The skies over a busy port city crackles with lightning as people scurry for shelter from the sudden downpour, the hustle and bustle of the cityscape drowned out by the deafening boom of thunder as an endless barrage of brilliant white streaks illuminates the pitch black canvas above with the arrival of yet another tropical storm that was commonplace throughout this time of the year. And with the weather reports predicting that this year's storm would be the biggest one yet. Virtually every building in the harbour and elsewhere along the coast was emptied out, the streets vacant in fears of being caught in the torrential rain as record winds sent debris flying everywhere.

For most people, this would’ve been a terrible night, left unable to do anything but cower away indoors with the occasional power outage. But to a select few whose profession involved slinking around in the dark unnoticed, this was the perfect scenario to pull off a job without anyone noticing. Such was the case for the lone individual making his way through the deserted pier while keeping an eye out for lethal pieces of flying debris and any living soul that had the ill fortune to be stranded here when the storm hit, the flutter of his waterproof coat and loud footsteps masked by the storm as he flits from cover to cover, making his way slowly towards one of the empty buildings he knew went unused even during the day.

Seasoned assassin and veteran soldier, Derrick had been assigned a relatively simple hit on an egghead who had been on one too many sides throughout skirmishes between crime gangs all over the world. A natural with machines and a technological menace, the man going by his online alias; S0r3N, had managed to elude detection from the multitude of enemies he had accrued over the years dealing with the slimy players in the criminal underworld. Until recently when a massive power surge in the city had drawn the attention of almost every major player in the world.

And after weeks of searching over a widespread area where the surge had been recorded, S0r3N's lair had finally been located after coordinating the spots where many agents had gone off the grid. Wherever their man was hiding, it was probably booby trapped to hell and back.

Naturally, the coalition of criminal gangs and government groups had sent their best. That being Derrick himself after the previous string of failed attempts by those that had come before. Although their sacrifice wasn't entirely in vain seeing how they had managed to deduce the lonely warehouse off by the far edge of the harbour to be where their target was operating out of all these years.

The fame and renown for being the first man to claim S0r3N's bounty was too much for Derrick to refuse despite the odds he faced with how some of the people he knew in the list of disappearances were far more capable than he was. Do or die, these were the words Derrick operated under, and he wasn't about to break that vow now. But he had to focus now, already he could see the open gates of the target building and if he wanted to pull this job off without a hitch, he couldn't afford to be distracted.

But in the underground network of dark metal corridors where the hum of machinery drones on endlessly without rest, another individual works without rest to harness the opportunity of a lifetime, watching as power levels surge to a high he rarely ever got to see with the advent of the strongest tropical storm ever to finally hit his base of operations. After his latest failure that had in turn given away his location, he now needed someone to use his creation on that would finally grant his wish. Muttering in worry with how not a single soul remained nearby thanks to the storm that had also been his blessing. Until perimeter sensors blare, alerting the master of the place to the arrival of his latest subject, smiling as he finishes inputting the last of his preset designs into the solemn device nestled into the wall. Ready to bring his idol to life…

–

Slipping out of the rain and into the dark interior of the massive building, Derrick slowly scans the open space with abandoned cargo containers placed haphazardly around the place, noticing tracks, both new and old, in the dust that caked the floor. Some leading off to dead ends before returning back to the entrance while others seemed to lead toward the pile of containers.

"Almost like trial and error…"

Eventually after narrowing down the tracks to one open container, Derrick hits the jackpot as he crawls through a stack of wooden crates showing signs of being disturbed with the drag lines scraping through the rusted metal floor. A sheer dropoff into darkness just beyond.

Cracking open a flare from his utility belt before dropping it down the hole, Derrick swallows as he counts the seconds for the flare, breathing as the count stops at around 4 seconds in with the audible crack of the thing hitting the ground. It was a drop of around 76 metres, manageable if he took proper precautions.

And so, Derrick takes the leap of faith, sidling up to the ledge of the dropoff before hopping down feet first, feeling the whip of the cold air against his face before grunting as he feels his knees quake from the impact. But other than a slight tingle in his bones, he was safe.

Picking up the still burning flare and tossing it a few feet forward, Derrick could clearly see signs of the place being tended to, sporting a strange aesthetic that reminded him of many science fiction interpretations of humanity in the far future; with metal lined walls and floors, wires sticking out of panels and neon blue lights tracing the path of strange technology running like veins all over the place.

