The room had red painted walls and the view wasn't so bad from up here. It beat the shaded gray he'd grown used to below. The quiet of the high-rise apartment was a stark contrast to the chaos that had engulfed the streets just weeks before. Up here, the world seemed almost peaceful, insulated from the turmoil of below. The red painted walls might have to go. It was high enough that he could no longer hear the sirens from the destroyed building that once housed the secret unit known as The Watchers. Hell it was high enough that the dungy smell of the streets was a distant memory. The air was almost what one would call clean.

He moved away from the window, his gaze returning to the stack that held all that was left of Miranda. The small blue and gray stack, nestled in his hand as began turning it over and over, mindlessly, letting the memories pour in. The metal was warm to the touch. It was everything he had left of Miranda. He should have taken it and spun her back up in virtual immediately, let her know everything was ok that he had her. 

He was also afraid of what he would find. Was Miranda who she said she was? How much did she know? Dik had said she came in unwillingly. But could he take Dik's word at face value?

In the aftermath of The Watchers being taken down all hell had broken loose. The secrets long buried, the assassination orders were all laid bare for public consumption. 

He was kicking himself for losing sight of Dana Margrave. Wherever she was - she was beyond his reach for the moment. 

Dik Paramar was now heading up an investigative unit into the Breach on the palace. Rowan had to laugh at that. Dik was a good man in a bad spot. The digital battlefield was just heating up. Dik had a handle on it but mostly Rowan understood he was tightening down the lid from the desk. 

Men like himself and Dik didn't retire. Rowan as beginning to understand that now. It wasn't because he hadn't tried. He was an expensive asset now. There was so much invested in him, in his training. 

His current hope was to choose the job that allowed him to maintain a relationship with Miranda, some kind of life for her. But as he rolled the stack that contained her essence in his hand he had to admit he was afraid of spinning her back up and finding out that the damage done was too great.

Dana would pay for that when he found her. It was on his to do list.

<Rowan, it's time you know that?>

Rowan sat up straighter clasping the stack in his hand. "I know."

Atlas was leagues above The Watchers. Rowan pondered the reality of his new position with Atlas. It was an organization shrouded in even more secrecy than The Watchers had been, if such a thing were possible. They operated in the shadows of shadows, influencing events and politics at levels even he hadn't fully realized until he was approached by their recruiter. The proposition had been simple: lend his skills and experience to Atlas's causes, and in return, they would provide him not just with resources, but a chance at a genuine exit—a real retirement, not just a cessation of duty before an untimely death. 

It was a chance at honor that The Watchers would have denied him. A chance at real freedom and real life, not just the mindless obedience practiced by sycophants.  Naturally he jumped at it. He still wasn't sure of the costs, or who exactly was pulling the strings.

<We have it, Rowan.>

His head shot up. One of the promises Atlas made was in return for his assistance in bringing The Watchers down they'd provide Miranda with a new body. One created specifically to her with her DNA. DNA routinely kept on file was easy to replicate in ways that the mind was not. It had taken weeks since the incident to grow with the proper muscle enhancements. 

Miranda had very much been a normal person, it was one of the things he loved about her. She was a light in his very dark world. And yet because of that she'd been punished in a way that he wasn't sure he fully understood.

He didn't know all their names, just code names so far. But they'd come through. He shivered, not because he was cold but in that moment his mind was made up. No more delays.

"When and where?" He responded. 

<The Eighth floor. And hurry, Raven is hungry and wants to be out in a few hours. You know how she is.>

"I know," he muttered before breaking the connection. Raven was a tiny woman with dark black hair and pale skin. She was a genius hacker with a ravenous appetite for someone so small. She was always moving. He didn't know anything else about her other than she was one of six members of his current team. She also had a soft spot for Edgar Allen Poe and AIs made up the majority of her friends. Atlas seemed to hire more AIs than your average company.

Another interesting find. Rowan had never worked with so many of the autonomous bots. There weren't many eking out a living on skid row. 

He threw on an outer coat - it was colder up here at higher altitudes - and made his way to the elevator. 

The floors were sparsely populated and he nodded a hello here and there. Most here were employees of the Gertru family. The Gertru owned Atlas, privately. Publicly they had no knowledge it existed. 

The elevator was deserted when he stepped in. He paced as it made it's ascent the entire eight stories of the south wing. When the door dinged he rushed the door attempting to get out.

"Whoa, whoa!" Raven's voice called out to him. He slowed his rush at the sight of. A droid made of gray chrome stood next to her. Terra another agent, his recruiter, stood on the other side of it. He smiled at Rowan knowingly. 

"This way, Rowan."

Raven smiled at him as he passed and then stepped up to follow. The nameless AI followed after her. Rowan shivered but said nothing. AI were on the forefront of a lot of Atlas's hacking operation. How they were recruited was another matter entirely. He couldn't figure out what an AI would want. 

