by Kory Shen
Mia kept silent as Julie slapped her viciously.
"No, Julie," I said. "Don't. It's not her fault. She was following orders."
"Orders?" Julie glared at me. "I'm a soldier. I know what following orders means. But this is stupid."
Julie got off Mia and stood.
"Mia," I tossed her the phone. She caught it as she rose to her feet. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I am a threat now. I don't know."
Dustin, what're you doing?
They should be afraid. Look at what Staccato turned into. I have a piece of Mekanic tech in my head now. What if they can influence me? What if they can make me into one of them?
Then, we fight it! I could sense Zoe's doubts, too, though.
Mia held the phone in her hands. She opened it, then hesitated, uncertain. "Dustin…"
"Mia, Julie. I honestly don't know what we're doing. What I've learned since coming here—what if the War isn't real? What if the Chimerics are wrong? What if, what if…" I looked at Vikki's broken body. "What if we're not on the right side?"
Zoe was quiet.
"Come on, Dustin," Julie said. "I'm with you here, but the Mekanics killed tons of people. You can't deny that."
"What about Staccato? Or the wars we had before the Mekanics arrived? I don't think there's any right side. Only people who care about what's right. And those who don't."
"Then, what?" Julie asked.
"This all started when someone asked me to trust them. Mia. I trust you'll do what's right. If you really think I have to go, I'll leave it in your hands." I glanced at Julie. "No offense, but you're a bit hotheaded. Like me."
Julie frowned, but looked at Mia.
Mia, stoic Mia, stared into my eyes, one human, the other metal, with her own tear-stained dark brown eyes. "Dustin, this isn't about right and wrong. It's about…" She dropped the phone and ran to me. I caught her in my arms. "I had to follow orders. I had to."
Mia hugged me tightly. "I'd take it back if I could," Mia said.
If she could?
I broke the hug. "What do you mean?" I asked.
"I armed the explosive. Even if I don't trigger it manually, it will auto-trigger in ten minutes anyway. It's irreversible. I can't stop it."
If I could meld, would we survive? I tried to meld, but still nothing happened. Zoe!
We don't have the surgical tools to get it out of you safely. I can rip it from your gut, if we have to.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
"Jesus fucking Christ," Julie muttered.
"Um, excuse me?" Vikki asked. "Father's coming. He's bringing the big one."
I had forgotten about Vikki for a brief moment. "The big one?"
A set of thundering footsteps echoed further down the tunnel leading to the hangar. They sounded slow. And heavy. Very heavy.
CHAPTER 23
"Vikki!" I pointed to the flying saucer. "Can you fly that thing?"
"I can interface with it," Vikki said. "One second."
A ramp descended from center of the round ship.
I exchanged glances with the others. "It's our only way out. Let's go."
I picked up Vikki. Zoe grabbed Mia's phone. We raced towards the lowered ramp.
Julie ran up the ramp first.
She dove headfirst back down the ramp, melding and rolling to a stop with her eight legs spread out.
Garvek, in a new blocky body, calmly walked down the ramp.
He wagged a finger at us. "Trying to sneak out? It's useless."
I thought he was out there? He can be in two places at once?
I don't know, honestly. It's possible.
Mia melded and bit through his body, tossing his pieces to the side.
"I've disabled the vessel's navigation," Garvek said as his head clattered on the ground.
"Wait," Vikki said. A wall slid down the entrance to the hangar, blocking the connecting tunnel. "I managed to sneak that one by him. But it will only slow him down a little. Take me inside!"
Mia and Julie unmelded. We raced up the ramp again, ignoring Garvek.
The interior was spacious, a giant circular chamber. There were no obvious controls or screen, just smooth metal walls.
"What now?" Julie asked.
"Vikki?" I asked.
She closed her eyes for several seconds. They opened again, wide in alarm. "I…I can't access the ship. Father's removed the control interface."
"Fuck!" Julie raced to the ship's walls, examining them.
"Mia," I said. Give her the phone.
Zoe padded over to Mia, dropping the phone at her feet. Mia scooped it up. "Dustin, I thought…"
"No, not that. Can you contact anyone?" I asked.
Mia nodded, then typed on the phone. "No, I still can't get any signal."
