Another officer on Ascending Dragon tagged some video footage. Feng examined it. There was a short clip of a small, fast robot. It looked like a spider, spinning along with incredible speed. Feng could hardly believe it. The thing had simply moved by and then retreated past the camera view a few seconds later. In those two or three seconds, it had released a devastating storm of damage.
Feng sent along the pointer to the rest of his men. He created a new target profile for the spinning battle robot that fought them.
“The battle controller can’t reach all the dogs,” Feng transmitted. “Especially those here at this end of the station. I’ve made some changes to their default configuration. They fall back to this new behavior when the battle controller can’t reach them. We’re going in after that thing. Don’t get in the way of the dogs. I’ve set them to go berserk if they spot it. They’ll ignore any other threat when the thing or anything like it appears.”
The men sent acknowledgements.
Feng realized he was dealing with an enemy with a lot of firepower, despite its small size. Unless it acted solely as a spotter, calling in the real weapon from somewhere else? In either case it would help to kill it off fast.
“The key is that they have to converge from several directions at once. If they attack in single file in these corridors, they’ll be easy to take out a few at a time. We should pilot a few dogs and lead spearheads of a hundred dogs each here, here, here, and here,” Feng said, annotating his strategy with a map of the station. “Then the four groups spread out and move toward the center of the entire section. There’s a strongpoint with a laser emplacement here. The spinner-thing may decide to stick around there for some added protection. If we sight the spinner, the dogs will converge from all directions. If the spinner doesn’t show, we’ll converge on the security strongpoint and take it over.”
Several men volunteered to pilot a group at once. Feng selected four men and assigned them to the duty.
“If you encounter the spinner on the periphery, fall back and wait for the other forces to converge. Let’s go in there and get our revenge for Captain Zhengqing!” Feng transmitted.
Feng was showered with enthusiastic affirmations.
“Now get mobile. We’re going in there after the dogs,” he ordered. That order didn’t get him a cheer, but everyone retrieved their equipment and readied their rifles. Someone sent around a target profile for the humans’ hand held weapons. Shooting by the profile would help ensure that there weren’t any accidents. The weapons wouldn’t fire unless the system believed it had a good shot at the target and the shooter was authorized. Even the rounds themselves could alter their trajectory a few inches across many meters of travel, helping to ensure a hit on the target or a miss on a non-combatant.
The dogs were way ahead of the soldiers. They closed in on the security station, scanning for enemies. It wasn’t long before Feng’s intuition was proved out.
“Here it is! Here it is! Only two rooms away from the security station,” reported a dog pilot coming in from the outside perimeter of the station. He sent a pointer to Feng.
A few dogs had run into the spinner in a machine room and had been ambushed. They went offline almost immediately, but other dogs had caught sight of the enemy as it spun away towards the laser emplacement. The doors in the area had closed automatically, making it harder to get close to the security hardpoint.
Feng contacted the Ascending Dragon.
“We’re going in after the security station on the living quarters’ ring. Any luck taking control of the station’s systems? Disabling that laser would help a great deal.”
“We don’t have it, Zhong Wei Li,” replied Captain Lin. “Someone is fighting us for control. Most of the station’s cyblocs are in enemy hands.”
“Understood, sir,” Feng said. “We won’t let that stop us!”
“Surround the security station as evenly as you can,” Feng transmitted. The four groups of dogs had closed in on the station. They were stopped by closed doors, but the doors weren’t armored except for perhaps the last door to the security station control center, which stood behind the laser emplacement.
The soldiers and officers moved to adjacent corridors to obey Feng’s order.
“We’re sending the dogs in,” Feng sent out. “Hold a cordon on the exits. Take a shot if the thing blows through our line and runs for it.”
Dogs assaulted the closed doors simultaneously. The dogs weren’t heavy but they were reasonably strong. The doors came down and dogs flooded through.
As soon as dogs came within sight of the laser, they started to disintegrate one by one. It didn’t take long for a dog to go down under the weapon. But Feng believed it could only destroy about two per second. The dogs were flooding in faster than that.
The robot was in there somewhere. Feng could tell because dogs went off his PV faster than the laser could be doing it alone. Finally he spotted the spinning thing on a view near the laser. It had done the logical thing, and gone to where it had extra protection.
Feng pointed his rifle down the corridor and started after the dogs. He watched through his PV as he loped down the corridor toward the security station.
“With due respect, sir,” Sheng began.
Very dangerous, he reminded himself. The dogs are programmed to fire almost recklessly.
Feng stopped and dropped to his knee.
“Very well. Get ready, we might get a shot if it runs,” he said.
Dogs closed in on all sides. They shot at the thing wildly. Several dogs hit other dogs in the crossfire. A pile of dead dogs started to form at the entrance to the security station, behind a lightly armored counter. A line of dogs had made it to the counter. They rammed against it, causing it to buckle. Dogs started jumping over the angled remains of the barrier. Feng caught glimpses of the spinning robot inside, darting about and somehow killing dog after dog.
