[Unknown Time; Unknown Place]
The kidnapped unit C 160495 lies in a completely white operating room. She is tied to a special operating table with magnetic handcuffs and legcuffs while being unconscious.
Around the unit are 10 scientists who are analyzing and evaluating some data about the Unit and making every possible test with her.
The Unit's skull is currently open and some robotic arms reaching down from the ceiling are operating on its open skull. The machines are precise and without any errors.
The operation and all the actions of the scientists in the room are closely watched by two certain people behind a window.
The two are Admiral Howard Bird, who received a facial scar in the recent battle when he fought off an Anima Boarding Party on his flagship. And the other is Doctor Dekkar Raay, Norben Reia's first assistant who survived the bombing of the research facility by luck.
Dekkar was a man about 30 years old and has black hair and blue eyes that constantly radiate a cold look. He is slightly thin built and about 190 cm (6 ft 3) tall. Many would give him credit for being good looking too. He is currently dressed in military attire and has a dark blue collar representing special medical personnel.
"Doctor Dekkar, are you sure you can continue the work successfully without Doctor Norben Reia and his main team?" asked Admiral Bird.
"Sir with all due respect, yes I'm damn sure. As stated before, more than 20 scientists on the project survived the attack and we have the information on the process and therapies that Doctor Reia has developed. Besides, I am still here and that would be more than enough for this operation" said Dekkar with a completely serious look
"What is more importent Admiral is if we do already have information about the person she was before assimilation? Above all, it is important how long she has been assimilated and whether there are still family or friends alive." said Doctor Dekkar afterwards.
"It took some time and we had to search deeply but we finally found her identity. Her name was Vesna Amun and she was 9 years old when she was assimilated, at the time her parents Diana Amun and Hel Amun two of the most renowned scientists and experts on the behavior and mindsets of the Anima, also died. Although she also believed to be deceased, Vesna appears to have survived and been assimilated into the Anima at the time. There are no known family members and she was born and lived out her life on her parents' research ship. She has probably never seen other beings before she was assimilated by the Anima." said the Admiral.
"Moreover, we're dealing with a damn efficient Commander Drone here. It has been confirmed to have attacked and assimilated 54 colonies and planets over the last 15 years, but there are probably a lot more. The death toll most likeky exceeds 100 million and if I had a choice I would personally kill that thing in there. But before you stop me, I'll tell you that I know how important she will be to the Alliance and the war efforts, which is why I supported this research project in the first place." said Admiral Bird.
"But Dekkar, rest assured that if there is any sign that she is still in contact with the Anima or that she intends to betray us in any way, I will kill the thing immediately." added the Admiral as he looked determinedly at Dekkar, whereupon Dekkar just nodded.
"But that's not your concern for now. You have to determine if her connection with the Anima is broken and if she will cooperate with us. Don't forget, that was one of the conditions of her staying alive." said the admirl as he turned and ran out of the room.
"While you take care of this, I'll try some way to fullfil the second condition and try to find a Captain who is crazy enough to let a former Anima onto his ship, or we might as well kill it right now. Sigh" said the Admiral as he left.
Meanwhile, Dekkar only looked at Vesna and smiled slightly.
"Finally it can begin." Dekkar said quietly and his smile disappeared and he entered the operating room.
...
While all of this is happening, Unit C 160495 finds itself in a place it hasn't been in a long time.
It's own thoughts.
After connecting to Anima, one's consciousness merges with that of Anima, therefore one no longer thinks alone but with billions of billions of other consciousnesses.
One thinks united as one with the voice of billions and can execute myriad thoughts all the time.
But suddenly the Unit is... Vesna is alone in her thoughts. Only her own voice can be heard and that reminds her of an old time that she thought she had forgotten for a long time.
'Mom... Dad' thought Vesna suddenly.
The memories of her parents and their deaths were completely removed from the moment after she was assimilated, and Vesna's consciousness blurred with thousands of others.
Being integrated into Anima is like entering a river as a single fish, while the river is already full of fish, all swimming together in a big cluster.
Vesna just couldn't control her own thoughts, no matter how hard she tried, she always ended up swimming in the direction the clusterof fish told her to.
After some time in Anima, Vesna's consciousness adapted and swam with the swarm instead of against it. This developed her ability to think, imagine and plan to new heights unattainable for a young child or even a human, at all.
Vesna was a born tactician, her ability to direct and command are just superb and for that very reason she didn't lose a single battle until the Battle of Kalmora 13. But for all these skills, there was a great price.
Her emotions, important memories, her personality and last but not least her individual was lost. She became a calculating, cold, and ruthless Unit of Anima.
But when, after her imprisonment and deassimilation, her connection to Anima was destroyed, she felt an incomprehensible emptiness. The world of her own thoughts was suddenly back and it was incredibly overwhelming.
