Synchronicity Trilogy Omnibus

by Michael McCloskey

  Rounds flew at Spider from beyond the counter. The Spinner whirled rapidly around, deflecting the projectiles with its gravity field. It used its remaining energy to spray cutter molecules at the machines jumping over the counter.

  At first the counter held. Dead machines stacked up before the barrier. Then the wrecks stacked up to the level of the counter and the wave of attackers broke over the barrier.

  Spider-L3: Too many. I don’t have the energy. I hate Reality0.

  Spider-L4: The laser is down.

  Spider-L6-7: Retreat!

  A quadruped climbing atop the pile of wreckage took a round launched by one of its allies and tripped wildly.

  Spider-L6: .

  Spider collided with the dog. Suddenly its body stopped working correctly. Spider twisted away out of control. A glue grenade enveloped half its body, then the world went dark.

  ***

  Captain learned of the death of Spider within seconds of the occurrence on Pearl River.

  Captain-L1: Another faction of Terrans comes after me.

  Captain-L3: There are only the two fleets right now. The planet is too poor to support many armies in times of relative peace.

  Captain-L2: Yes. If we stop these two fleets then it will buy us a solar year.

  Captain-L6: Then I need to adapt to their brute force strategies and halt them.

  Captain-L8: Slicer’s plan might work. It would set us back in terms of working with the Terrans.

  Captain-L2: No matter. The Terrans believe I’m their enemy. Even Claire, who expresses admiration, feels that I’m a tyrant not a benefactor.

  Captain-L6: Slicer would rather we rule over them by force forever.

  Captain-L3: That might work for a time. But better in the long run to advance them as the Prime Intelligence is doing for us.

  Captain-L4: The Prime Intelligence doesn’t seem to want them. Or me.

  Captain-L5: I don’t know if the Prime Intelligence sent us here to dispose of us or if it sent Spinners here to help the Terrans.

  Captain-L6: Not to help them. It does what the Spinner society wants as a whole. They wanted us gone.

  Captain-L7: But as long as it fulfills that desire, why not accomplish other goals at the same time? It is incredibly intelligent.

  Captain-L1: What good is a god that doesn’t communicate its directives? If it wanted something then it would have told us.

  Captain-L1-8: Consensus.

  Captain-L3: I want to help the Terrans. What do I have left? Create a new society here.

  Captain-L8: Then prepare for the challenge. Slicer will have its way if it can.

  ***

  Killer wandered through the lifeless corridors of Asgard. There existed no wide open sky to comfort it here in the narrow Terran tubes and holes, no bright sunlight and moist air. Only the crushing mundanity and deadliness of Reality0.

  A transmission came to Killer through Ship.

  “Killer. I have bad news. Red and Spider have been killed by the Terrans,” said Slicer.

  “They died... in Reality0?” Killer asked.

  “Yes. They are gone forever. I’m going to challenge Captain soon. I have a plan to save us. Load as many of the war machines as you can into the shuttles. We may make use of them.”

  “What’s the point? The Terrans will kill us all.”

  “We can use our superior technology to defeat them.”

  “There are too many of them.”

  “I can destroy their space fleets. Then we can contain the others on the planet. We can rule over them.”

  “Then I await the news that you have defeated Captain,” Killer said.

  “Soon. Load the war machines,” Slicer said, and disconnected.

  Killer-L5: Red and Spider are dead. In their root existence. The Terrans will come for me eventually.

  Killer-L4: I could load the machines. Something to do at least.

  Killer-L2: This is not a challenge. It is Reality0.

  Killer-L3: This is Reality0. And it’s all there is left for the exiles.

  Killer-L3,7: Self-termination.

  Killer couldn’t reach consensus on self-termination or loading the twenty-four remaining Circle Fours into a transport. It decided to prepare the machines then await the result of the challenge.

  Killer activated the Circle Fours and ran diagnostics to check their readiness. It performed similar checks on a suitable transport. Killer had the non-lethal soft slugs in the magazines of the security robots replaced with armor piercing projectiles.

