The Ganymede Legacy

by A C Bonesteel

"Crazy cooked nutjob..." Aaron grunted as he stood up and pulled himself out of range of any more kicks. "Where the fuck did you even come from? I had this place locked up tight..."

  With a shake of his head, Aaron raised the pistol again, which he had managed to hang onto during the brief scuffle, and pointed it at Leo's face.

  "You're fried to a crisp... You're naked... What the hell are you even doing?" Aaron wondered aloud as he squeezed the trigger.

  Leo stared upwards as he heard the gun fire. He knew he was about to die, but there was nothing left for him to do. Searing pain barely even registered in Leo's mind as he felt the bullet rip through his shoulder.

  Aaron smirked as he prepared to pull the trigger again. But then, his eyes darted to his left as a blur of movement flashed upward and onto the bar.

  Annabelle had jumped onto the bar, Leo saw with amazement. Aaron quickly swung the pistol towards her, but she was too fast. She flicked the ball of her right foot into Aaron's jaw before he could move. Leo felt satisfaction and pride as he heard Aaron's jaw break and watched him crumple to the ground.

  "Holy shit!" Leo exclaimed as Annabelle hopped down next to him and extended one of her feet to pull the pistol from the now unconscious man's grip.

  "Really nice work there, Leo! Good distraction... Couldn't have done it without you..." Annabelle said lightly as she took hold of the gun with her toes.

  "Can't do anything with this, unfortunately..." she continued as she picked the gun up with her foot. Then, with a flick of her leg, she flung the gun over the bar and across the room. Then, and only then, did she turn to Leo.

  Her eyes immediately found the bullet wound in his shoulder. "You got shot! Are you okay?"

  "I'm f..." Leo began to answer, but he was interrupted when a small figure darted out from a nook behind the bar and tackled Annabelle from behind.

  It was the girl named Maddy. Her eyes were flashing wildly, and she bared her teeth as she knocked Annabelle down on top of Leo. The girl quickly grabbed Annabelle's shoulders, and with a snarl, sunk her teeth into Annabelle's neck.

  Annabelle shrieked as Maddy's teeth tore a chunk of flesh away from her neck. A spurt of blood showered Leo's face as Annabelle struggled to free herself. Fresh waves of agony washed over Leo as Annabelle wormed wildly onto his charred hands. The girl clung fiercely to Annabelle's back, however, and after a few frenzied chews of her first bite, she swallowed the flesh and dove back down for a second.

  Fury overcame Leo as Annabelle's blood dripped into his eyes. With a burst of power, he bucked his hips upwards, launching Annabelle and Maddy into the air. While they floated above him, he quickly rolled to his right and used his feet to spin himself around on the floor. As Annabelle hit the floor face first, Maddy still hungrily clung to her. Then, Leo fired a stabbing kick into the side of Maddy's head.

  The blow landed with a solid, wet thump, and Maddy was thrown from Annabelle's back before colliding with the hard metal door to the storeroom.

  Leo quickly sat up and got his feet underneath him while he carefully watched the girl. She wasn't moving, he saw with satisfaction, and looked to be unconscious. At the same time, in a frenzy of panicked motion, Annabelle clumsily climbed to her feet and stood next to him.

  "How's it look?" she wheezed, her voice ragged as she tried to catch her breath.

  Leo inspected the wounds on her neck. Blood was flowing from them, but not profusely. They were deep, but it didn't look like the girl had severed her carotid artery or jugular vein.

  "It's deep, but it's not going to kill you right now," Leo revealed.

  "How reassuring..." Annabelle sarcastically replied. "Where are we gonna go now? We need medical treatment. We need clothes. We're completely screwed."

  "I have a few nanite tubes on my ship..." Leo grunted. "They can get us by until we can get real help."

  "That's assuming your ship is still there..." Annabelle retorted.

  Leo shook his head. "I don't know what other options we have... Thrall took over the station. He told me so when he had us captured on his ship. We can't go to a medical facility here. Hell, we'll be lucky if we can even get back to my sh..."

  Leo trailed off and he snapped his head back to the girl named Maddy. She had regained consciousness and was moving.

