Marcus fired off a few more shots at Fairchild, making the elder man dive for cover once more. “Let’s get the hell out of here then!”
Roland looked around; their exit had been blocked by soldiers. A few Regulator men were pinned down and couldn’t break through the sporadic gunfire. The Tribunal forces would outflank them in a manner of minutes. “Anna! We need an exit!” Roland yelled.
Anna turned her head, nodding swiftly as she continued to block attacks from her siblings. Aaron reared back for a menacing blow, Anna catching his wrist and using his own momentum against him. She slungshot his body across the factory floor, slamming him into the far wall with enough force to crack the concrete exterior. Aaron stood bewildered for a few moments, letting his camera lens eyes focus just in time to see Anna sprinting at him. She leapt forward, thrusting her feet straight into his chest and driving him again into the wall with all her energy. This time Aaron slammed right through the wall, bits of concrete and rebar tumbling out and burying him. Anna stood on the debris pile she had just made, letting the outside air dissipate the dust. She turned back to Roland “Are you coming?”
Fairchild was up in a fury. “Stop them! Stop them! Don’t let them escape!”
The Regulators took a few more casualties as they bolted for the large hole in the wall. Anna stepped forward, taking as many of the rounds as she could for them as they dove through to the outside. She took one last look at Chairman Fairchild, her expression one that chilled the man to his very core. Her face sent a pretty clear message, Next time we meet, I’ll be coming for you.
Jenna sprinted towards the door after them, trying to catch Anna with her back turned. As the fleeing rebels made it across the lawn, Anna flipped the switch for the mine field to reactivate. She cartwheeled her way across the expanse as she had done before, landing and drawing her Mark III in one smooth motion. She identified a mine, fired, and watched as Jenna was stopped in her tracks by a massive explosion and a wall of fire. The molten barricade of flame burned between the two Androids, their eyes locked for a few moments. Anna holstered her weapon, sighing as she turned away from the fire. “Farewell, my sister.”
Roland, Marcus, and the few remaining survivors mounted their hovercraft, trying to get it airborne before the Tribunal ships could knock them out of the sky. Anna stepped up the loading ramp as it was closing, walking in almost a haze as she sat down in her seat. “You know where to take us so we’re not followed?” Roland yelled over the engines coming to life.
“Yeah, don’t worry. You got us this far, I can get us home.” Marcus smiled.
Roland patted his companion on the shoulder. “We did it my friend!”
Marcus looked back at the number of empty seats and Anna, oil and various other mechanical fluids seeping from her numerous bullet wounds. “…but at what cost?” Marcus asked.
Roland nodded, patting his friend once more and moving back to sit next to their new found ally. “Are you all right?” Roland yelled to her, the loading ramp finally clicking shut and the aircraft lifting off the ground.
Anna couldn’t speak; her processors were on the verge of overheating from reflecting on the night’s events. She shook her head absently. Roland put a hand on her shoulder to get her attention. “Do you have some sort of hibernation mode? Maybe that’s best to enter until we can get you repaired.”
Anna looked up at him as vulnerable as a small child separated from her parents. She didn’t know where she was, who she was, or what to do. Roland smiled the same gentle smile she had seen on their first meeting as they walked the streets, the smile that told her that things were going to eventually be alright. “Don’t worry, you’re safe now. We’ll protect you. You can trust us.”
Trust, he said. Interesting seeing as how she had never been able to trust anyone. She had never had a home, never had a place she belonged. As Anna looked at the faces of those survivors that had made it on board, she could see they were scared, tired, and unsure of what to make of her, but she felt something else. Respect? Hope? She couldn’t quite tell from their expressions. Human emotions were so very difficult to completely detect, even with her advanced facial reading software. She did know that there was no hatred in their faces, no sign of impending doom. She was indeed among people who could protect her, who could see her safely to somewhere for repairs. She smiled then, looking at Roland and beginning her hibernation cycle. To anyone else, it simply looked as if she fell asleep in Roland’s arms, but as Anna powered down her systems and started her emergency repair subroutines to work as she was off, she felt an overriding sensation she had never felt before. I am home.
