The Reclamation and the Lioness

by Robert D. Armstrong

  An android rushed forward to assist his fellow trooper. “Hold position and wait for a clear shot,” the android commander ordered.

  The Mave bit the android’s neck as sparks ignited. Wires were ripped from its synthetic tendons. I noticed its glowing blue eyes fade for a moment, then pulse back to life as it punched the drooling Mave. The android attacked from its back with a vicious straight right, knocking the Mave away. With each impact, I could hear the Mave’s facial bones cracking before it was knocked off the injured android.

  “Fire!” the android commander yelled. As the Mave stood up, the troopers scorched it. The Mave melted into a pile of black slime and bone that sizzled and smoked.

  The android struggled to stand up after the attack. I could hear its mechanical joints whining under the strain as it fell back down.

  “Leave him! Get to the next room!” I yelled. The androids pushed through the metal door and into a long room full of large metal storage bins on both sides of the wall. There was a small fire on the right side of the room, and smoke obscured much of my view.

  I cycled my helmet’s visor modes until I could see. There were dozens of dead bodies in the room; some were Legion warriors and others were Mave drones. Beyond the smoke, there was a giant hole in the wall, and debris littered the floor.

  “Captain, there doesn’t appear to be another exit in this room. The knights must have gone inside that crater,” she said.

  Once again, I was forced to hesitantly inspect the bodies.

  Then I heard Luther roar. The words were incomprehensible, but my heart sank as his voice echoed into the room. “Is that the Engineer, Captain?” Xena asked.

  Without a word, I rushed through the blast crater in the wall and stopped in my tracks. In a large open storage room filled with metal containers, Luther was twenty paces in front of us and had his back turned. Luther’s armor was badly burned and covered in black blood. His white cape was shredded and frayed. I noticed puncture wounds all over his body.

  In front of him were about thirty children—toddlers aged six or seven. They were all staring at Luther with blank expressions on their faces. There was no fear in their eyes. A strange woman stood in the middle of them, patting a boy and girl on their heads.

  She smiled, revealing a set of silver canines as black drool dripped from her bottom lip. She was a disgusting display of fused machine and flesh, as if her skin had been turned inside out. Her organs were exposed, giving me a view of her heart and lungs. Her gray and black hair was wild and unkempt. Her eyes were white as she gazed past Luther. She was staring at me.

  “Luther,” I said, stepping next to him. I grabbed his hand as his head whipped down at me in surprise. It reminded me of waking up from a nightmare, but this was real. I could see him panting heavily as his battered and bruised chest armor expanded and compressed. I felt him squeeze my hand as he looked into my eyes. There was an even mix of relief and worry. I gathered he didn’t want me here, but he was glad to see me.

  “I brought backup,” I said, glancing over my shoulder as Xena and the android troopers entered the room. He turned and sized up the troopers for a moment before facing the woman again. “The androids are at your command, Luther,” I added.

  The women pointed at me. “I’m not sure if we’ve been properly introduced. They call me the Architect,” the woman said in an electronically altered voice as she locked eyes with me. Her face appeared surprisingly human, other than the white eyes.

  I aimed my sword at her. “I see a coward hiding behind innocent children,” I said.

  “It’s considered rude not to introduce yourself, but no matter. I know who you are. Your husband came to me many years ago and asked me for help. Did he tell you that?” she asked.

  “Move away from those children and surrender! Your forces have been wiped out! You’ve lost!” I yelled.

  “Ah yes, the androids of the Reclamation have come to your aid, have they? But for how long? My army can be easily replaced.” The Architect turned her head to the right as Neona carried a small creature in her arms. It reminded me of skeleton covered in metal and circuity. It opened its mouth wide to yawn as it flashed a set of metal fangs.

  Neona stepped close to the Architect and handed over the creature as it snuggled close to the Architect’s neck. “You see, some seem to think that when the Mave nanobots replace flesh with machine that we lose the ability to love. Quite the contrary. That is only true if you deny our evolution. Then you become a monster. I’m not hiding behind these children. I love them.”

