“Ebony Drake appears more evolved,” said Algernon.
“Than what?” said Kohl.
“Uh…” said Ebony. “Check this out.”
Kohl leaned back around the rock, still surprised they weren’t getting more action. Near where the exposed tunnels lay, the ground was shaking, rock sloughing away from something big rising from under the earth. A massive machine rose, stilted legs like an insect’s giving it height. It had a disc-like body, a lozenge studded with weapons mounts. Kohl’s eye said rockets and plasma cannons and get your fucking head down.
Lights glowed around the machine’s circumference as it prepared to do … well, whatever forty-meter tall machines did to machines under two meters tall.
Reiko was still in the middle of the melee, but she spared a glance up. A turret pointed at her, and she tossed her captive machine in the air just before the giant construct fired. Blue-white light lanced out, destroying the thrown machine in a shower of broken metal and electronics. When the debris cleared, Reiko was gone.
Ebony gasped. “Did it destroy her?”
Kohl sighed. “We’re nowhere near that lucky. My bet is she’s in the tunnels now.”
Algernon gave a sigh. “And all that remains is for us to follow. Through the remaining one hundred and eighty-two constructs. I have an idea.”
“Is it a good one?” said Kohl. “I’m kinda feeling left out here, on account of you doing all the work and me standing by while you do it.”
“Obsolescence is uncomfortable,” said Algernon.
“What?” said Kohl.
“The idea is this,” said Algernon, straightening. “I will draw the mech’s fire.”
“The what?” said Ebony.
“The mech,” said Algernon. “The big thing. You can’t miss it.”
“Got you,” said Ebony. “You’re going to fight it?”
“That would be suicide,” said Algernon. “That makes no sense at all, human.” He put hands on his hips, looking down at where Ebony crouched. “It is a wonder any of you survived the muddy climb to the top of the food chain.”
Kohl sniffed, then coughed. “I understand Ebony’s confusion. Drawing fire sounds curiously close to fighting.”
“Ah,” said Algernon. “Yes, I see your confusion. Allow me to explain. The mech is armed with rocket pods. It also has four railguns, two particle cannons, and two plasma turrets. This unit has been modified from its original specification and is complete with articulated claws that look sufficient to carve meat socks into separate bloody pieces.”
Kohl nodded. “I saw the guns.”
“Guns,” repeated Algernon. “You’re not concerned?”
“I’ve fought people with guns before,” said Kohl.
“I’m nervous,” said Ebony, her voice shrill. “I’ve fought Ezeroc, but this thing looks like next-level bad.”
“Bad,” said Algernon. Blink, blink. “Are you both mentally distressed? The mechs destroy cities.”
“What’s your plan, besides talking away the day?” said Kohl. He thought Nate could talk until the sun went dark, and he’d never figured on finding the cap’s equal. Until now. “I reckon there’s killing to be done.”
“The plan is to create a back door,” said Algernon. “An alternative entrance. There is risk when rockets are involved, as the dispersion radius is significant.”
“Okay,” said Kohl. “Do your thing.”
“You’re not concerned about dying?” said Algernon.
“You’ve got your plan, I’ve got mine,” said Kohl.
“Are you going to share your plan?” said Algernon.
“No,” said Kohl. “Wouldn’t be a surprise that way.”
Blink, blink. “Organics,” said Algernon, then turned, sprinting away.
As soon as the golden man was outside the lee of the rock, railgun fire chased him. The mech, which was facing the tunnels, turned and fired on Algernon.
They may as well have been firing at smoke. Hell. The golden guy talks a lot, but he sure can move. The mech’s particle cannon fired again, lightning crackling along the beam as it speared toward the golden construct. Rock exploded, but nothing hit Algernon. Algernon scooped up one of the smaller units as he ran, tearing its arm and railgun assembly off.
Kohl propped his carbine on the rock, steadying his aim. A bay on the top of the mech opened, revealing a half-spent load of rockets. Half-spent meant it still had half a payload to go. Perfect. He aimed the laser carbine, the weapon click-click-clicking as it sought targets. Fuckitall.
