***
Fionas old apartment was located on a balcony overlooking what had once been a rather nice public park. Now though, the holographic sky was gone, the lights
were broken, and the only light in the area came from fires burning in the park, the Trolls apparently still possessing some understanding of fire.
The crew of the Duskwalker had turned their flashlights off before reaching the park entrance, a precaution that may well have saved their lives. In the weak
light provided by the flames, they could see Trolls moving around, growling at each other, a number of them outright fighting, tearing at each other like
animals. And there was something else lurking in the background, staying out of the light as much as possible. They caught glimpses of a massive, hunched over
figure, moving around on all fours, then decided they really didn't want to know any more.
Fiona pointed at a closed door about twenty meters to their left. "That one," she said softly.
"Amy," Chris whispered. "Give these things a distraction." Amy nodded and made a brief gesture. Across on the other side of the park, a
battered pair of trashcans suddenly threw themselves down a corridor with a loud crash. The Trolls roared, running off after possible prey.
The group took their opening, darting across the balcony towards the door. Chris knelt down next to the control panel, scowling at the sight of the smashed in
casing. Pulling it off, he quickly messed with some of the wiring, then smiled as the door slid open, remarkably quietly given how long it must have been since
it was used. Quickly, they stepped inside and Chris tapped the door close button, then the light switch.
The sight that greeted them was rather surprising, given the condition of 'Trolltown'. Aside from a thick layer of dust, it seemed that the apartment
was almost untouched by the chaos. "The Trolls can't work doors," Fiona said quietly as she stepped forward, moving from the entrance hallway
into the living room.
"You press the button marked open," Ben muttered.
"Or you get bored and smash the control panel because you want to break it," Chris said, turning to the security monitor near the door. "Some of
them can still talk, but..." he shrugged and turned the screen on, noting with some surprise that the tiny hidden camera outside still worked. "Huh.
They built this place to last."
Fiona smiled faintly. "That they did," she said softly, looking around. "I think whoever lived here left in a hurry," she added. Amy walked
up to an empty shelf, then knelt down and picked up a photo frame from where it had fallen to the carpet.
"They took as much as they could of what mattered," she noted, watching the images scroll through. "Any of these look familiar?" she asked,
handing it to Fiona. The girl stood there for a few moments, then sighed, shaking her head. "Could they have been born after, well, after?" she
wondered.
"It's possible," Fiona admitted. "Sarah was only twelve when I left... plenty of time to have a family, I suppose. But I'd like to think
I'd recognize her." She sighed, running a hand through her purple hair. "But no one there looks like what I'd expect. That, or I'm
guessing completely wrong." She placed the frame back on the shelf, looking at it with a somewhat miserable expression, then walked over to a terminal
built into the living room wall. "Still, let's see what we've got," she said, turning it on.
After a moment, the desktop appeared and Fiona started browsing the local hard drive. "Yep, there's still stuff here," she said, biting her lip.
"Let there be something useful, please..."
"The other rooms are the same," Ben reported. "Cleaned out in a hurry. Looks like it was a married couple, but no kids bedroom."
"There's kids here," Amy said, nodding at the photo frame as Sato checked under the couch. "Mid to late teens. Maybe they'd moved out by
the time their parents left?"
"Whoever the parents were," Chris replied, watching the security monitor, and the images of the Trolls returning to the park below.
"Power bill receipts," Fiona called out. "Addressed to a Toren Bale." She frowned. "The last one is dated to just before OFS came
in."
"They've been gone for twelve years?" Ben said. "Then why the hell is the power still on? I would've thought it would've been cut
ages ago."
"You'd think so," Fiona agreed. "I mean, the Landlord was always strict about..." her voice trailed off for a moment. "Landlord!
I'm an idiot," she said, shaking her head.
"Landlord?" Amy asked.
"The tower AI," Fiona replied. "Handles all the things like life support, supplies, power... The household terminals can connect to him.
He's a dumb AI, no real sentience, but still, maybe he can help." A moment later, she frowned at the error message that appeared on the monitor.
"Or not."