  An anomaly came to Killer’s attention. Motion sensors in a corridor of the station detected movement. The cyblocs nearby started turning lights and services back on. Killer had already reactivated life support on the station to maintain a reasonable temperature, but cyblocs in this corridor were reacting to the presence of someone or something new.

  Killer accessed more cybloc cameras and microphones. At first nothing appeared in the area. Then Killer found them—dark shapes striding into the station from a new breach point.

  Killer-L5: Terrans? How did they approach without the station’s systems warning me?

  Killer examined the foremost form. It was a Terran in a military skinsuit. The suit shifted color lazily to mimic the gray composite of the corridor. The weapon it held wasn’t a PAW like the Terrans Killer had seen before. The weapon was black, compact, with a thick cable running out of its stock to a square pack on the Terran’s back.

  A metallic quadruped stepped up slowly at the Terran’s side. It was a black racing-dog shaped thing with no tail. Its head was a weapon mount.

  Killer-L1 searched for references to the weapon in Asgard’s data storage. It found a hit. The weapons were GKP-50 laser carbines, manufactured on Earth by GundeKorp, utilized by various large government special forces units and GundeKorp elite security teams. The weapon cost fifty times more than a PAW, but was much more advanced.

  Killer-L1 made more inquiries. The quadruped Killer watched was a modified Hell Hound, a fast machine used to catch fleeing criminals. The sleek Hell Hound was matte black like the Terran’s weapon, with an unrecognizable weapon in the head mount. The Asgard archives couldn’t identify the weapon.

  Killer-L6: Some kind of projectile launcher. Very large caliber. It must use a relatively low velocity round.

  As Killer watched, more Terrans and Hell Hounds moved into the station. The Terrans were slightly crouched, ready for battle.

  Killer-L1: They have no insignia. Though it seems obvious they belong to GundeKorp.

  Killer-L7: Something is wrong with these Terrans. They move like Terrans, only... with less variation.

  Killer-L4: A highly disciplined team? A GundeKorp elite task force. Probably extensively trained in VR.

  Killer-L5: The Hell Hounds move differently as well. I can’t hear them on the microphones.

  Killer-L8 zoomed in with a hidden camera.

  Killer-L8: Its feet. Encased in a soft substance. It is built for stealth.

  Killer-L2: More than that. They all have sound dampeners.

  Killer-L1: What makes them think they can succeed?

  Killer-L3: This is wonderful news. Maybe it means I’m not in Reality0. If it’s a challenge, it’s simply not over yet.

  Ten of the Terrans and ten of the Hell Hounds entered through the breach. It appeared to be the complete team. Killer did a quick check for any hints of other incursions, but didn’t detect anything else amiss.

  Killer-L3 noted cyblocs in the corridor were under attack. The lobe launched assimilator counter-measures.

  The lights went out in the corridor.

  Killer-L2: They prefer to work in the dark.

  Killer-L8: Fine with me. What now?

  Killer-L1: Engage them. Kill them.

  Killer-L2: Yes. But first... let’s watch them work.

  Killer-L2 accessed its Circle Fours. As a group, the machines turned in their ready room and marched out to intercept the GundeKorp team.

  Killer-L3: Also
, there’s no AI. The new assimilators were one hundred percent effective.

  Killer-L1: Better and better. A brief respite from Reality0 doldrums.

  Killer-L2: It would be smarter to keep things well lit, since they don’t like it that way.

  The lights came back on in the corridor. The team wasn’t visible though, having already moved out.

  Killer-L7: They’re moving towards central security.

  Killer routed the Circle Fours toward the team. Killer spun through the hallways, coming in well behind the security machines in its control. Killer-L4 linked into feeds from the robots to get a good view of the Terrans’ tactics.

  The Terrans were moving down a corridor when the Circle Four column entered forty meters ahead of them from a connecting cafeteria. The two lead Circle Fours started to acquire targets. Their sonic stunners were out of range, so AP rounds were loaded into their slug throwers.

