~ Sanctuary ~

Chapter 6

"Rise and shine sleepyhead," I cooed at them as their heads slowly rose and became conscious. They looked around, trying to find something around them, something familiar or something to grab onto. Resourceful, but bad place to try and be resourceful when you're given barely any. Especially since they were strapped to chairs with barely anything within arms reach anyhow.
"Where are we, we demand to know," the bear barked. I turned to him and couldn't help but smile.
"Sorry, we cut off your trackers while you were out, so no chance in calling for help, dears," I told them. They seemed to believe it, when in reality we did no such thing. It would've been more damaging to cut them out even if we considered it, and given their structure, there was no way to turn them off from the outside, and in no way are we going to operate on a nearly pure human to try and turn it off. If they felt like they weren't in danger, and didn't need to send out an alert that they were, then we were good. Compromising ourselves is the last thing we need right now. And I feel like the Con Man's smart enough to activate an alert when a tracker has been turned off. So it's best to play the liar's game. "Now, will you be so kind as to introduce yourselves to us, we'd like to get to know our new guests," I asked, with as much politeness, but intimidatingly polite, as I could muster without sounding pushy.
They looked at each other before looking around at the room, seeing all of the other cyborgs within the shadows. Their breathing started to quicken, which made me almost laugh out loud, but I remained composed. I felt my mouth form a smirk, but I quickly coughed under my breath to not let it spread.
"I'm Forrest, and this is my little brother, Fern," the bear said.
"So you're brothers, hm?" I asked. Forrest nodded, wriggling a little bit in the chair to be more comfortable. Not much he could do to make it more comfortable for himself, but I understand why. I'd probably do the same if I were in his shoes.
"Our master told us we were, we were built at the same time and have the same DNA coding, I think," he admitted, as he looked over at his brother. He immediately seemed to heave in, as if he realized that he was giving things away. First slip.
"How long have you guys been operational?" I heard Cassidy ask from within the dark corners of the room. They seemed hesitant or unsure in answering, seemingly trying to figure out the answer themselves, but it didn't take them long.
"Only about roughly two hundred years ago, not long," Fern chimed in casually.
Nothing about the situation was casual, but it seems they could contain a casual appearance. And their voices were pronounced and sounded human, but their responses only lined up with what a cyborg would be able to conjure. And for the most part, they weren't yielding much thought. Mostly, because when they were asleep, I had Morgan hook up brain activity and thought monitors.
So we could view what they were thinking or worrying about while they were knocked out. We tested it on Cassidy, and when we asked her test questions, her brain and thought activity was extremely active so we knew it worked.
Problem though, nothing came up. Nothing, at all. So we had to get creative, and actually ask quite a bit of questions to keep their mind occupied enough to force answers out of them. And whether those answers came out physically or on our monitors, we still had to be smart and continue to ask them question after question so their brains stayed busy.
"Do you know how the Con Man created you guys?" Felix asked curiously. They seemed to both know the answer to that question and looked between one another, almost as if they were telepathically talking to each other without saying a word. After about two minutes of their silence, Fern decided to speak up.
"The Con Man built us from true human bodies, he told us, but just inserted cyborg parts into us, so we're completely human, mostly," he explained. Just as I'd theorized, the Con Man found a way to use true human bodies and be able to make a functioning human plus cyborg creation.
"So, what parts of you are cyborg parts?" I asked.
"Our brains and hearts," Forrest chimed in. So that explains the firewall. And the no name on the file when we pulled up the robotic immune system.
"This is honestly fascinating, how did he get his hands on two perfectly, unharmed human bodies, and were able to administer cyborg parts into your bodies without making marks from surgery, and connections being off? How are you all not malfunctioning?" Morgan asked, bringing his hands near his face, trying to use his body to figure things out mentally. I could tell he was getting antsy, and lucky for him, both Forrest and Fern knew how they were created. And they told us, somewhat mindlessly.
"Well, he told us that there was some kind of war that happened between us and some sort of government," Forrest began, seemingly trying to explain something he'd never experienced and was just told.
"Charlie, that's what I discussed with you about," I heard Griffin say from against the wall. I heard him, nodding and acknowledging that I heard Griffin, but I wasn't taking my eyes off the brothers. And I still knew what Griffin had told me. The Con Man was bound to tell every creation that he remained in close contact with, what happened. Like what happened with the war and everything, because there seemed to be many attempted revolutions against the Con Man, but only one true war.
