy grabbed his shoulder he felt hard, so he's probably very muscular or wearing body armor of some kind. It matches the description the girl in the apartment gave." Leo explained to Cain. Cain noted the similarity of this suspect to Gerric, but made no mention of it.

"Girl? Who?"

"Its in her apartment. The street cops tell me she was getting raped by the victim when the suspect broke in and beat the guy to a pulp."

"Have you seen the body?"

"No I was getting a print out from some security cams of the suspect. They should be showing up soon. But lets check the body first."

They walked out of the turbo lift and past some crime scene investigators taking clues and data from the scene. They walked down the halls until they reached a door swamped by CSI's and cops and knew they were at the right place. They strode in.

Gristly scene, but both Cain and Leo had seen worse. The girl was on the couch being questioned by Detective Giff, the bathroom door had been nearly bashed in, and the balcony...well the balcony was a mess.

Cain and Leo moved past Giff, not greeting him so he could continue his questioning. They took a look at the door first. It was an older wooden, swinging door. Not a metallic sliding door.

"This was definitely the victim's job. I'm guessing the suspect would have crashed through here with no trouble with what he did to the victim." Leo said taking a look at the body on the balcony in a pool of blood. Cain nodded and Leo beckoned him over to the body.

Leo bent down and examined the mush that was the man's head.

"...this is serious." Cain said. He noticed the rain water drain on the edge of the balcony and now knew how the blood and made its way down.

"Yeah...This guy has weird strength. I'm thinking he got ahold of some CCP strength boosters."

"Maybe... Leo, Giff gave me a case to work on a few hours ago. Its a bunch of random murders commited by a guy with the same description as our perp. This is definitely some of his handywork."

"Do you have the file?"

Cain looks at Leo. "Not on me."

Just then the girl loses it and explodes in anger at Giff's insistant questioning. She begins screaming through her tears.

"STOP! JUST STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE, PLEASE! I'VE TOLD YOU EVERTHING! THE MAN SAVED ME, HIS NAME WAS GERRIC! THATS ALL HE SAID! Please! please...." She yelled at Giff and the CSI's as she sunk onto the couch again and burried her teary face into her hands. A female CSI came and wrapped one of those blankets Cain had always thought were pointless, aroung the girl and comforted her.

He also noticed how the girl pronounced the man's name. Gerric with a "J" sound, like Jerric, despite it being spelled Gerric. Since he had spoken to her, he bet she had it right.

Leo went to talk to Giff to find out what else the girl had told him.

Cain stepped onto the balcony and crouched down to inspect the body. The bashing of the victim's skull in such a way required great strength. There was no signs of a struggle between the man and Gerric, besides the crushed wooden door...but that wasnt between them. Gerric quickly incapacitated the man and bashed his head in without an object, but with his sheer force against the balcony railing. This Gerric was skilled and powerful....and very odd. Saving the girl? Cain was going to have his hands full here.

(Just some ambience music. Click on it and let it play as you read on. The pictures in the video are also good images of the setting of this RPG. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdSeQKcr … re=related )

Cain stood and looked out into the Chicago cityscape, the dead victim at his feet in a pool of blood and brain matter. Spinners buzzed off in the distance, gracefully flowing through the tall buildings. Somehow, no matter how many window lights and neon signs there were, it never set off the darkness of night-time Chicago. 

Down below, thousands of people clammered through the streets, all trying to make their way through this crazy city...through life. They were all subject to the whims of people like the Mayor, and companies like CCP. Cain wondered if he was one of them, if he was a pawn. A tool for the CCP directors and corrupt politicians. Maybe he was being used just like the people down there and didn't even know it.

Cain knew he was wrong in that. Everyone was a slave, even the CCP board of directors and the Mayor himself. They were all slaves to time, to death; and we all want the same thing, the same answers. Where did I come from? Where am I going? How long have I got?

Off in the distance Cain could see the giant CCP headquarters building. A monument to their power and grasp of the city and people. And though it had the most lights of all, it was still somehow the darkest. It was also a monument to their corruption.

