Chapter 42: Do you really know him?
"I’m coming...Thira."
K shoved past the soldiers, making his way toward the doors.
"Where do you think you’re going?" Bak huffed as he dismissed the holographic feed.
"I’m going to get him."
"...you don’t even know where he is."
The Matyr froze.
"..."
"We don’t know who or what took him, wait until the interrogation team has done their job."
"There’s no time for that! We ha—"
His vision suddenly winked out. For one terrifying second, the corridor disappeared.
The walls. The soldiers. Bak.
K’s legs gave way beneath him, his knees slammed against the marble floor with a sharp crack.
Pain exploded through his chest.
"A... Aa... aaaaaah!"
His hands flew to his ribs as his back arched violently. The pain spread beneath his sternum, crawling down his spine and shooting through his legs until his fingers curled against the cold floor.
His breath came out in broken, shallow gasps.
Something inside his chest shifted.
Crack.
"K?"
Bak spun around.
K remained on the floor, trembling. Sweat gathered along his hairline as he desperately tried to drag air into his lungs.
"I told this little shit to stay back and get treated!"
The two soldiers rushed forward.
One dropped beside K and reached for his shoulder.
"Easy, sir. We’ve got you."
He pulled.
Nothing.
K didn’t budge an inch.
The soldier’s expression tightened. He adjusted his grip and tried again, bracing one boot against the floor.
"Come on..."
Still nothing.
It was as though K had been fused to the marble. The second soldier was already pressing two fingers against his communicator.
"Medic team, Top Wing. Emergency—"
K’s fingers suddenly dug into the floor.
A thin crack spread beneath his palm.
The soldier froze.
"...get the medics here now!"
"Let me out..."
His voice came out in a gravely rasp. "I will tell you everything."
"What the fuck is he saying? Get him off the floor!"
"S-sir...we can’t..."
Bak hissed and pushed the soldier aside and pulled at the body but just as he had said.
K didn’t budge.
"Move back if you don’t want to get burned."
He glanced toward the soldier beside him.
"Move."
The warning was quiet, but something in Bak’s voice made the soldier immediately take a step back.
Then came the hum. A low mechanical rumble.
It seemed to vibrate through the floor before rising from somewhere beneath Bak’s sleeves. The fabric around his forearms trembled, then suddenly ignited.
The soldier flinched and reached forward.
"Admiral—"
"I said stay back!"
The flames raced up both sleeves in an instant.
Bak didn’t move or flinch.
There was no panic in his expression. No attempt to put them out. He simply watched as the fire consumed the fabric covering his arms.
After a while the flames sizzled to nothingness.
"A-admiral...your arms..."
What remained beneath the ruined sleeves wasn’t burnt or scarred flesh.
Smooth metal caught the light.
Dark alloy formed the shape of his forearms with frightening precision, seamlessly connected to the remaining flesh above his elbows. Thin lines of pale circuitry glowed beneath the surface, pulsing faintly with each mechanical hum.
Bak slowly flexed his hand.
The fingers moved with the same precision as human ones.
A quiet series of clicks travelled through the joints.
The soldier stared. Shocked behind measure.
Bak’s expression hardened.
"Something wrong?"
The soldier immediately shook his head and
looked away.
"No, Admiral."
Bak turned his attention back toward the room, his exposed mechanical arms hanging naturally in front of him as though there were nothing unusual about them.
"Let’s get this one off the ground."
Medics poured in as he and the soldier tried to lift K. The body left the ground, a few inches, before slamming back down. Trapping the soldier’s hands.
"Aaaah! Admiral!"
"Shut up."
Bak’s fingers flexed beneath the weight and slipped out.
"Get the extrication team—"
"They’ll be no need for that."
The whole room turned to where the voice came from.
"I’m fine."
K pushed himself off the floor, freeing the trapped man beneath him. His eyes fell to Bak’s arms and then to the soldiers and medic team.
"What are they doing here? Leave..."
"Sir, y-you—"
"I said...leave."
The team hurried out leaving only the Admiral and K.
"What was the meaning of that?"
"I know how to find him."
Bak sighed and leaned against the nearest wall.
"...go on."
"I need to get to Kagu."
"K.A.G.U?"
"Yes."
"Why would you want to talk to a scrapped project model?"
"What?"
"Knowledge Acquisition and General research Unit."
"What?"
"K.A.G.U. The database research Ai."
"Yes...her."
"Yeah, she was scrapped months ago."
"What the fuck are you saying? Kagu is up and running, she’s probably in Thira’s office trying to find why he’s missing."
"..."
"We’ve been working together since I took out my pellet!"
"K."
"Yes?"
"K.A.G.U was officially scrapped and written off months back when Doctor Thira privately proposed her creation."
"..."
"I personally rejected the proposal because it would mean giving our world data to an Artificial Intelligence that is being controlled by a Vashki...that’s the last thing I’d want for a planet I shed blood, sweat and tears on."
"So...If you’re saying Kagu was scrapped...and I’m still in contact with her..."
"Thira went behind my back and completed her." Bak finished for him.
His jaw flexed as he sucked on a canine.
"Get out, we’re going to his lab."
...
..
.
The doors slid open as Bak slid his palm over the scanner.
"K! I know you already know this but my Ma—"
Kagu froze mid sentence and glicthed out.
"Get her back here!"
Bak hissed and picked the outlet she once appeared on.
"Kagu..."
The outlet lay unresponsive.
"Kagu come out, we have to find Thira. We just have some questions."
The outlet flickered and a trembling Kagu appeared.
"Why are you shaking like a rain drenched dog?" The admiral sneered and set her down.
"W-what is he doing here?"
"Is it true?"
"Tell her to speak English, her creator can do it, so should she."
"What?"
Bak shook his head at the boy.
"Mummy’s been hiding quite the number of secrets, huh?"