Chapter Text
‘A brilliant mind inside of a brilliant man… now who could possibly be able to make a copy of that?
“That brilliant mind of yours will service us.” Hemlock’s low cackle was as eerie as his soft speaking voice causing the hairs on Tech’s neck to rise up in a salutatory fashion. Not that he was, saluting the Doctor. Tech had absolutely no respect for the man, none whatsoever.
“I will have no part in it! Of any of your grandiose plans! I will rather die!” Tech spat out agitated, the restraints keeping him in check even if he wanted to strike the doctor. Lash out physically even if that usually wasn’t Tech’s mode of operandi at all. Never the one to strike first.
“You did that already, remember? As far as the others are concerned, you are dead. And now, you are ours to do as we please.” Hemlock was stating the facts as Tech’s team mates had seen him falling to his death. And then having woken up in this… place. Tech had no idea where he was.
“I will never serve the Empire!” Tech’s words choked in his throat. As whatever the concoction given to him was starting to affect his autonomous systems. Rendering him speechless, the drug raising havoc inside of his body.
“Who said anything about the Empire?” Suddenly, Tech could see Hemlock, the Doctor having stood right in front of him morph into something… or someone else… Doctor Karr? He had heard the name being referred to by Hemlock.
“Who… who are you?” Tech tried his words slurry like being inebriated… his vision blurry… not that the drugs mattered as they had not given him back his goggles. He could see of course, but poorly so without his prescription glasses.
“Don’t you not recognise me Tech? Aren’t we that close?” The voice of Dr Karr’s? Spoke to Tech. The words incomprehensible.
Tech glared baffled at the woman standing there, trying to remain conscious. But he could not see her nor could he fight against the drugs.
“I am the same as you. I am a clone. Sure, a much better version.” Dr Karr let out a soft chuckle. “But basically, we are the same.” Which sounded such a lie in Tech’s ears, as no one but Omega was the same as them. His Batch.
“Same how? You and I are nothing alike.” Tech managed to speak, even if the effect of the injection received only moments ago was causing his brain to slowly shut down. Speaking words being difficult at best.
“Oh come now Tech! I chose you. You are the only one I deemed fit to service me. My purpose.” Dr Karr ranted on, somehow, Dr Hemlock having disappeared from Tech’s view without leaving?
“What, do you want from me?” Tech’s voice was fading, the drugs raising havoc in his system and he could not resist… the lure of the darkness, the void.
“Don’t you worry about that, Tech. Trust in me. You will be fine soon enough… I, will personally take care of that.” The voice faded away as Tech fell into the darkness of the nothingness once again. The questions, so many questions he had remaining unanswered.
*
“No! No! I won’t! Never!”
Tech was screaming at the top of his lungs, trashing on the bed. His whole body flailing.
“Tech!”
He heard the voice calling to him by name from a distance away. He was still in the darkness. The deep pit where Dr Karr had put him in.
“Tech! It’s me Omega!” The small voice called out again. “You are safe!”
Tech opened his eyes. He couldn’t really focus. The vision blurred. What had happened to him?
“I am here. You, are safe Tech.” The familiar voice went on. Omega Tech realised then. “You might need these.”
Omega gently placed the goggles on to Tech's face, his vision becoming clear immediately.
“You were having another nightmare.” Omega’s tone was soft and calm seeing Tech back in the land of the living again.
“Yes. I guess I was.” Tech swallowed thickly. “Seems… they keep coming back?” He was still somewhat confused. The reality not settling immediately with him.
Omega nodded, feeling Tech’s forehead, which felt warm.
“You are running a fever again. Does your head hurt still?” Omega sounded worried.
“Just a little. Noting I cannot handle.” Tech tried, but Omega knew better. Having seen how bad the pain would get even if Tech tried to hide it.
Omega took the hypospray from the side table and showed it to Tech.
“I will give you a doze of this. Nala Se said it would be okay and that it would help you for now. This is a new dosage of the medicine Nala Se has perfected for you..”
Tech only nodded. Yielding to the fact that he was not alright. His head having hurt worse ever since he himself had gotten better. Physically at least after being rescued. The Kaminoan having worked over time in trying to figure out what was wrong with Tech, the headaches never ending.
