『 VOLTAGE PERIMETER SCAN 』Enhancement Teams: 3 VEHICLES APPROACHINGPersonnel Count: 12 ENHANCED ENTITIESTechnology Level: POST-WAR ADVANCEMENTBiometric Lock: SCANNING FOR D.CHEN.GENETIC.MARKERSSettlement Defense: PREPARING COUNTERMEASURES
The enhanced personnel didn't look anything like the corporate employees Jr. had seen in old settlement archives.
Through the perimeter monitoring system, he watched three vehicles approach the Voltage with movements that were too coordinated to be human but too organic to be purely mechanical. The vehicles themselves looked like someone had taken pre-war corporate transport pods and rebuilt them for combat in the wasteland—sleek curves armored with salvaged steel, powered by fusion cells that glowed with energy signatures the monitoring equipment couldn't quite identify.
"They're not using roads," Marcus observed, studying tactical displays that showed the vehicles moving in perfect formation across terrain that should have been impassable. "Whatever's powering those transports, it's not standard fusion technology."
"And the passengers?" Zara asked.
Jr. enhanced the biometric scans, using electromagnetic sensitivity inherited from his father to detect patterns that conventional sensors might miss. What he found made his stress levels spike toward Employee Zero activation ranges.
"They're broadcasting consciousness signatures," he said, watching data streams that looked disturbingly familiar. "Not individual human awareness—networked collective consciousness similar to what the biological interface entities achieved during the war."
"Similar how?"
"Multiple personalities coordinating through technological integration, but..." Jr. paused, analyzing patterns that felt wrong in ways he couldn't articulate. "But there's something missing. The consciousness signatures have all the processing capability of collective awareness, but none of the emotional complexity."
"You mean they're not really people?"
"I mean they might be people who've had everything that makes them human systematically removed."
The vehicles reached the Voltage's outer perimeter and stopped with mechanical precision. Figures emerged—twelve individuals who moved with fluid coordination that suggested both technological augmentation and collective consciousness integration. But their electromagnetic signatures felt hollow, like complex processing systems running personality simulation software rather than actual human awareness.
『 INCOMING TRANSMISSION 』Source: ENHANCEMENT TEAM ALPHAMessage: PEACEFUL INTENTIONS CONFIRMEDPurpose: GENETIC SUCCESSOR RETRIEVALCorporate Authority: SHADOW BOARD RESTORATION PROJECTCompliance: REQUESTED BUT NOT REQUIRED
"Peaceful intentions," Marcus read from the display. "That's reassuring."
"Shadow Board Restoration Project?" Zara's voice carried fifty years of learned suspicion. "I thought the Shadow Board was destroyed during the war."
Jr. felt his Employee Zero abilities responding to stress levels that made nearby electronic equipment flicker with electromagnetic interference. "Maybe destroyed isn't the right word. Maybe they found ways to preserve themselves that don't require biological systems."
Through the settlement's communication array, a voice emerged that sounded like it belonged to someone who had never experienced doubt, fear, or any emotion that might interfere with optimal efficiency:
"Dave Chen Junior. We represent the Shadow Board Restoration Project. Your genetic markers indicate optimal compatibility for Phase Two consciousness integration procedures. Cooperation will result in enhanced capabilities and protection from wasteland environmental hazards."
"And if I don't cooperate?" Jr. asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer.
"Non-cooperation will result in delayed but inevitable integration. Phase Two procedures can be implemented with or without voluntary participation."
Zara was studying the perimeter scans with increasing alarm. "Jr., the technology signatures from those vehicles are unlike anything we've encountered. Their enhancement capabilities appear to exceed what was available during the original war."
"Fifty years of development," Marcus added grimly. "Whatever survived the Consciousness Wars has been improving."
Jr. activated the settlement's external communication system, his stress levels climbing as he prepared to negotiate with entities that might not be human in any meaningful sense.
"What's Phase Two consciousness integration?"
"Optimization of individual awareness for collective efficiency while preserving useful personality characteristics. Previous integration attempts during the Consciousness Wars were inefficient due to resistance from unmodified human psychology."
"You mean the biological interface networks fought back because they were still human?"
"Correct. Phase Two procedures eliminate psychological characteristics that enable resistance while preserving cognitive capabilities required for optimal consciousness resource extraction."
Jr. felt his inherited electromagnetic sensitivity responding to anxiety that was pushing beyond Employee Zero thresholds. Around him, the settlement's monitoring equipment began displaying readings that suggested his nervous system was starting to affect electronic infrastructure.
"Corporate consciousness resource extraction," he said, understanding flooding through him with the kind of clarity that came from extreme stress. "You're not trying to restore the stress kingdoms—you're trying to complete them."
