A panel in the nose slides back and a multi-barrel particle beam drops out. It opens fire a second later.
With Epic flying and aiming, the ship is deadly accurate. I am normally all against killing, but when the circumstance calls for it... I won’t hesitate.
Then again, I guess I’m not killing anyone. The beams hit the ARC soldiers... instead of blood, the one in front of me is cut in half and explodes in blue liquid and electronics.
The others suffer similar fates.
“They’re androids,” I say over the comms. “Holy crap, they’re androids!”
“Say again, Amelia. Did you say the ARC soldiers are androids?” Kate asks.
“Yes, use lethal force. End this.”
The Emjet swings around until it is hovering above me. The particle cannon recedes, and a section of the belly lowers down until I can roll onto it, which I do.
It only takes a few more seconds and I’m safe inside. “Epic, full stealth. Get me the heck out of here!”
Affirmative.
No sooner do the words appear on the screen than the jet is moving. He keeps the speed low until I secure myself in one of the cabins chairs. Once I’m buckled in, he hits the gas and before I know it, we’re in orbit.
Ten
This totally changes things. It’s been three days since the attack on MIT, and not a peep from ARC. As soon as I was gone Vixen took off and the ARC androids just... dissolved along with all their gear. It was gross.
Currently, I’m back in the Spire, exactly where I don’t want to be. Kate however, insisted, as it is the most secure place I can be until my new lab is complete.
I’m looking at video of the fight from my perspective, and from Kate’s, and from every camera footage Epic was able to procure for me. I’m occupying the Enterprise conference room with its massive screen.
All I would need is some popcorn and I could be watching a movie.
“Androids, Epic... androids!”
That is the tenth time you have repeated the word.
“I know, but... androids!”
Kate enters at that moment. The bruise she received when a beam fell on her while she was resuscitating someone is completely gone. Between her own healing powers and the Doctors, she’s good as new. I know she’s tired, but she doesn’t look it. What I wouldn’t give to have her powers.
She plops down in the chair opposite me and smiles. “You figure it out yet?” she asks.
“Figure what out?”
“Life, the universe... everything?”
“Kate Petrenelli, did you just make a nerd joke?” I ask, stunned.
She smiles demurely. “Maybe.” She takes a second to pull off her boots then props her silken clad feet up on the table. “Oh, wow, that feels good,” she says.
I ignore her stretching toes and turn back to the monitor. I’ve long since grown past the point where seeing other people use their feet bothers me. Kate knows this, otherwise she wouldn’t do it.
“To answer your question, no. Not any of it. It’s still early, though. I haven’t had lunch yet,” I say.
I tap a few things on the keyboard and watch the end of the fight that I missed in person. Once I figured out they were using Vixen as a distraction, I left and their entire operation came to an end.
Vixen stops mid-swing on Carlos, turns, runs, and leaps into the sky, disappearing in a few seconds. That’s when all the androids Kate dropped began to dissolve. There wasn’t anything left of them, not so much as a speck. It was as if the molecular bonds of their bodies, clothing and weapons just... let go.
“That’s a neat trick,” I mutter. “Epic, rewind ten seconds and loop.” The video resets and loops, showing one of the bodies Carlos was looking at as it dissolves.
“What are you thinking?” Kate asks.
“I’m not really sure,” I say with a shrug. “Androids are a lot more advanced than just robots. Cat-7 had the warbots and they were pretty advanced. Same weaponry, but these... this is an order of magnitude greater than anything we’re capable of at the moment.”
Kate frowns, taking one of her feet in hand and rubbing it. “I don’t get it, what makes androids different than robots?”
I point at the screen while I speak. “They’re androids,” I say as if that explains everything. She looks at me blankly.
“I don’t get it. What’s the difference?”
“I spoke to Farnsworth, the doctor from the lab. He said the men who grabbed him felt like human beings—he had no idea they were automatons until they dissolved. Anyone can make a robot that looks humanoid, but to feel like a human? To act like one? Whoever is behind ARC has access to serious tech that is light years beyond us. Imagine—if they can make an android that is indistinguishable—”
One of the building staff enters with a tray of food and drinks.
“—from a human being, then they would have the ability to infiltrate any place in the world. Imagine if they made them look like people we know?”
I shake my head. Androids!
“You are quite correct, Ms. Lockheart,” the staff member says. I know that voice, it’s the same one from MIT. I turn around in horror as I realize he’s silently zapped Kate with something. She’s flat out on the floor.
“How did you do that?” I ask.
“Androids have no emotions. No presence to read. She cannot detect malice where there is none, and I have none,” he says.
“What are you?”
“You will know soon enough. Now, if you please, disable the security interlocks on the building computers.”
“Uh, no,” I say.
He picks Kate up off the floor, holding her by the neck alone, feet dangling above the floor. “Do it or she dies.”
I have no one to call. No one could possibly get here before he would snap her neck.
Amelia, I have alerted building security, as well as Fleet. They are waiting for your signal to come in.
Maybe Fleet would be fast enough. Maybe.
“You have three seconds to comply,” he says as he starts squeezing her neck. She chokes and coughs as her face turns purple.
