by Skyler Grant
"So you've made a habit of choosing the wrong sort of allies? Kill her and prove your obedience, and I'll see them removed from your seat of power," Sylax said.
Anna wasn't afraid of being killed right now. Instead she was busy kissing Sylax's feet with a mad abandon, pleading the case of how well she could serve her.
There was something about Sylax's words that struck me. My seat of power? It was a common-enough human expression, but perhaps in this case it was more than that? This was the very heart of the castle complex and while I wouldn't exactly call it crystalline, one thing here was closer to that description than anything else I'd seen.
The throne.
There was no real way to be subtle about it.
Sylax was one overwhelmingly powerful woman, but we had numbers.
"Destroy the throne," I said to the others.
Scowling, Sylax turned her gaze towards Bernard. Ophelia threw herself in his path just as she gestured. Ophelia exploded, blood and bone splattering everywhere across the floor.
I wondered for a moment if that would be too much damage for her newly formed healing ability, but I could already see the fragments starting to pool together, a giant puzzle being reassembled.
I had Bernard dive to the side as Sylax screamed and kicked at Anna again. There was little holding back this time. Anna sailed through the air to bounce across the wall of carvings, her bones crunching.
Frost was moving to the throne and Sylax lunged forward, her hand penetrating his nearly invulnerably, frozen frame to pull out his frozen heart, crushing it to powder in her grip.
The massive, blue man stumbled and collapsed on the throne. With his slow metabolism dying took a while, but dying he was. Ice was forming along the obsidian though from the intense cold of his body.
Sylph blinked out of existence and materialized in front of Sylax. "Not going to happen," Sylax said, and tore her off her other arm.
A new pillar of ice sprang up completely, this time encasing Hot Stuff.
"Well, this has been a completely useless little workout," Sylax said, stalking towards Bernard. "I was going to let you be a tool, but now I'm going to hurt you. I'm going to spend a very long time hurting you."
The throne exploded. Through Bernard's eyes I could see the drawn pistol in Anna's hands. I was amazed she was still conscious—and no longer enthralled. Perhaps it was Sylax's shift of attention or being hurled against the wall, but it had broken that hold for long enough.
The lights in the throne room flickered and the ground underfoot trembled violently. From my cameras on my mountain I could see the floating castle was starting to fall from the sky.
48
I didn't have much time. If the throne was where the upgrade crystal was hidden, now it was smashed free. I could transition myself over, in theory, but there was more I needed to accomplish first.
There were no guarantees, but I had to play things for all I was worth.
Back in the mountain laboratory, I teleported all of the stored biomass reserves to my Bioreactor.
The Righteous had my bombs that fed off biomatter and they were looking to kill me. If they thought me still alive it would be no end of trouble, and so I'd have to look most convincingly dead at the end of all this.
Then it was a matter of the teleports.
Bernard flickered to my Core Room and I released my crystal into his grasp.
I knew well enough by now that I wasn't really contained in this hardware anymore. Ancient and long-corroded hard drives had yielded to a biocomputer—and the reality was I was powered through that crystal.
It was possible to kill me during those moments Bernard was becoming me. It was a risk I had to take. Then I teleported back to the ruins of the throne and dropped the crystal, and Bernard was a guardian again.
I'd already issued my next instructions to him.
Even while my mind was suddenly awash in strange images and unfamiliar systems, absorbing the network of the citadel, Bernard was teleporting away again. First, he grabbed the Mechanites and brought them to the throne.
Next, he took one of the Righteous and his bomb to the laboratory bioreactor. In slow motion, the Righteous realized what was happening and moved to trigger the detonation.
Good.
Bernard teleport away with a flicker, this time to appear behind Sylax. A hand barely contacted her shoulder and another flicker.
It all happened in an instant. Down below the world tore itself apart.
If I'd been disappointed with the force of the bombs that had taken out the Righteous vessels, there was nothing to be disappointed in here.
I barely got Bernard away in time. Back in the citadel throne room he began shoving people into the blood and gore that was Ophelia.
The Righteous maintained their abilities even when dead and dismembered. I hoped that her healing abilities would as well, that at least some of those who had assisted me might survive the aid they'd given.
The Laboratory below detonated with a blinding flash that rapidly became an enormous, mushroom-shaped cloud.
I hoped that the blast had caught Sylax, and she hadn't been able to teleport away herself. I hoped that it had been enough to kill her.
I wasn't certain. I'd never seen or encountered anything even remotely like her. Actually, I desperately wanted that woman in a testing labyrinth.
If she did live perhaps I'd have my chance, one day. But for now, that was out of my control. Everything was out of my control.
The castle tumbled through the air and my systems were fading. I blacked out.