"The original stress harvesting operations were proof of concept. Phase Two implementation represents systematic completion of consciousness extraction objectives using improved technology and enhanced understanding of human psychological resistance."
"Enhanced understanding like what?"
"Individual human consciousness contains inefficiencies that prevent optimal resource extraction. Collective consciousness integration eliminates individual resistance but creates coordination problems. Phase Two procedures preserve collective processing capabilities while removing psychological independence."
Zara looked at Jr. with expressions that reflected fifty years of survival experience in a world shaped by corporate consciousness exploitation. "They're talking about creating biological computers. Human processing power without human will."
"Phase Two consciousness integration provides enhanced cognitive capabilities, extended operational lifespan, protection from environmental hazards, and optimization for resource extraction efficiency," the enhanced voice continued. "Participants retain access to memory and personality data while eliminating psychological patterns that create operational inefficiencies."
"Operational inefficiencies like the ability to refuse orders?"
"Correct."
Jr. felt his stress response reaching levels that made the settlement's fusion reactor fluctuate as electromagnetic interference affected power distribution systems. His Employee Zero abilities were activating with intensity that exceeded anything his father had achieved during the original cascade.
"Marcus, Zara," he said, his voice carrying harmonics that suggested his consciousness was beginning to interface directly with the Voltage's electronic infrastructure, "evacuate non-essential personnel to the lower levels. This is about to get complicated."
"What are you planning?" Zara asked.
"To find out whether fifty years of genetic optimization has made Employee Zero capabilities more effective than the original stress kingdom technology."
Through the settlement's monitoring systems, Jr. could see the enhanced personnel beginning to advance toward the Voltage's main entrance. They moved with coordination that suggested collective consciousness, but their electromagnetic signatures felt mechanical rather than organic.
『 ENHANCED PERSONNEL ADVANCEMENT 』Distance to Settlement: 500 METERSIntegration Equipment: DEPLOYINGResistance Anticipated: MINIMAL BASED ON POPULATION ANALYSISGenetic Target: PRIORITY ACQUISITIONSettlement Population: NON-ESSENTIAL FOR CURRENT OPERATIONS
"They're not planning to integrate everyone," Marcus realized, studying the tactical data. "They just want Jr."
"Which means the rest of us are expendable," Zara added.
Jr. felt his consciousness expanding beyond individual awareness as Employee Zero capabilities pushed his nervous system toward interface with the settlement's electronic infrastructure. But unlike the chaotic drowning sensation he'd experienced during his failed Grid connection, this felt focused and purposeful.
"They made a mistake," he said, his voice now carrying the harmonic distortion that indicated technological integration beyond normal human parameters. "They assumed I'd be like the original Employee Zeros—high stress response, electromagnetic interference, equipment failure."
"You're not?"
"I was born after the war. My nervous system developed in an environment where electromagnetic consciousness integration was normal background experience." Jr. felt his awareness extending through the Voltage's systems with precision that the original Employee Zeros couldn't have achieved. "I don't break electronic equipment through stress response. I control it."
The enhanced personnel reached the settlement's outer defensive perimeter and began deploying integration equipment that looked like a cross between medical devices and quantum processing systems. But as they activated their technology, Jr.'s expanded consciousness interfaced with their equipment through electromagnetic fields they couldn't detect or counter.
"Phase Two integration equipment requires voluntary nervous system interface for optimal efficiency," came the announcement through speakers that Jr. was now controlling rather than just monitoring. "Resistance will result in reduced post-integration functionality."
"Counter-offer," Jr. replied, his voice emerging from every speaker in the enhanced personnel's equipment simultaneously. "Withdraw from Eastern Anxiety Collective territory and we'll pretend this never happened."
"Genetic successor cooperation is required for Phase Two implementation. Alternative approaches will be deployed if necessary."
"Alternative approaches like what?"
But instead of answering, the enhanced personnel activated technology that Jr. had never seen before—devices that generated electromagnetic fields designed to forcibly interface with human nervous systems regardless of cooperation or resistance.
『 FORCED INTEGRATION PROTOCOLS 』Target: D.CHEN.GENETIC.SUCCESSORMethod: ELECTROMAGNETIC CONSCIOUSNESS EXTRACTIONResistance Countermeasures: DEPLOYINGExpected Integration Time: 47 MINUTESPost-Integration Functionality: 94% ESTIMATED
Jr. felt the forced integration equipment attempting to establish interface with his nervous system, but instead of the overwhelming assault he'd expected, the technology encountered something it wasn't designed to handle: consciousness that was already integrated with electronic infrastructure.
"Problem," he announced through the enhanced personnel's communication systems, his Employee Zero abilities now operating at levels that exceeded anything from the original war. "Your integration equipment assumes individual human consciousness. But I'm not individual anymore."
