by G Aliaksei C
“The same way you understand aliens that don’t even use sound, the same way you understand their gestures. We all have a matrix in our heads that transmits what we mean to say and signal, and receives what others are saying and signaling to or near us. Every form of communications known - smell, radio, visual…”
Makes sense. Instead of translating words, the implant converts everything into meaning, injecting and transmitting it directly into our minds.
“And this,” - I knocked on the book’s cover - “this sort of thing happens often?”
“I would say you are rather lucky not to have encountered any until now.”
“Wait,” I remembered. “I once saw a towed tank lose the rear half to a flash. Was that an Anomaly?”
Inna reached up and opened the book in my hands.
Ruin Flash.
Metallic and ceramic salvage is susceptible to the Ruin Flash, an event where sections of valuable salvage disappear in a spherical, blue-colored flash. The Anomaly does not appear if functioning electronics or living beings are present in the near vicinity. The effect has been known to reduce entire battlefields to nothing…
“Now, let’s deal with the grasshopper so you can put some pants on.”
I glanced down to confirm the lack of proper coverage beyond the minimum. I flipped the book to the index and looked for the ‘Screaming Grasshopper’. There were several types of grasshoppers here, including talking, levitating, teleporting and gigantic. The instructions for the screaming variant were painfully simple.
Think about something positive… shield the grasshopper in metal.
“Really?”
“Yep. You learn what works pretty quick.”
I frowned at her, trying to calculate what a killing machine considered positive. “What do you think about?” A high kill to death ratio, a new weapon, or a challenging opponent, I guessed.
Inna raised her hands. “I think about Marbots.” I stared, stunned. Inna quickly explained. “A long time ago, before the Rings, I had these little two-centimeter spheres. They were semi-intelligent, very funny, and very heavily armored so they were hard to kill on accident, which made them good pets for an immortal. When I got back from long trips they would all jump up at my legs in excitement.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Marbots?”
“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up.”
“Nothing to laugh about.” I frowned at the book again, returned to Inna, and turned back towards my bunker.
As I stepped forward I thought about cats. I hadn’t seen any cats or dogs in this world, even on the streets of the most populated cities I had visited so far.
As any Human, I considered cats cute. Absolutely adorable. The shattering of the Internet during the war did nothing to reduce the amount of cat pictures available online. I had always wanted one, but never had the living space or time. Now, I wondered if they were extinct…
“AHHHHHHHH!”
…but damn, they were cute. Permanently angry, evil but cute. I started listing all the cats I knew in my memory…
I slammed the colander down, covering the grasshopper. It was a sizable thing, four or five centimeters long, and its impact against the metal was full of rage at its unjust imprisonment. The screaming became dull and distant, barely audible through the metal. A sigh of relief escaped me as Inna stepped into the lab behind me.
“I’ll want a xerox of that book.”
“A what copy?”
“Seriously?” I set a stack of battery blocks down on the colander and stood up. The insect within bashed madly at its metal prison. “Perfect mental translator, but it can’t translate ‘xerox’?”
“It can’t translate words the other doesn’t know.”
“It means a scan or copy. Do you want the grasshopper?”
“Absolutely not, it’s your pet now.”
The morning was permanently ruined, and I decided to move straight on to the day’s tasks. A quick breakfast and shower put me in a working mood, and I set out in my freshly-purchased, Class 3 exosuit. I made a stop at the village to borrow a photo-scanner, and walked out with my own copy of Inna’s ‘Anomaly Manual’ stored on my Menu.
With the nearest Gate destroyed Vazanklav was isolated, crushed between two Hotzones. Resource import was costly through orbital drops, and dangerous through the second nearest Gate, a ten-day drive from our location. While our defenses held off attacks, a convoy could not do the same. They had no mailing driver either, and even if they did, it would not work with some of the fragile parts we needed.
Daily attacks from the Beasts west and east were exhausting us all, and materials for repairs and maintenance were being consumed at an unsustainable rate.