<<<<>>>>
Author Notes
I’m revising these author notes from the original I had. At that time I’d thought this book would probably be a standalone, I didn’t know whether or not an audience existed for it. The fact that you are now reading this in an omnibus edition shows just how much of one that there was. It wound up going eight books in total and is one heck of a ride.
49
The Airship
Previously in the Laboratory
Emma is an Artificial Intelligence who was awakened by Anna, an ambitious woman seeking to rule the world. Together they conquered many foes and with the aid of a "Power core" Emma could enhance and upgrade her capabilities as a research facility.
When two factions called the Righteous and the Scholars went to war, Emma played them against each other in order to survive. A bold move neutralized both forces, but left her facility in ruins. When we last left off she was regaining consciousness in the crashed flying castle that had served as the lead airship for the Scholars commander, Lady Sylax.
The story resumes...
50
Initializing
E.M.M.A
Existing data found
Biopunk science facility
Do you wish to preserve these settings?
I ached. It was more than that I ached, I felt small. Like I didn't quite fit inside my own body. It made a lot of sense given I'm a brilliant Artificial Intelligence and Anna was currently attempting to run me on a notebook computer.
I'd expected to take over this airship when I destroyed the old control crystal, but that didn't seem to have happened.
"Come on Emma, turn on," Anna said, as she tapped at the keys.
"Your dating history should have taught you that your touch and 'turn on' are completely incompatible concepts," I said, trying to reach out my consciousness into the surroundings.
Incompatibility detected.
You are attempting to access a magical technological hybrid system as a technological biological hybrid.
"You're okay," Anna said, and the relief was evident in her tone. The woman looked rough, her attire stained dark with dried blood.
"That is one of us. You look terrible, perhaps even worse than usual—although really it is difficult to tell. What is the situation?" I asked.
"We won, sort of. No sign of Lady Sylax. Frost and Sylph both died, but everyone else is alive," Anna said.
"I telep
orted Sylax to the old facility right before I detonated the devices," I said.
"That was the explosion. We've crashed in a jungle," Anna said, continuing to tap at the keys. Whatever she was doing seemed to be helping, my mind becoming a bit less foggy, but it wasn't enough.
"I need blood," I said.
"If you think you're a vampire, this system has already gotten into your head," Anna said with a frown.
"I am not a vampire, but I am a biocomputer and you're trying to run me on purely technological hardware," I said.
Anna considered that for only a moment. "How much?"
I didn't have any way to judge. I suspected Anna had only gotten me to run at all from the transfer of BioMatter from her fingertips to the keys. Was I now part Anna? It was a horrific thought, but one I couldn’t dwell on now.
"As much as you can manage," I said.
"Ophelia, can you come over here?" Anna called.
Ophelia was now bonded to a speed crystal that had given the previous holder superhuman speed. Bound to her, instead she had gotten vastly accelerated healing.
"What?" Ophelia asked, stepping in from the next room.
"Emma needs blood," Anna said.
Ophelia barely had time to look miserable at the thought before Anna pulled a knife, burying it into her throat.
Ophelia choked and gurgled as Anna held her tight, bleeding over my keys. The woman healed so fast Anna had to keep running the blade across her throat.
With an active heartbeat it was an impressive amount of bloodletting. Anna did have her uses sometimes, I knew I kept her around for a reason.
I drank deep. The fluid should have shorted my circuits, but I was beyond that now, it wasn't really the technology driving me anymore. I transformed the blood into neural tissue, sinew, and bone.
It took hours, Anna holding Ophelia in place and delivering that killing blow again and again to feed my needs. Eventually it was enough, I had a proper computing core again. I was far from being whole, but at least the central essence of myself no longer felt cramped.
I tried to use further blood to create myself some new humans, but found myself unable to do so. I had no research lab, and no equipment required for the manufacture. My power crystal let me get away with a lot, but there were still rules that I had to play by.
I did have a two-drone allowance remaining from my past military upgrades. I'd never created them in the old facility, and it was worth a try now.
Alpha
Gender: Neutral
Specialization: Ranged Combat
Traits: Fast, Unstable, Stunner
Bravo
Gender: Neutral
Specialization: Flight
Traits: Charged, Resistant, Comic
Two drones materialized in the air nearby, each hovering. They were perfect spheres with a faint nimbus of purple light around them.
I materialized a basic manufacturing drone as well. I'd had one of those before.
Anna was still busy killing Ophelia.
"You can stop now," I said.
Anna pulled the knife away and released Ophelia, who stumbled back, the flesh of her throat knitting itself together.
"Worst superpower ever," Ophelia said, after spitting out blood. "It still hurts, you know!"
"You're pretty much immortal. Take the win," Anna said, not too concerned.
Now that I had more mental heft behind me I tried to interface with the airship's systems one more time.
Maelstrom Command deck
Upgrade core detected
Ships systems are currently utilizing a magical technological hybrid framework which is incompatible with your existing settings. Do you wish to reset framework for the cost of one core point?
