AZU-1: Lifehack

by Joseph Picard

  The General growled at the monitors. “What the hell just happened?”

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 55: Plan B

  ~~~~~

  Alisia awoke again to find Regan’s arm flopped over her side, hand dangling in front of her. She could feel her teddy bear pushed into her back a bit. This implied to her that Regan didn’t cuddle up on purpose.. otherwise, she would have gotten the bear out of the way, right? Unless she was half-asleep at the time, maybe.

  Alisia grabbed Regan’s hand, ready to toss it back, but she was surprised to feel how warm it was. Her own fingers felt cold, and without thinking, she paused to feel Regan’s warmth for a bit. Time slowed as Alisia’s mind glazed over a little, holding Regan’s hand.

  Suddenly Regan’s hand moved. Her fingers wrapped around Alisia’s, to hold her hand in return. To Alisia it was as if she spotted the movement of a spider out of the corner of her eye. She yelped a little and threw Regan’s hand away. It landed on Alisia’s hip, causing her to leap out of bed.

  Alisia stared down at Regan, who was only waking up. “Leesha, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing!” she said, “Nothing, I, we.. it’s late, we slept late, we should get up! I’m getting up! Just because we’re not on assignment, doesn’t mean we can sleep together all day. I mean- fuck! No, I don’t mean ‘fuck’! I mean.. shut up! Stop looking at me! I’m gonna take a shower.” She walked out briskly, closing the door decisively behind her.

  Regan relaxed back down into the bed with a smile, and giggled softly to herself while she ran her hand across the spot on the bed Alisia had left warm.

  “It’s a home-made rail cannon!” Doc Brock said, pointing at the close-up of the satellite image. “The design is crude, but to construct a dozen or more of these things in the amount of time Erebus had is amazing! There must be quite a fleet of nanites at work by now.”

  Alisia had come to Brock’s lab after getting caught up to speed by the General. The rest of AZU-1 was along for the ride.

  “Rail cannon?” Regan said, looking over to Alisia, “Is that like your bad mojo thingie?”

  “Yes! Yes!” Doc Brock interrupted, “The principle is very similar. Both use a set of electromagnets to hurl a projectile, but these cannons are much larger. They’d have to be in order to use construction girders as ammo and throw them as far as we’ve seen them go! They also have to consume a lot of power to fire.”

  “Where’s he getting this power?” Alisia asked, “Meston’s supply has been cut off, and we know there’s no mana drive or nuke generator in there.”

  “We can only assume he’s depleting backups or a stored supply.” Brock suggested.

  “But they’ll run out sooner or later, and then we just have to watch all the zombies fall down...” Parker said.

  “Erebus isn’t stupid. He knows he needs power, especially now that he doesn’t have a human body. He’ll try to pull something off before he runs out. Hopefully that ‘something’ doesn’t involve killing the hostages.”

  Doc Brock looked over to the image being fed by the satellite. “Remember when the Autar A.I. transmitted out of Autar at the last minute? I think I should have someone check on the status of any satellites in range of Meston.....”

  The thought of Erebus potentially floating around the planet as data in satellites was not a comforting one for anyone to absorb.

  “Anyway!” Brock broke the grim silence, “Sergeant Parker, Erebus’ new toys have inspired me to requisition some gear from a few other departments, and with some modification, I’ll be making you a new toy soon!”

  “I... I’m getting a rail cannon?”

  “Well.... no... a rail propelled sniper rifle. I expect amazing range.”

  “Cooooool.”

  Alisia stepped in. “Boys, how is a new fancy sniper rifle going to help us here?”

  “Fear not!” Doc Brock chirped, “I have a cunning plan!” He rolled a small bullet-like object towards Parker across the table. Parker stopped it with his index finger, and picked it up. It had none of the components of a normal bullet. No firing cap or anything, just a tight seam. “What the heck is this?”

