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Chapter Text

2072
North America
Somewhere in Nevada

The lab building was separate from the main base by several hundred yards and an electrified fence with what appeared to be ESD units along every other post. The Vanguard captain who drove Doctor Weller and Yasamin Madrani tried to keep his composure as he approached the compound. Aside from the foreboding appearance of the electrified fence and guard posts on the corners of the fenced in area and at the gate to the compound, there was no other indication as to what the building housed.

Doctor Weller, however, knew what the building housed and who was in it, it was why he was here.

The guard at the shack scrutinized the driver’s security card and then the IDs of the vehicle’s other occupants. With a frown that Weller was sure was the default expression of the man, he waved the truck through and the chain-link fenced gate slammed shut behind them with a clang.

“A rather warm welcome,” Weller commented drily.

The captain smiled despite his tense posture, “No one likes working security shifts here. Even with the ESD in place, it can be a bit … unsettling.”

“I can’t imagine one person being that terrifying to protect,” Weller said.

“Oh no, she’s fine… it’s the stuff she works with that’s unsetting,” the captain shuddered.

Yaz asked in surprise as they stepped out of the vehicle, “Only one person works here?”

A hot, dry wind blasted her face, the desolate landscape of the Nevada desert surrounded the compound on all sides. Hills rose in the distance, a small mountain range in the aptly named Basin and Range region of North America. Shrubs of chamiza, shadscale, and winterfat dotted the landscape, giving away that she wasn’t in Iran. However, if she closed her eyes for a moment, she could almost pretend.

The building they were being led to wasn’t large but it wasn’t a shack either. It was a rectangular structure with no windows and walls made of thick concrete. There was only one visible vent to the outside over the only door to the building.

“The doctor didn’t want anyone else getting involved with this,” he said as he led them to the door, “she said she didn’t trust anyone else to handle the tech with the respect it needed. Plus, after New York, a lot of people are afraid to get as close to it as she does.”

The captain typed in an access code, the door opened, and he waved them inside. The building consisted of one main room, a lab that was more of a large containment chamber built inside the main room. The chamber consisted of several walls of thick windows framed in steel laid out in a hexagonal shape. Inside a solitary, dark-skinned woman worked, her coat carelessly thrown over a chair. She wore a white t-shirt that showed off toned muscles and an intricate tattoo on her left arm. She wore dark pants, on her head she wore a black and white striped beanie that covered her long black hair tied into a plait draped over her left shoulder.

The thing that made Yaz gasp though was the cloud of white Nanotech that clung to the woman’s right arm as she worked, it conformed to the shape of her arm and hand, fitting her like a glove. Even the captain looked rather ashen at that sight, but he cleared his throat and regained his composure. He made his way to the door to the chamber and pressed a button on the door panel, “Doctor Livingston? Doctor Weller from the ESU is here.”

The woman looked up at the ceiling as if listening to the PA speaker and said something the people gathered outside couldn’t hear. The whole chamber had been soundproofed. The speakers over Doctor Weller and the others crackled to life.

“Much better,” a woman’s voice with a thick New Zealand accent came on overhead, she was still turned away from them as she finished working on something. She turned to see the three guests there and then down at her arm which was still blanketed in the Nanotech.

She lifted her arm and pointed at a container, “Go on, into the tub you go,” the Nanotech obediently leapt from her arm and into the container. As the Nanotech left, everyone gathered could see the arm that it covered was a bionic sheathed in a silvery metal.

The container closed and locked with several audible snaps at the tap of a button on a watch on her left wrist and she strode up to the windows with a friendly smile and wave, “Doctor Weller, kia ora! It’s been too long.”

Doctor Weller didn’t have a chance to reply.

“How did you manage to control Union Nanotech?” Yaz asked, she was still shocked.

Doctor Livingston frowned, “It’s not Union Nanotech per se. Similar design but different purpose so it was easy as piss to code it to follow my direction. Union Nanotech on the other hand, I still need some time to figure that one out. Even so, as you can see – the Vanguard won’t let me work on it without certain … precautions in place.”

“We’ve all seen what Nanotech does,” the captain replied curtly, “Forgive us for being careful.”

“I understand,” the doctor looked a little guilty, “And there are samples of Nanotech here that I really wouldn’t like getting out,” she glanced sideways at the containers lining one wall of the lab.

“Anyway,” Weller cleared his throat, taking charge of the conversation once more, “Doctor Livingston, you wrote back that you might have a solution to the problem I sent you?”

“Yes,” she said, “Give me a moment. Had I known you were coming over I’d have not been in here,” she cast a pointed look at the captain.

“We sent you a message,” he replied.

“I didn’t get it,” she said back.

The captain sighed, “I ordered Lieutenant Young…”

“Lieutenant Young thinks that if he messages me, the Nanotech I’m working with is going to somehow travel across the signal and kill him. God help us all if the Union ever figures out how to do that,” she responded as she walked over to the airlock of the chamber. She stepped in and pressed a button, and the high-pitched whine of an ESD charging up filled their ears. If any Nanotech had still clung to her person, it was gone now.