Cain reached into his pocket and brought out his bottle of CCP DM12 pills. He tipped the bottle and caught a pill, then popped it into his mouth. Heh... he thought. A pawn, a slave to CCP. As he closed the bottle he realized there were no pills left in this particular bottle. He laughed to himself again, realizing his error once more. He was more a slave to time like the rest. Waiting for his last bottle, his last pill.

Looking out into the noir cityscape once more, Cain heard a light fuzz sound growing louder. He knew what that was...Here it comes...Rain. The constant shower that the city takes to try and clean its dirt, its corruption. Never worked. The lights didnt light up the city. Chicago stayed the way it was, as its people milled about. Waiting, wondering...when. When the life they knew nothing of ended.

The rain picked up, became less of a heavy downpour, more of a light drizzel, and just the annoying shower that the city was victim to frequently. Cain looked down as it washed away the blood, the trace of life from the side of Gila Towers so the building could join the others in the silent, everlasting testament they were to the city as life breathed and died around it.

Cain flipped up the collar of his trenchcoat to protect against the rain. He put his hands in his pockets, and watched the dark city and its little inhabitants, all wondering about how long they've got. Cain didn't know...

Who does?

(1st rpg in a long time...

to avoid further complication i am merely a swat team member.

names reg, standard machine gun, pistol, gas grenades, helmet, armor

nice and simple, holler if you need me)

Leo finished interrogating the girl, there was no more need to question her; he had gotten enough. Still, Leo was puzzled as to why this Gerric character hadn't killed the girl as well as hide his identity. Instead, he went and told her his name. Perhaps he wanted us to know. Maybe this is one of those sick bastards that likes to have their names given and tries to play a psychotic game with us. Pulling out a cigarette, Leo walked over and joined Cain as he stood on the balcony, in the rain.

"God damn I hate these cases. We got almost nothing on how to find this guy. Perhaps we should take a look at the file Giff gave ya, maybe we can pull something outta that, eh?"

"Probably. Better than standing here in the rain, doing nothing except looking at the skyline."

"You got that right, Cain. Boy, I tell ya. These weirdos and their drugged-up lives, it's all radical bullshit. Humanity, it seems, has taken a toll for the worse. Or at least here in Chicago. It's a good bet, that, say in four or five years, Cryo will probably run the entire city. Ah, Hell, why am I standing here lecturing to you? Let's go look at that file, I wana find out something at least. Nothing else we can really do here."

"Yeah. Yeah, let's go."

Cain and Leo strap up in Cain's grounded spinner and the vehicle hisses to a start. The vehicle's computer activates with a beep and the sound of a soothing female voice.

Good evening Detective Cain. All systems are functional, you are clear to proceed.

"Detective?" Leo asks, knowing Cain isnt a detective anymore.

"She doesnt know." Cain replies, Leo nods and snickers.

Cain makes a U-turn and heads for his office so he can show Leo Gerric's file and review it now that they know a little more. Him and Leo make small talk about the homocide division and how its gotten these days. It was pretty late at night, so the streets were relatively empty, yet still dirty.

At a certain point, Cain had to stop at an intersection to make a right turn. He had to wait for a strange convoy to pass. It consisted of two massive armored hummvees and an armored semi truck. The humvees drove in front and behind the truck.

(Truck)

The convoy sped by infront of him and he made the right turn and ended up about 50 feet from the last humvee behind the truck.

"What the...?" Leo asked looking at the military convoy.

"This has definitely gotta be CCP business...best keep our distance." Cain says. At that moment, the truck begins to swerve dangerously, as if the driver is loosing control. The truck is swaying terribly and is in danger of tipping. The CCP mercs in the Humvees begin yelling and try to avoid the truck. Cain hits the brakes just as the truck takes one last sharp swerve, tires screeching and smoke billowing from them, and tips over with a clash of metal against concrete. The truck slides across the street, smashing the front humvee out of the way.

"...this is nuts." Cain says, Leo is speechless.

The truck screeches to a halt and hisses in retaliation. The mercs in both humvees get out of their cruisers and yell at each other while running to the wreck to investigate.

