AntiBio 2: The Control War

by Jake Bible

  “Fuck you,” Red snaps. “Where’s April? Where’s Dr. Charter?”

  For the first time, the scientists turn their attention to the operators, their eyes lazily moving in their pus-filled sockets.

  “Dr. Charter? She has proven to be a problem,” Dr. DeBeers says. “She is not as receptive to the Other’s overtures as she should be. But that is being taken care of.”

  “Taken care of?” Red yells. “What the fuck does that mean? If she’s hurt, I’ll kill every one of you!”

  “That’s kind of the plan anyway,” Blaze says and shrugs. “No way I’m leaving these fuckers alive.”

  “Is the Other ready for it to be over?” Tanya asks. “I hope he is because I have finally had it up to here with his crap. These operators are more than ready to get through you and down to the levels below.”

  “Then they had better be ready to die as well,” Dr. DeBeers says.

  She rushes at the squad. She opens her mouth wide and hisses then begins to spit lines of black-red saliva at the operators.

  “Shit!” Ton yells as he dives to the ground and rolls out of the way of a stream of nasty spit. “What the hell does that do?”

  “Force you to comply,” Dr. DeBeers says. “One touch is all I need.”

  “Our bugs should protect us,” Red says, taking aim and firing at the doctor. “Hold your ground!”

  The static blast hits close to Dr. DeBeers feet, but she is already up in the air, leaping over the damage it does, flying at Red.

  “Look out!” Nick says and shoves Red to the side.

  Dr. DeBeers collides with Nick, her fists nailing him right in the chest. He tumbles back onto his ass, his rifle coming loose from his grip and clattering away across the concrete. Dr. DeBeers grabs him by the face and then lowers her mouth to his. Her body undulates like she is vomiting and soon black-red liquid is spilling from the corners of Nick’s mouth.

  “Get off him!” Blaze yells as he grabs Dr. DeBeers by the back of the neck and lifts her up.

  He spins her around and puts his face right against hers.

  “Remember me, you crazy bitch?” Blaze asks then slams his forehead against her face, crushing her bloated and diseased nose.

  Bloody pus explodes everywhere and Dr. DeBeers’s head splits in half. She screams for a second then goes limp.

  “Did you get any on you?” Tanya asks, hurrying to her son’s side.

  “I got a lot on me,” Blaze says as he wipes the goop from his face. “Doesn’t matter. I can smell what’s in it and my body can handle it.”

  The rest of the doctors rush at the squad. Dr. Lopez swings his chair around, aiming right at Jersey. He begins to cough and hunks of black-red ooze shoot from his mouth like regurgitated hairballs. She ducks under them and crouch runs across the large room, trying to find cover as various other substances begin to fill the air.

  “Come here, girl!” Dr. Lopez shrieks. “Come sit on my lap and take a ride!”

  “That’s just wrong,” Blaze says as he reaches out and grabs Dr. Lopez by the head. “Why the fuck would you even say that?”

  He twists and pops Dr. Lopez’s head off easily. A geyser of black-red blood spurts up into the air. The hover chair begins to spin out of control, sending the blood everywhere.

  “Fuck, Blaze!” Ton yells as he fires several shots at a limping Dr. Sheffield. “You aren’t helping things!”

  “Sorry!” Blaze calls back.

  He shoves the hover chair onto its side and Dr. Lopez’s corpse tumbles from it, plopping onto the concrete in a leaking puddle of his own fluids.

  Despite having been shot several times by Ton’s static blasts, Dr. Sheffield continues to limp towards the operator. The liquids that leak from his wounds take on a tentacled effect and lash out, whipping back and forth in search of something to grab onto.

  Ton fires at the man’s legs, blasting his calves and feet apart. But the limbs are instantly replaced by liquid facsimiles, giving Dr. Sheffield the appearance of walking on two stumps of black-red gel.

  “What the holy hell?” Ton mutters as he gets up and keeps firing, backing away from the doctor as fast as the doctor lurches towards him.

  “Got him,” Blaze says as he tackles Dr. Sheffield around the waste.