She stepped out of the chamber a moment later and walked towards Weller, Yaz, and the captain. Yaz noticed one of the doctor’s steps seemed heavier than the other, ‘Does she have a bionic leg as well?’ the pilot thought.

The doctor walked up to Yaz and offered her left hand, “Anyway I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. Doctor Marama – Mara - Livingston, I’m the only scientist crazy enough to work this closely with flesh eating Nanotech this side of the 88th.”

“Yasamin Madrani,” Yaz answered, a bit hesitant to shake the woman’s hand, the same woman who had been casually handling Nanotech only moments before.

“Pleasure,” Mara replied and turned to Weller, “As I said, I wasn’t expecting a visit out here. I thought you’d just write me back or call.”

“We’re between labs at the moment,” Doctor Weller explained, “Actually we’re about to head to our next location. This was the easiest and most secure way to get into contact with you since the Union may have compromised our communications.”

“Bloody Nora,” Mara said under her breath before raising her voice to normal level, “Well I might have a way to work with Nanotech to help with regen,” she said, “I’ve been working on it for a while now and I’m close to making a breakthrough. I still don’t completely understand why you wanted this though, the file you sent me was clear as mud.”

“A lot of things are still classified I’m afraid,” Weller said, “and Colonel Marin wasn’t sure she wanted me sending you files over a potentially unsecure line.”

“But now that we’re in person…?” Mara looked expectantly at Weller.

He opened a few MR screens and sent them over to Mara with a flick of his wrist. Mara turned away from her guests and lapsed into silence, looking over the files quickly. Yaz recognized Chase’s files and she looked at Doctor Weller, “She can help Chase?”

Yaz had known Chase all of a few months since Weller had recruited her to the gen:LOCK program. Chase, having been half-dissolved by Union Nanotech, joked about his condition a few times. It was a coping mechanism, you either found the humor in the situation or you just succumbed to feeling sorry for yourself and Chase was determined to not sink into that hole any time soon. Still, she could see the toll it took on him to not be able to leave his tank, to feel the world around him like he once did. As a fellow pilot, she couldn’t imagine what it would be like if she didn’t have the ability to pilot an aircraft ever again.

He had sacrificed everything for the Vanguard. He deserved his body back.

Mara turned to Weller, “I’m surprised he’s still alive and I guess working for you now,” she said, “Nanite injuries are … complicated and almost always fatal.”

“We did everything we could to keep him alive,” Weller replied, “We couldn’t lose him.”

“The Nanotech was taken out by the ESD before it could completely kill him,” Mara turned back to reading the files, “Likely the shock of the Nanotech in his system is what kept him alive, that’s ironic.”

“You’re telling me someone actually survived a Nanotech attack?” the captain asked incredulously.

“Don’t sound so shocked Captain Huang,” Mara looked at him and remarked flatly, “You’ve been working with one of the only other known survivors of one.”

Captain Huang’s jaw dropped as he stared at her.

“What? You thought me saying my PhD cost me an arm and a leg was a joke?” Mara rapped lightly on her right leg for emphasis.

‘So it is a bionic,’ Yaz thought.

“I think this means you all owe Sergeant Lionel a case of beer,” she continued and then said to Doctor Weller, “I have a lot of the Union Nanotech variants here but surprisingly none from New York which I assume is the variant that impacted Lieutenant Chase. I’d also like to meet him in person and discuss with him options before I promise anything. This is essentially human experimentation with Nanotech and …” she shuddered and paused for a moment.

“I’m not comfortable with pursuing that until I can be sure it’s safe and Lieutenant Chase is without a shadow of a doubt on board.”

“Once we get settled in at our new lab and I clear it with Colonel Marin, I’m sure we can arrange a visit,” Doctor Weller said.

“Sweet as!” Mara said excitedly and at the confused looks of two thirds of her guests (Captain Huang was used to the woman’s slang), “Err, I mean great, that sounds great.”

-

Word came a few days later in the form of a video call from Colonel Marin. The woman looked as serious as ever as she greeted Mara. Mara stood in Major Simmons office, he was the commanding officer of the base Mara had been stationed at.

“Doctor Livingston, Doctor Weller is under the impression that you can help Lieutenant Chase,” she said, “They just landed here and Doctor Weller has requested you get sent as soon as possible.”

“I’ve got a few ideas,” Mara answered, “I can get there as soon as tonight.”

“I’ll let them know to expect you,” Raquel said and then added, “don’t think about bringing any of your Nanotech. We’ll have enough excitement with Doctor Weller’s tech.”

From the way she sounded, Mara had a feeling whatever Weller was working on probably would cause quite a stir in the base Raquel was commanding. Mara hesitated, some of the tech she was working on might be helpful, but on the other hand she knew that the colonel would want nothing more than full compliance.

“I wouldn’t dream of it Colonel. I doubt Major Simmons would even let me bring one nanite off base,” Mara replied.

Simmons shook his head, “Live Nanotech leaves this base over my dead body and even then, I’d come back from the dead to fight it.”