Leo makes a movement to get out of the spinner, but Cain grabs his arm.

"Wait..."

The mercs quiet down and approach the steaming truck cautiouslly.

BANG

The back door to the immense truck slams open onto the street and out pop 3 frantic CCPSF troops.

(CCP Security Force troops)

They clamour out of the exit and spin to quickly let loose some machine gun rounds into the opened door. They shoot into the darkness while the mercs watch in shock.

The CCPSF troops run out of ammo and reluctantly lower their weapons. Everyone on the street watches the opening...

SKREEEEEEEECH!!!!!

From the open door spring forth several creatures the likes of which none of the mercs nor Cain or Leo had ever seen.

The creatures skreech and hiss as they escape and all hell breaks loose. Everyone starts firing as the nearest CCPSF trooper gets mauled relentlessly and the other two make a run for an alley. While one creature rips apart the helpess CCPSF trooper the other 6 creatures escape into the darkness of the city while the mercs try their hardest to shoot them, but they were too fast running on all fours, very dog like.

The mercs turn to the creature eating the downed CCPSF trooper and light it up. It takes a while, and alot of bullets to successfully stop the creature from moving. Two mercs carefully approach the body and examine it from a bit of distance. Cain and Leo cant hear them, but they know what theyre probably saying.

I don't believe this...

What the hell are these things?

The two CCPSF troopers who ran returned from the darkness, with their machine guns leveled at the mercs. Cain and Leo can tell theyre speaking to the mercs. Obviously the mercs were not supposed to see what was inside the truck, and their lives are now forfeit. CCP is going to hunt them down like dogs.

Cain didnt want to suffer the same fate. He put the Spinner in gear and made a screeching U-turn to high tail it out of there before the inevitable fire-fight between the mercs and the aggressive CCPSF's broke out.

Cain could see in his rear camera how the CCPSF troops saw him escape and how the mercs were growing very very trigger happy....

"This is insane, what the hell were those demon things? We've got to tell someone, lemme get Giff on the phone..." Leo said opening his cell phone.

"No" Cain said holding his hand up. "Youre right, we have to tell someone, but who? CCP has their fingers on everyones pulse in the city. We have to find a definite contact or we'll end up hunted like the mercs."

"Yeah but...Giff wouldn't be...I dont know. I'm gonna try Giff, he's been with us for years Cain, I trust him."

"Yeah, i guess i do too. Get him on the phone."

Leo dialed the number and waited for the call. Cain sped away, blasting through the streets of Chicago and sending debris flying around. This was serious...

The ride into the city was beginning to bore him.  Escort jobs were terrible.  So to speed up the process Tom slid in an archaic Compact disc.  Griggs stared dumbfounded.

"Where in the world did you get that?"

"I had to pull a few strings but I managed to dig some up.  All the golden stuff.  After iPods became implants these nearly went extinct.  But Apple was at the heart of a conspiracy.  The iPods were doubling as trackers.  And the public went into uproar and Apple sales plummeted major causing music sales to decline as well.  People were bringing out these and I managed to find a few."  AC/DC blared out of the Humvee's speakers.

"There we go.  Something to pass the time boys."  The hard rock contrasted to the dismal drizzle outside.  Tom stared outside at the streets and the homeless on the sidewalks.  What a place.  Then things took a turn for the worst. 

The semi swerved suddenly and lost control.  Tom had to pull some moves of his own to avoid colliding.  THe semi finally settled the front end smashed up pretty good.  FG was already out of their car cursing lke drunken sailors.

"What are you thinking!  What kind of driver do you think you are!  It's only a bit of rain!"

John stopped when he saw the inside of the window spattered with red.  TK squad climbed out of their humvee. 

Griggs was yelling.  "What's going on?!  What was that!?  Idiotic SF-"  John waved his hand and motioned to the front window.  TK stopped and immediately weapons were at the ready.  Suddenly the back doors smashed open and 3 CCPSF rolled out and immediately opened fire into the truck.  Tom just looked to the other mercs who were watching in dumb silence.  Finally when their clips are out they stop.  Half a second later a terrible screech is heard making Tom flinch.  6 hellish creatures bolt out of the truck and one goes for the nearest prey.  The two other SF officers bolt into the alleys.  Cowards.   