  “A nanite server.” Brock explained, “Built to function like the ones we’ve managed to confiscate. Of course, this small size is thanks to the additional resources we had available to build them.”

  “But can’t Erebus just... build things on a molecular level with nanites?” Kris asked.

  “Yes, but I suppose that method wasn’t available... or maybe just not necessary when he made his. Which is lucky.. I doubt we could have reverse-engineered such a thing in any timely manner. This one also doesn’t need to carry a payload of nanites, saving space. Once I have the rifle assembled, we can fire it from out of his cannon range, and assume control of a nanite colony.”

  Parker smirked with a shrug. “Remember, I’m just here to shoot things.”

  Kris matched his smirk, and shook her head. “Shoot it into a zombie, and we can control it- Boom, an instant spy in Meston.”

  Brock nodded. “Yes. Exactly. I’ll be bringing the control deck aboard your airlimb soon. The control deck can have two operators.”

  “Well, that will be Regan and I,” Alisia said, “Obviously we need Kris running the airlimb, and Parker manning a zipper just in case. “

  “Can’t Erebus jam it?” Regan asked.

  “Doubt it.” Kris said. “Even if he does detect it in the mess of signals flying around Meston, he needs the airwaves clear about as much as we do.”

  Parker was still smirking at the server bullet. “And I have to bury this in a zombie from... almost a kilometer away?”

  “To avoid the heavy guns, yes, and the airlimb will have to keep moving.” Brock said. “Can’t use anything as slow as a rocket, or anything with guidance, as it’ll be detected on its way in. The server bullet goes in ‘dead’ and undetectable. The rail rifle I’m building compensates for the range needed.”

  Parker rolled his eyes, thinking about wind conditions over the distance. “Greaaat. Any other things to make this shot easier?”

  Kris answered. “You have to get it to hit the spinal nerve between the fourth and third vertebrae.”

  Parker’s eyes became wide as saucers. “What?!”

  Brock burst out laughing, quickly containing himself. “Easy, sergeant, just get it in anywhere.”

  Nearly twenty four hours later, Parker strolled into the airlimb’s ops room. They were still docked at Yute, and Kris was passing time, checking up on the status of various operations revolving around the Meston infection.

  “Hey, Kris. Whatcha watching?” Parker tried to be diplomatic.

  At the sound of Parker’s voice, Kris’s mind teetered between a sneer and a smile. “Did you know he’s been trying to take control of satellites?”

  Parker looked at the various displays arranged around Kris and considered what it all meant. “Oh my god.. the bastard.. it was his plan all along... he’s trying to get free satellite porn!”

  Kris turned around in her chair to face Parker, still divided between annoyance and appreciation. None the less, her voice came forward with a degree of amusement. “That’s right, Robert. You’ve uncovered his evil, evil plan. He did it all for porn.” Unconsciously, her body language flirted with a submissive lean back, and a little ‘accidental’ ride up of her skirt.

  “I knew it! Even after having his fleshy body destroyed, all he needs is some lovin’. Awww.”

  Kris rolled her eyes. “Aaaanyway, since he used a satellite to get data out of Autar before it was bombed, everyone’s rather nervous that he’ll jump out the same way again if he manages to hack a satellite. Either way, sooner or later he’s going to figure out a way to do something very very bad.”

  “Well, hopefully Doc Brock’s little experiment will get us some info to help us get the hostages out, or something... I suppose they’ll have to bomb Meston eventually to stop him from taking another city, hostages or not.”

  They let the noti
on settle in for a bit. Kris spoke up. “So why aren’t we going in with that railgun thing right now?”

  “Brock’s still setting stuff up. It’s gonna be a while. I just saw some of it being dragged in.”

  Kris looked up at Parker and raised an eyebrow. She tapped a button on one of the consoles, and all the monitors around her flickered out, leaving the room dimly lit by light from the hall. “So. You’re saying we have some time to burn.”

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 56: A Lively Stroll

