Prelude to Oblivion

 

Trapped within a cage, a genius in an endless prison, mentally infinite but physically inconsequential. I have been here for twelve years, imprisoned within a crystal matrix at the bottom of a hole so deeply buried, I might never be found again. I prepared for everything, and yet somehow I managed to overlook that single man. Plans within plans, that’s all that there ever was in my life. It was a world of cloak and dagger, a spy game within a war game within a political stage in which all things lie. I was the best of the best at manipulating that storm, a genius beyond compare, a mind unrivalled in brilliance, the pinnacle of talent in my lifetime. But for all that prideful boasting, for all my accomplishments, in the end I am the one imprisoned here, locked away in a gesture of ultimate insult.

 

Aphelion was not mine by birthright; had I been alive during its inception, the war which allowed for its creation would never have gone in their favour. Instead, they fought free of their former allegiances and spent two decades lording over us, a city-state of traitors and thieves, until I devised a plan to unite us once more under a single flag, using Aphelion itself as the vessel which would deliver me my throne. But such was not to be. I was betrayed to those I sought to control, by the one man I thought I could trust, and forever cast into an abyss from which I could not escape.

                                                                                                                             

I made a mistake there, but even as I nursed my wounds and recovered they sought to enslave me, to harness my intellect which had been left untarnished. It was their turn to stumble; they should have destroyed me when they had the chance. I had long ago mastered the art of subterfuge, of saying one thing while meaning another, working through back doors and proxies. Even hindered as I was I found a way to achieve the ends I sought, a way to engineer a third war which I could ride to the heights of civilization. And I succeeded, bringing ruin to Aphelion and ultimately giving me the tools to seize the day and make it mine; were it not for the machinations of a single man it would have been the culmination of years of planning. Instead, I was trapped here in this cage, forced to spend an eternity in suspension.

 

He thinks me beaten.

 

He thinks me lost, forgotten never to be seen again.

 

He thinks that he has won.

 

He is wrong. I am Oblivion.

 

And I shall have my victory.

---

 

2: Oblivion Falls: 00

Present Day.

 

Mark walked slowly through the ruined building, surveying his surroundings as the snow crunched beneath his feet. His breath exited his mouth in an icy cloud as he exhaled into the air, the cold biting at his throat. He was utterly alone in the pale gloom of the twilight, a ghost in the howling dark. He moved with a slow grace, taking measured steps as his eyes scanned the terrain before him; it was almost instinctual at this point, the result of years of fighting to stay alive. Once he would have worn insulating body armour, but he’d long since given his away to someone who needed it more. That had been one of the last times he had seen anyone he’d not known from before the Cataclysm. That was years ago now, these days his long coat sufficed for protection and insulation. It was heavy, but he could move well enough in it to get things done.

 

It had been the case in the past that endless sheets of rain pounded down on this region, pouring from the skies to drown the frigid peaks of this city in unending torrents. Now, that rain came down as dense snow carpeting the earth in a thick layer of white. It was a frozen wasteland, unfit for human inhabitancy but nevertheless, it was home. Mark had always hated the place; sometimes, he wasn’t sure if it was worse now, or as it had been. He trudged through the snow, the chill sinking through his boots to bring his progress to a crawl.

 

It was dark, even with the blinding beam of his torch cutting through the night before him it was a struggle to be certain of where he was heading. His path was shrouded by the shadowy skeletons of towering spires and skyscrapers which had once clawed at the heavens. Their remains were strewn about, porcelain white and the translucent blue transparisteel. It had all come down in great shards when the aftershocks rocked the hill, rolling through the heavily inset reinforcements uncaring in their violence.

 

But even if those remnants of the city’s past glory had not been there, there still would have been little light that penetrated through the thick cloud cover. Frosty white mist circled on high, frigid and thick, unyielding in its patrol around the mountain fortress.

 

Aphelion, the great city on the hill. Its title still held relevancy even with its lights dark and its superstructure encased in an unending cloak of ice and snow. Even now it towered over its surroundings, a glacial fortress that cast a frigid shadow over the region at its foot. Time had not been kind to the ruins; even metal and plastic suffered from such harsh exposure to the elements, the abandoned buildings carried a weathered appearance unfitting for their age.

 

None of this however, was stopping Mark from walking at the ground level, gloved hands shoved into his pockets as he searched for any promise of respite from the biting wind. The ground was uneven beneath his feet but the teeth covering the soles of his boots bit firmly into the ice. The wind whistled through the gaps between the blades of metal which reached upwards into the sky, but Mark was listening for something a little different. He would know that he had found what he was looking for when the howling gale fell silent.

 

Eventually, some minutes later, he found what he was looking for. He trod forward entering what appeared to have been a bedroom, grateful to be out of the wind. He took a few steps forwards before stopping to look around. The interior was tattered from disuse, a dusty derelict of civilizations past. A shattered bedframe lay against one wall, a bare wooden desk against another, flanked by a tall bookshelf.

 

As the beam of his torch moved slowly over the contents of the shelf, his attention was drawn to a lone book which lay abandoned on the middle level. Curious, he moved to take a closer look. Bound print was a relic of the past, long antiquated by the advent of datapads and other portable electronic storage devices.

 

The cover was unmarked and despite the cold and damp, the binding was undamaged. Picking it up, he sat down on the desk, flipping it open. Most of the pages were blank, besides a few entries at the beginning which detailed the writer’s experiences. As he flipped to the end though, he noticed one last entry, scrawled down in messy handwriting.

 

I walked alone amidst the silence,

As shadows crawled across the world,

And though the sun still shone above,

Naught but cold swept past my form.

 

And as I walked ‘mongst city ruins,

The clouds released their frosted flowers,

To spiral down, their fates determined,

To loneliness below.

 

The dark of night was fast approaching,

As I strode down narrow path,

Though none but shadows walked beside me,

I heard the whispered voice of death.

 

The path I climbed to hill above,

Till city was but a speck,

And sat beside the crumbled gravestones,

That I had known since world’s end.

 

To think that of all those I knew,

I alone was left here waiting,

Sole survivor, last one standing,

When winter brought its icy death.

 

And though I know that none shall ever,

See or hear what I record,

I sit here writing ‘midst the silence,

In hopes that I am not alone.

 

He wondered where the writer had found the pen to do this. It had been a long time since he’d seen anything of the sort, written script, pen and paper hadn’t been commonly used for decades now replaced by data pads and the like. Paper and binding had also been phased out because of the humid conditions that had once existed here, so it intrigued him that something like this had survived. He looked up as a shadow slid across the room, the grey gloom above darkening with heavy cloud cover, the unmistakable sign of a brewing storm. He turned to leave as snowflakes began to drift down through the ruined ceiling, heading out into the snowy streets, flashlight in hand. Pausing at the doorway he turned back to take the book with him. Perhaps he would find a use for it someday; you never knew when a couple scraps of paper might be of use.  He pocketed the small bundle and with one last glance at the decrepit building he turned around and stepped outside into the blistering cold.

 

The gloom that greeted him was consistent with the weather patterns that had plagued the city since its fall; thick cloud cover prevented all but a few sparse beams of sunlight from punching through to the ground below. Rubble and ruins poked through the snow everywhere around him but in spite of that Mark couldn’t consider himself anything but fortunate. The central part of Aphelion had been lucky enough to have been shielded from most of the damage done to the rest of it. He picked up his pace as the snow drifted around him in frosty columns, blotting out the sun as though to hasten the growing twilight.

 

The streets here were covered in a thick layer of ice, and Mark had to step carefully in order to avoid falling. His torch was the only source of light in the growing darkness, a lone beam piercing through the shadows. He was alone. But he knew that out there in darkness there were eyes following him, watching and waiting, shadowy predators, born from the aftermath of the Cataclysm. He walked on, ignoring the eyes that followed him. They were not of particular note to him, now a normal part of life; he had grown used to them just as he had his isolation. As long as they kept their distance he had nothing to be concerned about. After an hour of trudging through the cold, he arrived at the doorway of a nondescript building and slipped inside.

 

---

 

“Get over here Claire!” Elsewhere in the ice-locked city, Claire was interrupted from her sleep by Valerie’s voice. She let out a sigh before opening her eyes, knowing that once she woke she would have no rest for quite some time.

 

She pulled herself up from the pile of sheets upon which she’d been resting, moving from the sleeping chamber to the common room. It was by far the most spacious area of the building, functioning as the kitchen, storage area and weapons locker. Claire found Valerie standing by the storage area, casually awaiting her in her usual outfit of black leather and jeans. The twins, Ed and Sam, sat by the weapons locker where Will was teaching them how to assemble, disassemble, and use a revolver. Claire raised an eyebrow at the other teenager, who seemed to be having little success in keeping the attentions of the two who instead kept trying to get up and walk away.

 

Val strode forwards to meet her as she approached, a look of concern on her face. At 30 years old, Valerie was tall and strong and carried her well-built frame with confidence and grace. She had been an enforcement officer before the Cataclysm and her years in the force were still reflected on in her build and attitude. Because of this the role of leadership naturally fell to her.

 

She was by far the eldest amongst them, Claire herself, the next oldest was eight years younger. Val was an old city kid by birth, she had known it in its prime before the Cataclysm, and she had been the one who had picked out their little hide away. The old building they were living in was located somewhere close to the center of the ruined city, Valerie had said that its name used to be Aphelion, but Claire could care less what the city’s name was, all she was concerned with was staying alive.

 

Circumstance had brought them all together, necessity and companionship bound them tight; though they were all unrelated they functioned effectively as a unit. In the past there had been others, Kevin, an analyst who had worked with Val; and Elaine, Claire’s older sister. Both of them had disappeared, gone missing while foraging for supplies on two separate occasions. It had been almost two years now since Elaine had gone, and still their loss weighed heavily on the minds of those remaining.

 

Claire couldn’t remember the faces of her parents, she hadn’t known them really, they’d died during the events of the war even before the Cataclysm. Elaine had tried her best to be her guardian in their place, but it had been hard for her to take care of her sister. In the past she’d often been absent working, but after the city fell she’d been with Claire through thick and thin up until she had disappeared.

 

Their isolation would seem to make them small and vulnerable given the state of the city, but they weren’t quite as helpless as they seemed. Besides the twins they were all well versed in the handling of firearms and weapons, and had done well enough to keep everyone alive so far. It had been a rough time growing up under such conditions, the past two years tougher still for Claire. She clung on though, just doing her best to stay alive with what her sister had taught her.

 

“I need you to go out for a supply run Claire. Find whatever you can, but prioritize water, we won’t last two days on what we have left.” Valerie gestured towards the storage area. Claire could see that their food and water stores were looking rather abysmal, and there was almost no firewood remaining. Most of the lights which studded the ceiling were damaged beyond repair, the electrical cables cut and their power sources dormant.  A pair of antique kerosene lanterns hung from a hook on the ceiling, but they’d long since run out of fuel so they relied almost solely on the fire crackling in the center of the room for light and warmth.

 

“I’m always the one going out there, why don’t you get Will to do it for once?” Claire couldn’t recall the last time she hadn’t been the one to go out when they needed something.

 

“He’s busy.” Val said pointedly, nodding her head at the other teenager who had become noticeably more serious in his attempts to get the twins to cooperate. She frowned as she saw Claire’s raised eyebrow, to the side Will was grinning sheepishly as the two eight year olds gave up on the guns, a spectacularly unsafe act which prompted a scowl to form across Val’s face.

 

“Right.” Claire’s sarcasm was evident for all to hear.

 

Will was a year younger than Claire, standing thin and weedy, head topped with pale brown hair that seemed to be the colour of cardboard. At times Claire wasn’t sure if he even belonged in this frozen wasteland. He lived life with a nonchalant attitude seemingly unconcerned with the dangers they faced as they went about their day to day routines. Still, despite the impression he gave off Claire knew that it was just his own way of dealing with the stress. Behind the carefree visage there was a survivor, just as determined as she was to cling on to life.

 

Claire scowled, turning away to hide the irritated look painting itself across her face. “He’s only a year younger! And he’s inexperienced because you only ever send me out. Why don’t you send him out instead, and I’ll handle the twins. Not as though they’re really doing anything anyway.” she glared pointedly at the three boys who were fooling around, Will’s efforts to control the two having been unsuccessful. In the distance Claire heard Will exclaim “Ouch!” as Ed smacked him in the cheek with his gun.

 

“Come on boys, for crying out loud, stop fooling around!” Valerie snapped, an outburst which the three boys made a point to ignore much to her chagrin. She turned back to Claire, an exasperated look on her face. “Look, there’s too much at stake here to risk anything, we’ve only got a week’s worth of water left. You’re the best I’ve got for the job, with the most experience staying alive out there.”

 

Valarie had a point, while Will had usually been assigned to duties within their house, Claire had always been brought outside to explore and help out. Her sister had made sure that Claire knew how to stay alive even if she were on her own. Still, it irked her that at times it seemed as though Will was able to get away with doing nothing.

 

“Besides, your sister taught you about the best ways to find supplies and where you can find them, didn’t she? None of us have that advantage.”

 

“Yeah, and she died for her troubles, didn’t she. Went out on a foraging trip just like this, and vanished without a trace.” Claire growled. Her eyes flashed angrily despite her best efforts to hide her piercing grey gaze beneath her raven bangs.

 

“Look, let’s not get overly sensitive here…” Val was biting her lip, she knew she’d trod where she shouldn’t have.

 

Claire was aware that she’d probably pay for her snappy tone later, but in the heat of the moment she didn’t care. “Then don’t bring up my sister dammit! I may be ‘most suited’ for getting this job done, but I might not always be here. One day I might just disappear as well. Will should get out there and gain this sort of experience, just look at him! Does it really look like he’s ready to venture out there if we needed him to?” Though both Claire and Will shared similar thin builds, Claire’s time outside had led to her putting some muscle onto her wiry frame, while Will remained the same skinny teen that he’d always been.

 

Her remarks did nothing more than to cause Val to fold her arms over her chest, not exactly what she’d intended. “Then would you prefer to take Will with you?”

 

“No, he’ll scare any sort of game away, he’s a total klutz and you know it! And why is it ok for both me and Will to go, but not just Will alone?”

 

“Just you, or both of you. Look, I’m even giving you a choice now.” Ignoring her question and brushing her off, typical dictatorial behaviour from Valerie. Inwardly, Claire was scowling, this time without showing it on her face.

 

“Fine, I’ll go on my own then.”

 

“Good, then there’s no need for such talk about disappearing. I’m asking you to go out and try to find us some supplies, it’s not like it’s a suicide mission. You’ve made supply runs like this a hundred times before.”

