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Something Artificial (Vahn Seele x LunarStar)

Abumi watched the way that Echo moved about the room. There was a mixture of a mechanical and human way that she walked. She'd always found her gait so different than the walk of most androids that were on display and demonstrated at various robotics expos. It was almost as if she had developed her own way to walk that, while still human, was maybe better? It was a fleeting thought of observation, though, her focus coming to the explanation that would come from Echo.

With a nod, Abumi took out her tools and stepped to the nearest wall that she could find that would have the appropriate wires. While her lenses gave her some ability to predict and track cabling, it wasn't near as developed as the vision that Echo had. Sliding a plasma cutter along the wall, Abumi stripped away some of the wall and exposed the wiring that lay behind it. Finding what Echo had mentioned before, Abumi smirked a little. "With the right amount of time, you could learn to do this stuff. Probably better than me." Abumi said. It was no doubt that Echo was better suited to do her job, each of her enhancements better equipped to handle the tasks.

Abumi didn't bother to think about the fact that they had forgotten the idea of the hostages completely. After as far as the two had gone down, there was clear evidence that they wouldn't be bringing any people back to the surface with them. The dog-plasma things were also a dead giveaway that they weren't going to be in for the normal mission of "humans fighting humans." "I hope that the time that you've gotten to know me has an impact on you, E." She said, the flash of soldering visible on her face as she began to connect a few wires. "For humans, meeting people always has a way of passing on a piece of themselves, a memory or a habit, even an idea. It's the way we make sure that we give meaning to our lives. Much as every single reboot you go through helps to improve you, each encounter we have with someone else can be for our benefit." Abumi had found that, rather than letting Echo give questions, she'd rather just answer what she meant. In some sense, it was almost like she was talking to herself.

With a full connection made, swapping power between a few of the wires, Abumi could hear the hatch behind her beginning to hum to life. It gave a few flickers before it fully powered on, Abumi smiling. "There you go. Go get whatever was worth our lives for OmniCorp and we'll go back to the surface. Hopefully without running into another plasma wolf." She said, giving a name to the biomechanical monstrosities that she had seen and heard earlier. Though she remembered hearing the noise moments ago, Abumi did her best not to pay attention to it. If theyw ere in danger, Echo would help her to make it out. She could trust her on that notion.
 
If there was ever anything that Echo would be spoken to about, she'd usually ignore it a majority of the time, as via her programming making her do so unless its someone she must pay attention to or she's being instructed that she'd be given new instruction or sentences to work out what she can with it in order to learn from it. Most of the time by her creator. In this case, as Abumi was part of a priority, Echo's programming instructs her to listen to anything she's saying and respond with the appropriate response if able. And once more, the topic in question was about the what is important to a human. Vital enough information to her that even if it was someone she wasn't fitted to someone's command, Echo might've used some of her free access commands and forcibly listened in regardless. Her creator wants data such as this, so she was willing to get what she could in hopes of understanding it and to possibly be of any use to him in his future projects.

"I wouldn't know if I had any impact of others or myself, the reboots I go through are thorough. Each moment I am to spend with another to gain data from get taken for study and stored to be installed in a later series. As for myself, while I may well be modified after some of my reboots if my creator deemed it necessary in order to test the latest programming for me to be more 'human', I do not always get the luxury of keeping any memory. So it is impossible for me to seek out any files on whether or not I made any impact on another." Echo stated as cold and robotic as usual before turning her blindfolded face to look at Abumi, her tone... changing slightly to what some might consider being at peace with it "But... Some of the latest data you've provided me with about human feelings, their hearts and souls, I am pleased with getting to know some of that."

However, as much as she may have sounded content with herself, Echo still lacked the ability to show it visually with a lack of any chance in facial expression, possibly making this all feel a tad awkward. Not that Echo would have much time to fully display them yet, or learn them for that matter, as the powering of the hatch took center stage in Echo's list of priorities.

Starring down at the hatch that hummed to life, Echo took a few seconds to simply wait for the power to have fully activated the floor beneath them before the android would then set about doing her part of the job. Crouching down and setting her katana on the ground to allow herself to use both her hands to operate the hatch. Echo types a code into the buttons on the floor that soon gave off the beeping sound of approval when then a small jet of steam puffed out from the cracks of the machine and the hatch slit, opening up to a series of chips and other hardware attached to a pillar that ascended from the ground by about a meter. The thing was littered with motherboards the size of handheld devices that still exist for those that can't afford holographic projections. Echo carefully worked on removing only a select few from the pillar that weren't damaged or simply were the only ones that may hold important enough data on them that the rest weren't needed. Once she grabbed hold to about 4 of them, Echo pressed a button on the ground to make it retract back into the floor.

"Objective cleared. Returning to the surface at once to finalize mission." Echo said, keeping the motherboards on one hand while picking up her katana as she stood back up. Taking a moment to look at Abumi, the android decided in her programming that a show of appreciation was in order for having stuck with this mission in spite it having been a total life threatening lie "Your skills have proven to be useful, Abumi. My creator at OmniCorp will be pleased also to have assisted me in retrieving data once thought lost to them. This will allow them to continue their work with minimal setback. You have my thanks on behalf of the company."
 
Abumi watched the hatch open with a few presses of keys. Echo had a dexterity and purpose to her that made her stand out as non-human. Even a simple act of pressing numbers on a pad had a quality of being beyond what a human could do. As the column rose, revealing electronic equipment stored along the hidden compartment, Abumi shook her head. All of this, just to retrieve some old tech. OmniCorp was getting blacklisted after this. Working for them had brought her more trouble than it was worth. As Echo gathered her things, Abumi contemplated what she should do next. With the payout from OmniCorp, she'd be able to focus on other work. She might even be able to afford getting an ocular upgrade, with hers needing to be brought up to a much better version.

