“He seemed thrilled,” Lucas said sarcastically.
“That’s the happiest you’ll see him.” Keith twirled around, lasering Lucas with his eyes. “There’s a reason we’re only testing one prototype against his whole unit.” He shook his index finger.
“Because you enjoy losing?” Lucas smirked.
“Ha, I’ll show you,” Keith said.
“Sure. I’m interested in seeing it, but one question,” Lucas posed.
“Shoot.”
“I heard the last Crucible against these Marines was really...short? How long did your three drones last out here?” Lucas asked, raising his eyebrow.
Keith sighed and paused briefly, hoping Lucas’ interest in the question would fade, but it didn’t.
“Ahhh, well, once the drill commenced, about twenty minutes,” Keith said, lowering his voice when he said the number.
“Hmm, well, don’t feel bad. Professional fights last only a few seconds sometimes,” Lucas said with a serious face.
“True, but they don’t have to cover five square miles in their ring. Most of that time was travel time.” Keith grimaced.
“Ouch. Then, yeah, that’s really fast I guess... Hey, I tried.” Lucas patted Keith on the back.
“Nice try.” Keith laughed.
***
Belmont and his Marines settled into their bunks for the evening. Belmont patrolled the compartment, assessing his men’s level of confidence and morale.
“You good?” he asked one of his men.
“Yes, sir.” The young man nodded, sitting on the edge of his bunk. He seemed a bit nervous about it all. He’d never participated in these games.
Belmont sat down on the bunk opposite him. Looking across, he paused for a moment, rubbing his hands together. “Look, tomorrow, we don’t need any doubt going into this. None. We’ve never lost one of these games.” He crossed his arms at the young Marine.
“I understand, sir.” The boy squared his shoulders, but kept shuffling his feet around.
“The reason we’ve never lost is because no one has a face like I’m looking at now. Better perk up, Marine. Did you break up with your girl or what?” Belmont snorted, trying to keep too much condescension out of his voice.
“No, sir.”
“What is it then? You, concerned?” Belmont asked, leaning in.
“Sir, I’m just nervous. I have anxiety and—”
Belmont interrupted him. “All right, look. Go relieve the security patrol from Corporal Stewart. You’re like a black hole of pity sitting here in the middle of everyone, sucking the life out of my entire unit... Go!” The Marine snapped up quickly, grabbing his gear and running out of the compartment.
Belmont had his own way of doing things, and regardless of opinions about his style, he produced results. With his temper, he had less chance of making the rank of Major unless he could win.
Part of the problem with making rank was that he pushed things a bit too far, even having been accused of physically assaulting his men. Nothing had ever been proven, but there was enough evidence from different situations to suggest a problem. Only one of the Marines currently serving with Belmont had testified against him. The other two were transferred.
Chapter Nine
Later that evening, Keith took Lucas down to the storage area where he stashed his new prototype. Lucas was completely unaware of what he was about to see. His company had only contributed to about 15% of its development and all of that was just recovering the alien materials. He had no idea what they used them for.
The journey down to the basement was eerily quiet. People had used that tunnel to evacuate during the fallout warnings back in the war with North Korea. Being a military base, soldiers and their families herded through these tunnels to safety, but some people didn’t make it. The story said that the installation’s commanding officer tried to force some of the civilians out of the shelter. Claiming he needed to conserve his combat strength. Needless to say, that didn’t work out so well.
The Army didn’t like the term mutiny, but the ensuing “riot” left the base commander, plus hundreds of troops and bystanders, dead without a single radiation casualty. Since they were in a war zone though, the incident was swept under the rug. The dead simply tagged “Killed in Action.”
“So, you taking me down to the dungeon?” Lucas joked.
“Yeah, fitting term down here,” Keith said.
“I heard about it too, the riot, but don’t know the details,” Lucas said.
“Me either. I just know a lot of people died down here. Crazy the things that happened during the war most never knew about. Mutiny is a fascinating dynamic, especially in an area this desolate. Might as well be on the open sea,” Keith said.