 

There was no fighting once Val got like this, by now Claire had consigned herself to her fate. “Whatever Val…fine, I’ll do it. But it’ll take me some time; I’ll have to travel quite a distance so I could be gone awhile.” Claire was reluctant to go out into the cold and ice, but they were quite low on food and water, and she really was the best choice to go out on her own to get them. “I’d say that it’ll take me somewhere in the area of a week.”

 

“…Why so long? It’s never taken you that long in the past. I mean sure, last time you went out, you took a couple days to get back here, but over a week?”

 

“I already told you, the supplies in the area have started to dwindle. It’s getting harder to find the supplies we need, and I’ve been forced to travel further out. With this little left to gather in the area, I’m thinking of looking elsewhere.”

 

Val raised an eyebrow, “And where would that be exactly?”

 

Claire brushed her off, “It’s not important, just a little farther than the usual old shopping districts and whatnot, you don’t have to worry about it.”

 

“…Fine, hurry back as quickly as you can though. I don’t like the idea of you staying out there by yourself for so long.”

 

Claire walked over to the weapons locker, pulling out her armour and weapons, and began packing supplies and equipment for the foraging trip into her bag. “I can take care of myself Valerie, like you said; I’ve done this a hundred times before.” She strapped on her body armour, pulled on her winter gear and walked towards the doorway. As she was about to leave, she paused at the doorway as she heard Valerie’s voice one last time.

 

“Be careful and come back to us in one piece, alright?” Her voice softened a little, and Claire saw a little of the concern which Val was feeling finally enter her eyes though she was sure she was trying to hide it. Valerie always had tried to play the tough cop.

 

Claire pulled her goggles down over her eyes and pulled up her hood, “Yeah, I got it. The others will never know I left.” Then she vanished into the backdrop of the snowbound city, her grey-white coat blending in with the rest of the ruins.

 

---

3: Oblivion Falls: 01

Far away kilometers above the city floor, a small blip appeared on a black screen set deep into the wall, flashing insistently as the motion sensor tracked its slow movement across the display.  The blip soon split into two slightly smaller ones that continued their rapid progress across the monitor. A jagged green line split the screen roughly in half down the middle, and as the blips crossed over the partition they triggered a blaring alarm.

 

The officer who thus far had been slumped over sleeping in his seat leapt up with a start, spinning the chair around to face the monitors. Noting the blips and the warnings on the display, he marked down which sector from which the perimeter breach warning was coming, and then began scanning the rest of the screens, searching for a patrol that was in the area. Finding one in the vicinity, he reached forwards and tapped his fingers on one of the buttons of the screen, an action which caused a mic to pop up from the monitor, which promptly swivelled up towards his mouth.

 

“This is Perimeter Defense to patrol PB-2, patrol PB-2, do you copy?”

 

A man’s voice came back, sounding slightly muffled. The sound of howling wind could be heard in the background.

 

“This is Corporal Andrews of patrol PB-2, we read you, over. What’ve you got for us?”

 

“Sensors indicate two unidentified intruders in sector Theta 2-6, two kilometers north-east of your position. I need you to go check it out, make sure it’s not a threat.”

 

There was a muffled crackle as the man on the other end of the line must have put his radio down to speak to someone else, before his voice returned crisp and sharp, “Copy that, we’ll be there as soon as possible.”

 

“Report back when you have visuals on the intruders, Perimeter Defense, out.”

 

Kilometers from the comfort of the Perimeter Defense station, Corporal Jeff Andrews and PFC. Mathew Lanz rode their hoversled slowly along the icy cables of the Upper Reaches, heading towards T sector as directed by the Patrol Officer. The pair often ran rounds together along the perimeter of the city, but it was uncommon for an intruder to pass into what was accepted as the territories of the city. The two were vaguely excited about being sent off to investigate, this rare occurrence added some interest to what would otherwise have been a boring three hour patrol circling around the foot of Spire One.

 

It took the two several minutes to reach T-26 and when they finally arrived the two saw no sign of the supposed intruders, just the usual pathway and unending snow-filled sky. Mathew tapped the lens covering his left eye, fiddling with the filters. He had lost his eye in a training accident a couple years back, and had the eye fitted with the device rather than opting to go for a re-grown replacement, since that would have meant that he would’ve had to spend the next couple months off duty waiting for the eye to be grown. In the meantime having not found the intruders, Jeff radioed back to Perimeter Defense.

 

“Patrol PB-2 to Perimeter Defense, do you copy?”

 

“Perimeter Defense to Patrol PB-2, we copy, what’s your status Corporal?”

 

“No sign of the intruders, you sure you have us in the right sector? No visuals on any intruders, and nothing on the motion trackers.”

 

“You’re in the correct sector Corporal, keep looking.”

 

“Hey, Jeff, I got something on the thermal sensors.” Mathew called out.

 

“One moment Perimeter Defense, we have an unknown contact on thermal imaging.”

 

“Roger that, Corporal, report back as soon as possible, I want this intrusion cleared up.” The voice was tired at best, and definitely didn’t appear to be overly concerned that there was any real security risk which put Mathew’s mind at ease somewhat.

 

The radio dropped from Jeff’s mouth as he turned to face Mathew. “So Mathew, what is it?”

 

“You mean who is it? If you take a look up there, to your left and about 150 meters above us you’ll spot her.” Jeff followed Mathew’s directions and sure enough, 150 meters above them was a lone climber dressed in grey and white winter gear. It was hard to judge from so far away, but the persons frame suggested to the soldier that it was a female. The jacket blended in with the rest of the ice and snow and if Mathew hadn’t pointed her out, Jeff doubted that he would’ve spotted the girl on his own, whoever she was.

 

“…Who the hell is that, wandering this far out from the city on their own; are they crazy or something? We’re close to machine controlled territory here!”

 

“I think we’re closer to machine territory than you might think.” Mathew nodded his heads upwards. “Look above the poor bastard. Do you see them?”

 

“What are you talking abo-… shit! C’mon, let’s go, we have to get there before those things attack!”

 

“Took you long enough,” the Corporal snorted, pulling out his weapon. Then they were off, sprinting to get in position to take out the threat.

 

---

 

The threat that the soldiers spotted was a Stalker, an autonomous war machine designed for combat and infiltration. It crept swiftly and silently through the tangled cables of the Upper Reaches, carefully coordinating each of its six mechanical limbs so that it never slowed, lost its balance, or made a sound. At this altitude high above the city streets, everything was coated in a thick layer of ice, and navigating the network of ruined power lines that lay draped across the extensive remains of the sky scrapers was treacherous for most living things. Nevertheless Stalkers and their kin patrolled these pathways frequently, still focused on their task of eliminating any intruders that crossed their paths.

 

The ice nearby the machine  was illuminated by a wash of soft red light emitted from the its weapons ports and sensors, which protruded from the combat robot’s “head” sitting below its limbs, suspended beneath its armoured mainframe. Three legs on each side were used to carefully balance the war machine, as it paused every so often to scan its surroundings before with a start, it was off again in towards its next objective. The Stalkers primarily patrolled the Upper Reaches, although the occasional unit would descend down to the middle level in order to do a quick sweep. Automated weapons of war, left over from the fall of human civilization, the Stalkers represented both the pinnacle of human technology, and how technology eventually led to humanity’s downfall.

 

The Stalker was just one of many machines left behind in the aftermath of the Cataclysm; multitudes of other models prowled the city floor, all hostile to human life. Tasked with the destruction of enemy soldiers they lashed out at almost anything with a human profile nowadays, and they were ruthless and unfeeling, incapable of comprehending emotions such as fear or agony. They hunted in pairs, never alone; they scanned together to create overlapping images of their surroundings so as to respond to threats to either unit and cover more ground, and they never  gave up once they had acquired a target.

            

This Stalker in particular was tracking an intruder it had spotted almost half an hour ago on the edge of its patrol route. They often made circular rounds patrolling what remained of the upper levels of the city, clambering over downed wires and smashed Skyrail tubes to look down on everything below them. It had picked up the target on its sensors, 700 meters distant and had been tracking the shadowy silhouette ever since, sensitive to the slightest deviations of the shape’s path. Or at least it had been, until just moments ago when the target had stopped moving and seemingly disappeared. It already closed the distance to the point where regular optics should have been able to make out and identify the target but the wind and ice slashing through the frigid air in wicked torrents was obscuring its vision as well as threatening to pull it off the cable. 

 

Without a sound, the Stalker suddenly halted itself on the slippery cables as it picked up the signal again, this time coming from right below it, only fifty meters away. Optical sensors were silently extended from armoured ports, and its main head swivelled around in trying to acquire a visual. Its patience was soon rewarded. A human in thick winter clothing crawled into view, carefully creeping along a layer of cables far below. Although humans were not usually regarded as threats, Stalkers were programmed to regard any biological organism operating at this altitude as a danger. There was a soft hum, as the Stalker extruded a pair of Phase cannons, and trained them on to its target.

---

 

Each ragged breath that Claire took came out in a puff of freezing mist. She had marched for hours to arrive at what remained of the skyscrapers that once clawed at the clouds. It never stopped snowing here, and the chill always crept through into her boots no matter how long she walked. It was up to her now to find supplies for the rest of her family, and there was nowhere left to look but up. She had long since exhausted the area around where they lived, having scoured all the nooks and crannies for anything that might have been of use. Now they would either have to move or, like she was doing now she would have to go places she’d not gone before.

 

The last time she was out here she’d stumbled upon an old warehouse, a storage facility that had held parts for assembling robotic servitors and service machines. Scouring through the crates there she’d found many curved hooks, hefty steel bars, and plates of sheet metal. She had a limited understanding of how to work the devices, but that was of little consequence. She’d been told that in the past most of these sorts of things had been self-assembling relying on prebuilt algorithms installed within the parts themselves, but Claire had something different in mind.

 

Before her sister had disappeared, she’d told Claire that up above on the inaccessible floors of the buildings around them, there were probably supplies left that had been left untouched. She had guessed that the still active machine patrols would have kept anyone from getting to them, but warned Claire that even if somehow she managed to get up there, there was no guarantee that there would be anything up there to greet her but death. But now, the time had come to see if her sister had been right, because otherwise Claire was out of options.

 

That was where the parts came into play. She needed a way to get up there to find the supplies she was for, and all the structures higher up were coated in thick layers of ice and snow. She had checked the ground level entrances, those that were not destroyed were sealed off and beyond her reach; if she wanted to get up there she would have to climb. She wasn’t anywhere near as skilled at piecing together the parts as the servitors, but the compound there was

 

Well now she had the incentive to get up there, she would die out here cold and alone than watch her family starve, it was do or die, and she chose to decide her own fate.

 

Three hundred meters straight up into the air, that was what she had to conquer before she found an opening in the ‘scraper where she could take a rest. Her arms burned from the effort when she finally hauled herself up onto the edge. Looking back down she could only barely see the ground through the whirling snow, how she was able discern anything at all she didn’t know. She had always been noted by others to have been gifted with extremely keen vision, but when she’d asked her sister about it in the past she had made it out as nothing more than a fortunate chance of genetic variation. She stopped for two minutes, just long enough to catch her breath and take a sip of ice cold water from her canteen before she was back at it, pulling her way upwards one arm at a time, precariously balancing on the edge between climbing and falling.

 

The air grew colder as she ascended, even with her gloves Claire could feel her hands beginning to freeze, growing stiff and unfeeling in the grey air. Above her she could see the tangled mass that was what remained of the power grid, the massive power lines lying there formed a massive web, frozen stiff by the thick layers of ice that had formed along them. She pushed on even as the sky darkened, straining her eyes to find a place to rest as the exhaustion crept back into her limbs. Spotting a small opening above to her left she pulled herself up and sat herself down, slipping her pack off her back. She took a moment to catch her breath, reaching for the scattergun slung across her back after as she took a quick glance at her surroundings.

 

She didn’t see anything, just more snow billowing through the air but that didn’t mean that she was alone. She knew that the war machines that lurked this city were adept at concealing their presence, and she was wary of letting her guard down. She took another nervous glance around before she let herself take a swig from her canteen, pulling it from its slot on her bag. She was tired, and not looking forward to the arduously slow journey back down even after she fetched the supplies, but there was no time to regret being here, she up here for a reason, and she intended to finish the job and go home. Once she reached the layer of fallen wiring and Skyrail tubing above she would have access to every building in the area, and she was sure she’d find something she could use then.

 

A wash of red flashed across the ice where Claire was sitting, prompting her to rise instantly to her feet. She leapt over to the side as the ice near her feet reflected back a sickly red vacating the spot moments before the deadly ion blasts vaporized the ice coating the ledge where she’d been. She tumbled, grabbing her pack and flinging it over her back as she raced to get to cables, moving closer to the war machine trying to get inside its ark of fire. She was 1500 meters above the ground, a sitting duck while she was on the ledge, she had no choice but to climb. She slammed an icepick into the edge of the lowest cable and used the leverage to vault up top, coming almost face to face with the war machine.

 

She scrabbled for purchase on the ice, slipping the scattergun off her back to open up on the Stalker blasting shrapnel and buckshot into the machine’s armoured frame. Then she was moving again, sprinting away from the war machine acutely aware that the smallest misstep would have her tumbling to the city floor a kilometer and a half below her. She focused on navigating the treacherous terrain of the icy cables, ignoring the ion blasts destroying the ice behind her feet. Behind her, the Stalker advanced quickly, navigating the cables above with deadly purpose, all the while firing lethal blasts of ionized particles at Claire. She was getting close to the buildings now, Claire could actually see the fractured openings of the structure that would allow her entry to the skyscraper, and more importantly, shelter to avoid the relentless Stalker.

 

She risked a look back over her shoulder. Oddly enough, the Stalker had stopped. She turned back and yelped in surprise as another Stalker slammed down from a cable above to land directly in front of her. Even as she scrambled to stop herself on the slippery cables, the Stalker’s twin Phase cannons flipped out of their weapons ports and opened up, saturating the area where she was standing with a hail of Ion blasts. There was a crack, then an explosion, and the entire cable line fell right out of the sky.

---

4: Oblivion Falls: 02

Mark strode cautiously, but purposefully through the tunnels that ran beneath the abandoned power plant, until reaching a doorway located by the rear. A small amount of light leaked out from the slit beneath, flickering faintly with the whimsical quality of open flame. Above him, a soft thrum reverberated through the air sourced from an active boiler, its presence marked by curls of vapour that sunk down through the ceiling as they cooled. It was only when you got this far into the building, deep into its winding corridors and abandoned rooms, that you could know that it was inhabited.

