As she lay on her bed, her nanosuit placed her in a calm stasis, her mind relaxed as her head was on the pillow. Her anxieties and fears were eliminated by the homeostasis technology of the suit.

  She closed her eyes, but deep down even when her cortisols were being regulated by the nanosuit.

  She once asked herself, “How much will I lose the dignity of my flesh and soul for me to succumb to the cruelty of my own design and utility? ”

  “How should I pride myself in my upcoming dissolution? Will I embrace the path of an optimized super-soldier and aesthetic? ”

  “I should be ready.”

  Her mind thinks even when her stress levels are being regulated, but these are the clearest thoughts she could conjure up in her mind.

  She recalls the times when things were simple in her life—but even her mind can tell she won’t be doing things outside of conventional morality.

  Memories of cartoon scenes flooding in, where females embodying the femme fatale start pulling out a weapon to shoot someone.

  Even a military-vested female with a helmet ducking in cover, holding a rifle in her hand. Images of texts of dark-romance fantasy appeared in her dreams like concussions.

  What she thought was entertainment started to feel real, like it would happen to her. Even if some of the fight scenes of MI-6 that she enjoyed the kinematic movements of felt even more intimidating and frightening.

  Wars, pestilence, corruption, pole dancing, and alcohol—they aren’t just media entertainment for her but something horrid that she finds herself inevitably treading through.

  The irony is that even with the suit’s technology to calm her, she still felt a rather more rational and intellectual anxiety, operating under the baseline of consciousness.

  All of it collapsed to the one singularity, every spy scene that adds to the aggregate being formed around a spiral, with one murky but black portal in the middle, emerging a female with dark-brown hair donning a cute apron, with a white blouse whose collars are puffed, and a skirt that resembles green and blue mixed together.

  Came, and started walking as she held a devilish smile with her hazel eyes, terrifyingly sinister in its own form, but hollowed.

  “This is going to be your life, child. It is your destiny.”

  As the beautiful young lady with dark-brown hair opens her mouth with a dark vortex on her mouth and her eyelids turning black.

  She touched herself and took off her clothing, revealing her body skin. Where everything faded, showing Ava’s memory uncovering a rusty picture of her in a lovely dress with a man in his suit, it was all dusty and antique.

  Ava knew her mother, Cassandra, was known for her affairs, which mingled a utilitarian motive and a military-complex nature, but looking at the picture in the dreamscape was very creepy. As Ava stared at it, the eyes were turning black, and she began to imagine the lovely young Cassandra holding hands with the figure. Soon the image felt cold, and the mouth turned even more hollow and dark than she initially thought.

  Soon, everything faded from darkness where a shimmer of iridescent light stirred in the middle of Ava’s view.

  It was small and undulating until it grew like a big bang explosion.

  Ava awoke from her slumber; everything was normal as she headed to the bathroom and saw herself in the mirror, the nanosuit appearing operational.

  She brushed her teeth and prepared new clothes, starting with a shirt with sleeves and a skirt. The shirt’s color was orange, and the skirt had a brick-like texture with red and black tiles.

  Kurt arrived inside the room, and seeing Ava in her casual outfit, remarked, “You look like a child with that outfit.”

  To which she replied, “Nothing,” before making her thoughts explicit: “Don’t worry, I won’t be going on a date with someone, but if you want me to wear something formal,. I can do that.”

  Ava then arrives at her closet. Kurt watches her navigate the wardrobe. Kurt uses his thumbs-up hand gesture and says, “I will be downstairs; meet me there when you are finished.”

  . She paused, recalling instances, instances of her wearing a blouse, pausing herself before saying, “Maybe I might need some new clothes. I wonder if the privileges I have are still in effect. It’s a gross and morally grey thought, but it’s nice to think about it.”

  Ava sighed, “Oh well.” She changed to her blouse and started to descend to the first floor, meeting Kurt as she awaited instructions. Kurt turned around to see Ava. “Ava, you are here. Good.”

  “Do you suspect anything unusual? ” Kurt asked.

  Ava looked around, unable to get anything; however, she then instinctually looked at the area of the floor that seemed off.

  Ava crouched down as she pulled out her hand to touch the fabric of the carpet, pressing it.

  “Impressive,” Kurt replied.

  “Report, what are you seeing? ”

  Ava looked up at him. “The touch of this floor surface isn’t of anything. A square area of it is unnatural.”

  “The carpet above it is hiding something.”

  Ava decides to unfurl the carpet as a whole, where she brought it out of the square area of the floor.

  Ava still saw the same texture as the other part of the floor, but as she dropped down to touch the surface, it was metallic.

  Ava then straightens her focus as she touches the material.

  “No… no, the material impressions do not correlate with the known house’s floor.”

  Ava then steps out as she steps out.

  “What is the meaning of this, Uncle Kurt? ”

  Uncle Kurt then professionally looked at Ava. “Ava, you did one test perfectly well.”