But Derrick knew this couldn't have been accomplished by S0r3N alone, readying a pistol as he aims it down the darkness at the oncoming red blips moving slowly down the passageway towards him, firing off precise rounds that sparked off solid steel, ricocheting all over the place as the brief shots illuminate the hulking figures of automated machines. The presumed helpers that Derrick had guessed S0r3N had created to fill in the gap of flesh and blood henchmen.

Despite the precise aim, Derrick's shots were ineffective. While he might've immobilised a person permanently through targeting their joints, the machines weren't living beings who would recoil or topple over in pain. Bullets digging armor with little gaps in the armor providing little opportunity for real damage. There was only one path forward.

And that was to run. Sprinting toward the oncoming herd of machines with a practiced breath. Dodging blows from piledriver fists that would instantly kill any person, Ducking and weaving through the machines until the way forward was clear. Running the last few meters forward until he crosses the open doorway, looking for a way to shut the thing until he notices a panel by the wall, tapping on the big red button as the automatic doors slide shut, blocking off the machines advance as Derrick swings back around to make sure he hadn't ended up in another room full of those mechanical hulks.

But while the room wasn't empty, Derrick couldn't help but feel creeped out as he ran his eyes over the various pods that lined the entirety of this small chamber, blurry silhouettes barely visible behind the thick glass plating that lined each cubicle. Running a hand over the smooth glass to wipe away the condensation, the assassin recoils at the sight of what looked to be a girl sleeping within, with visible doll joints and machine augmentations across her body, Derrick would come to realize she was an android of sorts.

Unlike the heavily armored mechs outside, care and elegance had been taken into consideration with her design. Mostly resembling a normal human with the exception of visible wiring protruding from behind her ears and machinery peering through the joints in her limbs. Her nude body lacking any recognizable privates where they should be on a normal person.But he’d be more disturbed if there were any present, the rumble of the ongoing storm reverberating through the walls and adding further to the heavy atmosphere bearing down on Derrick's shoulders.

Stepping away from the pod as he turns his attention back to the room, Derrick moves down row after row of similar pods, some empty while others had similar android girls lying dormant within. Derrick was beginning to wonder what he was stepping into until he comes to the other end of the room, finding no way forward with the only exit leading back out to the hallway filled with murder bots. Getting a tad frustrated as he eyes up the weird mechanism built into the wall.

It was a simple pedestal surrounded by a main terminal and wiring webbing out across the floor. A purple leather chair rooted to the ground with a metal pole situated at its center. If he didn't know this was the home of an isolated technological madman that made a living working for criminals, then he might be forgiven for mistaking the setup for a nightmarish version of a therapist's room converted into a torture chamber. Although there wasn't anything ominous, Derrick's survival instincts were screaming at him to stay far away from that chair. Better yet, to ignore the terminal altogether and find another way out, even though he knew there was no other alternative.

'That still leaves me stuck…If those things decide to break in I'm done for…'

Knowing he had no other options with a lack of any ventilation shafts to escape from and the only way out blockaded by killer robots immune to his weaponry, Derrick breathes slowly as he studies the terminal, looking for a quick hack through any possible security measures in place, the only concern in mind was whether or not this thing was hooked up to systems that could get him out of this mess.

Fiddling with the alien construction of the terminal, the cunning man discovers a seam in the casing, unsheathing a knife before picking away at the sturdy metal plate in the hopes of opening it up before hotwiring whatever he could find that wasn't totally new to him. But the danger of hidden security measures was ever present in Derrick's mind as he gingerly tinkers with the terminal. But it really was a do or die situation right now. Either find a way to get out or die trying.

"C’mon…just a little bit more…there!" With a satisfying click, the casing pops open to reveal a flurry of wires colored in dark shades of blue and grey, pulsing with strange blue energy that left Derrick stumped and afraid to lay his hands on them. Feeling his frustration boil into anger at yet another obstacle he couldn't overcome.

"Seriously? Who the hell makes shit like-" WARNING - VOCAL PASSCODE FAILED - APPREHENDING UNAUTHORISED USER

Derrick had already sprinted well away from the terminal the moment the mechanical voice had blared out loud from an unseen speaker calling for his arrest, reacting swiftly to the sound of glass panels sliding open as the dormant androids come to life, leaping from their pods toward the intruder who was more than prepared to face them down, firing rounds that satisfyingly punches through porcelain shell of the feminine dolls unlike the bullet proof mechs from before. Punching and kicking those that managed to slip by his gunfire until only a handful of androids remained functional, keeping distance from a foe they knew they were severely outmatched against.