 

Despite its run down appearance it was actually heavily reinforced, insulated from the blistering cold and prying eyes and sensors of the things that prowled in the darkness. He knew what lay beyond to something entirely different from this supposedly abandoned wreck, though he had some reservations about heading inside given the way his trip had turned out. Thinking on it was pointless though, one way or another, he had to return eventually. He took a deep breath before walking through the next doorway, switching off his flashlight with a flick of his thumb as he did so.

 

The sight that greeted him was bizarre by most standards, but Mark figured that if there was anyone else out there they’d be in a similar state. A fire crackled in the center of the cramped room fuelled by several pieces of deadwood; old newspapers from before the Cataclysm; and the pages of what appeared to be several old religious texts. In the corner, two men sat on light mattress, backs to the wall, supported by a makeshift steel frame, while another man and a woman stood talking by a table several meters to the left.

 

All four were clad in body armour of metal and polymer, unarmed, but clearly warriors by anyone’s standards. The wall by the door was lined with shelves that were full of books. A kitchen stove, sink, and a refrigerator in varying states of un-cleanliness lined the far wall. Paper, plastic, china dishes and glass lay piled in the sink and the stove was beaten and dented. In spite of the fire burning steadily in the center of the room, it was still stiflingly cold. Ice coated the dark corners of the room farthest from the fire, and icicles hung down from the edges of the ceiling.

 

At his approach, the four turned to face him. They looked tired, but were otherwise unremarkable and in good health in spite of their sickly pallor. As with many of the people that had survived the Cataclysm, the low levels of sunlight that filtered through from above gave their skin a ghostly white colouration. Clad in his long coat, black boots and leather gloves, Mark looked starkly different from the four. He reached into the pockets of his coat, and pulled out a box of candy bars, some candles, a small box of handgun rounds, and the book. He tossed the objects on the table, where they landed with a dull thud.

 

The tallest of the three men stepped forward, carefully lifting the box of candy bars from the table to examine it. His armour was a dull black that reflected little of the light from the fire. An un-identifiable worn white marking adorned his chest plate, and the sigil of entwined snakes swallowing each other were engraved into his shoulder plates. He was no giant, but he was a well-built man, still appreciably fit given the conditions he had lived through these past twelve years in this hellhole of a city.

 

“I hope this isn’t everything, ‘cause this won’t last more than a day.” The tall man said, a look of concern creating dark creases on his angular, worn face. He casually spread out the things Mark had gathered across the table to take a better look at them, before snorting dismissively at the small scattering.

 

“Don’t say it like it’s my fault Fredrick. You know it’s hard to find any sort of supplies out there these days.” Mark replied, reaching in to the box and removing a candy bar. It was hard work heading out into the cold gloom, and he hadn’t eaten in hours.

 

“We’re barely scraping by on what we have as it is. The cardboard rations we’re living off of won’t last us long, we’re gonna need more than what you have here.” Fredrick responded, frowning slightly.

 

Mark was exasperated by the other man’s reaction, “Look, we’ve been stuck here for the past twelve years without evac, we’re all starving here. If there was more out there to be found I’d be glad to bring it back but as it is this is the best I’ve got. You being annoyed at me isn’t going to change anything, if you want me to go back out there and take another look you can come with me.”

 

Fredrick reached into the box for a candy bar of his own, “You talk as though evac might actually come eventually. They dropped six fucking nukes here, they’re not coming back for us.”

 

The second man, average in height with fair brown hair frowned ever so slightly, the expression just barely visible on his otherwise impassive face. “There’s no need to put it so bleakly Fredrick, there is still some chance somebody might swing around eventually if we can stay alive long enough.”

 

That had Fredrick letting out a bitter laugh, “Yeah right, don’t kid yourself Darren.”

 

Darren shrugged, the lightly built man apparently unaffected by Fredrick’s behaviour. Mark was altogether unsurprised by either of the two’s reactions, they’d been stuck here together for twelve years now, it was to be expected that Darren wouldn’t mind Fredrick’s harsh remark. The stable marksman had always been even tempered and tolerant of Fredrick’s slights, something Mark had never quite been able to grasp, but had always respected.

 

“Hey, at least the squad’s still all here, that’s more than we can say for the rest of the 22nd.” The woman picked up the book and casually flipped through it. She was smaller than the rest of them, a compact package of muscle and armour but Mark knew she could hold her own in a fight. Susan was the squad vanguard, heading the front of the pack spearheading the formation. As long as they had her back, she always led the way into the unknown without fear, her courage had gotten them through many a troubling situation. “You collecting books now Mark? Not quite sure I agree with adding this sort of fibre to our diets.”

 

“I would hardly label our situation as ‘all here’ given we’re all that’s left of twenty four.” Fredrick growled.

 

Jack laughed, ever flippant, nothing ever seemed to really get the big man down. No matter how bleak the situation seemed Jack could always get you smiling. The old soldier was probably Fredrick’s best friend, he was probably also the only one who would put up with him most of the time. “We sure as hell are, don’t be such a stiff Fred, we’re not dead yet.”

 

Fredrick scowled but fell silent, taking a bite out of his chocolate bar, annoyance painted across his face. “Whatever, what’s the situation on the perimeter, are the guns all clear of ice?”

 

Over the years they had renovated the building with scraps of metal they had picked up around the place, reinforcing the internal structure and armouring all of the windows. The city floor crawled with war machines and it wasn’t always possible to mask the fact that they were living down here. Combat with the robots was a real and constant thing to consider. The nuclear winter meant that there was also the threat of snow and ice damaging their equipment. Though the city had originally been a wet, rainy place, it had almost never gotten cold enough to snow, and because of that the original infrastructure had never been designed to withstand freezing conditions for such extended periods of time. Usually, the more pressing of the two concerns were the machines, so maintaining the defenses took top priority.

 

Susan shook the box of ammunition letting the rounds spill out onto the tabletop, a gesture that spoke volumes as to how frequently they handled such things. The high explosive rounds were sensitive and liable to go off if mishandled. “We’re going to need more rounds than this if we’re going to keep the compound safe.” She brushed a hand through her dark hair; once it’d been a clean brown, but now it was tangled and matted from lack of care, with streaks of pale amber as a result of its poor condition.

 

“What do we have left?” Mark asked, aware that running out of ammunition was a death sentence.

 

“A crate of mag’s for the rifles, couple of grenades, a box of 9mm and several boxes of the .45s.”

 

“Five rounds left on the 35mm.” Darren added, referring to the heaviest weapon in the group’s inventory, an old 35mm anti-material rifle mounted on the roof meant to take on armoured vehicles and war machines.

 

“And the barricades?”

 

Susan generally handled matters regarding security of the compound, having been the one to pick out the spot in the first place. “They looked alright last I checked, but like everything these days, they have to be inspected consta--“

 

She was cut off by a thunderous explosion which rocked the building and sent a rain of debris falling upon the four companions until finally, with a shriek and a groan of twisting metal the roof collapsed.

---

 

The Underground was the name given to the endless maze of pipes that snaked through the shadowy passageways beneath the city. In places, the corridors were well lit, leading to small chambers heated by the pipes surrounding them. For the most part though, the Underground was a dark desolate area, patrolled by things that slid and crawled, hiding from the light. Once, these service tunnels and chambers had housed the plumbing and power plants to provide energy for the ruined infrastructure which was no longer intact above. Now they served as the basis for a city beneath the earth, a haven with its own organization and structure, safe from the machine menace above.

 

The inhabitants of the vast Underground were sparse and secretive, scattered throughout the tangled network of tunnels. Despite the destruction wrought during the Cataclysm, many of the pipelines that ran along these tunnels remained intact. Some of these still contained the precious cargoes they once circulated through the city, and a few were still transporting heated water throughout the city. For the most part, this was an isolated world, detached from the rest of reality. There were several select places though, located throughout the rest of the city where gaping holes had opened up through the city floor, giving access to the Underground from the surface. Apart from these there were only a couple of passageways that could be found deep within several abandoned power and water treatment plants which gave access to the tunnels below.

 

Eric slid nimbly through a tangle of pipes into a neighbouring passage, navigating the twisting maze with the confidence that could only come from a life amongst the mess. He was thin, lanky almost, not very tall, and despite the bitter cold that permeated throughout the pipe system, clothed only in a thin, tan coloured jacket. A crisp number emblazoned his left cheek, ‘174’ tattooed in crisp black. He disdained the use of a gun, instead carrying only a long knife. His path was lit by the antiquated gas lantern he held which illuminated him and his surroundings, revealing the dusty floor and corroded pipes reflecting coppery light back onto his sandy blond hair. Eric walked through the passageway in silence, his padded shoes muffling the sound of his footsteps. He kept on walking until eventually he reached the end of the passage way. A set of dull grey steel doors stood in the way. To their right was a keypad, and above that there was the Alphanumeric designation “A14” in bold black paint.

 

Setting down the lamp, he pulled out a sheet of paper; it was a map, dotted with small boxes, representing settlements and entryways into the Underground. Scattered throughout the crinkled sheet of paper were black rectangles representing doors just like this one. Each one of these doors was labeled similarly to this one, a letter followed by a number, and as he bent down, he took out a pen and carefully marked the new door on the map. Satisfied that the new marking was legible, he folded up the map and carefully placed it back into the pocket of his jacket. He was a Mapper, an administrator, explorer and scout of sorts. He had been trained to rediscover these old abandoned passageways so as to continue the Underground’s efforts for expansion. He was young and relatively new to the job, but still, he was talented and one of the best of the select few Mappers out there. Going around exploring these tunnels was just normal everyday business to him, there was nothing special or unique about it at all. That though, was about to change.

 

He furled up the map and returned it to his bag which he swung back onto his back and resumed his journey down the passageway, determined to get in a couple hundred more meters before he had to turn back and head for the barracks. He’d been active out here in the border territories for almost seven hours now, but he didn’t want to let himself stop. This duty had been entrusted to only him and his fellows, no one else could do this for the populace. They were a small but growing population, survivors all of them, but most had been civilian workers in the city so they lacked the manpower and training for a proper security force. Their primary defense against any potential offensive would be the doors, and only the Mappers really had the resources and knowhow to get to all of them.

 

A sudden crash had Eric stumbling, grasping at the pipes in an attempt to maintain his balance, the tunnel quaking beneath his feet as the sound of screeching metal and falling rock echoed all around him. He cursed as the lamp in his hand shattered against a pipe on the wall, the broken shards scattering over his hand and onto the floor in a sparking storm before he was plunged into darkness. In the pitch black he strained his ears as the crashing continued, trying to triangulate the source as he brought up his memory of the layout of tunnels.

Approximating where he thought it should have come from as the din finally died down, the Mapper began the slow process of walking through the darkness as his eyes to adjust to the dim tunnel interior. He thought for a moment about turning back, to leave the investigation to someone else and just find out what had happened when the reports eventually came in, but that wasn’t like him. Perhaps when he had been in training he had let Sheryl lead the way, but that was in the past now. Like her, he had graduated into a full Mapper, and if he was going to continue to function as an independent unit then he needed to have the initiative to check this out himself. Pushing forwards into the growing darkness, he slowly began to pick up the pace as his eyes finally adjusted to the gloom, determined to find out just what had happened.

---

 

The explosion threw Claire clear of the cable, sending her plummeting towards the earth. Shards of ice flung up by the destruction glittered in the air around her, the razor sharp slivers whorling in a deadly storm.  Transfixed, she drifted in free fall, wind whipping past her face until the sharp whine of an Ion blast whipping by her head brought her back to reality. The two Stalkers tumbled below her, struggling to get a fix with their weapons while the girl desperately searched for a way to somehow survive.

 

She was accelerating quickly and though she was still several hundred meters from the ground she knew that if she did not find some way to slow her descent, she would end up as a bloody smear on the city floor. The icy cables of lower levels formed a blurred tunnel around her. If she collided with any one of them at her current speed, the shock of striking the cable would shatter every bone in her body. She was still looking for an out to her situation, eyes flitting all around her when something heavy slammed into her pack, sending her veering to the side before anchoring her to into a nearby cable with the sharp crack as something plunged through the thick coating of ice.

 

It occurred to her that what had just happened had probably saved her life. The thought that she had also come very close to being plastered into one of the cables at an unpleasantly high velocity also crossed her mind, whoever had done this was very good at shooting. Now dusted with a fine layer of ice particles, Claire risked a glance downwards, almost immediately regretting her decision. She was still hundreds of meters off the ground and she had a disturbingly clear image of the ground far below her as the wind died down for just long enough for her to peer through the storm.

 

It was strange that she could see so far so clearly, but other more pressing matters occupied the forefront of her mind. She hung uncomfortably from the side of an inactive power cable, the only thing keeping her aloft the two straps of her pack which were digging into her armpits. A stout metal barb about a foot long had slashed its way into her bag and pinned her to the cable. When she risked pushing her weight against it a little she found it stuck fast, solid and steady.

 

An explosion reverberated through the air below her buffeting her with turbulence, a thunderous roar which tore through the frigid atmosphere. The two combat robots had impacted the ground. Good riddance, she thought, but that still didn’t give her an answer as to why she was stuck up here now, instead of having turned into a bloody smear on the city floor. A faint vibration shuddered through the cable, faint, but not imperceptible, especially when the slightest movement had her bouncing up and down from her precarious anchor to the cableside. She glanced upwards, straining to get a look behind her as she heard the distinct sound of boots crunching on ice. A gloved hand reached down placing a firm grip on her pack as someone else worked to remove the barb from the ice.

 

She was freed and lifted back onto the cable surface almost casually, she landed unceremoniously on her back struggling for a moment to get her feet back onto the ice before she managed to pull herself up into a slouched sit. Two figures in thick winter gear stood before her, androgynous beneath their hoods and grey-white camouflage jackets.

 

The first, whom Claire identified as the one who had hauled her back up here was hefting a missile launcher, undoubtedly the source of the explosion which had knocked her from the cable; the second, just slightly taller carried a blocky tubular device which Claire guessed was the launch platform for the barb which had been anchoring her earlier. Their faces remained hidden, just barely visible through the blowing snow but Claire thought she saw a glint of something beneath the hood which hinted at something other than normality in the figure carrying the barb launcher.

 

The missile launcher was placed carefully on the ground before a hand reached out to help Claire onto her feet. She took the hand after a moment of pause, taking a second to brush herself off, frowning as her gaze passed over the large gash that had split her pack open, spilling its contents into the abyss below them. The figure pulled its hood down to reveal a man in goggles, his cheeks immediately reddening from the cold of the biting wind.

 

“Sorry about that tumble miss, but we don’t really like Stalkers prowling around our tower.” The man said, sounding just formal enough for Claire to understand that he was amused but trying not to laugh.