  Neona turned and stood beside the Architect. She didn’t look like herself. She appeared drugged, and I could see a faint glowing white light in her eyes. I could hear Luther breathing heavily. “There’s no scenario where you leave this place alive. Your Mave minions have been defeated. The Legion has won,” he said.

  The Architect looked at the ground for a moment. “Oh, but you know better than that. You’re smarter than that,” she said, running her spiny metal fingers down a little girl’s arm. “You see, one of the downfalls of being human is you can’t turn off your emotions and ambitions for the greater good. You’re stuck with them. This is much of the reason why our world was destroyed. Greed caused our eventual downfall.”

  “You say you love these children, but you are using them as shields,” I said.

  “I do love them, but I love the thought of peace more. If I left you now and never came back, what do you think would happen? Of course, humanity would flourish. In two hundred years, there would be close to a million humans on this planet, maybe more. In a thousand years, there would be over two hundred million. Societies, civilizations, allies, enemies... wars. Mankind would return exactly to where we stand now—a struggle to survive. But you don’t have the perspective—the capacity—to see things long term. Your thoughts are occupied, reserved for trivial, short-term relationships limited to pathetic decades—like yourself and Luther, for example,” the Architect said, glancing at Luther.

  She looked back at me. “I don’t blame you. You have no idea you’re being selfish. I was once this way, an emotional, frail creature preoccupied by the fear of not living a full life. You feel you’re saving thousands now, when in fact you’re damning millions to suffering in the future. If you could just have a taste, even a whiff of eternity and break the chains bound by your short lifespans, you would have our perspective. This is why I’ve been thrust into a position of violence; my hand is forced to do what is necessary.”

  Neona stepped forward slowly. She stood about six paces in front of Luther. “Father, your sword, please,” she said casually, a vacant stare on her face.

  “The daughter I raised knows me better than to ask for my sword,” Luther replied.

  “I’ve been enlightened,” Neona said, igniting her sword. Luther and I did the same, then pointed our blades at her. The tips of my sword and hers were only centimeters away. For the first time, I noticed Luther’s hand shaking as he held his weapon out in front of him.

  “Neona, put away your sword,” he pleaded. When he said it, I could hear the lump in his throat, the fear of loss in his voice. He knew he might be forced to stop Neona.

  The Architect laughed. “Now, if you kill her, that would mean you’ve lost all of your children, wouldn’t it? Victor, Vlad, and Neona. What are you willing to lose to keep fighting the good fight, Luther? I understand you have your code, your honor and beliefs, but as a parent, I just don’t think you’re capable of striking her down—”

  “I am,” I said, stepping forward. I stabbed my blade right at Neona’s collar bone. Neona did the same to me. I could feel the plasma burning through my suit as I stood strong. As much as I liked Neona, I didn’t love her, and I was willing to do whatever it took to prevent the Architect from using her against Luther. “Back away from the children, or I’ll cut her down, and after I do that, I’m coming for your little pet,” I said, staring at the Architect and her cybernetic Mave child.

  The Architect tilted her hea
d while staring back at me. “Well now. Isn’t it strange how love can manifest in different forms. Mine is unconditional and everlasting, whereas yours takes on a more aggressive form,” she said.

  In that moment, I decided I would have to kill Neona. I gritted my teeth as I looked at her.

  Then a bright flash of blue light erupted, severing Neona’s hand. Her weapon fell on the ground as Luther rushed forward. The Architect retreated, ignoring her initial reaction to grab one of the children. Her white eyes widened as Luther’s speed disallowed her any hostage opportunities.

  Two black tentacle-like objects extended from her arms, lashing toward Luther as she backed away. He sidestepped, narrowly missing one of the attacks. He chopped off the first tentacle quickly with his sword as the other lashed at his feet, causing him to stumble and trip. The dismembered extremity sizzled on the ground as Luther rolled and sprung to his feet, stabbing his sword toward her and narrowly missing.