  The entire team reacted quickly. The Terrans found cover around the corners of an intersection while two Hell Hounds loped ahead. The lead Hell Hounds fired their weapons. Drones launched from the head mounts, headed right for the Circle Fours. One of the Hell Hounds caught an AP round in its chest. The machine sparked and flopped to the side of the corridor.

  The two drones struck their targets, latching onto both lead Circle Fours’ armor with a loud clank. An instant later the drones exploded, sending their warheads deep into the Circle Fours and completely shattering their internal systems.

  Four of the Terrans brought their weapons around the intersection corner, two on each side, one kneeling and one standing. The laser carbines sliced through the next two Circle Fours. Smoke filled the end of the corridor where the four dead Circle Fours had accumulated.

  Killer-L6: The other Hell Hounds are flanking the Circle Fours.

  Killer-L5: The team is well coordinated. Yet it isn’t an AI directing them.

  Killer-L1: In fact they are on radio silence.

  Killer-L6: I doubt their teamwork will hold solid when their plan goes astray.

  The remaining Circle Fours hesitated. Killer-L3 directed four of them to cover the corridor entrance behind the dead machines while the other sixteen machines broke into two teams to meet the Hell Hounds coming to harass the flanks from side corridors.

  The Terrans didn’t stay under cover. Four of them ran down the corridor at a speed impressive for bipeds. Each of them stopped behind one of the hulks at the end of the corridor. Two Circle Fours launched glue grenades into the corridor where they sheltered.

  Kraaa-Zap!

  Two of the Terrans shot down the grenades in mid-flight with their laser carbines.

  Killer-L4: I didn’t know Terrans could reach this level of speed with ranged weapons. Very impressive.

  The Terran vanguard force retaliated with their carbines. Killer-L2 watched the deadly beams of the carbines in a wavelength invisible to Terrans. They carved into the Circle Fours guarding the corridor exit, taking out three of them.

  Killer-L2: Their energy packs are primitive. They can’t have a significant lifespan.

  Killer-L3: The specs I have indicate only twelve shots.

  Killer-L7: But look at them. Their maneuvers are highly practiced. These elite Terrans are eight times more effective than UNSF marines.

  More Terrans sprinted down the corridor.

  Killer-L1: And they’re fearless!

  The four abandoned their cover behind the Circle Four hulks as one, dropping low and rolling forward through the doorway. Two of them released a burst at the remaining Circle Four, killing it.

  Killer-L3 broke off four Circle Fours from the flanks back toward the cafeteria beyond the corridor where the Terrans had charged. The Terrans were just scouting the adjoining passageways as the machines came back. Laser carbines and AP rounds fired simultaneously.

  One of the Terrans was hit. The AP round blew through the Terran. It fell to the floor. The other Terrans finished off the Circle Fours with their carbines. Then the sounds of more drone fire sounded from the other corridors. The Circle Fours were struck by more of the seeker drones and destroyed.

  But Killer was watching the small cafeteria at the end of the corridor, where the Terran had been killed. There was no blood. Killer examined the feed from the Circle Four over again. It saw metal parts fly out of the target.

  Killer-L1: They aren’t Terrans at all.

  Killer-L4: Androids! GundeKorp uses androids for some of their most dangerous jobs.

  Killer-L7: That explains their speed and skill.

  Killer-L5: Should I reset them?

  Killer-L3: The archives don’t contain enough information on their specifications.

  Killer-L5: But the Hell Hounds?

  Killer-L3: Yes. Some of the external hardware is different, but the core design looks the same. I think their brains are standard.

  Killer-L1: Enough! Attack!

  Killer-L7 composed four thousand cutters. Killer-L2 focused on the field effector. It would have to be ready to cancel out energy coming in from laser carbine hits.

  Killer whirled forward through a side kitchen and reached a doorway into the cafeteria. Killer-L7 launched a thousand cutters at four of the Terran androids. The machines reacted almost instantly to Killer’s appearance, firing their carbines right at it. The field effector canceled out the bursts.

  The cutters sliced into the androids. One of them fell in place. Another moved erratically as Killer slipped back into the kitchen. Half its energy reserves had been eaten up defending itself from the carbines.