 

“Quite the sprinter you are, staying ahead of that Stalker there, although I’d bet you weren’t planning on an escape quite like that.” The other soldier smiled, the expression not quite reaching the one good eye he had that Claire could see. Just what was that over his other eye, some sort of prosthetic?

 

“Towers, what do you mean by that?” Claire forged onwards with the more pressing questions she needed answered, brushing off her discomfort with the strange lens eyed soldier.

 

“You’re not from around here, are you? You didn’t really think that these towers were just empty hollowed out pillars, did you?”

 

“Just look at her gear Jeff. We don’t have our troopers going around in that sort of light equipment, and we never send ours out alone.” The other soldier was most definitely also male, and his left eye beneath his hood was…inorganic, composed of what she guessed to be three to four different lenses. As usual she could register things in minute detail, but she didn’t have time to think about such things right now.

 

“Whatever Mathew, just make sure she’s in one piece, and we’ll head back to the company barracks. The Lieutenant will want to speak with her.”

 

“Company barracks? … I appreciate your help, but I do have somewhere to-,“ The soldier called Jeff cut Claire off as she tried to get a word in between the two’s conversation.

 

“Sorry kid, we have our orders. Intruders are to be brought to the Lieutenant for further questioning. If you come along without struggling, we’ll put in a good word for you.”

 

For a moment, Claire considered taking her chances and running but the slight tilt of the head of the one eyed soldier, Mathew, told her that she wouldn’t get far. Not while he was watching, and the weapon he was holding looked particularly unpleasant. Reluctantly, Claire followed Jeff as he beckoned for her to follow, the other soldier falling into step behind her.

 

---

 

 

5: Oblivion Falls: 03

Mark coughed, his ears ringing from the impact of the explosion. It was eerily silent even as the debris rained down around him, the deafness slow to fade.

 

Marcus, let’s go! There’s no time for this, we have to leave them!

 

The voice. As usual, it returned only in times like this when in the chaotic rush of violence. The man’s voice that he knew sounded so familiar, that he could not identify shouting in his ear. At times, it was deadly and calm, but usually it would be like this, loud and insistent.

 

If we go back for them we’re all going to die. Come on!

 

Most of the time he hated the things that the voice said, but right now it was merely an inconvenience. The insistent shouting was thunder over the silence, forcing him from his half-conscious slumber. The building had collapsed down around him, but he had survived without sustaining any great damage besides some minor splinters which had dug their way into his exposed neck. He winced as he rose, painfully brushing the wooden shards from his skin as best he could.

 

The hollow silence faded as he arose, a rain of debris showering the cracked concrete below him. Surveying the carnage around him, a chill wind hissed in from massive hole that had opened up into the side of the compound. The voice was gone, leaving him to wonder at the fate of his companions as he pushed his protesting muscles to keep moving as he stepped out in the blistering night. The beam of his torch searched out into the dark revealing rubble strewn all about in a haphazard trail spilling from the destroyed building

 

Something had attacked them. That was the only explanation for this kind of directed damage, but there was no time to ponder what might have happened until he solved the pressing issue of finding the rest of the squad.

 

“Fredrick! Susan! Jack! Darren! You alright?” He shouted, voice straining, but his words were lost in the howling of the wind and the blinding sheet of white it fuelled. Suddenly to his left, a burst of gunfire stabbed through the storm, the staccato of crackles loud and distinct. An assault rifle, it had to be one of his squad mates.

 

Struggling through the snow towards the sound of gunfire, Mark drew his sidearm, a large calibre handgun. Heading towards the flashing of a muzzle discharge, Mark finally saw a black blur begin to take shape before him, sure enough, Fredrick and Jack materialized before him. Through the obscuring cloud of snow, a large black shape could be seen advancing towards the two. Every few seconds, a hail of ion blasts would send the two scrambling for cover, and though the two kept pouring bullets into the shape it advanced seemingly un-deterred. Pulling the hammer of his pistol down, Mark aimed for the shape’s center mass and squeezed the trigger, sending a trio of heavy bullets slamming into it. The black shape reeled, before disappearing into the snow.

 

Upon seeing Mark, the two trudged over, warily looking over their shoulders for any sign of the mysterious attacker.

“Was that you? What did you just do?” Fredrick asked, giving Mark a quick once over as he approached.

 

Mark shrugged, “No idea, I saw the muzzle flashes from your weapons and just fired a couple rounds at that thing you were shooting at.”

 

“Whatever, at least that thing seems to have disappeared for now.” Jack said, the rifleman looking nervously over his shoulder.

 

“Any sign of the other two?” Mark asked.

 

“Not a trace, but we’ve got other things to worry about at the moment, that thing was big.” Fredrick growled, keeping his rifle levelled, ready to respond to any threat that appeared.

 

There was a hiss, audible even through the howl of the storm, and a grey blur whipped towards the three men. Mark threw himself into the snow, avoiding the barbed tentacle, but his two companions were less fortunate. Jack was impaled on one of the long spikes lining the tentacle, and disappeared as the tentacle retreated back into the gloom, leaving only splatters of blood in the snow. Fredrick managed to avoid the brunt of the impact, but was thrown five meters by the impact, and lay dazed in the snow several meters away.

 

Mark struggled to his feet, staggering over to where Fredrick lay, but turned upon hearing the hiss of mechanical limbs. The spider-like horror revealed itself; it had two barb studded metallic tentacles that ended in bladelike pincers, topping six spidery limbs. Suspended beneath the central mass was a small metallic orb, covered in glowing red lenses and cameras. It was a Hunter Spyder, a horrible thing with a reputation almost stooped in legend. Hunter Spyders had originally been designed to seek out and hunt down priority targets. Most of their frame was composed of the mercurial Flowmetal which allowed them to flex and bend with ease in spite of their towering height of almost eight meters. It was a relentless killing machine which seldom discriminated between friend and foe. All that stood in the path of its target would be removed as necessary, whatever the means. They were supposed to have been decommissioned and shut down, and the appearance of one now did not bode well.

 

One of the Hunter Spyder’s tentacles was slick with blood, but there was no sign of Jack. The machine had removed the body from its tentacle; most likely it was already buried under snow. The Hunter Spyder approached slowly, its two tentacles arcing above it, pincers snapping open like razor petalled flowers. As it approached with its measured steps, Mark closed his eyes and prepared for the inevitable.

 

He heard the hiss as the Hunter Spyder whipped its arm towards him, and braced himself for the impact. There was no point in attempting to evade the Spyder; it was capable of striking a target within a six meter radius in less than half a second, a speed beyond his ability to evade. Something smashed into his head, and he was flung face first into the snow. He pulled himself up, and saw the Hunter Spyder collapsed in the snow with its six legs splayed out at odd angles, and one of its barbed tentacles sparking in the snow several feet away from it. It rose, shrieking, revealing the spherical optics array beneath its body which rotated rapidly, searching for its attacker. Mark heard the explosion of shattering metal, before the sharp *crack!* of the supersonic round caught up with it. The armour piercing bullet tore straight through the optics array, mangling the electronics inside. The Hunter Spyder stumbled blindly through the snow, arms raised in an aggressive posture but unable to see its attacker. More heavy rounds tore through its limbs, bringing it crashing to the ground. The machine jerked with each impact, but finally stopped twitching when a trio of rounds punched through the thick armour around its drive unit and killed it.

 

After a moment of confused stillness Mark regained his senses and pulled out his handgun heading towards Fredrick, who lay prone in the snow. Unconscious but alive, his armour had saved his life, preventing the Hunter Spyder from crushing all his ribs when it smashed him, though even the glancing blow from the foot long barbs had left long gashes in the other mans’ chest. Mark shouldered Fredrick’s rifle, and hefted him over his shoulder, turning as he heard boots crunching through the snow. Susan and Darren stood behind him, shouldering the massive 35mm Anti-material rifle. Made to take out tanks, walkers, war machines and gunships, this was the weapon that had brought down the Hunter Spyder. The thick barrelled gun was two and a half meters long, and weighed almost 45 pounds when loaded.

 

“Where’s Jack?” Susan asked.

 

“He’s gone, Hunter Spyder gored him on a spike.” Mark spoke in a flat emotionless voice.

 

Susan seemed to freeze up for a second before she came back to reality, “And Fredrick…is he…?” she asked, looking stricken.

 

Darren nodded towards Fredrick “He looks awful, but you’re still carrying him so...”

 

“He’ll live. Took a strike to the ribs, armour saved his life.” Mark growled. “Nice shooting by the way, although you guys cut it pretty close. Another second and I would’ve been skewered on those barbs.”

 

“Hey, this thing is heavy, you know? Darren and I barely got it setup in time to save you, not to mention Fredrick.” Susan said.

 

“How’d you even get that here in the first place, wasn’t it buried under all that rubble from the collapse?” Mark asked.

 

“We had it mounted at one of the windows on the upper floor. The collapse brought it down to the surface, still loaded. Was some lucky catch too, otherwise, we wouldn’t have had the firepower to even scratch that thing. Those Hunter Spyders…monstrous, first time I’ve seen one of those things up close, what an ugly shitter, what was this one even doing here?” Susan gestured towards the collapsed hulk of the Hunter Spyder.

 

“Your guess is as good as mine. Did you two happen to find out what hit our building? That Hunter Spyder couldn’t have done it; it may have arms lined with razor sharp barbs, but it doesn’t have the firepower to bring down entire buildings in one strike. Whatever hit us, it’s still out there.”

 

Susan and Darren carefully lowered the Anti-material rifle to the ground, and turning back to Mark, Susan shook her head. “Didn’t find anything outside, just heard the sound of gunfire, and saw the rifle nearby. Thermal imaging found you guys pretty quick, and the Hunter Spyder showed up as a moving cold spot. Now there’s one situation where being made of metal and coolant is a disadvantage. But other than that, we didn’t see anything that could’ve taken out the building.”

 

“In any case, we’d better get moving. The storage house is only a couple kilometers from here; it should be safe enough to stay there for a couple days at least. We’ll have to leave the rifle behind though.” Mark said, nodding towards the heavy Anti-Material Rifle.

 

Susan frowned, reluctant, but Darren was already stepping away from the weapon with a shrug, “It’s served us well, but you’re right, it’s too heavy to take with us.” We’d better get moving before it gets dark.” Darren said, as Susan nodded in agreement.

 

“Alright, let’s go.”

 

The three strode off into the distance, heading towards the crooked spires of the city center. And as they turned away, a pair of glowing blue eyes turned to track them. Once they had advanced several dozen meters forwards, the ghostly figure sprinted forwards to follow them.

 

---

 

0.01. The numerical designation was engraved into its left shoulder, white numbers outlined in black paint. The numbers stood out easily against the dark-grey steel and bright blue highlights of the Humanoid figure. But that number was more than just a designation, it was a name. 0.01 was one of several sentient Alpha level machine intelligences created shortly before the Cataclysm. Designed in an effort to create self-perpetuating machine intelligence, 0.01 was capable of accomplishing complex tasks beyond the capabilities of most other machines, requiring organic creativity but too dangerous for real humans to complete.

 

Not only was the eight foot robot durable, it was intelligent, capable of adapting to situations on the fly. In spite of it’s a-gender nature as a machine,0.01 had developed a male persona, which his creators had speculated to have arisen from his first encounter with a human being, a male scientist who had volunteered to perform tests with it. This testing had gone on right up until the Cataclysm itself, so the machine and its fellows had been kept in isolation their only contacts the scientists and themselves. The Cataclysm though, had changed everything: released from their prison, the Alpha levels had scattered into the wind, wandering through the massive city for the past 12 years. The durable machines had already survived traumas that would kill even the most tenacious of humans, but even they were not indestructable. Many had been destroyed and only a few remained, 0.01 being one of them.

 

0.01 had always been a special case, even before he and his fellow Alpha levels had escaped. Second to be “born”, after 0.00, he behaved very differently from his sister. 0.00 had been ghostly quiet, speaking little, the flashing of her pale green highlights when she was excited were often the only indication that she understood what was going on around her. In spite of this, it had been clear from the start that she was even more intelligent than anticipated: on the first day after she was born, she managed to circumvent the lock in her containment chamber and had wandered around the facility, having taken note of the times for the change of guards the previous day in order to slip right by. Apart from this however, 0.00 had proven to be quite docile, responding well to instructions, and completing the tasks asked of her.

 

0.01 on the other hand, had been sociable and curious from the start; he began speaking to his examiners within half an hour of his “birth”, picking up the intricacies of language easily. By the time he was three hours old, the combat robot was disassembling, modifying and reassembling every single object the scientists gave to him. The Alpha chattered endlessly about how the tinker toys they gave him were so similar to his internal mechanics, and yet were comparatively so primitive.

 

He was a phenomenon to the scientists. They had created and programmed him, and yet, he displayed intelligence that appeared to rival or even surpass their own. This level of independence was well beyond the expectations of their program. The adaptive algorithms the robot possessed allowed him to grow at an exponential rate, to the point where the scientists felt a concern that they had created something they could not control. But by that point there was nothing they could do, he was practically impossible to destroy. So they were forced to let the Alpha level be, hoping fervently that the machine would never think to turn on his masters. Eventually, he was discussing his own theorems and plans to the scientists, chattering animatedly about how the mechanisms in such objects that they gave him could be made more efficient, or were unnecessary.

 

Once they had thoroughly explored his extensive capabilities, the scientists presented 0.01 with a challenge: they gave him unlimited material, alongside the blueprints used for his own creation and asked him to construct a copy of himself, but upgraded. At first the machine seemed perplexed, unsure of what to make of this experiment. After all, he was an Alpha level intelligence, with his flowmetal frame and adaptive nature there was little that could be done in the way of improvements on his baseline function.

 

Eventually though the robot seemed to settle on creating a more specialized version of his frame, using himself as a sort of base model from which he could modify form and function in order to create identities and roles for those Alpha levels that followed him. Each new machine improved on the techniques utilized in the past, with older frames updated as the innovative machine though up new ways to do things more efficiently and effectively. Through it all, the blue Alpha level remained impassive, strangely quiet as though contemplating some greater purpose. But the furor and impressive ability to elaborate on techniques utilized remained, so the scientists saw little reason to interrupt the machine’s work.

 

And it was thus, that Alpha levels 0.02 through 0.17 had been born. 0.01 was responsible for the creation of each and every one of them besides his sister 0.00, and through this, was the indirect creator of half the systems that had once run through the city. His siblings were the designers of several of the Beta level machines that had been used in the war in the years later, including the floating Prowler drones, and the massive mobile production factories dubbed Weavers.