One dog took a hit in its leg and flipped out of control. An instant later it collided with the spinning robot in a crazy accident. The dog discharged its capacitor across its front legs, putting a current through the enemy machine. The spinner recoiled from the dog, then a glue canister flowered across its side. Ropes of glue attached it to another nearby dog. Several dogs fired at once, hitting the spinner. Then more dog machines piled on top of the spinner, blocking their line of sight.
We got it! Feng exalted. He got back up and walked toward the security station.
Suddenly the dogs backed off. Feng checked the dogs. His interface showed that the battle controller had resumed directing them.
“Hold your fire,” Feng said. “The battle controller can speak to them again. It’s told them to disengage. I think the robot is neutralized.”
“We should be sure it’s dead!” Sheng said.
“It is dead. Shooting it more now will simply serve to destroy what’s left of it. We need to know how that thing works!” Feng said.
Sheng nodded. The man realized he’d transmitted his contradicting statement inappropriately. Feng noted it but he didn’t reprimand him for it. He stayed busy monitoring the traffic and ensuring that they had neutralized all their enemies on the station. The dogs regrouped and started to patrol the area in groups of twenty.
Feng received a transmission from the soldiers who had gone to contact the engineering staff of Pearl River.
“It’s the engineers. They’re giving us trouble,” reported an officer in charge of the human soldiers.
“I’ll send some dogs to help you glue them up,” Feng said. He took a deep breath and modified his objectives in the battle controller interface. He set up the priorities equally between searching the rest of the station for another spider robot and assisting the humans with handling the engineers.
“Why are the station staff resisting us?” Feng asked.
“There’s something wrong with them. They’re acting crazy,” the officer said. “They’re in some kind of armor. It’s nothing I’ve seen before. They aren’t heavily armed, t
hough. One of them had a laser, another one a stunner. There aren’t many of them but— ah, the dogs are here. Thanks!”
Feng watched feeds from the living quarters. He saw men wearing bulky black armor. The men were irate, acting violently as the soldiers arrived in each living area. They had to be glued up and taken into custody. Feng shook his head.
What’s going on out here, anyway?
Six
Xinmei dreaded the arrival of her first guest. Things were bad enough with the inexplicable takeover of the spherical robots, although Xinmei counted herself lucky to be alive. The robots hadn’t proved to be assassination machines after all, or else they most certainly would have disposed of Xinmei as well, given her proximity to Mr. Vineaux.
She had a checklist to go through, detailing her duties before a guest arrived. She wore a simple silk robe in the company turquoise. The rooms had been cleaned and organized, not that they were dirty to begin with.
The guest would arrive any time now. She didn’t know much else. She had a name: Chris Adrastus. She assumed the guest would be male but didn’t have any solid information. Having fended off one lustful Westerner after another, she didn’t want to face any more.
Xinmei wandered into the tiny kitchen to check it for the tenth time. When she heard the door open, she couldn’t bring herself to go out into the living area immediately. She took a deep breath and steeled herself. She had overcome so much to get this far.
I can keep doing it. I’ll be one of the best operatives ever, I’ll match Feng’s performance as an officer.
She peeked into the living area. The newcomer wore one of the black plastic suits required by their new masters.
He stood taking in the room, while the questions ran through Xinmei’s head.
Does he know about the robots? What company they come from? I wonder if Western companies always fight each other so fiercely. They could be from the UNSF. Maybe they want to punish Mr. Vineaux for crossing some boundary they had set for VG.
Finally, he pulled off the thick helmet and looked around the room without the helmet. She saw his light hair. And of course, a glimpse of his profile showed he had light skin and a big Western nose. She thought he looked impressed with the room. It was certainly amazing by Xinmei’s standards.
He dropped his helmet onto a long, soft couch and took off more of his suit. He put the plastic pieces on the couch next to the helmet. Then he walked into the bathroom.
I’d better come to him rather than let him discover me, she thought. As long as I don’t walk in on him while he’s urinating!
Xinmei quietly padded across the room toward the bathroom. She peeked in and saw him standing before the mirror. He was touching the sink.
Xinmei walked into the bathroom slowly.
“Shit!” he exclaimed.
“Sorry, sir,” Xinmei said. She dropped to one knee and lowered her head.
“Uh, oh, that’s okay, you surprised me.” he said. “It’s okay. You can stand up. Who are you?”
“Your servant, sir,” Xinmei said. Slowly, she stood. He stared at her carefully.
“Oh. I didn’t know we had any help here. You in the manual?” he asked.
“What?”
“Never mind… you’re young. What’s your name? Do you work for VG?”
Xinmei watched the floor. “I am your servant.”
“Oh. What’s your name?”
She kept looking at the floor. “I am your servant, Xinmei.”
He walked out. Xinmei followed him to the main room.
“This is a nice place. It’s quieter than I expected here,” he said. He glanced into the bedroom.
