Specter Protocol

by Eddie R. Hicks

  It was Yumi.

  Fifty-Two

  Ray

  “Move and I’ll fucking drop you!”

  One of the Yoshida PMCs shouted, Ray couldn’t tell which one. There were so many, all of them inching their way to Ray and Bashiir.

  “Remember, no headshots,” another called out, again, Ray couldn’t identify which of the armed men spoke. Multiple red dots targeted his chest rather than the head.

  Ray looked to the drop awaiting the two behind on the overpass. It wasn’t worth jumping to the debris below. He whispered to Bashiir, “This a bad time to ask for you to shift?”

  “Yes,” Bashiir said. “Yes, it is.”

  The first wave of PMCs neared with their weapons pointed forward. The lead one spoke. “Kick the sword over!” Ray kicked the hilt of his katana. It went spiraling across the road, stopping under the foot of the leader. “The phone too, Partington. We know what you can do!”

  Ray’s phone was on the same level as a gun. He lowered one hand and slipped it into his pocket, grabbing his phone. It was tempting to play it off that he had to search for it while thumbing around on its screen for his apps. There were a lot of vulnerable icons floating in the air near the PMCs, over their weapons, headsets, and their idle helicopters. The possibilities to create a dramatic escape were endless. And all it took was one clever commando to put a bullet through Ray’s chest and prevent it all.

  He tried anyway.

  The PMCs were obviously briefed that Ray held information in his head related to the prototype. That meant they were Ashford’s men, which meant they had plans to hand Ray to him, and that meant Ashford was working to get an S ranked telepath to deep scan Ray which would lead to his brain melting. Either way, Ray would probably die regardless of the path he chose. He swiped the phone’s screen, trying to blindly activate the app—

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  They were onto him. He had to hurry.

  “The phone, now!”

  He didn’t give it to them.

  A rifle was fired at him. The bullet missed his head by an inch.

  There was a commotion behind. The PMCs turned away from Ray and Bashiir. They took aim at someone else. Flashes of light flared from dozens of muzzles. Ray heard nothing but assault rifles raging.

  The PMCs raced to their helicopters, screaming orders back and forth, rifles still blazing. One helicopter fell over on its side, another exploded, six PMC bodies flew backward, three went off the overpass’s rails. Their screams could be heard on their way down.

  Two had their heads blown clean off, blood and brains painting the surface of one helicopter, and the unknown assailant entered it. Three PMC chased after them. Their bodies got pushed out, one by one, like someone had picked them up and threw them.

  There were four PMCs left now, and they surrounded the compromised helicopter, taking aim at its cockpit. None of them shot, they simply stood there staring off into space. And then they spun their rifles around, pointed them to their faces, and pulled the trigger. Four men fell in a mass suicide. Ray could see their brains blow out from the new massive holes gored from the tops of their heads from the exiting shots.

  A figure sporting a black robe leaped out from the comprised helicopter, a woman. She stepped over the PMC bodies in her black heeled boots. In her hands was a rifle, she threw it to the road. Her hands had been glowing white, and when the glow dimmed Ray could make out the NC gauntlet of an RW on the right hand.

  The woman pulled the hood away from her head, lifting away the darkness that concealed the face and the pair of emerald glowing eyes. Ray was happy to see the face.

  “Piper!”

  Piper was grinning as she finished lowering the hood from her head. Ray grabbed his katana and ran forward, Bashiir joined him. There was no group hug.

  Piper eyed the two and winced. “Where’s Theo?” she asked.

  Ray looked away. His face lost in sorrow. “He didn’t make it.”

  “What do you mean he didn’t make it?” Ray couldn’t answer her. She shook her head. “No, he was the best fucking warlock. No way he’s…”

  Emotion parlayed Piper’s face. If she had real eyes, she’d be crying.

  “I’m sorry,” Ray finally spoke—

  Gunfire blasted.

  There were more PMCs alive and aiming at the three of them. Piper drew twin pistols from her belt, spun, lowered herself to one knee, and emptied both clips as her hands began glowing again. She didn’t miss her targets. It was hard to when the bullets curved around the helicopters they covered behind.