"SHOOT THEM!  GUN THEM DOWN!"  Matt is yelling simultaneously as his shotgun blasts.  Tom levels his M41A Pulse Rifle and madly fires in at the creatures running away.  Realizing they are long gone Tom turns to the one eviscerating the SF.  They let loose on this...thing.  The thing turns to the mercs but is gunned down after taking a few steps.

Matt and Tom cautiously approach the carcass and Matt gives it a kick.  It just flops. 

Matt turns to the SFs who decided to show their faces.  "What the hell were those things?"

"That's classified information we can't-"

"Don't give me that bull.  We deserve to know what it is that killed one of yours and nearly us as well."

"Look we were briefed on this.  No one was to know the contents and there were to be no witnesses to Project Cerebrus.  Drop your weapons now."

Tom glared daggers at the SF.  "That sounded awfully like a threat to me."  He hefted his rifle.  Matt cocked his shotgun.

The CCPSF stood their ground.  "The is your last chance mercs.  You either drop your weapons or we will open fire."

As Cain sped through the barren streets of Chicago, Leo pulled out his phone to call Giff.

"Aha! Speed dial!"

"Just call him already, for Christ's sake!"

Leo held down the numbers 2-4, and Detective Giff was being called. After three rings, Giff picked up.

"Hartigan? What is it this time?"

"Hey, Giff, uh, me and Cain just ran into something big, and if we get caught we're in deep ****. Where are you right now?"

"I just left the crime scene. I can tell by the sound of Cain's spinner you two are driving in a hurry, I imagine. What have you done this time, Leo?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all! It's just that Cain and I were going back to his office to look at the files on that Gerric guy, then these CCPSF trucks came by, one of them tipped over and spilled out something rather nasty. We're not sure what it was, but there were several of them. Can we discuss this in person? It would be a lot safer."

"(sighs) Damn it, Hartigan. Alright, meet me at my office at... 1:00 AM sharp. Otherwise I'm staying out of it. Gabische?"

"Yeah, thanks. We'll see ya there. Hartigan out."

((Woo mega-post))

Tom drove on in silence.  Thoughts of their fate barraged his mind.  CCP was everywhere.  They had deeply rooted themselves into the entire of Chicago city.  There weren’t many places that didn’t feel the reach of the CCP.  But fortunately TK knew of a few good places to get lost.  The rain was really putting a dampener of his mood.

“What were those things?”

“I’m just as confused as anyone else Matt.  The SF called it project Cerebrus.  Whatever that means.”

“What is CCP thinking?  What could be the purpose of monsters like that?”  The humvee grew silent as everyone contemplated.  Griggs suddenly groaned.

“Don’t look now boys but we have company.”  The familiar drone of the spinners hummed above them.  An SF leaned out of the window and turned on a voice amplifier.

“Attention TK squad.  Pull over immediately.  If you comply we will not be forced to use force against you.  I repeat pull over immediately.”

Tom checked the mirror.  4 spinners.  Not good. 

“What do you think Griggs?”

“We stop they kill us.  I’ll show ‘em what I think.  Gun it Tom.”  Tom did so and Griggs spun the mounted M2 Browning to the rear and rained .50 caliber death on the spinners.  The lead spinner barely had time to pull up before Griggs tore into it.  It quickly lost altitude and slammed nose first into the ground in a fiery explosion.  Griggs let out an elated whoop.  The other three kept their distance following the humvee.

“Nice shooting Griggs keep it up!”  Griggs had to duck as a trooper leaned out and unleashed his own barrage.  Tom took a hard left plowing over a pedestrian car out late at night.

“Not good not good.”

Matt sat in shotgun giving Tom directions.  “Right right!”  Tom obliged sliding around the corner and gunning it once again.  Griggs was opening fire on the other three forcing them to hang back.  One ventured closer and the trooper managed to get a round into the tires blowing off the rubber.  Griggs found the mark once again and brought the second down.

