Idem Anima Novum Corpus
CHAPTER PREVIEW:
A robotic voice echoed through the ship's radio panel:
"The crew must identify themselves on the scanner. If any device is malfunctioning, immediate return is required, for the safety of both parties."
Everyone had their disguises ready from the start. The scanning process would unfold in three stages: iris scan, facial recognition, and finally, voice identification.
…
…
…
It was around 7:00 AM.
They were on the Facilis ship, feeling more at ease since the fighters couldn't enter there, as their architecture, in general, wasn't suitable for entering a quantum portal.
However, that didn't mean much. After all, what was about to happen would be even more absurd.
All the group's tension now stemmed from the fact that they needed to figure out a way to enter the Söldnerzuflucht system.
The German member of the group, Heinrich, in theory, should be able to enter and exit the system with ease due to his nationality. However, in the past, he had been banned for causing chaos at the location. This was because the place had a strict etiquette, organization, and operational rules, given that it focused on the flow of mercenaries, whether legal or not. This led to the creation of special rules:
No killing anyone anywhere within the system's boundaries.
No physical harm to anyone anywhere within the system's boundaries.
No fighting, with or without weapons, anywhere within the system's boundaries.
Anyone breaking any of these rules will be hunted by the Söldnerzuflucht organization, which governs (and gives the system its name) the area, and banned from the system forever.
Part of the group was gathered around a 150 cm long by 80 cm wide steel table fixed in the center of the ship's interior. They were discussing how they almost died when one of the members interrupted:
— Cool! Now, what are we going to do? Any ideas? — asked Harvey, impatient since they entered the portal.
— This idiot is to blame for everything starting to go wrong already — said Stjarna, spitting with disdain.
— Hey! You two! Mrs. Stjarna, you were one of those who agreed to this when we made the quick plan — H.K. shouted, his back to them as he set up the routes for the autopilot.
— So what do we do now? Any ideas? Mr. Smith?
Smith was asleep... He had internal organs that required a certain stability to function properly. So, when he was active, he heavily strained his artificial lungs, causing him to lose nutrients in his body to keep them working.
— Mr. Smith!
— Mr. Smith!
— Sir!
— Huh?! — the old man muttered (the life expectancy at the time was 60 years, so 52 was considered old).
— Why did you wake me up?
— You've rested enough, and we need you now. Let's discuss how we're going to enter the German system — said Burton, as calm as ever.
— Whether we like it or not, we have to enter. I already know that. You guys always bother me!
— Alright then, Mr. Don't-bother-me, how do you suggest we do this?
He stood up from the chair, puffing like an old bull, and rummaged through his old black backpack on the edge of the table. He opened a side pocket and pulled out several small objects that looked like sophisticated buttons.
— What's this? — asked Shawn and Burton in unison.
— I see impatience reigns on this ship — replied Smith arrogantly.
— Then your name must be impatience — said Burton calmly.
— Shut up! I'll explain quickly, we don't have much time left. These are IANC (Idem Anima Novum Corpus) devices — he said, holding up the object — Banned from the universe over 20 years ago for causing chaos among governments and because they were extremely difficult to manufacture. However, mercenaries learned to deceive CP (Corpus Scan) devices by altering several components. This led to the smuggling of this material, which is now even rarer and more valuable. I imagine none of you have seen this before, except Heinrich, since the smuggling comes from German groups.
He then handed one to each person, except H.K. and Alfred, who were monitoring the ship's route.
— Alright... It's made of a material extracted from the planet HD 189733b. The problem, which I believe most of you know, is that the glass rain and extremely high temperatures on those planets make extraction methods involve losing resources, like military cyborgs, which are difficult and extremely expensive to obtain, legally or not.
— Where do we place it, so it won't be seen?
— I already asked you to be quiet. I was about to explain... It goes in the throat, so the built-in voice modulator also works. It also camouflages sound waves, preventing identification. — When he finished speaking, Burton was about to make another jab, but was immediately interrupted by Smith before saying anything.
— And before you say it can be seen in the throat, when you activate the camouflage, it disappears. But first, the user's fingerprint must be registered for it to work.