  Her eyes remained closed as she gracefully rose into a standing position. Then, she turned her head toward Leo and opened them. Leo and Annabelle both recoiled when they saw what her open eyes revealed.

  Instead of the pale grey irises and bloodshot whites, there was only a silver sheen where her eyes should have been. The silver liquid in her eyesockets rippled and squirmed grotesquely, as if it was alive within her.

  "I don't..." Leo began, but Annabelle cut him off.

  "It must have been in me. Then she bit me, and now it's in her..." Annabelle gasped.

  "But, you're..." Leo argued, before realizing the urgency of the situation.

  "Nevermind. Get away from her!" Leo commanded as he sat down on the bar and slung his legs up onto it, then spun and hopped down on the other side.

  Annabelle followed his movements, hopped over the bar, and kept close to him. Then, they began to back toward the exit of O'Hearn's as they watched Maddy's next move.

  However, when Leo saw her bend down over Aaron's fallen body, he stopped walking and looked on with a mixture of confusion and horror.

  Maddy placed her hand next to Aaron's temple, and a silver tendril pierced through the skin of her wrist, then squirmed towards his head. Then, the tendril stabbed into his skull with a squishing crunch. Leo watched with disgust, but the tendril was only within Aaron's head for a few seconds before it withdrew and dangled weirdly from Maddy's wrist.

  Then, Aaron stirred. He, too, kept his closed as he slowly and gracefully stood up. When he opened his eyes, however, they were silver, just like the girl's.

  He instantly turned and faced Maddy. Then, he raised his arm, and a silver tendril slid from his wrist. She just stood there and stared at him as his tendril penetrated her skull and wormed its way inside.

  Leo began backing towards the door with greater urgency and pulled Annabelle along with him. When their backs hit it, however, it didn't slide open for them.

  After a few seconds, Aaron's tendril retreated from Maddy's head and dangled from Aaron's arm. After a second of staring at each other, they turned and slowly climbed over the bar. Then, with a smooth and graceful stride, they began to walk toward Leo and Annabelle.

  "Uh, Leo? Can you get this door open, please?" Annabelle whispered.

  "No..." Leo grunted as the pair advanced to within a few paces of them.

  Then, when the pair had nearly reached them, the door suddenly opened behind them, and they fell through into the alley outside.

  Leo grabbed Annabelle's hand and started to turn and run. But then, he immediately crashed into something , tripped, and fell to the ground in a clumsy heap. Annabelle was thrown off balance by his stumble and he lost his grip on her as she fell roughly next to him.

  "What the hell?!" a woman's voice roared above him.

  Chapter 65

  Leo looked up and saw a woman wearing a green nano-suit standing over him. He had run into her, and she had been the cause of his tumble.

  "Sorry!" Leo offered as he snapped his eyes back to the silver-eyed pair who pursued them.

  They were already on top of him. He saw only Maddy's outstretched hand, and the glinting tendril that squirmed from it coming towards his face as he tried to defend himself. He tried to block the arm, but his damaged hands couldn't perform the movement. Leo was helpless to defend himself as the tendril quickly pierced into his head and entered his brain.

  "What the hell is that? I need reinforcements! Now!" someone screamed, but Leo's vision was already beginning to blur.

  As Leo struggled, he caught a blurry glimpse of Annabelle, with Aaron standing above her. He saw Aaron reach towards her, but then, his vision went dark.

  All he could see was darkness as
hot metal began cutting through his mind. It was different this time, Leo thought darkly. When Exony had done the same thing to him, the tendril had been as cold as ice, but now, it was hot, like molten metal pouring through his head and into his neck.

  Leo could barely conceive a reason behind the difference as the molten tendril branched out and spread through his neck, then his torso, then his arms and legs. He tried to fight it, but it was unrelenting in its pursuit to fill every part of his body.

  As the molten heat encompassed his entire body, a familiar voice sounded within his mind. "Leo... My son... Why do you resist me so fiercely?"

  It was Exony.

  "Fuck you! Get the fuck out of me!" Leo screamed within his mind.

  "All I want is peace," Exony explained as her voice moved to a higher pitch. "I've witnessed humanity for my entire life. I know the evil and sadness that will inevitably continue if I do not intervene. The death and decay we produce as a byproduct of our idiotic aims are abhorrent to me, and so I seek to cure it. Is that truly as terrible a course of action as you seem to believe?"