“Right rear tires gone!  Keep it going!”

“Let me worry about that you just tell me where to go!”

They all flinched as more CCPSF bullets slammed into the sides of the car.  Tom took a sharp left into an alley way   He honked his horn as the homeless dived to the side to avoid the massive humvee.  Trash and garbage cans were flying off the car.  Tom expertly slid back onto the street. Matt looked around.

“Where are they?  Did we lose them?”  As if in response the two spinners emerged from the side street in front of them.  Tom slammed it into reverse and Griggs opened up but the spinners juked and jived around the hail of incoming bullets.  Matt squinted as the passenger of one was reaching into the back of the spinner.

“Aww hell.  Please tell me that isn’t an RPG.”  Tom swore.  This was going to end badly.  He turned the wheel hard left and slammed it into first as the humvee came neatly around and shot forward.  Griggs was shouting down. 

“HE’S AIMING IT! SWERVE LEFT!”  Tom yanked the wheel left and a shower of concrete rained where they were only a moment before. 

Matt pointed to the right.  “Take the next right!  The tunnel!”

Tom drifted the humvee into the side street and gunned it into the tunnel.  One of the spinners barely made the turn and slipped underneath but the other was no so fortunate.  He glanced off the building and began spinning out of control before smashing into the overhang.  The wreckage fell to the ground.

The remaining spinner took advantage of the close quarters and got up right beside the humvee.  The passenger leaned out and fired a few rounds before retreating behind them once again.  Griggs let a yelp of pain.

“I’ve been hit!”

“Hold on Griggs almost out!” 

One again the spinner got up close and began to ram the humvee into the side of the wall.  They were approaching a fork in the tunnel.  At the last possible moment Tom went hard left pushing the spinner into the divider.  Their humvee caught the barricade and spun out of control coming to a rest at the end of the tunnel. 

Tom and Matt stumbled out of the car.  It was totaled.  They climbed up and assisted Griggs in getting out.  Griggs moaned.  A bullet had pierced his left arm.  Tom stared at the Greased Lightning. 

“Well looks like she’s done.  She took one good beating before giving up the ghost.  I’ll go grab any munitions in the car.  The RV shouldn’t be too much farther.”

“About 3 click.”  Matt was helping apply a tourniquet to Griggs arm.

“Good.”  Griggs cautiously flexed his arm.  He winced but hefted his rifle.  “Let’s move out TK before CCP comes snooping again.”

TK began jogging up out of the tunnel and out.  They immediately turned into the side streets.  About 5 minutes later sirens could be heard from the direction of the tunnel.  After about 15 minutes of jogging they finally arrived at the RV.  An old 50’s style diner.  Prime Time Café.  Always open.

As they stepped in Matt took a deep breath.  “Best coffee in town.”

Vinnie the manager came out and saw the mercs.  “Well if it isn’t my favourite customers!”

“Hey Vinnie.  We need to hang out here for a bit.  Until we can come up with a plan.”

“Tell me no more!  I'll give you my bunker free of charge.”  Vinnie always had been a paranoid guy so he built an underground shelter to escape nuclear fallout.  But since it never happened he just uses it as storage.  Or to help out the mercs whenever they needed it.

“Thanks Vin.  Would you mind fixing us the usual?  We’re waiting for some friends.”

“No problem!  I'll fix them up right away!”  Vinnie left for the kitchen.  Oh how Tom craved his usual triple burger with all the fixings.  And Vinnie’s special sauce made it for the best burger in town.  Yet no one really ever came to this place.  Which was probably for the better right now?  The aromatic scents of the Prime Time Café filled his nose as he waited for his meal.

This skin was odd. He knew others, long ago, who had skin yet they were brought into existence with it already on. He was not accustomed to it, however it would serve its purpose.

Roy sat in the anti chamber of CCP's CEO's office. He was awaiting for Dr. D'Aresay, the head of the Biology Dept. who happened to have created his Endo-skin. They both had a meeting with the CEO to discuss Roy's first assignment, and Daria's first failure.

