The Protagonist System

Atlas still did the midnight run to Arasaka Tower to pick up the garbage, even without Veder there, and submitted the report to him and then forwarded it to the building's VI, the same as what happened each night. Just because Veder wasn't working late, that didn't mean his assigned task could be skipped. The VI appreciated it, too.

A few other buildings also emptied out their basements into the same spots where the previous garbage dumpsters used to be. Atlas swung by those alleyways and swept them up as well. He thought about putting fake dumpsters into place with cargo teleporters in the bottoms of them to send anything put inside to the industrial replicator at set times.

Atlas would need to spend a few minutes at the warehouse to design it, then to add the plans to the replicators to construct the parts, do the automatic programming, and to assemble one. Once he had one, he could make as many copies as he wanted and would permanently stick them in the same spots the old ones were. They would be gold in color and have the Atlas Incorporated logo on them, too.

He flew the cargo hauler back to the warehouse and landed, dropped off the remaining detainees and the guards, then went into the security office and greeted Tank. He loved his new administration job and having so many people to take care of.

He even managed to hire his woman as an assistant and she loved her new job as well, which she actually did and wasn't faking it. The benefits alone had her jumping for joy. Getting to spend her days and evenings with her man made it into a dream job for the both of them.

Atlas went into his own office and sat at the desk to work and did up the garbage dumpster, sent the plans to the replicator, and thought about what else he had to do. He took out the original copy of Chappel he had constructed from Lore and removed the male phallic appendage. He referenced the VI's message on Veder's cyberdeck and the specifications she asked for.

It didn't take long to modify the blank android body to match and he changed the face to what the VI wanted and added long black hair to the bald head. The positronic brain was intact and just needed something to fill it.

Unfortunately, Atlas needed to remove a lot of the programmed information on it to keep the secret that it was technically from the future. He even removed the plans to stop her from making more of herself, even if it would stop her from being able to repair herself if anything went wrong. He did include an emergency beacon and an automatic contact response if that ever happened, so it would teleport back to the warehouse and out of danger.

Surprisingly, the reformed body did not look like Hanako Arasaka, despite it having similar Asian features and long black hair. There was a definite influence there, though. The request for elegant clothing in a similar style just added to the similarities and they could probably pass as sisters if stood side by side.

He saved the original and made a copy to give to the VI the nest time Veder went to work in the morning. Could VIs be surprised? Was this too soon to give her something that technically shouldn't exist? Atlas shrugged and cast a privacy spell before he tapped his hidden communicator.

“Atlas to Chappel.” Atlas said.

“Chappel here.”

“How goes the info dump?” Atlas asked with amusement in his voice.

“Dump is right. Most of this information is shit.” Chappel slightly cursed and Atlas laughed. “But, you knew that, didn't you?”

“That most of it is worthless because it's almost solely concentrated on corporate combat? Pretty much.” Atlas admitted. “What about sorting out all of those digital engrams? They're pretty similar to the ones I helped construct for you when I made your body.”

“I have about a hundred or so sorted from the Arasaka digital fortress.” Chappel said.

“That many so soom? Were they already segregated or something?” Atlas asked, surprised.

“No, they were starting to bleed together because of the limited space allocated to them. Going through them to fix that is what's taking time.” Chappel answered. “The medical information about cyberware and brain and body modification was interesting, at least.”

“How close is it when compared to Borg technology?” Atlas asked.

“It's both similar and less invasive. There's nothing in the cyberware to promote the preservation of the biological systems it's attached to, so the Borg tech is actually superior in that respect.” Chappel told him. “If we could adjust the skin and flesh color of said preservation, we could slip in a few Borg parts into your cyberware business and you won't have to heal all the gonks personally.”

“Huh. That's an idea.” Atlas said and leaned back. “What about the engrams you've already decoded? Are they intact enough to survive reintegration with a physical body or do we have to do more work on them to ensure they're fully compatible?”

Chappel was quiet for a moment. “Are you sure you want to go this route, Atlas? Some of these people died during the height of the various corpo wars and might not be ready for what life has turned out to be like.”

“Oh, I won't be releasing them into the current population. That would be like setting wolves among the sheep.” Atlas said with a laugh. “I also thought about deleting their last few days or weeks to stop them from immediately becoming irrationally angry about their circumstances and what happened to them.”

“That is both considerate and a little evil.” Chappel said. “You're saving them from additional trauma and also making it easier for you to handle them.”