Raquel closed the call and Simmons looked at Mara, “I’ll get a Razor prepped for take-off, when are you thinking you can leave?”

“Well, I can’t take my lab with me,” she said, “So I just need to pack some clothes. I’ll be ready to leave by 1600.”

Simmons nodded and clasped his hands behind his back, “I’ll let the transport know,” he said.

The sun was just over the peaks on the western horizon when Mara stepped on board the transport. She steadied her nerves as the Razor’s engines fired up and they rose into the afternoon skies. The craft shook slightly.

‘Turbulence from thermal currents due to the sun heating the desert basin,’ Mara thought as her right hand clenched into a tight fist, the metal creaking, ‘Not a Union Spider Tank trying to shoot you down.’

Sergeant Lionel sat in the seat opposite of her, he was to be her escort until they got to the Anvil, then he’d return once they dropped her off. He seemed pretty happy to have the opportunity to get off base even if for a few hours. Mara guessed he was even happier due to the beer he got last night. Before the war she’d have found it almost offensive that they’d even start a betting pool on the reason she lost two of her limbs. Now though, she understood they needed to blow off steam and making up stories about their resident egghead was a good way to do that.

Mara had done her best to stay open to the rest of the people on base, knowing that her experimenting with Nanotech that had killed their friends was bound to make quite a few people hostile towards her. Not everyone on the base appreciated the effort but most of them at least were friendly to her in passing. Working with Nanotech, trying to figure out a way for the Vanguard to use it (but not to the brutal and sickening extent the Union was using it), was not a matter of debate to Mara. She had to do this.

Lionel lounged on the seat, looking out the window at the mountains passing by, seemingly unphased by the jostling of the transport, “Did you know I grew up in Nebraska Doctor Livingston?”

“No, I didn’t,” Mara said. She wondered if he had picked up on her anxiety and was trying to distract her.

“Yeah,” he said, “Flat as flat can get out there. I swear you could get on a highway and see your turn coming up 100 miles away.”

“That’s pretty flat,” Mara agreed and winced when the Razor hit a thermal with a strong jolt.

“You’re not used to flying I take it?” Lionel asked conversationally.

Mara offered a small smile, “I’m a Kiwi sergeant. We’re not meant to fly.”

Lionel let out a crack of laughter.

-

It had been an eventful day for Chase.

They had just gotten to the Anvil when Raquel had sent out several squads on a mission to rescue refugees from Union territory. That mission had gone to hell with the arrival of several Spider Tanks and a platoon of Union soldiers. Miranda and her squad were almost wiped out when he and Yaz were deployed.

Miranda.

The look on her face when he had said “Let the good times roll” and appeared on the battle field in his Holon. Then her expression when they had gotten back to base and he mixed into the briefing room. He knew he was in for a long conversation with her when they could get some time alone to talk. He wasn’t quite sure what to say or what he could say to her.

Migas had left after his visit, he had asked about regen which Doctor Weller had explained that Union Nanotech was nasty stuff. It really was. But Doctor Weller had also told Chase about a scientist he was bringing in, a Doctor Livingston who worked with Nanotech and might have found a way to make him whole again.

He had made his peace years ago with his situation but there was a chance now. A chance he could be able to live outside of his tank, a chance he could be with Miranda, a chance he could fly again.

He wasn’t about to let that go.

It was late into the night when Doctor Weller walked into the lab again, this time with a younger woman who carried a small duffel bag with her. She set it down on one of the crates and walked over to Chase, “Good evening Lieutenant Chase, my name’s Doctor Marama Livingston. I would have been here sooner but there were some afternoon storms over the Rockies we had to fly around.”

“Hey,” Chase said in response, “Doctor Weller said you might have a way to fix well …,” he motioned to his body with his good arm.

“I have a few ideas,” Mara replied, “I’ll need your permission though Lieutenant.”

“Just Chase is fine,” Chase replied, “What do you need my permission for exactly?”

Mara opened a few screens, “Well I’ll need a few fresh tissue samples to start, I need to know exactly what kind of variant of Union Nanotech I’m working with. They patch the code so often that it can be hard to keep up with what they’re throwing onto the battle field these days. Surprisingly, I don’t have any Nanotech samples from the Battle of New York.”

“How will that help?” Chase asked and caught onto the last bit of what Mara said, ‘“don’t have any Nanotech samples from the Battle of New York” what does she mean by that? Does she have samples of Union Nanotech just lying around in her lab?’

“The Nanotech still in your tissue isn’t completely off,” she replied, “Despite the ESD shutting down all ambient tech and I’d say curbing its more voracious tendencies, the nanites are incredibly stubborn. They stay dormant in the tissue, any attempts at regen seem to reactivate them for a brief period which is why it doesn’t take, they destroy any new tissue created.”

“And you’re going to find a way to completely shut down Nanotech in my body?” Chase asked, an edge of excitement in his voice.

“That’s the goal,” Mara said, “I’ve had a few solid leads in how to do this but I can’t make any promises aside from that I will work my hardest to help you recover. So what d’ya say?”