For a long time, Vesna's brain tried to fight the truth and it took her a lot of effort and also luck to be able to think for herself again.
Then, there were her emotions returning. The memories of her parents, the love and affection she received from them, but also the pain she felt when her parents were killed.
Everything was there and only got more intense the more she thought about it.
...
Only after a long time did Vesna open her eyes again and regain consciousness.
The first thing she saw was the gleaming white ceiling above her.
She opened her eyes very slowly and tried to look around only to find that she couldn't move her body even a bit. She was completely held by shackles and could only see the ceiling and nothing else.
Then she slowly started to hear again and heard some people talking to each other. But she was still too dazed and therefore didn't understand anything.
Before she knew it, a person was suddenly in front of her from above and she was looking at him from beneeth.
A unknown man looked down at her with a cold stare and then examined her eyes.
"The Anima regains consciousness, her biomechanical eyes respond to light exposure, and her body activity increases. Nanobot activity at 12% and inactive. The Omnichip in her cerelar cortex is at 5% activity and the connection to the Anima is successfully blocked... we did it, we reversed the assimilation." the man said as he disappeared from Vesna's field of vision after saying that.
Vesna then heard some cheers from various beings around her.
"Doctor Dekkar, we have been successful, why aren't you happy?" suddenly said a voice.
"Rejoice? The hardest part of our task is still ahead of us. How can I be happy?" said Dekkar and the voices around Vesna suddenly fell silent.
Vesna could only feel her entire body very vaguely and not move a bit and after a while she fell unconscious again.
...
Gaining consciousness and falling unconscious again happened to Vesna countless times and it was only after some time that she was able to hold consciousness longer.
That day she was then released from the bed and was able to sit on the bed and look around the room which she was in.
Throughout her room were a lot of soldiers with weapons at the ready. Ready to destroy her if she makes the wrong move. Otherwise, large mirrors could be seen throughout the room, but she couldn't see out from this side of the window.
'The organism of the Unit is still functioning... and the Alliance Soldiers have separated the Unit from Anima. What is the purpose of the Alliance Soldiers with this Unit? Receive information? Troop movement and potential targets? Or...' Vesna thought as her thoughts were interrupted by a door that opened.
Then five people came into the room, four of them Vesna didn't know and the last man she saw before, named Dekkar.
'Four organisms of species 9931 or human. An organism of the species 27210001 or Pemeter. Humans are known for their domineering and arrogant nature. They possess diverse talents and are of moderate utility as drones. The Pemeter is one of an aquatic race whose homeworld was destroyed by Anima at 300198. Incredible regeneration abilities, species well suited as soldier drones. Special modules required to enhance bodily functions and...' While Vesna was thinking all this, the four people and Dekkar got closer to Vesna and only stopped at a distance of five meters away from Vesna.
"Vesna... say do you want to die?" said Dekkar as he looked straight at her.
'Unit designation C 160495 official commander drone; Sector G 3311; Current Status: Prisoner separated from Anima; Possible course of action: suicide [...]' Vesna began to analyse her situation in more detail
Vesna began to think more deeply about her situation and any possibilities, but because she is separated from Anima and her bodily functions have been diminished by the operations of the Alliance, analyzing her situation takes too long and Dekkar spoke before she could determine an efficient course of action.
"It doesn't matter if you don't remember your name yet. Vesna Amun, that was your name before you became Anima. The Alliance and our research facility reversed your assimilation and separated you from Anima. You're probably going through your options right now But to save myself the time, I'll be happy to present your options to you." said Dekar.
"For one thing, you can easily kill yourself, well not necessarily now, but you could do it at the first best option that comes your way. Even if we could save you then, the project that saved you from Anima will be aborted by then and you'll probably end up being terminated and dissected, anyways." said Dekkar in a cold voice.
"Your second option is to fight your guards, who you will then try to assimilate. That would be the dumbest option you could choose, especially since your Nanobots have been adapted inside you, with just a simple command from me, the Nanobots will start destroying your body and you die. Moreover, you no longer have any control over your nanobots and will therefore not be able to assimilate any organism.
"Your last option is to cooperate with us and seek cooperation with us. But with this decision you would be taking a great risk in giving us information about the Anima and therefore you will not want to take it without knowing exactly what we want from you, so I will tell you this now. It is I who will decide your life and death here. I am your God here and will be by your side and watching over you as long as you live. Any misstep will cost you your Final Termination." said Dekkar as he looked at Vesna with a cold look.
"So choose! Which option will you choose!?" Dekkar asked loudly as he raised his right hand and the soldiers, weapons in hand, began aiming at Vesna. All of the soldiers made a disgusted expression and would like to shoot the Anima slut on the spot. But they control their emotions and await Dekkar's instructions first.