"You can't," Vikki said. "The airbase hull blocks all signals." She closed her eyes briefly. "I can't open the exits. Father's blocked them, too."
"Can we breach the hull?" Mia asked.
Vikki nodded. "We're next to the base's surface. If we can cut through the door—"
Mia headed for the ramp. "I'm on it."
"Wait!" Vikki shouted. "There's no time. Father's shared his records with me. Neither of you would be able to break through in time."
The ship's floor rattled, as if something large had just stepped into the hangar. Something pounded on the hangar's entrance.
"He's at the wall," Vikki said.
"Any other ideas?" I asked in a rush.
Vikki gestured toward my belly. "You. That bomb. It's a quantum disrupter, isn't it?"
"What?" all three of us asked at once.
"Um," Vikki eye's darted between us. "You have portals. It's the same technology as a portal. It can cut through any matter."
"What! Dr. Hill put a portal inside me?" Shit, how much time do I have left, anyway?
About six minutes by my count.
"It would cut through the hull easily," Vikki said.
"But how do we get it out of Dustin," Julie asked.
Mia wrapped her arms around me from behind, trying to perform a Heimlich maneuver. After a few seconds of her squeezing my stomach and me trying to puke, we gave up.
Dustin. I'll make the cuts quick and clean. Zoe approached, her paw raised with extended claws.
"No, no, no." I backed away from Zoe.
"Well, if you can't puke it up—" Julie started.
Mia moved to my front without saying a word. She reached into my mouth with her hand, trying to tickle the back of my throat. "Can you vomit?" she asked.
I coughed and gagged, pushing Mia away. My hands grabbed something soft and round by accident, but I was too busy trying to puke to care.
I doubled over, spitting stomach acid.
"It's going to have to be your cat, then," Julie said.
"Wait." I held up a hand. Mia had given me an idea. "Vikki?"
There was a loud groan of metal. The pounding stopped for a moment, then continued.
Vikki turned her head. "Hurry. He's almost through."
"How long is your tongue?" I asked.
Zoe made a coughing noise. You're not thinking…
They do surgery like this. Endo-something.
Vikki brightened. "Three point two feet."
"Remember?" I asked. "Open wide." I opened my mouth as wide as I could, approaching the broken remnants of the metal girl.
"Gross," Julie said. "You're not going to—"
Vikki and I kissed. Something slithered down my throat. I fought the urge to gag.
The kiss seemed to last forever, but Vikki's tongue eventually retracted. I set her back down.
I turned to find Mia and Julie staring with horrified expressions.
"What?"
Hurry, Dustin!
Right.
Vikki was holding the tracker-bomb in her lips. I plucked it out. "Thanks, Vikki."
She smiled, her cracked and scratched features shifting. "That was my first kiss. At least since my last reboot."
I held up the round met
al object. "Now we need to blow up a wall."
I covered my ears at a loud, screeching sound followed by an ear-splitting crash. The ship rocked.
Someone outside roared.
"Father's here," Vikki whispered. "The big one, this time."
"Julie, Mia. You distract it." I took the phone from Mia. "How do I trigger the bomb?"
Mia tapped the phone, then handed it over. "It's ready. Hit the confirmation."
"Okay," I replied. "Our goal's to get through that wall. Go, go!"
We ran out of the flying saucer at the same time, splitting up into three directions. I carried Vikki over my shoulder, with Zoe tagging along with me.
I didn't look backwards but ran straight for the far wall, the phone and bomb clutched in my hands.
I don't believe this.
What?
Zoe sent a quick flash of a mental image. It was a sleek, metallic cat, except it had to be nearly a hundred feet long.
Garvek likes cats? Oh god, I really needed to get away from him. And I don't even want to know what Grade that is.
Something exploded behind me. Mia and Julie would be trying to distract it.
We'd bust a hole, then try our luck on the surface of the base, praying that someone had heard my earlier message. Or that there was another flying saucer Vikki could fly. Anything but letting Garvek have his way.
It was a weak plan, but we had to keep moving. To stay free. To stay alive.
I rolled the bomb on the ground like a bowling ball towards the wall, which was about twenty yards away.
I held the phone in my hand, ready to trigger the bomb like Mia had shown me.