Chase thought about it for a moment before bumping the fist of his good hand to the glass of the tank, “I’m in.”

It was the only way he could really achieve anything resembling a handshake at that point.

Mara grinned, “Sweet as,” she bumped her left fist to the tank.

Yaz had said “There’s always tomorrow” to Doctor Weller to warn him that things could be always worse tomorrow. Chase watched as Mara picked up her bag and left the lab to find her bunk for the night, maybe Yaz was wrong.

“Give me Night Tunes Three.”

He closed his eyes as the music played in his tank. There’d be no sleeping, no dreaming, but he could still imagine a life where he could do that again.

Chapter Text

She woke up early the next morning.

Slowly opening her eyes, she reoriented herself. This room was different from the one she had in the Nevada base, it was around the same size but it was much more barren. Her room in the Nevada base had a few decorations at the very least, photos of home, a picture of her dad, a poster for the New Zealand National women’s rugby team hung on the door. Before the incident, she had been an avid rugby player. Now that she had two metal limbs it was somewhat unfair to anyone else going up against her physically so she played pick up matches in the Ether - it wasn’t the same but it was good enough to be cathartic. 

This room had a desk, a chair, and a bed. It was still better accommodations than what most soldiers got, which was a room lined with bunk beds and a table. Of course, they were soldiers, they were supposed to eat, sleep, and live together for months on end. The closest Mara came to that lifestyle was her first two years of undergrad before she got an apartment and finally had some privacy. 

Of course there was the hospital she did rehab at for several months after she lost her limbs. She was roomed with a woman who had gone through regen to regrow her legs after a Vanguard training accident. She had been much more bitter then, angry that this woman she was forced to be in the same room with was lucky enough to come away from her ordeal mostly unscathed. 

The attempts at regen had hurt , every time they had tried to grow anything back, Mara faced agony as the nanites stubbornly reactivated and chewed away at the progress. They finally decided that bionics was the only way to go to give her a chance at a life again. 

Mara swung her legs over the side of the bed, one foot clanking heavily on the cold tile floor while the other one made a soft slapping sound. She stretched the deltoids in her flesh arm and then made the same motion to stretch her bionic arm, not surprised when she didn’t get the same sensation or any sensation really. The bionics were decent, they had haptic feedback sensors but again, nothing as good as the real thing. Mostly the sensors were in her fingers and hand so she could manipulate objects better. 

She opened the messages in her MR contacts, seeing a new one from Weller. 

“Meeting some new recruits, I’ll be at the lab at 0900.” 

Recruits? 

Mara wondered if it had anything to do with the 40 foot tall mechas that were lining one wall of the maintenance hangar when she walked in. Those suits looked right up Weller’s alley. 

“Wonder what the crazy old genius came up with this time,” Mara muttered as she got dressed. It was 6 am, she had time to head down to the mess for some grub before meeting at the lab. 

After a rather peaceful meal, she was thankful for the anonymity that the larger base offered her. No one knew who she was or what she did. Most of the soldiers seemed to ignore her because she was just another egghead researcher at the base, no one knew what she handled or how close she got to Nanotech. 

Everyone at the Nevada base feared her, or more appropriately they feared what she worked with. Most of the soldiers were polite enough but she could hardly call any of them mutual friends or even casual acquaintances. 

She was going to miss this feeling of not being actively avoided by everyone around her. 

Finally she got up and headed for the lab. Weller had said he was meeting recruits but she felt maybe some time with the tech in the room to acquaint herself with the materials she had to work with would get her a good head start. 

She stepped out of the elevator and rounded the corner, seeing a woman about her age standing at the door to the lab, she reached out for the lock pad, before pulling her hand away. 

“Y’know,” Mara said, “the door pad won’t bite.” 

Miranda turned to stare at the other woman, features hardening in suspicion, “And you are?” 

“Doctor Mara Livingston, I’m here to help Doctor Weller on a project-,” Mara said before she was cut off by an alarm and the lights in the hallway turning red. 

“Get down! Get down on the ground now!”

The hallway suddenly became very crowded with Colonel Marin leading a squad of Vanguard soldiers to confront a Union spy who was holding a gun to Doctor Weller’s head. Beside him, a cloud of Nanotech floated ominously at head height. 

Mara’s eyes locked onto the glittering, chattering cloud and took a step back with Miranda. Both held their hands up but while Miranda had a plan to try and disarm the man, Mara had a plan to try not to get shot or eaten by nanites on her first day. 

She kept a close eye on those nanites as Miranda made her move at Raquel’s signal, grabbing the spy’s gun arm and forcing it into a lock, attempting to disarm him. His blue suit lit up as he slowly lifted her from the ground before flinging her to the ground. 

“Incredible,” Mara said quietly to herself, earning a ‘excuse me?’ look from Miranda who was able to hear it, “the suit enhances his neuromuscular reactions.” 

The other soldiers in the hall rushed the spy and the blonde man fought them off with ease. Doctor Weller was thrown into the colonel, his use as a human shield done with now that the spy had gotten to his goal. Miranda attacked again, disarming him and dealing a blow to his ears that knocked him backwards into the lab. Before anyone could run in to stop him, he forced the cloud of Nanotech into the door pad and the door slammed shut. 

