by JM Guillen
“The thing is they almost never do it.” Rachel glanced around at the rest of us, to see if anyone picked up on the significance. “All of the systems are intact, all the neuralware is there. They simply don’t.”
“I don’t like that they have the capability at all,” Wyatt groused. “Just seems invasive.”
“Well, typically the only Protocol Zero event an Asset might encounter is when their sovereign prerogative neuralware engages. The Facility takes Variances extremely seriously. When one is in play, they pull out all the stops.”
“We’re having this conversation to answer Anya’s question,” I reminded them. “Caduceus, what will this mean for our cadre?”
“Significant system drains. You may find yourselves more emotionally invested in destroying the Variance than makes logical sense. You might feel yourself pushed to take certain actions. In some cases, the Designates take over your axial node.”
“I don’t believe that will happen here.” I gazed directly at Wyatt. “The Designates seem like they’re pretty busy.”
Wyatt harrumphed but said nothing.
“Caduceus, what our Preceptor class Asset expect in this event?” I knew the answer, of course, having seen it happen once before. However, I didn’t know if anyone else had ever experienced the same thing.
“Well…” Rachel blew a stray hair out of her face. “A Preceptor operating beneath her sovereign prerogatives undergoes significant alterations.” She gazed at Anya. “Have you ever had your prerogatives activated before?”
Anya glanced down and shook her head.
Did she seem afraid?
“I’ve heard about this,” Wyatt said. “Preceptor is a nasty packet when dealing with a Variance in Rationality.”
The same interface that draws information regarding Rationality emanations undergoes a polarity alteration when the prerogatives are activated. Anya glanced up at me. Instead of receiving information, the system projects Hyper-Rational emanations toward the Variance. The target can experience sensory alterations, lost time, severe pain, and ultimately, and loss of consciousness.
“And from the one time I’ve seen it happen, it completely exhausts the Preceptor Asset.”
That depends. Anya hesitated, almost as if she wanted to disagree. It is a significant system event that drains a large percentage of internal resources.
“The standard numeric is 87.5%.” Rachel didn’t look at Anya. “At least as far as official Lattice records are concerned.”
“That’s why you wait.” I folded my arms and glanced down to meet Anya’s blue eyes. “I need every ounce of you ready for whatever we find beneath the building. You’re everything we have.”
I’m certain I will remain functional. Asset Gardener will be on hand to assist.
“Anya, it’s a no. We’ll get as deep as we can without telemetry. I won’t risk losing the Variance.” I paused, hating the words even as I said them. “Not like we did in the Yucatán.”
She glanced up at me, a bit of iron-proud defiance in her eyes. An instant later, it faded. Understood, Alpha. She glanced away. Will comply.
Not Michael.
Alpha.
I sighed.
Did Gideon feel this way? Is this what it meant, to be the Alpha? Would it always feel like I lorded over people who, in all honesty, had as much or more experience than I did?
I kept my feelings from my face, and glanced around the room. No one seemed to think I’d overstepped my bounds.
Maybe I hadn’t.
“Okay, then.” I nodded at the group and cleared my throat. “Let me tell you how this is gonna go.”
***
“This [piece of garbage] is [fucking irritating.]” Sofia sat in the operator seat of the Corvus, and her fingers tentatively tapped at the crescent-shaped keyboard. She had already linked her Crown adjunct to the craft and now attempted to aim the turret at the top of the condominium.
“Hey now,” Wyatt teased as he attempted to slice all the little white strings off the bottom of his overalls. “Don’t you be sassin’ the Corvette.”
“It links up to my Crown well enough,” she explained. “I just don’t like the keyboard interface.”
“Well, you can’t exactly drive the thing as if it’s a crossbow.”
“I’m done talking to you,” she huffed. “You should go back to hunting down the Illuminati or whatever it is you do in your spare time.”
“Hey, now.” Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. “Careful. They’ll hear you.”
I hated the fact that I didn’t know if he were teasing.