Just a bit more—
Something brown blurred. A bladed insect arm met the rolling ball, flicking it high up into the air.
"Garvek!" Staccato screamed, pointing at the bomb with a blade before dashing away.
Garvek was faster than I expected with his enormous body. The floor shook as he bounded towards us. I scrambled away to avoid getting crushed, but Garvek leaped high at the last second.
He caught the bomb in his mouth.
No! The plan was falling apart already, but I could at least buy us more time. I detonated the bomb as Garvek closed his jaws.
Garvek's enormous metal mouth lit up with a purple glow. Then, Garvek spit out hunks of metal and raised his head, roaring like a lion.
Shit, did that even do anything?
Watch out! Staccato!
I raced towards the girls, but Staccato cut me off.
"Hunter, you fool." He swiped a bladed forearm at me, but Garvek shrieked. A giant metal paw knocked Staccato aside.
"Not him," Garvek growled. "Do what you want with the others." Garvek lowered his massive cat head toward me. "You and I will be one. It's destiny."
So Garvek didn't want me hurt. I had to use that, somehow. I raced toward Staccato, who was approaching Mia and Julie.
Julie shot her webbing at Staccato, but he cut them out of the air with glowing blue blades. Mia moved to the front to meet Staccato.
"Staccato! No, don't do this!" I screamed as I ran toward the fight. "It's Julie and Mia!"
Staccato laughed. "You think I care?" He slashed downward with both arms at once, his blades sinking deep into Mia's shell. Mia screamed.
Julie spat more webbing at Staccato's insect head while his arms were occupied, then leaped onto his back, stabbing him with her legs.
Staccato ignored Julie, as if confident that he could take out Mia before Julie did any real damage.
"Staccato!" I ran toward his Beastform, unsure what I could do without being able to meld.
I had briefly forgotten about Garvek. He lunged and picked Julie off Staccato's back as if she was an ordinary bug. Julie tried to scramble away, but Garvek bit down hard, catching two of Julie's legs in his jaws.
A second set of screams joined the first.
"No!" I rushed Staccato, kicking uselessly at one of his brown insect legs. He flicked the leg at me, knocking the air out of me as I slammed into the floor.
I had been holding Vikki, but I lost my grip on her. She skidded a few feet past me.
A shadow fell over us. An enormous metal paw descended. I scrambled towards Vikki, but I was still groggy and couldn't move fast enough.
Zoe sprinted past me, swiping at Vikki, then dancing out of the way as the metal paw slammed into the ground.
"Vikki!"
Zoe had only been able to knock her a short distance away. Garvek had crushed the rest of her body, leaving only Vikki's head intact.
Garvek lifted his paw. None of us would be able to stop his next attack.
We were outmatched. Drake had said it long ago. An unstoppable, overwhelming force, where our only goal was to survive. There was only one thing we could do.
Die.
No! I screamed. Drake was wrong. We didn't have to die. We had to change. Evolve. Adapt.
I looked at Zoe, who was crouched low, muscles tensed for action.
I looked at Vikki, wires dangling from her neck. She was facing me, and her lips were moving, but I couldn't make out what she was saying.
Evolve. Adapt. There was only one way to do that. There had only ever been one way, the same one that had been there the whole time.
I crawled over to Vikki, forcing my limbs to respond.
Zoe cocked her head. She knew what I was going to try.
Zoe, we have to give it a shot. I know how you feel about them—
A flood of emotions poured through our bond. Fear. Anger. Desperation. And last of all, hope. Do it, Dustin.
You know the risks. What happened to Staccato's Avatar.
Zoe grabbed the wires jutting out of Vikki's neck with his mouth and dragged her over to me. Do it!
"Vikki," I said. "Can we…can we bond?"
Vikki blinked at me. "Are you sure? What if…what if I'm not good enough?"
Christ, what had happened to the pushy psycho girl from before? "Vikki, we have to!" I glanced up at Garvek. We didn't have any time left. "Vikki! You asked me back at the Academy. Yes, yes, I trust you. To end the War. Vikki!"
Vikki closed her eyes. "Thank you, Dustin."
She didn't move. "Vikki? Vikki?"