  The Architect’s tentacle lengthened and slashed at Luther like a whip. Luther held the superheated sword in front of him, then lopped off sections of the tentacle as he walked her down. At last, he cut off her metallic arm at the elbow. Her mouth dropped as she looked at the severed arm, cradling the Mave child with her other arm.

  Luther snatched her by the hair as the Mave child fell from her arms. She reached out for it, screaming in panic.

  I pointed my sword at Neona’s face as she stared down at hers. “Back away from the weapon!” I yelled. I meant it. If she reached for her blade, I was willing to kill.

  I stepped forward and picked up her sword. I aimed both blades at her.

  “Captain, your orders?” Xena asked.

  “Protect the children!” I yelled as Xena and the androids formed a wall that surrounded them.

  From the corner of my eye, I watched as Luther gripped the Architect by the throat. I heard her gag as his powerful hands shook her violently. “You fucking bitch!” he roared. Luther slammed her into a metal storage bin as she winced in pain. The SUV-sized bin rocked from the impact. She coughed and tried to pull his hand away from her throat as black blood poured from her mouth and nose.

  “You’ll always struggle for every inch of your miserable lives without me! You c-could have shown them the life of a god,” she said.

  Luther dragged her by the throat to the Mave child that was crawling on the ground. He slammed the Architect onto her back and pinned her to the floor. He picked up the Mave child by the head and pressed it against her so that they were face to face. “If you’re a god, then why can’t you stop me now?” Luther asked. “Huh?” he demanded. He crushed the Mave child’s head in her face with his bare hand, its blood and skull fragments spilling onto her face as she shook violently and let out a deafening scream while kicking her legs.

  “Why can’t you stop me?” Luther roared, bashing her head into the floor as he tossed the Mave child aside. He lifted her a meter off the floor and slammed her repeatedly. I could hear her metallic bones cracking as they clacked against the floor. He pointed his sword at her face as her eyes widened, then slowly inched the scorching plasma blade into her mouth as he held her jaw in place.

  “I c-can save her. Let me live... I can save Neona,” she struggled to say.

  “You can’t even save yourself,” Luther said as the plasma blade melted her lips. She squirmed, attempting to hit Luther with her fist, but he was far too powerful.

  “You murdered my sons, hundreds of my people out of your own paranoia, your own misfortunes. The truth is, man, machine, or both, you can’t stop bad things from happening no more than you can stop me now,” Luther said. She screamed as her silver canines turned into a black goo and her face caught fire. As difficult as it was to watch, I couldn’t stop looking.

  Her eyes popped out as Luther shoved the blade through her skull and ripped it upward, cutting her head in half. He stood up and began to hack away at her furiously, slicing her body into dozens of pieces.

  I gulped as Xena stepped beside me. Everyone was staring at Luther. “Captain, wouldn’t you agree that the Architect’s strategy to capitalize on the weakened state of the Legion was logical but she failed to anticipate your resourcefulness—”

  “Xena, restrain Neona and take her as a... prisoner. We have no idea what the Mave virus is without the Architect,” I ordered as Luther continued to hack away at the Architect’s corpse.

  For a moment, I had the idea to comfort Luther by telling him it was over. But I quickly realized it might never be over for him, regardless if the Architect was dead or not. We still had no idea what this meant for the Mave virus. Did this mean Neona and the other infected would return to normal? What would happen to Luther?

  Chapter 6

  THE NEXT DAY...

  “Victoria,” Luther said softly.

  I rubbed my eyes and sat up in bed. I slept in my recruit barracks, where I initially started my knight training. My first thought was the Architect’s death was a dream, but as I gazed at Luther, I realized it wasn’t.

