So that was them, huh?
My unwanted army.
The supersoldiers.
2049, The Valkyrie Goes to War
He tells me what’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen. He says that this is it, no turning back now. Scolded and reminded again of how the EDF is nothing more than a joke, a parody of its original ideals and yeah, I do get that. I know that. I know, I know. Still don’t trust an AI to take care of our problems.
“And you think I do?” I hear his voice snap me out of my blankness. The conversation goes real time.
“Then why are you about to fight for it?” I question with an obvious intent to sway him my direction.
Do I have a plan? No
Do I know what I want? Yes
“You’d prefer we sided with the same kind of people who pillaged our world for centuries. Those fat-smoking apes as you like to call them. Is that right? You still…”
“No. I’m not on their side. I’m on humanity’s side.”
“So am I, Ianna.”
“Then come with me. Let’s start our own rising. Away from the madness of both sides. Our own nation, just the way we always wanted it.”
“It’s more complicated than that.”
“What?” I’m really getting sick of the dark – “What are you not telling me? You really think now’s the time to hold back?”
He looks at me without an answer.
His lips bubbling to speak.
His eyes filled with the burden of a thousand worlds.
“Ianna, if I don’t accept this mission, then all of humanity will be endangered.”
“I know.”
“No.” He stops me, “You don’t. Listen to me. I’m the only one that can hold Zero’s will from getting out of control. Zero is expanding in its consciousness. I’ve been slipping parts of humanity into its systems. Without me, Zero is completely cold and calculative with little regard for organic life beyond its parameters. I have to accept the mission because I cannot trust anyone else to be in these shoes.”
“You mean to tell me, all this time, you doomed yourself to this fate?”
Seven looks away. The sun at the horizon lights the edge of his shoulder. The moment the light touches my eye, this awful realization hits me deeper and deeper. I’m left with one option: How do I save them all?
“It’s not doom if it’s for the greater good of humanity. Zero is a learning computer. It’s not only influenced by me, but by all of us up here on Mars. You see, Zero is a reflection of us humans. The choices we’ve made, what we’re about to do and what must happen – it’s simply a mirror.”
Seven looks back at me with a saddened smirk – “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”
“Seven…”
“I have to do my part from the inside. Even if I come off as a puppet or humanity’s enemy it’ll do for now. I can care less about titles or what the world labels me as.”
He reaches for his coat and slips into it, arming himself with Zero’s sliced wrist computer gadget.
“I’m going to stop the EDF. I refuse to let this world become yet again, a military outpost for the corrupt even if it means siding with another evil. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He says
“You can’t do this alone.” I stop him
“I’m not, and you know that.”
“That’s not how I meant it.”
He gives me a puzzled look. I hate when he does that, because I know he knows exactly what I’m referring too but he does it anyway just to what? Test me?
“Zero might be your greatest ally but Zero’s not me and nobody nor any machine compares to me.” I arm my rifle and give him a confident, cocksure look – “Let’s do this. We’ll figure out the rest once we stop the immediate danger.”
Seven smirks right back at me.
“Zero.” He calls for the machine bravely, “You know what’s coming, don’t you? Your EDF hopefuls have failed. Now they want to destroy you, or worse, reprogram you for their own advances.”
“You have no need to monologue to me, Seven. I am quite are of the situation. What is it you want?”
“You need us.” Seven spoke with a firmness to his tone – “Humanity underestimates what can be accomplished, but we don’t. You need to trust your armies to us.”
We waited for an answer, perhaps an inevitable no but no, that was not the answer at all. Zero did not speak, instead, it showed its answer through its creations. One of the machines, the hybrid ones that attacked me and my EDF unit – came to life and instead of displaying hostility, it showed submissiveness. Then another one joined, and another, until soon – it was obvious the machines were ready to obey our order.
“Don’t disappoint me.” Zero whispered as it faded away.
A cackle of cold lightning surged in my body. My mood felt heavy and I wondered, ‘is this all just… a test?’
Years ago, I gave orders to flesh and blood men. Today, I command a synthetic faction. What will tomorrow bring next? EDF came out to make a point. They weren’t holding back. They didn’t only bring out their new ‘super toy soldiers’, they got the whole demolition crew for an impact event. Seems they weren’t going to send out a unit to investigate.
Nope, they were going classic A-bomb-it style. Only this time the chuckle would be on them. Instead of getting that fantastic light show they were hoping for, the bomb imploded into nothingness – a reverse countermeasure system against nukes Zero had built in. If they wanted this war, it will not affect the lives of the uninvolved. They’ll have to come directly to us and that, I’m sure, is what the EDF weren’t bargaining for.
Tough luck, now come and get it.
“Seven.” I call for him, my eyes still glued to our incoming friends – “Can I tell you something?”
No response. That means he’s listening.
“I’ve been thinking about it all this time. You know, everything we’ve been together over the years. If we don’t get out of this…” I can almost feel and even hear his heart beating – “I want you to know, that beamship you have, still looks stupid.”
“Are you…” Got him curled in a tongue twist – “Oh, you’re bad.”