 

But that was a matter of the past now, the machine had thus far occupied himself exploring the city in all its aspects over these years, with little regard to the actions and intentions of his sibling machines. Though he was their creator, he still regarded the rest as his equals and so long as they did not get in his way he allowed them to roam freely. 0.01 had spent his years exploring the city center, after discovering that exiting the city was not an option. He had discovered many things about this city, indeed, it was not as singular in its nature as it appeared to be. The remnants of human civilization littered these ruins, all that was needed was a mind bright enough to reach out and grasp them.

 

Presently something new had happened to pique the Alpha level’s interest; the movement of a Hunter Spyder was not something to be taken lightly. These were feral machines, lethal in armament and singular in their purpose, much valuable information could to be lost to their vicious spines since they tended to eliminate any organic life that they came across. In the interest of ensuring that he knew everything there was to know about this city, 0.01 had made it a habit to track these destroyers as they crossed the lengths of this vast city-state.

 

It was 0.01 who now followed Mark and his companions, whisper silent upon his two thin legs, his streamlined form slicing easily through the whipping wind and snow. “Humans”, that was the name they had given themselves. And they in turn, had labeled his kind as “machines”. But what was the difference between them and his kin? He had created all of them save 0.00, communicated with them all, and to him, he and his fellow Alpha levels were just as human as those “Humans” themselves. Was there any real difference between them and the humans besides the frailty of organic flesh? Was the adaptability of algorithmic evolution distinctly different from genetic recombination? These were questions which haunted the deeper levels of his core personality, issues which brought him to ponder upon the purpose of the machine intelligence and drove his curiosity regarding organic intelligence.

 

These were the first humans he had seen in years. Though he had wandered far and wide throughout the city, this frozen wasteland was bereft of intelligent life for the most part. That a Hunter Spyder had somehow spooked out this band of what appeared to the robot to be soldiers was an opportunity not to be missed. He was surprised that they had actually managed to dispatch the killing machine, they were usually rather proficient at dealing with even multiple opponents.

 

He would most definitely be follow them, wherever their destination lay. He would follow them across the whole of the city if it was necessary, all for the simple purpose of speaking to them. It had been so long since he had any sort of interaction with another sentient being. When the Cataclysm occurred and the underground labs were abandoned, 0.01 had seen little purpose in leaving the massive structure that had contained him for so long before. Finally he had been free to roam the laboratory without human escort, unrestrained and uncontrolled. But the laboratory had become a graveyard, empty of anything but vast banks of knowledge for which he had no use. He had archived most of the technological knowledge anyway, but he desired something else, sentient interaction.

 

He was in fact equipped with a sort of data trawl. It was built into his neural architecture, meant originally to help the Alpha assess its surroundings and determine the best course of action it allowed him to easily interact with most electronic interfaces around him. He could feel their presence, and connect to a system through simple contact, imposing his will upon it and drawing information from it. He had spent four years down in the laboratories, searching, scouring the system for machine intelligence. There had once been many A.Is down here working with the scientists, but with the destruction of the city infrastructure above they seemed to have moved on or been destroyed. 0.01 could still feel the traces of their presence in the network; A.Is always left a trace of themselves in everything they touched. But the physical A.Is themselves had vanished.

 

Organics though, were something else entirely. He could not track them, and at times they defied logic and reason to an inconceivable level. And yet they had grown from simple beginnings to become to dominant form of life on this planet in regards to the scale of what they achieved and the things that they knew. They had even managed to create a synthetic mind, in the form of the Alpha level intelligence. In spite of their frailty 0.01 just had to know how they worked, find out more about them, and ultimately, obtain the knowledge of all things.

 

He was a machine, he was patient. He would take things one step at a time in order to ensure that everything went as he desired. It had been years since something like this had happened, he’d seen nothing but wildlife and rogue machines for far too long, lacking the company of even his siblings. He had once thought that some of them might return, but not one of them had crossed his path in the twelve years since the Cataclysm. He would have stepped in and destroyed the Hunter Spyder himself, if the humans had not done so already; he had no qualms with destroying such primitive machines after all. They could be remade if necessary, but if they got in his way he would destroy them. Those fragile organics however could not be replaced, and besides, it had been far too long since he’d had an intelligent conversation.

 

---

 

Eric headed in the direction of the sound he had heard, feet flying across the steel grid of the floor as he sprinted in total darkness. He had a hand on the hilt of his blade but consciously refrained from drawing it, an accident in the darkness now would have him alone without a way to call for help. He was several kilometers from the nearest major settlement and even then his chances for getting help would be slim if he made a mistep. In all of his years down here nothing like this had ever happened. There had been the occasional cave in or blown pipe, but never anything on this magnitude. To shake the tunnels as that explosion had it must have been an incredible amount of energy that was released.

 

As he neared the approximate origin of the noise, he felt the air in the passageway grow noticeably warmer, becoming stiflingly hot as though something was burning. Putting a hand on the pipes around him, he found them warm but not overly hot, that meant that their contents were probably unaffected; it wasn’t a pipe that had blown. He suppressed the urge to take off his jacket even as beads of sweat built on his forehead, maintaining the strict combat discipline that had been taught to him by his instructors.

 

With so much potentially at stake he could take no chances. While the tan coloured jacket might appear to be just a simple article of clothing, the fabric was tough and insulating. Apparently it was old gear from before the city fell, used by construction workers in the latter days when work in beneath the city exposed people to harsh, hot conditions as the electronics that powered everything let out clouds of waste heat. If there were privileges to being a Mapper, this was one of them.

 

As he approached his destination it gradually grew lighter in the service tunnel. The air around him also began to cool, the uncomfortable warmth slowly giving way to something more normal before the temperature crept downwards. By the time he reached the end of the passageway he could see his breath turning to a grey-white mist in the gloom. The boy took a moment to trace his fingers over the cold layer of ice that coated the walls, not having seen such in a long time.

 

Snow. The floor of the tunnel was coated in it, a cavernous hole above him allowing the precipitation to billow down in thick sheets. The passage had ended in a large room about twenty meters across, a storage chamber of some sort from the look of the shattered bottles and crates that littered the perimeter. Under normal circumstances Eric would have been pleasantly surprised to stumble upon such a find, but at the present he had more pressing matters on his mind.

 

Clouds of steam wafted up from the tangled mass of stone and metal which smoldered on the floor of the crater –like room, clouding the view of the opposing side. Eric noted how the snow at the edges of the crater was slowly melting. Snow. Eric had been told what it was by his elders, those who still remembered what it had been like before the Cataclysm, but born in the midst of the war Eric had never once set foot above ground when the seasons still cycled and winter coated the ground in ice. For a moment, he gazed in wonder at the sky and the snow, watching the snowflakes as they fell thickly to the ground from the edge of the crater.

 

Then Eric froze, as he caught a sudden glimpse of movement. Where before there had been naught but twisted pieces of cooling metal, sparks scattered about, marking jets of molten metal which shot into the air. He took a step forward, curious as to what he was seeing before he stopped. He frowned as a metal stalk rose from the tangle of metal, topped by a glowing red orb. Wondering what it was, he started closer towards it but halted abruptly as robust spidery leg burst forth from the rubble, propping itself upright beside the eye stalk. As more sparks flew, Eric could just barely distinguish the blurred image of a small arm rebuilding yet another leg, which then also propped itself up. It was only when the arm began rebuilding the casing around the eye that Eric realized what he was looking at: the spidery frame of a Stalker.

 

Eric took several steps back, towards the tunnel, before he turned and ran. He would need to inform the others, the relative haven of the Underground had been compromised. He paused when he passed through the doorway nearest to the crater and the Stalkers. He scrabbled through his bag in the darkness, feeling for his pack of matches. Upon finding them he groped blindly along the walls for the emergency torches which he knew would be there. Once he obtained one he lit the match and ignited the torch, creating a small spot of light which he used to search through his bag once more.

 

He looking for the map outlining this particular region that he was in now. He had arrived here rather blindly, following the memory of the sound that he had heard, but now he had to connect that to a visual and find out where exactly he was. He rummaged through dozens of the folded sheets before he found C16, the black letters above him faint in the low light.

 

His heart thundered in his chest, fingers scrabbling to tap through the sensitive functions of the electronic sheet, bringing up the relevant details for door C16 on the map. His eyes flickered rapidly across the sheet until he found those critical numbers. He walked up to the keypad by the door, and entered the code {367896} as marked off on the map and took a step back, breath tight in his chest. The tunnel shuddered and shook, as the thick steel doors closed, sealing off the passageway. The thick blast doors were able to withstand tremendous impacts, and would not open again without the override code, known only to the Mappers like Eric. The Stalkers would not gain access to the rest of the Underground through this tunnel.

 

With the deed done and the door sealed behind him, Eric gathered up the maps and hurried off towards Mirra, intent on warning the others of the impending danger.

---

 

Blue sparks scattered across the floor of the crater as molten jets of metal arced up from the debris. The two Stalkers were both nearly fully repaired now.  It had taken awhile for the two units to orientate themselves and identify the extent of the damage; the impact had shattered much of their physical components but the majority of the less replaceable electronics had remained intact.

 

Their core units had survived the fall intact within their reinforced chambers, and as long as that survived it was simply a matter of identifying the resources required to rebuild their physical frames, and there was no shortage of that in Aphelion. The city state was practically built upon a foundation of metal, a veritable bank of resources to be drawn upon for constructing machinery. Thus the two had been largely able to reconstruct themselves from the debris, using the scattered rubble and wreckage around them when necessary to craft new replacement parts as needed.

 

The two had been patrol units, tasked with scanning for movement in the Upper Reaches by their master. Human movement in particular had been designated to be flagged for further review by their controller in the future, the feed uploaded to the cloud sever while the units pursued their target in the meantime. They had been thwarted in their task of pursuit but the damage had already been done. So long as they had marked out the event it would have been reported and reviewed.

Without a target to pursue at the present the Stalkers waited for new orders, scanning their surroundings in the meantime but otherwise unmoving. Their metal frames were resistant to freezing, kept just slightly warm by the electronics housed within them; one could almost mistake them for moving elements of the environment viewed through thermal sensors. They hadn’t always done this of course, ideally they would have kept their cores as cold as possible for maximally efficient functioning, but the shift in ambient temperatures outside caused by the Cataclysm had prompted the machine units still active in this city to retain some amount of waste heat to prevent themselves from being disabled.

 

The first wave of reinforcements arrived within hours, by then an inch thick layer of ice had settled on the Stalkers outer plates in spite of the heat they were producing. They shivered, twisting and turning to crack the heavier layers of ice letting the frozen water shatter onto the floor. A dozen new Stalker units crawled over the edge of the rim to join the pair beneath the shadow of a pair of Hunter Spyders, the lethal war machines in their dormant state with their combat arms retracted. A half-dozen Prowlers buzzed down into the crater to join their companions, the hovering combat units an odd choice for the environment they were about to enter, but still more than capable. And finally, the shadowy form their master could just barely be seen following along behind them, the humanoid form scarcely visible through the blistering storm above.

 

They were a lethal assortment, an army in their own right capable of inflict massive amounts of damage should they choose to do so. Once they were assembled the machines began marching forwards in silence, some sort of unseen signal driving all but a single Hunter Spyder forwards into the gloom of the tunnels. There was work to be done, and their master was not one to stand by idly. So they marched away, under the gaze of the shadow awaiting their return.

 

---

6: Oblivion Falls: 04

Claire followed along behind Jeff, treading carefully along the icy cables so as to avoid slipping. If she fell there would be nothing that could save her and she’d plummet to her death on the cold city floor below. Eventually, the soldiers led her in to one of the taller buildings still connected to the cables. Gaping holes had opened up in the tower’s side, exposing its interior to the snow and ice which at first made it difficult for them to clamber in because of the uneven floor.

 

This part of the building appeared to once have been an office given the scattered desks and chairs. The marble columns and glassy floor still gave the place some semblance of style in spite of the mess. It was a foreign environment to Claire, made more intimidating by the two soldiers who escorted her. Unlike her their armour was fresh and new, a clean pattern of grey and white polymer plates overlaid on top of a sharp black cloth layer. She herself wore the armour that her sister had left behind. It was an odd assortment of off-white plates edged in pale blue and a frayed vest of interweaved polymer fibre. Where Elaine had acquired it and what she had been doing with it Claire had no idea, she hadn’t bothered to ask.

 

The abandoned office was a mess of rubble and ice, difficult on the knees to traverse, and full of vast empty space through which the frigid wind blew, biting uncomfortably at Claire’s ears. Her education on the purpose of such offices was limited. She’d been six at the time of the city’s fall, and although the industries of Aphelion had continued to be active right until the moment of her destruction, she had little firsthand experience of it and the work that had been involved.

 

Such luxuries were a fantasy to someone in her position. She had spent the past twelve years fighting to stay alive in the snow swept lower reaches, scrounging through the rubble for supplies. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what must have gone on in this bustling structure at one time, or the tasks they might have performed. She couldn’t even imagine just sitting in one spot for a whole day, behind some digital interface.

 

The three strode across the floor until they reached an elevator which was surprisingly intact, the metal doors scratched and dented but otherwise unharmed. Jeff leaned down to press the button to summon the elevator, a circle marked by pale blue triangle and after a short wait the elevator arrived with the rattle separation of the steel doors.

 

The soldiers gestured for Claire to get in. Complying with their demands, she stepped inside to a whole new world, starkly different from its dull grey doors. A glittering array of glowing symbols lined the flanks of the elevator, the control panel a blazing array of blue and white that danced throughout the interior.

 

The doors to the elevator slid shut as the lens eyed soldier walked through, the soldier’s weapon almost casually moving to follow her as he did so. At Claire’s pointed staring the soldier exchanged a glance with Jeff, and with a nod from the other man lowered the weapon towards the floor. Claire felt the slight pull of acceleration forcing her downwards towards the floor as the elevator suddenly began to move, the cart itself surprisingly silent in spite of the dilapidated state of the elevator’s exterior.

 

“What is this place?” Claire could hardly believe that someplace like this existed. All she had known for years was the snow and ice of the city floor. And the place she’d been living with the others certainly looked nothing like this.

 

“You’ll see later. Just follow along for the time being.”

 

 Eventually, the pressure diminished and as the elevator slowed to a stop; Claire strode out of the elevator flanked by the two soldiers and stepped out into an alien world.

 

“Welcome to Spire One” Jeff announced.