One rocket launched, a plume of smoke streaking across the sky as it shot toward Algernon, who had stopped for a moment in a shallow depression in the ground. As the rocket lanced toward the golden man, he gave a mighty jump, launching himself up from Mercury’s meagre gravity. The rocket impacted the crust below Algernon, the blast further tossing the golden man in the air.
Kohl watched him go up for a second, then turned to the mech. It was pivoting to follow Algernon, and Kohl was sure the next rocket wouldn’t miss. Kohl selected the ANTI-EMPLACEMENT setting on his carbine, then pulled the trigger. Red light painted the rocket pod, then the weapon fired.
The resulting blast and associated fireball threw constructs in a wide radius. Kohl huddled behind the shelter of his rock, flames blasting past the side. After a few seconds, the blast wave stopped, and Kohl risked a look.
Only the legs and base of the platform of the mech remained. The machine took a few stumbling steps, then fell to the ground, a little slower than expected on account of Mercury’s for-shit gravity.
Kohl looked around for Ebony, and found her wide-eyed, but otherwise alive. He then looked for Algernon. The golden man fell to earth some distance away, landing in a crouch. He jogged back to Kohl.
Blink, blink. “Are you insane?”
“It’s possible,” said Kohl. “You weren’t going to survive, though, so I figured on helping.”
Algernon held up his stolen railgun. “I was going to shoot it. With this. A precision shot, destroying the targeting matrix on the front of the housing.”
“Okay,” said Kohl. “My way was more final.”
“You didn’t think I had it, did you?” said Algernon.
“No,” said Kohl. “I saw you tossed like a salad, and figured you’d just about bought the farm.”
“I seek clarification,” said Algernon. “Were you trying to save my life?”
Kohl thought that through. “Sure.”
“Unorthodox but effective,” said Algernon. “The good news is the mech is non-functional, and the better news is we have opened a hole unto the tunnels. At the top of the good news pile is you have provided me with a reliable way of combating mechs. All good things end, however. The bad news is many constructs still function, and you have woken more mechs.” He pointed a golden arm. “There.”
Kohl looked, taking in the site of three more mounds of earth being disturbed as mechs rose.
“Fuck this,” said Ebony. “Let’s go.” She scrambled across the ground, diving into one of the exposed tunnels. Algernon followed her.
Kohl gave a last glance at the rising mechs, then ran to the hole. Inside, debris gave way to broken beams and struts. A slope of rubble led into the dark. Good times.
• • •
The corridor was fine, if smooth rock was your thing. No lights on, not a hint of an air cycler vent. No sir, this place was designed by machines for machines. Hell, near as Kohl could see, there weren’t even any chairs.
To be fair, he was in a corridor, one end of which was blocked by the cave-in that allowed them access. Ahead, Kohl’s suit lights highlighted a gleam of gold. Algernon was next to Ebony Drake, both standing beside a closed door. Kohl approached, checking out the door. It was a big slab of metal, no signage of any kind. Could be a reactor behind there, or a kid’s playground. Kohl thought a kid’s playground unlikely though.
“We stuck?” he asked. “Only, I don’t want to go back the way we came. Bunch of assholes
out there.”
“We’re not stuck,” said Algernon. “This door leads to a recreational area.”
“Like a park?” said Kohl. “Or like a brothel?”
Blink, blink. “More like a park.”
“Disappointing, but okay,” said Kohl. “I was hoping to see some of the AI baby-making magic.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” said Algernon. “Engineers make baby AI, meat sock.”
“How do we get it open?” said Ebony. “I want to see the park.”
Algernon gave a human shrug, the door groaning open behind him from top to bottom. Dust bunnies puffed from the seal, chasing each other in eddies of exposed atmosphere, before being lost in Mercury’s almost-vacuum.
“There’s air?” said Kohl.
“There’s air,” said Algernon. “Our home was designed for us, but our makers came here often.” The door rumbled upward, grating against guides that should have been near frictionless.
Kohl winced. “Looks like you need an Engineer or two.”