"Because of this war, there were some bodies left behind, and he found about a dozen, or two dozen of our bodies, that came from the opposing side, and brought them back to the factory, and also brought back some of the fallen cyborgs that fought for our side," Forrest continued. There was a gasp from behind me, probably from Griffin, but everything went silent after that. I wanted to turn and address the gasp with sincerity, but I had a focusing job to do.
"So, apparently, after he inspected each of the bodies, he found three that were identical, in DNA and blood I mean," Forrest continued. "One of them was a girl and then there was us, but he said that he just used her physicality for parts for other cyborgs, but kept us intact," Forrest shrugged.
At first, him mentioning they technically had a sister piqued my interest, but when they said the Con Man used her parts for cyborgs and she wasn't purely human made me think twice, and continue to listen. Because at first, I thought they were going to mention someone I knew. Someone I knew dearly. But I thought twice after he mentioned that the Con Man just used her for parts.
"Anyway, so apparently the three of us were working for the government, and it seemed like we all trained together and fell together, somewhat tragic," Forrest relayed. I felt his pain, even though his face and body language showed no pain or reminiscence, but I sat there, trying to remain as intimidating as possible. They wouldn't continue talking about what we're getting out of them without it. And I know everyone surrounding me was attempting to do the same.
"Now, since he was curious about the same DNA presentation, he decided to take out our hearts and brains that were dead, and insert new ones that were robotic and mechanical, to rejuvenate our skin, and re-aliven us, kind of a genius move and thought if you ask us," Fern continued for Forrest. Forrest nodded, and they both stopped talking, looking at me expectantly.
"Well, is there anything you guys know about the Con Man personally? Like maybe how he constructed the Sanctuary's factory by chance? Or maybe how and why he constructed the Experiments?" I asked, turning the ends of those questions into deep curiosity questions.
They both looked at each other and shook their heads before turning back to me. As if they were denying that they knew anything. But based on their body language, which did yield some presentation, made me think again. Cassidy walked around the chairs and to me, and leaned over and whispered in my ear.
"Threaten to kill Fern. He's the smaller one. They're brothers. It'll get Forrest to talk," she slightly whispered. I felt a smirk creep onto my face and knew what I had to do. I readjusted myself so I wouldn't be smiling, and responded in a whisper as well.
"Go tell Seth this plan, let's see if we can make Forrest squirm."
Cassidy did as I requested, and Seth made his way over to the back of Fern.
"What're you doing," he said, stuttering a slight bit. In the blink of an eye, Seth had drawn his mini-saw and pressed the blade to Fern's main artery. This made Fern gasp and yelp a slight bit, which I saw Forrest flinch. Hard.
His chair moved a slight bit, caused by Forrest's lunge-like flinch to try and defend Fern. Protective, what a surprise. Once you know your brothers, that bond doesn't separate.
"I can definitely tell who's the older one, now spill," I growl toward Forrest, but looking between the both of them. "Or we kill your precious brother here," I point over to Fern as Forrest locks eyes with me at first, a bit of pleading sensation within them, before looking over to Fern. Fern's breath was hitched, and had nothing else but his eyes to speak to Forrest.
Now, at this very moment, we could see the human instincts and urges within them. They were there, just hidden under some other stuff, whether it has to do with their programming or just simply how they're built. But getting an emotional response out of them was possible, it just had to be sudden and strong enough to get past that wall that blocks them from said emotions.
"Fine I'll tell you just let him go! We both will!" he pleaded.
"Start talking, and I'll start to slowly release him," Seth growled back. This caused Forrest to recoil a slight bit in surprise, but contained surprise, before taking a deep breath, preparing to speak.
"The factory is truly a testament to human building, and only me, Layne, and Fern have access keys to it, simply because we're directly in line of work with the Con Man. We've seen him in the flesh ourselves, hence why we know so much about how we were created," Forrest started. There was more human emotion texturing his voice, it was encapsulating. And impressive, that the Con Man could construct a blocker in order for them to be mindless slaves. He may be an awful man, but most of us heavily respect his work because of the feats he was able to complete.
