CHAPTER 13: ANOMALIES DETECTED

Yepman had taken on many roles in DM_ since he was discovered. He had been conducting a few legions and to kill covenant with the other members. As he exited his ship, he saw his reflection in glass and starred at his Yesman insignia. He and Ragefish always wondered where they came from and why they had different armor than everyone else. It was a unique bond they had where they discussed unusual dreams. The dreams felt so real…like past experiences that never quite made sense. More of the team flew into the loading dock with him and began to unload the resources they had collected.

“Savagedave, excellent formation. Rafeedmefood – you’ve gotten a lot faster! Clear out the loading dock boys – I have to go check the LAB for some tests I’ve been running. Does anyone need anything before I take off?” Yepman paused and waited to see if anyone needed anything – then proceeded to leave the loading dock and head for the lab. Along with new module components, he had been studying the past activities of Leatherface ever since his unusual outburst. He entered the LAB and began to review the nanobots of the “bluerum” under a microscope that he had seen Leatherface drinking.

“Lars, can you run a scan on this drive I’m about to upload?”

*”Scanning drive. Anomalies have been detected”*

Yepman reviewed the reports of the anomalies on the screen. He began to swipe through the reports vigorously. He started to see a familiar pattern. Something he recognized. His eyes grew wide with concern and he swiftly reached for the station intercom to warn everyone. Before he could utter one word – what felt like a thick, metal pipe swung into the back of his head. Yepman fell to the floor as he saw a shadowy figure looming over him. He blinked his eyes quickly as he looked up at the blur of lights. He attempted to get up but remained on all fours while he grabbed his head where blood had been dripping from. The blow had not been any ordinary metal pipe. He looked at the blood that was dripping and saw small nanobots quickly rushing back to their host. The vibrant blue felt blinding. Despite his best efforts to stay awake, he drifted, fell over and was rendered unconscious.

The looming figure began to speak, “Sorry Yepman… you were never part of the plan….” Leatherface looked down on him as he began to drag Yepmans body into a rear station room of the LAB. He held up Yepmans wrist guard. The nanobots from his armor began to send electric sparks to the wrist guard to open up its messaging system.

*”Please enter access code”* Yepman had installed a piece of the LARS AI into his suit. It was still in its beta phase but for the most part, it worked pretty well.

In a flurry, the nanobots began hack the code. Once the final code was input, Leatherface held Yepmans wrist near his face and spoke into the wrist guard. The nanobots mirrored the voice of Yepman as he spoke aloud.

*Ragefish, this is Yepman… I found something in the LAB, you need to come here immediately but we need to keep this quiet..*

*Transmission sent*

Leatherface’s right hand started to twitch. The nanobots began to slowly fade in color and Leatherface became extremely agitated. He viciously grabbed a bottle of bluerum and drank it as though he was running out of time. As soon as he began to drink his potent concoction, his head and hands steadied – his nerves were calmed. The newfound clarity refreshed his mind to the task at hand as he lifted Yepman’s limp body to an upright position and tie his arms behind his back to the metal post in the rear station. It wouldn’t be long until Yepman was conscious again. Leatherface inspected the wound on Yepmans head and grabbed a stitching kit. He laser sowed the wound and cleaned the blood. A glow began to radiate from Yepman’s wrist guard.

*Incoming message from Ragefish*

*On my way.*

Leatherface gathered his materials as he left the room. He looked at Yepman…then took a deep sigh of relief as he closed the glass door. He sat on a stool in stillness. Patiently waiting as all the lights of the LAB slowly turned off one by one.