Mara ran to look at the cloud of Nanotech around the door lock but before she could get too close, they seemed to jump out at her in reaction. She jolted back, her mind going blank with fear as she slowly backed away from the cloud. 

‘ Not again…’

The spy smirked, “I suggest everyone stays very, very still. Here’s the deal. I want a Holon.”

“We won’t let you leave,” Colonel Marin looked at Mara her sharp voice cutting through the fear that clouded her mind, “You’re the Nanotech expert. Do something. ”

Mara tried to push down the feelings of panic that threatened to overwhelm her, with a shaky hand she opened an MR screen to try to find and hack whatever signal the Nanites were putting out. 

‘ Focus. Focus. Work on this come on. ’ Mara repeated to herself as she started to work but a sharp gasp broke her out of her concentration and she looked up to see the cloud had moved from the door lock to a soldier to her right. The cloud moved to everyone in the hallway, as if teasing its potential victims with its deadly ability.

Mara forced herself to look away but her concentration was already broken and the panic she felt was beginning to take over.

‘ Work faster.’

She heard the metallic skittering alarmingly close to her right ear and she froze, daring not to breathe or even move her eyeballs to look at the threat that was by her ear. The stumps of her right arm and leg began to tingle almost painfully as if the nanites inside were coming to life and wanting to come out and play. The cloud wrapped from her right arm down across her chest and torso, spiraling around her legs before leaping up obediently at the spy’s hand motion to emotionally traumatize another victim. 

Mara completely checked out by then, standing stock still in the hallway, her face paling as she kept watch on the cloud as it returned to the door pad. She saw but didn’t actually comprehend the spy’s demands being met by Weller, she saw but didn’t comprehend Yaz and the three new faces in the hallway, she saw but didn’t comprehend the spy’s horrific death when he tried to upload. 

She only returned when his screams heralded his death and the disabling of the Nanotech swarm. The world returned to her in sharp clarity, her stomach churned, her left hand shook violently as she closed down the screen. Weller looked as if he was about to say something to her but she turned and ran down the hall, shoving past Cammie. 

He looked concerned but he had other things to deal with, like convincing the three recruits that yes: gen:LOCK was totally safe if you were compatible and they should try it. 

“So, who wants to go next?” 

They all stared at him like he had grown 15 heads.

“Any takers?”

-

Mara ran to a bathroom on the next level, thanking every deity she could think of that it was empty. She ran over to the sink and heaved, her breakfast coming up as tears ran down her face. Her left leg gave out but her right leg, unaffected by such things as adrenaline stayed strong. Still, she braced herself on the sink, letting the cool metal surface ground her. 

The stumps of her arm and leg still tingled painfully and she almost ripped off her coat to remove it, dropping it to the floor and rolling up the sleeve on her T-shirt to reveal her arm. The ugly scars left from the nanites were still there but not growing. 

Snippets of an unwanted memory clawed its way to the surface from the depths of her mind.

“Containment breach. Shut it down! Damn it shut it down!” 

“I can’t… fuck… Doctor Smithson!” 

Shaking her head she turned on the tap, trying to breathe normally but her breaths still came out in small, high pitched gasps as she hyperventilated. Slowly she backed up against one of the walls and slid down, bringing her knees to her chest and hugging them as she rested her head on the knee caps. She needed to get control of this. 

‘Breathe in: one, two, three, four. five, six, seven… hold: one, two, three, four. five, six, seven…  out: one, two, three, four …” 

She continued the pattern until she calmed down. A rude, cynical, and critical voice in her head said, ‘ Why did you freak out like this? Sheesh you play around with Nanotech all the damn time. ’

Her more rational side argued back, ‘ That’s in a controlled setting. The Union shit is locked away and disabled forever. The stuff I have is programmed not to kill me or anyone - it can’t even eat away at people. It just makes cool shapes at my direction. And that’s the key phrase here isn’t it? “At my direction”. That was the closest we’ve come to disaster since… ’

She shuddered but she felt much calmer now. The danger had passed. The tingling in her arm and leg were likely psychosomatic and the second she verified that the nanites in her arm weren’t coming back to life, the tingling had subsided. 

She slowly got up, a message flashed in her MR overlay:

“Doctor Livingston report to Colonel Marin in Ops.” 

“Best not keep her waiting,” she muttered as she walked over to the sink and splashed water on her face and swished some water around in her mouth to clean it out. Taking a few deep breaths to steady herself she stepped outside and into the hallway and walked to the elevator to get up to the operations room. The doors to the elevator opened and Dr. Weller stood there, hands clasped behind his back. 

“Doctor Weller,” Mara said in greeting as she stepped into the lift. 

“Doctor Livingston,” Weller nodded back. 

“Are you okay?” Mara asked, “Can’t imagine being held at gunpoint was exactly your idea of how this morning would go.”

Doctor Weller gave her a small smile, “I’m fine. A little shaken but I knew he wouldn’t hurt me - most important mind in the Polity you know,” he said as he tapped his temple. 