"Anyways, there's seven entrances, each usually guarded by their respected experiments. There's the front door, which is guarded by Mackenzie, then the back door is guarded by the Puppet, which we honest to god, don't know the actual name of," Forrest said, a bit of hesitancy and pleading in his tone. Seth brought the blade away from Fern, and Forrest noticed this, but Seth kept the blade right nearby Fern, queuing for Forrest to keep talking. Seth even waved his blade a slight bit in a 'continue, please' type of message.
"Then, Mackenzie has backup, who is Chloe, and then there are two doors on each of the other sides, guarded by Billy and Ford on one side, and Fred and Floyd on another," he said. Seth brought the blade away from Fern completely, and Fern started to breathe.
"Those experiments are technically labeled as Failed even though they're functioning, you all know that right?" Fern breathily asked us, looking past me to Morgan. Fern seemed to be curious, and his emotions seemed to be knocked loose just like Forrest's had when we threatened Fern's life.
"No, on the blueprints they aren't labeled as such, explain," Morgan pressed, heavily curious.
"I can tell you all are trying to take the Con Man down. You have a chance, and it's not a high chance, but still a chance," Fern responded, still having a bit of heaving and heavy breathing in his response. Morgan kept looking at him expectantly, and Fern closed his eyes and muttered something to himself, before opening them again. "They're labeled as failed because they all have truly poor wiring, because the Con Man was so worried about his creations and defense team only knowing fighting tactics and techniques," Fern continued, seeming a bit panicked but trying to keep it under wraps.
This clearly piqued Morgan's interest, because he pulled up his office chair nearby and took a stance that was comfortable and guarded.
"Because of this, the wiring structure and organization is so poor, that there's one weak spot on each of them that has said poor wiring, which I'm sure after you viewed the blueprints, there's weak spots on each," Fern referenced, looking past Morgan and referencing the blueprints that were being projected.
"You've seen these before?" Morgan asked, looking between him and the blueprints once.
"We both have, the Con Man wanted us to know so in case the Failed Experiments went haywire, we'd know how to either fix them on the spot, or just try and salvage what was important, and showed us what it looked like when they shut down from being harmed at their weak spots," Forrest chimed in, breathing heavily.
Now this just got interesting. They knew a lot more than we thought they did.
"Because of that, we know their weak spots, but you seemed to have already known that," Fern shrugged, his eyes darting around but still keeping a somewhat focused gaze on Morgan. They were practically having a conversation, with Fern being a bit more on edge. Morgan nodded toward him politely, and sat there quietly, waiting for Fern to continue as Fern tried to regain his composure.
"There's more about us too, we aren't our own mentalities, until right now. I don't know how you did it but you unlocked how we truly think," Fern breathily said.
"What," Morgan said. I could tell he was a bit terrified as well as interested, but tried to remain calm and only show it through his voice.
"Yeah. He doesn't put his mind into us, he just turns off our emotions and mental connections with people unless it's our brother bond. He created a program within our system so he'd be able to do that. You guys unlocked it by using the hole in the brother bond that they still let us use, and unlocked all the other stuff, even though I'm not sure how long this will last," Fern explained.
Morgan clutched his face in horror. "What is wrong with this man," he murmured. I looked at Fern again, and his stance was different than when we first saw him. When we first saw him, he had a robotic stance, like nothing having to do with emotions would inherently bother him. But now, he was slightly leaning forward against his restraints keeping him to the chair. He was in a pleading stance, but pleading toward us. Pleading, and hopeful.
"We don't want to be under his control anymore, please," Fern pleaded, his stance jolting forward a slight bit, as if he wanted to reach out and grab me, to rope me into a hug or a simple embrace.
Right as those words left his mouth, his eyes turned cold. I looked at Forrest,  and so did he. They slowly readjusted to a secure, and safe position as they sat in their chairs. Like what they'd just said didn't bother anymore. As if the emotions just completely left their bodies. As if their souls were ripped from their bodies by a spirit.
"What the fuck," Morgan said, absolutely horrified. "It's as if he's got a mind control chip in them. I can understand the Con Man just inventing a cyborg just to put his own consciousness into that didn't have a body to begin with, but using human bodies to control and protect his cyborg of his making is a whole new version of messed up," he exclaimed, spinning his office chair around to face the computer and lean over it.