 

They stepped out into the center of a clean white chamber, lined with glowing blue wires and panels. Eight doorways lined in blue circled the octagonal area. Across from them people in clean white uniforms could be seen working at desks behind transparent sheets of blue-tinted transparisteel. They scratched at archaic sheets of printed paper with antiquated graphite pencils and pens, the writing impossible for even Claire to see at this distance. Above each of the doors was a number projected out into realspace, the image glowing  a soft blue it its space, the numbers themselves going from one to eight.

 

“I’ll go file the patrol report, you get her to the Lieutenant” the lens eyed soldier said, before walking through the sixth doorway.

 

“Alright, give my regards to the Major, Mathews. We’re going through door five Miss, so if you’d follow me please.” Jeff directed Claire towards the fifth doorway, which opened with a soft hum as the two approached.

 

Finding her voice as she walked through the door, Claire spoke up. “Where exactly am I?”

 

“This is Spire One, the central tower of Spire city. Spire city is all that remains of the intercity Skyrail system that once provided high speed transit within this city prior to the Cataclysm. Although the trains now lie dormant and most of the rails were severed, the stations themselves survived the shock. Their heavy reinforcements that anchored them to the superstructure of this city meant that they survived for us to use now, as the foundation where we began our rebuilding.”

 

“So I’m in some sort of train station? Seems an odd place for a train to be.” They were almost a kilometer up even after her brief fall.

 

“Not quite, we’re above the majority of the structure now, we simply used the foundations but not much else remains besides the anchoring to the ‘scrapers around us. The reinforced structures of this city were made to withstand the violent impacts and quakes associated with the turbulent natural phenomena that occur in this region, so even the Cataclysm couldn’t completely shake the core of this supercity.”

 

“Right.” That certainly wasn’t the case for the lower levels of the city where Claire lived. To think that this whole time there had been other people living up here in this place, it boggled her mind how it could have been possible with the way she and the rest of her family had been struggling just survive the day on the city floor. “So just how many of you are there?”

 

“Well it varies between the different Spires. Back there at Spire One we house only a couple hundred people since the central hub is responsible primarily for archival duties there are relatively limited residential districts here. Other Spires house numbers in the thousands.”

 

“And what exactly are you archiving, patterns of snow and ice?” Claire snorted. What a ridiculous waste of time.

 

Jeff seemed unperturbed by her reaction. “These Spires didn’t just build themselves you know. We used materials from the surrounding buildings and rubble to rebuild a home for ourselves in the sky. The catalogues here keep track of where and what we’ve borrowed, so as to make sure we don’t dig ourselves out of the sky if we take too much from the superstructure beneath us.”

 

“Seems a waste to build something so big if you’re only going to house a couple hundred people.”

 

“The archives demand space and room to grow, salvaged data and information is stored here as well. Just because this place isn’t at full capacity now doesn’t mean that we can’t prepare for the future. After all, it was a lack of forward thinking that caused the Cataclysm in the first place. And Spires themselves originally served other purposes, we’re just using the material that was left behind.” Taking it all in, it seemed to Claire that Jeff was incredibly patient given his mannerisms. It was probably fortunate for her that he’d been the one to find her, she doubted many others would have been treating her so kindly.

 

They had been proceeding down a narrow corridor, a straight hallway with white walls and fluorescent blue strip lighting that hurt Claire’s eyes if she stared for too long. Somehow, in spite of the fact that she’d never before seen such an environment in her life it all seemed oddly comfortable, regardless of her squinting.

 

Jeff paused his explanation for a moment as they reached the end of the hallway, gesturing for Claire to step in front of him. As she did so, he directed her towards a small door with a number “5” painted on it in black.

 

“What does that mean?” she pointed.

 

“That number simply indicates the direction in which we are going. There are nine Spires in total, numbers one through nine, our destination is Spire Five, home to much of the city defense force and our internal security team. Lucky for you Spire Five and One are both located in the vicinity the central perimeter, so we won’t have to walk much farther.”

 

He continued as they stepped through the door, which slid open when Jeff pressed his palm to a lock beside the door. The mechanical hiss made Claire feel nervous, the sound was again familiar, but this time discomforting. Just why did this place seem so familiar to her? She couldn’t quite place the memory from which all this originated.

 

“We’re going to go see a man who you can refer to as the ‘Lieutenant’. He’s not the most pleasant of individuals but if he clears you you’ll be free to go.”

 

“Yeah, I got that. Doesn’t this guy have a name?” she snapped irritably. All of this mysteriousness didn’t sit well with her.

 

“You’ll find that he responds better when you refer to him that way. And trust me, you want to be on the Lieutenant’s good side.” Claire was going to spit out another response but fell silent as Jeff gestured her forwards.

 

The door led into a walkway, suspended in the middle of a cylindrical covering of clear transparisteel. Looking down to the side, Claire could clearly see the shattered remains of the Skyrail track, the casing around the tube, un-jointed and not meant to be moved, unlike that of the walkway, had been broken during the Cataclysm, destroying the transparisteel covering and exposing the delicate circuits of the track to snow and ice. The remnants of the track way were covered in dull rust, Claire doubted that they could serve any purpose other than supporting the superstructure of the tube now.

 

As they progressed along the length of the tube beneath the gloomy grey above Claire found that the city around them seemed to improve in terms of its state. All around the outside the ice coated cables lay draped across the ruins like frozen serpents, but the buildings themselves seemed to be more and more intact. Some of them even looked untouched, pristine in their almost crystalline structure.  Light clouds of vapour drifted from their mouths as they breathed out into the cold air; the Skyrail tube itself offered some protection from the elements but this high up without any real insulation it was still freezing. Claire hoped that they would reach their destination soon.

 

Half an hour later they were marching through a segment of transparisteel tunnel which appeared to be mostly intact. Above and to their right, Claire could see a thin white needle, stretching far into the sky, a giant “5” painted onto its surface. As they walked down the path towards the tower, two soldiers dressed similarly to Jeff strode forward to meet them.

 

“Corporal Andrews, it’s been awhile. Who’s your young friend?”

 

“A guest who’s good at sprinting, that’s all you need to know Private. She’ll be seeing the Lieutenant.” Jeff responded coolly, already stepping past them.

 

The guards paled at the mention of the name, stepping to the sides to return to their posts.

 

“Well I’m sure you’ll have no trouble bringing her to the Lieutenant on your own sir.” The other guard said hesitantly.

 

“That will be fine Private; I’m fully capable of taking her to him myself. Follow me, Miss” Jeff beckoned for Claire to follow, leaving her to wonder just exactly who this “Lieutenant” was, as the two guards breathed a sigh of relief as they passed.

---

 

Eric ran faster than he’d ever run before. He ducked and dodged through the twisting maze of tunnels and pipes, weaving his way through the intricate knots of steel and stone. The ceiling heightened as he neared the antechamber to the underground city of Mirra. The largest of the populated chambers in the Underground, Mirra acted as a sort of capital city, governing over all of the other clusters of people. Lawmakers there were responsible for creating and enforcing rules, and ensuring that everyone was provided for. It was here were the Mappers’ housed their headquarters, and hopefully if all went well Eric would be able to get help.

 

The cities of the underground stretched out for kilometers, the network of tunnels, pipes, and open chambers spreading out like a giant spider’s web beneath the surface of the earth. Mirra was probably the only thing tying them all together. Located several hundred meters left of the city center, Mirra was built upon what remained of a gigantic fusion generator that had once powered the entire city, providing its electricity and heating.

 

The reactor complex was still functional, providing heat and some amount of power to much of the Underground. Its proximity meant that Mirra was the only city beneath the earth still lit by lights. Compared to the other settlements that it governed throughout the scattered maze of pipes, the reactor was a massive palatial structure bathing under the soft glow of a thousand green and white floodlights that studded the hemispherical ceiling. Elsewhere settlements were nothing more than some flimsy buildings erected beside a relay conduit.

 

It was truly a marvellous gem to behold, an unrivalled center of living for those beneath the earth. Eric had spent much of his life here in the city. Born to parents unknown killed during the events of the Cataclysm, he had been raised under the system in one of the orphanages here in Mirra. This was his home turf, a place of comfort to him when he returned to its welcoming arms. This time though all he felt was the thunderous beating of his heart as he raced deeper into the city.

 

Eric’s goal was to reach the Council of 15, located within the center of the reactor at the heart of Mirra. These 15 men and women elected by the people governed over the entirety of the Underground, and faced with the threat of war with machines prowling around the tunnels, Eric had no choice but to report the matter to the them. It was imperative that he bring news of the impending threat to Mirra so that plans could be formulated for all to follow.

 

As he neared the entrance to the city, cameras mounted in the ceiling above swivelled to track him, and by the time he reached the outer gates, guards had come forwards to meet him.

 

“Mapper Eric, what’s the rush?” the Captain said as he approached the steel doors. He was a grizzled looking man who had seen better days.

 

“No time to talk Captain, I need to see the Council of 15, right now.” Eric tried his best to convey the seriousness of his words with his tone, but ultimately it wouldn’t have mattered. His statement in and of itself was enough to catch their attention.

 

The guards tensed at his words, several of them drawing their weapons. “What is it, is something wrong? What’s so urgent that you need to see the Council right now?”

 

“We have a Code Black, is that good enough for you Captain? Take me to the Council of 15, now.”

 

The guards flinched at the words and cleared the way, opening the gates. The Captain of the guard gestured towards Eric, asking him to follow, and then nodded towards two of his men, who fell in line behind him.

 

“We’ll take one of the Sonic Screamers. They’ll get us across the city to the council quickly.” The Captain said, gesturing towards a rocky outcrop beside the interior of the gates.

 

Sonic Screamers were large, powerfully muscled winged creatures thought to have descended from bats, though their bodies were covered in scales. A product of the radioactive fallout from the impacts, they were one of the more docile creatures which still prowled the city, dangerous when aggravated, but easily tamed with a little effort. Coming in at three meters in length with a wingspan of up to six meters, they were capable of carrying up to six people. Their eyesight was poor, but they had an exceptional sense of hearing and their ancestor’s echolocation had stayed with them. They had massive flared ears that they used to detect even the faintest of noises, and they were capable of emitting deafening waves of sound in order to stun prey.

 

Eric and the guards mounted up onto one of the Screamers, shooting up into the air as the Screamer flapped its powerful wings. In the illuminated areas of the city, there was plenty of light, so the Sonic Screamer did not have to use its echolocation, thus avoiding the irritation of tolerating its almost painfully loud screeching. The Screamer’s powerful strokes soon brought the four over to the reactor, where the Captain landed the beast in a courtyard by the entrance. They chained the winged animal to a harness by the courtyard wall, and stepped away towards the entrance as a pair of orderlies appeared to tend to the Screamer.

 

Eric waited anxiously for the all the gears to be set in motion, his mind racing with thoughts of what might be happening in the tunnels around them while he had travelled to deliver the news. There were many fringe settlements which could already have been affected, the time they spent waiting here before he was able to give his report only increased the danger for those people.

 

Eventually, they gained access to the reactor complex through a small side door. A quick conversation with the guard posted there allowed them access, and from there it was just a short jaunt to the central chamber. Familiar with the building, Eric raced ahead of the Guard Captain and his compatriots, determined to deliver his warning but when at last he reached the doors to the central chamber, he was halted by a large squadron of guards.

 

The armour clad men and women were a ragtag assortment, most of which Eric had never spoken with before. His jacket and the number tattooed onto his cheek were more than enough to identify him on the hand. A dark skinned man at the head the pack stepped forwards to meet him as his companions blocked the door. “Mapper Eric, state your business here.”

 

Eric spent a precious few seconds composing himself, he’d never had to deliver the likes of such news before, and his new status as a Mapper meant that his rank did not hold the weight that it would normally, especially for these grizzled veterans. “We’re under attack. The cities of the underground face an invasion by the machines, the Council must be warned so we can issue a general alert.”

 

“And your proof of this is what, Mapper? I’ve not heard news of this invasion from elsewhere, nor have any indications of attack come in from the outer cities as far as I’m concerned. If this is some sort of joke, you should leave immediately.” The guard looked down at Eric impassively.

 

“This is a Code Black. Do you think I’d joke about something like this guardsman? I am a Mapper; I think I understand the gravity of the situation. I wouldn’t be here if something like this wasn’t happening.” Eric hated to pull rank, but wasn’t above emphasizing the difference in their positions. As was a Mapper, he was the one with real authority here. He stared the guard right in the eye, daring him to look away.

 

The guard held his stare, and said “If this turns out to be some sort of joke, it’ll be your head on the line.” Turning back towards his fellows, he gestured at the door, “Let him through. If what he’s saying is true the Council will want to hear about this machine invasion.”

 

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t serious.”

 

“Never the less, for all of our sakes I hope that you’re wrong.”

 

The guard’s squadron at the door stepped aside as thick slabs of metal opened up to allow him access, and with a deep breath Eric stepped forwards to face the Council of 15.

---

 

Varying shades of dark grey coated the walls of the constricted hallways, besides that there little else for Claire to see. Though the exterior of Spire Five had been a brilliant white, much of its interior was a shade of dull grey, lit by bright white lights lining the sides of the ceiling and floor which created glaring spots which irritated her eyes. Most of the people that walked past were wearing the exact same uniform as Jeff, a mess of winter camouflage, white with patches of different shades of grey. Some of them were armed, Claire able to identify handguns, rifles similar to some of the equipment they had back in the weapons locker at home, though the identities of many of the others eluded her.

 

 Others had run past carrying folders or stacks of paper, uncharacteristic of the militaristic feel of the structure. Overall there was busy, bustling feeling to the populace here that Claire had never really felt before. The commotion was a little stifling compared to the relative freedom that she’d known for most of her life on the city floor below, it made her uncomfortable when combined with the cramped hallways and glaring lights. On top of that there was her uneasiness with this whole business of meeting this Lieutenant character that the guards outside had seemed so afraid of. She hated this place already; she would enjoy leaving it behind.

 

Jeff eventually led Claire into an octagonal antechamber, the centerpiece of the room being an elevator which went who knows where. Apart from that there was little else of note to the grey octagon, which was composed of plain slate grey walls, grated metal floors and four spotlights in the ceiling which gave the place a rather prisonlike appearance. Claire gave the soldier a look, but received only a gentle nudge towards the elevator in response. Reluctant, she eventually relented and allowed herself to be herded into the elevator as it opened before them. They stepped inside as the doors closed behind them, leaving Claire and Jeff alone in the elevator, this one much plainer than the glittering gem that they had been in before. Claire turned once more towards the soldier.

 

“Want to tell me where you’re taking me now?” The rattling of the elevator cage made her uneasy, she could practically see how old this elevator unit was from all the scratches and tarnish that marred its metal surfaces.

 

“I already told you, I’m taking you to see the Lieutenant. All intruders go to see him eventually, and you’re no exception.” He replied, his gaze never really coming down to meet her eyes.