The interior of the room they entered was brightly lit, part of a hospital war. Rowan made a mental note to ask where Atlas's hospital was located. At the far end stood a medical pod, a sleek, cylindrical chamber commonly used for advanced medical procedures and biotechnological enhancements. In this case growing a non synthetic human body from a few strands of DNA.

Rowan approached cautiously, his eyes fixed on the pod. As he got closer, he could see a silhouette through the translucent material of the chamber. His heart skipped a beat. 

"Rowan."

The voice came from behind him. Terra stood there, clasping his hands together. Terra he'd noticed, even though he was a large man was also annoyingly cheerful. He held up her hands in a gesture of peace.

"Everything's according to plan," Terra stood next to him. "She's beautiful."

Rowan stiffened and looked back at the pod, then at the agent. "Is she ready...?"

"Yes," he confirmed, following his gaze. "She's ready. The body is a perfect genetic match. We just need to  integrate her stack. May I?"

Rowan nodded and pulled the stack out of his pocket. He carefully placed it into Terra's hands. The big man took it reverentially for once he was grave as he moved to the pod and opened it. The lid slid open with a hiss and he turned her head to one side.

"Can I wait?" Rowan's voice was barely a whisper, choked with emotion.

"Of course." Terra stepped aside, gesturing for him to go ahead. "You can watch from there if it makes you feel better. This will only take a second. You should be the first one she sees anyway. It will help."

Rowan nodded, nervous he clenched and unclenched his fists.

Terra pushed the stack into a small gun, then leaned in creating a small incision in the base of the neck. He pushed the gun in until there was audible click. A satisfied look on his face he pulled the gun back out and worked on closing the wound. He cauterized a small line in place of where he'd just cut. Most of humanity carried the same scar these days. It was rare to find a human being without a stack on their person.

"Ok," Terra stepped back. "Let's give it five minutes to adjust and then we'll wake her up, eh?"

Rowan nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Raven patted him on the back and went back to looking at her data pad. The droid said nothing. 

It was the longest five minutes of his life. He watched the color return to her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered under her eyelids. Her hands twitched as did her legs. It was all part of the process as the cortical stack implant inserted itself and took over. The integration process used to take much longer but the technology had evolved to speed the process up without damaging the stack or the skin it was placed in. It was still a daunting procedure but Rowan was used to waking up with a new face. 

"Here we go," Terra murmured, his finger poised over the button to awaken Miranda.

Her chest rose and fell gently, and the rest of her continued to twitch but this time in the rhythmic throes of sleep. 

"Miranda," he called softly, as he reached out and gently touched her hand. It was warm, alive. Her eyelids fluttered, and slowly, she opened her eyes. Those familiar dark brown eyes that had haunted his dreams, filled now with fear and confusion.

"Rowan?" Her voice was soft, incredulous.

"Yeah, it's me," Rowan managed to say, his voice thick with emotion.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she stared up at him.

He sensed the others draw back to give them space. He was no longer paying them any attention. Her eyes were wide with fear as she clasped onto his arm.

"Rowan, are you real this time?"

His heart broke. 

"Yes," he whispered. 

She pulled herself up with a speed that surprised him. His arms wrapped around her instinctively. "Tell me something about me that only would know," she whispered, her grip on him tight.

He hesitated. "All of your tattoos are gone, especially my favorite on your a--"

"What?" Miranda looked up at him before her eye went to her arm. She held it up staring at it her clean brown skin. 

"Did I, die? Did she kill me?"

"I don't know," Rowan said. "Not worried about it right now."

"Is this virtual? Rowan we need to talk, my sis--"

"I know," he said drawing her in.

"No, you don't know, you don't know at all," she whispered. "Where are we?"

"Atlas," he whispered.

"Atlas?!" She drew back, her expression dumbfounded. 

Rowan was confused as she pulled away and looked behind him spotting his new co-workers. "Raven? Terra? Dag?"

"You know them?" Rowan stepped back. 

"She's retired," Raven explained. "But we keep tabs. When The Watchers took her we intervened. And then you(20K) came along. We thought we'd kill two birds with one stone. Well, three in this case. Terra made the offer knowing how meticulous you were. You already knew Dana had switched places with Miranda before we did. You do have a particularly dangerous but useful skillset."

"But you're--" Rowan tried to talk, but for once he couldn't come up with a smart reply.

"Retired--" Raven finished. "...and quite happily. Thank you." Raven turned and skipped out. The droid, apparently named Dag lumbered after her.

"I'll see myself out," Terra said. "Great to see you again, Miranda."

Miranda's eyes began to tear up. "Please, is this real? I don't understand - how are you here? I left that life."

Rowan pulled her out of the pod, the white hospital gown covered her knees and she clung to him. Hurt and confusion warred within him. "Miranda," he whispered. "It's over, you're safe now. But what the fuck is going on?" 

WC: 2016

Total WC: 20,156