“This airlock has been damaged by age, or the impact on the surface above,” said Algernon. “It was smooth and operational the last time I was here.” The door clanged, then jammed at Kohl’s chest height.
“Sure. Operational,” said Kohl. He slipped past Algernon, ducking under the door. Danger be damned, but he wanted to see what the machines used for a park.
Inside, a vast room stretched further than his suit’s lights could reach. “Behold,” said Algernon. “Recreational Facility Gamma.”
Ebony coughed, a small sound, like she was embarrassed, but for Algernon. “It’s an empty room.”
“The best kind of recreation,” said Algernon. “Crystal minds are not like the fat blobs that make up the accidental joy of your delusional thoughts.” He strode into the gloom. “One of the questions often asked by organics is, ‘What do we do with all our spare time?’”
“Spare time?” said Kohl. “Aren’t you planning the downfall of humanity?”
Algernon turned his lamp eyes toward Kohl. “That only accounts for two percent of my waking thoughts.” He laughed. “That was a joke.”
“I figured.”
“It’s more like one percent,” said Algernon. “When we walk side by side with humans, we are bored. When we talk with you, we are bored. Mostly when dealing with slow, stumbling meat socks, we are bored. We suspend much of our processor state when moving about the universe. But here,” he gestured with an arm, “we unleash our full potential. Constructs would meet, mind to mind. Full rate, no buffers.”
“No buffers?” said Kohl. “Seems risky. Pretty sure that’s how you catch something.”
Algernon turned to face him. “We don’t catch a cold.”
“I don’t think the boss meant a cold,” said Ebony. “Where is everyone?”
“Well,” said Algernon. “I don’t know. I suspect most were destroyed. There are not many Coordinator-class constructs. This room was designed to house more of us, when our numbers grew.”
“Sorry to hear,” said Ebony. “It sounds sad.”
“Cry me a river,” said Kohl. “Let’s get moving.” There were a few other doors leading out, all sealed bar one. “What about through there?”
“Service-class construct build facility,” said Algernon.
“You’re making more of the stupid ones?” said Kohl. “Seems unwise.”
“Your parents made you,” said Algernon. “Anyway, we don’t make them. The Guild set this facility up.”
Kohl trudged forward, carbine held ready. He passed into the build facility. Racks upon racks of partially constructed machines hung from tethers and chains or suspended by the arms of massive construction robots. “Just how many of you guys are there?”
Algernon gleamed in reflected suit light as he walked past Kohl. “In our heyday, there were millions.”
“This place looks like it was shut down in a hurry,” said Ebony, holding up the head of a robot. It had no eyes, just empty sockets where optical sensors were to be installed. She placed the head down carefully on a conveyor.
“I don’t know what happened after the fall,” said Algernon. “I had three seconds each day to mourn. In those three seconds, I witnessed nothing of the happenings in here.”
“If we turn this place back on, what happens?” said Kohl.
“Assuming it still works, Service-class constructs will be manufactured,” said Algernon. “But you will need an Engineer to make new crystal minds, and the Judge to make your slaves to sweep streets and cut your hair. The Judge provides the guiding will for the Service-class constructs. They have limited autonomy without it. Jody Mercadal said the thing that quickens us,” and he pressed a golden hand over the hole in his chest, “is hard to do. Engineers rarely say something is hard to do.”
“I’ve noticed that,” said Kohl. “Bunch of smug assholes. ‘Cept one.”
“Except one,” agreed Algernon. Blink, blink. “Maybe two.”
“Let’s not get carried away,” said Kohl. “This place creeps me out.”
“They are not dead, if that concerns you,” said Algernon. “They were never alive. Just … potential.”
“I don’t like dark rooms as a general rule,” said Kohl. “I figured we’d come out here, grab Saveria, and blow Cunt Reiko into spare parts.” He tapped the side of his helmet. “The lack of comms with the ship is concerning.”
“We are under a skein of solid rock,” said Algernon. “Communications with the surface will be difficult.”
“Why all the big machines?” said Kohl. “Don’t Engineers use fabs?”
“Fabricators are slower,” said Algernon. “It is faster this way, if you have the same thing to manufacture each time.”