“Well, I’d like to dismiss you for now. I’m fairly tired, and I’d like to grab a nap. I can send for you…” he frowned. “I don’t see your link’s service.”
Xinmei looked down again. “No, sir.”
“They block your link?”
Xinmei shook her head. She pointed at her head and then flicked her finger aside, which meant she had no link. He looked away and walked to the couch.
“Something wrong, sir? Anything I do?” Xinmei asked uncertainly, following him to the couch.
Xinmei settled closer and massaged his shoulders. She put all her strength into it, wondering if he would find her skills acceptable.
This one was a thinker. He sat there considering something as she worked. He wasn’t falling asleep. Every now and then, he glanced at her in the mirror. Xinmei felt a slight fear that he might turn around and attack her. What defense against rape would she have here, so far from home?
But he simply relaxed for a while, and when her fingers grew so tired she feared she would have to apologize and stop, he excused himself and went to bed alone. Xinmei felt relief.
Her guidelines said she should awaken before her guest, but she had a very important task to finish first. She had received a secret message from Yingtai when her friend came to tell her she should be expecting a guest. Yingtai would be allowed to visit her one more time, as part of training, before she’d be on her own.
The message said:
The robots have forced everyone moving about the station to wear the plastic gear. We knew something strange was happening but it keeps getting stranger. One of our friends on the station has discovered that the helmets contain some kind of device. We don’t know much about it other than it can make people forget things, and it can make them act strangely.
This unit should be disabled. As long as it operates, your guest will be forgetting exactly what we want to know. Worse still, it may be harvesting sensitive data out of his link memory and deleting it.
I don’t know how it works. Therefore the only way I know to stop it, is to crush it. Use the tip of a knife. I think that if the damage is discovered, the spherical robots will blame the guest, since after all, it is the guest they are spying on.
There was also a diagram which showed Xinmei how to find the device. It sat inside the helmet, at the top of the arc over the head. A tiny hole could be used to pry open a compartment which held the device. Xinmei went over to the couch and retrieved the helmet. She took it into the kitchen, and prised the tiny holder open. Something was there, exactly as Yingtai had described. Xinmei gave it several careful stabs with the knife. It was difficult to use a lot of strength because of the tiring massage, but she managed to put enough force on the device to severely deform it.
There. I hope that’s enough.
Xinmei shook her head. What a situation! Now she was disabling someone else’s spy device to keep it from taking information from Xinmei and her friends.
She returned the helmet to the couch quietly. She realized she was relying completely on the judgement of Yingtai and the others on the station. But it didn’t seem wrong, since even though she’d gone through an ordeal, she was still far from a seasoned field operative. She would keep trusting in Yingtai, at least for the time being.
Xinmei extracted the servant’s bunk from the wall in the main room and went to sleep.
***
In the morning, Xinmei prepared Mr. Adrastus a meal, and after a bit of idle chat, he’d headed out.
She rattled about the room for hours. Every time she started to curse the boredom, she reminded herself that it was better than being raped in a submarine. At least in passive mode she could sometimes intercept someone else’s entertainment stream for a few minutes. She did some calisthenics, studied her servant’s guidelines and took a quick shower.
In the shower, she wondered what would happen if her guest came in and found her there. The man didn’t seem like the type to demand sex from her, she decided. Surely he would have tried by now if he intended to? She couldn’t fully convince herself, so she hurried through the shower without taking the time to enjoy it.
She went into the bedroom to straighten up. There wasn’t anything to snoop on, since he had no real possessions of his own except whatever he took with him. Everything else was company issue. She turned to leave the bedroom.
/> Suddenly a spider bot was hovering before her. She screamed. The machine made no move. It had eight arms evenly placed around its metallic body, which was about a meter thick at its equator. As before, one limb was pointed straight down. As Xinmei stared in shock, it gently dropped to rest on the tip of the downward-pointing arm.
“What you want?” she said, dipping to one knee.
I’ve come to see you. I’m curious about something. I wonder, has your society correctly ranked you? I think probably not.
The words came through her link. Somehow it already knew she had one.
“Who are you?” she dared ask.
My real name has no context in your language. Your kind have called me Slicer. It is a good enough name. I think it’s because I sliced some members of the security team in half with a thin filament.
“What you want?” she asked again.
You are the one who was with Mr. Vineaux. You are ranked below him?
“Yes,” she said. “I am only a worker. A slave.” For once, she genuinely wanted to be nobody. Surely this thing didn’t have any real business with her. Did it suspect she was a spy? Would it kill her? Turn her in to someone?
You are ranked below all others.
“Yes.”
That need not remain the case, Slicer’s words said in her link. Your old position means nothing now. You will participate in the challenges and find a new rank based upon your true capabilities.
“I’m not allowed in the challenges, I’m only a servant.”
You have a link device. You will connect and participate. You will find your new rank, or else I will kill you. I will slice you in half, to reinforce my name.
“I will participate,” Xinmei agreed immediately. Her link accepted a pointer from the deadly machine. A program started to run.
Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus Page 39