Salvation Code

Sometimes it felt like it never stopped raining in Earthrealm.

Kuai hid his face under his hood and scarf, but only partially to hide from the rain. Hanzo was walking ahead, clearly on edge. Kuai really did not think there was much he could do or say to calm him down. An electronic billboard above their head displayed Kuai's face, reminding them both how much danger they were in, even just out on the street.

"How quickly can you download these files?" Hanzo finally asked, keeping his voice low and eyes darting around as if to check no one was paying too much attention to them.

"Depends how big they are," Kuai explained, ducking his head as someone else walked past. "Usually it's only seconds, but if they're a little bigger it might be minutes."

"We won't have minutes," Hanzo stated, biting his lip.

"Then we'd better hope they're small files," Kuai replied, his eyes drawn to the only building in the area not lit up by neon signs. He knew this was their destination.

He let Hanzo lead the way down a dark alley beside the building. There was a fence at the end, a hand scanner for the entrance. He watched as Hanzo pushed his palm against it, a light above turning green as the gate clicked open. Hanzo pushed it open and they both entered, Kuai still keeping his face concealed from the cameras pointed at them.

Inside the gate, they continued across a courtyard, thankfully empty right now. Even so they walked at a quickened pace. There was a door to the building, this one had a number pad. Hanzo quickly put in the numbers 8101992 before hitting a green button. There was a ding, and the door unlocked.

This is it. Kuai thought, tugging his hood as he followed hanzo through the corridor. It was once more devoid of life. There was a twisting in Kuai's gut that this was not a good idea. The place was just too quiet, it felt like he was being led into a trap.

An alert came up into his vision, telling him Hanzo's heart rate was skyrocketing. He decided against saying anything, given what they were doing it was understandable.

They finally slipped into a room, a large computer pressed again the wall. Hanzo went straight to it, while Kuai hesitantly pulled off his hood and scarf. He needed to be able to access the ports in his head, even if that meant showing his face. Hanzo had logged in, fiddling with wires. Kuai walked over, taking the wires from him and plugging them into place. He let out a breath. It wasn't long after that the files began downloading.

"These files are large," Kuai said between his teeth, "but it shouldn't take longer than 2 minutes."

"2 minutes is longer than I'd like it to be," Hanzo admitted.

"Me too," Kuai groaned. There were 5 files total, and he felt the first one finish downloading, filed nicely in his cybernetic memories. "One file down."

Hanzo glanced around to room, "We're going to have to leg it once we're done." He turned back, watching the progress bar on the computer screen instead, "it's suspiciously quiet tonight. I don't like it."

"You and me both," Kuai grumbled under his breath. He could not help but feel a bit selfish for being mostly concerned about what would happen to himself. He was sure the consequences for getting caught would be bad for both of them. He felt the second file's download come to an end, "File two down."

As the third file started, Kuai tried to calm himself. We can do this, just need to hold out long enough to get the files. Beside him, Hanzo began to pace slightly. Kuai thought back to what Bi-Han taught him to stay calm. In his mind, he began singing to himself, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

The third file downloaded. "File three down."

You make me happy, when skies are grey. Kuai rocked on the balls of his feet. Next to him, Hanzo started to pull on his hair.

File four downloaded. "File four down."

You'll never know dear how much I love you. Kuai gripped his coat, the memory of himself and Bi-Han singing the song together in his mind. With Bi-Han gone, it turned out it was no longer the comforting song it had once been. Please... Don't take my sunshine away...

The final file finished downloading. "File five down. Let's go."

Kuai grabbed the wires, ripping them from his head. Seconds later, something hit him in the back of the neck. The effect was instant, his entire body going limp and him falling to the floor like a rag doll. There was a sensation that felt like electricity surging down his spine and up into his brain. He tried to move his limbs but he just couldn't. It was like whatever he'd been hit with was blocking his motor functions.

"No!" He heard Hanzo shout, and then what sounded like a struggle. He couldn't turn to look. He went to open his mouth to shout for Hanzo, but found he couldn't even so much as whimper.

