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I’M STANDING ON THE battlements of a castle. Its stones are a dark, rain-spattered grey, and the sky above is even darker. The only illumination comes from flashes of forked red lightning that splinter the horizon and cast an unsettling light over the charred black landscape below. Everything beyond the walls we’re standing on has been burnt to ash.
The intranet system has decided to interpret my base programs as a suit of bright white armor. Helmet, pauldrons, gauntlets, greaves, the whole bit. It would be badass if I wasn’t walking into a deathtrap. Elena and Val are with me—Elena in silver armor even fancier than mine, Val in a corseted purple dress the same color as her avatar’s favorite blazer. The three of us instinctively draw closer. A request pops up on the visor of my helmet.
user escudoespiga is offering [[filename redacted]] for download: accept / deny
I select accept. A horizontal blue bar fills up, and a new icon appears on my taskbar: a circle with silver dots in the middle. When I run the program, a shield matching Elena’s appears on my forearm, large enough to cover my torso.
“It’s not hard to use,” Elena says. “Duck and cover.” She lifts her shield, and nine sharp metal spikes spring out from its rounded surface. “Or charge and stab.”
I concentrate, and my shield grows spikes too. Impressive. I see why Elena likes to run around with this program all the time. I turn to Val, who’s scanning the castle’s blank walls with a silvery sheen to her eyes. She’s definitely got an impressive aesthetic going on. “Picking anything up?”
Val’s eyes return to normal. “No, although I doubt we are alone. Megan designed my scanning programs herself. She knows how to exploit their weaknesses.”
A chill runs through me. Val’s weaknesses aren’t the only ones Megan knows how to exploit. She’s stripped away all the other members of my crew by doing exactly that. “Do we go in?” I ask.
Elena sighs. “Have to.” She walks along the battlement to the nearest corner, where a wooden door leads into one of the towers. It swings open as we approach. My stomach bubbles, but Elena rolls her eyes. “If your ex designed this, she’s a dramatic-ass hoe. What’s with all the fucking theatrics?”
Val’s face shows wry amusement. “If I were to design a security system, I might consider implementing an amusing theme as well.”
“Well, I’m not fucking amused. Sadistic bitch.”
“I believe this would be more accurately described as a manifestation of megalomaniacal tendencies—”
I shush the both of them and step into the tower.
“Sasha, wait.” I turn back to see Elena staring at me. “Let me go first.”
I’m touched by the gesture. I’ve always been at the front, taking the big hits, but for once, it’s nice to have someone else care enough to watch out for me. “Okay.”
We start down the stairs, Elena first, Val in the middle, me at the back.
The stairs go on for several stories, winding in a dizzying spiral. I walk carefully in case any of the steps decide to disappear on me. It pisses me off to think that Megan designed this egotistical deathtrap, and I’m just walking right in. But it’s not like we have many other options.
We arrive at the bottom of the stairwell, and the door swings open to reveal a narrow stone corridor lined with torches. The stones in the walls and floor are perfect squares, each one outlined in glowing red like the lightning outside. When Elena takes a step, some of the torches blink out, illuminating a narrow path forward.
I look to Elena for guidance. “Follow, or bust through the wall to find another way?”
Elena clenches her jaw. “Keep going.” She doesn’t have to say why. We all know we’re on borrowed time already.
We walk along the row of lights until we reach a set of enormous double doors barred with black iron. The cracks in the wood glow red as well, but there’s no security pad. That doesn’t stop Elena. She charges the door, slamming into it with a grunt. The spikes in her shield thud into its surface, but instead of sticking there, cracks spread out from the points of impact. The doors shatter in eerie silence, then disappear into nothing.
The room beyond is huge. Enormous stained-glass windows line its walls, and glittering chandeliers hang from the vaulted ceiling. Despite all the glitzy details, there’s still an aura of darkness about the place. A long red carpet cuts through the middle of the room, leading up a set of steps onto a dais. On the dais is a throne, and sitting on the throne is Megan.