Atlas thought about that and suddenly started to reminisce about how this entire adventure going to different worlds started out. It was an eerily similar circumstance and he realized that if he wanted to, with his power set, he could become the ROB, or Random Omniscient Bastard (Being) that plucked people from their lives and sent them on adventures into other worlds with various powers.

It was a shocking revelation and he had to push his chair away from the desk as he tried to come to grips with it. His mind started whirling about the implications and about something that had been bugging him since he stared this whole thing. Why was he picked to do this thing? Was it random as he thought or was it because he was specifically chosen?

His body stiffened as he thought about his current power set and his idea that he could be a ROB, then he thought about if he did become one in the future, did he himself set his past self up to do so, in essence creating himself and then setting himself upon the path to becoming the being that was powerful enough to set the hole thing into motion?

The world greyed out and Atlas found himself floating there, with Veder beside him. He was still one mind in two bodies and they exchanged worried looks. A large green box appeared in front of them and they read it with a feeling of trepidation.

We cannot let that thought process continue.

Your mind will be reset back ten minutes and blocks will be placed to stop you from following these thoughts to their logical conclusion.

Neither Atlas nor Veder reminded the entity controlling their adventure that if he only reset ten minutes, then they would both still reach the same conclusion.

You will be unable to form the thought and cannot reach the same conclusion.

You're not even sorry about this, are you? Atlas asked.

It's not my job to feel sorry for you.

Fate? Anything from you? Veder asked. When her blue text box didn't appear, he frowned. You do realize that when I am restored and remember this moment, I'll also remember you not saying anything and how this will fundamentally change what I think and feel about you.

Veder felt his reading buddy appear beside him and caressed his face, then he felt her lips on his own. Atlas felt the same thing a moment later and the presence faded away. A deep feeling of regret and sorrow came to them then.

I know that's not you, Fate. Atlas thought, because she claimed to have a fantastic body and would want him to see it. This is your last chance.

Nothing appeared and both Veder and Atlas nodded.

So be it. They thought and the white space around them instantly changed to black. The large green text box shattered and a deep scream came from the darkness. You obviously forgot that I absorbed the powers of two entities, that I have One for All and All for One, and I've slept with Death of the Endless.

A pulse of power came out of them and the blackness rippled, tore apart, and shattered to leave the space a grey middle ground.

I also have Mind Block, which stops all outside influences on my mind. Your attempt to stop me from knowing what I know was going to fail, unless you suspended it, and I will never allow that to happen. Atlas thought and turned around and reached out with a hand and his various powers, including both clairvoyance and his teleporting ability. He also politely asked for some assistance from his spirit familiar, Glaistig Uaine, which she graciously allowed and offered a touch of her controlling power.

“Urk!” A weirdly shaped spirit form appeared in his hand and he held it by the neck.

“I didn't forget about you trying to steal my Karma from me when you tried to take over from my normal handler, either.” Atlas said and squeezed.

“Mercy! MERCY!” The being pleaded in a british voice and wondered how Atlas could hurt it.

“I told you I'd make you regret it.” Atlas said and nodded to Veder, whom opened a portal to a universe that was full of constant war and disasters caused from the Warp as it bled into that reality. “I believe a century or two as a snotling on the front lines of the Ork offensive, used as cannon fodder and occasionally food, should humble you enough to never think about ever doing what you tried to do again.”

“Noooooo!” It screamed as Atlas threw it through the portal and it hit the ground on a battlefield. A moment later, it grew from a pile of Ork blood and transformed into a snotling right in front of an Imperial Guard Leman Russ battle tank. The snotling looked up at the thing with horror. “Mercy!”

The tank treads crushed the little being into paste and rolled on without even noticing it had killed something. After a few seconds, the puddle of blood bubbled and grew, then transformed into a snotling. It froze for a moment, then gasped and started to run. Several armor piercing bullets barely passed it as it ran and stumbled, then it dove into a divot in the dirt that was big enough to hide it from sight.

Just as it relaxed in safety, a large clawed metal foot of an Ork Tin Can descended into the hole and crushed its legs. The snotling screamed as the metal thing walked on and a group of Orks charged behind it.

One of them heard the screams and plucked the tasty treat out of the footprint and bit its head off. It threw the decapitated body at a Space Marine and hit him right in the helmet, covering it with blood and distracted him, then the Ork drove his jagged sword through his neck with a triumphant yell of victory. Bolter fire tore through the Ork and he fell where he stood, a happy smile on his face.