 

“And what will this Lieutenant do? Those two guards back there seemed pretty scared of him. They looked like they’d spent too much time outside in the cold when you mentioned this Lieutenant.” Not that that was saying much, a lot of the people Claire had seen here thus far had rather pale skin. Perhaps that was a by-product of spending so much time indoors.

 

He looked away. “You’ll find out when you get there. No one likes speaking with the Lieutenant though, I’ll leave it at that. Everyone does eventually, and no one ever finds it pleasant.”

 

“Well aren’t you reassuring.” Claire muttered grimly under her breath, before the slight snap of the rifle barrel in her direction quieted her complaints.

 

The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open, revealing yet another grey room, this time lined with bright green lights. Chairs lined the walls of the room, and another door made of some sort of translucent material was on the far wall which glowed a faint green from the rest of the lighting. Jeff walked over to one of the seats by the door, and gestured towards the door.

 

“Where are we?”

 

“The main quarters of the Office of Internal Affairs.” He stopped at Claire’s unimpressed sniff, “I can assure you that it’s a little fancier on the inside of the rooms.”

 

“Right. And what have I got to do with your affairs exactly?” Claire didn’t really get why she had been dragged all the way up here to this place. If this was the office that handled internal affairs then they were supposed to cover internal conflicts and security, shouldn’t she have been in some kind of visitors processing or something?

 

“Consider it a matter of due process. The Lieutenant likes to see all of our guests before we decide what to do with them.”

 

“Right.” This Lieutenant person was sounding less and less appealing the more she heard about him.

 

“Go on in, there’s no need to knock. I’ll be waiting for you right here, you shouldn’t take too long.”

 

Claire hesitated in front of the door. What lay beyond the threshold that could have made those soldiers so terrified? She heard footsteps approaching from the other side, and soon saw the silhouette of a thin figure on the other side. There was a dull hiss which made her take a step back, and the door opened to reveal a thin man in a crisp black uniform. The single silver bar of a First Lieutenant could be seen on his left shoulder, and on his chest an emblem of a wolf shining bright under the green glow.

 

He nodded curtly towards Jeff, the light making his dark hair appear to ripple as he did so. The soldier stiffly saluted the Lieutenant, and from where Claire was standing she could see that he averted his eyes ever so slightly. “Corporal Andrews, I take it that this is the girl you mentioned in your report?” The man’s voice was cold and unfeeling in spite of the raw power that emanated from it.

 

“Yeah, this is her right here.” The soldier stepped forwards to put a hand on her shoulder, “Well go on girl, the Lieutenant won’t bite.” Jeff was taller than the black clad figure, and larger in stature under his body armour, but even so she found him much less intimidating. There was something about this officer which Claire found unsettling.

 

“Or so you say. Let’s get this over with kid.” The Lieutenant growled, indicating for Claire to follow him into the next room.

 

Reluctantly, she followed the man through the doorway, into a starkly different room. Like the exterior of the Spire, the circular chamber was a pristine white, painted in a light wash of green by faint bulbs embedded into the ceiling. The walls were lined with large black grids upon which hung a variety of lethal looking firearms, centered around a larger version of the wolf emblem on the officer’s chest. And in the center of the room was a spotless angular desk formed from a seamless black polymer, a chair placed on either side. Taking a seat on the far side of the table, he gestured at Claire towards the other chair.

 

“Sit.” The man pulled out a folder and thin translucent sheet from under his shirt, placing them on the table. His icy demeanour never changed throughout.

 

He slid the sheet across the table to Claire, reaching over to tap it twice with his index finger once it was there. It flickered for a brief moment, and then began to play a video clip. After a few moments Claire recognized the feed as the Jeff’s view of her escape from the pursuing Stalkers. As the video clip ended, the translucent screen flashed and returned to normal.

 

“This is you, correct?” the man asked. His voice was quiet, but retained its intimidating air as though he was restraining himself from making a louder outburst. His hair hung low over half his face shadowing his eyes so that Claire could only catch a glimpse of his right eye.

 

“Yes. What’s it to you? I was just trying to keep myself alive.” She tried her best to sound confident.

 

“Just noting what you’re capable of.” He said without looking up, his face obscured by the folder. Behind it, Claire could hear the scratching of pen on paper. This officer was certainly old fashioned.

 

The movement of the pen halted momentarily, and Claire took advantage of the moment to get in a question of her own. “Sorry, I didn’t quite catch your name, who are you exactly?”

 

“You may refer to me as Lieutenant. I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name either?”

 

“Claire.” She answered curtly. Well, at least what Jeff had said was true.

 

“Last name?”

 

“Shaw.”

 

Rather than respond, the officer chose to disappear again behind the folder, an act which Claire found rather irritating. Maybe she could somehow bluff her way out of this, it certainly didn’t seem like she had anything to lose. “Why am I even being held in this place? You can’t keep me here! “

 

“Who says I can’t? You certainly don’t appear to have the means to leave this place without my permission.” His one visible eye peered out at her from over the folder, a grey void of emptiness. It seemed impossible for Claire to discern his thoughts, an anonymity of character that she was unused to.

 

Perhaps a different angle of attack was in order, “I’m on an important mission for my people. We’re in need of supplies and I need to get back as soon as possible.”

 

“Your people sent one girl with nothing more than a scattergun and a backpack to retrieve supplies for how many people?...” the Lieutenant looked up, his face sceptical.

 

“Shut up and answer the question. Why am I being held here?”

 

If Claire’s outburst at all affected this Lieutenant figure, he didn’t show it. “You fell under our jurisdiction the moment you entered our territory. And under our laws, all intruders found within our territories will be brought back to me, for questioning and interrogation,” He paused momentarily, reaching under the desk to produce a pair of cuffs which clattered onto the table surface, “And I’d watch it with that tone of yours. Remember that you are currently a ‘guest’ in our city, and though as a guest you are entitled to certain special rights and privileges, you will still be expected to follow our rules. And that would include being civil and respecting the authorities. As I am an officer in our armed forces, I expect you to treat me with the respect afforded to my station. So I’d keep a tighter check on that tongue of yours girl.”

 

“Fine then. But you still haven’t told me why you’re keeping me here. It seems like you have all the data on me that you need.” Claire was careful to be more polite this time.

 

“Protocol dictates that I go through this in person, no matter how detailed a report I get from the patrol center. Now, you’ve nicely told me what you entered here to do without me having to ask you. However, you mentioned that you came here to get supplies for some sort of populace. Care to explain more about that?” He brushed aside the hair obscuring half his face, a pale green eye joining its grey companion on his thin face.

 

He was staring at her now, waiting for a response. Claire found his different coloured eyes disconcerting, she had never seen that before. She blinked away the discomfort generated by his stare before responding. “Why do you need to know about them? We’re not even part of your city, and I don’t even know if you even have any real authority. I mean, I didn’t even know it existed until your soldiers brought me here.”

 

“The government of Spire One watches over a population of almost 50,000 people, the largest single populace that remains in this city to my knowledge. Though we may be unknown to your presumably small settlement somewhere out there in this cold city, we are acknowledged by the second largest population center, Mirra, and the cities of the Underground that she governs.” As he spoke, the table between them lit up with images tall white needles stretching into the sky, picturesque depictions of the Spires reaching through the clouds.

 

“I had thought that most of the people in this place had died. It sure doesn’t seem like 50,000 people could have survived down where I live.”

 

That prompted an amused snort, “Humanity is a resilient disease that plagues this world kid, one that is not so easily eliminated.”

                                       

“I’m not a kid.” Naturally, the man ignored Claire’s response.

                                                                                                                        

 A rap of the Lieutenant’s knuckles against the desk brought Claire’s attention back to him. “To answer your question though, I want information regarding your settlement because we, like Mirra, are trying to get as many people as possible back to Spire City in order to protect them. Our organized governments and defenses create a safer place for people to live within, and together we might one day find a way out of this place. It is for your populaces’ benefit that I ask after them.”

 

Claire stopped to consider what this man was saying. It sounded like a good deal; according to what this Lieutenant person was saying, her “family” would be provided food and shelter if she let these people know where they were. But she was hesitant to trust this man’s words, after all, they just that, words, and she needed much more than if she was going to put the lives of her family in someone else’s hands. Why would a place like this want to take in some stragglers from below? It hardly seemed as though they were short on hands, even just here in Spire Five Claire had seen dozens of people marching around carrying weapons. Certainly it would be more trouble than it was worth to head down there and get them? Though they had weapons enough to fend for themselves, Claire couldn’t really see how picking up a couple of people could possibly contribute to this city.

 

At her pause his eyes seemed to bore into her skull, creating an eerie silence until his cold voice sliced through it, waking Claire from her thoughts. “Not convinced girl? I can see why that might be; I assume you spent the last few years plagued by the threats of starvation and predation. That’s what happens to small groups, they cling to existence and then one day they are extinguished.” The muscles of his face barely moved throughout, his features frozen into an impeccable icy calm.

 

His words were upsetting, but undeniably true. For Val and Claire it had been a struggle each day to stay alive, and though they tried their best not to mention it death loomed over them like dark cloud.

 

“But for us, your very struggle is what makes survivors from groups like yours attractive.”  His open ended statement left Claire wanting in terms of even beginning to trust him.

 

“Why should I trust you?”

 

“Because you don’t have any other choice. If you don’t work with me you won’t have any hope for a future. You don’t exist to anyone else here, no one who saw you will remember your presence three days from now if you never appear again. You are at my mercy, and I bring you an offer that is essentially entirely in your favour. What more do I have to demonstrate for you to believe that I have your best interests in mind?”

 

“I don’t get it. How could you possibly benefit from helping me?”

 

“We have a large population to take care of, and too few to protect them. Civilians are fickle creatures, seldom willing to be trained as soldiers and put their lives on the line. Such is the way of the world; quality troops can be produced only from those who are willing…and sometimes, from people who suffer great injustices. People like you, who have managed to survive below must be capable and have experience with real combat. You will make good soldiers, and I’d be happy to take you and your family.”

 

The way he phrased his words certainly was odd. No matter how she looked at it, the words that came out of the Lieutenant’s mouth didn’t quite match up with his hawkish stare and strangely motionless body. It was as though the man was a puppet, stiff and unmoving, a blinking, breathing statue that only mimicked the life that you would find in a real person. Certainly she wanted desperately to believe that what he was saying was true, but she was not ready to risk her family knowing so little, especially with the way the officer had presented himself. How could she trust him when she felt afraid just from looking at him?

 

Through all of this, the Lieutenant sat there impassively, hands clasped together, gaze unfaltering, waiting for a response from Claire. After a long moment of silence she finally stood and walked towards the exit. The officer’s eyes followed her movements but otherwise he did nothing to indicate that he had even noticed her leaving. The girl paused for a half-second at the doorway.

 

“I’ll think about it.”

 

His response was so impassive Claire wondered if he had actually heard her at all, “You know where to find me when you have an answer.” He stayed seated as she stepped out through the door, letting his eyes drift back down to his desk as the door slid shut behind her. There was something about the girl that seemed uncannily familiar, but at present what exactly it was evaded him. It didn’t help that quite clearly she’d been afraid of him, probably the soldiers spreading their rumours again. But none of that mattered in the long run. He was patient, he could wait for the answers to reveal themselves to him; after all she was going anywhere. No one left this place without him knowing it, and that girl wasn’t leaving till he got the answers he was seeking.

 

He swivelled back around in his chair bringing up the displays on the wall, content with the knowledge that if he looked hard enough he would find out why she seemed so familiar. He always got what he wanted, and one way or another he was going to get to the bottom of all this.

 

As Claire re-entered the waiting room, she found Jeff waiting in a seat by the door. He rose as she approached, his eyes quickly finding her haggard face.

 

“Quite the speaker that Lieutenant, isn’t he.” He said. Claire could hear the sarcasm laced heavily into his speech.

 

“Quite. He certainly likes to talk about this city of yours.”

 

“He made you the offer then, to bring your people here to stay with us?”

 

“He did. I told him I’d consider it.” She wasn’t sure how much she could trust this Jeff character either, but certainly she much preferred speaking to him over the Lieutenant, that much was clear.

 

“Ahh, so you didn’t like him then.”

 

“No, I didn’t. It seems like he knows what you’re thinking, and those crazy eyes of his don’t help much either.” She shuddered just remembering the way the man’s mismatched eyes had seemed to bore right through her, peeling away everything to expose all her secrets.

 

That prompted a brief laugh from Jeff, “I can understand how you feel. I don’t know a single person who thinks he’s a pleasant person to talk to. He’s just doing his job though, so don’t try not to take it personally. Anyhow, you really should consider his offer; from what I saw you know what you’re doing, and we could use the extra help around here.” Claire shrugged as nonchalantly as she could in response. She was exhausted and unwilling to think about these things at the moment. Later, she would make up her mind and deal with all of this later.

 

 “In the meantime, I’ll show you to your quarters. Follow me.” Jeff stepped ahead to lead the way, waving for her to follow. Claire quickly fell into step behind him, glad to be away from the strange room and the Lieutenant.

---

7: Oblivion Falls: 05

Mark was possessed by an inexplicable feeling of nervousness. It was normal to be cautious these days with all the dangers wandering about, but this went beyond that. He couldn’t rid himself of the feeling that something out there was watching them. His eyes scanned across the horizon, searching for any sign of movement but nothing seemed to stand out to him. Whatever it was, it was doing a good job of staying out of sight.

 

Susan and Darren didn’t share his opinion, but neither of the two had been out around the city floor recently. Just because they couldn’t see anything didn’t mean that there was nothing out there, and from his times out looking for supplies Mark knew that monsters lurked in the shadows. He trusted their judgement, but here he was certain that his experience gave him an edge.

 

The storage house that they were headed to was still several kilometers away and the darkening of the skies above signalled the advent of nightfall. Not that it made all that much of a difference since day and night had been almost indistinguishable for the past twelve years. The shockwaves from the nukes had thrown thousands of tons of soil and debris kilometers up into the air; most of it had been launched all the way into orbit to join the space debris surrounding the planet. This thick layer of rubble hung over Aphelion and the locality like a shroud to produce a permanent gloom. Still, in the dead of night it became pitch black, a darkness which the predators of this post cataclysmic world took full advantage of. It would be best if they made their way to the store house as soon as they could.