Leaning over her shoulder, Ben read the message. "Server is not responding or is offline," he repeated. "Problem with the connection?"
The young woman sighed, leaning back against her chair. "No, Crey or OFS yanked him. The Tower's running on automatic backups." She closed her
eyes for a moment. "I thought this was damage from the occupation," she said, waving a hand vaguely to indicate the tower. "But it's
actually been shut down. The automatics keep the air flowing and the lights on, but it's meant to be empty."
"Has that happened before?" Ben asked softly.
"After the Global Civil War," she replied, remembering history lessons at a school that would no longer exist. "The population had dropped so
low that the decision was made by the government to mothball some of the Towers, to save resources. I think... I think the same happened here." Taking a
deep breath, she sighed again. "I feel like I need to scream," she whispered. Sato, trying to help, flew into her lap and made an odd chirping noise
that was probably meant to be a reassuring purr.
"I hate to seem like an utter bastard," Chris replied, "but I'd recommend against it. The Trolls are back outside, and if they heard us,
we'd be fighting our way out."
Taking another breath, Fiona nodded. "Right. Survive now, scream at the unfairness of the universe later," she said, scritching Sato behind the ear.
Holding back a faint smile as Sato made a happy chirp, Amy considered something, then spoke. "And this isn't the end of the trail." As Fiona
looked up at her, she continued. "This Toren Bale. Whoever he was, he moved out before Landlord was removed. Possibly relocated to another tower?"
Fiona looked at her, then nodded slightly. "Even if he isn't related to my family, he might have information on them," she said in understanding.
"It's a chance, if nothing else."
By the door, Chris looked away from the monitor. "Then, we're done here?" When Fiona nodded, he added. "Okay then, hit the lights, and lets
wait for a chance to..." His voice trailed off as his eyes darted back to the monitor. "The heck was that?" The rest of the crew moved towards
him to see what caught his attention. A moment later, it became obvious, as several bright blue beams of energy appeared in the park outside.
"Phasers," Amy said quietly. "Set to stun, but still..." As they watched, there were several flashes of more conventional gunfire, the
sound barely audible through the walls. In the weak light of the fires in the park, they could see Trolls running around, occasionally charging towards the
gunfire and being cut down.
At first, none of them could really see any of the mystery attackers, until two men in dark blue combat suits and black armored vests moved into view of the
security monitor, using the balcony as a good firing position. On the back of their vests, the Crey Industries logo stood out.
"That's the who," Ben murmured. "But why?" Both Crey soldiers outside fired into the park, then scrambled back as one of the Trolls,
roaring loud enough to be heard through the walls, easily leapt up several meters and caught the guard railing. Bleeding from a dozen minor bullet wounds, the
creature climbed onto the balcony and charged out of view of the camera, a much more human scream of pain detailing the Trolls actions.
Fiona flinched at the scream, but kept watching the battle in the park. Crey Security personnel advanced into the park, their rifles tearing at the Trolls but
having difficulty killing the mutated creatures. But as several of the blue-suited men fell, wounded or killed by Troll teeth and claws, a second group moved
to back them up. Unlike the regular personnel, who looked like conventional infantry, these men and women were wearing immaculate black suits and white dress
shirts, looking every part like they were executives or bureaucrats. Except for the dark, dangerous looking phaser rifles they were carrying.
One of the 'businessmen' turned to the rest of his team and said something, and when they opened fire again, the beams were a deadly red, cutting
through the dense flesh with much greater ease then the more conventional weapons. Shocked, the Trolls backed away, many of them snarling challenges at their
opponents. A moment later, the 'businessmen' fired a second salvo, quickly slaughtering the remaining mutants.
Fiona and Chris both looked away, the former not quite holding in a horrified gasp, the later looking like he wanted to throw up from the sight of the Trolls
being... dissected by the phaser beams. A moment later, both of them looked back at the screen as a shockingly loud, utterly animal roar echoed across the park
and through the walls.