  Kurt then moved to grab a remote control, where he pressed a button on the remote, pointing at the floor. Where a blue Fresnel occurred around the surface, and with a blink of an eye, it turned into a metallic mechanical door; its hologram technology turned inactive.

  “Your senses are acute; the floor is not natural. Great job.”

  Kurt then used the remote to open the metallic door, where its mechanism started to kinematically rotate upward.

  As the metallic door springs to life, providing entrance.

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Down from there, there were depths of shadow, no lights, but it was radiating a psychical rustic vibe.

  Ava stared down, viewing the stairs below the opened secret mechanical door.

  She stared at it before Kurt proceeded further and said, “Let’s go.”

  Kurt headed downstairs with Ava; Kurt stared at the stairs as they descended.

  They descended down the stairs, the alley giving off a rustic and antiquated feeling.

  As they descended, Kurt approached a circuit breaker box, turning on the lights.

  As Kurt flipped some buttons, lights began to stir.

  Ava looked in a flip second, noticing the light bulbs flashing; with little scattering, not everything was illuminated, but it was capable of providing a passageway.

  Ava stares at the passage, where she slowly walks off with the procession, until she can see a large rustic tunnel around the system.

  “This is an old tunnel or something built in secret. The tunnel was natural to its formation but rebranded as a secret service tunnel where people can explore.

  Ava stared at the tunnel from sideways, where she returned, not finding Kurt in the same spot, only to see him in a place where he was experimenting with a motorcycle—an antiquated, oil-driven two-wheeled vehicle.

  Ava observed the motorcycle. “Unbelievable, a relic from the fossil age? Who could be using such technology? ” Her eyes are analytical.

  Kurt then looks at the motorcycle with his receding hairline and says, “I know it seems primitive to you, but this baby is worth the shot.”

  Ava leaned forward, her eyes curious. “Seriously, that? What’s so special about it? ”

  Kurt slid his hand around the rusty but metallic surface, where he commented, “It’s got a horsepower of 60-100 HP, and with the tunnels completely non-traffic, it would always be a ride to amp this thing up, feeling like a rockstar from the past.”

  Kurt then looked at her and tapped it. “Also, I built it for convenience’s sake using only scrap metals. So why don’t we give it a shot? ”

  Ava looked at him and acknowledged his quirky interests. “I see. Do you know how to operate this vehicle? ”

  Kurt moved the motorcycle away from the underground bunker where he started the engine.

  Vroom-vroom, the engine emits its clamor of noise, the exhaust vibrating and making a little smoke that Ava covered her nose for a bit, waving her hand dismissively—flapping it away.

  Kurt then wore his helmet and said, “Come on, get in,” and even offered Ava a helmet.

  Ava wore the helmet, then got on the motorcycle, where Kurt began to rev up the throttle, and the motorcycle began to make its way.

  As Ava looked at the motorcycle and muttered, “Oil-combustion-based engine… created for the wheels to turn,” she held on to his back.

  As Kurt drives, he then says, “Back in the day, before all those photonic and electrical-powered mechanisms, we called it gasoline for powering vehicles.”

  “Usually they would be inefficient… But if you compare it to now, using electrical energy for vehicles can also show more deference towards the law.”

  “I take my time paying for gasoline from the Middle East, since they are not as valuable except for creating flames. But plasma is also used for creating flames.”

  Ava then commented, “So, you are like a guy trying to roleplay as a pirate from the 1500s, except it’s from the fossil age.”

  Kurt then answered, “Yeah, pretty much…. I know I can’t make proper justification, but trust me when I say that it’s fun driving this vehicle around the tunnels.”

  Ava nodded and said, “Understood,” as Kurt pushed the lever and it went full speed.

  As Ava rides on Kurt’s back, who is driving the motorcycle, Ava turns around, observing smoke coming out of the exhaust from the rear.

  “Are you sure the smoke wouldn’t disrupt environmental stuff?”

  Kurt replied, “You worry too much; take it easy,” while driving the motorcycle.

  As they progressed through the tunnels, the lights in the rock-like tunnel gave a limited spotlight, relying on the motorcycle light to navigate the area.

  But the vehicle is fast, being able to transport more than many meters away, reaching sufficient speeds soon surpassing kilometers away, so that lights on the side of tunnels started to give off the trail-like visual effect in front of Ava, the observer.

  As Ava gets a hypnotic but rapturous experience of seeing the lights on the side of the rock tunnel turning into light, she can’t help but hold onto the man’s back as it speeds up, adrenaline rushing to her veins.

  Soon from the distance, a rather white light could be seen appearing like rays, indicating a source of photons with enough scattering to be noticed.

  Ava’s head was on the side of Kurt’s helmet, overseeing the front view.

  Kurt then speeds up, where it makes a blast, before slowing down near the source of light.

  As soon as it gradually slows, it begins to halt with the exhaust still vibrating, now making little smoke.