Omega applied the injection as gently as she could trying not to hurt Tech further.
“It will take effect soon enough.” Omega promised Tech at least she hoped it would. Nala Se had told her as much.
The Kaminoan scientist having gone to great lengths in trying to make Tech better.
The redemption Nala Se was clearly looking for in the eyes of the clones. Even if she wasn’t the only one having this goal. With several of the clones having served the Empire going through similar arcs of their own. Crosshair included. Something which had not gone unnoticed by Omega or the other Batchers either even if Crosshair was part of a different squad now.
“Thank you.” Tech closed his eyes for the moment as even the dim light of the med bay hurt his eyes when the headache got this bad.
“I know Nala Se will figure out what’s wrong with you.” Omega had to believe it for Tech’s sake.
“Sounds everything is under control with her, Omega.” Tech wasn’t too talkative either. But he too had to believe this to be the fact. Or else… well, he could not really think too much at the moment. Not until the medicine kicked in.
Tech still had his own suspicions. Knowing the full story now. What really had happened on Mount Tantiss after the scientists had hauled him away from the others after their reunion. The before that part being still… hazy. The fact that both Doctor Hemlock and Dr Emerie Karr had used Tech for whatever purpose they had in mind.
They had pieced in some of the facts from the downloaded partial data obtained after a quick fly-by mission over Mount Tantiss. The place destroyed completely now. But Echo had managed to retrieve something of the destroyed systems. The clones and Nala Se having some information as to what had been going on there. As not even the Kaminoans had been privy to the bulk of the experiments conducted there.
One thing was sure though. Which was that Tech had been subjected to some off the books testing. Perhaps even having gone through a few alternations by either Hemlock or Emerie Karr. They could not be sure though as the data was corrupted for that part. But it was what Tech suspected being the likely culprit for his current headaches. Having a— hunch?
Tech would have wanted to try to figure things out for himself having even offered to help Nala Se in her research. But his ever increasing headaches were hindering much of his movement and his thinking process.
And so for the time being Tech could only rely on the Kaminoan to figure out what was going on. Short from plugging him into a computer system of course. Something he envied of Echo right now. The Cyborg being able to plug himself into basically any binary system. Something Tech would not have minded doing at the moment if it meant access to the secrets of Dr’s Hemlock and Karr. And perhaps to relieve his aching head in the process?
“You rest for now. I will stay watch.” Omega promised Tech as she had vigilantly sat by Tech’s side helping him in whatever he needed when she wasn’t helping Nala Se. The other clones taking their turn to sit by Tech’s side of course, but Omega being mostly the one. Being Nala Se’s assistant and trainee once again.
“I know you will sweetheart. And I appreciate it.” Tech told the girl eliciting a soft smile from Omega. “And I trust in you fully.” Tech admitted his eyes feeling heavy as the drug took to his body.
It took mere moments for Tech to fall back to sleep. The pain subsiding and the calmness taking over. The slumber dreamless for now. Thankfully.
*
“Hold him still. I need him perfectly immobile.” Emerie’s familiar voice spoke to the other scientists helping her.
Tech glared at the large size needle closing in on his forehead. Wide eyed and unable to move. The scream inside of him not letting out even if he tried as hard as he could. The memory of the pain of a similar injection still fresh in his mind. But he could not get his voice to be heard. He was only able to shake his body. Slightly so due to the restraints holding him in place. Not to mention the scientists there. Keeping him in check.
“There.”
The injection was in and the excruciating pain was slicing through his brain like no other. It took some time before whatever it was Dr Karr was pushing into his brain to complete its course. Tech only counting the moments before it would be over.
“That wasn’t too hard now was it.”
The needle finally out, Tech could feel something happening inside of his brain. As to the what he could not figure out. It took mere moments for the whole thing to settle and then he could already feel the pain subsiding.
“Now you rest for a while. We’ll run some tests later on.”
And with that, Tech was left alone in the examination room. Strapped to the bed, unable to move, hardly even able to think. Willing himself to fall asleep as what else was there for him to do? Even if he wanted to figure out what Dr Karr was doing to him, Tech could only wait for her to give him any scraps of information. The agenda of hers still unclear for Tech.