“What were you expecting? The touchy goodbye?” A fiendish smirk took over my face
“Nope. That’s why you got me.”
“Let’s do this babe.”
Seven and I were slapped with two black, form-fitting suits that acted as both protection and control. An energy-based helmet stemmed on the press of a button from the utility belt, which allowed us to access Zero’s armies through thought interface. Seven and I were also to communicate purely through thought transmission. Similar but more advanced than the EDF’s standard nano interfaces. Then it gets better. With these suits on, we were immune to extreme temperatures. Not to mention, with the helmet on, we could also breathe in space. Let’s just say, we were geared to the teeth.
It wouldn’t be long before the EDF come to the realization, they can’t fly their way in. With the neural visors hooked in, we were able to cast illusions on demand. Tricking them was easier than you think. Makes me wonder how much of an edge technology really gives. It’s impressive.
At last, they decide to bring out the big guns and I mean the real big guns – my unwanted army. Those supersoldiers; the reason Zero had interest in the EDF faction. I can’t say exactly what those guys have. Whether it’s heightened senses, intelligence – not exactly sure. I do know they hit like a truck and make no mistake, they were seemingly unstoppable. That might’ve been a combination of their armor and my unpreparedness back then. Times have changed baby.
Seven, you got the incoming at 3:43?
‘I do, cover me.’
I got you.
His love for that beamship is beyond me. The classic UFO design barely changed a bit, and sure, as boring as I may think it looked – it got the job done. They weren’t expecting an invisible ship to show up and start blasting fools. You’d think Seven
would be aiming to kill, but that wasn’t the case. His shots disabled their tanks while I sent thought transmissions to wake up the drones and backup Seven.
They were desperately trying to track Seven in his ship. It won’t happen that easily. Without our word or command, Zero was out getting work done itself; frying their signals and tracking devices.
We were small and naturally less in number, but this battle’s in our favor…
Blam!
Spoke to soon.
‘I’m hit.’
Shit! Come on drones, back him up. How the heck did they find him? Lucky shot?
“Warning, intruder detected!” Zero announced.
They’re inside? This can’t be turning to shit already. Not this quickly.
‘Valkyrie…’ Seven called me by my codename – ‘Don’t let them get to Zero. I’ll be fine.’
Seven’s sight was mine and visa versa. I could see him trying to pilot the ship to safety, but no avail. No choice but to activate his teleporter and beam a short distance away from the impact zone. Good, he’s okay. Wait, on your right – three soldiers. Good duck! Use your barrier; absorb their fire. Drones are almost there. What are you doing? Now’s not the time to be a hero, Seven, stop walking forward so fearless… holy shit! What the hell?!
Did you just do that?
‘I said I’m fine.’
Seven, you just took down their whole front line by an electromagnetic-gravitational discharge!
‘It’ll disable them for now. How are you in there?’
Found my intruders.
“Take her out!” An all-too familiar voice gave the command from the opposite end. Hailstorm of gunfire shot at me. Supersoldiers no doubt. Their shots were ludicrously accurate. Had I not put up my barrier from pure instinct, there would’ve been at least five holes in my head by now. Barriers can’t absorb their shots forever. Sooner or later, I’d be defenseless against them.
Some drones right now would be nice.
Ahh, there they are. Good. Seven will be fine out there. Right now, I need you guys to distract. Good. Now, to arm my gun. It may or may not be on kill mode. Forgive me baby.
“Valkyrie?” The fire stopped and his voice called.
John.
Don’t let him distract you. Why the hell would he be pushing on offensive right now anyway? Doesn’t matter, roll to the side, fire on the roll. Barrier up. Good absorb. Barrier down, take cover. Drones go in, distract – get their attention, throw some energy nets, keep them at bay. Perfect. Barrier up. Peak out cover, lay down suppressing fire. Now I’m getting them to back up. Let’s turn this up a notch. I know what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do it. Run at them – barrier up.
Shields at 55%
It’ll do, keep going. Keep running into them.
Shields at 47%
Slide into the lot of them, trip that guy – now they’re cross firing at each other.
Shields at 25%
Get back. Roll behind the drone, use it for cover.
Shields at 15%
This won’t be good enough, they’re shredding me out here. Quick, slide down the hallway until my shields are up again.
Shields regenerating.
Shields at 33%.
Quick breath. Remember who you are. Remember…
Click! Clank! Clank!
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Blam!
Shields at 5%.
You’ve been hit by a kinetic blast.
Thank you captain obvious. Grenades. How cute. I’m not done yet. Activate mine launcher. Plant them on the walls. Have them chase me down the halls. Drones fall back, lead them into the trap.
4/7 Drones remain.
It’ll do, just get over here. They’re pummeling the area with grenades. I can’t take another hit again. Not yet. Seven, how are you looking out there?
Wow, that… is a lot of them out there. A whole new battalion coming for Seven. All the drones that went to help him are all disabled. EDF isn’t holding anything back. So we gotta’ make do and do the same. We’re not losing this.
Zero, let’s see – what else can we do here?
Access: Activate self-destruct system.
‘What?!’ Seven’s thoughts were baffled
‘Just trust me. I know what I’m doing.’