Although I understand what the Doctor meant by all that, that was not the greatest concern right now. Not that the Con Man had the brothers under control this whole time, and that's why they act the way they do, but the fact that we got all the information we needed out of them.
"Get the chloroform, we're done here," I stated harshly and emotionlessly, before getting up out of the chair and going over to the other side of the room near the computer as Griffin and Seth put the brothers to sleep. "Griffin, Seth, take care of the brothers and let Flynn come with you to put them back where they came from once we've done the memory wipe," I said to both of them, as they came around from behind each brother, putting the cloth to their mouth.
I watched the consciousness leave their bodies and slump over in the chair. They didn't fight Griffin and Seth, oddly enough. It's as if they just accepted defeat.  Felix and Finn knelt by them and cut the zip ties from their wrists and ankles, before bringing them over to a nearby operating table, propping their heads up where their faces were facing the cushions. That way operating on them wouldn't be that much of a challenge.
Felix knelt over Fern, while Morgan walked over and leaned overForrest as they opened up a panel on the back of the brother's heads. They used some tools that Morgan gave to and distributed between him and Felix, as they worked relentlessly. After some work, they pulled away, not intending to be synchronized in the movement, and set the tools down on a nearby operating table that Morgan had.
"Memory wipe completed, go take 'em back," Morgan said wearily as he walked near the computers again, putting his head in his hands and running his fingers through his hair. Felix closed up both of the back of their heads quickly, and as he was finished, Griffin and Seth hoisted them up and carried them.
"Get out of my sight, we have some planning to do, make sure you're not suspected," I said, waving off Seth and Griffin, with Flynn having the two dobermans on his shoulders and following quickly behind. I turned to the computer and stared off at the blueprints presented before me, as Morgan remained at the desk, staring at them himself.
What is going on with the Con Man??? At first I could've understood if he felt lonely, and then got obsessed with creating artificial intelligence that followed his every command. And from a certain point, I could've understood he just wanted a protective army to protect him. And I could've understood him just wanting to create a family. Because that would at least be emotionally and analytically plausible. But this is a mad man we're talking about.
Not a man yearning for a family. This was a man yearning for tears, heartbreak, and most of all...
Bloodshed. And I didn't like how the future was looking if bloodshed was the thing he was yearning for.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" Cassidy said from the other side of the room. I held up my hand in the air, clearly directed to her, and I was thankfully met with silence. I heard Cassidy's footsteps walk away to me as I slunk into a chair near Morgan. Thankfully he had other chairs at the desk.
"There's no way we're going to pull this off. I thought about the possibility of us being able to, but bit by bit I'm just getting disheartened, further and further," I muttered to Morgan who was sitting next to me. There was no response, and frankly, I don't know if I wanted a response from him right now. He seemed in such a state of disarray as I was.
I never realized how much danger it really could be to go up against the Con Man. It's dangerous, life threatening even. Just my fear of being taken down by other cyborgs and used for parts doesn't sit right with me.
"Are you all sure you wanna go through with this?" I asked loudly in the room of other cyborgs. They all turned their attention like an army and legion of people, and I stood up, taking a deep breath. "After all this time, I was fighting to get us out of here. To not die by getting ripped into pieces, and used for parts later on down the line. As buying pieces. As bargaining objects. I don't want us to die like that, but if we're gonna die sooner to the hands who created us, then I don't want any part of it," I concluded. My breath seemed to still be well within me, and it made my chest and diaphragm expand uncomfortably.
Silence echoed through the room, almost as if there was some sort of sound there, but there was no lick of it. And it was uncomfortable, but oddly enough, I was okay with it being silent for a moment. It means everyone in the room was actually listening and processing what I meant. And that was the meaningful thought I had in the back of my mind.
"Well, for starters, we wouldn't be getting anywhere if you hadn't called upon us," Cassidy said. Her arms were crossed and she was leaning against the wall, with Gunner and Finn at her side, with Fraser and Banner next to them as well.
"What do you mean," I ask, a little bit of a cry emerging from my throat. I'm trying to keep it contained as she walks towards me, before standing in front of me, arms crossed once more. And it felt pitiful to be backing down to something so colossal. Because I felt guilt for wanting to back down when we've already made it this far.
"What I'm saying is, you're truly onto something here. We just needed the bigger picture first," she explained. Her words hit me in an honest and meaningful way, but I was still staggered by my anxiety bubbling within me.
