by Adair Hart
Evaran studied Emily for a moment, then continued on.
They walked through various hallways and hubs until they reached a large room with several closed doorways with the words Research Lab 01 above them.
Evaran approached one of the doorway consoles and placed his UIC on it. After a moment, the door slid open. He raised his shield as a barrage of energy beams shot out from the room.
Emily hustled up to the right side of the door while Evaran hung out on the other side. “Same plan as before?”
“Not this time. We will split them. There are four inside. I have the left, you have the right.”
“On the count of three then. One. Two. Three!” Emily raised her shield and burst into the room. With a dodge and deflection of one of the blasts, she hit the two on her side.
Evaran followed her in and, in rapid succession, took the other two down.
All the training Emily had done since the prison planet incident was paying off. It was natural for her to shield up and dodge. She could even get her nanobots to raise to a higher level, although not to the levels of a life-and-death situation. Still, the time-slowing effect was something she was beginning to adjust to. It was a natural high that she would take the opportunity to experience all the time if she could.
Evaran walked over to one of the consoles on a workstation.
Emily’s eyes were drawn to the room-sized capsules standing against the wall opposite the doorways. There were ten of them, and some had something floating in them. Her nose wrinkled at the pickle-like smell that floated around. It also seemed to be mixed with a fecal odor. She pointed at the capsules. “I’m gonna check those out.”
Evaran glanced at Emily and nodded.
Emily strolled by the capsules, running her fingers across the cool glass-like surface of each one. She paused at one that had something floating in it and leaned forward, noting that her breath caused the glass material to fog up. Her heartbeat increased upon seeing a human body with its back facing her. Tubes ran all up and down the back, with a big one pinned to the neck. She jerked her head back when she saw a slit from the base of the spine up to the top of the skull. Inside the slit was a white substance that seemed to squirm around. She grimaced and looked at Evaran. “This is kinda weird …”
Evaran stood next to Emily and scanned the capsule with his ring. After perusing his ARI, he extended his hand. A projection shot up from his ring, showing the human body. With his other hand, he dragged out something that had a bulbous head with a long tail. He pointed to it. “This is a creature of some sort. It appears to wrap around the spine with its tail, but also covers the brain region.”
Emily narrowed her eyes. “For what purpose?”
“I do not know, but control of the body would be the most likely reason. The UIC is still transferring information, and we will know shortly.”
After a few minutes, Evaran rubbed his chin as he looked around his ARI. “I was not expecting this. That creature is part Billozein, part machine.”
“Say what …”
Evaran tossed out an orb and then tapped at his ARI. A projection shot up of the human inside the capsule. “This is the progression. It starts with a human body, alive or not. The white substance appears to be in an embryonic state when it is injected into the body near the lower spine. It begins to rewrite the DNA of the host body and then fold the DNA in a specific manner. These changes allow it to integrate itself, eventually wrapping around the spine and brain.”
“How’s the creature get injected?” asked Emily.
“Billozein injects it into the subject using a body part to penetrate the subject’s rear orifice. There are some videos of the process, and it appears he finds it very enjoyable, not so much for the victim. Do you want me to show you one of the videos?”
Emily grimaced as she shook her head. “Uhh … I’ll take your word for it. You said it was part machine?”
“Yes. There appears to be a metallic device fitted to the brain that has some type of control communication receptor built into it. I would assume this allows Billozein to control it. I do not know if the connection between him and the device is race specific yet or how much control he has over it, but this would allow the creature to be controlled at will.”
Emily wrinkled her eyebrows. “So he is reproducing … and then enslaving his offspring?”
“It would appear this way. There also seems to be those who do not have a communication control receptor. Perhaps those are his true children, as they can also perform this process. It would not take long to build up numbers, and if this spread out to the other habitats, it would be disastrous. It reminds me of a virus in some regards. I have never encountered a species like his. The fact he can time travel may indicate that either he is unique or his species is. He could also have a ship like the Torvatta.”
