The Asset

She opened her eyes to realize that the stasis pod had been opened slightly. The gases meant to pacify her were spilling out through the crack and escaping into the air. She ripped off the sensors meant to monitor her brainwaves. She sat up and pushed the lid aside.

Her stasis chamber was in a room with two dozen other chambers. The room was dark save for the lights coming from the various computers, processors and machines in the room. The door to the room was open.

How odd, she thought. Looking around she realized that most of the chambers had been opened and were empty. Four others remained closed.

She sprang up and peered inside the ones that were closed.

She walked past two guys and a girl who she knew from training.

The last chamber contained the one person she had ever really trusted. The closest thing she had to a real friend. Like her, the company did not give him have a name, only a designation. He was designated PTASA-3.

He and the others were inside, sound asleep until they were called upon for some task.

“Jane?” Called the girl.

This had to be some kind of miscue.

Suddenly two armed men ran past the door.

She peered out into the hallway.

The two armed men were joined by others as they turned left. Their uniforms were that of security guards.

Turning back to the room, she grew curious as to why so many of the chambers had been opened. Upon closer inspection she realized that only the numbered units were missing from their chambers. The sub assets such as herself had not been disturbed.

Jane might have the answers.

The girl tentatively went out into the hallway.

Outside the room a man was slumped against the wall. He was wearing a security uniform. He was breathing though unconscious.

Chatter came through his walkie-talkie.

“Any available security personnel come in, you are needed outside, we’re forming a perimeter. We can’t let any more assets be taken.”

She listened.

This went beyond simple error. There was something very wrong, she could feel it.

The numbered units were the best soldiers in August-Mason Contracting International, for them to be taken was inconceivable.

The handlers offices were close. Handlers were responsible for overseeing the training of an asset and cultivating their minds and helping them to manage their abilities.

PTASA-4 thought it would be best to get some clarity from her handler, Jane.

After climbing a flight of stairs, she arrived at the handlers office.

She reached for the doorknob, but suddenly the door exploded open and someone ran full speed into her knocking her to the ground.

The person tripped over her hitting the ground with an ‘oof’.

She looked up and saw a balding man with thin gold-rimmed glasses. He wore a turtleneck under his suit.

He scrambled to his feet and started over to her, not to apologize but to grab his briefcase which he fumbled tripping over her.

The man ran away from the office. He took off down the hallway clutching a briefcase. He was gone before she could recover from her shock.

“Hey! Wait!” She called.

The man ignored her and ran away full speed.

Agitated she picked herself up and headed inside.

The office itself was spacious. There were thirty oak desks adorned with lamps. The carpet was crimson. Along the walls were yellow lights encased in a birdhouse-like design.

She expected someone to be there. The office was empty.

Whatever was going on seems to have caused an evacuation. The man from earlier must have been a straggler.

She went over to Jane’s desk.

On her way she noticed that a select few desks had their drawers ripped open and papers strewn about.

Jane’s desk was a mess. Her personal effects, a picture of her family, and some small statue were gone. The top drawer was still open.

Being very young before her induction into August-Mason’s bioweapons program, she barely knew how to read. She recognized her designation. PTASA-4. It was written in white lettering on a small black book.

She picked up the book and opened it. The pages had been filled with Jane’s handwriting. She read what she could make out.

From time to time, PTASA-4 reports memories of her previous life. Even going so far as to cite her biological mother and father. The success of PTASA-4 depends on our ability to make her forget everything that came before us.

Make her forget? PTASA-4 wondered.

She flipped through the pages. The lines of the pages had been filled front and back for almost the entire book.

Another entry: Unit Nine seems to be a particular source of agitation for PTASA-4. It seems so much of the sight of him triggers something within PTASA-4, a sort of anger. The situation bares monitoring.

PTASA -4 was confused. She always assumed that Jane was her mother though she had memories of some other place. Those memories felt like a dream.

She took the book. Then she noticed something else. A stack of money. Flipping through it, it was mostly twenties.

She took the cash, the book and left the office and went back to the stasis room.

PTASA-4 often told Jane of vivid dreams, dreams in which she had a mother and father and lived in a different place. The mention of such dreams would be met with harsh scolding from Jane, so she stopped mentioning them.

Yet the memories felt so real. The image of the man and the woman in her mind were at times so vivid, so warm. They gave her a sense of something that she never felt here.

The other assets were missing. Jane was missing. She knew in her heart that there was something, some part of her life that was missing, some truth that was not being told to her. And she was going to find it.

For a moment PTASA-4 considered simply running off. She would vanish and get to the bottom of everything using just the journal that she had. However she knew she needed help.

She formed a plan. It would start with PTASA-3. He was older than her. He might be able to make sense of what was in this book better than she could.

It was just a matter of what she needed to tell him in order to get his help.

Finally, she had an idea. She would be able to get help if she invoked the company’s authority.

She opened his chamber.

He walked out and looked around. Like her, he was confused upon waking up and looking around. “Four?” He asked. “What’s going on?”

“There’s been an attack on the company. Many assets are missing. I just got orders. We’ve been tasked with finding the missing assets.”

“The two of us?”

She glanced at the other three chambers.

“No. The five of us.” She said. She held up the book. “But first there’s something I need you to do.”

She explained the ‘mission’ to her four new followers. With them, the money, and Jane’s journal, she could set out to uncover who she really was.