“I’m sure they had to stay down here with the radiation levels above. Must have been hell cramped in here,” Lucas examined.
“Claustrophobia and enochlophobia sufferers would have had it the worst.”
“Eno-chlo-what?” Lucas said.
“Fear of crowds. This place must have been shoulder to shoulder.”
“Yeah, really. With the size of the base, I doubt everyone could fit,” Lucas replied. “But I know I’d rather be inside during a radiation event than outside. At least I can fight back against people. Out there, you have no chance.”
Keith didn’t say anything. Lucas’ comment brought back a memory he’d rather shut out completely. “All right, just around the bend here. Can’t wait for you to see it,” Keith said, peering around the corner. He fought back a horrible thought about his wife’s last moments. He pulled ahead a few paces so Lucas couldn’t get a read on his emotional state.
“Great place to store the prototype. Unsuspecting, for sure. Doubt anyone would think to come here,” Lucas said.
“Yeah, well, I had to put the prototype somewhere none of those Marines could find him. Not that they would do anything, but some of the younger guys might get bored.”
As they navigated down the hall, an odor began to surface, like old, damp carpet inside an abandoned house. Keith toggled a green light on his tablet. It illuminated part of the corridor. Some of the passage lights flickered, creating a slow strobe effect. Rats scurried about, darting in and out of holes and between their feet.
“Whoa, lots of rats!” Keith picked up his foot and let a few run underneath him.
“Your prototype’s first test tomorrow: survive the rat-infested dungeon.” Lucas smirked.
“Ha, well that might be a test for us. I’ll give the prototype orders to exit out of the fallout shelter away from the base. When he comes back topside, that’ll put him at the starting location for the drill,” Keith said, stepping over some old clothes piled in the hall.
“Whoa...” Lucas said, checking under his foot.
“What?” Keith asked.
“There are a few skulls in that pile of clothes over there.”
“Damn!” Keith panned his light over it. They both froze.
The skulls were arranged side by side, facing outward in the same direction. One of them had a blunt force trauma wound, cracking the skull, while the other two looked like execution-style gunshot wounds.
“Those were prisoners, someone’s prisoners...” Lucas said. “Two males and looks like a... young female maybe?” Lucas inspected the skull a bit closer. He appeared extremely calm, meanwhile Keith’s hands were shaking as he held the light.
“You okay over there?” Lucas glanced back at him.
“Yeah. All right, yeah. Let’s move on. The rats are enough to deal with down here. We’re almost there, just around this bend here,” Keith explained.
“Lead the way,” Lucas said.
“I don’t particularly like dead things,” Keith replied.
“It’s the things that are alive that will hurt you,” Lucas added.
“Physically, maybe,” Keith said.
Suddenly, Keith’s tablet illuminated an upright stasis pod. It was a large metal cylinder with a glass panel on the front.
>
Lucas stopped several feet away. Keith went on ahead of him, wiping away the moisture on the glass with his hand. His green tablet light gave way to a frightening image—a metallic, human-like skull inside. Lucas immediately reacted, taking a quick step back as if he was startled.
“Ohhh, my… What is that?” Lucas asked, putting his hand under his chin. It appeared as if a team of psychologists specializing in nightmares put together the most terrifying imagery they could for the face. A metallic monster that shared similarities with a man.
“Why does the skull resemble a human?” Lucas asked, probing in closer.
“Well…”
“It’s human, isn’t it?” Lucas said confidently.
“Partly. Only certain elements remain. I’ll explain,” Keith said.
“If the public ever finds out you’ve used a person for this...” Lucas said, shaking his head.
“We,” Keith corrected.
“We?” Lucas stared at Keith, confused.
“We, Lucas. Your company is labeled as a partner with the design of this unit,” Keith said, grinning. “I suggest you keep all of this to yourself.”
“I never knew about any of this, Keith, and you know it.”