“Okay, I have it, Alpha.” Sofia tapped a few more keys, then frowned. “Wait.” She paused, then punched three more keys. “Now. I think I’m ready now.”
“You have my mark.” I nodded. “Do what you do best, Gatekeeper.”
With that, she reached up behind her head and tapped a glowing surface on its bottom panel. The Corvus rumbled, and the turret positioned on the topmost portion of the craft whirred with a loud WHUUUF.
“[Holy shit!]” Delacruz laughed. “That’s an absolute trip!”
We saw the spike travel through the air straight toward the condominium. It was considerably larger than the spikes used by either the Artisan or the Gatekeeper, and for a moment I worried that someone might see it from the street below.
As the spike missed the building entirely, I worried about something else.
“Oh…” My hand found Sofia’s shoulder, and I squeezed. “Um…”
“I can’t do a damned thing about it,” she hissed. “It’s not my fault, this thing is impossible to aim!”
The spike overshot the building by several thousand yards. It hit the Mediterranean Sea, skipped once, and then sank.
“Okay…” I turned toward Delacruz.
She glanced down, and tried to appear busy, squinting her dark eyes in frustration. “[Damnit.]” She glanced up at me. “Is everything about this thing intended to irritate me?”
“That was your first try.” I smiled and pretended I hadn’t been terrified that she might fire a spike through a Maltese bystander. “Let’s do it again.”
Grumbling, Delacruz went back to her task. This time she took far longer to moderate her vectors, making alterations and then changing her mind several times. “I think I’ve got it.”
“I gave you permission,” I teased. “Go for it!”
This time, the spike stuck, landing squarely in the top of the building, a near-perfect shot.
“See?” I clapped her on the back. “There’s a reason you’re the best Gatekeeper the Facility has to offer!”
Sofia didn’t say anything; the grin on her face said it all.
“Anything before we leave?” I made a point to meet the gaze of each person in the cadre. “Is there anything we’ve forgotten?”
“I’m good, Hoss.” Wyatt settled back into the operator chair and kicked his legs up onto the display board. “Figure I’ll just snooze until Delacruz gets her aperture ready for me.”
“You’ll be asleep for a long time,” Sofia muttered.
I intend to perform system specific optimizations, Anya linked. In this way, I shall perhaps not use as many resources when I engage the Variance.
“You can do that?” I raised my eyebrows. “That’s brilliant, Anya!”
“On standby,” Rachel said sunnily. “Please don’t do anything that makes me have to work too hard.” She wrinkled her nose. “I get so tired of rescuing you all the time.”
“Fair enough.” I gave her a teasing grin. “I’ll try to not get anything chopped off.”
“Please do.”
“You ready?” I glanced over my shoulder at Delacruz.
She didn’t answer. Instead, the conduit gate located at the rear of the craft crackled and hummed to life. I felt the power of the thing vibrate from the middle of the craft.
“On your mark, Alpha.” Sofia gave me a nod.
“Mark.” I turned toward the back of the Corvus. “Let’s get this done.
”
The Crow of the West
We’ve made the roof. I glanced around and instantly found the doorway into the building. It stood on the other side of a series of air conditioners, but it wasn’t exactly a secret.
Security experts for condos almost never made a big deal about the roof. No one came in on the roof. Those who did were likely to be paramilitary or government agents.
Wyatt had called it.
I’m removing the spike, unless you’d rather leave it for an extraction? he linked.
Um, I thought about that for a moment. Protocol said the titanium spikes were to be removed from a scene, especially in a populous area. To be certain, they’d been designed with a kill switch that dissolved the spike into base elements in a matter of seconds. It wasn’t always activated, of course.
I knew any time Wyatt didn’t remove his spikes, sweeper teams had to come behind him to resolve all potential algorithms.
I guess that depends upon what the lady thinks? I hopped over one of the large round vents and made my way to the door. She’s in charge of extraction, after all.