Mara suppressed the urge to roll her eyes playfully at the older man, “I see you’re as humble as ever Doctor Weller.” 

Doctor Weller chuckled before asking Mara, concern crossing his features, “I could ask you the same question. Are you alright?” 

“It was just a bit too close to what happened at Hopkins, unrestrained Nanotech, the very real potential for getting killed, it just …” Mara took a breath, “It just brought back some memories and some feelings of intense panic.” 

“I’m sorry you had to deal with that,” Weller said, “if I had known something like this was going to happen…” 

“I know,” Mara said, “you wouldn’t have put me in danger willingly.” 

The elevator reached the top floors of the base, opening up into the operations room. Raquel  stood at a few screens, listening to the latest reports from the front. It didn’t sound good.

“Two hours ma’am. We’ll be ready to receive them in front of hangar 2.” 

“Page me when they land,” Raquel said, dismissing the call, “Damn it.” 

“That didn’t sound good,” Doctor Weller said. 

Raquel fixed the man with a look, “It isn’t… follow me.”

They went to the office and Raquel motioned for Mara to wait outside. As the door closed, Mara heard, “We need to discuss your next destination...” 

-

She stepped into Raquel’s room after Weller left, looking around the office briefly before focusing on the woman that stood behind her desk, “You left rather abruptly after the incident this morning,” she said. 

“I… yeah,” Mara said, “you read my file haven’t you? The uncontained Nanotech brought back some unpleasant memories.” 

Raquel’s expression seemed to soften very slightly but she went straight to business, as straightforward as ever, “I wanted to ask you to help me on a project in addition to your assisting Lieutenant Chase with his condition.” 

“What kind of project?” 

Raquel said, “As you know from this morning, a Union spy was able to smuggle live Nanotech into this base. He snuck it in by disguising it as a coin, we thought he was a recruit for a program - a Specialist Sinclair - so we didn’t search him as carefully for contraband as we should have. However our security team has informed me that even if we tried to scan him, we wouldn’t have been able to detect the Nanotech. I want you to assist engineering in coming up with a scan to detect hidden Nanotech.” 

“I’ll see what I can do,” Mara said, “I’d like a few samples of the Nanotech he was using and to examine the bodies of the victims if that’s okay.” 

“I’ll clear it with the NCBI Unit,” Raquel said, “Doctor Weller also seems to have some thoughts on the signal the Union uses to communicate with the Nanotech. He’s under the impression we can use it to our advantage to keep it from killing our soldiers - do you have any thoughts on this?” 

Mara mulled it over in her head for a moment, “I suppose we could suss out their ‘please don’t kill me’ signal and send it out. With the Nanotech that the spy used, I’m sure we can figure out something.” 

“Good, that’s the other project I want you working on,” Raquel said, “how long do you anticipate staying here?” 

“I need to collect a few samples from Chase, I was thinking of using a small drone in his tank to get them so it’s as non-invasive as possible, once I isolate the nanites from his flesh I’ll be able to return to my lab in Nevada and work with my tools and own Nanites there to find a way to shut them completely down,” Mara said. 

“Good,” Raquel said, “I’ll send word down to the NBCI Unit at once to clear you to take a look at the Nanotech and send it back with you to the Nevada lab. Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting to attend. You’re dismissed.” 

Mara nodded and left the room. 

She walked to the elevator and went down to the lab level in silence, mentally trying to block out the feelings she had only an hour before. As she entered the lab, she noted Dr. Weller at his chair, monitoring a few screens. The people that were in the hall before were gone. 

“Scare off your new recruits already Dr. Weller?” Mara asked teasingly.

Weller gave her a smile and said, “On the contrary,” he said as he motioned to the monitors, “Look.” 

Mara walked over seeing the video feeds from outside and the five large humanoid machines running on the tarmac facing off three striders in a training simulation. Well two of the machines were hanging back supervising the other three, the yellow one was shaking their head at the display.

“Are your recruits operating these machines?” Mara asked, her face full of wonder at the sight.

Weller said, “In a sense … they are the machine,” he nodded with a smile to the pods on the other wall where Yaz and the recruits now lay, “I did it Mara. I got gen:LOCK to work.”

Mara looked to Weller in astonishment, “Bloody Nora Doctor Weller you genius old bastard.” 

“Language,” he chided gently, “And I’m not that old.” 

“If I remember correctly, you referenced Gilbert and Sullivan lyrics at least three times in your seminar on neural interfacing,” Mara deadpanned, “You’re old.” 

“I’m not old Doctor Livingston, I’m simply a fan of the classics.”

“Whatever you say Doctor Weller.” 

Mara looked back at the sight before her, “How did you even manage to get past the compatibility issues? Wasn’t the mental strain too much for a mind to handle? How did you even code this?”

“Most of the inner workings of gen:LOCK is still highly classified I’m afraid,” Weller said.

“One day when this is all over and hopefully no longer classified you need to tell me how you got this to work,” Mara said. 

