Cascading Error:Critical: A Lovecraftian Technothriller (The Dossiers of Asset 108 Book 4)

by JM Guillen

  “We understand your nature, 108.” The Designate smiled. “Remember, we hope your occasional impetuousness can be used as a weapon in these situations.”

  “Occasional,” Wyatt muttered.

  If he doesn’t get us killed first, Rachel linked.

  Wyatt chuffed softly, and Sofia nodded.

  Everybody’s a critic.

  “Therefore, we will prepare. This time, we believe we may actually catch the servitors of Aberration 45171R by surprise.”

  “That’d be nice,” I mumbled.

  “If you’ll follow me, Assets, we’ll get you geared for your dossier. I’ll show you the specifications of the Citadel, and you can be on your way.”

  With that, the Designate primly stood and walked toward the door. Her heels clicked on the floor, business-like.

  We followed, curious to see what the Citadel had in store.

  4

  “The Citadel is designed to be a modular locale that includes all Facility amenities and technology stations,” the Designate said as she led us through yet another stark and sterile hallway. “Onsite you have a white room, emergency medical stations, quarters, a supply depot, even a matter-energy conflux that can keep you fed if required.”

  “It probably will be,” Wyatt muttered as he rubbed his stomach. “Some of us need lots of fuel.”

  “Some of you need a new wardrobe.” I poked him in his overalls.

  “What are the mecha specifications like?” Rachel trotted closer to the Designate. “Will I have to file requisition requests? That’s tough when I’m in the middle of patching up some cowboy idiot who uses the Gatekeeper in the gloaming.”

  “What!?” Sofia turned to me. “No. You did not.”

  “He did.” Wyatt chuckled.

  “A separate conflux exists in AES, geared specifically to your Crown, Asset Gardener. You will have the capability not only to deploy required viral mecha but also stock and specify which types your cadre will take on dossier.”

  “That—” Rachel shook her head, eyes brighter than a kid who had just seen her Christmas presents. “That is exactly what I would want.”

  “You also have a Crown docking bay and two iterations of synthetic adjuncts.” The Designate smiled. “The Citadel is designed to allow you to attend to your cadre without outside assistance.”

  “Just wonderful.” Rachel seemed truly taken aback. “I love this place.”

  “So there’s a separate white room onsite?” I cleared my throat. “How is this different from our personal white rooms with our personal gear?”

  “The local white room is unlike a typical Facility white room. Often times, within standard locales, there are specific gear requisitions dependent upon what the Designates feel is appropriate for a particular mission.”

  “Right.” I hated that. The Facility had so many cool toys on offer, yet the Designates usually kept at least some of them out of our reach.

  “This is different.” She turned toward me, as if she intended her next words for my ears alone. “The Citadel is fully stocked with all available packets and gear. Of course, we may discuss what an Asset intends to take—”

  “Discuss.” I interrupted her. “An Asset gets an opinion in the matter?”

  “Well…” The Designate shrugged. “Most of the members of your Cadre tended to specialize. They became long-gear Assets years ago. Honestly, 108, only you often change what you gear. As Alpha, you will have my direct channel for such discussions.”

  “That…” I smiled. “That could come in quite handy.”

  “In any case, the Designates imagine we can keep a handle on what one Asset can do.”

  “They do?” Rachel questioned.

  “Man, oh man.” Wyatt shook his head and chuckled. “This just keeps getting better.”

  “Maybe ninety milli-Bishops?” Sofia asked. “One hundred?”

  “At least.”

  Bravely, I ignored them.

  “Furthermore, the local white room has an additional conduit in the back. Whenever the room is accessed, that conduit will queue to your personal white room as well.”

  “Oh!” I smiled. That made sense.

  “In this way, any personal gear you might desire is within reach when you use the Citadel’s conduit.”

  “How are we supposed to gear anything while we’re having our—” Wyatt gestured at his head. “—firmware updated?”