Access Log
File number 137496
Android Serial number: 2176
Codename: Jenna
29 September 2313
0445 hrs.
Jenna pulled Aaron’s half mangled body from the wall wreckage, helping him prop himself up as Chairman Fairchild walked through the void with his armed escort. They watched as the terrorists’ airship rocketed off towards the horizon as though it was already being chased. “Shall we pursue, Mr. Chairman?” Jenna asked.
“No need,” Fairchild said, adjusting his collar. “They will be coming to us soon enough.”
“Won’t the terrorists attempt to use the information they’ve gathered against the Tribunal? Attempt to win more followers?” Jenna persisted. “We should shoot their aircraft down and recover the information from the wreckage.”
“My dear all they have are theories, data from an ancient project that wasn’t even on a Tribunal server. They’ll need hard evidence that the Tribunal backed this program. And the only place to get that is in the heart of our complex, straight into M.A.D.R.E.’s memory core.”
“But sir, no one but the Tribunal itself has access to that level.”
“Precisely, which means they will need to conduct a full on assault. And when they do, we’ll be ready.” Fairchild looked towards the mangled body of Aaron sitting next to them.
The Android’s jaw had become completely unhinged again, distorted in a way that made him look half deformed. His arm was twisted back like a bent piece of steel from Anna’s throw, his leg had been flattened beneath the rubble. His neck gears were having trouble holding his head up and sparks would randomly illuminate and crackle. Despite all of this, he managed to look towards Fairchild and Jenna with a sense of anticipation about the upcoming battle. “We will be ready for them…” Fairchild repeated. “…won’t we Aaron?”
A distorted laugh started rising out of Aaron’s mangled voice box. It was a low chuckle, distorted every so often with electronic interference and static. It grew louder, the feedback growing more frequent as the volume grew. The human guards near Fairchild couldn’t help but become deeply unnerved by it. They watched as the Regulators’ engine lights faded in the distance. “Bring me my shuttle.” Fairchild said. “I need to call the Tribunal Council to order.”
Chapter 9
Access Log
File number 137497
Android Serial number: 2338
Codename: Anna
30 September 2313
1430 hrs.
Anna’s systems started coming back online slowly, her visual optics running start up diagnostics and system checks automatically. She recapped her memory files, coming to a sad realization of the previous day’s events. Her interior clock registered she had been in hibernation for roughly 34 hours and she started taking account of where she was.
She recognized the leaky pipes and run down walls. She was in some sort of motor shop down in Regulator Headquarters. As she tried to rise she noticed she wasn’t clothed, and in fact, didn’t have half of her skin. She could see her interior gears and processors clear as day. It was like waking up in a nightmare.
There was a small man hunched over a work bench near her. Anna looked around for her inventory, but could not see her Mark III or clothing anywhere. As her diagnostics continued to run, Anna slowly and quietly crept off the workbench she had wok
en upon, reaching stealthily for a massive plumber’s wrench that was close by. The exposed hydraulics in her arm hissed ever so slightly, but the man was humming to himself and still completely unaware of her presence. Anna raised the wrench, preparing to slam it down and make her escape.
“Anna! Woah!” A man’s voice cried out
Anna spun to see Roland standing in the doorway to a side passage, his hands raised in an effort to beg Anna to not strike. The man who had been Anna’s target turned suddenly, noticing just how close he had come to a major headache. He jolted in surprise, his thick bifocals nearly flying off his face. Anna saw that he was an elderly man, possibly of Eastern descent, with a bald head and an early case of Parkinson’s disease.
Roland came forward and gently took the plumbing wrench from Anna, placing his hands on her shoulders. “I’m glad to see you are all right.” He smiled.
“All right!?! You claimed I could trust you Roland Donnoly. Instead I find myself stripped and this man harvesting me for parts!” Anna’s circuits were hot, even exposed to the air as they were.
Roland chuckled, even robot women were impossible to deal with sometimes. “You aren’t being stripped for parts! We’re doing our best to repair you.”
The eastern man who only came up to Roland’s elbow nodded vigorously. Anna was not any less angry. “Androids are highly sensitive robotic constructs; our processors are very delicate and classified. No human, not even the Tribunal, is allowed to know the interior workings!”