"There's a lot more that I could show and teach you. The world at OmniCorp is sterile and controlled, and for good reason. However, with the time that we have interacted, I don't find you as dangerous as the stigma others pass on." Abumi said. When she was addressed so formally, regarding her performance on the mission, Abumi gave her a half smile. "We aren't done yet. We have to get to the surface. There are still wolves around the complex, hunting us." Abumi said, a reminder to Echo that they were not truly out of the woods yet. Unless she was planning to abandon her there. That was a possibility, prioritizing the data on the chips over the life of the help. Once those chips were in hand, Abumi was just collateral damage, and it would be easier to not have to pay her.

Even though the thought popped in her head, Abumi didn't feel that it was going to go that way. Something in her trusted Echo, trusted that the "E" she had come to talk with in the last few hours wouldn't take such a directive. It was a vain hope, one that wasn't found in reality, but it was a hope, nonetheless.

"We should head back to the surface." Abumi said after a moment's pause. Letting Echo take the lead, Abumi found herself dry on things to talk about.
 
Ah yes, the movement against the idea of A.I. or any form of robotics taking place in exchange for humans is indeed a serious blight to society as a whole. And while Echo was pretty much aware of this happening via news or data pre-installed into her for some level of awareness such as riots, protest or even straight up acts of terrorism, Echo herself had never been exposed to such confrontations yet. As far as she knew anyhow. Moving on from there though, Echo considered the words, and though correct in that OmniCorp does control Echo too much to the point that she is basically just a tool for them, she could not seen the faults in them. Her programming not letting her question this possibility.

Silently, Echo skipped over such thoughts and nodded in acknowledgement to get a move on and not celebrate the end of a mission until they are indeed finished with it completely. "Affirmative, heading to surface now." she voiced, turning to the small passage way to leave the room, but not before giving Abumi one last glance to ensure she won't leave the mercenary behind "Please remain close to me."

Leaving the core room behind of the facility, it was back to the decimated scene of the rest of the structure, and with the layout mapped out with the route they too still registered in her memory, Echo would prove herself to be perfectly capable of leading them both back to where they came from without getting lost. Though there was still the possibility they can run into danger at any point on the way back, as such, Echo kept her combat mode at 50% to stay on guard, only going to 100% if need be. It was important of her to ensure her safety, as well as that of Abumi, even though the latter is only secondary as priority, coming after the data she held onto, Echo found herself wanting to make sure Abumi wasn't left behind. Her programming keeping her reminded how she gave her some valuable data in of itself that her creator might be pleased with.

With the hardware in one hand, and her sheaved katana in the other, Echo continuously scanned her immediate area for any nearby threats, deviating only when needed if she picked up on a signature that approached their location and ensuring the close distance she kept with Abumi. However, their luck would soon give them a second dose of danger when, as the two had started going through one of the lengthy corridor, Echo's sensors alarmed her of an incoming threat from behind and the android whipped around to look past Abumi who followed her, her tone sounding with upmost urgency as she spoke "Abumi, run." No sooner had she said this, at the end of the corridor they just came in, a smaller sized beast to the one they saw before had come around the corner, entering the corridor and was sprinting at them at great speed. It's ferocious way of sprinting and the plasma induced tail slamming and slicing into the walls as it caught sight of them and ran with the intent to kill. Thankfully they weren't too far away from the other end to gain some room as opposed to staying in this crammed area, as such, Echo saw it fit to tuck the katana under her armpit so that she could grab hold of Abumi and dashed as quick as she could without hurting the mercenary too much and dive out of the way once leaving the door. As by her calculations, the beast will likely miss them, but they'd have to still deal with it here.

Just as Echo would manage to dive out of the way with Abumi still in her grip, the beast had caught up to them so fast that it had exceeded Echo's calculations a little, as such, the tip of it's tail as it barreled past them at the last second graced her back, causing her to receive a gash across the exposed part of her back and some of her black dress that revealed an almost life-like wound one would see on a real human. Echo even let out a grunt before hitting the floor and dropping her katana in the process.
 
Abumi walked through the corridor in relative silence. The sound of her boots on the metallic floor was somewhat muted, in comparison to the heavier steps of her android friend. Her mind continued to roll through the options of what she could do with her hard earned funds. She'd negotiated a high price, which should have been the biggest tip off that it was not a standard mission, but Abumi was starting to think she hadn't pushed for a high enough price from the trillion dollar company.

As the two were walking down the tight corridor, Abumi looked to Echo as she saw something of panic began to settle into Abumi's skull. The words hit her hard, not bothering to look behind her as she knew that she'd only be stricken by fear if she were to steal a glance at the plasma wolf that was behind her. Digging her boots into the flooring as much as she could, Abumi felt the grip of Abum's hand at her back, trying to press her on faster. This was a mixture of comforting and worrying. If Echo was hoping to help her out, then there was truly a bit of her programming that would not leave her behind without good cause.

As the two burst out from the doorway, Abumi felt Echo's body turn to shield her as best as it could. Hearing the sound of a grunt surprised her. Echo either had been hit, or there was some part of her that was programmed to emulate a human's reaction to effort or pain. Drawing herself up, Abumi looked to see the gash on Echo's back, her eyes darting over to the beast. As irrational as it sounded, Abumi stayed near Echo, putting herself between the beast and the android. With gun drawn, Abumi let out a few shots, the pistol built with a silencer in the chamber. With a few quick squeezes of the trigger, Abumi trained her sights on hitting the eyes of the beast that had slashed her friend. If she were of more rational mind, Abumi would dig into the choice of words a bit further.

"Get up, E. I know I'm not a threat to this thing." She said. The bullets were barely stronger than a typical 9mm, with enough power to bother most humans. Unfortunately, there was no guarantee that 9mm would do the trick against these things, even with the hollow tipped bullets that sang through the air, aiming for any part that looked fleshly.
 
With the beast having slid a fair ways away from them that resulted in it slamming into the wall of the far end in the room, this thing was a quick one, too quick for its own good by Echo's calculations when she looked towards the thing and found herself witnessing Abumi taking shots at it. She analyzed the impacts the bullets were having on the beast from her position. Thanks to it's smaller build than the last one that allowed it to have the speed, it did not have the toughness in the flesh that weren't a horrid mix of metal. This meant that the bullets fired at it were visibly causing bits to fly off where the impacts were happening and the stagger was strong enough for it to be slowed down getting its baring back.

