Mechanical

by Bruno Flexer

  It was not the sound of the Serpent's head being torn off, nor was it the sound of Captain Emerson putting a fresh magazine into his rifle. It was the sound that Ramirez's head made as it rolled away bumping along the sidewalk that finally shook Tom into action. Somehow, that dull bump of composite armor against concrete was more terrible than anything Tom had experienced so far.

  Tom found the street flying beneath him, again. Houses passed on both sides so fast he couldn't make out any detail. He jumped over cars and other obstacles on the road without having the time to understand what he was doing. Trees zoomed past him so quickly he barely registered their presence at all. Tom could now hear the power core in his torso pulsing, but it seemed to him to be the fluttering of a rabbit's heart, the heart of a prey about to be consumed by a terrible predator.

  Behind him, Tom heard other sounds: heavy footsteps on the street and the whistle of the wind on the body of another Serpent. Captain Emerson was right behind him and the thuds following Tom were gaining in strength. Captain Emerson was approaching fast.

  Tom could think of nothing, conceive of nothing, or imagine anything except that tearing sound when the two Serpents' heads had been ripped from their bodies. But slowly something penetrated the black cloud of panic and despair that filled his mind. He realized he could hear another sound, a strong steady pulsing getting louder. It was Captain Emerson's power core.

  Tom tried to move faster, coercing every ounce of speed his Serpent could provide. He even threw his rifle away. Then he opened the black panel protecting his Serpent's computer display and set the power core to its highest output. But whatever he did, however he weaved between the houses, the sound of the chasing Serpent was getting louder and louder. He knew his Serpent's body glowed with heat, but it was irrelevant. He just ran and did not try to hide.

  Suddenly, Tom stopped. He had leaped from rooftop to rooftop and now he had reached the end of the southern street in the urban combat range. Beyond the house Tom now stood on, there was nothing but barren plain and a few scattered rocks. Tom had one instant to consider— one instant to bring his fear-clouded mind into focus. He could probably travel faster there without having to negotiate houses and trees and things, but so could Emerson, and he had no chance of hiding there.

  With a small whimper, Tom turned and plunged into the street again, jumping high from house to house, trying to advance as fast as he could. His Serpent was getting warmer as the power core pumped more energy and the machine shed the excess heat away.

  But then the sounds of chasing coming from behind were replaced by the thumping of dull explosions. Knowing he would regret it, Tom glanced back once, his irresistible curiosity briefly overcoming his fear. Tom saw without understanding the house right behind him explode. There were no flames or smoke; the house just broke apart with a great deal of dust and debris flying all over.

  He's moving right through the houses, was Tom's thought before he directed his attention once more to his own escape.

  But he was too late. The pause at the edge of the urban area and the glance to the rear had created too much of a delay. Tom felt a powerful hand grab him by the neck from behind and another hand grab his right shoulder. He was then lifted up in the air, feeling as powerless as a new-born baby.

  It's all over. It was all for naught. I lost. Everything is lost. Tom hung limply, his hands and feet dangling, imagining the sounds of Ramirez's and Jebadiah's heads being torn from their bodies.

  But my head is still attached! Tom did not know where this thought came from, but out of nowhere, it galvanized him into action. He kicked back as hard as he could and flailed with his hands. He arched his body and thrashed, forcing every one of the little engines and motors in his Serpent's body to extend to its limits, transforming the Serpent's delicate electronic tunes into a chaos of screaming parts.

  But Captain Emerson held him from behind so tightly that Tom couldn't reach him no matter how hard he tried. The whines and squeals from the many electric motors in Tom's body intensified as he tried everything, pulling and tugging and flailing as hard as he could. But he just couldn't reach the captain who stood right behind him.