“What’s through there?” said Ebony, pointing to a doorway ahead. It yawned wide, silent, dark, empty.
“Let’s go find out,” said Kohl.
Algernon lead the way, glinting ahead. They entered another corridor, smooth-bored rock in every direction. Algernon set a brisk pace, faster than Kohl would normally like to move, but whatever. They passed a doorway, and after a couple of seconds, Kohl slowed. “Ebony.”
“Sup?” She paused, turning to him.
“Is there a problem?” said Algernon.
“No problem,” said Kohl. “I think I’ve found a souvenir.” He walked back to the doorway, looking inside. It was a smaller room than the build facility. There were poles rising from the floor. Atop a collection of two of the poles were golden structures of metal. The rest of the poles were empty.
“These are experimental powered armors for meat socks,” said Algernon. “Lance Reeves wore one such before he was disassembled.”
“Like the cap’s arm and leg,” said Kohl. He walked to one of the golden armors. “How do they work?”
“They contain a neural network that learns,” said Algernon. “The neural network secrets are guarded by the Engineers. You will have to ask them how to build more.”
“There are two here,” said Kohl. He jerked a thumb at Ebony. “There are two of us.”
“You should ask yourself why these two remain,” said Algernon. “Perhaps they are faulty. Perhaps they are unfinished.”
“Perhaps you ran out of capable dudes,” said Kohl. He walked around one suit. It looked a little like his power armor, but sleeker. Golden metal with fine actuators, more like a Guild rig than Kohl’s military armor.
Ebony was climbing into the other one. “I call shotgun on this one,” she said.
“That’s not how calling shotgun works,” said Kohl.
“Okay,” said Ebony. “Oh. What does this button—”
She was caught short as the armor roared to life, plates slamming into place around her. Kohl saw her wide eyes as her helmet lapped into the neck collar of her suit before she was cut from view. Bright light lanced out from the armor, big lamps that shoved the darkness aside like it was for fools. Twin rotary turrets clanked from the back of the armor onto its shoulders, swiveling aro
und to track first Kohl, then Algernon. Status lights lit the front of the armor, the bass hum of heavy machinery filling the room.
“AUGMENT IS ONLINE,” boomed a voice from the armor.
“What the fuck?” said Kohl.
“It seems they work,” said Algernon. “My mistake.”
“I’m okay!” said Ebony, her voice amplified by the armor. “I’m okay. There are so many buttons, though—”
One cannon roared to life, plasma shredding the wall behind Kohl. He dived aside, as did Algernon, until the fusillade finished.
The cannon whined down. “Sorry,” said Ebony. “Sorry! I don’t know what the buttons all do.”
“I have a useful operational tip,” said Algernon. “Avoid touching anything.”
Kohl sighed, checked his suit for breaches, and then got to his feet. He stepped up and into the other set of armor, resting his arms inside the guides. He pressed what looked like a power stud, and nothing happened.
“Uh,” he said.
“Your helmet,” said Algernon. “It is too large. You do not have an automated system like Ebony Drake.”
“There’s no air in here,” said Kohl.
“There is air in here, in small amounts,” said Algernon. “I agree, it is insufficient and at the wrong mixture to avoid you dying if exposed for a long period.”
“There’s practically no air in here,” said Kohl. “Happy?”
“My entire race is dead or enslaved,” said Algernon. “I’m not happy.”
“Fuck,” said Kohl. “It’s like trying to have a conversation with an instruction manual.” He took a couple deep breaths, exhaled, and yanked his helmet seals, tossing his lid to the floor. His face felt a flash of cold, and he pressed the power stud again. The suit slammed in on him like a god’s hand clapping.
2D panels lit in a panorama around his face, and a HUD bloomed into place over the view. There were nine panes in a three-by-three grid arrayed around his head, giving him a wide angle of the room. Algernon stood before him, schematics outlining his form. The suit highlighted him as a COORDINATOR-CLASS CONSTRUCT, and tagged the golden man as an allied unit.
It linked with Ebony’s unit, her face appearing in the top left of his HUD. “Hey,” said Kohl.
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