She didn't respond only stared at it as the yellow-green electrical apparition faded, and a bright ghost-image of the Rogue appeared beside it. The Rogue moved, joining the image, and at first, Kat didn't understand what she was seeing. The ghost-image moved again a split second before the Rogue did, and she realized she was seeing its movements before they happened, so Kat aimed, waiting for the Knowing to tell her where to fire. The ghost-image appeared, and she squeezed the trigger.
The Rogue moved to evade as always, grabbed its left shoulder as if in pain, and stumbled back. "Puck! You shot me!" The Rogue looked to its shoulder and back to her. "How are you able to hit me?"
Chapter Forty-four
The Knowing
8:29 P.M...
The new Sanctum...
Alarms blared within the Chamber as Fourth Evolvement Achieved blinked across the top of the screens. Chatter between the thrilled analysts increased.
"Focus people and stop your idle talking." A male supervisor turned off the alarm. "I need those reports." The supervisor gathered the info and went and handed them to Ms. Nona.
She scanned her hand down the report. "Incredible!" Ms. Nona placed the H.H.C. on the table and turned to her laptop. "Most incredible! Something is happening with the project."
"With the new project?" Mr. Decuma asked as he straightened his bright orange tie.
"No," Ms. Nona answered. "With Pandora."
At hearing his favorite project's name, Mr. Morta leaned forward and commanded, "Lower the center screen." The monitor lowered.
"This cannot be," Mr. Decuma stated. "Pandora cannot achieve the Delta Phase without achieving the Gamma, so this has to be an error." He turned to the supervisor. "Have this information double checked."
"Yes, at once." The supervisor hurried off.
Mr. Morta's view...
I consider what is happening. Pandora jumped the sequence of phases, but they are set and have to be achieved in a certain order. The Council knows this because we have invested years in the Pandora Project research. Our information cannot be incorrect so it must be something else. There must be some minute detail we missed.
End Mr. Morta's view...
"Mr. Decuma is correct," Ms. Nona stated. "It should not be happening. How has Pandora achieved the Knowing when it has not..? Wait..." She thought of something. "What if..?"
"What if Pandora achieved the Gamma Phase–" Mr. Morta interrupted, "–before we acquired it? We must consider this. The other department we procured Pandora from did have some data missing. The Third Branch Office mentioned something about a fire and that some of the research had been lost in it."
"I do not think so," Mr. Decuma started. "It is most likely the information we are receiving is incorrect. The project has achieved nothing, and we should go over all the files and check for data corruption."
Mr. Morta turned to the other male member of the Council. "Have you lost your faith in Pandora?"
"I am not sure I ever had faith in it," Mr. Decuma answered. "I am putting mine in the new project."
"I do agree we must be thorough," Mr. Morta said. "Review the data and see if it is corrupt." Mr. Morta believed in Pandora and believed she could become the killer they conditioned her to be. She only needed time.
* * *
Hellenistic Sector, Trade Vicinage...
The Factory...
Past Research Lab Five and in the darken Gallery...
The Rogue stared at its wounded shoulder with its night vision as it repeated, "You shot me. How could you? You never achieved the Gamma Phase."
"Does it matter?" Kat answered and glanced at the exit as light trickled in from Research Lab Five, casting shadows across the Gallery.
The Rogue's view...
"Yes it matters." I turn my back on her. "There are certain steps you have to reach, and you cannot skip over things. There has to be a logical reason why you..." I blink twice. "Wait, I know. Oh... You are a sly one." I remove my hand from my wound and glance at the oil covering my palm. "You have killed a human." I place my hand back to the gunshot. "Perhaps you were the one who killed Topa. Is that not right?" I turn to face her, and my deportment changes from excited wonder to dampened anticipation. "Puck! This was unexpected. She is gone." I shake my head. "How long have I been talking to myself?"