  "Wait! Wait!" Tom squealed, his speakers squeaking. "You won! You won! You don't need to—"

  Chapter 12

  Day Four, Fort Belvoir, Virginia

  Bright colors swam in front of Tom, a shapeless brilliance that was so relaxing to look at. Just look at the pretty lights and don't pay attention to the irksome noises. Just watch the drifting brilliance and—

  There was something about small houses, Tom suddenly remembered. Brick houses with tiled roofs and gardens. There was an—an—an exercise? They fought someone, Captain Emerson leading them—no, Ramirez led them and they fought—what?

  "Lieutenant Riley!"

  Things came into sharp, unpleasant focus, and Tom realized he was standing attached to the scaffolding again, a group of tech people moving away from him, taking their tools with them. The unpleasant lead nameless tech person stood in front of him, holding his round glasses in his hand while staring at Tom's head.

  The man rapped his knuckles on the black armor plate protecting Tom's viper head.

  "Lieutenant Riley, can you hear me?"

  Seeing the man so up close made Tom realize something: The glasses the man used were not American but were some sort of Italian brand and were virtually brand new. No one had the money and the means to buy European brands since the war had started.

  "Yes, I can. What was your name again?" Tom asked.

  "Lieutenant, remember the equipment you are now using costs a fortune. Every repair you require creates a tremendous amount of work for me and my staff, and uses up a lot of resources. Take better care of the Serpent."

  Tom could not really think of a reply. He just lowered his head and watched as the man climbed down and put a hand through his long ponytail. The scaffolding let go of Tom, and Tom had the time to make one tottering step before he was ordered out of the hall. They moved again through the endless corridors of the base with the usual escort of armed soldiers.

  Tom turned his head this way and that, and rubbed his neck with his hand, trying to feel where the new head had been reattached to his body. It felt great. As far as he could tell, the new head fit perfectly and nothing remained of that horrendous experience except the memory of Captain Emerson's hands tearing it away.

  An involuntary shudder went through Tom's Serpent, making his steps ring loudly in the corridor as his claws stumbled on the concrete floor. He imagined he could still hear the sound of Serpent heads as they fell on the street. He was not sure if he could remember the sound of his own head hitting the street,

  Tom shook his head, and then he looked around him. "Where are we going?"

  "Debrief," was all the tech person said.

  Tom winced inside. He was not really looking forward to seeing the captain again.

  Finally, they reached the now-familiar large hall the Serpents used for meetings, and Tom entered the hall, noting that the armed soldiers only moved away once the door had securely closed after him.

  Tom moved further into the hall, unfolding and rising up after being freed from the confines of the low ceiling corridor. Sergeant Jebadiah raised his hand to welcome Tom while, unsurprisingly, Ramirez just ignored him.

  "Lieutenant Riley, we are now conducting a short debrief of the final exercise. After that, we'll begin prepping for the mission. We'll depart the base in four hours. Now, let's start assessing squad tactics in the final exercise. Lieutenant Ramirez had you dispersed well, and he made good use of the sensors the Serpent possesses to try and find the enemy. Sergeant Jebadiah: advancing alone after you had suffered injuries by the enemy was a bad move, ultimately compromising the squad. The squad must remain together until ordered otherwise by its commander," Captain Emerson said, his Serpent's head directed first at Tom and then at Sergeant Jebadiah.

  "You must keep in mind that you are now piloting Serpents. Even hits from the Ba
rrett anti-materiel rifles will not penetrate the Serpent's armor. Only heavier weapons can really endanger a Serpent. Keep in mind that the real enemy in New York has a lot of heavy weaponry. In the exercise, the only thing that could really hurt your Serpent was another Serpent."

  Tom could not help notice that the captain was standing stock still, at full attention, hands behind his back, while he orated. Even Ramirez moved from time to time, producing faint whines from the small electric motors in his hands while he used one long black talon to carve up a long Barrett rifle barrel, but the captain stood still as a statue. Is he even human? Tom could not help wondering.

  "Sergeant Jebadiah, you continued functioning even without your left arm. Remember, a Serpent is not a human. Injuries that will incapacitate a human body will only inconvenience a Serpent. Lieutenant Riley—"

  Tom's head snapped up.