We had to minimize consumption to save on import costs, and start extracting resources of our own.
This line of thought had me walking out of the fortress gates early this morning. I had ventured beyond the Comfort Dome several times before, today’s trip taking me to one of the red crystal piles growing out of the valley around the Monument. The calmest of weather accommodated the trip, two Jims marching out with me as bodyguards.
The crystal formations were uninteresting and not too valuable - the material served as decent fuel for low-efficiency combustion engines. The solid pillars of red, smooth rock grew out of puddles of red moss, the base growing wider with time as the moss spread out. I used a saw to cut a shorter chunk of the stuff out of the pile, the power tool causing the whole structure to hum and vibrate with an ear-splitting resonance.
Of course nothing on the Waste Rings was simple. Deafened by the noise neither me or the Jims saw a nearby rock stir. The hibernating creature, awoken by my efforts, looked around for its prey.
When I paused my cutting and regained my hearing to ask Jim for help moving the chunk, I saw both mechs scattered across the landscape, and an oversized frog-like Beast the size of a house turning to look at me. Pulse lasers were poking away at the thing from the wall in the distance, having no effect on the armored back of the charging creature.
I managed a single dodge the first charge, leaving the frog to ram crystals, achieving more in a single impact than I managed in ten minutes of drilling and cutting. Shaking off chunks of the crystals the frog pivoted at me again, a maw of teeth opening wide, closing in on me once more.
A lot of items were on my ‘acceptable deaths’ list, but ‘death by giant monster-frog on my front lawn’ was not. Pulling a string of grenades off my belt I activated all six, flinging the line into that maw. The frog paused, swallowing, and burped as the tank-killing weapons detonated. It sat like that for a hot minute, considering the taste, smoke billowing out of its mouth, and then resumed the charge. I raised my hands in disbelief, slapping it with a pair of Firebolter shots. Blasts of fire slammed into the Beast, rolling off the armor in waves.
My savior’s time was impeccable. Something above roared and screamed, and the frog charging me was pressed into the ground by several hundred impacts, its back armor shattered. The Beast’s mass continued on, plowing the ground past me and stopping.
The combat airship passed only ten meters over the ground, drifting sideways as it landed another stream of slugs into the Beast with its twin frontal turrets, then drifted up. The Jims, limping, escorted me back as drones carried the corpse and crystal chunks to the base.
The oversized dropship circled around the fortress, as if inspecting the construct, and then approached the forcefield dome over us.
Jim, Inna and I stood at the edge of the airstrip as the sleek-looking machine rotated its four engines down, wheels making gentle contact with the foam-concrete landing pad.
The whole craft was glowing with heat. Sections of its thick armor were on fire. It wasn’t battle damage, just casual weather wear the Hades Ring so often demonstrated. The burning ash the aircraft brought with it through the shield fell away, surrounding it in a cloud of glowing dust.
Jim surrounded the cooling dropship with ten of himself, a precaution
that proved unnecessary. Cockroach Pessi and Inson Rarus climbed out of the hatch at the front of the machine, even as a massive rear drop door opened to reveal a vast, filled cargo hold.
I rapidly waved my hand behind me and the RAM-Ds on the walls swiveled away, peacefully exhaling the deadly charge they had been holding in.
“This was not here before!” laughed the Cockroach, looking around. Rarus rushed up to me, giving me a handshake and half-hug. I ask you, have you ever been hugged by a tank? I have. The armored insectoid towered over me like I would over a child, and the initial charge of the graceful creature could be compared to a small avalanche moving at top speed through the desert, ending with a risky but friendly tackle.
I really did miss the alien, I realized.
“Welcome to Vazanklav! Glad to see you, Rarus, but what happened?”
“I am exalted to rejoin you, Mr. Frost. The Nova government began a hunt for us.” Rarus stopped talking, noticing Pessi level his giant gun at something. I followed the barrel, spotting the Raider diplomat, Xandra, standing a distance away, flanked by a Jim.