Roland sighed. “I think we’ve already broken a few hundred laws within the last few days Ms. Maquina, I don’t think the Tribunal will notice if we manage to bend a few more. Besides, Scraps here is the best mechanic in the city, he has a very gentle touch I assure you.”
The large man put his arm around the older man now identified as “Scraps”. Anna was not amused. “You have seen the interior workings of Androids before?”
“Oh yes, I helped design the prototypes. I know a thing or two about advanced robotics, though I must say, the technology has greatly improved since then.” Scraps said, eyeing Anna’s exposed gears in an almost lustful fashion.
Anna crossed her arms and scowled, wishing she had the plumbing wrench in her hands again. Roland broke the tension. “His work on you is completely legit Anna, and we’re watching everything trust me.” Roland pointed to a security camera in the corner.
“Much like the Tribunal watches everything…” Anna commented.
Roland sighed, Anna retracted. “I apologize Roland Donnoly. The last few days have been… enlightening.”
Roland tried to get Anna to lay back on the workbench. As she did he explained what had been happening while she was out. The Tribunal had put the entire city on lockdown, claiming an invasion of mutants was imminent, but Roland and the other Regulators knew that it was simply a cover for them to move troops and supplies about freely without causing a panic. They were preparing for an attack, but from the Regulators, not mutants. “Best we can figure, they have at least a few hundred soldiers guarding downtown, with their other companies spread across the rest of the city.”
“What of the information from the factory? The… truth… about me and my kind.” Anna asked.
“Unconfirmed, all we have are applicant’s files and a basic theory journal. We’d need to have corroborating evidence from the city’s central computer to back any claims of corruption within the Tribunal.”
“M.A.D.R.E…” Anna clarified. “…my link to her was severed when I removed my chip.”
“Nearly fried your positronic brain too!” Scraps said, wheeling himself close to her like a surgeon. He calmed his shaking hands and went right to work on Anna’s exposed parts. “This may tickle…”
Anna ignored the tiny man. “The Chairman would know you needed more evidence, that is why he is bracing for an attack.”
Roland pounded the table. “I never wanted this; I wanted a peaceful solution, not more violence.”
“Change is never peaceful. Sacrifices… must be made.” Anna said, her voice trailing off as she said it.
“What do you mean?” Roland asked.
Anna ignored the question. “I will need a platoon of your best soldiers, aerial transport, and your complete selection of weapons and explosives. I will retrieve the data you seek.”
“You… there is no way you will make it to the Tribunal’s inner sanctum alive!” Roland argued.
“I know the entire layout of the facility, every maintenance hatch and ventilation shaft. I will not fail.” Anna protested.
“But… they have every entrance guarded.” Roland persisted.
“Not every entrance.” Anna claimed. “Are you willing to make the sacrifices needed for your people?”
Roland sighed. His concern for her was outweighing his drive for a better Arcadia, a better world. Anna was right; a leader should make difficult decisions, sometimes sending his people into danger for the chance at success. He just hoped it wasn’t too narrow a chance. He placed a hand on Anna’s shoulder. Her skin was cold, synthetic, lifeless. He wondered what she would have been like when she was human, if he and her might have…
He smiled. “You shall have what you need. I could not have asked for a greater ally to our cause.”
Roland left the room, walking down a side tunnel, leaving Scraps and Anna alone. “There may be some modifications I can make to your armor, add another level of protection to preserve your vital functions in your torso.”
“Would it add more weight?” Anna asked hesitantly.
“It is an experimental alloy I've been working on, strongest material known to mankind when it hardens, but a fraction of the weight.” Scraps boasted. “Some minor adjustments to your joint hydraulics should be able to account for the few extra ounces.”
Anna nodded, laying her head back and allowing the man to continue his repairs. “You do know there is a detonator attached to your fuel cell… yes?” Scraps asked.
“Leave it. That fuel cell could destroy this entire underground network and the city blocks above.” Anna ordered.
