Chartreuse || ONC 2022

▪︎ Digi Log 12 ▪︎

The Chartreuse Factory
Micro-Oz, Neo-York
13:55

On an elevated platform outside the Chartreuse Factory, Ava-1 surveyed the cityscape. Her left eye, which was equipped with a variety of filters that allowed her to see night vision, infrared, three dimensional laser outlines, x-rays, and toxins, now contained a new filter: one that could see the mysterious compound in Chartreuse products as a physical manifestation. She'd designed the filter herself after isolating the unknown ingredient in her experiment earlier that day.

"It's incredible," Ava-1 said to Whitlock, who stood beside her. "It's a thick green fog. It's everywhere. As if the city is engulfed in an emerald miasma."

She sent him a digital access code that allowed him to upload the filter to his goggles. He was silent for several seconds, then let out a low whistle.

"Marmalized gigs on toast," he cursed. "That is insanity."

"Perfect word," Ava-1 agreed. The dense cloud of green was so opaque, she couldn't see the skyscrapers beyond Micro-Oz. "If the substance is that thick in the air, you know it's in the lungs, organs, and blood stream of every Neo-York citizen."

"Yeah," Whitlock murmured. He pushed his goggles up so that they rested on his head. "I took a Chartreuse brand multivitamin this morning. Now I feel sick."

Ava-1 switched off the filter and the miasma vanished. The cityscape was visible in its entirety, but the sensation of grotesque saturation remained. "We should get back to the others," she said.

Whitlock led the way down the steps to street level, and they reconvened with Saito, Mina, and Nova beneath a nondescript overhang. The plan was to observe Big Sister and her inner party without being conspicuous themselves.

"Well?" Saito prompted upon their return.

"Just like I thought," Ava-1 said. "It's everywhere. Hovering in and around the entire city. You'd have to leave Neo-York to escape its reach."

The others nodded in remorseful silence. Nova's stomach twisted in nausea.

"Here they come," Whitlock announced. He pointed. "Check it out."

A cube-shaped hover craft approached at the speed of a parade float, and glided to a halt before the entrance of the factory. The small craft was open to the air, had a waist-high glass barrier on all sides, and was operated by an android driver of the same model as those that guarded the Red Palace.

Atop the craft were four passengers. Two dozen android guards stood in formation around the hover craft, armed with automatic weapons. 

"That's Major Tom," Nova whispered, indicating a middle-aged male passenger with the broad chest and squared shoulders of a war veteran. "See? Astro military uniform, gray hair, mustache? He always looks disgruntled. Or in pain, I can't decide which. I'm pretty sure he hates appearing in public with Big Sister."

"Of course he does," Mina sympathized. "She's holding him hostage through the misfortunes of his wife. If anyone had used Jonathan in such a despicable way, I don't know what I would have done."

"Lemme guess," Ava-1 said with a smirk. "The handsome one is Dorian Gray?"

Nova nodded. "Gorgeous, isn't he? Like something out of a lost novel."

"Yeaaaah," Whitlock drawled, rolling his eyes. "He's sooooo handsome. I especially love Big Sister's hand up his ass, working him like the brainless puppet that he is. Super dreamy."

Ava-1 snickered. "Hard to believe he's her bodyguard. He looks like he'd freak out if a single hair was out of place."

"And that one is Oliver Twist," Nova said, pointing to the mischievous child in the Spies' uniform and newsboy cap. He was perched on the flat ledge of the glass barrier, swinging his legs and recording the passersby with a surveillance device. "Creepy little cog."