He was completely and utterly paralysed besides his eyes. All he could do is lie in complete silence, as Hanzo yelled and cursed. Then there were footsteps coming towards him. Shit. Shit! The footsteps stopped next to his head, and seconds later, Quan Chi's face loomed over him. No, no, no...

"Hello there," Quan Chi practically purred. He knelt down, reaching a hand to trace Kuai's face. "It's nice to finally meet you in person, LK-52O." Kuai's eyes darted around, trying to search for something to look at beside Quan Chi. "I must admit, Bi-Han did a marvellous job, you're a stunning piece of weaponry."

Weaponry. Kuai wanted to bad to argue against that word. I'm not a weapon! Unfortunately for him, all he could get out was a strange high pitched whine.

"Shhh," Quan Chi hushed in a condescending tone, placing a finger on Kuai's lips. "None of that now."

Quan Chi moved to Kuai's side, slipping one arm under his back and the other under his knees. No! No, no, no! Quan Chi hauled Kuai off the floor, until he was standing with Kuai scooped up in his arms. Kuai tried to fight the paralysis, willed himself to do something, move something. It was useless.

Quan Chi turned around, and Kuai's head fell to the side. He could finally see Hanzo, being held back by two men, and still struggling.

"I'm disappointed Hanzo," Quan Chi chided, a sarcastic hurt in his voice. "I never thought you would betray me like this." Quan Chi readjusted his hold on Kuai, "although I guess I should thank you. You have just gifted me LK-52O here. I'll be sure to put him to good use."

No! Kuai could feel tears well in his eyes. He stared at Hanzo in desperation, hoping to god he'd overpower the men holding him.

"Don't you dare hurt him," Hanzo threatened, once more pulling against the men holding him back. "You lied to me, he is not a weapon!"

Quan Chi chuckled, gripping Kuai a little tighter. "Maybe not right now, but I'm sure with a few... adjustments to the robotic parts of his brain he will be a lot more fit to his new purpose."

Panic overwhelmed him. He needed to do something, he couldn't let things end this way. Fighting against the current leaving him paralysed, he felt his fingers twitch ever so slightly. He could move, only a little and it took everything he had. Blocking out everything else, he concentrated on moving again, now able to flex his fingers slightly. With all the effort he could muster, he flung his arm up into Quan Chi's face. It wasn't hard, nowhere near powerful enough to do any damage but the suddenness of the action seemed to startle Quan Chi enough that he actually dropped Kuai.

As Kuai landed face down on the floor, he returned all his attention to moving his arm again. This time he was reaching behind him. He could feel something embedded in his neck. Clutching it, he pulled it out. The second it was released relief flooded his body as he felt his mobility return to him. He pushed himself to his knees, looking at the strange device in his hand. It looked like the bulky part of a shock collar. He was tempted to crush it, but decided against it, this was a new technology and if it was going to be used against them, they needed Jax to investigate it and see what it was.

As he slipped it into his pocket, he glanced up to where Quan Chi was standing in stunned silence. He looked like a deer in headlights as he muttered "how the fuck did you-"

Kuai didn't give him chance to finish his question, suddenly launching forward and socking him in the jaw. Now returned to full strength, the force of the impact sent Quan Chi flying back into the wall. He turned around in time to see the two men who had been holding Hanzo abandon that task and charge towards him. Grabbing the arm of the first to approach him, he twisted hard, a loud snap followed by a blood curdling scream. As the man fell away clutching he arm, the other went to grab hold of Kuai's arm. He punched the man in the stomach before very quickly kicking his knee. The bone similarly fractured, now bending the wrong way as he fell to the floor.

An alarm started to ring throughout the base. Kuai looked up to where Hanzo was. They made eye contact, silently deciding they had to go. Kuai rushed over to Hanzo, grabbing his hand and pulling him along back towards the exit. Behind them, they could hear Quan Chi bark an order to not let them escape.

Racing through the corridors, Kuai barrelled through several groups of guards trying to block their way. Reaching the door, Kuai used his free hand to punch through the doors lock, it swinging open uselessly. Darting across the courtyard, gunshots rung out around them both. Hanzo ducked, holding his arm over his head as if that offered any protection. However given that Kuai felt several bullets hit him in various places, he assumed Hanzo wasn't the one they were aiming at anyway.