“Yes but the detonator is set to blow your fuel cell should you step one foot inside…”
“I said leave it human, or shall I grab the wrench again?” Anna threatened.
Scraps went diligently back to work, leaving Anna in silence to plan her attack.
Chapter 10
Access Log
File number 137498
Android Serial number: 2338
Codename: Anna
1 October 2313
0200 hrs.
Anna felt the wind blowing her hair every which way as the airship sailed roughly a half a mile over the city. She wore her usual skin tight infiltration suit and was stocked with enough weapons and ammunition to start a small war, which was exactly her intention. She had two MP5 sub machine guns strapped to her back, her Mark III holstered to her thigh, and a kabar knife attached to the other hip. Her belt held multiple grenades, C4 explosives, and extra ammo for each weapon system she carried. Aboard the airship she had roughly forty armed Regulators, each with parachutes and armed as thoroughly as she. They were lead by Marcus, the man coming towards Anna at the back ramp. “How do you know the Tribunal won’t shoot us down on sight?”
Anna didn’t look away from the city’s extravagant lights below. “The Skyscrapers, the buildings that rise above the complex. They’re so close together, any aerial attack would practically be suicide for risk of slamming into them.” She yelled over the airship’s exhaust and billowing wind.
“Oh!” Marcus said sarcastically. “…and that just so happens to be the way we’re going in!”
Anna gave him a slide glance. “Just use the flight path I plotted for you, you and your men will be fine.”
A red light flashed above the open ramp door, the pilot’s voice coming over the loudspeaker inside the cargo hold. “First drop point in 30 seconds!”
Marcus looked at Anna as she walked out onto the ramp, no parachute attached
to her back. “…what about you?” He asked.
Anna turned to face him, her back to the city. The light turned from red to green and she gave him a wink, then leaned back and plummeted out of the aircraft.
Falling, Anna had never realized how peaceful it was. Why was it humans were so deathly afraid of it? Her body felt as if it was in some other realm, some other place all together. She could almost forget everything and simply stay this way forever.
An electronic beeping started chiming in her ear, her flight path laid out before her in her optics. She somersaulted, allowing her feet to fall forward first as she careened close to one of the massive skyscrapers of downtown Arcadia. She shoved her fist out, crashing her hand through the glass windows of the building and letting her feet slide down. She left a trail of shattered glass and shocked office workers as she continued to plummet towards the ground.
Anna kicked off the window, impacting with a second high rise a few seconds later. She did the same as before, slamming her hand down into the window glass in an attempt to slow down her speed. More shattered glass followed her on her fall. She continued the process, jumping from building to building, eventually the friction of her feet sliding along building exteriors and her hands crashing through glass helped her reduce her speed to a fraction of what it had been when she started. Her slow down was happening just as she had calculated, the ground coming up at precisely the right spot she was hoping for. She flipped off the last building she had been using to slow herself, adjusting her hydraulics for impact. She only hoped the added armor polymer Scraps had given her wouldn’t throw her math off.
Anna landed on the cement roadway like a meteor, causing a massive crater to form around her impact site. Fire hydrants exploded nearby, shooting spires of water into the air and trickled droplets back down to earth. Shards of glass from the windows Anna had shattered twinkled down, scattering across the pavement. Anna’s hydraulics readjusted back to their normal configuration and she stood from the crouched position she had landed in. Gentle water streams began gurgling into the truck sized crater she had created in the roadway, Anna stepping out and withdrawing her Mark III. As she turned towards the large building she had landed directly in front of, two armed guards ran out the front door and stared in disbelief at the ruin before them. Anna let out two shots, both guards collapsing on the soaked pavement. Anna entered the lobby, letting a few more rounds loose, and a few more guards collapsed. Anna easily stepped behind the security desk, assured that no alarms had been triggered. She inserted her finger Ethernet cord, easily hacking the software and taking full control. She powered down some of the anti personnel automated machine gun nests attached to the various buildings, allowing for safe passage of Marcus and his men. Anna’s plummet had been too fast for the guns to track her, but they could easily shoot a parachutist out of the sky. She hadn’t bothered to worry Marcus about that particular detail.
Children of Dawn Page 6