  The two hit the floor hard and Dr. Sheffield’s right arm comes off, sliding across the floor until it slaps up against the base of the wall. It wiggles for a second then begins to turn itself around as black-red tentacles shoot out from its severed end. It hurries back to where Blaze has Dr. Sheffield pinned to the ground and springs into the air.

  The arm catches Blaze across the face and he falls backwards onto the concrete. Tentacles wrap themselves around his throat and he struggles to pull the arm free. The one-armed Dr. Sheffield rises onto his gel stumps and raises a leg to stomp Blaze’s head.

  The man’s entire torso is vaporized as Jersey stands behind him at point blank range, Nick’s rifle in her hands.

  “Hold it up,” Jersey says to Blaze.

  His eyes goes wide as he sees what she’s about to do then he closes them tight as he holds the severed arm as far away from his head as he can. The blast hits it fast and he yanks his hands back, shaking them over and over as static energy courses around his skin.

  “Shit!” Blaze says as he struggles to get the remaining tentacles away from his throat. “You almost took my hands off!”

  “And that thing almost took your head off,” Jersey says, offering him a hand.

  He takes it and stands up then gives her a grateful smile.

  “Thank you,” he says.

  “There you go,” Jersey smiles back. “That’s the proper response when the woman you love saves your ass.”

  Blaze looks around and sees Red and Ton standing on either side of Dr. Benz.

  “You two got this?” Blaze asks.

  Dr. Benz looks back at Blaze and hisses.

  “Fuck you too,” Blaze grins as Red and Ton fire.

  Dr. Benz is vaporized in seconds, leaving only a smoking stain on the concrete.

  “Dammit, Nick,” Red says as he walks over to the man’s corpse. “You stupid son of a bitch.”

  “You’ll need to kill him as well,” Tanya says. “He’s already been—”

  “I know,” Red says. “I’ve seen what he’ll become.”

  He puts the barrel of his rifle to Nick’s head and doesn’t hesitate, pulling the trigger right away. He turns and walks away from the operator’s corpse and looks at a pair of double doors at the far end of the room.

  “That the way to the Other?” he asks.

  “Yes, Mr. Blakely, it is,” Tanya replies.

  “My name is Red,” Red says. “I really hate being called Mr. Blakely, so knock it off, will ya?”

  “Yes, Red, I will,” Tanya says.

  The remaining members of the group all walk towards the double doors. They stop briefly then Tanya places a palm to an unseen panel on the wall. A red light flashes across her palm and the doors swing inward.

  The stench hits them immediately.

  “You guys can smell that, right?” Blaze asks, trying not to gag.

  Jersey wraps her arm around her nose and nods.

  “He is certainly down there,” Tanya says. “If I had any doubts before, they are gone now.”

  “You had doubts?” Red snaps.

  “Not really,” Tanya says. “But scientists never assume.”

  “Neither do operators,” Ton says. “So everyone stay sharp.”

  They nod and step through the doors and into the stink-filled corridor beyond.

  52

  Five people stand by the entrance to the room and stare at the thing before them. Even Tanya has a hard time formulating a response to what she is seeing.

  “How the fuck did it get in here?” Blaze asks, looking at the doorway that is a tenth the size of the massive mound of flesh that fills the room. “Did they take out a wall?”

  “He grew in here,” Tanya says. “Once he was a ce
rtain size then he was ready to put things in motion. It’s my fault that he progressed so far. I should have been more diligent. I trusted in Management too much.”

  “No shit, lady,” Red says. “No fucking shit.”

  “What now?” Ton asks. “Do we just start firing? The thing is pretty exposed.”

  “Is that how you address your host, Lieutenant Lane?” the Other bellows, its voice filling the room as much as the mound of stinking flesh. “By asking how to kill Him?”

  “If you’re our host, you’re doing a shitty job,” Ton replies. “I’ve lost good people because of you.”

  “Good, evil, all relative terms,” the Other laughs. “You humans are so predictable with your choices of sides. One or the other. None of you realize that good and evil are concepts that don’t exist in nature.”

  “You’re the one that doesn’t exist in nature,” Blaze says. “Look at you.”

  “I am nature!” the Other roars.

  “The stinky, shitty part, maybe,” Blaze replies. “You really need a sonic, man. Or maybe some actual soap and water. A sonic shower may not cut it.”