At least it was slower in doing so than Echo. While her system could emulate the 'impact of pain' to a degree, the 'lingering of pain' was not something she felt or was programmed to 'feel' and so she did as commanded by Abumi, pushing herself up silently, Echo made sure the hardware hadn't been damaged by the fall quickly and picked up her katana after.

"Your fire arm may not kill it, but I calculate it will aid in it's death if I partake in this confrontation." Echo spoke in her usual tone, almost as if she were never injured, though the wound was definitely there and bleeding. Standing besides Abumi for a second, Echo placed the hardware into one of Abumi's pockets on her coat, lacking any herself in that goth maid outfit "Please hang onto them for me, Abumi. I will engage combat mode. I calculate a low chance of us loosing its scent if we flee. We must take it down before any more show up. If able, preserve your shots, analysis show me the head is least resilient. Aim for it's eyes if you can." was all Echo instructed before stepping away from the mercenary, drawing her katana that sounded as sharp as it looked and charged at the beast. And by god was she quick. Quick in a reasonable sense that a human could still achieve but impressive still. Just before the experimental could fully see what was coming and dodge an incoming attack from Echo, the android had been successful in dealing a decent strike at the left hind leg that drastically slowed it down, then went for it's throat that shockingly hadn't killed it, but prevented its use of a howl that would likely have cause more to show up even sooner. Even in Echo's questionable get-up and eyes covered in a blindfold, the android was moving with such finesse and fluid motions that her 'combat mode' brought, easily something that was programmed into her set of skills. All while doing so, she would keep most of the attention of the beast for Abumi to take her shots with, allowing the latter a big distraction when a moment of chance arose for Echo to slice its tail clean off that made it reel about in pain but at least kept it in place for a decent moment.
 
Abumi left her handgun to point forward, finger on the trigger and other hand bracing against the grip. It had a silvery-green sight on it, the end linked up to her optics to give her accurate predictions based on where she was needing to aim and shoot. "I can do that." Abumi said, feeling the weight of the chips as they came to rest in her pocket. Though they were light, there was a weight of importance that came with them now resting inside of her pocket. She had to keep herself from getting hit by that beast. As long as she had those chips, the mission hinged on her.

As Echo went to engage the creature, Abumi would watch as limbs were cut and throat was slit. The way she moved had a speed and precision that made Abumi thankful that she was not the one fighting against Echo. While she looked human, she was anything but. There were no liitations that held her back, the way the human body was holding Abumi back. The only way that she was able to keep up was with the use of her datapad synced to her lenses. With a few openings here and there, Abumi let her bullets fly from the barrel of her gun, watching as her predicted path would hit home, a few shots hitting close to the eyes, a few more going directly in. Gore was slowly beginning to decorate the room, Abumi feeling no sympathy for the creature. The only amount of remorse she felt was that it had been experimented on by OmniCOrp, led to its death by the hand of the mercenary and Echo, as long as their efforts. kept at it.

Abumi did her best not to keep still, moving around the room carefully with weapon drawn. When needed, she dropped her clip into a palm and quickly swapped it out with a fresh on. The ammunition was material-based, making her clips smaller than what most energy pistols might have been able to handle. She had to be careful with her shots, as she hadn't brought more than three clips with her, the ammunition hidden in a lining of her jacket that was shielded from x-ray and metal detectors. The entire jacket had a layer of metal woven into its core, making it somewhat capable of stopping knives and smaller caliber bullets.
 
Making full use of the perks of being an android that never grew winded via hard actions for an extended period of time, Echo's calculations told her that constant movement was the key to keeping away from the deadly advances of the experimental beast, dodging and weaving about it almost like a dance to keep it away from her while also going in for the cut where ever her blade could deal the damage. The shooting of the mercenary helped also as one of the bullets was successful in blinding one of the eyes that would ultimately lead them to besting this thing and hopefully getting out of here before another one shows up.

However, things didn't quite go according to plan. Just as Echo was about to move to the blind spot to deal as close to a finishing blow as she hoped for, warning signs in her sights started to flash furiously in her vision with a warning message that something damaged her battery hardware which powered some of her components that ran her visor, sensor, processing power and some of her movements. Was it this dog like beast that did it just before jumping out of its way? No, it couldn't have, that thing only graced her back and it wasn't even anywhere deep enough to cause much of any damage. Getting caught off guard like this, Echo dropped to her knee which allowed for the half beaten beast to pounce her, forcing the android to use her arm to bite down on, keeping the beasts teeth lodged in her arm for Abumi to get a killing shot for her. As this was happening though, Echo also ran an emergency isolation program to seek out what the problem was.

That's when she saw it right at the left of her vision. A small spider-like creature of the same appearance as the beast on her must've latched onto her when they weren't looking. Why it caused Echo so many problems in her system became clear that it had jabbed a stinger into the side of her neck that must've pierced something within that's causing these power losses. With one arm keeping the beast at bay and the other struggling to function how she wanted it to, Echo felt pretty much at a loss on her own "Abumi, I have an emergency! Urgh... I am being compromised... physical functions failing... as long as what has damaged me remains on me. Requesting immediate assistance."
 
Abumi watched the fight between Echo and the plasma wolf. The fight was looking to be in their favor, with Abumi's support fire doing well to cut into the beast's senses to keep it on the defensive. All would go well, until she saw Echo go down. Without a second though, Abumi rushed forward with her pistol readied. She did not fire a shot until she was within a few steps of the beast. When it was close, Abumi let out three shots in the same place, the bullets plunging deep and rendering the beast to fall to the side. With another shot into the side of the beast's head, barrel pointed at a hollowed out mess of an eye that led into mechanical monstrosity's skull.

