Liam hated himself at this moment. He had prepared for more than this, to do more, but when she called him he always tried his best to work in her best interests.
He hadnât meant to take away her ability, her decision or choice to speak her own mind but heâd recognised a familiar vulnerability within. When he became aware of her clutching a necklace made of some type of bone Carissa pulled it off in one smooth motion and stuffed it into a jean pocket.
When her face had shown clear signs of anxiety and emotion she stuck in her inside her pocket and squeezed. Exactly like his eldest sister before sheâd left home to join up with NISRO, to escape their parents and find her own path far enough way in the space program theyâd offered.
She was a self-harmer when theyâd first met. The signs were fairly obvious for the knowledgeable, sleeves covered up arms and neck despite the heat of the day. And heâd fallen in love with her at first sight, not something heâd been expecting and certainly what both his parents had wanted for him. Heâd been twenty years old to her eighteen and she was a pure splash of fresh water to all his senses. There was an innate quality to her, a type of sadness mixed with desire for something beyond the daily life.
She didnât even recognise him but she was familiar with key heads of industry made it even more surprising. Heâd learnt about how her parents were ocean related scientists and sheâd even been born on a boat on the middle of the oceans of Belphus.
Never been formally schooled but had self-studied and learnt to swim before she could even walk and had top level scientists and business people alike as her mentors and makeshift uncles and aunts.
In short she was brilliant and he was a spoilt young man from old money, old enough on Belphus they traced their lineage back enough years to make legends part of their long family history. And sheâd not fallen for him immediately either, not like he had. Sheâd been attracted to him in part for their commonalities, their passionate desire to change the world of Belphus and themselves to become more, to learn more.
Theyâd even married after graduation. Her parents had refused to attend before there had been a massive storm accident and both of them had been lost. The wreckage of their research boat had been discovered but no bodies, not even a trace. Carissa had accepted it with a smile her parents had returned to the place they had truly loved.
He had made a decision without her which had ruined their relationship, heâd pushed and taken her prototype research of a mixture of technology and biogenetics and adapted it towards control of the waters of Belphus. A fleet of machines which could regulate the temperature of the oceans. Even clean the pollution and plastics and repurpose them.
Turning the technology into a commercial successful then widely used and funded had been the harder part, Liam had been forced to accept money from his family which had resulted in them taking entire control of the business project and using their connections to establish legalised ownership over massive regions of the world.
Clean, carefully controlled and pollution free waters which were owned by the corporate world and through a series of legal hoops and umbrella companies ultimately the control of his family and leased out accordingly.
Heâd been protected of course, his family were so pleased with this contribution to their wealth and power theyâd manipulated media and public opinion enough he was hailed as a new type of financial genius.
Carissa on the other hand had been described as the true inventor of the product, the product of scientific research parents who had died a tragic death but had educated and produced a daughter who had talent and a taste for the finer things in life.
His family had never wanted him to marry her and theyâd shown their clear disapproval through their lack of interference when large swathes of the public, protest groups and even radical insane cultists had either turned against her or heralded her as a neophyte goddess of water.
In the end sheâd chosen to retreat from the public eye and Liam had been unable to help her aside from allocating her own portion of the massive profits generated. Heâd lost her, even though heâd supported her treatment and even when sheâd been processing the loss of her parents heâd failed to support her when she needed him.
A gruff voice called out to him as Liam stood outside in the rain, enough distance for him to be recognised by the security systems of Carissaâs home, aptly called Last Refuge but not enough to be a recognisable threat. Besides, the team had taken him here had brought their own signal jammers and were under direct instructions from his family to keep him safe.
They were inside a small group of camouflaged vehicles, all equipped with sufficiently advanced technology they were imperceptible in the pouring rain and shielded from night vision and other heat detection. Inside them they blanked off the security systems monitoring the immediate area which had been activated in Last Refuge by Carissa.
Old money and power had a way, and heâd been able to use what authority he had to convince them his ex-wife, his once true love wasnât going to hurt him or threaten him despite her isolation. Rain fell onto his face and streamed with the tears from his eyes and Liam considered if he should have taken her at her impromptu offer.
âMaster Liam, you can stand there in the rain or you can come and check out what we can make out from the images we were able to take of...Miss Acqua. Weâve blurred all areas of relative nudity accordingly after running it through a full pattern recognition scan. One of our team members worked in genetics and hybrid technology as an early researcher back in CAMPIN before it all went bad and horrors were discovered. Heâd like a word with you when youâre ready. Other specialists are reviewing the footage, psychological profile and any traces of her previous activity both personal and private. We have active eyes on the target but are taking no action without your express authorisation. All signs are the building is entirely uninhabited, we were unable to locate the blueprints. Sir.â said the voice.
Without turning his head Liam could picture the man. Heâd done work for his family multiple times over the decades, the chances heâd even been the one whoâd both supplied the twin encrypted security communication devices which only worked in pairs and the security systems in the building.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
If he said he couldnât locate the blueprints Carissa would have outsmarted him and used her own contractors employed through multiple shell companies to secure her own privacy. The man was a mercenary, the owner and founder of one of the pre-eminent private military companies to grace the face of Belphus. When he was paid, he worked on the job for a client, and he stuck to his word. When the client stopped or the contract ended he was available for hire once more, even if it was on the opposite side.
Liam had met one of his two daughters once, the older one Mariko Zero, hadnât smiled once at any of his jokes and kept a strict face the entire time. Sheâd reminded him of Carissa a little, dedicated to her work to the extreme. As far as Liam was aware of the man called The General was interested in experimental weapons technology. All else was of little else to him unless it offered profit or opportunity.