Emily snorted. “Unique or not, he’ll pay for trying to kill us.”
Evaran scrutinized Emily for a moment. “I understand that you wish to get back at those who have attacked you. However, not all responses need to be violent. You should only use it as a last resort. In some situations, it may be required, but in general, you should seek to avoid it.”
“He tried to kill us! We can’t let him walk around free.”
“And we will not. He will face judgment. I am afraid that you may see violence as an answer to all problems. Traveling with me has probably strengthened that notion.”
Emily sighed. “Well … the track record so far hasn’t exactly been peaceful …”
“I realize that, and those threats were serious enough to cross my line and judgment, but not all threats are at that level. Peaceful and diplomatic resolutions are always preferable.”
Emily pulled her lips to the right. “Yeah … I know.”
Evaran placed a hand on her shoulder and looked Emily in the eye. “You are strong, both physically and mentally. Where most would have given up, you pushed on. As someone who will be looked up to, you have the ability to influence others. I want you to keep it in mind.”
A lump formed in Emily’s throat. She enjoyed these moments with Evaran. Sometimes she felt like she was talking to her dad. That someone of Evaran’s power would spend time to help her was not something she took for granted. It made her feel special. The last thing she wanted to do was disappoint Evaran, so she made a mental note to tone down her desire to hurt those who hurt others.
Evaran stepped back and looked around his ARI. “I was able to find some other information on the testing level that Dr. Snowden, Jane, and Naomi are on. It appears to have not only failed experiments from augmentation procedures, but also,” he said, pointing at the floating human body, “these specimens that do not take to the integration. There are also some biological experiments loose down there, rogue AIs, and some form of hunter robots.”
Emily’s eyes widened. “That’s … uhh … quite a list.”
“It is. However, your uncle has his suit, and Jane appears combat tested. I am unsure of Naomi’s qualifications,” said Evaran. He walked back over to the console and took off his UIC. “I also have all the information needed to incriminate Billozein in regards to illegal augment creation and distribution. However, I do not know the full extent of what he has done to the timeline, so these charges may not exist if we go back and prevent him from doing whatever he did.”
Emily bobbed her head. “Then let’s get to it!”
“We shall get to it.”
Emily swatted Evaran’s arm as they exited the room.
Dr. Snowden looked out of the housing structure. Naomi’s trembling brought back memories of the first time he ran into a pack of creatures, and it was not pleasant. She even had to deal with a killer robot on top of that.
They had taken a quick break to catch their breath.
With Jane and Naomi watching, Dr. Snowden put a finger to his lips, then waved forward as he exited the building. As they walked through the maze of housing structures, he noticed that there were burn marks on the walls. It
was like there had been some type of firefight.
When they reached the edge of the housing structure, Dr. Snowden looked across a pathway to what appeared to be a park. A large body of water sat behind a row of the trees he had seen near the entrance. Even from where he stood, the foul smell of the lake assaulted his nostrils.
Naomi scrunched her nose. “Smells horrible out here.”
“I’d hate to know what’s died or living in that,” said Jane.
“We don’t need to go near it. We can walk along this edge toward the exit,” said Dr. Snowden.
“That’s fine with me,” said Jane.
“You can put your helmets up if you want,” said Naomi. “Don’t keep them down on my account.”
“It’s okay. Smell is an important sense, and I don’t want to lose that here,” said Dr. Snowden.
Naomi half smiled.
They continued creeping along the edge for the next ten minutes.
Dr. Snowden raised his hand, then pointed off into the distance. Vibrations were coming closer, but he could not pinpoint it. “Something’s coming. V, see anything?”
After flying up, V scanned toward the direction Dr. Snowden had pointed. He flew back down. “Multiple organic humanoids approaching.”
Sap sighed. “Translation. Mutants are coming.”
Dr. Snowden narrowed his eyes. Sap seemed to enjoy egging V on. It had gone beyond fun and games, and seemed malicious.