I look back to my wounded shoulder as another thought crosses my automaton brain. If she reached the Knowing, why didn't she kill me? Why spare my life? I have done nothing but try to kill her. I bow my head, ashamed. What made me worthy of her mercy?
End the Rogue's view...
* * *
Kat snuck out the door once the Rogue turned its back on her, and she rushed through Research Lab Five, grabbed her backpack, and raced through the Green Division. She passed the security desk, entered the Yellow Division, and sprinted for Computer Lab Two. She ejected the PPK magazine which still had one bullet left, put the magazine in her pocket, inserted a new one, and then Kat hurried on as her heart sounded the bio-mecha warning.
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
She didn't need to know the T-3s were near; the Factory was full of them. She hurried around a corner into an area of darkness. Kat knew there were T-3s there but couldn't see them, and then the Knowing kicked in.
lub-DUB–lub-DUB–lub-DUB
She couldn't see the T-3s, at least in the normal sense. Using the Knowing, Kat saw the five T-3s' ghost-images, and the T-3s blocked the hallway. She raised her weapon, aimed for them, and shot. Muzzle fire lit up the hall five times, blackness followed, and then she saw all their ghost-images fall to the floor and fade. Again she faced the darkness, then felt her way along the wall till she reached a lit area, and she started running again.
Katharine's view...
I don't know what's fueling my race to reach Kimberly more. Is it the idea I have to save her or the need to confront her about betraying me? We're partners. Doesn't Kimberly understand the concept of loyalty or am I expecting too much from a Life Closer?
I pause at a corner, peek around it, and see thirteen T-3s standing down the hall outside Computer Lab Two as a few of them beat at the entrance. The door slowly gives in to their onslaught and bursts at the frame, so I fire twice around the corner with the gun, hitting two of the T-3s. I eject the spent magazine, put in my last full one, and fire seven times at the ghost-images, bringing down seven more of them.
End Katharine's view...
"Alpha wants us to fall back," one of the T-3s ordered.
The four that remained retreated down the hall.
Kat reached into her thigh pocket for the magazine that had one bullet left, inserted it in the gun, and made her way around the disabled T-3s to the side of the doorway.
"Kimberly it's me, Kat," she shouted. "I'm coming in. Don't shoot."
Chapter Forty-five
Computer Lab Two
Earlier...
Kimberly's view...
I stare at the remaining monitors on the triangle's base. Hades! I'm such an idiot. I should have never trusted the Rogue. Now I'm stuck in this room. Workstation Number Thirteen sparks, a small fire catches inside the shot up computer, and smoke rolls out of it, and on the other screens, I watch the drama play out between that woman and the Rogue. I wonder if she's really going to fight that thing. She has no chance against it so she should just give up.
I overhear what the Rogue calls that woman. She can't be organic-mecha, but then I think about it. For Ares' sake! Have I been a part of the Pandora Project all along, and I'm the one who's being tested?
The Rogue tells that woman about its bargain with me, and I throw up my hands. Now she knows. That double-crossing Rogue. She's going to come and kill me if the Rogue doesn't take her out first.
I stand and shout, "Come on you giant piece of scrap metal! Finish her!"
I watch as the Rogue pins her to the ground, and I hear its final revelation; it told the T-3s I'm
here! I move to the corner of Workstation Twenty-eight and peer around the partition wall at the Computer Lab's door. It's the room's only exit and is about seventy feet away. Outside, the T-3s open fire on the knob as I hear the Rogue over the computers. I face a monitor.
It says, "Ms. Griffin should be entertaining guests right about now."
The gunfire ceases, and the door violently rattles as the T-3s beat on it, and I raise my gun as perspiration beads my face. I hate robots; they give me the creeps. Is that why that strange woman also gives me the creeps? Is she also a robot?