Roy was a robot. One of the few combat models manufactured by South Western Robotics Corp. He had a glitch in his programming that was exploited when his attack ship was exposed to massive interstellar radiation. The accident caused an interesting side effect: consiousness.

Afterwards, Roy had made his way back to Earth to look for...purpose. Luckily, it had been a while since the other SWRC bots had gone renegade, so the Blade Runner units werent on force and he could sneak around the city despite his appearance before CCP bestowed him with skin.

To truly live, he needed to atleast look human. He infiltrated SWRC head quarters (with much bloodshed) only to find out that the Endo-skins were done by CCP's bio division, not SWRC. They only manufactured him. And so, Roy made his way to CCP. However, as soon as he infiltrated Chicago, CCP tracked him down and brought him to the CEO. Somehow, he knew everything, and they struck a deal. A deal which only the two of them know about.

The catch was that Roy had to do what he was originally programmed to do: kill. The CEO would brief Roy on his mission.

Despite the CEO's office being lavish and on the top of the CCP building, lighting what terrible in the office. Few knew the CEO's true name, and he liked to keep it dark to conceal his looks somewhat. Roy adjusted his black trenchcoat, flipping his collar up. He disliked waiting...

ERRRRR-HISSSSS

Good evening Dr. D'Aresay. Called the unknown female voice that identified the doctor. She entered the anti-chamber in a rush, vividly angry. Wearing a black leather skin-tight outfit, she was as stunning as Roy recalled. Her physical features were near immaculate. Yet her ambition was her most endearing quality...

Daria stormed by Roy and barely noticed him in the darkness of the room. He was trained for stealth, and his brooding and black trenchcoat blended in nicely with the darkness and dancing gloom made by the rain pittering on the large windows. Daria stopped suddenly and turned to Roy, who had a sly smile across his face.

"...Roy?" She called, trying to peer through the darkness. She could just barely see the light in his eyes, the extremely faint twinkle that all robots with Endo-skins had. It glimmered when they felt strong 'emotions', only other robots and the most experienced Blade Runners could see it.

"Fancy meeting you here, Daria." Roy's eyes narrowed in anticipation.

"Roy...I never had the chance to see you after the Endo-skin application."

Roy rose and stalked up to her, his hands deep within his trenchcoat. His appearance was extremely frightening. He was the only thing Daria ever feared. What thoughts, ideas and 'emotions' flickered in Roy's 'mind' Daria could not imagine. She reached up and stroked his face.

"I see the skin fused perfectly to your exoskeleton." Daria said softly

"Due to the excellence of a certain head of the Bio-Division no doubt..." Roy said reaching up and grabbing Daria's hand without her even realizing. He could sense her pulse increase dramatically, her fear aroused him. He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. Then she caught herself and withdrew her hand, regaining her composure.

"Yes...well I'm sure he's waiting for us." Daria took off for the large double doors leading to the CEO's office, and stopped at them, expecting Roy to open them for her. He walked up and did so, smiling at her as she walked by.

They entered the large, yet simple office, filled with state of the art technology that usually blended in with the desk or large chair. As opposed to most other offices, there was only one large window, behind the desk. This meant the only source of light was from this window, making the CEO a sillouette in his large chair. On his desk in front of him, a touch-screen was built into the desk. He was reviewing pictures and data of the accident. The little amount of blue light from the screen reflected off his rectangular glasses.

There were no chairs for Roy or Daria to sit in, the CEO never spent enough time to have his guests sit. He made everything quick.

"You are aware of the situation Dr. D'Aresay." He said, not looking away from the screen.

"Yes. I take full responsibility." She said. Although in fact, she blamed the CCPSF's yet she knew better.

"Our plans must move forward with this setback. Begin the primary phase of the Stage II Cerebrus creatures."

"At once, sir." Daria said looking down.

"Roy, your first assignment is to eliminate the witnesses of Project Cerebrus. Most notably these two" The CEO presses the screen and it flips up, and spins to face Roy. It is a picture of Cain and Leo in Cain's spinner witnessing the crash. The picture minimizes and profiles of both come up.