From the direction Amy had telekinetically thrown the trashcans earlier, the source of the roar emerged, charging the Crey forces in an odd, shambling run. As
it knocked over barrels and ran through fires, Duskwalkers crew got a good look at a giant, misshapen mass of muscle and bone. Charging on all fours, it was
still over eight feet tall, and looked more like some sort of broken gorilla then a human. Skin had failed to grow fast enough to keep up with swollen muscles
and jagged bone spurs, and one of its 'hands' was more of a collection of claws that had grown out from the original fingers.
Snarling at the tiny creatures that dared to wander in its territory, the Troll brought that fist down on one of the businessmen that didn't get out of the
way fast enough, shattering his skull and tearing open his chest. As the other Crey personnel fell back, the Troll raised its fist into the air, lifting up its
kill with with it.
The blue-suited soldiers opened fire with their conventional firearms, drawing the Trolls attention for a moment, giving the businessmen time to regroup and
open fire again. Curiously, they'd set their phaser rifles back to stun again, hosing the creature down with the intense blue beams.
For a moment, it didn't seem to have any effect on the monster, besides getting its attention again. But after a few steps, it stumbled, then paused, even
as the beams continued to wash over its deformed body. Then, growling weakly, it fell forward and slammed face first into the dirt, its nervous system
scrambled.
Once they were certain there were no more Trolls coming, Crey got to work. As some of them tended to their injured and recovered their dead, several of the
businessmen guided in a large hover platform and parked it near the 'Supertroll'. Moving quickly, they rolled the creature onto the vehicle and tied it
in place. Then, once they were relatively certain it would stay in place, they left the park and vanished into the darkness.
Inside the apartment, there was a long moment of silence. Eventually, Chris broke it with a simple question. "What the hell was that?"
"Crey capturing a Troll," Amy replied.
"A creature made by some crazy, mutagenic drug," Fiona continued. "On a planet run by a megacorp which is an offshoot of Manpower," she
realized in a tone of growing horror. "The galaxies biggest genetic slavers."
"Test subjects," Ben finished in a weak, sickened tone. "They're using these people as test subjects."
Chris closed his eyes for a moment, fighting off a sudden trembling in his hands. "Let's, let's just get out of here," he managed after a
moment.
***
Fionas old apartment was located on a balcony overlooking what had once been a rather nice public park. Now though, the holographic sky was gone, the lights
were broken, and the only light in the area came from fires burning in the park, the Trolls apparently still possessing some understanding of fire.
The crew of the Duskwalker had turned their flashlights off before reaching the park entrance, a precaution that may well have saved their lives. In the weak
light provided by the flames, they could see Trolls moving around, growling at each other, a number of them outright fighting, tearing at each other like
animals. And there was something else lurking in the background, staying out of the light as much as possible. They caught glimpses of a massive, hunched over
figure, moving around on all fours, then decided they really didn't want to know any more.
Fiona pointed at a closed door about twenty meters to their left. "That one," she said softly.
"Amy," Chris whispered. "Give these things a distraction." Amy nodded and made a brief gesture. Across on the other side of the park, a
battered pair of trashcans suddenly threw themselves down a corridor with a loud crash. The Trolls roared, running off after possible prey.
The group took their opening, darting across the balcony towards the door. Chris knelt down next to the control panel, scowling at the sight of the smashed in
casing. Pulling it off, he quickly messed with some of the wiring, then smiled as the door slid open, remarkably quietly given how long it must have been since
it was used. Quickly, they stepped inside and Chris tapped the door close button, then the light switch.
The sight that greeted them was rather surprising, given the condition of 'Trolltown'. Aside from a thick layer of dust, it seemed that the apartment
was almost untouched by the chaos. "The Trolls can't work doors," Fiona said quietly as she stepped forward, moving from the entrance hallway
into the living room.
"You press the button marked open," Ben muttered.
"Or you get bored and smash the control panel because you want to break it," Chris said, turning to the security monitor near the door. "Some of
them can still talk, but..." he shrugged and turned the screen on, noting with some surprise that the tiny hidden camera outside still worked. "Huh.
They built this place to last."
Fiona smiled faintly. "That they did," she said softly, looking around. "I think whoever lived here left in a hurry," she added. Amy walked
up to an empty shelf, then knelt down and picked up a photo frame from where it had fallen to the carpet.