  "It was good thinking not to leave the urban training ground. When faced with overwhelming odds, retreat as fast as you can. When you have cover, use it. A Serpent is a good weapon, but it's not invincible. Remember the Serpent is not human. Your preferred route was over the top of the buildings instead of through them, which is how the enemy was able to catch up to you."

  What? Enemy? It was you! How can you be so impartial about it?

  "Another point to remember is that the Serpent has an impressive array of sensors. Use them. An integral part of war is to know where the enemy is, not only to fight it. Though Lieutenant Riley is our sensor and intelligence specialist, all of the Serpents have a full sensor suite."

  "Lieutenant Ramirez, wasting ammo was stupid. You should have turned to a more direct attack mode when you saw your rifle could not hurt the enemy."

  Ramirez said nothing, but Tom started to move away from him. The rage washing in waves off Ramirez was so strong, he had trouble taking hold of himself.

  Captain Emerson, oblivious to Ramirez's unvoiced hostility, turned and took in his hand the remote used to control the hall's projector. The small black remote looked ridiculously tiny in the Serpent's huge hand.

  "Told you, Sir. I'm sure glad the captain is going with us on the mission. He's a real tough bastard, Sir," Sergeant Jebadiah whispered to Tom.

  Tom didn't answer. A thought kept running through his mind, a very uncomfortable thought. They had all failed magnificently in the last exercise, yet they were still being sent away on the New York mission as if nothing had happened. It was another strange thing to add to his growing collection.

  "We'll now start our mission briefing. The main objective of the mission is to seek and destroy any enemy presence in the Financial District of Manhattan. We have eighty-four hours to complete that objective. Secondary objective is to keep the enemy from gaining information about the mission and the Serpent MK Two project."

  Captain Emerson paused for a brief moment.

  "I want to make this perfectly clear: Every aspect of the Serpent MK Two is considered top secret, and it is a vital national security interest to ensure no aspect of the project falls into enemy hands."

  The captain now brought up a small-scale image showing Long Island and Jersey City in addition to New York City itself. "Insertion and deployment. We'll use one C-130 Hercules. It will come in from the north, flying as high as it can go, at an altitude of twenty five thousand feet. The C-130 will follow the Hudson and drop us off about four miles away from our target. We'll use the automated cargo parachuting system to reach the Central Park reservoir."

  A satellite image of New York Central Park now appeared on the

  projector’s display. "Deployment area: The area south of the reservoir has been totally cleared. The enemy has uprooted all the trees, and we think they are trying to use the area for storage, which gives us very little usable cover, even at night. There are still no permanent enemy force positions inside the park. We'll target the reservoir itself, and then we'll go north, using what cover remains to enter the urban area and then go east on 95th Street to reach the FDR."

  Tom tried to understand what the captain was saying, but it all seemed unreal. After three years safely analyzing war data, here he was, invading New York City, piloting a weapon that came straight out of the hallucinations of a deranged mad scientist, and preparing to invade the heart of the enemy's fortress. It just wasn't real.

  "ETA for the insertion point is five minutes after midnight. We will advance to waypoint one on the FDR. We will remain undetected. We will not engage and will avoid any contact with captured US forces."

  "Sir, what do we do if we encounter the enemy?" Sergeant Jebadiah asked.

  "We'll terminate it on sight. That's the reason we're carrying the thermobaric warheads."

  "Yes, Sir. Sir, I meant civilians."

  Captain Emerson just stood there, his Serpent facing the other three in the hall.

  "Every civilian on New York City is now designated an enemy subject. We are authorized to eliminate any threat to the mission. Collateral damage is acceptable. The mission comes first."

  Tom expected this, but the sergeant, judging by the small movements of his Serpent, was disturbed. Tom had indeed seen footage from the quarantine zones. He had seen people shooting at other people who only weeks before had been friends. He had seen whole units taken over by the enemy and turning their weapons on their brethren-in-arms, but Sergeant Jebadiah disliked shooting citizens who were just regular people who were in New York City at the wrong time.