“I understand that, but neither did the security guard that let me in the gate at SolarSystems every morning, but you know what? We’re all involved. I had no idea what we were doing in the beginning either. It’s all Dr. Amery. I just work for him.”
“You’re a behavioral expert and psychology guy. You thought you’d always be working with artificial intelligence? You thought Amery brought you in to work on drone behavior? Come on,” Lucas said.
“I didn’t know, honestly. At first, that’s all I was working with,” Keith replied.
“I just…never thought Amery would resort to this,” Lucas said. Deep down, Keith knew Lucas’ company could successfully contest the allegation that he was aware of the project’s development involving human brain tissue, but he wanted him to keep quiet.
“This is where our research led us, Lucas. Amery wanted effectiveness. Seems we couldn’t work around the human brain completely, it’s far too valuable. Artificial intelligence wasn’t what we needed.”
“Who is he?” Lucas asked hesitantly.
“His name was Michael,” Keith said, looking at the ground.
Michael was known as codename Saven to the people at SolarSystems Corporation. The fourteen-billion-dollar fusion of the most advanced technology humanity had to offer and alien reverse engineered Star Rust wreckage—the Experimental Cybernetic Humanoid Omega or E.C.H.O. as it was called.
“I’m guessing he doesn’t answer to that name these days?” Lucas asked.
“Uh no. I can’t say much, but I’ll tell you he’s from here, ironically. He grew up about seventy miles away from here, actually. Alaska-born and raised,” Keith said.
“Home field advantage.” Lucas raised his eyebrows.
“Yeah, it is. I hope anyway. Dr. Amery has assured me the man behind the mask willingly volunteered for the program, so I can say in full confidence everything has been handled,” Keith said. He briefly recalled Michael’s attempt to reject the program when he saw Vala’s picture at the bank. Keith knew there was more to the story, but it wasn’t necessary for Lucas to know everything.
“It just makes me wonder what his family would think if they saw him like this.” Lucas shook his head in disapproval.
“No family, just a fiancée,” Keith said.
“Wow, you SolarSystems guys are hardcore. Even you. You didn’t even flinch saying that,” Lucas pointed out.
“No, it’s not that. I just can’t allow myself to think about it like that. I have a job to do and that’s it,” Keith replied.
“So why? Why would a man choose this?” Lucas said.
“His fiancée had a rare degenerative disease. Apparently, they couldn’t afford surgery. The donor here had a severe accident himself, deforming much of his body. I’m guessing he didn’t think he could take care of her, so he decided to donate. We paid his fiancée handsomely so she could afford the surgery. I would have done the same in his shoes,” Keith said.
“That’s easy to say,” Lucas replied.
“Not for me,” Keith said. He wondered if Lucas had any idea of his experience with his wife, not for sympathy reasons, but because he genuinely was a private person. Despite his attempts to keep it quiet, word always seemed to get around.
“He’s former military?” Lucas asked.
“What makes you ask that?”
“Well, why would you want some regular Joe’s brain? You’d want someone with highly specialized tactical training at the very least,” Lucas said.
“Bingo. But he’s more than just highly trained. Those are a dime a dozen. No offense. We narrowed it down from the very best candidates,” Keith confirmed.
“None taken.” Lucas shrugged.
“But that’s all Amery wanted to keep from his brain—his training, innovativeness, and deciphering ability. Everything else was replaced,” Keith said.
Keith was wrong about one thing. Amery directed his team to leave remnants of something else inside Michael’s mind. Unbeknownst to Keith, Michael still had memories of Vala, left intentionally by Amery to give him drive and purpose.
After Michael begged Amery to let him see Vala again, he was emotionally traumatized and useless to the program. Amery and his people had to think quickly, so he directed his cerebral team to condition Michael to believe if he followed orders, he could see Vala again.