  When she was out of ammo, she flicked her wrist forward. Psychokinesis powers flung the corpses of the PMCs ahead of her, they hit the remaining PMCs that peeked out from cover with a thud. Piper’s nanites did the rest, turning the squirming targets on the road to flames.

  Piper was a gunslinging sorceress. Ray liked the look.

  She stood from her pose. “C’mon guys!”

  Ray and Bashiir followed her into the compromised helicopter she had boarded. Piper took a seat up front and jacked into its dashboard. Her AI Akane flashed onto her shoulder, a holographic raven standing watch as Piper hacked her way into the helicopter. Its rotor blades spun moments later. They went airborne.

  Ray stood behind her chair, yelling over the roar of the helicopter’s blades while winds from its opened door rustled his hair and jacket. “How did you know where to find us?!”

  “Obsidian likes to talk to our messengers,” Piper yelled back. “Just got the heads up a few minutes ago where to find you!”

  “Obsidian, eh.” Ray looked ahead and saw the truck he’d been chasing, still speeding. He pointed it out. “There! Stop that truck!”

  She nodded, her head still jacked into the dashboard and remotely piloted the helicopter above the chaos of the freeway. Below was a mangled red motorcycle that lay next to spent ammo casings, bullet holes, and something that might have been spent nanotubes.

  “Is that Estrella’s bike?” Bashiir said, pointing at it.

  Piper looked at it, her emerald irises spun. “Looks like it.”

  “Where is she?” Ray asked.

  “Doing the right thing, I hope…” Piper said, dejectedly. “Remember, she’s working for Lady M.”

  Ray knew all about Estrella’s secret job. “Yeah,” he grumbled.

  “From what Obsidian told my messenger, she got out of a private meeting with her,” Piper said. “Minutes later Yoshida deployed PMCs with orders to grab us and stop the truck. By the way, they’re blaming all this on us, the Alaska job too.”

  “Fake news strikes again,” Ray said. “I need to get my job back and fix that.”

  “Piper,” Bashiir said, “Are you implying Estrella is seeking to capture us?”

  “I’m implying Estrella is being misled into thinking Lady M is legit.”

  The helicopter neared the truck. Piper lowered the helicopter and made its twin cannons spin and roar. Red tracer fire lines filled the trailer with holes. The truck remained speeding. They needed to take out the cabin, or at least its wheels. She pushed the helicopter forward, spun it around, putting the truck’s side in the view. The cannons twirled again. Black smoke lifted away from new holes put in the truck. It was still in motion too.

  “Almost there,” Ray said. “It’s starting to spark up.”

  “Wouldn’t missiles be more of an effective weapon?” Bashiir asked.

  “Got none to use,” Piper said, gritting her teeth. Remotely piloting a helicopter was no easy task Ray guessed. “Looks like we hijacked the one that fired all its missiles…”

  Ray rolled his eyes. “Fuck’s sake!”

  “Relax,” Piper said. “I got this. Accuracy is shit as you can tell, but I can do this. Got some practice last month with that gunship.”

  Piper’s third flyby put Ray’s phone in range, at last. He pulled it out and accessed his vehicle-based hacks, the same ones Serge stole and turned against the city. Ray delivered his long-awaited countera
ttack, the truck’s autopilot no longer belonged to Serge. He snickered to himself when the truck’s brakes hit, and then its engine powered down.

  It wasn’t moving anymore. Piper lined the helicopter up, bringing it to face the front of the truck. This was it, the killing blow.

  “Oh whoa, what the fuck!” Piper cried out. “Not cool!”

  Piper looked horrified. Ray found out why when he looked at what she was seeing. The helicopter’s computer screen. The face of a man sitting in the truck appeared, not caring about the small fires spewing smoke in the background.

  It was the driver of the truck using the camera on his phone to speak, forcing the message into the helicopter. Ray worried about what other systems might have gotten compromised.

  “G’ day ya fuckin’ wankers,” spoke the brawny Australian on the screen. “Y’all are a real pain in the arse you know that?”

  Ray nodded to the screen. “You must be—”

  “Smith,” Piper finished for him with a frowning face. “Serge Smith…”

  “In a few minutes, I will be called God, and you’re gonna feel my wrath,” Serge said. “Unless you stand down now.”