  “You can’t.” Rachel tapped at her interface and glanced down at the device wrapped around her left wrist. “At least not for another forty-five minutes.”

  “For this reason, we won’t go to the white room just yet.” The Designate nodded at Rachel. “Instead we’ll spend some time studying our options regarding insertions and extractions.”

  “I thought most conduits were offline?” I rolled my shoulders and then massaged my neck as we walked. “At least as long as deep telemetry is down?”

  “That is a fact, 108.” The Designate turned down a short hallway to her left. At the end of it, a metallic set of double doors, like an elevator, waited. She spoke not a word as she stepped toward it, yet they opened silently before her.

  Wyatt strode just behind the Designate, but he stopped in place after only a couple of steps. Rachel, right behind him, ran into the bear of a man.

  “Hey!” She glanced up from her interface, irritated. “Watch…” Her thought trailed off as she saw what had caught his attention.

  I stepped next to Wyatt and the Designate. My eyes went wide. “Is that what I think it is?”

  “Yup.” Wyatt stood similarly stunned. “Gotta be.”

  A craft like an elongated teardrop hung impossibly before us, almost one full meter off the ground. Its sides an array of light blue glass and short fins.

  “The back is different.” I nudged Wyatt and pointed. A circular array of silver-and-blue metal floated there, much larger than the craft itself. The array didn’t touch the craft at all, but simply hovered in the air behind it, attached via some emanated tethers the eye could not perceive.

  “The remnants of the realmship you liberated from Dhire Lith were fairly simple to recover,” the Designate explained. “The wreckage became somewhat damaged from impact, yet we were able to extrapolate and modify many of Jonathon Crowe’s alterations.”

  You repaired the craft. Anya stepped up next to me and stared at the realmship quizzically. To what purpose? Do you expect us to require such conveyance on this dossier?

  “The Corvus is the only one of its kind within the Facility’s arsenal,” the Designate explained. “It has been tasked as the primary means of transport for Citadel-cadre Assets.”

  “The Corvus.” Rachel seemed to chew the word. “Named after the Rook.”

  “It has fuel, right?” Wyatt gave the Designate a sideward glance.

  “It does. Three different matter-energy confluxes are housed within the ship. You will find it handles with considerably more power and speed than previously.”

  “We have a realmship.” I stared at her in disbelief.

  The Designate moved toward the craft, and a side panel slid open without so much as a gesture from her. She stepped inside and gestured to us.

  I peered within. Portions of the interior surface shimmered and shifted, revealing dials and gears constructed of azure crystal, silvery titanium, and some verdant metal I didn’t recognize.

  “The craft is queued to each of you; this is part of the firmware update currently in process. Only a Citadel-cadre Asset can so much as open the door.”

  “It has a tangler, already geared?” Wyatt gaped at the front of the Corvus.

  “This is the next generation model, based upon Asset 081’s modulations.” Even though the Designate often remained stoic, I sensed pride in her words. “The T-90-B Axiomatic Redistribution Algorithm is suitable to operate and orient the craft, as well as calibrate the turrets.”

  “Turrets.” Sofia nodded. “I saw them on the halo-piece that hangs off the back.”

  “The three t
urrets can be modulated to fire spikes that emanate Asset Guthrie’s entire axiomatic range.” She turned toward Sofia. “Alternatively, if an Asset geared with the Gatekeeper takes the gunner’s seat, those turrets can emulate the effects of that packet.”

  “That’s…” Sofia shook her head, clearly impressed by the craft. Then, something toward the back caught her eye. “That’s a tier two conduit hardline.” She took a step toward the circular device and ran her hand along the round edge of the device. “Within a vehicle?”

  “It will pair with the Gatekeeper as soon as you have one active,” the Designate explained. “You will be capable of arranging for your cadre to fall back to the Corvus without taxing the Temporal Corona.”

  “Wow.” She shook her head. “You guys put some thought into this thing.”