But no amount of training or combat experience could prepare the assassin for what came next as something snakes around Derrick's ankles without his notice, pulling him off balance and sending him falling to the floor with a thud, leaving him open as the remaining androids take the chance to avenge their fallen, leaping onto the man's struggling form before one of them lands a quick clean punch over his face with a sickening crack as his vision doubles, then triples, before darkness consumes his consciousness.

–

He had assumed it to be the end when he'd failed to sense the inanimate wires sneaking up on him, never to see any of his colleagues or friends at the agency he worked for ever again after his mistake at underestimating the target. But could Derrick really blame himself however? After all, it was hard to imagine adding 'bulletproof killer robots', 'creepy android girls' and 'living wire' to a list of emergencies to prepare for.

But awakening to a bright light also wasn’t much of a surprise considering it was a rule most professionals abided by; acquiring intel on the enemy whether it was through documents or interrogation. And it seemed S0r3N had the same idea in mind for Derrick, feeling the skin of his arms rub up against cold metal cuffs with strange rubbery tubes extending to the ceiling binding him to the familiar purple leather armrests on the chair he had wanted to avoid earlier. Looking down to find himself stripped of all his gear and clothes, left buck naked as he raises his head to gaze around the room, finding all the carnage he had caused earlier cleaned up with barely a shell left behind.

Except this time there were two of the large menacing bots from Derrick’s first encounter here in the underground facility, standing still like bouncers at a club by the front door. With his mind more or less coming to, Derrick could hear faint clicks and beeps to his right, struggling to turn his neck as a brilliant pain sparking across his entire back forces him to stay still, grunting in exertion from trying to keep himself from yelling at how sharp and sudden the agony was. Whatever was causing it had pierced through the region of his back around the spine, securing him firmly to the chair with the threat of blinding pain.

“Impressive, most people would’ve fainted from that level of pain! You’re a lot tougher than the others, that's for sure!”

He’d never heard that voice before but it sounded awfully suave and energetic, hardly the voice he had imagined for someone who was said to have faded from the outside world for over 10 years now. From the slight thumps of his feet against the floor, Derrick was more than surprised to find that S0r3N was well built and not the overweight nerd he had imagined from the briefings.

And it seemed like the target had noticed his frown of confusion, scoffing before remarking on his appearance. “You look surprised, what? Did you think I was some fatass lard rotting on a chair or something?”

Not one for idle chatter, the worn out assassin mutters half-heartedly to his captor's tease. “Kinda…”

“Well sorry dude but appearances aren’t everything…For example, sure, you can act stylish and all with your handsome looks and one-two kung fu, but how can you say for sure that's who you really are? With my help, you can answer that question yourself.”

Now that made Derrick’s brow twitch with annoyance, ‘one-two kung fu’? And what was all that ‘finding one’s true self’ nonsense? This had to be a ploy of some sort to get at him, and as much as he wanted to question S0r3N about what he had meant earlier about the others, he knew he couldn’t get too eager. “Whatever you’re selling…i’m not interested…”

“Hahah! Oh don’t worry, I wasn’t asking earlier…”

The clacking was picking up pace now, as if S0r3N was speeding up whatever he was doing over at the console. Another rumble from the storm outside still going strong adding to the tension as his captor chuckles in satisfaction, an especially loud click triggering a hidden mechanism somewhere as Derrick feels the contraption on his back whir to life, feeling something cold and wet begin to emanate from the nape of his neck. “That’s just the anesthetic, wouldn’t want you going into shock now would we?”

Before Derrick could retort, a pain far more intense than anything he had ever felt before wracks his entire body, shouting out in pain as the white hot fire spreads beneath his sweltering skin, doubling over as his wrists spasm in pain, the plugs attached to the cuff beginning to flow with a strange dark blue fluid pumping into the pinpoint needles drilling into his body. An excited whoop from S0r3N sounds out as he watches his captive’s shivering body begin to change.

“Wonderful! With tonight’s storm, you might just be my crowning achievement! The pinnacle of robotics!”