  Ray gritted his teeth, then looked to the truck he forced to shut down. They were finished. “Man, Piper shoot this fucker.”

  Piper smiled. “Gladly.”

  And she fired the helicopter’s cannons. On the screen, Serge ducked, red tracer lines flew above his head and glass and debris rained down.

  “Okay, now you done gone did it,” Serge said. “Now, I shall smite thee, with my godly powers.”

  Multiple detonations boomed. Random vehicles, many with their occupants still inside, exploded for no reason. Serge was forcing their batteries to overload, overheat, and explode. It was a power Ray too had, copied and downloaded to Serge’s tablet. The three watched in horror as random cars blew up, while others simply sped into each other with airbags disabled. In the distance, a chaotic song of explosions and crashes echoed. There weren’t many vulnerable icons floating on Ray’s lenses after that.

  Serge broke into laughter. “You three are lucky Taylor’s jacked into that helicopter, or I’d take you for a fun spin too.”

  “Smith,” Ray drawled as he heard a child yelling at their mother, begging them to wake up. “Why?!”

  “I told you, mate,” Serge said. “I’m God now. And I’m gonna punish the sinners that defy my IW angels. Now, as tempting as it is to blow you up, my girl Yanmei here says your brain has some value to Nexus.”

  “Nexus…?” Piper winced, shaking her head. “But… but.”

  “What? You’re not the only ones that chats with messengers sent by Nexus. News flash! Nexus controls cells all over the world. Nobuo’s cell was one.” Serge heckled at her. “C’mon, you didn’t think that was all of us did ya? Now, Ray, you gonna back off and let us ascend to greatness? Or am I gonna have to give you another lesson?”

  Reluctantly, Ray told Piper, “Back us off.”

  Piper did so, the helicopter lifting away and pushing the sight of the truck down, out of view, along with the burning cars and the unmoving dead in the streets. Once again, people were dying because of the knowledge in Ray’s head. Knowledge he didn’t ask for.

  “Whoa,” Serge cut in. “I didn’t say take the fuck off and leave. Land, now. Oh, and free us of your hack while you’re at it, mate?”

  Ray clenched his phone tightly, baring his white teeth at Serge’s face on the screen. “You fucking—”

  “Fucking what, mate?” Another car with trapped civilians exploded. Ray couldn’t hear the screaming child after that. “Do it now ya fuckin’ cocksucker!” Following Serge’s instructions, Piper brought the helicopter to land next to the truck. She powered it down. “Now, jack out and leave.”

  Ray, Bashiir, and Piper stood on the road beside the helicopter. A lone figure had leaped from the truck, Serge. He waved his tablet in the air, a hidden message, he had the power now—

  Then he lost the power. Piper’s hands came to life with white light. Serge spaced out, and his face got put in a trance.

  Piper chuckled. “How about you hand that tablet over to Ray?”

  Serge like a mindless zombie walked to Ray, offering the tablet, under the spell of Piper’s mind control. Ray stood ready to accept it, then decided not to. Ray lowered his knees to the war-torn highway. He had to because the voice of a young woman got in his head and told him to.

  Behind Serge stood Portia, her white hair waved in the winds, the same winds blowing the smell of smoke and death Serge had brought. Her hands, like Piper’s, were also glowing with white light. Bashiir was on his knees too. Only Piper stood, and the situation had her grimacing hard.

  Portia approached, staring down at Ray. “Mr. Partington.” Then to Piper. “Ms. Taylor.” Then to Bashiir “Mr.… Lionguy, whatever.”

  “My… name is… Bashiir Jaajuumow Waasuge,” he muttered, despite Portia’s mind control’s effect.

  “Lionguy, it is.” Portia crossed her arms. “Ms. Taylor, release Serge, or I snap their necks. She pointed at Ray and Bashiir.

  Piper lowered her hands, and the glow diminished. Serge shook his head, gasped, and backed off with a newfound respect for telepathic powers.

  Portia turned her back to the three as she walked to the truck. “Ms. Feng,” Portia said, to no one Ray could see. “They won’t be giving you any more problems.”

  “Good, I was getting a little bored,” said the voice of a woman with a Chinese accent.

