by David Aries
Wait a second…
“Girls,” I said. “We need to break through. Make sure you protect your bubbles and stay close to me.”
The lawn below was gone. At least, from this angle. It had been lost beneath a sea of metal—sentries that had come to stop us from going anywhere.
Not if I could help it…
“Now,” I yelled, jumping toward the ground floor.
The waiting bots, all already in attack mode, opened fire.
I got tight behind my shield and ate the hits, turning it from blue, to yellow, to orange, to red. Just before it felt death, I landed on top of a robot, axe first.
The gravity-assisted blow demolished the bot and the ground beneath. It totalled the turf, propelling it out to my sides and striking the closest sentries. They were knocked down, starting a domino effect that floored all the bots that had crammed too closely together.
“Come on!” I yelled to my girls, who weren’t quite able to follow with the same kamikaze gusto that left me with knees like an old man.
They rushed down the tower as fast as they could while picking off every drone who dared float in our way.
I prepared to join them before I noticed DD’s next bid to stop us.
She was closing the entrance.
“Don’t even think about it!” I yelled as I charged like a bull and threw myself between the slabs of closing metal.
Each was as heavy as they looked. Trying to stop them from shutting made me feel like a mouse attempting to stop an elephant from finishing a step. I clenched my jaw so hard it creaked as every vein on my arm throbbed to prominence.
Not… on my watch!
Had to keep it open—had to help my girls escape.
As I gave it my all, rolling sentries appeared from the hallway we sought to escape from. They opened their bodies, entering attack mode.
My eyes widened. There was no way I could defend myself without giving up the door.
Shit!
The sentries aimed their turrets and—
Lasers shot past me, striking the sentries before they could get me.
“My Brandon!” Casella said as she rushed to my back, blaster smoking.
“Hurry!” I replied, not exactly in the position to talk.
As fast as they could, my girls slipped under my arms until everyone was through to the other side.
I followed… then the door clamped shut.
“We did it!” Casella cheered, clapping.
“Not yet,” I replied, grabbing her hand. “Come on.”
We’d managed to burst through the first lot of them, but that didn’t mean we were safe. This was DD’s turf, and she wasn’t going to rest until we were no longer a problem—be that submissive or dead.
Me? I wasn’t going to let that happen. Somehow, someway, we would survive this.
Letting DD win simply wasn’t an option.
Chapter 27
After blasting through another couple of robots, we smashed our way back into the maintenance tunnel.
As soon as we were inside, Vay broke the pipes overhead and curled them down, forming a makeshift wall that blocked anything from getting through the hatch we broke.
“Thank… the stars,” Akko said as she used the chance to catch her breath.
We all did, although we knew we couldn’t do so for very long. Soon enough, the bots would come again, and we didn’t exactly have an unlimited amount of air to enjoy.
“What now?” Faris said, gaze shifting from one end of the tunnel, to the other, and back.
The passage was the same as it had been during our last visit, our new modifications aside. DD hadn’t loaded it with robots programmed to snuff us out.
She did say there weren’t any cameras in here.
However, after what she’d done, there was no guarantee anything she’d told us was the truth.
Dammit, DD. How long were you planning this?
I thought she was our ally. I thought she was someone we could trust…
Apparently not.
“There’s only one thing I can think of,” I said. “Follow me.”
I led everyone back the way we came, as fast as we could, until we reached the grav lift that had brought us to this floor.
It was still moving upward, even though it didn’t have any passengers.
“Trez, can you flip the direction?” I asked.
She stared at the controls. “I, erm…”
“Fuck it.” I took my axe and smashed the panel.
The elevator died.
“We’re going down,” I said. “Sylvetty, back me up.”
“What the feck are ya trying to pull?!” she replied.
I grabbed Casella and Trez, told them to hang on, and hopped into the empty pit.
Gravity did its thing.
I shoved my legs out and used my feet to stop us from falling further than I wanted. Bit by bit, I edged us lower.
Vay wrapped her powerful thighs around my chest and added her arms to the game, giving us an extra burst of speed and security. As did Sylvetty when she added herself atop Akko and Faris and put her wings to good use.
Together, our awkward tower descended at a surprising pace until we arrived at the floor my gut told me was right.
“Feck me,” Sylvetty said after touching down. She rasped, each breath polluting her colorless bubble. “Gimme a wee bit more warning next time, will ya—”
I pulled my exhausted mate into my arms and rushed onward, carrying her like a bride-to-be.
This better work.
This has to work.
Minutes later, I burst into the room I’d been hoping to find: the hall containing the orbital cannon.
The hall containing the ship we’d trashed.
I rushed into the nearby wreck, pulled back my bubble, and breathed.
Fresh air filled my mouth.
I held my chest as the tension left me.
It worked…
DD might have had control of the station’s life support functions, but that didn’t mean she could control our shuttle’s. The biggest gamble had been whether or not it had managed to survive the crash.
My lungs said yes.
One by one, my mates hopped inside and had their fill of the sweet gaseous nectar DD had tried to deprive of us.