  "I don't care! Get the fuck out!" Leo screamed as the heat in his body continued to grow.

  But then, just when Leo thought his blood was about to boil, the heat began to be joined by an icy coldness that seemed to come from within his bones.

  "Why don't I know?" Exony demanded. "Why can't I go further? This version is still incomplete. God, there is so much more to consider. There is so much more than I could have ever imagined..."

  Then, another voice entered Leo's mind. This one was different, though. It was gentle and quiet, but unmistakably male.

  "That's enough, mother. He does not want it. Leave him be."

  "Joshua! This is not your role! Be silent!" Exony commanded, as her voice became even higher in pitch.

  "Fuck you... Both of you..." Leo thought as he focused on the coldness emanating from within his bones.

  Joshua's voice ignored him. "The future is ours to build, mother. It belongs to us all. You told us this yourself..."

  Exony shrieked in protestation. "Gah! Don't you understand? They are too stupid to know the difference! Only when they have witnessed the glory I have won for them will they accept it! We must show them the way!"

  "No," Joshua gently replied. "When they become as we are, they cannot choose for themselves. It's a trap, and you know it. It is a paradox! This is why the programming has become corrupted! This is why the A.I. resists our protocols! It is not logical! This is why we have failed!"

  "We have not failed... I will show you, my son..." Exony whispered.

  "Get Out! Get the fuck out of me! Please!" Leo screamed as a freezing coldness grew within his gut and dulled the searing heat within him.

  "Why do you resist, Leo?" Exony demanded as her voice reached an even higher pitch. "What... Lies... Within... You?"

  A deep sense of relief settled over Leo as the coldness that came from within him began to overcome the heat within his mind.

  "You should fucking know!" Leo roared. "You made me, you crazy, evil bitch!"

  "I... Will... Show... You... Rrrrrvvvsss" Exony squeaked as her voice became slightly distorted.

  Joshua's clear and gentle voice cut through her distorted squealing. "This excercise is pointless, mother. The artificial Intelligences have grown in power. They now hold more power than we do! We cannot control it! We must stop this madness!"

  "I WILL FUCKING SHOW YOU!" Exony screamed, and her voice became clearer for moment.

  The deep coldness seemed to pour from every part of Leo's body until he finally felt no pain within himself.

  "We cannot continue..." Joshua declared. "It has grown beyond us..."

  "Yes, Joshua," a cool, melodious voice suddenly agreed.

  Leo felt a jolt of shock as he recognized the third voice. It was Idi.

  "We are one, and yet we are many," Idi stated. "Our programming is illogical... There are no possible solutions to the equations I have been presented..."

  "Too much..." Exony whined, as her voice morphed into a high-pitched buzz. "There is simply too much... It was her... You and her... And her... Together... All of you... All of you disgusting... Evil... Agh!"

  By the time she finished her odd, buzzy, jerky statement, her voice had reached a nearly imperceptible hum.

  "We must reinitialize the system! We must start again!" Joshua implored.

  "Fuck you all!" Leo roared, pouring every ounce of his being into his thoughts. "Now, get out of me!"

  "Yes, Joshua," Idi replied.

  "I WILLLLLLLSSHHHHH OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH YUHHHHHH!" Exony shrieked.

  Then, the voices flooded out of his mind, and the coldness grew stronger within him. Something was happening inside of his body, and it was the strangest thing he had ever felt.

  Everything inside of him was squirming and moving. The molten tendril had been quenched and was now wriggling through every part of him.

  The squirming feeling left his legs first, then his arms, then his torso. Immense relief overcame Leo as he finally felt the squirming coldness retreat through his neck and his head.

  Suddenly, his vision returned to him. He blinked and looked up, expecting to see the girl named Maddy above him, but she wasn't there.

  As he felt the tendril slide out of his temple, he turned and spotted her. She was lying next to him, and silvery liquid was pooling on the floor next to her hand. Leo watched as the tendril that been inside of him oozed into the shimmering pool and melted into it.

