The pillar to Heaven built in Hell

A robot wizard hu, that was a new one. She had met her fair share of robots, but never a wizard. Let alone a combination of the two. “So, what’s your story then?” she asked the cybernetic man as she followed his flight instructions.

"Ok firstly I'm not a 'robot wizard', there's nothing magical about me."

Cebra says mildly annoyed.

"I'm just a cyborg. My story?... Well as far as the present moment is concerned my story is that I require the help of capable individuals. The details are something we can discuss when we make it back to my apartment. It's there, due east. I can see it from here, it has the orange roof by the river."

wait your not but you do that thingy where you make stuff? Jeannie was confused

oh ok then Jeannie was happy he did the basics of it anymore and she'd have to call her daddy to help explain ithope there's food when we get there,
huh and maybe some clothes, this armor I took from guards and the prison outfit I'm wearing under it would kind stick out

“I see,” she nodded when the cyborg finished his explanation.

So not a wizard after all. At least his explanation, however brief it was, gave Sam a better understanding about the nature of his abilities. Them not being supernatural in origin did nothing to diminish them as far as she was concerned. She still had a few questions about his powers, though, such as what ‘stuff’ he could make with them. But that could wait until they were back with both feet on the ground.  From a pragmatic point of view it was a useful ability to have. Provided it was on your side.

His need for capable individuals, as he put it, was something different entirely. Was that the reason he busted Jeannie out of prison? Simply so he could enlist her? And what sort a person would turn to a prison as a possible recruitment ground in the first place? Or what kind of a job, for that matter? All this didn’t sit well with her. Hopefully she’d get more satisfying answers soon.

The apartment of their soon-to-be host was indeed easy to find. Even for someone who didn’t know the neighbourhood. The orange roof stood out as a beacon of colour amongst all the grey of the other buildings.  

“Is there some secret way in or do I just land at the front door?” she asked when she started to descend.

huh could be a secret passage would be neat!

Jeannie curiously looks at the building

"You can land on the roof actually, I have the key to get in."

Cebra got down letting go of the new woman when she is low enough. He opens the roof door and walks in heading down only one floor. The hallway is painted tropical looking light blue on the ceiling and top half of the wall. The middle is painted white then bright green at the bottom. Cebra opens the thick wood door to his apartment and instantly throws the security guard jacket onto an easy chair.

The apartment is a 4 1/2, the entrance way has a small table to the side bordering a wall. There's a bench where you can remove your footwear, pass that is the Living room. The living room is a decent size able to fit a Large flat screen television, two couches in an L shape, various bureaus, a safe and a PC. The place is in a little bit of a shamble but still well kept in some ways. There are some dishes about and the carpet needs vacuuming. A clutter of papers crowd various desks and tables, as well as a white board.

The kitchen is right beside the Living room with open access, the kitchen has one island and a large silver fridge with large door and an ice maker. To the right of the kitchen is a hallway that leads to a closed door and the other to a bathroom. The living room also leads to the balcony that overlooks the beach and river.

This place wasn’t what Sam had expected. When the cyborg had told her about a safe-house, she had kind of pictured it like something worthy of a Hollywood film: a dark place protected by high-tech security systems and filled with various communication devices. But this, if it wasn’t for the multiple bureaus and the lack of a dining table this place could have passes for the living room of an ordinary person. A messy person that was, with all the papers lying around. All in all, not too different from her own place.

“So,” Sam started when she closed the door behind her, “are we going to get some answers now? Starting with who you are?”

Cebra sits down on the couch facing the television and crosses one leg over the other.

"My name is NEA-71 Hephaestus class cyborg Cebra Ulkenne, but I find Cebra is easier on the ear. My name came from the type of synthesized plant protein used to create my Dna for the organic part of me. I was created in a lab on a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean by a corporation known as Orion, they're private military and weapons tech organisation. They're... they're the kind of faceless evil that makes you question how the world can fall so far."

Cebra's head sinks a bit and mutters something to himself.

"The things... made me do."

He snaps out of it quickly.

"Um yeah well I went under the title project Hephaestus due to the abilities given to me. The way it works see is that the bio-engineers developed a new type of energy called 'Saxon energy'. These energy particles were alive in a way, not like sentient beings but more like plant life or algae. They also found out this energy could be controlled via certain amplified brain wave patterns. No human could produce them however I was already in development. My brain along with cybernetic implants could send out signals to this energy and manipulate it. With control of this energy I can even turn metal into a liquid state or just bend it, send it flying, whatever."

"I was created by a combination of mutated plant proteins and an artificial womb. As it turns out I only came out in this humanoid form due to evolutionary chance, I have no human Dna. In fact You can find more similarities in my body with me and a violet or pine tree heh..."

Cebra wasn't sure if that was funny, strange or both but he wouldn't hold out for a laugh.