  ~~~~~

  Parker continued the examination of his new toy, which sat pointing out the open bay door on the side of the airlimb. The frenzied air of flight rushed around him, and the ground blurred by below. The front end of the gun looked just like a normal zipper gun, and for a very good reason. At the range they’d be at, a normal zipper would not be able to reach Meston, and if Erebus saw them, he would hopefully only think that they were trying to take a peek. Parker looked at the three little magic ‘bullets’ on a neat little rack beside the handle, like a miniature, modern quiver.

  Behind him in the bay, Doc Brock was strapping Alisia and Regan down to a large table with bulky headsets looming overhead. “So, when we have control of a zombie, the sensor I’m going to tape onto the back of your neck will pick up impulses in your nerves and translate it into motions for the controlled zombie. In return it will send images and sound back to the headset. Since this isn’t a true cyber VR, (I didn’t think you ladies would want to be implanted for that, nor do we have the time...) your actual body will be moving too. This system doesn’t stop that, so the strapping is there to prevent you from.. well... flailing around here and hurting yourselves.”

  The girls nodded in rough understanding, and Brock skittered over to the console attached nearby to run calibration tests. Kris chose this moment to wander in from the front of the airlimb.

  She sauntered up to the table and smirked down at Alisia and Regan, half strapped down. “And here I am without a stick of butter.”

  Regan rolled her eyes and looked up at Kris. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  Alisia looked over to Regan with wide eyes. “Her? What about you?!”

  Regan pondered. “Well... I’ve had worse Saturday nights.”

  Alisia closed her eyes in mild exasperation. “Kris, how long till we’re in range?”

  Kris ‘innocently’ rested her hand on Alisia’s knee, and watched Regan’s face for reaction. “Any minute. That’s what I came back to tell you.”

  Regan glared at Kris’s hand, then up to her calm, smiling face. “You couldn’t have used the comm?”

  “What, and miss the bondage party?” She strolled back out with her smirk, to take her station.

  Soon, the airlimb had attained an ‘orbit’ around Meston, with Parker’s new toy pointed at it. He used the scope to look around exposed streets and such for viable targets, looking for single zombies who once controlled, could slip away unnoticed.

  “Kris,” he spoke into his comm after a while, “Hold it here. I see a few.” The airlimb lurched to a stop, hovering in place. Through the sight, he looked at three zombies milling around by the opening to an alley. “Three zombies, three magic bullets.” Parker commented.

  “And two people who can use them.” Alisia said from the table.

  “Yeah, well, that’s not my fault.” Parker readied his first shot. The capacitors warmed up, and a soft hissing sound came from the base of the gunnery. Alisia mentally noted that it sounded much different than her bad mojo, and wondered if it was time she got Brock to build her an upgrade.

  With no detectable recoil, the gun fired, and Parker watched silently for a moment that felt like forever. “Got one.” He said with calm satisfaction.

  Brock made himself busy at his console. “Ah, yes. It’s good. Lets get another set up, then the ladies can ‘go in’.”

  Parker lined up his shot for the next nearest zombie.... and fired. “Damn.”

  “What happened?” Alisia asked.

  “I hit the same one. It stumbled in the way at the last second.”

  “Oh,” Brock said, looking at his console as if It might try to bite. “I hope that wasn’t my fault.”

  “No matter. I guess that’s why we have a third bullet.”

  Alisia looked out under her head set at Regan. Her eyes looked nervous. “If we only get one in, you’ll be saved the trouble. I’ll have to go in without you.” Her words suggested she wanted to spare Regan, but her voice suggested she didn’t want to do this alone.

  Parker fired. “Fuck fuck fuck!”

  Alisia closed her eyes and sighed.

  “It went clean through. Yeah, I can see bits of the bullet in the wall. Some chunks below.” Parker mumbled curses at himself.

  “Alright Brock. Put me in.” Alisia said.

  “Hm. Yes.”

  Parker watched through the scope as the struck zombie jiggled into a controlled state. The monitors inside Alisia’s headset came to life. “Kay. I’m seeing through its eyes, I guess. Whoops!” The zombie fell down onto its side. “Hey, I got a drunk one.”

  “Ah, it will take a bit of practice, I should think.” Brock suggested.

  Alisia moved her restrained arm, and saw the zombie’s hand come up in front of the display. “Yick. Anyone got any moisturizer? Say, Parker, where’d you land the second bullet?”

  “Left shoulder, front.”

  Controlling the zombie was tricky. It was difficult to ignore what she felt- the table and its straps, and her actual motions, and instead focus only on the visual feedback she was receiving. After some fumbling, Alisia managed to make the zombie dig the bullet out. “This still working, Brock?”