  “Many packets can be emulated through the Corvus’ bioware,” the Designate continued. “If the Artisan wishes, the Wraith or the Spectre can cloak the Realmship or render it insubstantial.”

  “Many packets? But not all, right?” I ran through the list of the ones I knew. “Some require adjunct devices.”

  “Limitations remain,” she confirmed. “Still, the craft remains an impressive piece of work.”

  I can deploy telemetric resonators from here. Anya peered at a small console, the blue glow shining against her fair skin. Up to seventy-five of them.

  “Designate.” I shook my head with wonder. “This thing, it’s brilliant.”

  “Once you are geared, you can take the Corvus to Italy. It should accomplish the trip at nearly the speed of a tier one conduit.

  “By cutting through the gloaming?” Wyatt suddenly seemed ill at ease.

  “That’s affirmative.” The Designate nodded crisply at him. “The current configurations will make this journey far easier than the last one you took.”

  I should fucking hope so! Wyatt gave me a quick glance.

  “Extraction can be elegant.” The Designate stepped over to the conduit housing. “In theory, you can be anywhere in Rationality. Because this is a hardline conduit, your Gatekeeper shall be able to extract you to the ship.”

  “No Designate authorizations?” I raised one eyebrow and glanced at Sofia.

  “Not for this device.” She turned and smiled at Rachel. “Furthermore, a second hardline conduit exists in the medical station in the Citadel. Any member of this cadre can ignite a link between this conduit and that one for emergency services.”

  “It’s like we’re a team of superheroes,” Rachel breathed. “We’re like the Justice League!”

  “I saw that one,” I muttered to her. “I liked Spider-man.”

  “It’s a pretty toy.” Wyatt stretched and eyed me. “I sure do wish we knew someone brilliant enough to fly this thing.”

  “Me too,” I jibed. “But all we have is a worn out stock car aficionado in overalls.”

  “Seriously, Hoss.” He shook his head. “This is a far sight better than a Facility helicopter.”

  “Do you have any further questions regarding the realmship?” The Designate glanced down at the tablet she carried before fiddling with its interface.

  “Dozens, I’m certain.” I turned first to Anya, then to the rest of my cadre. “But I, for one, would like to gear up and get moving. I imagine if we have any significant questions, the Designate-in-Charge will be able to assist us?”

  “That is an affirmative, Alpha.”

  I admit the title almost made me do a double take. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw both Wyatt and Sofia wince.

  Probably my imagination though.

  “Only a few more minutes before we can equip,” Rachel interjected. “I suppose this is as good of a time as any for the white room.”

  “Excellent!” The Designate beamed a smile. “Let’s move along, then.”

  5

  At first blush, the white room looked like every other white room I’d ever been in.

  Inside, the space seemed bent at odd angles that my mind had a difficult time tracking.

  As time went on, I found myself slowly giving into Wyatt’s superstitions regarding white rooms.

  “I did the math.” He used the same phraseology whenever the topic came up. “Non-Euclidian space. It has to be. I gear the tangler inside there, remember. My system tells me all kinds of things about the place.”

  I didn’t know about all of that.

  Every time I stepped inside one of the white tile and stainless steel labs, I felt an odd sense of distortion however. My steps didn’t actually move me through space as much as the white room itself shifted me from one station to the next.

  As always, no light source shone within the brilliant room without a single shadow. A suggestion of a scent lingered in the surely sterile air. I’d never determined exactly what the white rooms smelled like. They smelled clean but not harsh like disinfectant. The fragrance comforted and calmed me.

  Neurochemical manipulation, I imagined.

  Eight different weapon cabinets housed menacing, black firearms. A ninth cabinet typically held bits of body armor and various tools. A couple of duffel bags hung on the wall with some luggage and briefcases on the shelf beneath. Some were ordinary; others concealed weapons. I saw kinetic disruptors, Mavericks with their null-materia rounds, and a wall full of Wrath-class explosives.