Michael was horrific. His head was a dark green, metal skull. His skin and hair removed in exchange for durable alien materials that fused into his bone. His human teeth had been removed, replaced only by two large metallic fangs that overhung from his upper jaw. A pair of dark holes were set where the eyes would normally be, casting an intimidating, vacant appearance. A coat of slimy residue from the stasis pod covered his face, dripping down from his canines.
“What’s going on with the damn fangs? Those don’t look like they’re just for show?” Lucas asked.
“Not at all. His human jaw was replaced by a mechanical one that increases his range of motion. Also, his bite force is six times that of an African male lion. The two huge canines that protrude from his maxilla are titanium, three and a half inches in length and capable of poking holes through a human skull with ease.”
“Shit... Well, he won’t ever be in need of a nutcracker. You guys were definitely leaning toward a villain concept, huh? It reminds me of a cybernetic grim reaper with fangs, or something on the back of a biker’s jacket.” Lucas joked, attempting to calm himself.
“Fitting, I suppose. Not that many enemies would ever see him and live, but if that did happen, they probably wouldn’t forget it, and that’s what we want,” Keith said, scanning the display on the pod.
“You want people to live and tell about it?” Lucas questioned.
“Fear. Echoing fear throughout the enemy ranks is something you can’t reproduce. It’s the exponential modifier in war. If the enemy is terrified, they’re not operating to their capability.” Keith said, pausing for a moment.
“Oh, that’s how war works?” Lucas smirked.
“Well, you probably know something about getting in the enemy’s head from your experience with the SEALS,” Keith said confidently.
“A little bit, yeah,” Lucas replied, nodding his head. Keith knew he’d never get any details out of him about it, but truthfully, he didn’t want to know them. There were accusations in the media about Lucas’ commando team’s cruel behavior toward enemy soldiers during the beginning of the North Korean conflict.
“All right, I’m just going to boot him up and get him outside the pod so he can get in position. I need to check his vitals as well,” Keith said as Lucas snapped his head around.
“WHOA...hold on. Whadaya mean, get him outside the pod? Like right now?” Lucas forced a smile. He was slightly crazy, but not stupid. He wasn’t alone with his
reaction.
SolarSystems actually had a few employees seek counseling over the new prototype. Most complained of nightmares, cold sweats, and anxiety while working around it. Keith was the only exception.
“Ha, the tables have turned. Just a few minutes ago, you were fondling human skulls, and now you’re crapping your pants. It’s completely fine, Lucas. I’ve worked with him for months. Also, I can shut him down with this, just in case.” Keith held up a small thumb-sized device.
“Sure... yeah, go right ahead then buddy. Just keep your finger on that shutoff button,” Lucas joked.
“Haha, all right…Here we go. Saven, active!” Keith’s eyes gazed into the pod as it started the reboot process. A series of six green lights flickered from left to right like an old internet modem. The first light blinked a few times, then stayed on, then the second light did the same. Lucas weighed his options if things went south.
“This won’t take long,” Keith said, thinking about his explanation of fear and Lucas’ reaction.
“That’s comforting.” Lucas smirked. “I was starting to get impatient.”
No sooner than Lucas could finish talking, Saven raised his head inside the pod and his hybrid organic and machine lungs exhaled. It sounded like a rush of air and moisture being siphoned through a metallic filter. Condensation spotted up the pod’s glass. Green lights slowly illuminated inside the once shadowy eye sockets.
“Oh, umm, yeah well, that’s just fascinating isn’t it,” Lucas said, taking a step back. He turned around sizing up the exit.
Saven immediately fixed in on Lucas while in the pod, ignoring Keith. “Lucas, I’m going to ask you to calm down,” Keith said.
“Oh, n-no. I’m fine. It’s just... I was thinking I don’t even have my sidearm,” Lucas said excitedly, taking another step back.
“He knows you’re nervous Lucas, so calm down. He can detect your heart rate and recognize the muscles in your face when they project fear, even when you attempt to hide it. Besides, a sidearm wouldn’t help you anyway,” Keith said.
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