Chapter 3 #2
"It means they were using a simulated environment to teach her," Pilot replied.
Even the droid seemed confused. "Apparently they were creating a space where she could exist and learn and.
.. well, frankly, mature. All in her mind.
She was a real person, wandering through a fake world, until whoever had these codes woke her up. "
"Who had the codes?"
"I don't know."
So she had been learning as if she were awake.
Growing and doing who knows what in that simulated environment.
That was a lot of time for any one person to have been groomed into a weapon, or even worse that he couldn't imagine.
The people in Tau weren't known for being kind to the clones.
Her kind were used for all sorts of things, from what he had watched on the personal surveillance from the city itself.
He wondered what this one had been used for.
"Find out who it was," he said as he slunk back toward the open hatch. "I need to feed."
He wouldn't waste any more time on a fictional woman he would never understand. This clone was a person; that much was clear from her logs, but he had no idea what kind of person she was.
That's why he had a droid.
Proteus followed the whims of the sea then, floating through the waters and finding a recently deceased whale.
Quite a few predators were already there, but they saw the size of him and felt the energy of hatred that poured off of him, and they didn't bother him all that much.
One of the bigger sharks shoved him when he started to feast, but when Proteus turned toward it with the gaping maw of his mouth fully revealed, the beast slunk away.
A shame, really. He could have used a fight.
But the salty blubber eased the hunger that had been gnawing at him. He devoured pieces of the whale, consuming them until his gullet was so full he could feel his belly extend. And then he felt his strength return.
The power he had been missing flexed throughout his entire form and... yes. He was back to himself. He could feel the sea bending to his will now. He could feel the muscles that were always so strong filling back out. He could go for months without eating now.
Endless.
Enduring.
The kind of creature that was almost impossible to kill.
Grinning perhaps a little too wide, he returned to the box in the sea that kept his captive. Soon enough, he would enact his plan. Soon enough, he would discover what this woman knew and what she had been trained to do.
He slipped inside and approached the coffin, where Pilot had plugged himself in again. "What did you discover?" he asked.
"One of the Originals had woken her many, many times.
It's not entirely a good finding, but the man was a very remarkable scientist. He downloaded technical skills into her mind.
She's particularly good at computer science and mathematics, although most of what she has learned will not be helpful here.
She is used to much newer technologies than what will be required to connect us with Above. "
"But the understanding of such things will not be beyond her?"
"Doubtful. She would be useful enough to do what you need." Pilot hesitated though. He could hear there were more words in that response that the droid wasn't telling him.
"And?"
"And..." It seemed to pause even more for dramatic effect. "If you'd like, we can wake her now."
So easy.
It was going to be almost too easy to wake the creature who would help him for ages to come. The creature who, for all intents and purposes, would become his slave and do his bidding no matter what he ordered her to do.
He leaned over the coffin, staring down at her serene features where she rested. She had no idea what monster she would wake up to. “What about our language?”
“I’ve already taken the time to download it.
The software on this pod is significantly advanced.
It only took the better part of an hour while you were gone for it to affix new protocol in her mind.
No need for a translation device.” Pilot quieted before muttering, “The ethical concerns about this machine are endless.”
"When was the last time she was conscious?"
"Two years ago. Her Original had her working in the lab with the other clones. He was... experimenting upon them."
"How so?"
Why was it the droid seemed uncomfortable telling him?
"They had many People of Water that they were testing, and he wanted to determine whether or not he could combine the species’ DNA.
She was helping him splice gills into human subjects and trying to make it so they could breathe underwater.
They all drowned. She had to watch many versions of her own clones. .. drown."
He hated humans like that man. It was why he had hated the wealthy one who had built this place too. Proteus had no reason to be loyal to any of them, but his choices now were his.
Again, he smoothed his clawed hand over the image of her face, his hand shaking with the need to crush in her skull and rid the scourge of her species from this planet.
"Wake her," he snarled. "And we'll see what she has to say for herself."