  He was sitting at the foot of my bunk. I noticed he had taken the time to clean himself up. There were no black stains from the blood of the Mave on his clothing, but his armor was still quite scoffed up. I observed several more claw and burn marks on his armor, mask, and helmet. There were more holes in his uniform. His white cape had been replaced by a new one.

  For a moment, I thought about how important it was for someone of his stature to keep up his appearance as best as he could, especially considering the circumstances. If the Legion’s Engineer walked around looking like death warmed-over, it could negatively affect morale. I hadn’t even considered something like that before, but it was apparent now.

  “What’s wrong? What time is it?” I asked.

  Luther shook his head. “It’s almost two in the afternoon,” he replied.

  I couldn’t believe I slept in this late. I was exhausted, but my plan was to get an early start. “And Neona?” I asked.

  “The Legion doctors are still running tests on her and many others. We won’t know until later.” He put his arms around me and held me tightly. I sighed in relief.

  “What were our losses?” I asked.

  “Four hundred and seven—so far,” he replied, slumping his head.

  “My god,” I mumbled. The number seemed incomprehensible considering the already small population. This was a devastation blow.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, staring deeply into my eyes.

  “So long as I don’t let my thoughts wander.”

  He nodded slowly. “The notion of the Mave still seems unfathomable to me at times, like a bad dream. I cannot imagine the way you feel. I wish I could have destroyed them before you came back to Earth, but I couldn’t have done it without the androids and your actions to get them here,” he whispered.

  I looked at him. “You ever think that stopping the Architect was what we were both born to do?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “Fate? No, I’ve never entertained that. I just thought of it as my responsibility.”

  I thought of Colonel Drake. “I had a friend from Titan that gave me a different insight. It makes me dizzy trying to imagine all this as a coincidence, that we found each other again and things fell into place for us to be able to stop the Architect. I obviously couldn’t have done it without you, but my relationship with Titan gave us the opportunity to use the androids and their aircraft against the Mave,” I explained.

  “The Architect never saw that coming,” Luther said.

  He began to massage my temples with his fingertips. It immediately felt familiar. He used to do that for me after long hours of flight training or when I came back from a deployment. It seemed to be the only thing that would suspend my thoughts.

  Something was different.

  I pulled away and looked down at his hand. For the first time in decades, I could see the skin on his thick hands. He wasn’t wearing his armored gloves. There were signs of the Mave infection as bits and pieces of cyberne
tics were visible around his knuckles and fingertips. “Has it always been like this or is the infection subsiding?” I asked. I wondered why he wasn’t cautious about touching me.

  “The doctors were able to test my blood. There’s no change in Mave nanobot count inside me,” he said.

  I sighed. “I wondered if the Architect’s death would alter your infection somehow,” I said.

  He stared at me. “It has. There was a change. My nanobots can’t survive in any other environment besides my body. The doctors believe it’s some sort of strange mutation. It’s no longer like a virus in me. More like a parasite, they say,” he explained, caressing my arm.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “But is it hurting you in any way?” I asked.

  “So far I feel the same. There are more tests that need to be ran, but for now we know it’s not infectious,” he said. I kissed the top of his hand and ran my fingers between his. My eyes glossed over as I remembered the way it felt to press my lips against his skin. It was such a small yet monumental moment to be able to express myself.

  Luther squeezed my hand and reached inside his chest armor. He handed me the small data core that could uplink Xena into most Kelton androids. “Victoria. Here. Xena told me to give this to you.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the device in my hand. “And where are Sylass and his androids now?” I asked.

  Luther put his arm on my shoulder. “They’re gone. We sent them back to their colony.”

  I sighed in relief. “Good.” I wasn’t necessarily worried about the androids, but I didn’t want them in our home anymore, not after finding out their true intentions with the cloning research.

  “But before I sent them home, I got some use out of them,” he said.

  I raised an eyebrow. “What kind of use?”

  “After the Architect’s assault, most people were exhausted. No one could keep their eyes open except me and, of course, the androids. They offered to assist us with medical care and—”