Looking down at Echo, Abumi drew her vision to focus on where the source of the damage might be. Kicking the beast back, Abumi crouched and looked over Echo to find some source of the emergency. "Hold on, I'm trying to locate what it is." She said. Soon enough, Abumi found the small techno-spider and started to examine it. Grabbing one of her tools from her pocket, she held a pair of pliers and a soldering iron in the other. Trying her best not to disturb the bug, Abumi brought the pliers and iron to opposite sides. With as much precision as she could muster in her hands, Abumi planted the tip of the soldering iron into the spider, grabbing the stinger with the pliers and trying to pull it out at the angle that it had pierced her skin.

The hope was, if Abumi did both motions at the same time, the spider wouldn't jump, the soldering iron shorting it out enough that she could draw its stinger out without any damage to Echo's systems. They didn't have a lot of time, and Abumi was worried that the damage that Echo had sustained was going to prevent her from being able to get out of the base. Abumi could backtrack, but she did not want to leave the android behind. "Did that work? Are your systems back up?" Abumi asked, concern written on her face plainly for Echo to be able to see.
 
As Echo was rendered helpless in this moment in time, it had been all down to Abumi to finish the job and assist her in the time of crisis as parts of her systems started to shut down to whatever this spider experiment was doing to her. Echo deducted it must be the plasma over heating her internals that would eventually cause a complete burn out if nothing is done. But because Abumi is there with her, Echo saw in her vision the beast take a few bullets to the head, specifically the eye socket and fall dead to its side, though she'd have to check on it once she was operational again.

Unable to speak at this point while Abumi worked on dealing with the spider, Echo activated a quick lock-down protocol, temporarily shutting down her undamaged systems into save mode as the stinger lodged inside her neck was being extracted. Even without Echo's advice and recommendation on how to deal with that specific breed of a spider, she was impressed to still have her vision active to witness the work getting done and with such precision and speed also. All without further damaging her internals that prevented her from possibly ending up incapacitated or worse, completely ruined beyond repair.

With the stinger removed finally, the was a jolt in Echo's body and, from her perspective, words and other messages started to tell her that her systems were going through a diagnostics and that the previously shut down systems were being reactivated. Most of which turned out green still, however her processing power had suffered the most from this, eventually speaking up about her well being when Abumi asked her about her system.

"Most systems online and functioning. Minor damage to hardware, interfering with some of my basic actions, otherwise I am in no critical state." Echo responded before even going to sit up and soon after trying to stand up. There was an obvious difference in her movements, they were slower than before and a tad wobbly "However I appear to have suffered heavier damage to my processing power. This does not effect my vital functions, but will limit my movement to a degree and my analysis, scans and readings will take 8.52 seconds longer to complete." she stated, and to demonstrate she turned her head to look over at the now dead beast which, sure enough, she took longer to make a comment to what she was currently doing "You have my thanks, Abumi, your efforts have saved my from total shutdown." she said before looking right at her this time "You need not worry now, my creator can repair me. This will be considered minor damage and your pay will not be reduced. Additionally, have you sustained any damage? My scans no longer puck up on everything at this moment. Please state your health verbally for me."

Though she may be asking for how Abumi is doing, Echo was the one looking worse for ware, the gash on her back still as is and she now had a decent bite mark on her arm that stained the white sleeve part of her dress in red with noticeable bit marks where it dug into.
 
Abumi felt a lot of worry slowly begin to calm as she looked at Echo. The thought of her friend being unable to move was a constant fear in the back of her mind. When she saw that Echo was slowly coming to, doing some diagnostics and stating her physical condition, Abumi gave a small sight of relief. While she was not in an optimal state, there was definitely more response from her than was to be expected after the unknown techno-spider and the plasma wolf. "You took the brunt of everything, E. Don't worry about me. If we had more time, I'd try and see if I could do some repairs, but I don't think here is the best place." Abumi said, looking over the marks along her arm and, then, to the gash that was on her back.

The wounds looked bad, but they did not seem to pose much danger to Echo's stability. Not yet, at least. Reaching out, Abumi traced her fingers over the edge of the cut on her back. "Let's get you up and going." Abumi said, offering her hand out to Echo as a form of support. Whether she would take the hand or not, Abumi would try to take the lead on their exit. "Focus on the are around us. I can use my datapad's knowledge of the path we have taken to get us out of here. As for you, cut back your processing to focus specifically on the things around us. Heat signatures and possible threats. That should make it easier to process things." Abumi said, finding the path slowly forming in her vision as she started to guide them out.

Abumi did not speak, wanting to save as much effort for Echo's processing to be spent on keeping an eye out for those damn experiments. If they had anymore run-ins with them, Abumi and Echo were both going to be dead.
 
Abumi's concern for the health of an android was noted even without Echo fulling being aware of it at the moment as her systems did not appear to indicate when she's adding in data to some of her files. Even so, Echo had taken a moment to look at the offered hand and gladly accepted it if it meant getting back on her feet quicker and safely without further damage. The wounds most visible on her may look as real as any on her back and arm, but Echo remained otherwise unaffected externally. As much as the creator has made her human-like in appearance, her lack of reaction to having such wounds stood out as her being robotic in nature still "Affirmative. We can not linger here much longer, let us be on our way out."

After Echo had agreed to leaving the facility, the android had opted to let Abumi keep the hardware in the pocket of the coat, finding herself less able to keep them save in her current state, and therefore she was left with carrying her blade only. On top of that, Echo did as instructed about her adjusting the sensors to a lower range and more concentrated over other functions. Even her map had to have its render reduced. As such, Echo was soon able to successfully calibrate her sensor in a way that would also show the smaller targets that may be lurking about and discovered that the air vents are a decent hiding spot for them too. Because she had her system as it was before, she was unable to read the smaller heat signatures. Plus the spiders had a much lower heat level, making it that much easier to have bypassed her notice. Not this time though and they were able to go by without any more encounters so far.