“Will he be able to survive this?”
The question of one of the aids the final voices Tech could hear before he went fell into the slumber awaiting him.
“We’ll see. He is strong enough…”
*
Tech was in the lab with Nala Se.
The scientist was making her scans on Tech. Still trying figure out the real source of his continued headaches. As there really did not seem to be any physical reason for them to be happening. Meaning the psychological part remaining. Or then there was more there which remained hidden for whatever reason.
“So, I guess that look on your face means there is still nothing to find there.” Not that there really was much of an expression on Nala Se’s face, but Tech had learnt to read the scientist during their rather lengthy interactions trying to get to the root cause of what it was about the headaches of Tech’s brain which simply would not go away.
“There is no evidence to be found, no.” Nala Se sounded even a tad frustrated, surely a new thing for the otherwise stoic Kaminoan. “As to my face… my species does not posses the needed muscles to express emotion on our exterior.” Nala Se was looking away from Tech at the moment, clearly trying to hide that which was true as stated by Tech. That she had an expression on her face.
Something which made Tech smirk though as he could clearly distinguish the myriad of expressions on Nala Se’s face. Alas he was not about to argue about it. He needed the scientist to figure this out, what was wrong with him. What Emerie had done to him. Because that much he remembered from the horrid experiments on Mount Tantiss now. That being the fact that it had been Doctor Emerie Karr doing them on him, not Doctor Hemlock. The bulk of the experiments.
“I understand.” Tech was a bit more serious having contained the little bit of mirth he had just enjoyed. “Perhaps if I would try to calibrate the scanner a little more.” Tech had already done that. Several times to be exact. With the aid of Echo they had honed the medical scanner to perfection to find any and all anomalies. Or so they had thought.
Nala Se glanced at Tech. Despite her calm exterior, Nala Se wasn’t completely without compassion. A few of her… well, creations, the clones having gotten under her skin. Omega, Clone Force 99 among a few others. Not that she would admit to any such thing if asked or coerced. But, she wanted the help them now. Seeing Tech suffer was causing her to regret some of the things she had done in the past. And she wanted, nay, needed to make things right.
Tech went to work. The headaches at a tolerable level with no small thanks to the concoction Nala Se had cooked up for him. But the effect usually only lasted for so long. And she had warned Tech against abusing the medicine. And so, having to do whatever he could during the times his head wasn’t bothering him too much.
Nala Se was back working on her research. As not only Tech being her patient, she was also working on the Clone X project. Trying to figure out how to get them to function like normal beings rather than the conditioned drones Hemlock had made them to be as. Emerie having helped him.
Emerie, who had been Nala Se’s most priced pupil. Something the scientist still regretted to this day. Having given Emerie the autonomy back when she had been created. Only to find the girl turning against her creators. Nala Se. The things she had done to herself to become better, the superior one she now supposedly was.
Nala Se had not seen Emerie in the longest while and seeing her on Mount Tantiss had been a total surprise. But what Nala Se could not forgive Emerie, was her using Tech, her own kin for whatever she thought she was making out there. The files still mostly encrypted due to all the safety locks the Doctor had put in place on her research.
Nala Se was also running a parallel project as requested by Rex. The one to reverse the exhilarated ageing of the clones. Something Rex had pressed her to do, knowing it could be done. Having told the scientist flat on she owed the clones that much. For Rex, the freed clones being able to live their lives like any regular person was a desire he could not let go of.
“Here, this should do it.” Tech offered the device back to the scientist. He looked paler than usual. His headache having gotten worse during the work. It usually happened when he concentrated really hard.
“You need to lie down Tech. You have been exhausting yourself again.” Nala Se sounded worried, even if Tech knew it could not be true as the intonation never changed even if her facial expressions most certainly did.
Tech felt dizzy. He simply nodded. Not arguing about it. Even the slight nod causing him the nausea to rise its ugly head again.
“I will scan you later on.”
Tech was escorted back to his living quarters by one of the aids in Nala Se’s lab. One of the several clone medics who were helping her with her research and learning in the process just like Omega did.