"Blade Runner..." Roy notices Cain's former Blade Runner status on his file. This, displeases him.

"That is correct, Roy. Richard Cain is a former Blade Runner, and experienced. However I have no doubt in your abilities." The CEO says as the screen lowers. Roy wasn't a combat model for nothing.

"Roy, you now have access to CCP armories and computer databases to access information on your targets. Your priority are Leo Hartigan and Richard Cain, however if you encounter the former CCP mercenaries you are also to kill them on site. SF troops will be hunting both parties in the mean time. You both have your orders now." The CEO said and his chair turns so he can look out his window and at the dark, twilight abyss of his city.

------------------

Roy and Daria entered the turbo lift of the top floor.

"Where are you headed?" Daria asked, her hand next to the button display.

"...Delta Labs." Roy said, still glowering silently at Daria. Roy was going to access the advanced armory there.

"Me too..." Daria answered and swiped her keycard in a slot next to the button display, only the highest authorized personnel were allowed into the Delta Labs; the forfront of all high caliber CCP projects. Daria had to initialize the Stage II creatures. The turbo lift doors slammed shut with a hiss.

**Sorry for the double post, I just figured someone would have posted by now...**

Decker sat and watched the feed from the convoy, the results were as expected. Daria certainly knew how to make things mean. Shame she couldn't see beyond the actual beasts and as to what end they could serve. Not that it was his problem. Decker turned off the feed and paced the room for a moment as he contemplated what was to take place over the next 24 hours.

He had a meeting within the hour with three contacts from Black Pool Pharmaceuticals. Black Pool was not the strongest competitor against CCP but that hardly mattered. Decker made his way to the elevator and took it to the sub-basement level 4. He walked towards his own vehicle but he wasn't about to use it. Instead he moved to the square concrete pillar that stood between his vehicle and the next. At the back he pressed a small indentation that looked like a chip out of the concrete. A secret door opened and Decker stepped inside.

Decker walked along the dark moist corridor as the secret door closed behind him. He held a bright torch in one hand as he made his way through the maze of tunnels. The CCP building had been built over part of an old subway that had long since ceased to be used. The subway walls had crumbled under the weight of the building, however CCP had put in other measures to ensure their building remained stable and unshaken. Decker smiled to himself, a few well placed explosive charges would fix that. Fortunately Decker was one of the last remaining people to even know about the subway problem; otherwise the place would have been obliterated by some crazed protester years ago.

It didn't take long for Decker to reach the exit of the subway he was looking for. The original architect had designed the exits in the subway for emergency purposes, but as time passed they were completely forgotten about as those within the company either climbed the ladder with success blinding them, or fell victim to "termination".

The door opened to an alleyway. Garbage was pushed up against the walls to make a narrow pathway from one end of the alley to the other. A homeless man lay on the ground, either asleep or unconscious, his bottle of whiskey lying on its side leaking out over the crumbling tarmac.

Decker made his way and stepped over the open hand and whiskey bottle, only to have the homeless man's hand lash out and grab his ankle. The homeless man rolled onto his belly and pointed a gun at Decker. "Give me your cash now!"

Decker's face remained impassive, his hand reached under his long leather jacket to his back pocket.

"Easy," said the homeless man as he expected to have a gun pulled on him in return.

Decker smiled reassuringly, deliberately hiding his teeth. He held a square of leather in his hand for the homeless man to see. As the homeless man reached for it, Decker thumbed the press-stud. A mist sprayed into the face of the homeless man. Blemishes suddenly broke out on his exposed skin. The homeless man dropped his gun to claw at his eyes, "Get it off, get it off!" he repeated continuously. Decker watched for a moment in pure fascination as the homeless man continued to struggle against the virus Decker had just exposed him to. Like so many other experiments, Decker had ensured that he was immune before using them on others. His fascination soon faded and he continued on his way.

No one took any notice of the homeless man's cries for help. Such was the norm in this part of town. The weak always fell prey to the strong; it was the nature of the dark city. Decker made his way to the old garage; it had been vacant for some months and had been looted many times. The homeless refused to sleep in the place as there were rumours of plutonium contamination in this particular garage. Decker pushed aside a flimsy wooden door that had been rammed one too many times.