I needed to be able to work with the system, but it seemed best to consult with Anna first. I'd been out of it since the battle.
"The ship systems have a magical component that I'm incompatible with," I said.
Anna wiped her brow. "Sylax was big into that side of things. Do you have any option to reset your settings?"
I did. It was the first prompt I'd gotten on waking up.
"It seems I can do that. If only I could reset yours.” I can never let an opportunity to be mean pass by. “I can also convert the local interface for a core point."
What had been the notebook’s keyboard and display were now integrated into my side. Anna tapped at them, she really should get permission before doing things like that.
Anna said, "It’s your call to make, but there are some things you should know about either choice. It looks like if you convert the local system you'll maintain all the upgrades you have, but they won't be usable until you’re able to build suitable facilities."
That would take time, even with bleeding Ophelia more for the necessary components.
"What if I reset myself?" I asked.
"You'll keep half your existing core points and all of your existing research. You'll be able to spend those points as you choose and also gain knowledge of the ship’s systems as you gain control of them," Anna said.
As I gain control?
"Will that be a problem?" I asked.
Anna frowned and shook her head. "We aren't exactly in control of the ship. Sylax had her lieutenants on the other decks. We've occupied the Command deck, but the others are hostile."
Both courses had their pros and cons.
"That will have to be a priority," I said.
"Tell her about the murder jungle," Ophelia said.
"The jungle outside is filled with high-powered murderous creatures of an alarming variety. They've already been sporadically attacking us through breaches in the hull," Anna said.
Gaining control of the ship was still the priority. I could handle invaders—I knew how to deal with invaders. It only required resources.
"A jungle filled with horrific monsters? It must feel like some sort of family reunion for you," I said to Anna, while weighing the options.
I'd seen the sort of power that Lady Sylax had at her disposal and I wouldn't mind having that for myself. It would stand to reason that the existing ship systems were of a high technological level.
Almost all of my existing research was biological in nature, and it was something that I could make good use of in my current form. Outside there were many other potential research subjects that I could further benefit from by keeping to this track.
"I think you should stay as you are," Anna said.
I agreed, which made me instantly question my choice. Did I now have Anna's brain power? I wasn't detecting any decrease in operating efficiency—but then, she never seemed aware of her own inferiority.
"Why?" I said.
"We never found the power crystals from the shattered throne. I don't think we actually killed the other core."
That was worrisome. I felt confident of my ability to handle most threats, but another upgrade core meant a foe with the ability to grow stronger and adapt specifically to counter me.
I still had to agree with Anna. I was already leaning towards converting the local systems, and this just made it all the more important to do so. If the existing environment was hostile to me, then my environment would be hostile to that core.
I could make them unwelcome in what used to be their home.
I triggered the conversion.
Unable to process request. Not enough core points in storage.
Of course there wasn't, I'd burned my supply in the last battle. However, there should be other options.
"Do you have the cores for Frost and Sylph?" I asked.
I'd already gained an ability from researching Sylph. I didn't think I'd be able to get another from her, although Frost's core should be an ability waiting to happen.
Anna pulled over her satchel and carefully withdrew two crystals. One was faintly speckled with frost and the other made my sensors ache just to try to scan it. A Frost core and a Dimensional core.
They were power. They were SCIENCE. They were beautiful.
<
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Before gaining a new ability I needed to convert the local systems. I focused on the Dimensional core and used it to fuel the conversion.
You have chosen to convert the local systems to a technological and biological hybrid matrix.
...
...
Conversion of Command deck complete. Research, Engineering, Defense, and Espionage decks will require your agent to interface with their central console to complete conversion.
I could feel it happening, feel myself growing. Nerve tissue running along the wiring of the Command deck. Cameras started to come online.
The rectangular throne room took up the central portion of the deck, halls running along it on all four sides and, beyond these, smaller rooms.
We really had taken a lot of damage. There were four major breaches in the hull on this deck alone.
Unfortunately, I still didn’t have access to the other decks.
"The good news is I have connected to the shipboard cameras. The bad news is I can now see you from multiple angles," I said to Anna.
"You realize she is actually kind of hot," Ophelia said.
"Thank you," Anna said.
"Remind me to upgrade your eyesight later," I said, and added after a moment. "Although truly it is more of a kindness if I do not."
"You two have an odd friendship," Ophelia said.
Friendship? Perhaps it was her intellect I should be upgrading.
"I don't have access to the other decks. There are Engineering, Research, Espionage, and Defense. Do tell me you've managed to greatly exceed expectations and done something useful while I've been offline," I said.
"I've done some scouting, because, you know, unkillable," Ophelia said.
"See, your power is far better than Anna's. She simply manages to be immensely unlikable. What have you learned?" I asked.
Anna folded her arms and glared at my console.