  One woman and three men dressed in black leather outfits appeared out of nowhere, surrounding Ray, Piper, and Bashiir. They were armed with rifles and pointed at them. Their leader, an Asian woman with long hair covering the left of her face, neared them.

  Long blood-stained blades sprang from her fingers like an automatic switchblade.

  Fifty-Three

  Estrella

  “… Yumi?”

  Estrella snapped out of it. This wasn’t Yumi, the girl just happened to look a lot like her. And it was those looks that had Estrella hesitating to pull the trigger.

  “I am the ghost of Miyuki Matsuoka,” she said, walking closer, keeping her rifle steady. “The younger sister of Nobuo Matsuoka, the man you murdered!”

  Estrella still couldn’t pull the trigger. So, Miyuki went to pull hers. Estrella blew a swarm of nanites on Disable Firearm. The rifle clicked right as the swarm entered it. Shock hit her face. Estrella had to act, but her heart wouldn’t let her. Miyuki cursed in Japanese and threw the rifle at Estrella. The sudden impact pushed Estrella to the ground and rolled her pistol somewhere where she couldn’t see it.

  Miyuki was on top of her at that point and ten blades sprang from her fingers and thumbs while fresh blood coated the blades on her right. Optical scans showed that it was Estrella’s blood. She was the one that stabbed her from behind. Now Estrella found the will to fight back. She grabbed Miyuki’s wrists, held them tight. Miyuki couldn’t stab her.

  Estrella pushed up. Miyuki pushed back. The cyberware within the two women whirred as both applied their enhanced strength. Estrella pushed again, standing on her feet now, still clenching Miyuki’s wrists. She could see the frustration in the girl’s ruby eyes—

  Miyuki kicked Estrella, and the blow launched her backward.

  Her back hit a support pillar, shattering it. Neither of the two was holding each other at that point. Estrella rolled to the side as Miyuki charged over and stomped. The girl left behind a small crater where Estrella used to be. Miyuki’s second kick didn’t miss. Once again, Estrella was airborne and impacted against the wall, back first, and that too left a hole. Miyuki ran to her with her bladed fingers ready for the strike. Estrella wished she had more nanotubes.

  She forced her body, now radiating with pain, to the side. She wasn’t fast enough. Miyuki’s first stabbing blow hit Estrella’s belly, and she heard blood splashing on the floor. Newly deployed First Aid nanites struggled to heal the wound. Miyuki pulled her hand away, and Estrella fell to
her knees, holding the gushing wound. Miyuki’s eyes opened wide with shock when Estrella moved her red hand away. The five puncture wounds slowly sealed shut. Little did Miyuki know that was the last of Estrella’s First Aid ordered nanites. And her shocked expression cost her the advantage.

  Estrella leaped and tackled her to the floor, slapped her silly, grabbed her short hair and flung her into another support beam, and that too shattered. Miyuki lay unmoving in a mess of debris. Estrella wanted to finish the job as she stood with a clenched synthetic fist ready to cave her skull in. But she couldn’t do it. She saw Yumi’s body lying in what became her place of death.

  The ruby eyes of Miyuki sprang open. Estrella’s shocked expression cost her that advantage.

  Miyuki kicked her legs up, rolled backward, and got back to her feet. She kicked and swung her blades, dodged Estrella’s fists, and swept the floor with her foot. Estrella fell to her back. She dove over top of her ready to stab again. Estrella shifted to the side and evaded. Their cybernetic dance of death continued, even when a subway car pulled into the station, releasing panicking humans left and right, they fought and wrestled.

  Their brawl entered the train when Estrella was kicked in, her back put a dent in the adjacent door. Miyuki charged in after her. Estrella tried kicking her out, but the train’s doors had shut, and it began its commute into the darkened tunnels. Finger blades lunged forward, Estrella dodged, and then spun on her heel. She missed and hit the pole between her and Miyuki, bending it in half. Miyuki swung her fingers and clawed chairs to shreds when she missed Estrella.

  Estrella’s foot shook. The invasive nanites within her were still at work, wrecking her ability to fight, and for a second she felt like vomiting for no reason. She was backtracking now and kept distance from Miyuki who simply walked to Estrella across the empty subway car, swiping and slicing random chairs to shreds, and littering the floor with its yellow stuffing. She had really pissed Miyuki off.