“One day, I hope you can experience how it works,” Weller said simply. 

Raquel entered the lab to watch the proceedings, she nodded to Mara, “NBCI cleared your request and they’re expecting you to finalize the details of the transfer,” she said. 

“Excellent,” Mara said and with a nod to Weller she said, “I’ll see you later. Congrats again on your achievement,” she inclined her head to the screens, “I know it was a big dream of yours, it’s good to see it’s now reality,” she gave them a smile and walked off.

“She knows about gen:LOCK?” Raquel asked Weller as the door closed behind Mara. The woman scientist had the clearance, especially given the projects she was working on, but the colonel still felt off about people she didn’t know having that kind of information.

Weller said, “Not the specifics, just the theory behind it. I gave a few guest lectures at John Hopkins on the potential applications of the Mindframe, she was a PhD student back then and I was good friends with her advisor. We kept in touch, especially after the accident.” 

“She’s still affected by it,” Raquel said, “She almost completely shut down this morning in the hallway.”

“I’d say she’s more motivated by it,” Weller said.

-

The NCBI or Nuclear, Chemical, Biological, Informational Containment Unit was in a sequestered hallway of the base with its own air supply and several airlocks between it and the rest of the facility. Mara walked up to the guard at the door, showing her credentials. He let her in and she met with the commander in charge of the unit, discussing options for moving the Nanotech to the Nevada base. 

“Our base ME would also like you to assist in the autopsy - our medical staff wants to know the impact these nanites have on the flesh but as she says, she rarely gets the chance to see a body survive a Nanotech attack intact,” the man said, “Once we put the bodies through decon - she’ll start tomorrow.” 

“Yeah, generally when the Union attacks they have a huge swarm of the Nanotech,” Mara said, “Everything organic disappears - I’ve been to the aftermath of a few mass attacks and all that’s left of a person is dental fillings or implants.” 

The man shuddered, “This was the first clean up I’ve been to. You actually work with this stuff?”

“Much like a deadly disease or nuclear waste - someone has to deal with it,” Mara said, “And I’d rather it be someone who gives it the respect it deserves.” 

“And that person is you?” the man asked.

Mara shrugged, “I’m the only person I trust.”

-

The rest of the day went quickly after that, Mara contacting the Nevada base about what she was coming back with and drawing up plans for a drone to get tissue samples from Chase. She didn’t want to let him know about her plan until she was sure it was even possible. 

The afternoon and evening was spent in her room reading over Chase’s extensive medical records and her own medical records - as well as autopsy reports of victims of Nanotech attacks in the cases that were “lucky” enough to only have been partially dissolved. Despite her having memorized most of these reports as well as her own medical records, she still felt a need to refresh herself on how exactly Nanotech broke down the tissue. 

The tech converted organics to fuel, it acted almost like an organism itself - taking in living cells and “eating” them for sustenance. It was almost ingenious if it wasn’t so damn horrifying.

She took a small break to eat but after the events of that morning, she didn’t have much of an appetite. Also she barely ate when she was as focused on a project as she was now. However, sleep was something she needed. Especially after the morning she had - she was knackered. 

At 2300 her head hit the pillow and she was out like a light.

“Doctor Livingston, please report to Ops,” the PA message woke her up and she rubbed her eyes, shaking off the disorientation of her slumber. Bleary, she opened the MR screen to see a message waiting for her:

“Report to Ops now.

-Col. Marin”

She got up, immediately more alert - if there was a reason the colonel was calling her at this time of night, it wasn’t good. Quickly she put on her shoes and made her way to the top levels of the Anvil, a feeling trepidation settling in her gut like a boulder. 

She first noted Doctor Weller’s presence besides Raquel’s, they stood at a map listening to a report from a familiar voice. Mara immediately recognized Captain Huang’s slightly accented voice. Something bad must have happened if the Captain was giving the report and not the Major. 

She walked over, listening to what Captain Huang was saying.

“... They hit us about thirty minutes ago, ten soldiers - heavily armed and with Nanotech. They had camouflage suits and we’re fairly certain they were special ops.” 

“Casualties?” the colonel asked.

“So far, 18 KIA, 25 WIA, 3 MIA,” Captain Huang said, “One of the KIAs was Major Simmons. I’m in command for now.”

“Any idea of what they were after?” 

Mara was now beside Weller and looking at the video feed. Captain Huang stood at attention as he was giving the report, behind him she could see several soldiers kneeling beside the wounded or putting white sheets over bodies.

Captain Huang almost sneered but he managed to maintain his composure, “The Nanotech of course,” he said, “We’re not sure if they knew Doctor Livingston was off base when they hit. Major Simmons died making sure none of the research here got anywhere close to being off premises.”

“He enacted our Wildfire Protocol,” Mara said.

“Yes ma’am,” Captain Huang nodded.

“Wildfire Protocol?” Weller asked.

“It was a contingency in case the base was compromised,” Mara said, “We couldn’t any of the stuff I was working on break containment, the plan was to do a full wipe of all the harddrives, activate the ESDs within the lab, and then blow the whole place sky high.” 