  Bishop, Michael. Asset 108. The voice in my Crown was decidedly neutral. Welcome, Alpha of the Citadel.

  I stopped in my tracks for a moment, suddenly trembling.

  That… that wasn’t right. Couldn’t be right. Me, as Alpha.

  No.

  I sat back against one of the tables, running my hands through my hair. My breath came quickly, and for a moment I felt as if I might retch.

  Gideon roared in my mind. A thunderous cry of rage, of wordless fury. His agony burned, a molten sharpness along the left side of his face.

  The stark horror of it felt like nothing I’d ever experienced.

  It been less than one day. I had just been on dossier with him. I kept expecting to hear his gruff link or see him step up next to me.

  But no.

  Gideon was dead. Gideon had been killed by the Darkened Road.

  By Amir Cadavas.

  Gideon? I spun, as if facing him would help me see. My heart pounded. Where are you?

  No response. Instead, I felt unyielding pain through that link, as if my skin were being burnt away.

  It went on and on.

  “I’m not ready for this.” I took a deep breath, shaking my head. “I’m not the one who should be making choices, not for all of us.”

  The system did not reply.

  I sat in the white room, trying not to break down like a little kid. Around me, reality altering technology sat in shelves or rested in futuristic housings. Any one of these devices could work miracles, give me capabilities that few humans could imagine.

  I’d never felt so powerless.

  So alone.

  Eventually, I managed to push myself up and start moving.

  Toward the back, I found the stainless steel doors that certainly formed the conduit to my personal white room. I made directly for it with the thought that perhaps I should pick up my personal gear before I checked out what the Citadel had to offer.

  I’d like access to my personal white room, I linked as I walked toward the door.

  Initiating conduit now. The doorway back to my bedroom clicked loudly.

  The seam pulsed a brilliant viridian shine.

  That glaring emerald light assaulted my mind, impossible to look at directly. I glanced away, but the light died almost as quickly as it had begun.

  I stepped through.

  The white room connected to my apartment always felt like home. I’d set up special displays for my katana and my kinetic disruptors, just in case I needed to grab them quickly while in a cold boot.

  I took a long, deep breath and felt my shoulders sink, relaxing.

  Along the far wall sat several system banks with the ability to
print cash, credit cards, and various bits of ID: passports, driver’s licenses, national ID cards. We often needed these things when we took on other personas.

  We couldn’t all be Facility Liaisons, after all.

  Of course, that particular branch of the Facility typically geared the Façade so they could appear to be anyone. Most Assets weren’t so lucky. Still, the Liaisons assisted us when it came to cover identities and appropriate collateral. Every cover created had a full background and history, accessible via our Crowns if required.

  I’ll be traveling to Italy. I went over to the case. I require a passport, national ID, and… I thought for a moment. Lira? Euros? Whatever currency they use in Italy.

  Will comply, Asset. The matter-energy conflux used to create such things began to buzz in the far corner.

  I went for my kinetic disruptors. The sleek, black pistols were lighter than expected, a new design I realized, yet these had the specialized scrollwork along the grip that marked my personal weapons. It’d taken some time, but I’d come up with a cool, braided pattern I enjoyed.

  Wyatt teased me, but I didn’t care. I found personalizing the weapons helped me hang on to them a little longer than simply carrying Facility standard.

  Hanging on to my weaponry had been an issue in the past.

  I grabbed the pistols and popped the blue injectors from the bottom. Seconds later they hissed as the specialized mecha flooded my bloodstream.

  Bishop, Michael. Asset 108. Do you wish to initiate weapon synchronization? the system prompted.

  “You know, I do.” I spoke out loud. “Please synchronize both for item possession and neural link.” The guns might function without the mecha but became far more accurate when synced with my nervous system.

  Synchronization initiated.

  I felt a tingle in my Crown as the mecha altered the parameters of my nervous system. Knowing the sync would progress regardless of what I did, I peered into one of the cabinets.