Imposter System

While Alexis began an intense training sequence with the First Strike Squad, Alexandria was sitting in her old room wracking her brain on how to infiltrate the chimera research team. She was so excited when Matt gave her an assignment that she immediately left with the tablet. After several read-throughs, she memorized all of the doctor's information. However, this wasn't enough. For her ability to work, she needed to interact with the person.

Matt chose this person specifically for her, Alexandria could tell immediately. They had similar features, height, and body shape. If they stood together side by side, no one would mistake them for each other, however, with some makeup and transformation, Alexandria could easily replace her. Aside from the actual disguise part, there was another issue— surveillance.

There were no instructions or hints, so Alexandria realized this was also a test of her usefulness. However, being a former engineer of the ship, she knew a trick or two. Contrary to most peoples understanding, the whole ship wasn't covered in cameras. Most engineers that worked the lower decks knew that after a certain point, cameras are only watching important assets and main hallways.

The service tunnels were almost completely unmonitored. Due to the oppression of the engineers by the military and doctors, they often used these service tunnels as their main mode of transport. After two years, it became something like an 'underground society.' Even black markets started to form that could access the restricted meats and illegal or restricted holo-programs that only the top brass were allowed to use.

Alexandria wasn't really a part of this culture, but she was introduced to it once and would easily be able to navigate back into it. After packing up her gear, she wore her old engineer uniform and headed to the entrance of the underground market. The last time she was there, they gave her a wristband to wear with her communicator. This wristband would spoof her signal and make it seem like she was in the training room instead of walking through the tunnels.

On her way to the lower decks, she reminisced about her colleagues that were sent down here to work sixteen-plus hours a day to keep this giant ship running. Although most of the engineers hired for this grand project had at least a master's degree in their respective engineering field, they were still treated like second class citizens. She too was in this position in the past. However, due to her illness and low self-esteem, she felt like she deserved the role.

After exiting the lift and walked down the maze-like hallways, she finally entered a training room that was meant to be the entrance of the underground society. At the door, she was prompted to wave her wristband or submit a referral code. Despite their treatment, the engineers were very smart and very cautious. Even over two years later, neither the AI nor the top brass were aware of the existence of the underground society.

Since she had already been here once, she didn't need to be referred again. She placed her wrist onto the scanner, and it picked up the signal. Her information came up shortly, giving a small summary of who she was. Although one could choose to be anonymous, no one could hide from the door when entering. Many attempted to enter the black market from various ventilation shafts or lesser used service tunnels but were all caught in the end.

Alexandria didn't know what they did with the people caught sneaking in, and she was scared to find out. Upon entering the next chamber, she was scanned from head to toe and her belongings were examined. Seeing that nothing was out of the ordinary and her identity was confirmed, she continued to the next room. Once inside the scene of a bustling bar appeared before her.

Several people were cheering and drinking in the corner, and various personal projects of the engineers showcased their abilities on stage. Alexandria took a moment to admire the technical skill and crafts of the robots dancing on the stage. The models were showcasing their various ranges of motion and skillful use of their bodies. The synthetic skin was smooth and pleasing to look at.

Although the uncanny valley was an impassable obstacle in the twenty-second century, by the twenty-third century most people got used to the human-like robots and they proliferated. The bar's music was very retro and heightened the mood of the place. Alexandria would have stayed to enjoy herself a bit if not for her mission. She passed by to the back of the bar where there was a door with a tough looking robot standing guard.

"Have a request or offering a service?" The burly robot guard asked.

"What services are there? I'm new here." Alexandria asked directly without beating around the bush. This was a machine, after all.

The robot began listing off various categories with branched off into more specific categories before finally coming to a list of options to choose from that she was interested in. After spending about twenty minutes cycling through all the options, Alexandria was much more educated on the workings of the underground world of the Odyssey.

"I need transit, information, and a restricted holo-program."

"Options confirmed. User Alexandria Nikos credit balance: 2,301. Deducing 2,100 credits. Transaction complete, please enter and follow the guide."

Alexandria was confused. She didn't know there was a currency.

"Wait hold on, can you explain the credits to me? And what cost so much?"

"Credits are earned based on merit. In order to receive a transcript of your merit earned, you can ask the treasury. Price list includes 1,500 for transit to a highly restricted area, 200 as a down payment to information transactions, any difference will be refunded or taken out based on the information. And 400 security deposit to access restricted holo-programs, repaid once the program is returned. All programs are unique and encrypted."

Alexandria nodded and stepped past the guard robot to the service tunnel behind him. Another robot was waiting for her there, although it was more rudimentary and did not have synthetic skin. It was a basic wheel and tracks robot with the sole purpose of guiding people through the seemingly endless tunnels.

Her plan was simple. She would acquire some information about the research team to fill in her gaps of knowledge as well as the routines of the doctor she intended to impersonate. Then, she would utilize the transit feature to ambush her and bring her into a private holo-deck in the underground. Then forcibly initiate a restricted holo-program to trap her in a prison of her own making. It would utilize the users own information to create a simulation of their world.

This was initially developed by a team of researchers back on Earth in order to revolutionize the scientific process. By developing a simulation driven by the researchers own mind, they could theoretically do ten times the work in the same amount of time. At first there were great advancements due to this program, until the first casualty appeared.

The victim suffered from Locked In Syndrome due to the overloading of stimulation from the program. The others developed severe schizophrenia and their work was ultimately lost, despite being groundbreaking. The program was forever locked away in the Federations vault as being too dangerous to use. However, it was already spreading in the black market on Earth for young, naïve scientists to speed up their breakthroughs—and ultimately their psychosis.

"Now entering Holo-program Lounge. Standing by." The little robot sounded out in a calm feminine voice. Alexandria acknowledged it and went over to the counter. A greasy looking man sat leaned back in an office chair half asleep. As soon as Alexandria arrived, he leaned forward and rested his cheek on his palm.

"Return or redeeming?" He asked with a monotone voice.

"I'd like to redeem the Eureka-7 Holo-program."

"Research or pleasure?" He asked with the same tone.

"Erm… research." She was confused as she had never heard of a version of the Eureka program that was for pleasure. The man pressed the table with his hand and a keyboard appeared on the surface. He punched in some numbers and soon a little drone hovered over with a data stick.

"Eureka-7: Research. Return in four days. Inform your guide to bring you to the private holo-decks. Goodbye."

Once his task was over, he leaned back in his chair again and seemed to go back to sleep. Alexandria wondered why he would even bother doing this task but then remembered the merit system. It was likely related to that. She thanked him and returned to her guide to take her to the next location.

The robot beeped in conformation and led her to the next area. After several minutes of walking, she arrived at the information lounge. There were various people sitting around in comfortable looking sofas chatting with each other. It really did look like a comfortable lounge, despite the small amount of space they had.

However, when she entered the area, her instincts kicked in and she knew something was wrong. All the people looked at her simultaneously and stared at her. Before she could speak, a voice interrupted.

"Hey, hey, stop that you've frightened la demoiselle— the young lady. Pardon, they were not programmed with elegance.. Je peux t'aider? How can I help you?" A tall, thin man came from around the corner, and at his command, the robots went back to their casual interaction.