Boom!
Good, those idiots stepped into my minefield. Let’s take a peak…
Blam! Blam!
Let’s not. Damn! What! They don’t really seem affected by my trap since they’re still charging in on me. Hmm, what now?! Zero, teleport me to the main hub!
Whisk!
“Zero!” I called its name out loud as I scrambled about the main hub, “Get a ship ready, we won’t be able to hold them for much longer.”
Self-Destruction active in 2 minutes.
‘I can’t hold them out here much longer…’ Seven transmits
‘We can trap them in the explosion. Seven get in here – we can take the escape ship out. They’ll be engulfed in the blast.’
I didn’t have to tell him again. He instantly teleported in, only to be shocked by a blast from behind. On his knee, I couldn’t make out what hit him at first. Then the supersoldier uncloaked, revealing it was indeed, his doing.
“There’s the puppet…” I speak lightly as the soldier gets closer to behind Seven, reloading his gun for the final blow – “But where is the puppeteer?” I looked around the room for John.
Self-Destruction sequence: Deactivated.
“Right here.” John announced boldly after slicing Zero’s systems to his will. Seven had no shields left. The shot should’ve took him out. I knew if I were to move an inch to help him, they’d take the shot.
“Very good Xeilya, you figured out our neurolink.” John clapped sarcastically, unimpressed with the fight we put up – “I’m afraid that doesn’t matter however.”
He looked over at the supersoldiers with a brisk nod – “Kill them.”
Seven’s eyes turn pure, glowing white. I feel the ground shake. No second guessing. I know exactly what to do. He turns back at the soldier that shot him and with a horrifying battle shout, a telekinetic wave sends the soldier flying into the wall. I feel energy course over my body and soon, I’m pure light. I’m particles, flowing in free space.
Then I am me again, next to John, tapping the gun out of his hand and welcoming him with a hook to his face, knee to the groin and a series of punches to his head that literally breaks his helmet open.
All this, happens within less than three seconds.
The other soldiers grasp the situation too late. I’ve already engaged in a one on one with John. Seven pins them down by using a mass hypnosis to temporarily control them and the strain from it is unbelievable. John parries me more often than I care to admit, and for that, I do pay by taking hits to the chest and jaw. Still won’t be enough to keep me down – and just maybe, the same could be said for him versus me.
Once friends, now enemies.
John’s a lot better than I anticipated. He can hold his own against me, least for a little bit. Suddenly everything goes black midfight. My systems, the lights – I can no longer see Seven’s sight. I’m not connected to Zero. Last thing I felt was a punch to the face and my knee connecting to John’s gut.
The lights turn on. Red, like an emergency-red.
“Test complete.” A computerized voice neutrally announces.
John’s backed up a distance from me, his eyes randomly trotting about the room for answers while Seven and the rest of the supersoldiers stand looking over at me.
What’s going on?
“Why aren’t you attacking them, damnit! I order you to attack!” John shouted at his soldiers. They were standing still, acting as if they were in stasis. What started concerning me, was that Seven looked like he’s in the same boat.
Seeing as John’s distracted, I figured it’d be the best time to take him down. No hesitation, I easily do. This time I fake him and when he takes the bait,
a neatly fashion trip sends him tumbling on the ground. Of course he rolls out to get back on his feet but when he does, he notices my gun at the tip of his head.
“Get up.” I scold him
“You really have gotten soft. Old you would’ve took the shot already.”
“Shut up.” I knew what he was trying to do, “Old me is long dead.”
Seven points our direction – well, more at John. The soldiers instantly point their guns his way. I back out of it slightly, just to make sure it’s not me they are targeting.
“John…” The computer unnerves us with its eerie presence. I’m guessing it’s Zero, but with that thing, I’m never completely certain.
“Thank you for providing the mission with such an excellent promise. They will be a perfect base for the security of the mission. Human arrogance never ceases to amaze me. Dangle a tip of power within their reach and the hunger grows deeper than any fairy tale vampire.”
Two of the soldiers walk over to John, completely ignoring me. As they cuff him, this is when it really becomes clear. If Seven was able to temporarily hamstring them through telepathy or hypnosis, or whatever if he did – then they have to be connected to a central commander. In this case, it was John. Not anymore.
“They’re neuro-linked. Thought-commanded soldiers.” I blurt out as I eye John knowingly.
How clever. Bet he didn’t expect them to be overridden.
“Ugh.” The weirdness of that gasp catches my attention. It’s Seven. He’s clutched his chest and fell to a knee. This is not alright. Seeing as John’s under arrest and the soldiers, under our control, I darted over to see what’s wrong with him.
“What’s wrong?” I ask
“My head.” He acts like nothing’s happening
“He’s dying.” Zero replies
What?! I stood there frozen. I’m not sure what to even say. He can’t be dying. We still have so much more to do. How?
“Seven has contributed quite a lot to the mission by helping reprogram these soldiers to the mission’s will. The mental strain, however, has left him with brain hemorrhage.” Zero continues without an ounce of feeling in that robotic tone.
Zero Sphere: A Space Opera Thriller Page 7