“Find him, bring him here. Any information we have on Yuri could be crucial if he has returned.”
Koenig nodded and began to gather his things. A look of relief flashed across his face. Persephone knew that he was much more comfortable in the Underpass.
“Manifold, are you repaired enough for action?” Persephone looked over to the cyborg who was flexing his repaired hand.
“I am fully functioning and ready,” came the monotone response.
“Good, I want you to track the Krovoz clan. If Ava is still with them, and Yuri is amongst them, they may have entered the Boulevard. I need them neutralising before they pose a problem. Locate them and take out any you can. I’ll send back-up once we have Blackwater liberated.”
“Understood,” Manifold turned and left the room.
Persephone took a breath and turned back to the window. Wrinkles in the plan aside, it was all coming together.
Chapter Fifty
Salem
Salem, Bella and Quartzig had moved down a side street away from the Boulevard to avoid rioting gangs.
“We still need to make our way to the Nucleus. There might be a way to stop this still,” Salem said, looking up towards the sphere.
“We’ll have to get through the crowds first,” Bella said. Although many had started to funnel towards the bridge, there was still a large number of bodies between them and the entrances to the Nucleus.
“I’ll help you get in, but then I’m going after Ally,” Quartzig replied. He had already started trying to locate her.
“That’s fair,” Bella nodded, “we can enter the closest building that has access to the Nucleus, but we might have to make our own entrance if it’s still locked down.”
“They must have managed to open an entrance somewhere,” Salem replied, “I’m sure we can make one for ourselves, but we’re going to have to fight to get there.”
“Remember, these people are civilians. Once the links are severed, they’ll return to their bodies,” Bella added, remembering her and Salem’s first encounter with the technology. “We should try not to seriously harm anyone if we can help it.”
“Are we ready?” Quartzig asked. His nanobody was beginning to create low-impact coverings on his arms and fists that would bruise but not break the skin.
“Jesus, that’s freaky! But yes, we’re ready,” Salem said, watching Quartzig’s skin rippling.
The crowds sound louder and more visceral as they moved back down the street to rejoin the Boulevard.
“Straight to the building, no stopping unless we absolutely have to,” Salem paused for a moment.
They moved out into the street, almost immediately, a man stumbled towards them. Blood was pouring from a wound on his skull where his neural implant had been ripped from his temple, and was hanging from wires that reached into the bloody mess. He didn’t speak, but he let out a guttural scream as his wild eyes saw Salem.
Quartzig stepped forwards, blocking a feral punch from the man by catching his wrist. With his free hand, Quartzig delivered a blow to the man’s unwounded temple, knocking him instantly unconscious.
“Come on,” he called to the others, and they began to wind their way through the crowd.
“Where’s the damn MPD and Medical?” Bella shouted as they passed several people lying injured on the ground, broken arms and limbs surrounded by blood.
“They’re trying to get onto the Boulevard, but they’re encountering a lot of resistance,” Quartzig replied, accessing information from the city’s comms.
“There’s nothing we can do for them here. We need to stop it at the source,” Salem said, his eyes fixed on their destination.
As they were working through the stream of people, most of which were heading in the other direction to them, seemingly intent on heading towards the bridge. They arrived at the crossroads and moved towards the closest skyscraper that had a connection to the Nucleus.
A gang of people lingered near the entrance. They were busy destroying an adjacent shop-front but turned as they approached, seven pairs of augmented eyes stared at them. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have been seen as a group, or even threatening, consisting of an elderly woman, three businessmen, a female mechanic, and two young students.
“What do we have here?” The elderly woman sneered, her limb support augmentations secured to her legs working overtime to keep her upright.
“Looks like more fresh meat to me,” one of the businessmen laughed. His voice had a subtle accent that seemed out of place.
Salem looked across the group, it was one thing to know what was happening, but another to try and get his head around the fact these seven people were being controlled by some of the worst criminals the Boulevard had to offer.
“So, who is it we’re speaking to?” Salem asked.
“Once we’ve gutted you, it won’t matter,” one of the students replied. He had multiple cosmetic augmentations that could change his appearance and looks. Currently, his long rainbow coloured hair framed his angular face.
“All the same, I’d like to know,” Salem continued, his eyes scanning each of them individually.
“We’re Das Irre,” the female mechanic shouted as she pulled a mechanical wrench from her tool-belt. It whirred into life, the clamps opening and closing as its adjustment mechanisms flexed like a fist.
“Ah, that makes sense,” Salem smiled, “those bodies don’t quite match your style, do they?” Salem mocked, knowing the Das Irre were a rather aggressive gang that prided themselves on their violence. They used muscle-mods to make them look larger than life, and these civilians were much lacking in that department.
“Screw you!” the elderly woman spat.
The group pushed forward, the three businesses men at the lead. They all had executive optical augmentations, giving them a constant connection to the newswires and information broadcasts around the city, but had very little practical use in a fight. Salem shot a hand out and planted the closest one directly in the nose with his palm. The crunch was audible. He followed up with a knee to the man's groin, causing him to fall to the ground, curled up in the foetal position.