She’s dressed in blue, as usual, but this time, she isn’t wearing a hood. Instead, she’s chosen a fancy velvet dress. Her long blonde hair cascades down her shoulder, and a mantle of white fur is draped about her shoulders. A shiver runs down my spine as she stands up. Seeing her in person, even just in virtual space, is far, far worse than seeing her on a screen.
“Sasha, I’m surprised you took so lo—”
Megan doesn’t get to finish. Elena charges the dais, a blurry streak of brown and silver. She screeches to a stop near the throne, but Megan’s already gone. She’s vanished completely.
I whip my head around, but there’s no sign of her. My stomach roils with fear, and hard as I try, I can’t channel it into focus. Megan has top-of-the-line self-coded cloaking programs, such good ones that Elena’s left looking around in confusion too.
“I wouldn’t do that again,” Megan says, from our left this time. She’s standing before one of the stained-glass windows, and it casts eerie patterns of light onto her blonde hair. “I’m running self-modded Platinum, remember? Based on a prototype version that hasn’t even been released yet. I can see you coming a mile away.”
Elena grits her teeth and scowls at Megan from beneath her visor. “Whatever, bitch.” She charges, but Megan poofs out of existence, reappearing on the dais. Elena’s left panting by the windows, and Megan doesn’t have a drop of sweat on her.
I know I won’t be able to keep up with either of them at that speed, but I can’t just stand here. I raise my shield and charge anyway. The room blurs all around me, but when I arrive on the dais, Megan is gone again. I need another strategy, and fast.
“Sasha,” Val says urgently, “above you.”
I look up. Megan’s hovering several meters in the air, holding a thin black staff in her hand. A red crystal glows at its tip, the same color as the cracks in this world. “Bye, Sasha. Dead fixes stupid, I guess, assuming it sticks this time.” I raise my shield, but Megan doesn’t fire at me. Instead, she aims her staff at Val.
I rush to intervene, but Val doesn’t need my help. She waves her hand, and a pattern of glowing green diamonds appears in front of her. Megan’s Puls.wav bounces off the shielding program, hitting one of the stone walls and disappearing with a black hiss.
After that, everything erupts at once. I fire off several Puls.wavs of my own, but Megan dodges effortlessly. Elena taps the heels of her boots, and fire spurts from their soles, propelling her off the ground. Megan winks out of range and reappears halfway across the room, avoiding a Puls.wav from Val and returning fire with her staff. I move as fast as I can, but with my lower-grade gear and inexperience, I can’t keep up with this fight. Elena manages, though—barely. She blocks Megan’s Puls.wav with her shield, deflecting it right back at her.
“Val,” Elena hollers from the air, “she’s too fast! Think you can slow her down?”
Val spreads her hands, and her diamond-patterned shield grows larger, swelling to fill the room. Megan slows down above me in mid-flight, and I realize what Val’s doing. She’s flooding Megan with junk code, pushing the limits of her hardware and forcing her programs to filter through all the extra data.
For the first time, the look of calm superiority on Megan’s face twists into anger. She dives right, dodging another Puls.wav from me as well as Elena’s next shield charge. She passes in front of a stained-glass window, and a flash of lightning from outside casts her into silhouette. “I think it’s time for you to meet
my latest project.”
A mechanical roar fills the room, rattling through my bones. I whirl and raise my shield in time to see a massive winged shadow swoop down outside the window, blotting out the red and black sky. I barely get to see what it is before the huge beast bursts through the stained glass, sending a shower of shards across the floor. It’s colossal enough to fill the room almost to the ceiling.
I freeze, limbs locked up with fear. It’s a dragon. A huge fucking dragon with blood-red scales and glowing yellow eyes. The stone floor shudders under its clawed feet as it lands, and it lets out a shriek that splinters the rest of the windows, inviting the storm inside.
My fight or flight instincts finally kick in. I dive forward, hitting the ground to avoid a tremendous column of fire. My only saving grace is Elena’s shield, which I hold over my head like an umbrella against a hurricane. Once the flames fade, I look up. Elena is frozen in midair, and behind her silver visor, she looks utterly terrified. Shit. She hates fire. This has to be a nightmare for her.
“Elena, move!”
No response. She’s paralyzed with fear.