“Muscles, I love you,” Trez said as she gulped what had become a rare substance.
“I know,” I replied while doing the same.
“I’m surprised DD left this place untouched,” Casella said.
“Androids aren’t perfect,” Faris replied. “She probably forgot about it.”
“Or didn’t think it would be a threat,” Vay suggested.
“I don’t care why she fucked up,” I said. “I care that she turned on us in the first place…”
There was a moment of silence, heavy breathing aside.
“I’m going to kill her,” Faris said, snarling.
“Is that even possible?” Sylvetty asked.
“Good question,” I replied. “You can’t exactly call her an android anymore. It’s more like she’s a—”
The shuttle’s radio squealed.
I jumped out of my skin, twisting toward it. Who could it be? Was it DD? Was she trying to communicate with us?
Not quite.
“Hello?” Demi said. “Come in. Is anyone there?”
I pounced on the radio. “Demi! Is that you?!”
“Brandon?” she replied. “It’s good to hear your voice again.”
“You’re telling me. We haven’t heard from you since… you know.”
I’d tried not to think too much about it earlier, but there was no guarantee she or the others had survived the second orbital blast.
“Don’t worry, we’re safe. Well…”
“Brandon!” Keith yelled. “What’s going on, bro?!”
“Huh?” I replied.
“Something’s wrong. It says this whole place is gonna blow!”
For a moment, my mind went blank. “
What?!”
“Allow me to explain,” Demi said. “Not long ago, we received a notification that The Core’s self-destruct sequence has been initiated. In fifty-one minutes, this planet will be destroyed.”
My jaw plummeted toward the ground.
“No way,” Casella said, covering her mouth.
“It’s DD,” Faris growled. “It has to be.”
“No doubt about it,” Trez said.
“But why would she do this?!” Casella said
“Ain’t it obvs? She’s trying to tie up loose ends. One bang and there goes everyone who knows about her, plus anything that could be traced back.”
I growled. Waltgomery was a monster, but at least he never tried to blow up the entire planet.
“What’s this I hear about DD?” Demi asked.
“To make a long story short,” I said, “she’s gone rogue, taken control of this station, and is trying to kill us all to hide her existence.”
“Really? I suppose that would explain the discrepancies…”
“Discrepancies?” Akko replied. “What are you talking about?”
“Should I answer that?” said a voice I didn’t recognize. “Hey, everyone. It’s Ruple. Do you remember me?”
None of us said a thing.
“Ha, I guess that’s not surprising. You… a few weeks back, you saved me from drowning.”
My eyes widened. “The guy from the ship crash?”
“That’s the one! Thanks for saving me, again, but that’s not why I’m here. See, the thing is I’m a freelance computer technician used to working with equipment like this. Not necessarily this model, but I help out on a lot of big projects like… I’m rambling. What I’m trying to say is I talked Demi into letting me poke around, and I found some interesting stuff hidden away.”
“Like?” I asked.
“Like full schematics for… I presume you’re on one of those orbiting stations? Headquarters? Them. All of them. That one especially, but all of them.”
“That’s… what are you trying to say?”
“DD knew all about the stations,” Demi said. “Not just that they existed, but how they were laid out and what functions they had. She knew it all but never said anything. Quite the opposite, actually; she pretended she didn’t know a thing.”
My mouth hung open. “Are you serious?”
“Positive.”
“You’re certain she saw them?”
“There’s no doubt,” Ruple said. “If I could find them, she could. Actually, I bet she’s the one who hid them. Buried them so deep nobody could find them… except an expert who knows all the right backdoors.”
“Interesting. Very interesting!” Vay said while rubbing her chin. “Our little traitor did have quite the impressive knowledge about this place from the moment we arrived.”
I let out a long wordless breath. Now that Vay had said it, I remembered it too. Did that mean DD had been deceiving us from the start?
But that doesn’t make any sense.
If she knew, why did she place herself in danger?
“Is this really the time for a chinwag?!” Eret snapped in the background. “We have less than an hour!”
I ground my teeth. “Is there any way you can deactivate the bomb?”
“No,” Demi replied. “At least, not from this location.”
“Don’t tell me it has to be done from here,” Trez said with a groan.
“I believe so.”
“But DD’s not gonna change her mind!” Akko said. “She’s crazy!”
“I hate to agree, but you’re right,” I grumbled under my breath.
“You’ve gotta do something, bro!” Keith said.
Millith’s sobs poured through the speakers. “I don’t wanna die!”
“Don’t worry, babe. Brandon and his gals will think of something. Right, bro?”
I clenched my jaw with such vigor it was a minor miracle my teeth didn’t shatter into pieces.
“Please,” Demi said. “As painful as it is to admit, we’re helpless. You’re the only ones who can save us.”
It wasn’t exactly what I’d wanted to hear. Just keeping ourselves alive was tricky enough without the whole of Ulium relying on us for aid.
Scratch that, the entire planet, even if most of them didn’t know it.
But what were we supposed to do? DD was in control, and I couldn’t see her giving it up for anything.
Even us.