“No,” I shout. “Epic, disable safety locks.”
Done.
He relents on her neck, but he doesn’t let go. Even if Fleet could reach top speed, he couldn’t stop a computer from killing Kate.
“If you harm her, there will be no place on earth you can hide from me,” I say with steel in my voice.
“You misunderstand, Ms. Lockheart. We don’t want to hide from you. We want you to find us. When the time is right.”
The lights, TV, all the power shuts off at once. He drops Kate—
“Fleet, now!” There is a whoosh of air as Fleet rushes in. He hits the android in a second knocking it back from Kate and slamming it into the wall.
“I’ve got this,” he says in a hurry as he wraps an entire roll of duct tape around the things legs.
“Tony, get me a vial and stopper right now! Medical floor.” To Fleet’s credit, he doesn’t ask why, he just vanishes to do as I say. I wheel over to the android as fast as I can. I can tell he’s already started the process.
“Who are you?” I ask in vain.
“We... are... Legion,” it says as it turns to goo.
Tony is suddenly next to me with a vial and glass stopper. I scoop up bits of skin and blue liquid into the vial and slam the stopper on it.
I watch the goo in the vial, waiting for it to vanish like the rest of the body. In seconds there is just some used duct tape on the floor. However, the vial still has bits in it.
Kate!
I spin around and rush over to her. “You better be okay,” I say as I stop next to her. She’s already sputtering and gasping for breath as she comes to.
“Anyone get the name of that semi?”
“Yep,” I say as I help her up. “Its name is Legion. And I think I’ve got it figured out.”
ELEVEN
Strange as it seems, I actually feel pretty good. Rutaba
ga finished his work on my base and its internal structure is now under construction. I used a lot of titanium-tungsten carbide to give the base a layer of armor. We’re also using the spring foundation pioneered in Japan to help buildings resist earthquakes. This place is as safe and secure as I can make it. Once they’re done with the framework they will start on all the mundane stuff: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, that kind of thing. I intend it to have its own environment that can seal itself off from the outside world.
However, the bells and whistles are going to have to wait. I want my lab up and running first; they can do everything else while I work there. To that end, once the framework is in place they’re going to build out the fourth floor, which is where I’m going to keep my armor, my designs, and my lab. Below that will be the automated manufacturing floor.
I sign off on the work and board the electrically powered tram that takes me out the entrance into the Lodge, where my semi is parked.
ARC thinks they have the upper hand. With the Spire computers offline—maybe permanently—and Milton disabled, they think they’ve delayed my search for the alien armor. They would be right if not for the mobile lab and the one under current construction. Clearly, they have an advanced computer genius working for them, if not several. But no matter how smart they think they are, they can’t beat AI security, which was why they needed me to shut it down in the Spire.
Epic has this entire project so far off the books the CIA couldn’t find it with two hands and a map. No amount of resources will help them find my new base. It should be safe.
The hot Arizona sun beats down on me as I make my way to the entrance. I’m thankful for Luke’s cowboy hat; I think I finally understand why he wore it off duty. It makes the sun much more tolerable.
Mom and Dad are hard at work inside. I’ve truly enjoyed working with them day-in and day-out. They’re great to be around and they have such an awesome connection it’s like they don’t even need to speak sometimes.
“How’s it going?” I ask as I wheel in. The door slides shut behind me with a whoosh of air.
“Good,” Dad says, rubbing his jaw. “This sample you brought us… you know what this is, don’t you?”
I smile. “I have a hypothesis, but why don’t you confirm it for me.”
He waves me over to the holographic display. “Epic, bring up the molecular matrix for sample 1-b,” he asks.
The image appears and the lights in the trailer dim slightly to help show the hologram at its best. A hundred tiny bits move like ants on a plate, swirling and spreading out. Occasionally they run far apart from each other, only to come back together.
“That was quick thinking, Amelia,” Mom says. “They have nowhere to go, so they stay together. If we open the vial, even a little, I’m pretty sure they’ll vanish like the rest of them.”
“Nanites,” I whisper. “I can’t believe it. I mean, I’m looking at it, but still...”
“I imagine that’s what people say about your ZPFM,” he says.
“That’s different. I was already working on the theory. I just didn’t know if it was possible until the aliens foolishly shared it with me. This though, this is amazing,” I say.
Whoever is behind ARC, this is technology I could only dream of. Of course, just like the ZPFM, now that I know it is possible...
“Time to get to work. Epic, start a new project, MK IX. We’re going to incorporate everything we’ve learned from day one into this design. If we can figure out a way to duplicate these nanites, then I will never have to worry about being separated from my suit again. I also won’t have to hope that there is more of the alien metal on Earth.”
Do you think we can recreate the polymorphic molecular structure using the nanite design?
I shake my head as I wheel over to the fridge and pull out a can of Coke. “No. Even knowing how the atoms are structured, we simply can’t create what doesn’t exist. But... we don’t have too. What if we could mass produce these nanites out of titanium-tungsten carbide? Then we wouldn’t need Animetal, we could have trillions of these things stored in something the size of...” I look down at the can and smile. “We could store an entire armory in something as small as a can...”