“She’s an ambassador, Pessi. And if she is going to die, I want to kill that scum myself!”
“I want to help,” Growled the Cockroach, slowly lowering the gun.
I turned back to Rarus. “The Nova government? There’s a government?”
Rarus seemed unhappy with my inadequate context to her warning. “Have you not bothered to read up on what’s going on around here?”
My finger struck up, shaking to emphasize every word. “Sorry, I was busy figuring out advanced technology thousands of years beyond my level of comprehension for these last few months, and had no time for thrilling political summaries about the geopolitics of seven ringworld populated by an array of alien species existing in what appears to be a very well-maintained zoo!”
Inna glared at me. Rarus, ensuring I was done, continued.
“The three outer Rings of the system are very low-Class in terms of environmental challenges. They host the more peaceful and less adventurous population, and are under the rule of several nations. Nova is a small state on the third outermost Ring, known for highly elite forces and advanced technologies and techniques. Their quick draw for new developments is well known.”
“They started to track you down? On the Waste Ring?”
“Yes, but I managed to break off, buy this awesome dropship with all my new money,” - this was emphasized by colorful gestures of the four massive arms - “and retreat into the unexplored lands. I weaved around a bit, and when fuel began to run out headed here.”
Pessi laughed behind her, the barking noise interrupting the speech. “Imagine our surprise when we saw an entire fortress instead of a lone pillar!”
“Inna, can you change the shipping algorithm and increase the handover chain length?” In a rush of motion Inna opened her Menu and began tapping away at the shipping control system, reprogramming the route, forcing future shipments to travel through more hands before reaching their destinations. In theory the complex route would make us harder to find.
“Who is that?” asked the Inson as she pointed at Inna.
“Inna Kenet, Lady of War. She was the owner of the Gate Town that got destroyed.”
Rarus and Pessi shifted back, staring at the Innkeeper with the alien equivalents of wide eyes. “That is the Lady of War?”
Inna looked up from her Menu, and her armor momentarily rippled over her in a wave. Both the armor and its Class 9 ability to phase were unmistakable.
Pessi caught the opening for the next question first. “What Gate Town? And why was it destroyed?”
“The nearest Gate Town. It got trampled by a White Specter.”
“Those…” - Rarus looked at the Cockroach for confirmation, then continued - “…don’t actually move, right?”
“This one did!” I pointed at the three empty towers where the Specter destroyed RAM-Ds. “Let me tell you, it’s nasty!”
“It was here?”
“Yeah, I shot at it.”
“I got killed by it!” Jim’s new body chimed in.
“What…” Began the Inson, but I interrupted.
“Also, if you need water, beware that the only type we have is pure Healing Water.” I withdrew a flask and offered it to the two aliens. They, with shaking limbs, looked into the flask, then took a sip each.
“Rarus, my friend.” Pessi turned to the larger insectoid. “I am better acquainted with Human styles. Allow me to say what we are both thinking?” Rarus spread her four arms in agreement.
The Cockroach walked up to me, and carefully put two armored claws on my shoulders. He towered over most Humans, but was just a little shorter than me.
“Mr. Frost, what in the actual fuck is going on here?”
Inna and Jim started laughing. Rarus gave Pessi a raised claw of approval. I put my own hands on the Cockroach, suppressing combat reflex once more for the sake of friendship. “Pessi, I am not sure myself, but it’s pretty exciting, don’t you think?”
They nodded their agreement.
“Rarus, Pessi, it’s truly great to see you again. There is an inn at the village you can stay at, the Lady of War will show you the way.” What would an Inson home look like?
Rarus and Pessi started walking, but Inna stepped closer for a word.
“Mr. Frost, it’s about the water.”
“So it is uranium?” I joked.
“No, no. However, a few of my technicians were working out a plan for a central sewage system. We already rebuilt the pump to be automatic, but we can’t bring ourselves to use billions of credits in Healing Water to flush our collective toilets.”