I try to calm myself then I remember that woman said to hit them in the... Hades! They're coming! The door bows as the T-3s continue their assault, and they're almost in. I can't believe I'm acting like a frighten child. I'm a Closer. I should face this problem like any other I've encountered; I need to focus. That woman said the only way to disable them is to hit them in the forehead, and they'll keep coming if I hit them anywhere else. Sweat runs down my face as part of the door frame breaks, and light from the hallway trickles in. As more of the door frame breaks, I kind of wish that woman was here even if she's one of those organic-mechas, but I guess in retrospect, betraying her was a stupid move. I'm determined I'm not going to feel guilty. That woman should have anticipated I would betray her. It's her fault for not seeing through my ruse, and it's her fault for being so trusting. What did she expect? I'm a Closer. Closers are loyal to no one but the Guild. The T-3s knock down the door as wood splinters and drywall crumbles. I see the T-3s blood-red dot-light through the dust as they start to make their way in, and I ready myself to make my stand when I hear two blasts in the hallway and see the T-3s fall. Seven more shots go off, and more of them fall, and then the T-3s retreat. Silence follows, and I hear someone moving outside.
"Kimberly it's me, Kat. I'm coming in. Don't shoot."
She quickly peeks her head around the busted door frame as I think about eliminating her. I don't get the chance. That woman pulls her head back and rushes in, taking cover at Workstation One; it's the desk at the very top of the triangle.
"Kimberly, we need to talk. The Rogue told me something I don't want to believe."
I think I dread facing that strange woman more than I dread facing the T-3s, and so I shout back, "Sure, talk. Do you want me to believe that's what you've come to do?" I peer around Workstation Twenty-eight; it's the desk on the right corner of the triangle's base as I face the door. "You should know, I saw you and the Rogue on a security camera. I heard it tell you what I had done, so you can cut the Cretan Bull, and let's get down to the retribution."
I fire two shots at her.
Katharine's view...
"Stop it!" I shout and cover my head as fragments of the desk and partition splinter off. "Sheez! I said I just wanted to talk!"
"Do you expect me to trust you?"
I hear Kimberly duck back around the corner and catch her breath before she fires two more times.
"Yes!" I yell as I scoot away from the one end of the workstation and rake pieces of wood and dust out of my hair. "I've never lied to you, so please believe me!"
Kimberly's view...
I glance at my reflection in the monitor and then tell her, "Everyone lies!"
"Not me," she says and then shouts, "Not me!"
I don't know how I'm going to get out of this mess. I look around the room. That woman's blocking the only exit, though... if I'm quiet enough, I can sneak up on her and blow her head off. No that won't work. Hades! She has clear line of sight. Maybe I can shoot her through the paneling. All I need to do is keep her talking, so I clear my throat and say, "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"You made me a promise. You promised..."
"For Ares' sake, I know! But like I said everyone lies."
I move to where two workstation partitions meet, and there I find a crack large enough to place the barrel of my gun. I only have one shot at this. If I don't kill her, I know she's going to kill me.
Katharine's view...
"No, you have to trust someone," I tell her as I eject the magazine and look at my last bullet. I don't want to use it on her, so I plead, "Please... I need to be able to trust you."
Kimberly's view...
"Idiot!" I shout as I line up my aim on her voice. "You can't trust anyone. Especially me!"
"That's not true. I trusted someone. His name was Preacher. It was hard at first, but I did it, and he was always there for me."
"Where's this great guy at now?" I question her.
She's silent for a long time and then she says, "He's dead. He's dead because I didn't trust in him completely."
"Not the best story to get me to play along," I tell her. "Why don't you tell me one good reason why I should trust you?"
Katharine's view...
I try to think of a reason that will convince her, but I can't think of one.
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
I put my hand to my chest and then quickly crawl to the hall, but I see no T-3s. They have to be coming from somewhere. I need to focus to find where they... Before I have a chance, I hear sounds from above, turn, and look up at the ceiling as dust falls from a few square tiles.
I yell to warn Kimberly, "Watch out! They're above!"
Kimberly's view...