  What about me? Will I be able to shoot some man in New York? Somehow, the notion didn't seem too disturbing to Tom, though he had never really shot at anyone before these last three hectic days.

  "After insertion, we'll regroup, assess the situation, use 95th Street or an alternative route to reach the FDR, establish our forward operating base, and then we'll start advancing towards the New York Financial District. There, we will begin observation and recon operations to locate the enemy. Questions?"

  No one asked anything, not even Tom.

  "We've already gone through the enemy forces located in New York and the Manhattan region. We're collecting more information for a last-minute briefing. Shipping and shuttles across the Hudson and the East River have stopped, but all the bridges, land roads and tunnels in and out of Manhattan are operational."

  Captain Emerson brought up another image, with large blue areas surrounding New York City. "This is the deployment of our military forces maintaining the quarantine zone around New York City. Be advised: the forces there are not aware of our presence and our mission, and we cannot rely on them or call for any kind of support. We will avoid any encounter with regular US military forces in the quarantine zone."

  Tom had a growing, sinking feeling, that deepened a moment later as Captain Emerson brought up a detailed map of New York City centered on the Financial District. A dizzying amount of information followed, including secondary waypoints, scanning paths, possible enemy locations, enemy military forces sightings and analysis. With all of this came a flurry of commands, primary, secondary and tertiary objectives, and outlined plans along with backup plans.

  Tom had the foresight to start recording, his Serpent's sensors capturing what the captain showed them along with his explanations, but Tom started having difficulty breathing and felt that he was drowning as he sunk deeper and deeper into this mission with all its details.

  "Scheduled departure is in three hours, forty-five minutes. Report to recharge and run diagnostics. Arming and weapons test in one-and-a-half hours. You have my orders. Move!"

  With that, the captain turned and left the hall. Sergeant Jebadiah followed him to join the group of armed soldiers waiting outside.

  Tom took one last look at the hall, trying to fight the sinking feeling he had telling him he would never see this hall again. He started moving out, but suddenly a Serpent's hand grabbed him, its long black talons resting on Tom's neck, ready to decapitate him in one motion.

  "Keyboard Warrior, the next time you freeze on me during a mission I'll kill you myself," said Rami
rez in a voice so low Tom half thought he imagined it.

  Tom tried to form a reply, but Ramirez just removed his hand and walked away after the others as if nothing had happened. Tom's watched in horror as Ramirez move away, the antennas on Ramirez's back moving softly in waves, as if they were underwater plants caressed by water.

  Tom found his Serpent's limbs did not obey him at first. He had to force himself to move. He finally starting walking after several seconds, keeping well away from Ramirez's Serpent.

  Tom followed at a distance and reentered the hall with the scaffolds. Ramirez and Jebadiah were already standing attached to them, and Tom was herded to a free one and watched the tech people as they attached his arms and legs to its metal frame. Tom didn't look at Ramirez.

  He tried to watch as one of the tech people peeled away the armor plate covering the computer in his left arm, but the angle was bad, and he failed to see the password the man entered to log into the computer's administrative menu. Another man caught Tom's attention: a man that walked on the scaffold towards his right arm and peeled back an armor plate, revealing several sockets. The man pulled up a thick black cable and plugged it into one of the sockets.

  The electrical power recharge, Tom realized. He half-expected some humming or some kind of feeling inside, but there was nothing. Tom returned his attention to the man manipulating the computer on his left arm. The man alternated his attention from the tablet he held in his hand to Tom's computer. Probably running through all the checklists, Tom thought. He had tried to see what the tablet or his left-arm computer display showed, but the angles were bad and he couldn't see anything.

  Tom realized that the two other Serpents were undergoing the same process and turned his head, trying to zoom in and see what the people who were operating the other Serpents' computers saw, to focus on the displays of the Serpents' arm computers or the tablets, but the way the scaffolds were arranged prevented him from seeing anything.