The older man had short cropped black hair and was in his early fifties fit for his age and toned, was a sign of the professional service he offered. The man never joked, never smiled but always waited and performed to full customer satisfaction.
âI appreciate the work the men and women at your command are doing on my behalf. Please donât send any of them towards the building unless you have full control of the security systems and are sure there are no biological or chemical weapons on standby. Even explosives could be a possibility, my wife...sorry, my ex-wife does nothing in half measures. All I need is the moment she leaves the building, you have people stationed in the coastal waters to retrieve her.â said Liam as he allowed the continuous rain to wash over him.
Heâd spent enough time with Carissa to understood exactly why she chose this location to build herself a final home. Isolated, next to one of the coastal regions to the point of falling off a cliff and large enough so she could completely control it.
There had been earlier scans of life but they had all ended. For all Liam had learnt, Carissa had been going through rounds of animal testing or worse in her own experiments. In the short space of time sheâd talked to him of her transformation and development of technology, his mind had processed the information rapidly.
For her all scientific talent, Carissa was simply building on the same prototype technology Carissa had initially developed in the company theyâd founded as business partners and lovers. She refined it and made it usable on the only test subject she wanted it to work on, herself.
A cough from behind him and the water soaking into his clothing reminded him heâd been standing in the pouring rain for at least five minutes. Perhaps more, heâd lost track of time mourning his lost love.
Unless there was a clear threat to the life of the principle contractor than the older man called The General would follow through previously discussed and clarified objectives thoroughly.
Heâd delayed enough and he only wanted one mission objective fulfilled with a secondary one he wasnât keen on but he wanted done. The first was to save Carissa, even from herself. Heâd find a place for her, even build her a community on a large swathe of privately owned ocean where she could live the life she wanted. If she truly wanted him to join her heâd do it but under strictly controlled medical and scientifically sterile conditions.
The sight of her nude body with the massive scar tissue from her chest by her breasts to her lower abdomen hadnât prepared him for the emotional impact.
Carissa operated on herself using robotic pre-programmed surgery or other methods without concern for her own mental and physical health was what he was shocked by.
A stupid choice of words. Absolute zero contact for months and I mention her mental health, self-harm and an invitation to a Park of Gaia. Acting like a spoiled rich boy. She wanted someone to talk with, she was lonely, she must have been extremely lonely. Trying to tell me about her achievements and I...I ignored it. Youâre an idiot Liam. Truly. Fix it, make it right. Be with her again.
***
The man called The General simply waited for his client to finish processing difficult emotions, he wasnât overly interested in society gossip but he was aware of the value of information. Multiple members of his team both on and off site were providing him with present information and updates both through an earpiece and a visual implant inside his left eye. His fingers tapped along his augmented outfit and ignored the rain as he stood near his command vehicle.
He politely coughed to draw the attention of the man as one of the support members of his present team walked over in full waterproof gear holding an umbrella and placed a rapid moisture absorbing towel over the form of the young man called Liam.
âMaster Liam. We have visible footage and line of sight of her moving to a viewing platform. She shows no signs of wanting to leap off the edge into the waters below but according to medical scans her heart-rate, adrenaline and cortisol levels are elevated. Yes, I have multiple teams in position to recover and provide emergency medical treatment and sedation off the waters beneath the viewing platform. Sheâs presently holding aâ¦.wait. We have a report of anomalous activity. No. Multiple reports, from a short time ago. Something has broken through reality but...no. Nothing on visuals. She left the security device on a box of provisions, water and MREs inside theâ¦..wait. Master Liam. The anomalous activity is increasing. Sheâs hit the activation button on the viewing platform. This one has been modified to extend and drop, Iâm betting she wants to drop it in the ocean. Sir, she is showing clear signs of physical discomfort. We can engage but only with your go-ahead. Sir? Sir?â said The General as he watched the young man clutch his own head and drop to the floor.
The support member of the team turned him to a recovery position and angled the umbrella to block the rain and removed the sodden rapid moisture absorption towel before three members of a medical team rushed forward.
One of them raised a hand signal in the pouring rain as The General shook his head and spoke a simple command. As far as he was concerned this operation was presently finished as the earlier anomalous event had caused a blue explosion of water and the target called Carissa Acqua had vanished from the face of Belphus.
The reality was his main contractor had been hit with a similar if minor effect of the same anomalous effect and had been knocked unconscious. The disappearance and eventual reappearance of people originating from Belphus, even in public view had occurred enough The General had established an immediate priority.
He still needed to finish off one part of it. Even though there was no traces of military technology involved it simply mean he lacked personal interest. Granted the main contractor had paid fully for services rendered and happened to be from one of the oldest and richest families in the history of Belphus heâd need emergency treatment and security measures put in place
The second mission objective was to fully occupy the location registered as Last Refuge, locate all scientific records, personal belongings and research materials, even all genetic traces and secure it within a Level 4 Anomaly Protected Site.
â...Mariko. No, you donât need to respond. I need you to open a direct line to the Deep Water Purification Facility and Low Tide Security. The first needs to open up one of their private medical sites for an anomalous encounter treatment for a baseline human. The second needs to secure a premises and reinstall a perimeter while stopping the first from taking copies. All team members, the principle target is gone and the main contractor needs assistance. Weâre done here. I want a full sweep done of the building but be careful. I will not lose a single member due to carelessness. Move the main contractor carefully. General out.â