— How do we do that?
— Again... No time for interruptions. Look, the button is transparent, right? You need to press it for 10 seconds, and a red light will blink inside the button. Once it starts blinking, choose a finger and place it for 5 seconds until the light turns green and then goes off. Now, the important part. The disguise change. You'll notice there's a potentiometer beside the button. It has 4 modes:
1st - Changes only the face's appearance.
2nd - Changes both the face and body appearance.
3rd - Changes the face, body, and voice appearance.
4th - Changes only the voice.
— Let's do it all now! Before we reach the first checkpoint and get inspected! — said Smith enthusiastically, clapping his hands.
— Sir, it won't be necessary. I've chosen some longer routes, but they don't have inspections at the checkpoints.
— That was more than your duty, H.K.
— You sound just like my mother...
— Just get back to work! And stop bothering me.
— I'd like to know why he mistreats me for no reason?! — he grumbled quietly to Alfred beside him.
The group went to drink the rest of the water Shawn had stored in electronic bottles and returned to the table.
Alfred and H.K. finally left the ship's panel, after making sure all the checkpoints were free of government or organizational inspections, or only had radars, which were easy to avoid. They went to drink water with the others and stretch their legs after sitting for so long.
They started registering their fingerprints. The group, in general, glared at Heinrich. Some thought internally, things like: if it were just him, it would be fine, but the fact that they were recognized as a group of wanted mercenaries — including Heinrich — made them directly linked to him, whether they liked it or not.
After struggling to place it in their throats (since they had to pierce the area to fix it), they began testing the disguises and kept testing until they realized that each one had a different setting.
After that, H.K. announced that they were approaching the last checkpoint.
— Now it's 5 more...
...
After a while, they finally passed the penultimate one.
— Guys, that was the last checkpoint...
— H.K., can you tell me how long we've been traveling? My watch stopped working.
— Burton, the ship's marker isn't working either... So, I don't know either. But, judging by the distance between the galaxies we've traveled, there's no doubt it was about 4 hours, almost exactly... — he paused and then spoke louder — Guys, we're approaching the last point, and this one's German.
— Of course it is! Do you think we're idiots? If it's the last one, of course it's the Germans'. It sounds like a lazy dialogue from writers with no time... — Smith suddenly interrupted Harvey.
— Guys, I want you to prepare mentally. They can be very intimidating... And stay silent! They have access to everything remotely when we're inside the force field of the checkpoint.
H.K. started slowing down the ship little by little so it wouldn't pass directly.
WHOOSH!
— We passed the checkp...
— Quiet, H.K.! — yelled Smith even louder.
...
A robotic voice began speaking on the ship's radio panel.
"The crew must identify themselves on the scanner. If one is not functioning, you must return immediately, for the safety of both parties."
Each one had their disguise ready since earlier. The scanning process consisted of three stages: iris scan, facial scan, and then the voice scan.
Everything went as expected.
The Facilis was granted permission to exit the force field of the checkpoint. It then continued its journey smoothly to the only artificial planet (constructed by human hands) in that system. The planet was called Geschäftshaus (Business House).
— Very well! The easy part is done... Now comes the hard part. When we land, we won't need to register, as these are already registered faces in the system... — said Smith, who was immediately interrupted by the young Heinrich.
— Sir, is it true that people who have already died, but who wanted to leave an inheritance for their families, first find a way to ensure that when they die, no one knows, and they sell a full-body scan to put into these devices?
— Is now the time for this? But yes, it's quite common. Just not the time for that kind of question. The real problem is now, because it will depend on luck... We're using the most up-to-date version of the disguise device. The problem with that is, I can't be sure since I don't know if it's really the most up-to-date version. Several governments and organizations have integrated tracking technology that can detect the devices, even if they are camouflaged, but whenever a new version of the IANC is created, they also need a new version to detect it. So, stay alert for any evasive maneuvers, attacks, defenses, or retreats that need to be made, alright? — Smith finished speaking in a somewhat anxious tone...
H.K. shouted to the group.
— Guys! Get ready… We'll be entering the planet's atmosphere in 3
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