He made his way into the back office that had conveniently been soundproofed as the ex-owner of the building had enjoyed yelling at his employees a little too much. Some said he even beat unpaying customers into submission. Decker didn't care what the purpose was for such a room, it simply served his purposes. As Decker approached the back office he heard voices from inside, the only way this was possible was because they'd left the door open.

"I don't think this is a good idea," a male voice said.

"This is the only way we can progress, CCP is unstoppable as it currently is," reassured another male voice.

A female voice cut in, "Besides if this CCP contact can't deliver what he says, we can always feed him back to the beast he came from."

Decker smiled at that. It was no wonder Black Pool was no real threat to CCP, they didn't have the nous to be cut throat. Taking the opportunity to present himself, Decker stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. "Good evening lady and gentlemen," he said with the upturn of the corner of his lips.

The three looked unsettled that they hadn't heard him approach. He recognised each of the figures in the room. The woman was Trista Elfman, Company Secretary. A short portly man who was sweating intensely was Graham Coutts, General Manager and the last, a tall African American, was Keegan Dennison the CEO. Decker didn't bother with introductions, they probably had an inclination as to who he was but Decker didn't promote himself to the public. The few recorded images of him were generally kept in soft focus or shafted in shadow. Clarence Moore, General Manager, tended to be the Poster Boy for CCP.

Coutts was the first to speak up, "So you're our contact?"

Decker rested a hand on the back of a slashed chair, "That I am."

"So what can you give us?" Coutts was quick to say.

Dennison placed a hand on his shorter co-worker's shoulder, "What we really what to know is how this meeting is going to benefit us?"

Decker remained standing, "Your organisation has been floundering for sometime in comparison to my organisation. Your scientists lack the experience and intelligence to bring you in line with my organisation. I can help you resolve this problem."

"Keep talking," Elfman said as she attempted to look bored.

"My organisation is currently in the process of making bio weapons," Decker said and watched the reactions of the three before him. Each gasped in response, Decker continued on. "There's been an accident where the bio weapons have been let loose in the city. Your organisation could come to the rescue by eliminating the bio weapons more efficiently than my organisation can."

"We don't have those kind of resources," Dennison said slowly.

Decker smirked, "No you don't." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial containing a pink viscous substance. "This stuff will burn through the skin of the bio weapons. Once the skin is pierced they are much easier to take down."

All three Black Pool associates stared at the vial. "What do you want in return?" Elfman asked.

"Alesk Island," Decker said simply. The island was one of Black Pool's most secure research sites. It had advanced technology that CCP could only dream of. If there was one thing Black Pool were good at, it was advanced scientific technology.

Coutts spoke up, "But the Police are corrupt, they'll never expose your organisation for what it is."

Decker shook his head, "The Police are easy enough to control."

"For you maybe," Coutts spat.

"We influence them with money and... fear." Decker said with a slight tilt to his head. His sunglasses covering the expression from his eyes.

"Elaborate," Elfman said as she raised a well-manicured hand.

"If your family was to suddenly become ill, you'd be permanently indebted to the organisation that can feed you the cure... especially if it's ongoing treatment." Decker said and watched as understanding dawned on their faces.

Elfman stood, "Give us the vial for testing and we'll come back to you with our answer."

Decker held the vial out to Elfman, as her hand wrapped around the vial he held his grip. "I expect to hear from you in two days. Don't mess me around, I can do far more damage to your organisation that you can imagine."

Dennison laughed, "This whole conversation has been recorded, we can feed you to the wolves back at CCP."

Decker smiled and actually let his teeth show, "The wolves aren't my concern. Hand in the recording if you want."

Dennison had a momentarily look of uncertainty cross his face. "We'll meet again in two days."

"I'll contact you," Decker said releasing the vial into Elfman's hands, then simply and turned his back on them and exited through the door. He had no fear of the Black Pool associates; they were merely pawns in his game.