Searching for Andromeda 32 The Last Moments of the Abandoned Laboratory

"Well—Ephraim is technically right, but I think he needs some tending now," Anna exclaims as Ephraim collapsed flat to the floor clutching his rib. He looked agonized, his complexion turning paper-white. Berthold then walked towards him and started to examine.

As Berthold started to inspect and check Ephraim's body, Anna started to explain critical details here and there. Hiroaki was closing his eyes again in the far corner, but he was certainly pinning his ears back. Both Samuel and Esmeralda listened attentively—Esmeralda with a flabbergasted expression with tears on the corner of her eyes, whilst Samuel with an unreadable one.

"So, that's all of it," Anna exclaims. "How I met the two intruders, Ephraim and Hiroaki to get my hologram body again."

". . .Wow," says Samuel. "Wow . . . just wow."

Esmeralda still had tears as she covered her lips. "You went through that?"

Anna grinned, "told you, I'm programmed to know what to feel. They're basically synthetic," she then floats and circles around Esmeralda as she drifted towards Ephraim's side, "so it's alright, don't sweat it~"

Esmeralda sniffled, "the M33 crew is horrible for botching your system . . ."

"Yeah, I suppose they are," Anna answers. "But I think they didn't have much choice. At least I know that much. I don't remember why I 'think' it's inevitable. I'm a mere fragment of the real Anna."

"You don't remember what's the M33 crew or the M31? Any information about them?"

"Even if I look through my archive, I'm just getting the gist they're a crew. A bunch of scientist, astronauts, engineers, and such . . . over the years I tried to store the best information I was able to amass before they completely fled the lab."

Anna then swiped down in thin air after she floated and stood before all of them. She then clicked several transparent tabs.

And then it appeared in all of them—a hologramic projection.

"We have to shut it down!"

"We can't, we're finally this close!" Another scientist from the hologram answered to the other one. They were both males with the same black hair. From the distance their faces couldn't be seen. The whole place was in disarray, papers everywhere – people shuffling back and forth and ringing telephone calls, unanswered questions—

It was chaos.

"We have to shut ANDROMEDA!"

"Are you crazy? We reached this far! We can't just shut the lab after a breakthrough!"

"I received a call! The space station is being abandoned!"

"Even the space station?! But we got this far!"

"They can't just shut ANDROMEDA! What about the hardwork we've put through this? I left my family to complete the project!" Says another. "I can't do it anymore! We need to push through!"

"The higher ups already said the project is for naught, and we have to discontinue." Another exclaims. "If we don't shut the lab, the project will . . ."

"What about the efforts we exerted to FIND it!"

"That's right! All those years we dedicated ourselves to. I can't believe they want us to abandon everything without any explanation!"

"We deviated from our real research only to get our efforts invalidated? How could they?!"

"We have to obey orders!"

"What about our efforts?!"

"The results, how about them as well?!" Another one thundered. "The research can't be abandoned!"

"Yes it can!" Says another scientist—one in a messy lab coat and completely bald. "I'm unleashing Subject 0032 if all of you don't stop talking!"

"You can't be serious, Chief!"

"To hell with you, I'm not going to let my effort be wasted just because the higher ups told us so! We made a BREAKTHROUGH! We can't just let that go to waste!"

"That's right!"

"He's right!"

"I'm with the M31 crew. WE WON'T ALLOW ANDROMEDA TO SHUT DOWN!"

"Then you give me no choice," says the Chief. "As the head scientist I put the research to pedestal. But there was nothing above the rules."

He clicked on a device.

"Subject 0032," he says. "Take the M31 crew."

His eyes then met that of the screen—that of Anna.

"M33," he says. "Shut Anna down,"

"GRAAAWWW!" The test subject then started to rip the limb off of one scientist. An automated cleaner then started to clean the blood as it recorded samples from who it is from. The place was more and more driving to mayhem. More than disarray.

It was a nightmare to see. Blood splatters everywhere—people running for their lives, and some only looking at them with terrified eyes. Some were cruel enough to only stare as their comrades get eaten.

A girl was picked through her hair, her glasses falling to the floor as it gets trampled by one of the workers running for their lives. She screamed as the creature opened its mouth, devouring her head first.

"No . . .!" Says Anna—her voice was different. It was not a young girl's, but it was glitching; Ephraim and the task force can only hear part-static sound and what sounded like a woman. But they were certain it was definitely Anna's.

The real Anna.

"No, no, no." She says. "Why are you all doing this?"

Ephraim stares at the hesitation written all over face of someone in the screen. It looked like he was staring at him—hesitating. Asking himself if he was doing the right thing. Ephraim couldn't help himself but feel like he was the one the man was looking to. He knew that this person was probably an old man right now, or he may not be alive at all.

"Don't hesitate, Denmark!" Says one of the people behind him. "You have to destroy Anna, or else 'she' will be able to store the data!"

The man they called 'Denmark' thinned his lips and shut his eyes tight. After a while he started to disintegrate what looked like chips—and then Anna's screen began to glitch and grow static. Ephraim and the team could hardly see an image.

"Why didn't you completely destroy her?!"

"These are her chips," he says, "I'm leaving them to all of you."

"Forget it, and just shut Anna down already! She has the information about—"

"She doesn't! These are her chips. She can't even be a hologram anymore," the guy named Denmark says. "Please, don't ask me to destroy her. Don't ask me to destroy the splitting image of Hanna!"

"You're crazy, Denmark!"

"I'm sorry, Anna." Denmark says. "Please understand."

And with those words,

the whole screen blacked out, ending the show of the probable last moments of the laboratory belonging to the abandoned former space station—ANDROMEDA.

Chapter end