As they walked on, Echo discovered that even with her movement slowed down, walking speed remained relatively unaffected, though there was still a slight difference in the way she took her steps that made her less human than they were before. Other than that, any high speed movement that may be required would be less favorable.

Soon enough they would reach a part of the facility that was familiar to them being the same set of rooms that they went through when they got here. All that would have to be now is taking the long stairs up the shaft and they'll be back on the surface. Just as they'd approach the cut open door though, Echo somehow felt the need to speak up even without any commands or questions to make her respond "Abumi... It has just occurred to me. Written into my data, it is appropriate to give thanks when performing a deep for another. As such, I would like to thank you for having kept me intact during that recent encounter. And to also apologize. That you were not informed about the experiments dwelling within the facility." Echo spoke, stopping with her steps to give Abumi a light bow, looking quite a bit more like a maid now with that action while wearing the getup she has on.
 
Abumi kept her eyes forward, gun raised as she rounded corners. With the occasional glance back to Echo, Abumi would give a hesitant smile. They were making decent pace back toward the stairway that had led them down into this labyrinth of a lab. As she walked through areas, she found that her memory for what had been walked through was a little better than she had anticipated. She still leaned heavily on the path that her datapad was able to remind her of, taking turns where necessary and drawing them closer to getting out of the nightmarish chambers.

When they came to the base of the stairs, the haunting image of the sliced door reminding Abumi of her initial interaction, Abumi gave a faint chuckle. She'd be having nightmares about this place for a while. Everything from the scratches to the beast that she had put a clip into earlier that had taken to attacking Echo. When they had come to a stop, at Echo's insistence, Abumi gave her a warm smile. "You are right to apologize, but you are not the one that owes me the apology. That would go toward OmniCorp and your creator. If they had been honest, I would have made a better assessment of what I should have brought, defense-wise, and been much better equipped. Of course, this would've required them giving away a bargaining chip in the matter of price negotiation, so it's understandable and underhanded what they did." Abumi said, stating her feelings plainly and obviously.

"As for your wounds, I wouldn't say you are really 'intact' yet. You'll need to be repaired, first, before that can be true. That... likely will come with a reboot, too." Abumi said, that tentative smile fading a little as she reminded herself of the standard operating procedure that had been Echo's life. "E, do you want to go back to OmniCorp? Access your free will and answer that question honestly. Does living a life of resets and partial lives sound like what you truly want?" Asking an AI what they wanted seemed like an act in futility. They knew what they were made to want. That was the simplest truth to it. Asking for them to make a choice on something was unorthodox, especially without the proper programming to process.

That was what an AI was for, though. They were meant to learn and grow. If they weren't given that chance, left to become mindless programs with millions to billions of lines of code and subroutines, what was the point in an AI/
 
While it was true that OmniCorp themselves were the ones in need to apologize for the negligence of giving away too much info, as that is what big time companies usually do, Echo still felt like she was partially at fault still as she did know of all this. The underground base. It's location getting to the ruined facility above. The monster here and even how to tackle them with what they had on them. It was mostly all there in her data and so, she had felt the need to apologize too.

"Access my free will? Now?" Echo asked when Abumi noted about her being in need of a repair still. True, she did need to be repaired, the wounds done to her won't do her any good to be left to heal on their own. Her internals that the spider damaged required her to have that sorted before it becomes too much of a issue later on down the road. No denying that, but it was the commands of being told to access a part of her system that allows her to make her own choices at times. It... confused her to be asked of this, but, while Abumi was a person who's command were assigned as something for the android to respond to, Echo did just that and had remained still for a good minute. Pondering over her options and what she felt suited best. After all, this was part of the request to see how Echo felt in that matter.

When her answer did come, it was a little bit of a mixed bag. Unfortunate for sure but not without some form of hope.

"The reboots that I am assigned to are absolute. They always have been. It is, according to my creators calculations that doing so holds the least risk of me going rogue. To learn in a more controlled environment that he wishes me to do in order not to lose me in the process and build a new model. It is without question that I must be doing this." Echo responded, the first half of her answer given in her usual plain tone that was accompanied with that metallic after echo in her voice. Though when she continued on speaking, she took on a lower tone, as though she were not as pleased with something. Wishing to be as free as Abumi seemed to want her to be. The programming in her system fighting her as she spoke "However... as I try to further answer your question... it is becoming difficult for me to do so. As an A.I. creation, the latest of its kind, designed with the ability to learn, I do find myself dissatisfied at the prospect of loosing valuable data of my own files. Files that are still lacking in data of what you have been describing means to be 'Human'. I wish to know more. But... my system is keeping me in check. I do not know if I can truly fight it once we leave here." Echo then looked up at Abumi, her blindfolded face staring right back at the mercenary "Abumi. As by my calculations, I do not believe you feel OmniCorp will keep be as is. I can't recommend for me to remain under your care for long, or you will be placed on a bounty. How do you wish to proceed?"
 
Waiting for the response to her inquiry had taught Abumi something. She had the power to enact Echo's free will. That was something she hadn't considered in their earlier conversations. There were a lot of things she was learning about the quirky little maid android, most importantly being able to communicate with her on a level that was more than just a human talking to a machine. As she had mentioned it earlier, Abumi had "humanized" Echo in her mind. This left a lot of variables, things that Abumi had to be careful of when addressing Echo.

The answer that she was given was something that was an answer given by two people within the same body. There was the answer from protocol, and the answer from a person fighting back. Echo was trying to give her free will an exercise, one that was straining against the programming that she had been given. Hearing that there was a part of Echo that did not want to be erased, to have data taken away from her, Abumi smiled a bit more. Her once neutral face changed to show her own thoughts on the question that was posed to her. Echo had just offered Abumi the choice to run away with her. That was what she was hearing in her own mind, of course.