“They hit the command bunker first with Nanotech,” Captain Huang said, “Major Simmons almost didn’t have time to press the button before he was taken out.”

Captain Huang continued, “We’re evaccing once we finish mop up and relocating to the Vegas base.” 

“Understood,” Raquel said, “Give me an update once you’re evacced.”

“Yes ma’am,” Captain Huang said. Before the feed cut out, Mara saw him turn away from the camera and shout to a few soldiers off frame, “Let’s get a move on!"

The colonel turned to Mara and Weller as soon as the feed ended, “My office.”

They entered the office for the second time in 24 hours, Mara asked, “So what do we do now?” 

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Raquel said, “What were Major Simmon’s plans for you if your location was compromised?” 

“He never told me,” Mara said, “I was under the impression he thought if the base were to go down, I’d go down with it.” 

Raquel massaged the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, Mara could tell she was not exactly thrilled with this turn of events.

Mara wasn’t exactly chuffed either. 

“Perhaps we can talk to Holcroft,” Raquel said as she glanced at Weller, “See if he has a place he can send you.”

“Marc Holcroft wouldn’t touch me or my research with a hundred mile pole,” Mara said, “There’s no monetary value in Nanotech, especially not after it’s been used to kill thousands of innocent people.” 

“If I may,” Weller interjected, “Doctor Livingston was here under my invitation to help Chase - and I believe you tasked her with a few other projects as well. While we anticipated her stay to be only a few days, perhaps she can stay a bit longer until we can find a suitable location for her new lab?” 

“There’s no other choice,” Raquel said, she tried to mask the defeat in her voice, “You’re to stay at the Anvil until we can find you another place to relocate.” 

“You can set me up outside the main base - just to ensure containment,” Mara said, “I still have the specs for my old lab.”

“You won’t be working on live Nanotech,” Raquel said, voice hardening, “You’re here to help Lieutenant Chase, find the signal, and get my men a device that allows them to detect hidden Nanotech.” 

“All of which I can do without working with anything live,” Mara said, “However I still would feel better if I can work on this while in containment.” 

“We can work something out with the NCBI Unit tomorrow,” Raquel said, “For now though, you’re to work in Doctor Weller’s lab.”

Mara nodded, “Need ask Chase some questions anyway,” she said. 

With that they were both dismissed, before they left though, Mara asked the colonel, “If you could … I’d uh,” she cleared her throat, “I’d like to see the casualty report once Captain Huang sends it over.” 

Raquel raised one eyebrow slightly.

“There were people on that base who I knew,” Mara said, “They … may not have liked me or what I was working on much but I liked them. They protected me, they were my mates - even if it was one-sided.”

The colonel nodded, “You’ll get the report as soon as I do.”

“Thank you, Colonel Marin.”

Mara was quiet as she and Weller walked to the elevator, he finally said, “Rough night?” 

“I’m sorry for the cuss but … Today’s been a fucking mare,” Mara said lowly as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. Weller frowned at her use of language, she was an adult but he still felt a paternal feeling towards her - much like how he felt towards Chase and Yaz and was starting to feel for the whole gen:LOCK team, “I need a breath of fresh air.”

“I know where to go,” Weller said as he pressed a button, the map that Miranda had provided him of the base showed where the nearest observation deck was.

“18 KIA,” Mara continued as the elevator went down, “You know those people wouldn’t have been there protecting me if it wasn’t for their orders.”

“What you’re working on is important Mara,” Weller said, “What you were working on before all of this was important too.” 

“What I was and am working on got those people killed,” Mara said, “Both in Nevada and here.” 

They exited the elevator and walked down a hallway that led to a door to the observation deck. The seasons were turning, the air had a nip in it and a cold down-slope wind blew off the mountain peaks nearby. Mara hugged herself as she stared out over the dark landscape, on the eastern horizon a hint of brightening heralded the coming dawn. Above them, stars scattered across the night sky like a shimmering blanket.

She took a deep breath of the cold air and slowly let it out, “They took something good, something Brian and I were working on for years to help people, and they twisted it, weaponized it.” 

“I know how you feel,” Weller said, “I never intended for gen:LOCK to be militarized. I wanted everyone to use it. It was supposed to be the next step in our evolution.”

“At least your world changing technology was appropriated by the right side,” Mara said, gritting her teeth in anger and frustration, “and isn’t being used to kill innocent people.”

“You have a point,” Weller said, “And I’m sorry you had to go through this.”

“It’s not your fault,” Mara said, “And I guess in a way it isn’t mine - the Union were the ones to steal the tech. Except I was the one to help develop it.” 

She ran her hand through her hair, looking at the eastern sky, “Guess I should try to get some sleep. I’ll need to talk to Chase tomorrow, do you know their training schedule?”

“They’ll be out in the morning and afternoon,” Weller said, “But should be done with their morning training by lunch.” 

“Sounds good,” Mara said, stepping away from the railing, “I’ll see you tomorrow … or I guess later today then.” 

-

Just before she closed her eyes that night her gaze settled on her watch, resting on the stand on her desk.