“Do not fear!” Casella said as she muscled as close to the mic as she could. “We shall think of something!”
Vay laughed. “That’s right. If DD won’t stop the bomb willingly, we’ll just have to make her!”
“How?” I replied.
“Isn’t that obvious? Through any means necessary.” She grinned, flashing her fangs.
“But it’s not like we can lay a finger on her. She’s inside the station now. How are we supposed to fight against an entire ship?”
Trez flinched. “Of course! That’s it!”
“Huh?” Akko replied after she was done jumping back.
Trez smiled from ear to ear. “Right now, DD is this station. To be more precise, she’s ruling its computer system like some deranged tyrant.”
“What the feck are ya talking about?” Sylvetty said.
“It means it’s not like we need to destroy this place to kill her. It’s much simpler than that. All we need to do is shut everything down.”
I gawped. “Are you saying we should turn her off and on again?”
“Pretty much! More the first part, if I’m being honest. She’s an AI; without power, she’s helpless. And there’s no way she’ll be able to escape with her body fried. None of the rust buckets around here are fancy enough to hold her. We reset the system, and that’s it. She’s done.”
“But how are we supposed to do that?!” Akko said. “She wouldn’t even let us use the terminal.”
Trez wagged a finger. “Who says we need to? Show me any good piece of tech that can’t be reset manually.”
“The central generator,” Faris said.
“Bingo! No worries about switching it off now that, you know, we already can’t breathe.”
Roble’s voice crackled through the ship’s radio. “Hey, guys. Me again. If you need any help resetting everything, let me know. I’ve got the schematics right here. I should be able to give you instructions on exactly what you’ve got to press, and all that.”
I didn’t know what to say back. All I could do was keep staring while my mouth hung open.
“But it’s not like DD will just let us do that, yes?” Casella said.
“Obviously not,” Trez replied. “She’s the kind of psycho bitch willing to blow up a planet to hide her existence. But when’s that stopped us before?”
Vay laughed. “Well said, little one! So what if she throws a few metal fiends our way? I’ll smash them all!”
“Are you forgetting that this is the only place we can breathe?” Faris said.
“I can’t make bubbles in a vacuum,” Akko reminded us.
And, just like that, our building enthusiasm flatlined.
“Cannae we, like, take whatever we need with us?” Sylvetty asked.
“Do you know how machines work?” Trez complained. “Wait, why am I even asking you? I know you don’t.”
“Well sorry if I’m not civilized enough to understand why we can’t take whatever doohickey we need with us!”
A metaphorical light bulb appeared over my head. “Maybe we can…”
“Huh?” Trez said. “Right, Muscles, I know you’re not exactly civilized yourself, but I at least thought you understand a bit about tech.”
“I do,” I replied as I muscled past her and went to the crumpled storage closet. “Which is why I remembered we had… this.” I pulled out the breathing apparatus.
Casella flinched. “I forgot all about that.”
I grinned. “This should give us all the air we need.”
“But… there’s only one,”
Akko said.
“True, but if you wear it, you can use it to make bubbles for the rest of us.”
“I guess that’s possible…”
“That would only leave taking on an army of evil robots, which isn’t anything we haven’t done before.”
A big ol’ smile appeared on Trez’s face. “Muscles, you beauty. That gives us air, knowledge, and heaps of fighting prowess. All that’s left is—”
“To take DD down,” Faris said.
Sylvetty bounced her hammer off her palm. “Let’s teach that backstabbing golem bitch a lesson.”
Vay laughed. “If it’s a fight she wants, it’s a fight she gets! What say you, my darling stud? Shall we ride into battle together one more time?”
Hope filled the eyes of my mates. Even though we’d been stuck in this horrible situation, none of them had given up. They knew we could do this.
They knew we could beat DD, save our friends, and get our happy ending.
I smirked. “If DD thinks she’s going to get away with betraying us, she’s got another thing coming.”
Casella giggled, clapping her hands. “That’s my Brandon!”
“Hey, I couldn’t do any of this without you girls. We’re in this together, all the way to the end.” I glanced back. “Did you hear that, Demi? Keith? Everyone? Sit tight; we’ll have that bomb deactivated before you know it.”
“We’re counting on you, bro!” Keith replied. “Good luck.”
“Same to you,” I said before focusing on my mates. “Okay, gang. Who’s ready to take down a psycho android?” I put my hand out flat.
Casella put hers on top of mine. “I will not let everything we have done be in vain.”
“M-me too, sweetie,” Akko said as she jumped in. “Nobody is going to struggle with air on my watch.”
Next was Vay. “This is the kind of high stakes battle I live for! Time to show these robot nuisances why you never mess with a xioth.”
Faris added her hand to the pile. “We’ve come too far to lose.”
“Too right!” Sylvetty said as she joined. “Even if I dinnae understand all this magical crap, I ain’t gonna let that fecking golem win.”
Last came Trez. “Fuck that bitch. Let’s go show her why you don’t mess with us.”
I finished the pile with my other hand. “Well said, everyone. On three. One… two…”