  The motorcycle tilted where he stepped on the landing gear, making it stand.

  Ava looked to its side with its helmet, seeing a square-like door guarded by two security guards with military helmets with two pulsing red eyes and with a visor—their suits were armored and painted black and obsidian, and there was a symbol of their military complex on their armor shoulder pads.

  They were holding a rifle of sorts, defending the entrance.

  Kurt got off the motorcycle and proceeded to the door, where an electronic slider opened. Ava got off as well and took off their helmets.

  One of the security guards approached Kurt; he looked at Kurt and used a device that scans for any weapons through infrared.

  He held the device pointing at Kurt; it emitted a low buzz until it finished, at which point he said with an authoritative but monotonous tone, “Clear.”

  The other security guard looked to the insides of the underground facility, nodding as Kurt and Ava entered the facility.

  Ava scanned around the place; the laboratory was sleek and white with its plastics. Every scientist is donned in a lab coat inside the laboratory.

  State-of-the-art holograms on every corner, the sleek efficiency and non-emotionality fill the environment.

  These holograms were green, and every scientist was pressing buttons and running simulations. Not all of them were smiling; they were more about work and data analytics.

  Ava followed Kurt, and Ava saw a room where scientists were holding a datapad and the engineers were pressing the button for a turret that was firing at a target.

  Another one she saw in a room through the acrylic window was a bunch of chambers with babies suspended in air with scientists watching the helix structure, with its sugar phosphates (red, green, yellow, and purple).

  Ava trailed Kurtz back, holding their helmet.

  Kurt then looked at Ava and said, “I will go take care of the helmet; someone will guide you to the secret room.”

  Ava nodded.

  Where Kurt left and disappeared, leaving Ava with the ‘neoliberal,’ ‘unethical,’ and ‘sleek’ nature of the bustling activity happening underground.

  Soon a worker with a bland face but with an updo hair; she was wearing a sweater with pantyhose.

  “Subject-01, you are requested to a specialized room; follow me for your arrival there.”

  Ava followed the worker to a room; it was all dark, with no lights except for a television and a chair. Everything there was sleek, but it was all dark.

  The worker then disappeared from outside the frame of the door, shutting it closed.

  The chair appeared futuristic with no ornaments, designed for ergonomics, and with a headrest.

  Ava tread carefully to the chair as she looked at the screen.

  She saw the television frame as ‘pending, awaiting the presence of a user to attend to the chair’ with a flickering.

  Ava slowly trod on the chair and sat on it.

  “Checking Bio-signature and Geneautomate-DNA query”

  For a while, the title remains as it is until an update appears on the screen.

  “FOUND”

  Information of Subject-01, even her blood type being O and her height, academic GPA, and degree, and even her parents, is laid on the screen.

  As Ava sat on the chair, her arms on the rest, the television then flickered out its status, and it began summoning a loading screen through a bar with a purple-like color to it.

  The title above says, “Establishing connection to the Sentient Program.”

  “Sending request to Titan”

  “Tuning Quantum entanglements…”

  “Ready…”

  “Connection established, everything has loaded,” the bar finally loaded with purple.

  The large monitor on the wall powered itself off, and a large light on the screen appeared, and it began to flicker as the monitor showed a lady from her dreams wearing some kind of spy bodysuit. She had an evil smirk on her face, her face ominously shrouded.

  The hair was more brown, and the hairstyle was more cascading but trimmed, resembling a younger Cassandra.

  Ava could only look at the television, horrified.

  Soon the television speakers said, “Greetings, Subject-01, welcome to your specialized program. You will be subject to lessons of basic weaponry and the science of weaponry beyond your academic curriculum and more tuned to your complex neuromorphology.”

  “All for the glory of Project Cybergensis”

  The lady widens her evil smirk on the television.”

  “Do well to supplant your mother in regard to the future assignment and activities.”

  Ava listened to the monitor, where the younger-like Cassandra on the screen introduced herself: “I am a special training sentient developed by Victor Sumeris.”

  The avatar begins to flicker as the avatar arrogantly loudens its voice, “I am designed to be BRUTAL! Condition yourself, and you will understand the depths of Victor Sumeris, the greatest scientist’s research! ”

  “My pride and glory to the future of the HUMAN RACE! ”

  Ava was horrified as she heard the words from the speakers and the avatar.

  As the Avatar called ‘The Sentient Program’ started to laugh unconditionally.

  Ava watched as the Avatar laughed wickedly and arrogantly, her eyes turned to fear before turning arrogantly;to her resolve.

  Soon the avatar gradually halted its laughter.

  Ava then looked at the avatar on the large screen and asked, “So, how should I call you? ” with resolve in her eyes as she sat on the chair.

  The avatar makes an amused smirk. “Call me ‘The Sentient.’”

  “Now, the lecture begins,” with pride in the avatar’s mouth and eyes.