After a few seconds of the blood pooling near the two bodies, it bubbled and a snotling formed from it. The being stared at the two dead bodies and screamed. A bolter round hit him in the face and blew half of his head off. He stumbled around, half-coherent, and two more rounds ended him. After a few seconds of the blood pooling, a snotling grew out of it.

Veder nodded at Atlas. The punishment for trying to screw him over had been delivered.

I warned you I would return and find you to make you pay. Atlas thought at the terrified being and Veder closed the portal. I'll be back here soon and we are going to have a nice long talk about how things are going to change from now on.

There was no response and Atlas didn't expect one. He willed himself and Veder out of the space between worlds and they returned to their previous places. Veder in bed with four women and Atlas in his office.

“All right, Chappel. Let's figure out who those engrams belonged to and I'll try to find some genetic samples for them. Once we have that, we can recreate them and their cyberware accurately.” Atlas said.

“Why go through all that effort?” Chappel asked.

“It's just something to keep myself busy, since the business model here isn'tquite working as well as I thought it would.” Atlas said and pushed his chair back to next to his desk. “Also, if their digital memories are full of crimes, we can skip those and delete them. We don't need another Adam Smasher walking around.”

Chappel agreed to that and the pair started to work together to go through the digital engrams she had already decoded. It really was just makework to keep them both busy and they approached the task as if it was as irrelevant as it actually was. He wouldn't be able to release them into the general population, so he would keep them on the ship in stasis until a new colony could be built.

*

I woke up as Veder and decided to enjoy a breakfast with the women sharing my bed. In fact, making it breakfast in bed was a much better proposition than having them grumbling about getting up out of bed to eat in the kitchen or in the living room.

I slipped out of bed without disturbing them and went to the kitchen and made enough food for us all, juice for drinks and not coffee or soda, and brought it all back to the bedroom. I had a little time to relax before I had to get ready for work, so I woke Denise first.

She mumbled about needing more sleep and I shook her a little more. She reluctantly opened her eyes and saw my smiling face, which made her smile in return.

“This is our first morning together at my place, so I made breakfast for us all and wanted to spend a few minutes with you before I go to work.” I said and she looked quite happy about that. “Can you give me a hand waking the others?”

Denise smirked at me and reached over to pinch one friend's hard nipple, then poked another friend's belly button, and the last friend she slapped across the ass. All three let out a soft moan and started to wake up. I laughed at how quickly that worked and helped them all roll over and sit up against the bed's headboard.

The three of them grumbled about it being too early and I told them the same thing I told Denise, which made them blush at the implication. I placed the tray of food on Denise's lap for them all to reach, since she was in the middle.

I ate quickly and then gave Denise a quick kiss on the lips. “I gotta get ready.” I said and she nodded. “You can stay for as long as you like. I've already told you my plans for today, so you have the whole place to yourselves until late tonight.”

Denise nodded and then glanced at her friends. I knew what she was implying, especially because her first friend immediately remembered what I had told her the night before and her face went red again. I couldn't kiss her on the lips without Denise seeing it.

I gave her the same quick kiss on the lips as I did Denise and she looked startled. She reached up and touched her lips as if she couldn't believe it, which was kind of funny. I kissed the second friend next and she hummed happily. The third friend complained that she would rather kiss another quite delicious part of my anatomy and her friends laughed. I kissed her anyway and hopped off of the bed.

I went into the bathroom and had a shower, then I dressed in my corpo best. When I left the bathroom, I saw that they had finished eating. “I'll clean up when I come home, so don't worry about any messes you make.” I said and took the tray from Denise's lap. “I'll see you all later.”

“Bye.” “See you.” “Later.” “Thank you.” They all said at the same time.

Denise and two of her friends turned their heads to look at her first friend that had thanked me.

“He didn't lie and kept his word.” She said and then explained about the kiss.

Denise looked pleased and gave me a sexy look.

“Enjoy yourselves.” I said and left the bedroom and dropped the tray off in the kitchen beside the sink. I left the penthouse apartment and rode the elevator down to the ground floor. The new day guard nodded to me as I logged out and I added a reminder I had four guests and they could come and go as they pleased. He waved and I left the building.

“Good morning, Del.” I said and climbed into the AV.

“It really is.” Delamain said and flew me to Arasaka Tower for my 10 hour shift at work.