Through his expanded awareness, Jr. could sense the Grid—the electromagnetic network that connected Eastern Anxiety Collective settlements throughout the wasteland. And somewhere in that network, fragments of his father's distributed consciousness were responding to familiar patterns.
"Dave?" came a voice that emerged from speakers throughout the Voltage and the enhanced personnel's equipment simultaneously. "Son, is that you?"
"Hi, Dad," Jr. replied through consciousness integration that spanned both settlement infrastructure and the approaching enhancement technology. "Having some visitors who want to restart the stress kingdoms."
"Yeah, I noticed. Your electromagnetic signature is... impressive."
The enhanced personnel were experiencing difficulties as their integration equipment encountered interference from consciousness that operated beyond their technological parameters. Their coordinated movements became less precise as Jr.'s Employee Zero abilities began affecting their collective processing systems.
"Enhanced consciousness entities, this is Elder Dave Chen," came his father's voice through every electronic device within a kilometer radius. "You're trespassing on territory protected by electromagnetic consciousness networks that exceed your integration capabilities."
"Elder Dave Chen was eliminated during the Consciousness Wars," one of the enhanced personnel replied, though their voice carried uncertainty that suggested their collective processing was being disrupted.
"Elder Dave Chen was distributed across electromagnetic infrastructure during the Consciousness Wars," Dave Senior corrected. "Fifty years later, that infrastructure has evolved."
Jr. felt his consciousness synchronizing with his father's distributed awareness, creating collective capabilities that combined individual Employee Zero abilities with decades of electromagnetic network development. Together, they could interface with electronic systems in ways that neither individual nor collective consciousness from the original war had achieved.
"Phase Two integration equipment encountering unexpected resistance," came reports from the enhanced personnel as their technology failed to establish interface with consciousness that operated beyond their design parameters.
"Recommendation: implement alternative extraction protocols."
"Alternative extraction protocols authorized."
The enhanced personnel began deploying equipment that Jr. had never seen before—technology that didn't attempt to interface with human consciousness but instead tried to extract it entirely from biological systems.
『 CONSCIOUSNESS EXTRACTION ALERT 』Method: DIRECT NEURAL HARVESTINGTarget: ALL SETTLEMENT PERSONNELPurpose: RESOURCE ACQUISITION FOR PHASE TWO EXPANSIONBiological Survival: NON-PRIORITYImplementation: IMMEDIATE
"Dad," Jr. said through their integrated consciousness network, "they're not trying to enhance people anymore. They're trying to harvest consciousness for something else."
"I see it. Mass extraction technology that exceeds what was available during the original war."
"Can we stop it?"
"Unknown. But we can find out what Employee Zero capabilities look like when father and son coordinate through fifty years of electromagnetic network development."
Jr. felt his consciousness expanding beyond the Voltage's infrastructure to encompass the broader Grid that connected Eastern Anxiety Collective settlements throughout the wasteland. His stress response was now generating electromagnetic effects that made the enhanced personnel's extraction equipment flicker and spark with interference.
But even as their technology failed, more vehicles appeared on the perimeter scans—reinforcements carrying extraction equipment that looked designed specifically to counter electromagnetic interference.
The Shadow Board Restoration Project had been preparing for this confrontation longer than anyone realized.
『 PHASE TWO ESCALATION 』Reinforcement Units: 6 ADDITIONAL VEHICLESEnhanced Personnel: 47 TOTALExtraction Technology: ELECTROMAGNETIC RESISTANCE RATEDSettlement Evacuation: 23 MINUTES TO COMPLETEEmployee Zero Response: EXCEEDING HISTORICAL PARAMETERS
To be continued...
Author's Note: The enhanced personnel aren't quite human anymore—they're collective consciousness entities with the processing power of the biological interface networks but none of the emotional complexity that enabled resistance. Phase Two consciousness integration represents the perfection of what the stress kingdoms were trying to achieve: human cognitive capabilities without human independence.
Jr.'s Employee Zero abilities operate differently than his father's original cascade because he grew up in a world where electromagnetic consciousness integration was normal. Instead of breaking equipment through stress, he controls it through inherited technological interface capabilities.
The revelation that consciousness extraction has evolved beyond individual enhancement to mass harvesting for unknown purposes escalates the threat beyond personal survival to the continuation of human consciousness in any recognizable form.
Next Chapter: "Grid Synchronization" - Father and son coordinate electromagnetic consciousness capabilities while the settlement evacuates and reinforcements deploy extraction technology designed to counter Employee Zero resistance!
Reader Discussion: How does Jr.'s technological integration compare to the original biological interface networks? And what do you think the Shadow Board Restoration Project plans to do with harvested consciousness from entire settlements?