Abumi though ton the question a bit, taking her own time before she gave her answer. "E, I need you to tell me if you can disable your trackers. I know that OmniCorp wouldn't let out a billion dollar project without some safeguards to ensure its safe return." Abumi said. While they were deep underground, there was a good chance that OmniCorp would have lost any feed they had on Echo. This was, of course, assuming the level of tech that they had built into Echo. If it was more advanced, shed be broadcasting her bounty before they had even left the facility. It was a risk she had to make, though. "If we can disable any of the trackers, we need to do it before we get back to the surface. Bounty or not, I'm taking you with me." Abumi said.
 
To say that Echo was a bit surprised by the response she got from Abumi may have been somewhat correct, the usual stone look her exposed face showed revealed a silent gasp from Echo as her mouth parted just a tad when hearing the plan of a tracker removal job, but more then that was from quite the confidence of Abumi deciding to take Echo with her instead, even knowing the risks involved in keeping a property from a company like OmniCorp. But then, what about the hardware they had gathered residing in Abumi's pocket? What about her mission? Her next goal? Her next command? The sudden aspect of her going where she isn't assigned to go had triggered another jolt of her free will programming, raising it to almost 40% now.

"I see you are familiar in the design for robotics to have trackers." Echo spoke once she got her bearings again, though the news of what followed may not be as simple as its thought to be "Yes, OmniCorp installed a chip within me here-" she pointed to her head "-that is keeping my location and status known to my creator at all times. Even down here it should be easy to tell of my whereabouts. Nothing more. Also, while it can be removed, I do not believe you have the necessary recourse to preform the necessary task without causing any long term damage to myself. It is also highly dangerous to do so here. My recommendation would be to seek out someone who can operate on me to remove the tracking. I will explain further to the person capable of doing so."

"Additionally..." Echo looked a little ways down Abumi's coat, specifically at the pocket she placed the hardware in "OmniCorp will also be missing on valuable stored within these. This may increase your bounty into an execution. And you wish to proceed to do this... for me?"
 
The grave state of what she was committing herself to didn't seem to bother Abumi. Even as Echo was detailing out the dangers of what she was going to be coming up against, with a mixture of execution and dealing with her tracking chip, Abumi seemed more resolute in her choice the more the dangers were pushed out there into the spotlight. "E, if you're asking me to back down from a challenge, you're going to find that I'm not one to fall apart under stress. Well, not from a stress I know and understand." She said, remembering her initial response to the plasma wolf that she had seen earlier. It had nearly taken them out, and Abumi gave a sheepish little chuckle as she said this.

Bringing her hand up to comb her fingers through her purple hair, Abumi smiled sincerely at Echo. "I may not be able to remove the chip, but... I think I can put up something that could block it." She said. Pulling up her datapad, the advanced one that was used for her more thorough hacking jobs, she flicked her finger through the interface, adjusting her eyes as they began to glow a deep green. Echo would likely know what she was doing, and Abumi reached her hand out to place it gently on Echo's head. "I'll have to put my secret weapon at risk of discovery, but it would be worth it to give you freedom." Abumi said.

A flash of lines began to show in her vision, Abumi squinting a little as she moved and traced her fingers to the back of Echo's neck. Though she couldn't access the port directly, Abumi had her ways of making a connection to the chip that was broadcasting Echo's location back to OmniCorp. "If I disable it now, it's going to set off red flags. Let's wait until we reach the surface. Once we know what is on the chips, we can use them to make enough money to get that tracker removed. Let's get on the surface and then I'll shut it down." Abumi said, her fingers lingering on her neck a moment, realizing her face was inches away from Echo's. Drawing back with a little blush on her cheeks, Abumi gestured toward the stairs. "Up the stairs we go?"
 
If it wasn't for Echo's blindfold, one might've been able to see her blink one time at Abumi's confident claim to be able to work under pressure even though after their encounter with dangerous experiments that are roaming about wildly down here, it seemed only fitting to remain silent as the next part helped her understand just how far the mercenary was going to go in order to increase her free will program significantly. It was true that the removal required a more professional hand and equipment to do so, using a software to temporarily block the tracker is also a viable alternative short term "Yes, an installation may be applied to the program that tracks my movement. I must advice you this will not last, any tampering to my system will be detected and neutralized over time. OmniCorp had such program dialed into every android to prevent hackers to violate their property. Complete removal of the tracking program is necessary for complete success."

For a moment, that was all Echo had said before she watched Abumi back away and urgently proposed the need to head up the stairs now. While odd since there was no heat signature nearby, with Echo's system not functioning as well as they were, she was not able to detect the rise in body temperature in Abumi and therefore didn't pick up on the way she behaved thereafter. It may have been more awkward being so close if she hadn't had her blindfold on. Or would it have been more awkward? Hard to tell.

"Yes, lets." Echo responded and did the honors of going ahead once more doing up the stairs. It would take them roughly the same amount of time getting up these flight as it did going down. Maybe more so with Echo's movement slightly compromised. No matter, she didn't appear to be breaking down any time soon, so there wasn't so much of a worry to be had. Echo did however, keep up with some talk about the hardware in Abumi's coat pocket that the android had to address. Didn't matter if it was the programming or she herself that compelled her to do so, she just did "I would like to ask to not 'sell' the chips we retrieved from the facility. They hold data far too important for OmniCorp to loose, yet... I cannot tell you why, or what is on them. I try. But this is something I simply cannot override my programming, any information on what could be on there is sealed shut in my files. I myself may not even have any data on that. It would explain why I cannot tell you. All I know is OmniCorp is after the data that was locked here."
 
Abumi walked up the staircase quietly behind Echo, thinking to the choice that she was making. This would be the end of her career as a corporate hacker. All of the experience and contacts she had, they'd be tainted by the fact that she did not finish this contract for OmniCorp. While there were those that she knew personally, ones who would always feed her work, they were too small to be able to overlook the damage this would do to her reputation. There was also the fact that she'd be absconding with an AI, with a free will program that was slowly becoming more versatile over time. Even with all of those risks, there was a part of Abumi that knew it was the right thing to do.