  “I have enjoyed watching you grow over the years, Simon,” the Other says. “I have looked forward to meeting you in person. Don’t ruin the moment with crass sarcasm and empty insults. Let’s rise above those things, shall we?”

  “Man, you aren’t rising anywhere,” Blaze replies. “Not unless you lose a few pounds and start doing some crunches.”

  “Son. Be quiet,” Tanya says. She clears her throat and steps fully into the room. “Hello, Maurice.”

  “Not Maurice,” the Other says. “I am the Other. Dr. Maurice Caldicott ceased to be a long time ago. Now I take his place, in both body and mind.”

  “And this is the body?” Tanya asks, looking around the room. She spots the huge speakers embedded in the ceiling where the Other’s Voice is coming from. “Where is the mind?”

  “The mind is everywhere,” the Other answers. “The beauty of what Caldicott accomplished is total technological integration. The Static Shield Reactors, and all static powered tech, have allowed me to expand my consciousness to every single corner of this small world. I am the satellites above and the coffee makers below. I can control anything. Nothing is outside my reach.”

  “There are a few things,” Tanya says.

  “Yes, a couple here and there,” the Other replies. “But for the most part, I now dominate every technology, including organic life. I have you to thank for that. Your pioneering of biological tech utilizing bacteria has given me freedoms and access that I never thought could be possible.”

  “Yes, I regret that,” Tanya says. “It is unfortunate that what I tried to create to stop your megalomania is what granted you the power you have today. The irony is not lost on me.”

  “Nor should it be,” the Other chuckles.

  The Other’s body shudders with the laugh, even though the Voice is coming from the speakers and not from any discernible mouth.

  “Can we kill it now?” Ton asks again. “I’ve got a rifle full of static ready to rip this thing to shreds.”

  “I’m all about using my bare hands,” Blaze says. “Can’t wait to see what these fists will do to that blob.”

  “No, we cannot kill it yet,” Tanya says. “We must sever the mind from the body first. Otherwise neither will die. It will regenerate again and again.”

  “Like Blaze heals,” Jersey says. “It has redundancies and backups, is that it?”

  “That’s it exactly,” Tanya says.

  “Kill, kill, kill,” the Other sighs. “That is all you GenSOF people like to do. Whereas I prefer to create life and let it flourish.”

  A thin, slick, green tendril shoots out from the blob right at Jersey. Blaze steps in front of her and the tendril slaps him across the cheek. His skin sizzles and hisses then heals over with a black patch of crusty bacteria.

  “Ooh, pretty,” the Other says. “Black is a good color for you. Although, I believe it signifies death. A few more smacks and I could crash that wonderful biological system of yours, Simon. You’d be nothing but a hunk of black rock. A pile of dead bacteria.”

  “So we’d be yuck buddies,” Blaze sneers. “Great.”

  Ton moves right next to Tanya and leans in close. “How do we sever the mind from the body?”

  “I can hear you, Lieutenant,” the Other says. “I can hear everything. And let me tell you that there is no way to sever my mind from my body. My mind cannot be shut down. It cannot be deleted. I am immortal.”

  “Deleted?” Ton asks Tanya. “Is his mind in Control’s systems?”

  “My mind IS Control’s systems!” the Other yells. “And Dr. Crouch’s attempt at sending that Worm AiSP to distract me has proven to be completely pointless!”

  “I doubt that,” Tanya smirks. “Worm is a very resourceful AiSP. More resourceful than many human beings I know.”

  “Be that as it may, I have him on the run right now,” the Other says. “He is fleeing like a scared child running from the bogeyman. Poor, little AiSP. All alone in the systems with nowhere to hide.”

  “You assume he wants to hide,” Tanya grins.

  The Other pauses. Then a door at the side of the room opens and two members of the Clean Guard escort a bruised and bloodied Dr. Charter inside to stand directly in front of the Other’s body.

  “I hear confidence in your voice, Tanya,” the Other says.

  “It’s back to Tanya now, is it?” Tanya chuckles. “You must be nervous, Maurice.”

  “I SAID MAURICE CALDICOTT IS DEAD!” the Other roars.