A T-3 crashes through the ceiling, landing on a workstation beside me, and it knocks me back. I go flying and hit a wall, and my gun goes off, striking the ceiling. That woman rushes around the cubicles as the T-3 stands and aims for me. A little dazed from hitting the wall, I lift my gun and try to steady my aim before firing twice. I hit the T-3 in the eye and nose.
"Hey!" she shouts, getting its attention, then fires after the T-3 turns, and hits it in its vulnerable spot.
The T-3 collapses to its knees and then falls face first to the floor.
"That was the only one," she tells me. "They're testing our defenses, and it won't be long before they send more. We have to go."
I rub the back of my head as I stand and aim at her as that woman in turn points her gun at me.
"We're not going to go just yet," I tell her. "We haven't finished our discussion."
"Maybe we should put it on hold and go. I don't know how long..."
"I don't think so," I tell her as I move away from the wall, getting some distance between myself and that woman. "Come on, I know you want to kill me. I would."
"Kill you, no," she tells me and then admits, "But I'm very mad! We're supposed to be partners! We're supposed to watch each other's back!" She calms herself and says, "We're supposed to trust each other."
"Hah! Like I said you can't..."
"Kimberly, I'll trust you," she interrupts, and for a second I believe her. "All I want you to do is swear on your mom's name to help me. Swear it, and we can put all of this behind us and get out of the Factory. I just need to hear it."
"You think it's that simple. Fine. I swear."
"Say the whole thing. Say it, so I'll believe you." I hesitate, so she shouts, "Say it!"
"Fine!" I clear my throat. "I swear on my mom, on Theresa Griffin's name, that I'll help you and that I'll trust you. Are you happy now?"
Katharine's view...
I nod. I'm so glad we're partners again.
Kimberly aims for my heart as she's not as excited as me and asks, "Now what?"
"Now, I'm going to trust you," I tell her as I lower my gun. "Remember you promised to help me." My body burns with doubt as I have no idea how this will turn out, but I hope for the best as I say, "I'm going to trust you. Please, trust me." I take a step back to head for the door, hoping... no praying I made the right decision and say, "Let's go."
"Wait a second," Kimberly spoke. "Are you out of ammo?"
I freeze, hearing her question, and I hesitate answering her. I know I can't hide the truth, not from her, and I nod. My heart thumps as I wonder if I messed up. Can an assassin be trusted or will Kimberly
kill me? I see the look she's giving me. Crap! I did mess up. I... No. I have to trust her. I have to...
She laughs and then says, "You are out of ammo, too bad."
Kimberly squeezes the trigger, and I lift my hand as I shout, "No!"
Click.
Kimberly grins again as she says, "So am I."
"You could have shot me," I yell at her so angry I could have hit her. "You could have shot me again!"
"Couldn't have, like I said, the magazine's empty."
"What if you miss counted?"
Kimberly tells me, "I never miss count."
"You could have shot me."
"For Ares' sake! Stop your whining and let's get out of here. Who knows what the T-3s have planned."
I want to argue more, but know she's right about the Un-Men, so instead I brood.
We start to leave, when we hear voices coming over the computers. We look and see two T-3s on the screens as they stand at the entrance to the Gallery.
"Alpha, the Rogue is nowhere to be found," one of the T-3s announces over its Internal Link. It nods, listening to instructions. "Understood. Returning to join the brethren gathering to attack Pandora and the Chairman's daughter. No prisoners are to be taken."
We look at each other and then franticly bolt for the door.
Chapter Forty-six
Escape
8:26 P.M...
An eerie silence abounded as they rushed down the hallway that led them out of the Yellow Division, and the rotten smell of death filled the air. Some passages were dark, some were lit, and others flickered with damaged lights. They bolted through the carpeted graveyard. The Factory had become a burial ground for its workers, and the employees lay scattered about, killed by a horror they had created.
Kimberly's view...
All Worlds: Fantasy And Science Fiction Series Starters Page 41