Factory Reset

Chapter Two: Coldness Abound

One of the generals, a large burly bear with numerous gleaming metals adorning his chest spoke, deep and harsh, "What can it do?" Gabriel glanced down on his list, scanning through the document. He needed this to be thorough.

Gabriel cleared his throat, taking a step closer toB-64. B-64 knew he couldn't possibly escape, but tried to physically move himself away from the approaching lion, "Sapience akin to that of Homo lupus, us, and has shown incredibly resistant to damage that is not pinpoint and precise." Gabriel started, flipping over his document to the other side.

Another scientist, a female raven, walked to him and handed him a short black blade, one that B-64 knew was his. He grew uneasy, starting to uncomfortably wiggle in his restraints, "This" Gabriel held up the gleaming black knife, "Is Hack-3, a biological weapon produced by the enzymes inside Hack-1, a small compartment within Hack's body."

The bear gave a gruff nod, turning to look at the smaller lion with an increasingly annoyed expression, "I appreciate the science lesson, but I asked for what it could do?"

Gabriel's cheeks reddened, and he carefully flipped through more of the document before landing on the one he wanted, and cleared his throat again, "Ahh, yes... Well, Hack-0 has been tested to be able to run upwards of twenty kilometers per hour when given proper incentive, has shown durability to firepower, blunt force, sharp objects, and explosives."

The bear grunted in approval as a soft murmur was cast between the generals. B-64 jerked his head as Gabriel placed a hand above his thigh, a soft whine escaping his shot vocal cords. Gabriel delivered a swift slap to his thigh, instantly shutting B-64 up.

Giving B-64 a withering gaze, Gabriel returned his attention to his audience, "As I was saying, he is highly durable, but..." Gabriel held up a finger, slowly lowering his hand with the blade towards B-64's arm.

Before it made contact, B-64 tried to desperately wiggle his way away from the blade, but it was no use, it kept coming at such slow speed, anxiety rushed through him as the blade hovered above his arm. He whined loudly as it came into contact with his fur, then his skin.

With one small flick of his hand, Gabriel sent the blade slicing through his arm, cleanly cutting through the rough and hard skin like a hot knife through butter. Blood bled through the pink muscles, starting to gradually grow a puddle.

Another scientist observing the presentation grabbed a towel and a few liquids, carefully rushing to B-64's side to clean up the wound, and to make sure that it wouldn't be infected. B-64 knew the scientist, and had gradually become grateful for his constant interference with Gabriel's questionable work ethic.

Gabriel gave the scientist, a small hyena, a short gaze filled with disappointment, before returning his attention to his observers. The Hyena was named Nathanial, but B-64 heard that he was referred to as Nathan. A pretty name for a rather good-looking individual, B-64 noted.

Nathanial was a spotted Hyena. Browns and inky splotches of black dotted his head and the parts of his arm that were exposed, a calculating expression dawning on his face as he continued to clean the wound, muttering about morals and how much he wanted to stick it to Gabriel, and B-64 couldn't help but agree with him.

Gabriel, after managing to capture the officers attention with his little demonstration, soon exploded out in scientific ramblings, telling them everything from what material his visor was made out of, a special nanite material, to how his techno-organic limbs acted like their own little supercomputers, connecting to the main intelligence that was his consciousness.

Nathan worked through the glares by his co-workers, as he simply didn't care. They all saw B-64 as a threat to national security, something to be tested, replicated so they can control it, and to delete after its service has been done. But Nathan did not view it that way.

No, he saw B-64 as something living. He wasn't desensitized to the horrific show that was The Foundation, he wasn't used to the piles upon piles of bodies that it went through weekly, and he wasn't beyond losing his humanity, the one thing that almost everybody else there has lost.

He scrubbed the arms of B-64 vigorously, making sure to thoroughly wash the fur and the skin. And he could admit with full mind and soul that he also liked how B-64 looked, and couldn't help but admire the creature a little more than one would consider platonic, and if it wasn't for the aspect of the experimentation, he would most certainly have 'hit him up'.

But no, if he wanted to continue to help B-64, or as he knew him, hack-0, then he needed to keep his job, and letting slip that he would want to do certain things to it wouldn't help with that case either, so he kept silent, only occasionally brushing his hand along for a little too long, not that B-64 minded the contact. He craved it more and more after each time, and after the time between he was out of the tube was shortening.

After wrapping the wound near the elbow, Nathan looked over his shoulder. B-64 gave a small trill of affection, gradually letting a small smile appear on the broken screen of his visor. Little green pixels appeared in the formation of what was a small smile.

Nath couldn't help but slightly blush, but brushed it off. He had done his duty, and remaining around B-64 could lead to suspicion, as nobody seemed to like to be around the, quite frankly, adorably badass creature. At least in Nathans opinion.

Gabriel had finally finished his rather long-winded speech about how great a combat advantage would it be to have clones, or robots utilizing aspects of B-64, or even using B-64 in the military with a restricted collar. All but one general signed onto the bill, one of the few that seemed to have not lost their humanity.

A young rabbit, quite obviously a tactics officer, quietly slipped unnoticed. He had his lips pursed in deep frown. He was dressed as all the others, but wasn't as built, nor as hostile, as the others. The rabbit spoke up, "May I ask you something, Gabriel?"

Gabriel smiled broadly, shaking hands with the bear general while responding with a grand, "Yes?"

The rabbit huffed, turning his head to look at B-64, and by extension, Nathan. He frowned, returning his gaze to Gabriel, "May I ask why you treat that creature in such a fashion? Truly, if we were to sign onto this deal, wouldn't it try to find any avenue of escape if it is as intelligent as you say?"

Gabriel's smile faltered, but he kept up the masquerade, "In theory, yes. But collars such as The Restrictive Collars can negate certain aspects of techno-organic beings, such as Hack-0, and can even completely shut off the creatures."

The rabbit kept a trained eye on B-64 for a moment, noticing the large collar around the neck that hung from the ceiling, as well as the chains and straps that made him suspended, "I am sure that you've done extensive research into that, but by God, you treat him, or her, as a mere feral dog rather than an intelligent being, surely you've thought about what it thinks of you."

Gabriel waved an arm nonchalantly, a gleam in his dead blue eyes, "The field report states that due to the technology found at Site Ninety, but in reality, it acts more animal than sophisticated robot."

The rabbit, still not on board with the idea, pitched that they should discuss the morality and deal at a later date. For them to mull over, of course. Gabriel reluctantly agreed to the plan, but only after the bear had chosen to go ahead with the rabbits plan.

Nathan observed as they walked out the door, a beaker of B-64's red blood in his hands. He glanced down at it, frowning. He felt compelled to do something, anything. But he didn't know what.

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And there's the second chapter, over two thousand words long! Whew, that took a hot second to make, but I'm not entirely sure if it was worth it...

Well, tell me what you think in the comments.

Oh, and if anybody was wondering, B-64 comes from Base Sixty-Four, a coding technique, and the "Scientific" name for the people is Homo Lupus because: One, I can't put humans cuz... You know why, and two, I was incredibly lazy and smashed together the first part of homo sapiens and the last part of the scientific name for wolves, objectively the most popular furry species.

So, yeah, tell me what you think, and thank you for reading!

~ Candle