*
He was trashing again. The nightmares were back. The memories of Mount Tantiss flashing back and forth in his mind. The imagery so vivid, like he was back there again. It was unsettling, the restless dream he was in.
“Tech.”
He heard the soft familiar voice calling to him. Reeling him back in. Back to the real world.
Tech opened his eyes. His focus out still, his goggles having been removed.
“Here.”
He felt the hand working over his head, placing the strap of the glasses in place. As soon as it was done the familiar vision came to view.
“Echo.”
Echo chuckled and sat beside Tech on the bed.
“How’re you feeling buddy?”
Tech made a quick internal inventory and found the headache at a tolerable level.
“Adequate.”
“Good.” Echo was smiling now only too happy to see Tech better. Echo did not like for Tech to suffer, none of them did. But somehow Echo being the one who could best understand what Tech was going though.
Tech simply glared at the Arc, not sure what had made him so chipper this time, even if Echo usually tried to cheer him up. The former grouchiness having been replaced but something else. Which Tech pretty much had figured out. Echo having a purpose now with the cause.
“I have some good news for you.”
“Well, guess it was a good timing then.” Tech was back to his usual self. For now.
“Can you walk?”
Tech moved, got up and was on his feet in somewhat of a slow motion. Trying standing on for a size.
“I can.”
“Come on then, let’s go to my lab.”
“Your lab.” Tech wasn’t asking though. As far as he knew, they were equally sharing the space dedicated to their mutual work.
“Yeah, come on Tech.” Echo grabbed his arm and started guiding the other man towards their lab.
Tech usually the one to quip something like he wasn’t an invalid or similar. But this time, he took the offered support. Wanting to know what Echo had figured out rather than to let the headache take control of him if he overexerted himself again.
*
Tech could only stare at Echo’s findings.
Echo having managed to hack into a large portion of the supposedly corrupted data. Echo had done it though. His slicing capabilities exceeding even Tech’s these days. Guess they always had. And now, Echo had managed to decrypt the data which had plenty of Emerie’s secret research information on it. Not that it wasn’t all very interesting. Something which they, Nala Se in particular would most certainly use. But the part which interested them the most was that of Tech’s experimentation. Dr Karr’s plans for Tech.
And what he saw there surprised him.
“It’s right there Tech.” Echo tried.
“I can see that.” Tech was glaring at the screen.
He could see it. Understand it even. What he could not fathom was the why. As what Emerie had told him back at Mount Tantiss was only the fact that he, Tech would be the template for others. Emerie’s new army. Because of whom he was? That part was still a bit off in Tech’s opinion. Hard to fathom. But it looked like Emerie had indeed made some adjustments to Tech. His brain to be more precise.
“It’s similar to mine.” Echo stated, seeing the minute size data device in there. The image of it enhanced ten fold so they were able to see it properly.
“I know. But this… this is so… so small.”
Tech knew Echo’s schematics by heart. All that the other clone was after his modifications having been done by the Techno Union. His enhancements which Tech preferred to call and see them as rather than him being a cyborg. All of it part of Echo, even if the comment ‘more machine than man’ had once been spoken by Tech. Something of a regret for sure.
“Yeah, it is. A technological marvel.” Echo’s tone was low as he looked at the screen as well, mostly in awe though.
“So, you are sure this is the one causing my headaches?” Tech wanted to be sure.
“Almost. Sure. But we won’t find out until we hook you up.” Echo was pretty sure it would work. It had to. His plan. “The data inside of there needs to be released, controlled. Until you do that, you will suffer worse headaches than you have now.” It wasn’t an exact diagnosis but Echo was pretty sure he was onto something.
“How do you propose we do that. It’s not like I have a scomp like you do.” Tech was pretty sure Echo had that part figured out too. He was always thorough after all.
“I have rigged an interface. Through me.” Echo punch the data on the screen. The device specs appearing for Tech too see.
“Looks rather crude but it could work.” Tech trusted Echo after all.
“Well, there is only one way to find out. That is if you are willing to.” Echo was prepared if Tech was.
Tech looked at the screen again and back at Echo. And after a moment, nodding his agreement. After all, Tech wanted to find out for himself. But most importantly, he wanted to rid himself of the headaches. Tech wanted his life back again.