Lose it, Guthrie, Delacruz linked. If I need to extract us, we probably won’t run back here to do it. And even if we do, I’d rather use one of my own. As she linked, Sofia fired her weapon into the ground at her feet.
Roger that, Gatekeeper.
A brief flash of amber light shone.
For a second, I caught a strong scent of ammonia, but then it dissipated, along with the spike.
Doors unlocked. I pulled one of my disruptors and held it ready. Even though we were well hidden beneath the Wraith, some events gave invisibility away easily, such as opening doors or punching assholes in their asshole faces.
I got it, she linked. On your mark?
Now.
Sofia pulled the door open, and I gazed into the stairwell below.
Darkness.
Engaging optics. Looks like an access hallway. I stepped inside, and it took less than a second for my eyes to adjust. I blinked and hoped I wouldn’t have to leave the thing on for long. They eventually gave me a headache.
The hallway smelled sterile, unused.
I got point, Alpha. Sofia slipped past me and shot a quarrel into the floor of the next landing.
The weapon sang as she engaged it, and she shuffled down the stairs before it silenced.
I frowned. I still wasn’t used to not taking point.
Standard access hallway, she linked. I’m now passing the doorway that I’m certain leads out into the condominium hallway. Light enough to discontinue optics.
Copy that. Let’s take the stairs as far as we can.
Roger that, Mike. She smiled playfully over the link.
For the most part, those landings seemed exactly like an access hallway in a condominium anywhere in the world. Everything was gray and utilitarian. At least the stairwell looked relatively clean as I ghosted behind the Gatekeeper.
Nothing about the passageway indicated I might be in a timeshare owned by mad reality terrorists who worshipped powers best left unnamed.
Alpha? Two flights down, Sofia halted by a door.
I hear it. Muted voices, nothing spectacular or special. Still, the confirmation that we weren’t alone in the building was good to have.
Should we poke in? Although I couldn’t see her, the token that represented her in my visual readout turned toward me.
Negative. If it’s mundane tourists, then we’ll just flip them out by opening the door. If its reality terrorists, we’ll let them know we’re here.
Copy that.
The next floor’s worth of stairs appeared the same as the others, complete with fire extinguishers and floor numbers.
Thirty-eight floors to go, she linked. I certainly am glad Diego Juarez is somewhere deep beneath this building.
The cardio is good for you. I smiled through the link. What with Wyatt driving us around everywhere.
I won’t need exercise with him driving, I’ll throw up everything I— She stopped, suddenly still.
I almost slammed right into her because she halted so quickly.
Two men dressed like security guards are standing in front of the door.
Two of them? I peered around her, trying to see past the next corner.
Sure enough, two men stood there, one on either side of a gray steel door. They each appeared to be an average rent-a-cop, with those blue suits that looked like police uniforms but weren’t.
The pistols at their hips, however, appeared quite authentic.
Do we care what’s on the other side of that door? Sofia shifted to her left.
I wouldn’t if these jokers weren’t standing here. I ground my teeth. Kind of hard to ignore it now.
I can drop them on the roof if you like. Or send them back to the Corvus?
Guthrie’d get all pissy, I linked.
We can always keep going down the stairs? Just slip right by them?
No. I frowned. They’re guarding something. I just can’t figure out if they’re mundane security guards or mad Zealators in disguise.
Hate to just murder a couple of guys for doing their jobs, Sofia agreed.
Okay. Here’s the play. I’m going to take a couple of steps back and disengage the Wraith. Then I’ll simply come down like a guest. I began to slip back up the stairs. We can see how they react and then slaughter them if they are evil cultists.
You’re wearing katanas. She paused and, even though I couldn’t see her directly, I felt certain she shook her head at me. As well as two big ass guns.
Maybe I should take them off? I gave her a hopeful smile, knowing that she’d feel it over the link. Obviously she was absolutely right.
Also, the Wraith doesn’t hide the delightful scent you’re wearing. And I don’t know that you’re rocking the ‘timeshare owner’ look, what with all the scratches and the damage you’ve done to your suit.