Jane pulled out her weapon. She gestured for Naomi to do the same.
Dr. Snowden looked up at the housing structure they were near.
A mutant jumped off the ledge toward Jane. She fell to the ground in surprise as she activated her front shield.
Dr. Snowden’s eyes popped open. He had not even detected the mutant. The skin around the mutant’s head looked like half of it had been melted off. A disease ravaged the skin, giving it a pockmarked look. The tattered remains of an Advanced Dynamics uniform hung off the body. The speed at which it moved surprised him. The force and angle the mutant took was one meant to incapacitate whatever it landed on. Even with Jane’s shield, the angle from which it would hit her would cause her to roll, exposing her to the mutant.
V flew full speed into the mutant, wrapping his extended arm around one of the mutant’s arms, changing its trajectory.
When the mutant crash landed off to the side, it pulled V off and smashed him into the ground. V’s lights blinked out.
“V!” said Dr. Snowden. His nanobots went into overdrive as he activated his shield. His vision went red as he charged the startled mutant. Upon arrival, he batted the mutant away, into the side of the housing structure, leaving an impact crater. It slumped to the ground and stopped moving. Several more mutants approached him.
The first one went to claw at him.
He grabbed it and, with a spinning move, tossed it into two others.
Another charged him.
He ran shield first into it.
Crunch!
The mutant crumpled when it hit the shield, then flew back.
He picked up V and shook him. “V!” With a temporary reprieve, he focused on mental waves. His vision and breathing normalized as the cool waves washed over him. The emotionless state he had come to depend on coursed through him. His nanobots picked up more vibrations. “There’s more coming, let’s go!” He tucked V under his arm and took off after helping Jane up. His mind raced in different directions, and the heightened state was helping him maintain focus.
They ran in the direction of the exit.
Dr. Snowden looked back and saw that there were now around twelve mutants. Their loping gait unnerved him. He stood his ground as Naomi and Jane passed him.
“What’re you doing?” said Jane.
“I’m giving us some breathing space. Keep going!” said Dr. Snowden. He took aim and, in quick succession, hit them with the repulsion blast, then the stun beam. The stun beam seemed to have little effect, but the repulsion blast had stopped their advance. As the mutants tumbled away, he wheeled around and caught up to Jane and Naomi.
They ran for a solid twenty minutes when the lights of the ramp leading out of the testing level came into view. A large door sat at the top.
Dr. Snowden surveyed behind them and saw that there were now twenty or so mutants. Apparently he had stirred a hornet’s nest.
“Over there, along the wall by the exit ramp gate, is the panel I talked about. Hook me up to it!” said Sap.
Naomi looked at Dr. Snowden.
Dr. Snowden was not sure he wanted to give Sap access to the internal systems, but Sap had promised to help them. If all he wanted was a body, then after this, Dr. Snowden would honor it. It was hard to judge an AI in a robot head. Between fighting mutants until they were all dead and getting out, he decided to get out. With a sigh, he pointed at the panel. “Can you do that?”
Naomi nodded.
“Go ahead. Jane and I’ll cover.”
Naomi walked up to the wall and, following Sap’s directions, opened the panel and hooked up the wires from the base of Sap’s head to the panel. After a moment, Sap’s eyes dimmed, then turned off. Naomi fidgeted with Sap’s head. “What happened?”
Dr. Snowden fired a repulsion blast as the next wave of mutants came into view. He backed up to just in front of Naomi with Jane at his side. He glanced at Naomi. “I don’t know!”
Lights shot out from around the exit ramp gate, causing the mutants to pause for a moment. The gate began to slide up.
Naomi smiled big. “He did it! We’re safe!” When the gate was open enough for them to go through, she ran into the immediate hallway.
Dr. Snowden’s heartbeat raced as he saw Naomi go flying back out with a hole in her chest. “No!” He knew she was dead. The situation had gone south fast. He turned to face the gate and saw a swarm of robot guards rush out the door and begin firing.