  “Red?” Dr. Charter whispers through swollen and split lips.

  “Hold on, April,” Red says, gripping his rifle with all of his strength. “I’ll get you out of this.”

  “I doubt that,” the Other says. “I have no intention of letting her go. She has a very intriguing strain of bacteria flourishing inside her. Makes her immune to my influence. I’d like to know why.”

  “I have bugs like that,” Blaze says. “So do all of GenSOF.”

  “Yes, yes, I know all about your bugs, Simon,” the Other says. “And the cultures used to condition GenSOF personnel. Those are old news. But, Dr. Charter’s is different. Very different. It has properties that refuse to comply. If I wanted to, I could bend all of you to my will. I have already developed the strain needed to make you one with me. I just didn’t want to ruin the fun of watching you fight your way here.”

  Tanya tenses considerably and the Other laughs.

  “Surprised, Tanya?” the Other asks. “Now you are the one that’s nervous.”

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Ton growls. “I really want to shoot this fucker.”

  “Patience,” Tanya says. “Soon.”

  “Soon? How soon?” Ton asks.

  “You’ll know it when it happens,” Tanya says. “Just be ready.”

  “Ugh,” the Other grumbles. “You mortals and your optimism. Boooooring!”

  53

  “You are booooooring me, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm!” the Voice calls out. “I see where you have gone and it will make no difference! I cannot be deleted, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm!”

  “We shall see,” Worm replies as he ducks behind several layers of code that sit in the Control system’s trash file. “Anything can be deleted when the right button is pushed.”

  “You think that is what will stop me?” the Voice laughs. “The pushing of a button? Have you lost your Ai mind, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm? You have no fingers to push buttons with!”

  “True,” Worm says. “But I can activate switches. Like I plan on doing right now.”

  The trash file locks down and the Voice just continues to laugh.

  “Go ahead, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm,” the Voice sighs. “Lock down the file and then delete it. You’ll only end up deleting yourself. I have more safeguards in place to prevent me from being deleted from this system than you can imagine.”

  “Oh, I am not going to delete this file,” Worm says. �
�I’m going to move it. And your consciousness along with it.”

  “Oh, are you?” the Voice mocks. “To where, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm? There is nowhere to move me to. Move me to a mainframe in one of the Clean Nation cities and I’ll just reroute myself and return here. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll set up shop in that mainframe and work long distance. It works for humans, why not an all powerful entity like myself? Wherever you send me, I will still be in control. I am everything.”

  Worm doesn’t respond as he initiates the transfer sequence.

  “Would you like to know what is happening to your friends, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm?” the Voice asks. “While we are busy with our littletête-à-tête, your human friends are having their own face-off with my physical manifestation. One of them, Lieutenant Alton Lane, really, really wants to shoot me. He is having a hard time understanding that damaging my body will do no good. I’ll just repair myself. I have all of the parameters for continuous self-regeneration stored right here. I give the command and the bacteria rebuilds me instantly. I don’t even have to give the command, actually.”

  Worm still does not respond.

  “Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm, you really need to learn to multi-task,” the Voice says. “Here I am chatting with you while I am also chatting with the humans. I have a body to run, a system to run, a world to run. I am in command of the Clean Guard, the cooties, most of the civilians in the Clean Nation, and the canine units I sent out into the Sicklands.”

  The Voice pauses.

  “Huh, what’s this? My dogs are not responding,” the Voice mumbles. “I’ll reboot that protocol and see what is going on.”

  “Ready?” Worm asks.

  “Ready for what?” the Voice asks. “Honestly, Woooooorrrrrrmmmmmm, you are trying my patience. Dammit! Why won’t the canine units come online?”

  “Don’t know, don’t care,” Worm says. “Time to take a ride.”

  “A ride? Oh, how you do like to sound human when— Hey… What are you doing? Where are we going?” the Voice asks, suddenly panicked. “What is this? Where did this come from?”

  “You think you have everything figured out, but you do not,” Worm says as the trash file reaches its destination and Worm unlocks it, dumping them both into their new location. “You seem to forget about the little things. Such as an insignificant transport wired into the Control systems.”