Before I can think of anything to do, the dragon raises its spiked tail and swipes, sending Elena crashing to the floor. I sprint to catch her, desperation throbbing through my legs. Elena doesn’t quite land in my arms, but my body softens her fall. Unfortunately, that leaves us both sprawled on the ground. The dragon rears back, and I can see the start of a sun growing inside its huge, toothy jaws. It’s a terrifyingly familiar shade of red—a Puls.wav so huge it’s bright enough to burn my eyes.
Elena finally lurches into motion at the last second, and we roll away from each other. A column of fire hits where we were lying moments before, turning the stone floor hot red. I clamber up as soon as I can. Shit, no. I’m not going down like this. Not while Elena and Val need me. I look around for Megan—stopping her will probably stop whatever monstrous program this is—but she’s vanished again. Typical. She never does her own dirty work.
The dragon screams, rearing back on its hind legs for another strike. Before it can charge us, another gigantic shape hurtles out of nowhere, colliding with its side. It happens so fast that it takes me a moment to understand. A second dragon with violet scales has charged the red beast, knocking it partway through the wall. For a moment, all I can feel is shock and confusion, but then I realize that the new dragon’s hide is the exact same color as Val’s dress. I feel a sudden surge of hope. If anyone can stop this thing, it’s her.
Beside me, Elena cheers. “Fuck shit up, Val!” She’s shaking badly, but she’s back on her feet. Maybe having fire on our side for a change makes her feel safer.
“This is another FRAI.” the Val-dragon says in surprise and alarm. “It includes my base code, but fewer self-modifications.”
“And fewer restrictions.” Megan reappears beside the red dragon as it lurches out of the wall, shaking off chunks of broken stone. Her mouth is quirked in a smug smile, and her voice is worse. “I never should have used Sasha’s memories to shape your core personality, but I thought it meant you would never turn against me. God knows she couldn’t.”
“Bitch, you thought.” Fury blazes through me, and my gauntlets glow red as I prepare another Puls.wav. I shoot, but Megan’s too fast. She teleports well out of range.
The red dragon squares off with Val, tail lashing in anger. It lunges at her, but Val stands her ground. They topple to the floor, a thrashing tangle of wings and scaly limbs. It almost looks like two alley cats caught in a brawl, only a hundred times huger and more terrifying.
They don’t stay on the ground for long. Val manages to break free and takes off, streaking out through the hole in the wall. The red dragon soars out after her, leaving Elena and me to deal with Megan. We round on her and raise our shields, rushing her together.
Megan takes to the air immediately, but Elena’s right there with her, flying with her flame-powered boots. I flick through my programs, looking for something useful. Nothing, nothing…jetpack! The minute I select the program, the straps appear on my shoulders, and I shoot up into the air to give Elena some support.
I’ve barely taken off when there’s a sharp crack followed by a heavy shower of stone. The ceiling is splitting open, and it’s only thanks to Elena pushing me out of the way that I avoid a chandelier hurtling to the floor. Megan’s dragon is tangled together with Val as they crash through the new hole and hit the floor, rolling across small mountains of stone and glass.
It looks like Val’s having some trouble. She’s pretty evenly matched with this copycat AI, but that’s terrifying in itself: nothing I’ve ever met could stand up to Val in cyberspace. She pins it on its back, but it breathes a plume of fire up at her, and she has to reel back, hissing.
As terrifying as the dragon is, Megan’s the real threat here. I look everywhere, but she’s gone again, hiding like the coward she is. Then, suddenly, she’s not. She’s everywhere at once, at least thirty identical copies of her all around the room.
“You’re wasting my time,” the legion of Megans says. They all raise their staffs, and a swarm of narrow red beams shoots at me all at once. I zoom upward, barely twisting away from one of the Puls.wavs and running straight into another. Luckily, my shield holds.
Three meters below me, Elena does her best to reflect the Puls.wavs down and away. Some of them make Megan’s doppels explode in a shower of sparks, leaving only empty air behind. But we still haven’t found the real Megan—if she’s even here. But I’m not going to stop until I do. She was willing to let me die six times. If I have to kill her thirty different times, I will.