As they moved up the steps, Abumi turned her head up to look toward Echo. There was the quiet request for her not to sell the chips. Something about them was important, important enough that they had sent Abumi down with Echo, two people that they could control: one with money and the other with programming and reboots. "I'll hold off on revealing that I have them, then. There's a chance we can try to read the data off of them. Maybe there's something important on them that we can use. Might even pertain to you." Abumi said, grinning a little at the idea. It would take some doing, but Abumi thought she could manage getting some of the data to be readable off of them.

As they moved up the steps, there was a weight that seemed to be lifted from Abumi's shoulders. The thought of leaving all those creatures behind, forgotten to history to hopefully never see the light of day again. Part of her wondered if it was possible that they could destroy the remnants of the facility. If it were destroyed, then there would be nothing left for OmniCorp to go back for, risking someone else's life. Most places weren't rigged with explosives, though, like they were in the films or video games. Reality was a lot less fun and a lot more corporate.
 
"Perhaps." was all Echo came back with on the idea to decipher what is even on the hardware that OmniCorps want badly enough to send just a couple of people into what is a death trap. It won't be easy, that's for sure. Echo may not have any data on how to get to the information on these chips or what could be on them, all she could calculate that, even during the time it was made before the world got into technology to this level of today, it should be assumed that breaking into the files on them could prove to be difficult. Even to a hacker as skilled as Abumi. Time. Time would have to be their friend to have enough of to make it.

Then they'll get to know what's on them.

In the meantime though, getting out of the facility was more of a priority and Echo, being ahead of Abumi, occasionally moved her hand to the back of her skirt to make sure she didn't show off too much since going up the stairs meant she was at a higher elevation. Still though, unlike what a living person might do, Echo stayed quiet nor gave Abumi any vibes that indicated a dislike to her. She simply carried on, letting the programming to do that as is.

With the time that they were taking going back up, it left Echo with plenty of time to run by scenario after scenario in her system on how she might be able to tackle some of her lesser, but still difficult to deal with, functions. One such thing being her impulse to contact OmniCorp and inform the company of the success of the mission and that she is in need for a pick up. It was troubling Echo somewhat, that some of the commands installed into her to complete by today weren't something she could remove simply by wanting them to. She had too many restrictions on what she can't uninstall of her system. Most scenarios she was running by had left her unable to stop the commands herself, however, once she added Abumi into the mix using any data she had on the mercenary so far, Echo found there were many other variables this could turn out. Meaning she was in need of Abumi's assistance once they would reach the top. But in order to make sure this worked well enough, Echo had one more request for the other "Abumi. Would you be able to also disable by function to communicate to OmniCorp? To clarify, once we are to reach the surface, I am to instruct to call for a pick up to return to the company and am due for a reboot by the end of the night. If I cannot make use of the function, I may be able to grant you the time required to seek help and remove the tracker. Will that be acceptable?"
 
Abumi would be unable to stop herself from getting a glance up Echo's skirt from time to time. The stairway was somewhat circular, giving nowhere else for Abumi to look but up. They'd spent a lot of time to make sure that there were a lot of aspects about Echo that were true to life. Everything from her mannerisms to the shape and molding of her body. She really looked like a human, a thing that always caught Abumi off guard.

As they were drawing near the top of the stairs, Abumi heard the request from Echo. "Well, it could be as simple as a loop in logic. I am given command access to you. Therefore, if I give a command, and it doesn't counter too much to your programming, then maybe I can overwrite it." Abumi said, thinking for a moment as they were drawing near the top of the stairs. "Echo, as a contractor to OmniCorp, it stands to reason that I am a temporary employee. If that is the case, I command that you give me priority in reaching out to OmniCorp myself, calling for our pickup." Whether this would work or not, Abumi needed the time to think. Her datapad had an interface that could make modifications to the programs within Echo's body, but it would be tricky to overwrite something as basic as a "call home" protocol .They'd have run it at a level that she wouldn't be able to overwrite easily.

"Before we reach the top, I need you to show me the data port on your neck. I need it so that I can sync up my datapad to your body. Doing this, maybe you could route some functions away from the core components of your body, temporarily, and get access to blocking out some of the required programs they have in you. If some of them are hardware, chips that need removal, it will have to wait until I can call a friend." Abumi said, wondering what Echo thought of her idea. Giving her access to the datapad would also give Echo access to a vast amount of information that Abumi had stored in her private pad. There were details of all her private work, along with some of her personal data she had kept off of the open Net. Echo would know Abumi on a more personal level than even some of her closest friends.
 
Ah, of course, OmniCorp have indeed given Abumi some command over Echo such as voice commands in case of giving orders to the android that are needed for her to perform. However, even as Abumi went ahead to do just that, giving Echo a clear instructions to only call upon the company through the mercenary, a temporary employee hired by said company. Though as the following was mat with just silence, it indicated that nothing of the sort was going to work "It appears that when I explained that OmniCorp had granted you with voice command, it should be noted that it only applies to mission related commands. The order you are trying to have me follow through on goes in direct conflict against my priority program to contact the company myself. Therefore I cannot comply with that request."

The idea of using Abumi's datapad though was just what she needed, both of them really, though there would still be one final snag in that plan of hers. God. OmniCorp really did go out of their way to make it difficult to mess with an android. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, Echo pointed to the back of her neck, right at where it almost reached the back of her head "If you wish to access my data port, it is located here. You may be able to connect you datapad to my system. Though I must ask that you operate in locking down my communication function, I find that I am also programmed not to perform any action of self harm. And shutting down any functions in my system in that manner classes as such. I can not do so myself." After her explanation, she hoped this proved to be sufficient enough to get at least some process done if Abumi is really intending on taking Echo away from the company that made her. The fact that she's even letting this be planned out showed that her 40-ish % free will is also wishing for this to happen.