...
Vesna was silent and went through all the words Dekka had chosen in her head down to the smallest detail.
She analyzed his character and tried to get an impression of his views and possible intentions, but failed, especially as her mind and thoughts are too overloaded from the whole operation she has been through.
Vesna took a full 30 minutes to make a decision and then spoke.
"Unit C 160495 is willing to cooperate to the extent tolerable and to listen to the individual named Dekkar." Vesna said.
"Interesting decision, I would have probably opted for suicide, but you are the Commander Drone not me." Dekkar said with a straight face as he put his hand down and the soldiers then holstered their weapons and held them down.
"Anyway, you seem to already know my name, so let's not waste any more time and get straight to the point. These four people here will evaluate you and assess what will happen to you in the near future. They will examine you for today and ask you questions, remember that the questions will be of a personal nature to Vesna, not Anima, so an answer should be possible." said Dekkar pointing to the four.
"Vesna, do you understand me?" asked Dekkar afterwards.
Vesna stayed silent and only after a full minute did she give her answer.
"The Unit understands it's situation and accepts the questions as long as they are not related to Anima." said Vesna.
The four then began with their questions and tests, which, as Dekkar said, only concerned personal questions. For example... what was your mother's first name? what were your first memories? What is your favorite food? When is your father's birthday etc.
Vesna answered all the questions she could and the survey was over in six hours.
The four then left the room with a pile of data. On the other hand, Dekkar just sat on a chair next to Vesna the whole time and listened carefully to her answers.
Then he got up and just left without saying anything.
...
The Four Interrogators and Dekkar then discussed the results outside while looking out one of the windows at the room. Vesna didn't hear anything from the conversation and just sat on the operating chair with a blank stare and stared into the room.
"How did you find it, Doctor Dekkar? Her answers were cold and without any emotion. I mean, even when she reported the death of her parents it was nothing! What a monster, the perfect Anima who has no spark of empathy." said one of the four interrogators, who wasn't human and has slightly light blue skin.
"That's right, she showed no emotion and the level of detail with which she described the death of her parents was nothing." said one of the people.
"Remember when we confronted her with the 100 million dead she killed as a Anima, the children she assimilated and whose future she stole... theri was nothing." said a female scientist.
"I agree. Although I don't like it, our experiment with the Commander Drone must have failed. Sigh, maybe Doctor Norben Reia's efforts ended up in vain and we should.. Eh?..." the last scientist was then up once interrupted by Dekkar who got up and quickly ran back into the room.
He slammed open the door and startled some of the soldiers there and Vesna looked at Dekkar as he entered.
Dekkar didn't speak and took the laser pistol out of the guard's holster at the door and activated it, after which he raised his hand and aimed it at Vesna.
"PSSST!"
Fired the laser gun as a red projectile came out of the muzzle and headed straight for Vesna's head.
But Vesna reacted and just dodged the shot which only hit her in the shoulder and she flew to the ground.
"I DON'T CARE WHETHER SHE HAS EMOTIONS OR COMPASSIONS ABOUT SOMEONE'S DEATH. THE IMPORTANT THING IS SHE DON'T WANT TO DIE OR SHE WOULDN'T DOODGE THE SHOT BUT WOULD BE DEAD NOW!!!" Yelled Dekkar and then lowered his weapon and deactivated it and gave it back to the soldiers he got it from and left the room.
"Someone of you treat her before she dies." he then said to the four who were standing in front of the window with open mouths and couldn't believe what Dekkar was doing.
After that, Dekkar exits the room and set up a meeting with Admiral Bird.
...
[Unknown time; A small bar]
Dekkar just entered a small bar and looked there for Admiral Bird.
It was only after a few seconds that he found the admiral in civilian clothes on a corner of the bar and Dekkar made his way there.
"Admiral" Dekkar said as he sat down.
"Sigh, Dekkar please don't call me that, we're in a military bar for soldiers, if they knew you weren't a soldier and I was an Admiral, they'd throw us out right away." said Admiral Bird.
"Why are we even meeting here, what is the purpose, we could have discussed our results at the facility." asked Dekar.
"We wouldn't have that, especially since the Captain who wants Vesna on his ship wanted to meet us here." said Admiral Bird.
"What? Who did you found who would be remotely stupid enough to agree?" Dekkar asked, but before the Admiral could answer, a strange man suddenly spoke with two scantily clad women next to him and with a beer in hand.
The man was 185 cm tall with blond/ brown hair and brown eyes and was of good build. Many would say he looks good.
"I guess the idiot would be me then. Pleased to make your acquaintance, the name is Jacob Rym Raa, Captain of the new ship Hysperium." the man introduced himself with a smile as he sat down next to the two.