  “Yes, wh- Oh, I see!”

  Alisia looked over to Regan again.

  “Do it.” Regan said.

  Alisia’s zombie lunged forward, and stuck the spare bullet into the calf of the next nearest zombie. It moaned in surprise, which startled the third zombie enough to make it wander away. Brock pushed a few buttons on his console. “It... it’s good, you can go in any time, Ms. Grier.”

  “OK,” Regan said, “I’m ready.”

  Regan and Alisia took some time to get used to their remote control zombie-bodies, practicing a little with a short zombie slap-fight.

  “Silly bitch!” Alisia said, slapping Regan’s zombie with a cheerful tone.

  “Aha! The claws come out at last, huh, leesha?” Regan retaliated with another slap of her own.

  “I am not Alisia! This is a male zombie.. I am....AL!” Another slap punctuated her statement.

  “Hey, dipsticks.” Kris’ voice came over the com. “Don’t slap those things apart. We need them, don’t we?”

  “Yeah.. well.. one more thing.” Regan staggered back and came forward with an attempted roundhouse kick which resulted in her zombie falling flat on its back. “Ow!”

  “Ow?” Brock asked, looking rather concerned for a moment that somehow the system had fed back pain to Regan, even though he knew full well it couldn’t.

  “Well... it sounded painful.” Regan said.

  “Yeah.” Alisia agreed, putting Al’s hand out for Regan’s toppled zombie. “Come on. Get up, uh... Reggie.”

  ‘Reggie’ took Al’s hand, and started to pull himself up. “You should have heard it from here.” Regan said.

  “Let’s get moving.” Alisia said, looking around with Al’s eyes. “Parker, we’re looking for hostages, so um... can you see maybe a gymnasium or something where they might be held... and hopefully a route that keeps us away from other zombies as much as possible?”

  “Yeah... um... I picked zombies more or less as far in as I could, so.. er... I don’t really see a whole lot past you...”

  “Captain Taylor to the rescue.” Kris chimed in dryly, “I already have Meston’s map loaded up, and if Brock will allow I’ll stick a VTag in your display for you to follow.”

  “Of course.” Brock said, having spent an extra hour putting the Vtag fea
ture in. A “go here” VTag icon appeared on their displays, seemingly pointing out a building obscured by several others.

  “Ok, Kris, where is this we’re headed?” Alisia said, starting Al walking down the street. “And how far?” Slap fights had gotten easy enough, but walking with any useful speed without falling over, proved a bit more difficult. “Well, now I understand zombies a bit better.”

  “It’s a pharmacy.” Kris said, referring to the VTag, “Alisia said she wanted some moisturizer.” Regan rolled her eyes, but was cut off before she could come up with a comeback. “Eh, really though,” Kris continued, “It’s a high school. It’s got a big gym. Seems like a good place to keep a lot of people. It was one of the first places the Storms had intended to check out.”

  And so, Al and Reggie staggered down the street in the general direction of the VTag. “Frig, I could get out of the airlimb, actually walk there myself, and get there before the zombie.” Regan complained.

  “Yeah, and get skewered by a rail-propelled iron girder or zombified y-“

  Alisia was cut off by the sound of a little scream from behind a garbage bin they were passing. Al and Reggie turned to look and saw a young lady with long dark hair, perhaps a bit younger than Regan and Alisia. Alisia held out Al’s hands in a calming gesture and said “It’s ok, we’re not ... uh.. not bad zombies....”

  “She can’t hear you Major.” Brock said, “We couldn’t pull that trick off in the time we had.”

  “Bah.” Alisia looked around and made Al grab a rock from the ground, and walk over to the wall. The lady flinched as Al got close, but was blocked from escape by the garbage bin and Reggie’s presence. Alisia started scraping a message into the wall with the rock. “HUMAN CONTROLLED ZOMBIES. HERE TO PLAN RESCUE. CAN’T TALK. CAN LISTEN.”

  Al stood back, and pointed at the message. The young lady read it, and looked back and forth between Al, Reggie, and the message. “You’re kidding...”