Beside him, Bella had jumped forward and tackled the second businessman, whilst Quartzig kicked the third in the stomach, doubling him over before striking an elbow across his neck to drop him to the floor.
“I’m sure you guys are tougher in your real bodies, but these aren’t really up for a fight,” Salem said with a grin. He’d decided that the only one of the group that could give them serious trouble would be the mechanic. The others all had basic augmentations for day to day life, not fighting.
“Don’t be so sure!” the elderly woman hissed and leaned forwards. As she did, her legs began to adjust, the area where her feet were stretched until they became long tracks similar to tank treads. With a jerk, she rolled forwards, her body below her hip now a mobility unit, complete with.
“Okay…that I didn’t expect,” Salem shook his head in disbelief.
“A Model 12 Elderly Defence Integrated Transportation Housing, equipped with tasers and anti-mugging technology,” Quartzig analysed the augmentation.
“It’s called an E.D.I.T.H.? Really?” Salem shook his head.
Behind the woman, the mechanic and the two students prepared to attack, the students pulled a pair of self-defence batons from their bags, and the mechanic wheeled her wrench around and poised ready.
“Remember, these are civilians,” Bella said to the others, though Salem could tell she was trying to remind herself as well.
The two students ran at Bella, who ducked to avoid swings from the batons, then connected a kick to the knees of the rainbow-haired attacker closest to her. He crumbled to the ground, dropping his baton. Bella snatched it up just in time to use it to deflect a second attack from the other student.
Beside them, Quartzig had blocked the mechanic's attempt to tackle Bella from behind. The mechanic was a heavy set woman, and a backhanded slap to Quartzig’s chest m
ade him stumble a couple of steps.
“Interesting,” Quartzig said, his body adjusting to the fight. The nanobots that made up his body hardening and grew his size to make him a similar weight to the woman. “My turn,” he went to swing at her. As he did, he saw the wrench open and expand, the mechanic thrusting it upwards so the claw gripped around Quartzig’s wrist and began to crush it.
The old woman fired a small dart from her E.D.I.T.H. at Salem, who moved sharply to dodge before running directly at her. He leapt upwards, wrapping one arm around her neck as his second gripped his elbow to tighten the stranglehold. As he tried to stop her breathing, the tracks began to move rapidly, spinning them around in circles as the woman tried to throw him off.
“Go to sleep, you old crone!” Salem screamed, gripping harder as his legs left the ground from the force of the spin. An electric shock burst through him as the anti-mugging tech kicked into gear, causing his muscles to clench and hold tighter.
Bella had managed to fend off the attacks of one student. However, as the other managed to get to their feet, she found herself surrounded. Glancing between the two, she backed away, grabbing the pistol from her holster and took aim at the second.
“Don’t make me do this!” she warned, knowing it probably wouldn’t make much difference.
“Do it!” mocked the student, moving closer.
“Okay,” Bella replied and pulled the trigger. The student’s eyes widened as the bullet embedded in their chest before Bella adjusted her aim and fired another shot into the other student. A moment later, a buzzing sound filled the air, and the two students dropped to the ground, non-lethal suppression shots having activated.
Quartzig could feel the grip of the wrench tightening around his wrist as he swung his other fist towards the mechanic. She yanked the wrist downward, pulling Quartzig off balance and causing his swing to go wide. Quartzig grabbed his locked hand in with his free one and pulled hard, ripping it apart at the wrist until his hand was severed completely.
“The fuck?” the mechanic shouted as Quartzig picked up his severed hand in his left, and absorbed it, the nanobots assimilating the dismembered limb into his body. On the stump of his right hand, a claw similar to the mechanics wrench began to form. Once complete, he swung his claw and stuck the still shocked woman across the skull until she dropped to the floor.
Quartzig and Bella turned to look at Salem, who was still being thrown around in circles by the spinning chair, lazily it slowed to a stop as the woman finally lost consciousness.
“Thank god for that!” he shouted, taking a couple of unsteady footsteps as his head continued to spin.
“Did you shoot those two?” Quartzig asked, looking at the downed students.
“Electro-Tranq shots,” she held up her gun, “they have a slight chance of internal damage, so I didn’t want to use them unless it was essential,” she said.
Before they could continue the conversation, shouts from another group of people caught their attention. Another gang of ten people were making their way towards them.
“We need to get into the building!” Salem shouted. The door to the skyscraper was just ahead of them.
“Go, I’ll hold them off until you’re inside, then block the entrance,” Quartzig said.
“Are you sure? There’s a lot of them!” Bella asked.
“I’ve got this, something I’ve been meaning to try out,” Quartzig answered. His body began to change again. He snapped a finger from his hand and threw it to the ground. As it landed, it began to multiply, forming into another body.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Salem shouted as Quartzig repeated the process.
After a moment, there were three versions of Quartzig standing next to the original, all slightly shorter than the original.
“I think that’s the most I can do. There is a limit to the nanotech connections,” he said, smiling.
“Be careful,” Bella said.