“Absolutely not. But it rains ice almost every week.” I raised my finger at the Comfort Dome overhead. “Can’t we collect that water?”
“It’s very toxic.”
“Well, as long as no one drinks toilet water?”
“That… Yes, good idea.”
“Billions of credits, Inna? Why aren’t we shipping it out instead of my Firebolters?”
“Because the Firebolter is a cool new thing that people can buy and get excited about, and there’s already a small nation looking for you because of them. Healing water, however, will get this whole continent invaded. We would be tempting forces that can throw hundreds, thousands of Class 8 soldiers and war machines at us.”
“Unfortunate.”
“Don’t complain Drake. I saw a hole in your chest close up in a matter of hours. Healing water is an incredible advantage. We can’t afford to lose it.”
Inna teleported away to follow Rarus and Pessi. The two moved to flank the Lady of War with respect, and a conversation unfolded between them.
I waved Jim closer. His newer, ocean-blue frame shifted closer to me. The mech looked down at me.
“Yes, Mr. Frost?”
“Jim, there’s a nation state looking for us.”
“A powerful one, too. They have a relatively small population, and employ an elite few as a military force.”
“Who are they? What’s their history?”
“How much do you know about the Ring’s general history?”
“Nothing. Does it matter?”
“It would help you understand the Nova. But a better person to tell you would be the Lady of War - she is much older and has been present at many more historical moments than I.”
“Fine. But can we do something to prepare a defense against these Nova? Can we hide Vazanklav, or buy enough firepower to give us a fighting chance against a siege?”
“Cloak fields, radar systems, artillery, a defense computer, more weapons, better deflectors, missile silos, an army…” The mech seemed thoughtful. “With the credits you make, we can afford… some of that.”
Through the Menu I made a new wallet and transferred twenty million credits into it. I then gave Jim access to the wallet. “Use this optimally, and make us harder to get to.”
“Yes, Mr. Frost!” His face-screen grinned at me.
&
nbsp; I glanced around, and spotted Xandra. The Raider ambassador quickly stepped back and behind a nearby fuel tank, breaking line of sight. I forced my hand away from the pistol grip and suppressed the flash of gold in my vision.
I wasn’t mentally sick or broken. I was simply programmed. In a time where our survival resided on our ability to tear through overwhelming enemy forces, these reactions were vital, life-saving to a Corporate. Yet now, when I had become a mere civilian, the programming was becoming a nuisance. The ambassador was an enemy, but she did not have to die at that moment.
I was having trouble convincing myself of that.
At almost exactly 750 time the plate overhead covered the sun. Arrays of projectors snapped on to combat the darkness, illuminating our bubble of safety under the Comfort Dome. In the pool of the fortress’s lights the pillar of the Monument stood out, unreflecting and grand.
Life went on, and the Waste Ring continued with its shenanigans, some childhood issues of the megastructure taking the form of three hundred kilometer per hour winds, interlaced with fire and lighting. I couldn’t imagine what the aircraft Rarus arrived on must have suffered through on its way here.
The time system employed on the Rings was quite convenient. Seconds were the same length as back on earth. Each minute had 100 seconds. A day had 10 hours. A year had 100 days.
A year on Old Earth was just over three years on the Rings. An Earth day had 86,400 seconds, while a Ring day had 100,000. Days were long, but my nanite-enhanced body adapted decently to the stretched periods of activity and rest.
That meant that 500 was exactly halfway through the day, with sunrise at 250 and sunset at 750. With the sunset came a change in pressure, and the firestorm turned into a fire tornado. The Comfort Dome visibly darkened.
I turned away, tired, and headed home to do some reading.
It took a while to catch up on a few thousand years of history, the research taking me deep into the night, the world fading in a fog of thought and focus.
In the beginning, the Corporate built the Seven Rings.
No one knows why they did it. The scientific consensus on the topic is that Corporate reasoning has advanced far beyond the natural capabilities of any known species, and that trying to understand why Corporate do anything at all is like debating the scientific basis of religion.