"My powers are more than just the energy though, I have a nano computer in my frontal lobe."

Cebra taps his head.

"It stores a number of detailed blueprints about weapons, tools, armor and other useful things, also helps me when hacking. But the most important blueprint it stores is for the billions of nanobots coursing through my body. They allow me to transmute certain materials into others so I can make whatever it is in my blueprints. They also heal my body from any injuries over a short amount of time. Since they also store all the data on my bio-structure they can construct a new body if his one is destroyed."

Cebra picks up the controller and tosses it to Jeannie.

yay cartoon time! Jeannie takes the controller and turns on Scooby Doo and hops on the couch during the commercials she raided the fridge and came back with a big plate full of all kinds of food she could find.

she sets back down on the couch and watches cartoons while eating her snack, she was starving high metabolisms and being locked up didn't mix. she was happy to be able to eat when ever she wanted again.

Sam listened as Cebra, it felt good to finally being able to name hip properly. She occasionally nodded as certain points during his narration to indicate she understood all he told her. His backstory, if she could call it such, wasn’t a happy one. it made her own disagreement with her mother seam meaningless in comparison. That there were unscrupulous people out there who would stop at nothing to create powerful weapons, even sentient ones, was nothing new to her. She had heard about them before and have even encountered something very similar once. That she had run into another one this soon only showed how much the world still had to change before it became a perfect place for everyone.

“This Orion group you mentioned, I take it they’re still after you?” Sam asked when Cebra finished. “Is that why you’re looking for people to help you?”

She looked up and frowned a little when Jeannie returned from the kitchen with what seemed to be enough to feed three, maybe four people if they didn’t have much of an appetite. She took no further notice of it, it wasn’t her place to tell Jeannie she couldn’t raid someone else his larder like that.

Suddenly she remembered she hadn’t introduced herself yet. If Cebra had taken the time to do so, it was only fair she did the same.

“By the way, I’m called Sa-,” she started. Wait, was she really going to tell him her real name? If she wanted to be taken serious as a hero, shouldn’t she stick to her code name as was the norm? The problem was whenever she thought about Fort, she pictured her aunt. Occasionally her grandfather, but never herself. She just didn’t feel she was living up to their legacy. Sure, she had saved a bunch of lives, and even stopped a fair number of criminals and such. Somehow it just didn’t seem enough. As if she was only trying to be something, someone she was not. “Sam,” she finally said. “I’m called Sam. Nice to meet you, Cebra.”

oh yeah you never did say what you were breaking us out for, what is the secret mission? Jeannie was curious what kind of adventure he had planned

Cebra turns towards Sam and stops a moment to think of what he's scheming, an almost devious look.

"I dont doubt they're still hunting me down, hasn't been a day where I wasn't looking over my shoulder. They sell or donate Cyborgs and high powered weaponry to local crime organisations. These organisations come after me using these weapons with no regard for peoples lives. That's how they keep their hands clean, the government is all too happy to put the blame squarely on me... Not that I care. But to answer your question no I din't bring you here to help me escape them. I brought you to help me strike at them."

That was a lot to take in. And frightening too. She had seen what Cebra was capable of first hand, and bases on what he had just told her, that was only the top of the iceberg. She scared to think what an army of such people would be capable of. Especially in the hands of criminals. Innocent lives lost no doubt.

And the government turning a blind eye to such activities was almost incomprehensible. It was their obligation to help and protect their people, not use them as scapegoats! Unaware Sam turn her right hand to a fist when she thought about this. How on earth could something like that pass! Well, if she had any say in it, it wouldn’t for much longer.

“What are you planning to do about it then? Making their activities known to the general public?” Sam asked. It sounded like a good plan. If enough people knew about it and made their voices heard, the government would have no other option but to take action. They’d be forced to cut Orion’s activities, remove the rotten apples in their own ranks and give Cebra an apology of some sort or risk losing the support of their own people. It would be hitting three birds with a single stone, four if you considered it would weakening those criminal organisations too.

Cebra gets up and goes to the fridge, he grabs two beers then takes a seat at the kitchen table gesturing to Sam offering a seat. He pulls out a pack of cigarettes and places one in his mouth. He gets back up and opens a window and turns on a fan as to not cloud the penthouse in smoke. The tip of his finger sparks and lights the cigarette with a little jolt, he takes a haul then glances over at Jeannie for a moment. He looks back at Sam and slides the beer to her side of the table where he had gestured. He exhales and opens the beer taking a sip.

"I've tried that, on numerous occasions actually. Funny thing about corporations hm."

Cebra grins disingenuously.

"They'll do anything to survive. Place the blame elsewhere, frame a single person, bribe someone to take the fall, bribe law enforcement, bribe politicians and fuckin judges... It's God damn infuriating!"

Cebra bangs his fist on the table making an indent.

"Eh... sorry"