Her eyes snapped open, boring into my face. "Initiating Ego sequence," she said in a flat tone.
Oh shit—
A splitting pain ripped through my right eye socket, spreading a moment later to fill my entire head.
Zoe screeched, and pain ping-ponged between our mental bond. The pressure grew inside my head, my skull brimming with agony. My head was going to explode.
I couldn't see anymore. Everything blurred and turned black.
I was Dustin. And I was Zoe.
Zoe! Dustin! Zoe—
CHAPTER 24
There was nothing but endless black.
Something blinked in the middle. A blue rectangle.
The blue rectangle moved to the right. Words appeared in its trail.
COMPILING BEASTMASTER…
The rectangle blinked, waiting.
WARNING: UNKNOWN HARDWARE DETECTED.
WARNING: NO MATCHING DRIVERS FOUND.
WARNING: USING GENERIC DRIVERS.
AVATAR…DETECTED.
EGO…DETECTED.
WARNING: NONSTANDARD GENDER POLARITY.
INITIALIZING…
WARNING: PREVIOUS BUILD DETECTED.
IMPORTING PREVIOUS BUILD…
DEPRECATION WARNING: SONIC SCREECH. SUPPORT MAY BE REMOVED IN FUTURE VERSIONS.
DEPRECATION WARNING: PHASE SHIFT. SUPPORT MAY BE REMOVED IN FUTURE VERSIONS.
DEPRECATION WARNING: CLAW WHIRL. SUPPORT MAY BE REMOVED IN FUTURE VERSIONS.
DEPRECATION WARNING: PREDATOR REFLEXES. SUPPORT MAY BE REMOVED IN FUTURE VERSIONS.
UPDATING CONFIGURATION…
BUILDING BEASTMASTER…
REMOVING TEMPORARY FILES…
DONE. 9 WARNINGS. 0 ERRORS.
The world appeared in front of me. Vikki's head, her ey
es now still and lifeless, stared back at me. What had happened? I remembered a massive headache, and then…
I tried to move but couldn't. I realized there was no sound, no movement. Everything around me was frozen.
DUSTIN! IT WORKED! WHEEEEE!
The blue words scrolled across the right half of my vision.
Dustin?
Zoe! Are you okay?
I CAN HEAR BOTH OF YOU.
Wait…is that you, Vikki?
YUP!
Whoa. We were bonded. All three of us, Zoe, Vikki, and me.
Uh, but why's everything frozen? What's going on? I could vaguely make out Garvek's unmoving form above us.
ALL THIS CODE I COULD NEVER ACCESS! THE NEW CODE IN YOU! THIS IS EXCITING! :) :)
Vikki? Can we focus. There's a robot cat and giant insect trying to kill my friends.
SORRY. WE'RE IN A HYPERMIND STATE. THE BOND LETS AN AVATAR AND EGO COORDINATE AT NEAR-INSTANTANEOUS SPEEDS. IT'S AS IF YOU PAUSE THE WORLD WHILE WE MAKE OUR TACTICAL DECISIONS.
Shit! Did you know anything about this, Zoe?
No, this is all new to me, too. And amazing, I have to admit.
AMAZING? HEHE. WE CAN—UH OH.
Uh, what's wrong, Vikki?
YOUR MENTAL WAVEFORM IS SHOWING SIGNS OF INSTABILITY FROM THE HYPERMIND. ZOE IS FINE, BUT THE HUMAN BRAIN WASN'T MEANT FOR THIS. I DON'T THINK WE CAN USE THE HYPERMIND FOR TOO LONG, OR TOO OFTEN.
Okay, focus, Vikki. What do we do? How do make it out of this?
The configuration…I don't believe this. It's beyond anything we've ever been taught.
Zoe, what is it?
You'll see. Vikki, please complete the configuration.
OKAY! BUT FIRST WE NEED TO MELD.
Meld? But I can't. I just zeroed.
I CAN ACCESS THE RECOVERY CHARGES.
Vikki's words vanished. Another set of words appeared briefly.
RECOVERY CHARGES: 2
RECOVERY COMPLETE.
ENERGY: 280/1600
We had 1600 energy total? Weird. I hadn't felt an evolution, either.
It must be from Vikki.