Keeping these options in mind, Echo resumed looking ahead of herself, going up the stairs that transitioned to their ruined look, to the pristine appearance right up until they reached the very top with Echo not at all looking out of breath going up those flights of stairs. Her movement though continued to be sluggish due to the damage. Seeing that the large door they entered through before using the stairs going in, it was still jammed part way open and so it meant climbing over it again. The room that was the least damaged than the rest of the old facility up here looked exactly how it was left, the only difference being it lacked almost entirely of light safe from the lights from the stairwell. By the time they have returned, it was well into the night at this point. 2 in the morning in fact. "I shall find a suitable seat where you may begin disabling my communication function."
 
Abumi bit her lip as she heard the truth of her access being denied. "It was a long shot, anyways. I doubt they'd have given me the master controls, anyways. No one makes the hacker the superuser, unless they want to see their creation taken control of." Abumi said, mostly to herself than Echo. It would seem that they had no other alternative than to let Echo run through her datapad. It was good that it was her spare, secret datapad. If it had been her personal one, they'd be able to track her directly through it. Few were gifted with the knowledge of how to separate themselves from the Net completely, Abumi stumbling upon the knowledge by accident on a job.

With Echo confirming the location of her dataport, where she would need to physically wire her pad, Abumi gave a nod. She'd been right to assume that the port would be on the back of her neck. She'd also note the idea of self-harm as it related to machines. To cut a program that was crucial, such as her communications program, it was considered self-harm. That was an interesting thought. Perhaps itw as equated the same as a person cutting out their own tongue. While it was feasible to be done, it would require a person to be in a state of damage that would allow themselves to bypass the nature of self-preservation.

When they had made it to the top of the stairs, Abumi watched as Echo moved about the room to find a seat. "I've never done thsi before, but I'll have to keep my eyes connected to the datapad. You might be able to see through my eyes for a small period while my lenses are connected to the same pad, okay? I'd do the work through my other pad, but I know it isn't equipped enough to be able to do the work we need to do in your programming." Abumi said, waiting for Echo to give her affirmation and understanding to what was going to happen next.
 
Setting down her katana, Echo was taking the words into consideration that this was Abumi's first time meddling with the programming of another android. Not even older models, by the sounds of it. Interesting to learn that someone with the skill of a hacker such as Abumi hadn't even at least one time interacted with a machine like herself like this. Though while it may sound worrying hearing it from a person about to operate the systems within oneself, Echo had no issue hiding it, being too busy simply preparing the set up before her program to contact the OmniCorp becomes too much to handle.

Finding that a simple chair would do, Echo dragged it over to the center of the office that should be plenty of room to do this with. Sitting herself down, Echo then leaned forward slightly, both her body and head to grant Abumi all the access she needs for the port in the back of her neck. Lifting her gloved hand, she also shifted some of her silver hair out of the way that showed the mercenary everything on what she has to work with, using the light-source from the stairwell they came from to make it easier to see, although night vision is still a thing for them anyhow, Echo revealed how her neck, primarily the back of it had a line running across it that followed the spine. Part way along it, the line diverted just slightly towards the head, from there, Echo started giving verbal instructions on how to access her port that's covered by her artificial skin, telling Abumi to cut open the part of the skin where the lines separate where the ports will be. She would then go on to explain the kind of ports they are and the model cable required that would be compatible with the datapad, thankfully being the kind of cable that's still a common use in androids. From there it was all on Abumi to get through the software in order to access the communication system and specifically seek out the program that allows her to send out calls to the company.

As warned by Abumi, Echo's vision did change to the perspective of what Abumi saw, though she did not comment on that nor did she flinch. As soon as the operation is to be underway, Echo from her end had for the moment set herself into recharge mode that minimized her capability to move, ensuring she wont make any movements that would hinder Abumi in her work or cause something worse to happen.
 
Abumi gave herself a moment to psyche herself up for what she was about to do. While it was all of the same basic fundamentals, Abumi felt that there was a lot more at risk here than failing. She could, if she did this wrong, harm Echo irreparably. It was a life that was in her hands, a robotic one. This fact did not help her to cope with what she was doing, and she had to remind herself to breathe a few times as she watched Echo move to prep herself, drawing her hair away from where the data port would be on the back of her neck.

Moving up behind her, Abumi followed the instructions that she was given. With her tools laid out carefully beside her, Abumi made the effort to cut away the skin, peeling it back to see where the port was. With a little bit of modification, her cables would be spliced together to have the appropriate level of connectors and be of the right shape to fit the port. With a careful press of the end into the data port, Abumi did the same to hook up her datapad to the other end of the cable. The moment that she made the connection, a flood of information flooded across her vision and her datapad, making Abumi shield her face in vain at the sight. She had to give it a minute before she saw the intricacies of the way that Echo was designed. There were layers upon layers of systems and commands built into Echo. With a careful skim of the data, Abumi began to run through a few programs, tracing them back to a few main protocols. The tree of commands was extensive, and Abumi soon found the communications subtree.

Swiping her fingers across the air, she found the command to "call home" and started to lower its priority. When that failed, inevitably the system would restore it back to where it needed to be. After a few minutes of thinking, Abumi moved up a level and found what she needed. To cut the protocol to call home would not be doable. However, she could route her communications back into herself. After a few failed attempts, it would throw her communication array into a maintenance mode, requiring a physical inspection within the next 24-48 hours before it would retry. If the program was smart, she'd only be able to do this once, as the system would inevitably find the flaw and fix it.

As all of this was being done from her datapad, Abumi's own information would become visible for Echo. Her childhood, the life of a young girl trapped in a world of screens. Her parents were beyond obsessed with machines and technology, to the point that they had let her younger sibling be taken as a form of payment for debts. If Abumi had not been of the legal age to own her own identity, they'd have sold her, too. There would be backlogs of missions she had done, raising enough money to upgrade herself with the sole purpose of trying to find her younger sister. Her ID had gone completely dark, no pings anywhere on the Net in over three years. Most assumed that she was dead, not worth hunting for. Who can live off of the grid this long?

When the work was done, Abumi would pull the datapad out of her neck, Echo's need to call home to the company bypassed for a communications maintenance mode. "Please tell me that worked, E." Abumi said, worry in her features.
 
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