"She's right. Our group didn't succeed because we didn't get the advantages, nor pursued them to gain the bigger picture," Fraser agreed. I'd never heard his voice until now, and his voice was raspy. More raspy and, you could say country, than Flynn's so it was recognizable.
"And because of that, we were taken down in a heartbeat and used for scraps, but then just left and expected to run how we used to, or at least that's what we hoped to be able to do," Finn chimed in.
"But those parts went to something that was beyond our comprehension, because we didn't realize the Con Man just wanted to make carbon copies of us," Banner said, confident and less timid than usual.
"And that led to you, Hunters, being the start to the true revolution, and with our parts, you became the better version of us and led the charge," Gunner added. He seemed more solemn, and pleasant. He didn't seem to have any grudges with anyone, but also, nothing was truly done to him in the first place anyhow.
"So, in conclusion, our parts truly went to something greater than us, and therefore, they actually led to us getting somewhere stronger than where we were a couple of years before you five were pushed out of the factory, even if we were a bit salty about someone using our parts like we couldn't," Cassidy finished.
I felt the tears dripping down my face, from under my mask, and pooling in the rim of it. It didn't bother me though. I knew they were good tears.
"You mean that," I said through a stifled sob. I didn't want to make it seem like I was crying, but there was no point in holding back much. My heart was truly touched.
"Yes, I mean that," Cassidy said, stepping slightly forward and pulling me into an embrace. I wrapped my arms around her, clasping my hands together with one another behind her back, keeping her close to me. I leaned my head against her shoulder, nestling it between her arm and breast. I'm thankful she was a smidge taller than me, that way there was a bit of difference. I felt comfortable. I felt her hand go to my back and start rubbing it gently, and it made me relax.
All of my anxiety dissipated as I relaxed into her hold of me, and it was very soothing. I could stay there forever. I felt like I was floating. I didn't wanna leave.
I heard pounding footsteps down the stairs, followed by a hard slam of a door from upstairs, and Seth, Griffin and Flynn emerged through the doorway that led to the stairwell. All three of them laid eyes on me and Cassidy, and Seth walked away to join the Scavengers on the other side of the room, accompanying Blake and Felix as well, while Griffin and Flynn stood near the door, looking at me bewildered. They've never seen me this vulnerable with anyone, not even them. So I knew they were questioning many things, and on whether it was a good or bad thing.
"Okay, which one of you bitches made her cry?" Flynn threatened. Okay there's the defensive Flynn I know. The Scavengers and Hunters held up their hands, so did Morgan, and adorably, Morgan's little helpers held up their hands like toddlers reaching up to their mothers to get picked up.
"None of them, it was myself, they're good tears," I consoled him as I let go of Cassidy, regrettably, and walked over to Flynn, pulling him into an embrace quickly but gently. He locked his arms around me protectively as soon as my torso touched his, and it was a grip and embrace that I knew well. "Anxiety overwhelmed me like it usually does, I'm okay, they're good tears okay," I added, adding a questioning tone at the end of my consolation.
Flynn seemed to hesitate, and after taking a deep breath, he nodded, before hugging me tighter and finally letting me go. I looked over to Griffin who just nodded to me, and after a short moment of processing, I nodded to myself before I walked back over to the computer.
"Morgan, did you record the interrogation anyways like I asked?" I asked, putting my hands on the edge of the table and leaning over the table, looking at the screens.
"Yes, I did," he said, scooting over to the desk in his chair with wheels, and pulling up the recording. He seemed a bit more animated after some time, so thankfully he was a bit more active and attentive. The video came into view, positioned properly, with the camera having both Fern and Forrest in the video, with me in the middle interrogating them. The room around us was dark, and you could only see what the light above all three of us was illuminating, and it was just us.
"I skipped a little bit in the video, and this is where the stuff for revealing gets interesting and detailed, instead of when we first started interrogating them," Morgan explained. I sat there, watching their every move, and once I heard their voices start pleading, and Forrest spouting all of the facts we made him spill, I held up my hand and Morgan paused it promptly.
"How did returning the brothers and their dogs go?" I asked, turning to Seth and Griffin who were nearby the Hunters. I remembered I never asked when they got back, and whether they were followed or not. I had to be sure. And Griffin actually stepped forward and started explaining.