Slowly but surely, Derrick’s body was beginning to pulsate and ripple like organic soup, the sweat soaked skin of his arms and legs taking on a metallic grey hue before condensing into gun metal black, the former veins that once transported blood and oxygen throughout his body turning into bio-organic metal funnels transporting more of the nanites responsible for the transformation throughout his body, converting flesh, skin and bone into artificial components akin to those seen on the androids from before. All the while wishing for it to end with the painkillers barely doing anything to numb the searing pain from every cell being forcibly rewritten.

With his new slender arms sporting intricate markings and a noticeable lack of doll joints, Derrick grits his teeth under the strain of his legs reshaping into powerful augmentations; bulky calves replaced with sturdy nanolaminate plating, beneath which artificial muscles held it all together, connecting down to a dexterous set of prehensile feet tipped with 3 flexible toes as the thighs above begin to plump up, melting down muscle and softening flesh until a tantalizing pair of creamy thighs remained, connected to the black material that had subsumed Derricks entire lower half to give the appearance of inverted chaps as his organs shift and change to accommodate the loss of blood flow, becoming self sustaining with his gaunt hips cracking outward into sculpted eye candy. Choking at the pleasurable sensation of nanites squirming around inside his erect manhood before that too begins to shrink away, squirming like a worm as it recedes into an artificial passageway that was as warm and wet as the real thing, complete with a tiny nub of nerves atop a sexy cameltoe clenching in need.

By now, the captive assassin was barely recognizable, with his formerly well built body all but lost under a wave of rapidly induced changes to his biology that left him with a smaller and feminine yet all the more powerful physique. With each ounce of his flesh and blood self traded for cold metal and artificial muscle, Derrick's tortured mind was beginning to lose track of what was even happening to him as the flow of nanites spreads up his spine and into his brain, sifting through memories as static filled holo displays appear all across the pedestal, showing a variety of scenes taken from Derrick’s life.

And as all the screens begin to flicker and distort into new images, the final stages of his conversion into the latest and last of S0r3N's androids would begin as the madman continues to fiddle with the terminal while ensuring his captor’s vitals remain stable. Giddily awaiting the final product he could finally gaze upon in the flesh after so many failures as he studies the images of Derrick’s life. An image of his first meeting with the recruiter that made him an assassin flickering over to an android going through her first test run in a gym while another screen depicting a younger Derrick enjoying bubble tea for the first time distorts into the same android from before giving her assumed master head with lustful vigor, a cute pair of pink glasses perched atop her cute nose. The comatose, robofied body of Derrick jerking in response to the deluge of new memories and emotions overwriting the old as a pair of modest breasts blooms forth from barren muscle, machine organs whirring to life with milk ready to leak forth from bright pink nipples perched atop the firm teats.

With the progress bar on all the screens crossing the halfway point, S0r3N could already see that same android girl reflected in the chair where Derrick once sat in, the gruff face of a soldier painted over for that of a sleeping maiden tinted with the slightest hint of oriental descent, the scarred, ugly body of an assassin mellowed out into a petite feminine figure reminiscent of a woman in her prime.

A trained killer rendered a harmless doll made to fulfill her creators every wish with the last of her code, personality and new memories settling into place within the organic supercomputer nestled firmly within that beautiful head of hers, framed by a long mane of silky smooth chestnut brown hair that tumbled down to her plump bottom and over her breasts in a curly curtain that was considerably longer than those in her memories. Which made sense after all, lining up with the life the new android firmly believed in. All traces of the assassin once known as Derrick are eliminated from existence with his digitized being bundled up into a simple zip file for future reference. His body now serving a greater role as S0r3N’s loyal and most favourite android.

Going through the last stages of rebooting herself, the android’s memory banks go through all her data, sorting through each memory in nanoseconds as she relives her short 10 years of existence; from demonstrating her abilities after being powered on for the first time to the many scenarios she had seen while serving her creator dutifully, feeling a tad bit blissful at a few of them as her eyelids flutter open, golden brown eyes peering out at the world with status displays running down her field of vision.

Awakening from what felt like years of sleep, Roboco unfurls her crossed legs, wincing at the touch of her sensitive thighs rubbing against each other as she rises off the comfortable leather chair, the hiss of charging wires unplugging themselves from her chassis sounding off with an adorable yawn, stretching her sore muscles before realizing her master had been watching her from the front of the terminal that displayed a full diagnostics readout of her body and status. Returning his smile with a sheepish giggle.

“Hellobo Creator Samuel! Roboco reporting for dut-eeep!”