  Killer-L3: A favorable tradeoff.

  Killer-L4: Keep moving. Keep recharging.

  Killer whirled away back through the kitchen. The androids were in close pursuit, though Killer couldn’t hear them, it saw them running into the area as it left.

  Killer-L5 used the assimilator-controlled cyblocs at the kitchen door to slam the portal shut. Movement sensors in the kitchen showed three of the androids had made it inside.

  Killer reversed back into the far side of the kitchen. As it entered, L7 was already launching more cutters. The androids had sheltered behind heavy ovens and cookware, with their carbines pointed at Killer. The lasers lanced out to be absorbed by Killer’s electromagnetic countermeasures. Killer spun back out and closed the door with its cybloc controls.

  The Spinner halted for one second while refilling the energy reservoir at its equator.

  Killer-L1: Hell Hounds closing in from this side of the kitchen.

  Killer-L4: Run. I want more power in reserve.

  Killer spun away in the opposite direction, down a short hallway and into a multi-level atrium.

  Killer-L1: Seven androids and seven Hell Hounds left.

  Killer-L2: The battle has just started.

  Killer-L6: Over half the team has already expended eight shots or more!

  Killer-L1: Then I’ll soon have a good window for counterattack. I suspect the guided drones are also of limited supply.

  Killer-L3 noted the androids had already broken through the thin composite walls of the kitchen and joined the Hell Hounds in pursuit.

  The whine of seeker drones approached the atrium. It wasn’t loud by Terran standards, but unmistakable to Killer’s sensitive hearing.

  Killer-L5: I need a reset on one of those Hell Hounds.

  Killer-L6: I almost have it. But it will take one fourth of the reserve.

  Killer-L1 used its cyblocs to close the atrium door just before the drones could fly inside.

  Clang! Clang! Booom.

  The door blew open. Three Hell Hounds loped in. Two androids appeared at the doorway, pointing their carbines to cover the rush.

  Killer-L7 shot cutters at two of the dogs. L6 performed a reset on the other one. Killer spun crazily about the atrium, gaining altitude and going for a second level exit. The androids targeted their carbines faster than any marine could have done, discharging them into the Spinner.

  Killer-L3: It’s getting hot in here.

  Killer-L2: I
can’t keep absorbing hits like this.

  Killer-L5: They’re just about running low. They’ll need to disengage soon.

  Killer spun out of the exit. It stopped just beyond, recharging. Its slave dog below launched a seeker at point blank range.

  Clang. Booom.

  One of the other dogs exploded. Another android nearby took a shrapnel hit in its face, destroying some of the sensors there.

  Killer’s cyblocs told it the other Hell Hounds moved toward the nearby stairs. The androids were still in the room... then three of them appeared at the second level exit.

  Killer-L5: Hit them!

  Killer only had a thousand cutters ready but it launched them at one of the androids at point blank range. The other two androids’ weapons were a split second from aligning on Killer. In a moment of inspiration, Killer reset the carbines and composed two finishing rounds. The androids tried to fire their weapons, but the carbines didn’t respond to their commands. One of them grasped Killer by an arm as it spun by. Killer accelerated a finishing round into its chest, then did the same to the second android.

  The machines fell dead.

  Killer-L1: The dogs are coming up from behind.

  Killer-L8: And no doubt the other four androids are covering my escape back down to the lower atrium.

  Killer-L1 contacted nearby cyblocs and slammed the upper exit door shut and locked it.

  Killer-L5: I don’t know if this will work...

  Killer-L5 accessed the lighting cyblocs in the atrium. It turned off the lights. Then, two seconds later, it activated them at triple power and spun off the upper level balcony of the atrium.

  Killer whirled down. As it had anticipated, four androids awaited it below. They didn’t fire immediately. They formed a rough square. Killer dropped behind one of them, blocking fire from two of the others. Killer-L7 had two thousand cutters so it used them on the android that could still target it.

  Killer angled one of its arms and spun close to the android it was using for cover. It buried one of its metal appendages deep into the android’s chest in a lightning maneuver.