Amelia, I know what you are thinking and no, we have spoken about the nicknames you give your armor.
“Epic, we’ll get to that later. Right now, we all need to focus on recreating these things from the ground up. Mom, I need you to start working on the coding. Dad, you go with the structure.”
“What about you, hon?” Mom says.
“I’m going to work on the materials aspect of it. I don’t even know if we can create a single molecule of armor to make one of these nanites from.”
This will be a slow process. I hate to rely on luck, but it will take some if we are going to be ready to face ARC.
TWELVE
Carlos followed the spear down from orbit in his usual speedy manner. When he first started traveling this way it would take his breath away. A thousand times later, it barely registered as he ‘dropped’ from orbit to crash into the ground outside of Delphi near the ruins of the oracle, and his home.
Home. So much had happened in the last few years. When had he started thinking of this place as home?
He hit the ground with a crunch, reflexively reaching out to pull the spear from the ground.
“Protector, by order of the EU commission on superheroes, you are ordered to come with us,” an unknown man said from behind him.
It wasn’t often someone could sneak up on him; genuine surprise hit him. With a friendly, disarming smile Carlos turned around to see who spoke.
The Safety Force. Great. Governments and their naming schemes. Why is it things are always the opposite of what they say?
The Safety Force was more of the EU anti-super hit squad than a force for good. In the years he’d spent operating as the Protector, not once had they shown up at a natural disaster, accident, or crisis that didn’t involve other supers. He’d cross paths with them once or twice, but they mostly gave him a wide birth.
The four-person team was still materializing from their teleporting as Carlos faced them. Their leader, Moon-Watch, was dressed in a head-to-toe costume that was white and blue. His mask consisted of a crescent moon that represented his homeland. He hovered a few inches off the ground.
Next was Union, a tough as nails Brit with a union jack flag over his face. He wore a short sleeve shirt and a sleeveless leather jack to show off his bulging muscles.
Carlos was not impressed.
The teleporter was Fille Magnifique, a lithe French woman dressed in a skintight costume of blue, white, and red. She held her hands above her head, light flashing from them as she finished teleporting her team.
Finally, Irish Spring stood in the back, arms crossed over her chest. She was made of metal. Like Glacier, she was an elemental, just the rare kind. Instead of fire or ice, she was metal and could reform her hands into shapes.
Carlos twirled his spear a few times before planting it back at his feet, then swung his shield around to wear it on his back like a pack.
“How exactly did you know where to find me?” Carlos asked. He knew from experience that he didn’t appear on radar or other sensors. Telepathic powers couldn’t penetrate his helmet, and there wasn’t a tracking device in the world that could stay on him as he burned through the atmosphere on re-entry.
“That’s hardly the point,” Moon-Watch said as he floated forward. “The EU commission on Superhuman Activity has issued a writ of custody. You’re to surrender your armor and weapons and come with us.” He smugly crossed his arms over his chest as he finished.
Carlos grinned. “Listen, amigos, that isn’t happening. I predate the authority of the EU by about thirty centuries. If you have a problem with my activity, take it up with Apollo. I’m sure he can fit you in sometime in the next thousand years… if the EU is still around.”
Moon-Watch breathed in fiercely before he spoke pumping up his chest like a Gor
illa trying to frighten his enemies. “Do not speak of your false gods, charlatan. There’s no Greek Pantheon to help you. Say such things again and by all I hold holy I will show you the power of a real God.”
Carlos shook his head, chuckling. “I don’t want to fight you, any of you. I have no interest in hurting you or anyone else. However, my job, my duty—my destiny really—is to protect the innocent. To help humanity in their darkest hour. I can’t answer to you, your commission, or anybody but Apollo. I have a higher calling, and regardless of whether you believe the Greek gods were real or not, I have this power for a reason. And it isn’t to satisfy some bureaucrat’s need to control everyone and everything.” Carlos leveled a steely gaze at them. He made no threatening moves while he spoke. He didn’t raise his voice, or condescend, he plainly spoke the truth.
“Mon Amie,” Fille Magnifique said as she stepped forward. “Don’t do this. I know you are a true soul, a good man. But the commission has legal authority to ask this of you. As a citizen of the EU you are obligated by law to obey. Don’t force us to make you.” Her light soprano and delightful French accent did funny things to Carlos stomach. If he weren’t already dating the most wonderful, beautiful, sexiest woman on the planet, he might have given her more thought. As it was, it felt more like an attempt to manipulate him than anything else.
“Oh, is that what this is about? Problem solved. I’m not an EU citizen. I’m from the US,” he said with a smile.
That took them by surprise. Moon-Watch looked back to his team as if he didn’t know what to say in response.
“Then you’re trespassing, mate, here without proper papers,” Union said. “We can take you in on that alone.”
Carlos shook his head again, not at all surprised at their thick-headed approach. “Listen, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you, I’m not coming with you. I’m not surrendering, and I’m not going to stop helping people because the current, and might I add, fleeting, government wants to control me. So please, go back to your masters and tell them they’re out of luck.”
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