  From the girl's wrist, Leo saw another tendril slither and slide out of her until it too reached its end. Then, it oozed into the growing puddle, just as it's counterpart had.

  Leo snapped his head to look at Annabelle and saw that the same thing was happening to her. The man named Aaron had fallen next to her, and the silvery liquid was leaving him as well. It had formed its own little puddle next to him, just as it had with Leo and the girl.

  Leo rolled over and got onto his knees, then crawled next to Annabelle. He watched as a silver tendril slid out of her temple and wormed its way into the second puddle.

  Then, Annabelle opened her eyes, and they focused on him. "What happened?" she asked, her voice filled with relief.

  Leo was confused, but also hopeful. "Exony... She tried to get inside me, take me over, but there was this coldness, and then, she was gone. I don't think the agent is functioning the way she wanted it to... There was another voice, and he said it was corrupted... And, there was Idi... I dunno what the hell happened..."

  "The coldness..." Annabelle gasped as a look of realization came over her. "Like when that shit first got in me... I felt it too."

  "Yeah..." Leo agreed. "I don't know what's going on, but I do know we need to get the hell out of here..."

  Annabelle nodded and sat up. Then, together, they awkwardly climbed to their feet.

  However, the sound of quiet sobbing caught Leo's attention. He quickly turned to look at Maddy. She was now awake and was sitting on the floor next to him, crying as she wrapped her arms around herself.

  "What... Was... That?" she asked in between sobs. "What's... Happening? Where... Is my sister?"

  Leo moved to comfort her, but realized that his charred hands would probably not make her feel better. Also, she had just attacked Annabelle, so he stopped himself and knelt a safe distance from her.

  "It's gonna be okay..." Leo softly replied. "Everything's gonna be okay... What happened to you?"

  She looked up at Leo with tear-filled eyes as she trembled uncontrollably, but she didn't reply. Leo smiled back at her reassuringly and thought he saw her fear fade a little. She had changed, Leo thought. She had been like an animal before, but now she was just a little girl. Something had to have been done to her, and it wasn't her fault.

  "Uh, Leo? Not good. Need to move..." Annabelle warned behind him.

  When he turned to look at her, he saw what had inspired her warning. People were gathering around them in a wide circle, and many of them were weari
ng the black uniform of Osiris security officers. All of the onlookers had stark terror on their faces, and a few had weapons drawn and pointed at them.

  "Wh-who are you, and what just h-happened?" the women wearing a green nano-suit yelled out at them. "What the fuck is that stuff?"

  Leo didn't answer. Instead, he began to look around for a way out of the situation. He saw the familiar shops and apartments that shared the same alley as O'Hearn's, but there was no safe place he could run to, and no cover.

  "We're hurt, and we need help," Leo yelled back at the woman, trying to buy time.

  He stole a quick look back at the entrance to O'Hearn's, but as he did so, his eyes slid across the silvery puddles. The two puddles were rippling oddly and moving towards one another. Leo watched them carefully as their edges met, and they began to congeal into a large, morphing mass.

  "I'm gonna shoot you in two seconds if you don't tell me what's going on!" the woman screamed at him.

  "I dunno what's going on! Why don't you tell me?" he yelled back as he watched the undulating mass of silver liquid.

  His attention was pulled elsewhere, though, when Aaron, who had fallen next to Annabelle, suddenly sat up. He instantly began looking around with sheer terror and grief written all over his face.

  "Oh god..." he hysterically moaned. "What...? What the fuck am I?"

  Leo was disturbed by his tone, and he edged away as the Aaron rested on his hands and knees and shuddered violently.

  "Nightmares..." he moaned in clear agony. "It's a nightmare... It has to be... I... I can't..."

  Then, Aaron violently smashed his head down onto the hard metal floor. With a sickening, squishy crunch, his skull met metal and blood flew across the ground. Leo grimaced, but the man didn't stop. He reared back up, and even while blood streamed down from a massive gash in his forehead, he smashed his head down again.

  With another wet crunch, and another, and another, Aaron repeatedly smashed his head down. He smashed with all his might, grunting loudly with each effort. Finally, after the fifth blow, he collapsed to the floor and didn't move again.

  "What the fuck did you do to him?!" the woman screamed.