Jane pulled Dr. Snowden out to the side as the mutants charged the robot guards who had run past Dr. Snowden and Jane.
Dr. Snowden looked at Naomi’s lifeless body in the distance. He whimpered as he bent over. His raw emotions overpowered the heightened state he had been in. Tears began to flow down his face. The emotionless state he went in to seemed to have limits on how much emotional trauma it could handle. His promise to Naomi had been broken, and it happened faster than he could react.
“It’s not your fault! C’mon, we need to get through that gate!” said Jane. She grabbed Dr. Snowden and pulled him.
The gate began to close. They hustled up it and bent over as they entered the hallway. After a moment, the gate closed.
Dr. Snowden slumped against the wall with V in his lap. He sniffled. “I … failed her, and V …”
A voice crackled out over a communication system in the walls “No … I failed. You’re still alive.”
“Sap! You son of a bitch! What are you doing?” asked Dr. Snowden through gritted teeth.
“A little house cleaning. Those mutants won’t survive what I dropped in there. Looks like Naomi didn’t either. Unfortunately, you weren’t supposed to exit, but here we are.”
“You’re crazy!” said Dr. Snowden.
“Am I?” asked Sap. “Organics created me, then tried to destroy me. They put me in that … place. I was those mutants’ escort, but Billozein … he decided my life wasn’t worth much. His mistake. All organics are alike. Destroy, destroy, destroy. It’s my turn now. I’m going to kill him and every organic on this station.”
A beam shot out and hit the communication panel.
Dr. Snowden looked up with puffy eyes and saw Evaran and Emily at the end of the hallway.
Emily rushed over to Dr. Snowden. “Uncle Albert?”
Dr. Snowden grimaced as he looked at Emily. “Naomi’s dead. And V …” He held up V.
Emily gasped as she grabbed V. “No!” Her eyes watered as she looked at Evaran.
Evaran rushed over and grabbed V. He scanned him with his ring. After a moment, he wrinkled his eyebrows. “V is still
alive. His inner container has severed his outer container connections.”
Dr. Snowden exhaled from his mouth as he looked down.
Emily turned and hugged Dr. Snowden. She glanced at Jane.
Jane sighed. “Naomi ran into here when the gate opened. We didn’t expect that Sap, an AI we found and hooked up to a panel out there, would commandeer the local robots and … well, you know. V saved my life, though. He slammed into a mutant that had tried to jump on me.”
Emily gulped as she tried to console Dr. Snowden.
Dr. Snowden’s tingling was beginning to settle down. The raw emotion of losing Naomi and V being okay was waging a war inside him.
Evaran placed his UIC on a console near the wall. He rubbed his chin as he perused his ARI. “We need to get moving. According to what I am seeing, it appears there is a full-scale civil war between Sap’s controlled robot guards and other AI robot guards. It also seems that Billozein’s progeny are involved. It’s spreading to the other stations as well. We need to get off this one. We are only twenty levels away, and Emily and I have already cleared a path.”
Emily helped Dr. Snowden stand, and they all took off toward the Torvatta.
As they ran to the Torvatta, Jane glanced at Evaran. “Billozein’s progeny?”
“I will explain once we are on the Torvatta.”
Jane nodded.
When they reached the Torvatta, Dr. Snowden saw a large clamp from the ceiling pressing down on the top shields.
Evaran motioned for everyone to get to the Torvatta.
As they crossed past the shielding, a robotic humanoid form with liquid-like metal walked into the landing pad. A projection of Billozein shot over it as it continued toward the Torvatta.
“Everyone to the roof,” said Evaran. “I need to get V into a stasis module.”
They assembled on the roof, and Evaran joined them a few minutes later. Everyone headed to the guardrail and looked out at Billozein’s projection.
“So,” said Billozein. “You unleashed a psychotic AI, which, as you may or may not know, is now killing not only my children and my work, but also innocents.” He looked at Dr. Snowden. “Great judgment.”