"They took as much as they could of what mattered," she noted, watching the images scroll through. "Any of these look familiar?" she asked,
handing it to Fiona. The girl stood there for a few moments, then sighed, shaking her head. "Could they have been born after, well, after?" she
wondered.
"It's possible," Fiona admitted. "Sarah was only twelve when I left... plenty of time to have a family, I suppose. But I'd like to think
I'd recognize her." She sighed, running a hand through her purple hair. "But no one there looks like what I'd expect. That, or I'm
guessing completely wrong." She placed the frame back on the shelf, looking at it with a somewhat miserable expression, then walked over to a terminal
built into the living room wall. "Still, let's see what we've got," she said, turning it on.
After a moment, the desktop appeared and Fiona started browsing the local hard drive. "Yep, there's still stuff here," she said, biting her lip.
"Let there be something useful, please..."
"The other rooms are the same," Ben reported. "Cleaned out in a hurry. Looks like it was a married couple, but no kids bedroom."
"There's kids here," Amy said, nodding at the photo frame as Sato checked under the couch. "Mid to late teens. Maybe they'd moved out by
the time their parents left?"
"Whoever the parents were," Chris replied, watching the security monitor, and the images of the Trolls returning to the park below.
"Power bill receipts," Fiona called out. "Addressed to a Toren Bale." She frowned. "The last one is dated to just before OFS came
in."
"They've been gone for twelve years?" Ben said. "Then why the hell is the power still on? I would've thought it would've been cut
ages ago."
"You'd think so," Fiona agreed. "I mean, the Landlord was always strict about..." her voice trailed off for a moment. "Landlord!
I'm an idiot," she said, shaking her head.
"Landlord?" Amy asked.
"The tower AI," Fiona replied. "Handles all the things like life support, supplies, power... The household terminals can connect to him.
He's a dumb AI, no real sentience, but still, maybe he can help." A moment later, she frowned at the error message that appeared on the monitor.
"Or not."
Leaning over her shoulder, Ben read the message. "Server is not responding or is offline," he repeated. "Problem with the connection?"
The young woman sighed, leaning back against her chair. "No, Crey or OFS yanked him. The Tower's running on automatic backups." She closed her
eyes for a moment. "I thought this was damage from the occupation," she said, waving a hand vaguely to indicate the tower. "But it's
actually been shut down. The automatics keep the air flowing and the lights on, but it's meant to be empty."
"Has that happened before?" Ben asked softly.
"After the Global Civil War," she replied, remembering history lessons at a school that would no longer exist. "The population had dropped so
low that the decision was made by the government to mothball some of the Towers, to save resources. I think... I think the same happened here." Taking a
deep breath, she sighed again. "I feel like I need to scream," she whispered. Sato, trying to help, flew into her lap and made an odd chirping noise
that was probably meant to be a reassuring purr.
"I hate to seem like an utter bastard," Chris replied, "but I'd recommend against it. The Trolls are back outside, and if they heard us,
we'd be fighting our way out."
Taking another breath, Fiona nodded. "Right. Survive now, scream at the unfairness of the universe later," she said, scritching Sato behind the ear.
Holding back a faint smile as Sato made a happy chirp, Amy considered something, then spoke. "And this isn't the end of the trail." As Fiona
looked up at her, she continued. "This Toren Bale. Whoever he was, he moved out before Landlord was removed. Possibly relocated to another tower?"
Fiona looked at her, then nodded slightly. "Even if he isn't related to my family, he might have information on them," she said in understanding.
"It's a chance, if nothing else."
By the door, Chris looked away from the monitor. "Then, we're done here?" When Fiona nodded, he added. "Okay then, hit the lights, and lets
wait for a chance to..." His voice trailed off as his eyes darted back to the monitor. "The heck was that?" The rest of the crew moved towards
him to see what caught his attention. A moment later, it became obvious, as several bright blue beams of energy appeared in the park outside.
"Phasers," Amy said quietly. "Set to stun, but still..." As they watched, there were several flashes of more conventional gunfire, the
sound barely audible through the walls. In the weak light of the fires in the park, they could see Trolls running around, occasionally charging towards the
gunfire and being cut down.