I use every bit of my gear’s processing power as I duck and weave, deflecting Megan’s beams and firing off shots when I can. I get in some lucky hits on a few doppels, but Elena takes out most of them, flashing around the room like lightning and skewering them with the spikes of her shield. The Megans disappear in sprays of sparks a split second later.
Around us, the room quakes. Val and Megan’s AI launch into the air again, locked in a contest of strength. For a moment, it looks like Val has the upper hand, but then the red dragon locks its jaws around her throat, slamming her into one of the remaining walls. Val roars in pain, and the FRAI hisses in triumph.
I aim for its head, shooting off several Puls.wavs. They bounce harmlessly off the dragon’s scales, but the attack is annoying enough to get its attention. It turns toward me, opening its gigantic jaws. While it’s distracted, Val kicks out with her hind legs, raking her claws along its belly. The red dragon screams. It lets Val go and staggers back, spilling streams of code onto the floor.
Val surges upright, stalking forward as the dragon recoils in fear. It snaps its teeth at her, but she pushes it over, pinning it to the ground with both front feet on its chest. She’s got this. Now, if we could just find Megan.
Right as Val is about to strike the finishing blow, she freezes. Her avatar starts to waver, patches of her flickering unevenly like pixelated puzzle pieces that don’t quite fit right. Fear fills her huge yellow eyes, and then she poofs out of existence. No, not quite. Her human avatar reappears crumpled on the floor, limp and unmoving.
“Val!” Elena cries, but there’s no answer.
The red dragon drags itself up, stretching its wings, but it doesn’t go after Val. Instead, it turns on me, belching out a spiraling ball of flame. I try to dodge, but the blast of heat is too wide to outrun. I’m just not fast enough.
“No!”
Elena streaks between me and the fireball, a shooting star of silver. She holds her position in midair, pushing back against the force of the dragon’s breath with her boots on full blast. Her shield triples in size, enough to cover both our bodies. Flames lick around its sides, but don’t break through. “Go,” Elena gasps, sweat pouring down her face. She’s fighting the dragon’s inferno with all her strength, but she’s sliding backwards, trembling with effort. “I’ve got you.”
I don’t want to go. Elena looks so small, wreathed in
fire and fighting a dragon twenty times her size. All she has to protect her are some thin lines of code. But my chest swells with emotion, because she’s doing it for me. Someone cares enough to face the fires of a dragon to keep me safe.
While the dragon is focused on Elena, I swoop beneath its stomach. The stream of red code has dried up, but Val’s claws have left deep gouges in its scaly hide. That’s enough. I gather all my strength and drive upward with my shield, giving my jetpack all the juice I have. As I hurtle toward the beast’s belly, my copy of Elena’s shield responds. It shrinks, growing to about the side of my hand. The grip becomes a pommel, and the spikes extend, merging together into a shining silver blade. If Elena’s my shield, I can be her sword.
There’s a moment of resistance as the point hits one of the dragon’s wounds, and then a blinding surge of light fills the room. The dragon roars in agony, flickering in and out of my field of vision. Fresh rivers of binary code flow around me and down to the floor, but they vanish as rapidly as they’re spilling. Gritting my teeth, I drive my blade deeper. With one more scream, the dragon disappears, splintering into shafts of forked lightning before vanishing completely.
I face Elena, smiling in triumph, but she isn’t looking at me. She’s hovering in midair, staring over my shoulder. When I turn around, I see that Megan has reappeared. She’s got Val enclosed in a bubble of yellow code pouring from the tip of her staff. Val is awake, much to my relief, but she doesn’t seem to be struggling for freedom.
“Val,” Megan says, “tell Sasha and her new sidepiece what your new primary objective is.”
Val’s face is as flat and robotic as her voice as she answers, “New primary objective detected: to serve and obey my creator, Megan Delaney.”
Friday, 06-18-65 21:07:07
“VAL, NO,” I SHOUT. “You’re supposed to help whoever’s plugged into your databox!” But a creeping sense of cold overtakes me. Of course, Megan snuck off and hacked Val’s code while we were fighting for our lives against the other dragon. She’s always got something up her sleeve.
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