“I will. Go and stop this!” he replied, before passing her a small comms device, “stay in contact.”
“Thank you,” Salem walked up to the original Quartzig and shook his hand.
“You’re welcome, now go!”
Quartzig turned, and the group of copies ran towards the gang that was moving towards them.
Bella and Salem didn’t waste a moment and sped towards the door, smashing into it and entered the building.
Chapter Fifty-One
Xander
As Xander woke up on the floor of a cell, his muscles still tingled, reminding him of the electric shock that had pulsed through him. The cold concrete of the floor chilled him as he stirred and got to his feet.
Looking around, he felt his heart drop as his thoughts began to form.
Peter’s back. Prime really has been taken over by Peter. He stretched out his limbs to get rid of the stiffness in them.
Scanning the room, he looked for a means of escape. Flashbacks of the cerebral trap he’d been in when trying to save Donovan crossed his mind. A slight wave of cold sweat passed over him as the memory grew. He tried to shake the thoughts away, this isn’t the same.
A flash appeared on the wall in front of him, a display screen forming. On it, the three AI Judges flickered into view.
“Mr Draven,” the elder spoke.
“Hi,” Xander waved back, putting a fake smile across his face.
“We have been monitoring your situation and thought it was apt to assist at this moment in time,” the younger said.
“That’s…great, thanks, good timing. I’m afraid I may have been wrong about Prime, or at least something has changed. Peter is now running the show.”
“We understand, for now, there are greater problems in the city. There appears to be a hostile takeover. We fear the citizens of the city are in danger.”
“A take-over?” Xander raised his eyebrows.
“Correct, it seems a female called Persephone has infiltrated the minds of many innocents,” the female judge added. The display showed images of the chaos that was erupting across the city.
“To what end?” Xander asked, his eyes scanning the images in horror.
“A breakout, it seems those taken are headed towards the prison,” the elder replied as the protective field securing the cell faded. “We believe you are in an optimum position to try and prevent the situation.”
“Prevent it? How?” Xander peered around the edge of the cell to check for any sentries.
“The bridge, it needs to be destroyed. It’s automated defences will eliminate many of the threats, but an analysis of the number of bodies converging at the bridge have determined they will overcome its capabilities. Removal of the bridge is the only guarantee to prevent a full-scale breakout.”
“Woah, eliminate the threats? You mean to kill the innocent people that Persephone has taken over? And destroy the bridge? Leaving me stranded here?” Xander’s head was spinning.
“It is the only sure way to secure the prison and save the city,” The younger replied.
“Casualties will occur regardless of what you do. This way, at least, they will be minimised.”
Xander shook his head. He could barely believe what was happening.
“Let’s say I did want to help. How can I even destroy the bridge?”
“It has a manual failsafe, designed for emergencies such as this to cut Blackwater off from the mainland. Activation points are located on each side of the bridge, but we cannot access the mainland side currently. Get to the failsafe and activate it. The bridge will detonate five minutes after activation,” the female judge explained.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do, but if there’s another way…” Xander sighed and stepped out of the cell. “Do you know how my friends are? They were trying to stop Persephone,” he asked, pausing his footsteps.
“We are…unsure of their status. We will try to contact them,” the elder replied.
“Thanks,” Xander said, then began to make his way down the corridor.
*
The fresh air hit his face as Xander pushed open the metal doors to the access route. He took a brief moment to savour the air before continuing. He’d not encountered anyone on his journey. In fact, the prison had seemed entirely silent. Now, however, he could hear the sounds drifting in from over the water. He rushed up the steps until he was at ground level and could see the city's outline once again as he walked towards the bridge.
Towers of smoke and the glow of fires were visible on the mainland, with a vast array of lights flickering before fading and plunging areas of the city into darkness. Xander hoped the others were at least somewhere safe.
“Mr Draven! Didn’t think I’d see you again!” A voice shouted out.
Xander looked back and saw Conrad leaning against the arrival dock of the bridge.
“Conrad! I wasn’t sure you’d still be here!”
“Where am I going to go? The city looks to be going to hell,” he replied.
“The prisoners, there’s a breakout coming from the mainland.”
“Pfft, they’d need an army to get across that bridge,” Conrad nodded at the vast metal structure in front of them.
“That’s the problem. They have an army! Innocent civilians are being controlled by the prisoners!” Xander was still struggling to understand it himself.
Before Conrad could ask what he meant, a loud explosion from across the water grabbed their attention. Looking towards the bridge, they could see smoke drifting into the air.
“God damnit!” Conrad shouted and rushed into the small control room that stood beside them.
“What exactly are the defences of the bridge?” Xander asked, following him.
“Everything. Mines, lasers, electrified fencing, hell even old fashioned gun turrets!” Conrad replied, flicking a switch on the control board in front of him.
Several security cameras flickered into life, showing the opposite side of the bridge. Crowds of people had broken through the metal fencing that blocked the main pathway; several bodies lay still on the ground, their skin darkened from electric burns.
Neon Blood (Neon Helix Universe Book 3) Page 21