At that moment, with timing that couldn’t have been more perfect if I tried, one of the men glanced at the other.
“[Do you smell that?]” the bald brute said in Maltese.
“[Of course I do.]” The shorter man stared at his friend, as if he were an idiot. “[It is the scent of the Dwellers in the Brine.]”
“[The Unfathomable comes.]” The bald man nodded. “[I simply didn’t think we would be able to smell them from here.]”
“[Consider yourself fortunate,]” the smaller man muttered. “[It is a blessing.]”
Whelp. That answers that question.
Kill them? Delacruz asked.
Kill them. I got Baldy.
Roger that.
I toggled the Adept and leapt down the stairs to land squarely next to my already-dead-but-didn’t-know-it target. I hadn’t even touched the ground before I had my Shogun-class katana in hand.
When I landed, I used my momentum and weight to push the blade through Baldy’s neck.
“Grrrrk!” He brought his arms up in a frantic, futile motion. He scrabbled for his throat, trying wildly to comprehend.
For him, it was far too late.
At the visceral sensation of my blade slicing through corded muscle and tendon, the back of my neck began to itch.
The man struggled, as his friend backed away.
“[Harman?]” The short man’s eyes went wide. “[What—?]”
Baldy couldn’t even scream. His eyes bulged and his blood began to course like a river.
My heart stopped.
Oh… That blood cried hymns to the heavens, whispered secrets that had remained hidden behind the shadows of time. I felt my pulse crying, aching for me to run, to hunt, to slaughter and feed and drink and fuck…
Somewhere impossibly far away, I heard the gatekeeper sing.
Exquisite. Delicious. This was my kill.
With his blood, I need never die.
Alpha? Rachel’s link came immediate, sharp. You’re losing it. I’m going to modulate your hormones.
No! I staggered against the wall and dropped Harmon. I took a
deep breath. Hold, on, Rachel. Just give me a moment. I got it.
It didn’t seem as if you had it, she scolded. If you lose control, guess who has to deal with the fallout?
I just didn’t think, I apologized. After you were removed from play, I had to use some of my injectables to keep a handle on things. They’re wearing off, and I forgot to tell you.
Oh. I felt her shake her head. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think about you forced to manage your… issue alone. I should have been on top of that.
Well, you were busy having your lungs ventilated.
Even so, traces of your special cocktail no longer show on your system, she informed me. Either you take another shot, or I’m going to have to modulate you from here.
I heard the gatekeeper crossbow again as Sofia shot the man I’d killed. The moment the quarrel sank into his chest, the corpse vanished, leaving only a whisper of crimson ecstasy behind.
Rachel, I need you to listen to me for a moment.
Okay.
I understand that the aberration is a problem. But I’d like to offer you the opportunity to consider it in a different light.
I don’t want to consider it in a different light. Her stubbornness felt like a wall of bricks in my head.
Rachel, we’re dealing with a Variance in Rationality. It’s the single most dangerous situation that an Asset can face. We’re cut off from support and don’t exactly know what we’re getting into. I paused. It’s possible that going werewolf on the bad guys might be the perfect thing.
Perhaps you don’t understand, she linked patiently. There was significant worry that we weren’t going to get you back after Tokyo. If it hadn’t been for the Hyper-Rationality at the Spire, I don’t know that we would have.
How are my readings? I asked. Right now?
Is everything okay, Alpha? Sofia prompted, unaware of my conversation. She probably thought I simply stood against the wall for no reason.
Fine, I linked her. Just doing Alpha stuff.
She scoffed and held back a chuckle.
Nominal. Or almost anyway I felt Rachel cross her arms. As I’m certain you know.
So I handled it. No drugs, no brilliant Caduceus intervention required.
I’d handled the invasion before. Back when Delacruz and I had careened around Ar’Ghosa in dune buggies, I had to fight back the wolf-strocity every time we engaged in combat.