Interrupted mid-greeting as the base begins to shake under the stress of an explosion just outside the door, Roboco feels herself tugged along back toward the charging station she had just gotten out of, blushing as Samuel wraps a large hand around her comparatively smaller frame in a protective manner while triggering emergency protocols she had never known of before despite being in charge of the construction and expansion of her creator’s base. ‘How strange…I might need another recalibration later!’

And right before Samuel keys in the last coordinate data entry, the door to the chamber blows inward as a stream of armored soldiers rush in, annihilating the two mechs with ease before spraying the pair with a sustained hail of hot lead, doing little to penetrate the android’s shields projected from a simple wave of her hand before the pedestal shimmers with energy. Blinding the men as it reaches a white hot climax, their target and his android no longer present where they once stood a second ago.

But the soldiers would have no time to ponder their next move before the pods lining the walls implode, setting off a chain reaction of thundering explosions with a roiling wave of superheated plasma vaporising everything from ruined mechs to stunned soldiers as the entire building goes up in flames, consumed by a fiery fireball erupting from a gaping hole in the ground as the deafening sounds of explosions and crumbling tarmac resounds with the clap of thunder overhead…

–

After a good number of weeks had come and gone with no new information flowing in. The operation to capture S0r3N had been dubbed a failure, with no witnesses left to corroborate from, the coalition of disgruntled government stooges and angsty crime lords could only assume that their target had killed himself in a last ditch attempt at evading them while taking all his secrets and advanced tech to the grave.

And with no particular incident related to the infamous cybersleuth occurring over the next few years and no one being able to get into contact with him, it was safe to say that the case was indeed closed, and they could all go back to screwing each other over in their own machinations and devious schemes.

Until the crown prince of the digital underworld would one day resurface alongside a brand new disciple of his, only instead of subterfuge and cybercrime, this new follower of the renowned criminal excelled in brute force, going in guns blazing wherever her master deemed fit to strike. From banks to property owned by gangs. Appearing out of nowhere as if the shadows were one with her, wearing a gothic dress coupled with futuristic armor that complemented her knightly demeanour well. With what few shots fired her way sparking too far off before it could cause any real damage. When had S0r3N gotten himself such a strapping girlfriend? No one knew.

An otherworldly maiden that delivered swift death if her golden eyes caught sight of anyone unlucky enough to get in her-

“Umm Master? Could you please stop with the monologue…it’s embarrassing…”

“And I told you to stop calling me that. Tit for tat I say.”

“Uggh, you’re such a meanie Samuel! Now warp me back, I've got a stream to go for in 5!”

“Alright, alright I'm beaming you back now…and Roboco dear? Good luck for tonight’s stream.”

“Huh?! O-Oh! Well…thanks Sam~”

With a flash of blue light, the android blips out of existence before appearing halfway across the globe in an ordinary apartment flat before hurriedly disintegrating her gear and battle dress, rushing over to her wardrobe and pulling out a fresh set of the usual pink jacket with camo patterned sleeves, checking herself out in the mirror as she plays with a long lock of hair. Adjusting her long radiant mane into a cute bob cut, with the remaining strands bundled into two cute tufts that laid out nicely on her shoulders.

And just like that, Roboco was ready, hopping into her chair and starting up her desktop just as the clock strikes 9, waving for her adoring fans as she slips on her glasses, starting off the stream in that bubbly greeting everyone loved. It was something she had grown used to after Samuel, her creator, had surprisingly lifted the restrictions in her programming, leaving her to do as she pleased.

And compared to how stiff and clingy she was back then, Roboco had considered it a blessing that her creator had been so trusting of her to do something as reckless as giving her the pleasure to live as she saw fit. ‘I hope you find your own calling while doing so…but remember; I’ll be relying on you for jobs now so do your best out there!’ he had said in that laidback voice of his.

“Hellobo! Roboco here! How’s everyone doing on this fine Monday evening~”

It certainly did help to ease the stress in her rotors and weary joints after a particularly tiresome hit on their rivals after all. But now wasn’t the time to think about that, here and now? She was simply a streamer doing the thing she loved best. Nothing more.

But some part of her still hoped Samuel wasn’t lurking somewhere in the chat, it was embarrassing enough having him hound her during work but the thought of him watching her every move on stream was enough to pop a circuit.

“Ahh! Thank you!…IXLoveXSamuel420…for the…donation…”

She had to make a mental note to use him for target practice once the stream was over…

THE END