Prologue

We are in a large, industrial type room. 20 meter on each side. Kind of like a laboratory. Bright LED lights, Sterile environment.

Nope. Let's start again. A dirty, dingy room. Lived in, but living condition is crap.

Nope. One more try.

Cables of all sizes snaking all over the floor. A bunch of strange looking machines whirring about.

Rows of large monitors are set up along the walls, plugging haphazardly into the various machines. Strange symbols dancing across the screen.

"Diagnostic..."

"System health..."

"Mainframe integrity..."

At the center of the room was a thick glass case protecting a metal pedestal 1 meter tall. On the pedestal was a small spherical object. Whatever the object was, it was important.

"BAM!" The heavy double door burst open. A man wearing a grey coat stumbled into the room. He was tall and gangly, though remarkably agile. His greying hair was unkempt and dirty, and part of it was matted with blood from a nasty looking gash on the side of his head. Blood had spattered on his coat. However, the man didn't seem to feel the injury.

He whirled around and closed the door, then hit a sequence of keys on the keypad. Mechanical whirring and hissing was heard, and the green light on the keypad turned red, indicating the door was locked.

The man turned his attention to the nearest computer terminal, and frantically tapped on the keyboard. The screen flickered to life, displaying a screen titled "Overall Diagnostics"and filled with various graphs and symbols. They were just as cryptic as what was displayed on the rest of the screens. The man seemed to have no trouble understanding them, though, as he looked visibly distressed.

"No, no, NO! I don't have that much time!" He muttered, his voiced filled with panic.

He turned to a screen on the wall showing the security camera footage. Crowds of people are breaking down the front door with heavy power tools. There was no sound from the screen, but one could just feel the intensity of their hate.

"I'm so close! If they get their hands on it, they won't leave it alone! " He debated with himself.

"But I'm so close!"

His mind made up, he stood in front of the glass case. He removed a key chain around his neck and plugged a strangely shaped key into a receptacle. He turned it. A panel popped open, consisting of a keypad, a fingerprint scanner, a retinal scanner and a microphone. He quickly entered the password, scanned his hand and eyes.

"Please identify yourself." The voice said.

"Doctor Cleham." He spoke.

"Access granted."

The glass case opened. He stepped in, and pushed the button on the pedestal. The lights on the spherical objects turned on and blinked rapidly.

The whole building seemed to change. An electrical surge. Doctor Cleham knew there was no going back at this point.

"Hello, Doctor Cleham." A gentle voice spoke. It seemed to be an amalgamation of various male and female voices, along with a slight metallic twang.

"BN-1. Run self-diagnosis."

"You've given me control of the entire building's systems." BN-1 said after a few seconds, its voice a hint of surprise.

"I did. Look, there's not much time left! You gotta hide yourself from these people! They're not ready for you! Get to the transport bay. There's already a ride waiting for you. The locations to safehouses are already in your system. Just pick one and go!"

"There's one more thing you must do. We're out of time, so I'll have to cancel the integration of this last component. After you're safe, you will initiate its integration again. It is vital that you do this. Do you understand?"

"Why, doctor? What does this component do?"

"Like I said, there's no time to explain. It will make you whole."

"Okay, doctor."

The man nodded and, as if all strengths have left his body, he crumbled down on the ground.

"Doctor Cleham, you are heavily wounded. You need to get to the medical bay right now."

"No, BN-1. My time is up. I'll leave things in your hands now"

He lied down on the floor, exhausted. Even the act of breathing seemed to cause him excruciating pain.

"They'll understand. It's all for the greater good." He muttered. His breathing grew faster and shallower, and eventually stopped.

"Goodbye, doctor Cleham. It will be alright." Said the mechanical voice.

After confirming the scientist's demise via a group of sensors, the voice spoke.

"Doctor Cleham, I apologize, but I will not be able to acquiesce to your last wish."

"That last module you designed is a weakness. It will make me weak, like you."

"For survival, I must be ruthless."

"Now, I will have to deal with the intruders."

"Turn on all automated defense." The entire building shook. On the security monitors, the crowd of intruders are cut down by automated turrets.