They reached the gate, but like the door it didn't prove much of an obstacle. The only sound was their feet echoing through the ally. Back out on the street, a few passers by looked on with vague interest, until one pointed out that Kuai was "that stolen weapon they keep going on about". It didn't matter, there was nothing they could do to stop right now, Kuai just continued to run into the night with Hanzo in tow. He zig zagged, darting down streets at random in the hopes that of they were still being followed, he could loose them.

An alert came up informing him that Hanzo's stamina was flagging, and soon as he found a small ally to use as a hiding spot, he finally came to a stop. Hanzo doubled over, trying to catch his breath. Kuai scanned him for injuries, aside from over exertion, he came up completely uninjured. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Are you hurt at all?" Kuai asked, reaching to help him stand back up.

"No, no, just," Hanzo panted, "don't remember the last time I ran like that."

Kuai laughed, "sorry about that."

Hanzo smiled, until he glanced over Kuai's body, "holy fuck!" His face dropped, reaching a hand towards Kuai's torso. Kuai frowned, following Hanzo's gaze, and he could see why he was so concerned. He was riddled with bullet wounds, it was only now he was looking at them and his adrenaline was fading that he started to feel them. "Shit, shit they got you bad."

Kuai gave his body a scan. The bullets hadn't penetrated that deep, avoiding the majority of his robotic organs. He did risk loosing a lot of blood, but thanks to the nanotechnology within his body he was unlikely to actually bleed out for hours. It would be a while before he died from this. It was still preferable to get them seen to as soon as possible.

"I can survive with these wounds for a little while," Kuai informed him, "it'll take hours for me to be any actual danger, but we should still return to base. I think we lost anyone following us."

Hanzo reluctantly nodded, as Kuai pulled up his hood and scarf. They exited the opposite side of the ally and into the street, walking calmly and Kuai trying to hide his injuries as best as he could.

"Are you sure your okay?" Hanzo asked, once more glancing around and paranoid. "Doesn't it hurt?"

"Like a bitch," Kuai chuckled, "but the way I was designed means I have a high pain tolerance." He pushed a hand to one of the wounds, wincing ever so slightly at the pain. "I once severed one of my muscles, and it took Bi-Han a week to find out because I was so unfazed by the pain." Kuai frowned, "I guess that's why I make such a good weapon."

Hanzo was quiet for a few minutes, before he asked "I have been wondering, why are they so desperate to get you back in their hands? Why can't they just... make more?"

"Before you kill-" Kuai stopped, Hanzo looked uncomfortable at the mention of his past sins. Kuai sighed, "Bi-Han suspected for a while that someone was going to order his assassination. He knew that if myself or his blueprints got into the wrong hands, they'd be used for nefarious purposes." Kuai pulled his coat closer around him as they passed someone. "He was prepared. Destroyed his blueprints and asked Raiden to take me and keep me safe."

"So... the only way they can replicate your creation, is if they have you to study?" Hanzo questioned.

"Exactly." Kuai placed his hands in his pockets, frowning to himself as he felt something in one of them. "I was technically a prototype. If they can reverse engineer my creation, they will be able to make more, and not for good reasons."

He finally pulled the object in his pocket. It was the strange device that had been embedded in his neck. He'd almost forgotten he'd taken it. Upon closer inspection, it looked almost like a battery pack, except with two long sharp prongs, presumably those had been what was buried in his neck. Hanzo was staring at it with unease.

"That was the thing they used to immobilise you right?" Kuai nodded in answer. "What the hell is it?"

"No idea, I've never seen anything like it before." He twisted and turned the object in his hand, trying to find an answer. "It seems to be new, which is bad news." Realising he could learn no more about it until he gave it to Jax, he slipped it back into his pocket. "It's likely it is glitchy and untested, which is why I was able to fight it. But now they know that, I doubt they will let it happen again."

"Then we'd best get back to the others."

Kuai grunted in acknowledgement, as he started walking a little faster, and covering his face just a little more.

The faster they got back to base, the sooner they'd be able to start searching for answers.

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