At first, none of them could really see any of the mystery attackers, until two men in dark blue combat suits and black armored vests moved into view of the
security monitor, using the balcony as a good firing position. On the back of their vests, the Crey Industries logo stood out.
"That's the who," Ben murmured. "But why?" Both Crey soldiers outside fired into the park, then scrambled back as one of the Trolls,
roaring loud enough to be heard through the walls, easily leapt up several meters and caught the guard railing. Bleeding from a dozen minor bullet wounds, the
creature climbed onto the balcony and charged out of view of the camera, a much more human scream of pain detailing the Trolls actions.
Fiona flinched at the scream, but kept watching the battle in the park. Crey Security personnel advanced into the park, their rifles tearing at the Trolls but
having difficulty killing the mutated creatures. But as several of the blue-suited men fell, wounded or killed by Troll teeth and claws, a second group moved
to back them up. Unlike the regular personnel, who looked like conventional infantry, these men and women were wearing immaculate black suits and white dress
shirts, looking every part like they were executives or bureaucrats. Except for the dark, dangerous looking phaser rifles they were carrying.
One of the 'businessmen' turned to the rest of his team and said something, and when they opened fire again, the beams were a deadly red, cutting
through the dense flesh with much greater ease then the more conventional weapons. Shocked, the Trolls backed away, many of them snarling challenges at their
opponents. A moment later, the 'businessmen' fired a second salvo, quickly slaughtering the remaining mutants.
Fiona and Chris both looked away, the former not quite holding in a horrified gasp, the later looking like he wanted to throw up from the sight of the Trolls
being... dissected by the phaser beams. A moment later, both of them looked back at the screen as a shockingly loud, utterly animal roar echoed across the park
and through the walls.
From the direction Amy had telekinetically thrown the trashcans earlier, the source of the roar emerged, charging the Crey forces in an odd, shambling run. As
it knocked over barrels and ran through fires, Duskwalkers crew got a good look at a giant, misshapen mass of muscle and bone. Charging on all fours, it was
still over eight feet tall, and looked more like some sort of broken gorilla then a human. Skin had failed to grow fast enough to keep up with swollen muscles
and jagged bone spurs, and one of its 'hands' was more of a collection of claws that had grown out from the original fingers.
Snarling at the tiny creatures that dared to wander in its territory, the Troll brought that fist down on one of the businessmen that didn't get out of the
way fast enough, shattering his skull and tearing open his chest. As the other Crey personnel fell back, the Troll raised its fist into the air, lifting up its
kill with with it.
The blue-suited soldiers opened fire with their conventional firearms, drawing the Trolls attention for a moment, giving the businessmen time to regroup and
open fire again. Curiously, they'd set their phaser rifles back to stun again, hosing the creature down with the intense blue beams.
For a moment, it didn't seem to have any effect on the monster, besides getting its attention again. But after a few steps, it stumbled, then paused, even
as the beams continued to wash over its deformed body. Then, growling weakly, it fell forward and slammed face first into the dirt, its nervous system
scrambled.
Once they were certain there were no more Trolls coming, Crey got to work. As some of them tended to their injured and recovered their dead, several of the
businessmen guided in a large hover platform and parked it near the 'Supertroll'. Moving quickly, they rolled the creature onto the vehicle and tied it
in place. Then, once they were relatively certain it would stay in place, they left the park and vanished into the darkness.
Inside the apartment, there was a long moment of silence. Eventually, Chris broke it with a simple question. "What the hell was that?"
"Crey capturing a Troll," Amy replied.
"A creature made by some crazy, mutagenic drug," Fiona continued. "On a planet run by a megacorp which is an offshoot of Manpower," she
realized in a tone of growing horror. "The galaxies biggest genetic slavers."
"Test subjects," Ben finished in a weak, sickened tone. "They're using these people as test subjects."
Chris closed his eyes for a moment, fighting off a sudden trembling in his hands. "Let's, let's just get out of here," he managed after a
moment.
***