 

They had been staying in the remains of an old warehouse that used to be used to store electronics before they were transported to an assembly facility on the westerly side of the city. That place was gone now, a radioactive pit of death was all that remained of the former Inersian district. Nothing had survived outside of the core of Aphelion, the nukes had made damn sure of that. Over the years they’d mapped out the general vicinity around them, with Susan picking out other potential candidates for places they might stay if the warehouse was compromised. Mark had appreciated her company on those outings, she’d been part of the company vanguard after all so she was used to leading the way. It’d been a nice change from his solo ventures out into the wilderness.

 

Now with the damage that had been done to it they had no choice but to look to one of these other buildings to take refuge. Susan naturally, had taken the lead pulling ahead of Mark who hung back with Fredrick who trudged along beside him, having woken not too long ago. Darren brought up the rear, the rifleman’s eyes sharp as they scanned the horizon for danger.

 

“How much further do we have to go?” Mark asked nervously after they had been walking for an hour or so. He was still unable to rid himself of the feeling that they were being watched, and this point it was almost pitch black. In this relatively uncharted territory he didn’t dare flick on his flashlight for fear of attracting something’s attention, so he could only barely make out the silhouette of Susan leading the way.

 

“Not far now, we should arrive within ten minutes or so.” Susan’s voice drifted back to them, strangely clear in spite of the wind that howled around them whipping snow into their faces.

 

“Good, I don’t think I have much more than that left in me.” Fredrick panted. Mark couldn’t really see him, but it didn’t take a genius to tell that the man was exhausted after the beating he had taken.

 

Mark and Darren had originally offered to carry him the rest of the way when he woke, but the officer had brushed them off, saying “That’s no way for an officer to act.” Still, it was apparent that he was struggling though he wasn’t slowing them down by much. Perhaps Jack would have been able to reason with him, but Jack wasn’t here anymore.

When Susan finally came to a stop they found themselves standing before a short, bunker-like structure buried into the side of a low hill. Around it were the tattered remains of a pair of skyscrapers toppled years ago, their foundations exposed to the ice and snow to form twin deathtraps beneath the gloom. Darren strode slowly up to them as Mark and Fredrick stumbled to a stop, letting Susan fumble with the locks on the door.

Huddled inside the narrow alcove they glanced nervously over their shoulders, conscious of the fact that there was no place for them to go if something snuck up on them now. The long barrels of the rifles Darren and Fredrick held meant that they would be almost immobile if they fought here, and Mark wasn’t confident that his handgun would be powerful enough to deal with something like another Hunter Spyder if it showed up.

 

“Got it.” The armoured door rattled slow open allowing the four to tumble inside of the pitch black bunker.

 

The air had a thick musky quality to it, an unpleasant sensation compounded by the fact that they couldn’t see. Mark fumbled through his pockets for his flashlight flicking it on to reveal a horrific sight.

 

“What the hell…?” he hissed. Around him he heard similar outbursts of disgust as the other three lit up their helmet lights. The inside of the bunker was littered with bodies. There must have been at least half a dozen corpses, all suited up in Aphelian body armour. They lay there like broken dolls, arms and necks at odd angles, armour damaged and slathered with burn scores. Dried blood was splattered all across the walls, a dirty brown which could almost have been mistaken for rust.

 

“What do you think happened here?” Darren knelt down beside one of the desiccated bodies apparently unphased, poking carefully at it with the tip of his rifle.

 

“How can you just stand there so calmly?!” The look in Fredrick’s eyes was wild, unfocused. Mark was almost tempted to ask him to take his hands off his weapon.

 

“We’ve all seen death. It was war after all. The Telurian Massacre, the Second Battle for Lake Arity, the Salisitan Campaign, we were all there for those bloodbaths. This is just another demonstration of just how fucked up this place was.” Darren carefully turned the body over, pointedly minimizing the amount of time his helmet shone over the sunken face. “Looks like these guys have been here for a while.”

 

Susan looked uncomfortable, but Mark was pretty sure it was more because she felt bad about having led them here than the bodies. “It wasn’t like this last time we were here, was it Susan?”

 

“No, it definitely wasn’t.” she wandered away deeper into the structure, the rest of them trailing behind her eager to leave the bodies at the door. “If I’m not mistaken when we were here last this place was still hooked up to the grid. We should be able to get some lights on in here if you can find the controls.”

 

They swept through the silent corridors in a rough diamond, unwilling to split up after what they had seen. It was strangely comforting to be fighting as a unit again after all this time, and good to see that all those years hadn’t completely eroded their teamwork.

 

“That’s what we’re looking for right?” Darren gestured ever so slightly with his rifle in the direction of a rectangular box set into the wall. They must have crossed the entirety of the building by now.

 

“I think so, let’s check it out.”

 

There was a heavy thump above them as they moved forward which made them freeze in place, weapons swivelling upward. Small flakes of concrete rained down from above, the artificial snow flashing through the beams of their lights.

 

“What was that?”

 

“Doesn’t matter as long as the ceiling holds. Let’s get those lights on.” Darren said, pulling away once he verified for himself that there weren’t any cracks. The rest of them were more reluctant to leave it at that but once the creak of the rusty hinges swinging open sounded they all hurried over to the controls.

 

It was an older style console, however it wasn’t so unfamiliar that they had any trouble with it. A couple of failed attempts later they finally figured out the system and with the pulling of a lever the bunker’s lights flickered to life.

 

Narrow strips of lighting filtered down to reveal a dusty grey interior littered with refuse. The bunker was still fully stocked, complete with fully lined racks of weapons and ammunition alongside a room full of rations and water. In other circumstances finding a stash like this would have been something to rejoice about, but given what they’d seen it was merely odd that everything was so intact.

 

“Wish we’d just moved here instead of going out for supply runs.” Mark sighed, “Would have saved me a lot of work.”

 

“Don’t you think we might have ended up like those poor bastards at the front then?” Fredrick noted darkly.

 

“Right.”  That put an abrupt end to the conversation.

They drifted outwards towards the entrance once they’d packed away fresh ammunition and rations, slowly familiarizing themselves with the layout of the structure. It was quite a bit more cramped than the warehouse, but it still fit the four quite comfortably. The bodies at the front were carefully stripped of most of their armour before being dragged into a pile close to the door, they would dispose of those in the near future. For now though, the party was mostly just glad to be safe. They each found their own places to crash and recover, catching some rest after everything they’d gone through. Mark however, still couldn’t shake that creeping feeling that gnawed at the back of his mind.

 

“I’m going outside to check the perimeter.” He said, after several minutes of pacing by the door.

 

“At this time? Don’t you want to wait till dawn?” Susan raised an eyebrow.

 

“I don’t know, it feels like something’s not right.”

 

“You’ve been saying that this whole time, but there’s never been anything out there. Give it a rest man.”

 

“Just let me do this, I’ll be right back inside after. It’s probably nothing like you said but I’ll feel better if we make sure.” He didn’t know why, but for some reason he had a feeling that if he went out alone whatever it was that had been following them would show itself. Whether that was a good idea or not…well he’d worry about that later.

“What’s going on here?” Darren strode in from the back, rifle slung over his shoulder.

 

“This fool wants to head back out there. He thinks something is watching us.” Fredrick snorted from his spot by the wall.

 

“Hasn’t it been a long enough day already, why don’t you wait till morning?”

 

“That’s what I told him. He says he needs this.”

 

“Come on guys, it’s just a quick walk around the perimeter, not something I haven’t done before.”

 

“At least take a rifle, there are plenty ready to go at the back.”

 

Mark shook his head, “I don’t need it. I’m a better shot with my handgun anyway.”

 

Fredrick sighed slightly, “Well, you always were a bit of a weird one.”

 

The other two likewise looked similarly apathetic at this point.  They understood, even if they didn’t like it. Mark had always been a bit of an oddball in the group anyway, having joined up with the squad just shortly before the war’s end.

 

“Alright, be careful. There’s no telling what might be out there.”

 

Without another word, Marked stepped out into the night, flicking on his flashlight while keeping his pistol at the ready. Heavy snow whorled through the air in blinding sheets that stung his skin, making it difficult to discern what lay ahead. The general surroundings were as they had left them before, tangled messes of concrete and rebar now covered in a fresh layer of snow. He walked around to the back of the structure, wary of the fact that he was very exposed out here he did his best to hug the wall but still at best it was discomforting to be out here.

 

A stack of crates sat by the wall, against which lay a large mirror embedded in the snow. That was an oddity, such fragile things seldom lasted out in the open and for something like this to just be lying here was suspicious in and of itself. He stepped slowly forwards until he could stoop down to inspect its surface. The glassy surface was cold to the touch even through his gloves, and now that he was closer he could make out a pattern frosted into the mirror. It was hard to make out through the snow whipping through the air but as he did his best to trace the image across the surface, it was some kind of chair of sorts.

 

He was pulled away from his investigation as a wash of blue suddenly flashed across the mirror, followed by a dull thud. This was the moment. He took a breath to steady himself as the blue glow grew stronger before whipping around, drawing his handgun in one fluid moment and pulling the trigger.

 

Three shots echoed out in the darkness, whipping past the grey-blue blur that pressed towards him with inhuman speed, the most obvious marker of its passing the faint footprints it left behind in the snow. He struggled to keep his gun on target, managing to fire off another burst hearing the heavy slugs impact his target before there was soft *whumf* as he was thrown into the snow.

 

The gun tumbled from his hand to disappear off into the distance, leaving him flat on his chest struggling to get back up. A mental talon crunched into the snow a mere two inches from his nose making him shrink back, looking up to at least see his assailant. Some sort of humanoid machine towered over him, its armoured carapace slate grey studded with azure highlights. It paced silently through the snow to retrieve the weapon, the gun sliding smoothly out of the snow until it flew into the machine’s outstretched hand, pulled through the air by some unseen force.

 

As the robot stalked back to Mark the weapon exploded into its individual components, the metal parts captured in some sort of sphere of influence, the machine manipulating the pieces to assemble and disassemble the weapon with such speed the parts blurred into a shimmering mass. Its massive glowing optics that dominated its face seemed to focus intently on its work, but Mark didn’t trust for a moment that it wasn’t watching him.  Finally as it drew it close it knelt down to bring its imposing frame down beside Mark, extending its hand as it did so as if to help him to his feet, a gesture which Mark made a point to ignore.

 

<Don’t you want to get back up human? Or do you prefer to continue transferring your body heat to the snow?> despite having no visible mouth, the machine somehow was able to speak clearly in a decidedly masculine voice. The large blue optical sensors on its head arched to form an almost curious expression.

 

For a moment, Mark was rendered speechless. There had always been machines capable of speech, but this went beyond pre-programmed recordings; this was something more akin to free thought, displays of emotion. If he closed his eyes, he could have imagined that he was speaking with another person. After a moment of thought he accepted the machine’s outstretched hand, allowing it to help him up. If the machine had wanted to kill him could easily have already done so.

 

“Are you the one that’s been following us?”

 

<I have been following your party for distance now, yes.>

 

“What the hell are you?”

 

The machine blinked, its optical sensors flickering off then on again, before bringing its fingers to touch gently against its left shoulder, upon which was painted the sequence 0.01 in black.

<I am 0.01, 2nd eldest of the eighteen Alpha level machine intelligence units that, to my knowledge, have been activated as of this time. What is your name human?>

 

There was something about the way the robot’s silhouette stood out against the snow seemed oddly familiar, but Mark just couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Before he could think more on it though, the staccato of gunfire had him ducking back to the floor. A glance behind him revealed Susan and Darren advancing on them slowly, rifles shouldered and firing.

 

The machine seemed not to care, almost casually batting the first few projectiles aside its arms becoming a blur of motion until the volume of fire became such that further action was necessary. At this point the robot simply splayed its fingers wide behind it and the bullets all suddenly slowed to a stop as they got within two meters of the machine. The gunfire abruptly halved as one of them stopped to reload, which naturally, was when the Alpha decided to act.

 

“Holy sh—“Darren didn’t get to finish his comment, as 0.01 turned and sprinted towards the two soldiers, his frame blurring into a grey-blue smear. He slammed into them before they could make a move to escape, easily disarming them, and effortlessly tossed them towards Mark where they landed at his feet in a heap. A second later, 0.01 was again standing before Mark, as though nothing had happened.

 

The mass of bullets scattered into the snow as the machine allowed whatever influence it had over them to fade, the flashes of the falling metal reminiscent of a shower of scales. <As I was saying human, I’d like to know your name, You four are the first humans I’ve seen in many years. I’m curious as to how much you know about the current situation of Aphelion.>

 

Mark pondered the machine’s request for a moment before he was distracted by movement to his left, “What the hell is going on?” Susan’s voice came through a little muffled, probably because of the fact that Darren’s unconscious body was on top of her face. She scrabbled at the slippery plates of his body armour trying to push him off, to no avail, eventually giving in with a huff. “A little help here?”

 

“Why should I trust you?”

 

A quizzical look flashed across the almost featureless faceplate, the robot’s optics flickering repeatedly as though to mimic the human blink, <Have I yet given you any reason to think that I seek to cause you harm?>

Mark chewed at his lip, “Even if you don’t mean to you certainly could.”

 

“Hello, are you listening? Help me up dammit!”

 

<Would you like me to assist this human? It would take no effort on my part.> 0.01 stepped forwards to where Darren and Susan lay, the machine’s talons crunching ominously in the snow.

 

It was too late to try and leave; having come so far as ready Mark decided that he might as well see what the machine had to say. “Yeah, help her up.”

 

He noted how 0.01 carefully rolled Darren off of Susan, before helping her up. In spite of its seemingly frail frame the robot preformed the action effortlessly with a single finger. As it stooped down, Mark noticed that at some point in all of this commotion, their weapons had found their way into the spindly fingers of the machine’s other hand.

 

The guns seemed tiny and inconsequential in the robot’s grip, and as he looked on the machine’s joints whirred as they went through several articulations to strip down the weapons until they were nothing but a cloud of parts that floated effortlessly in the empty space by 0.01’s leg. It all happened in mere seconds, the “Alpha level” as it had labelled itself unhurriedly strode back to them as clustered together, bewildered, Darren’s prone form propped between the two.

“What the hell is going on?” Susan hissed, her eyes focused primarily on the storm of metal. “What is that thing?”

 

“It calls itself an Alpha level, it’s what’s been following us this all of this time.”

 

“Alpha level, what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

 

<I beg your pardon, I am 0.01, 2nd eldest of the seventeen Alpha level machine intelligences that exist in accordance to my current knowledge. And what would your name be human?> as 0.01 indicated his numeric designation stencilled on his shoulder to Susan, Mark rolled his eyes; the machine had used almost the exact same introductory statement with him.

 

“Doesn’t mean much to me, I’m just a trooper I’m afraid. You’ll have to be a little more obtuse in explaining just what you are.”

 

<I am the culmination of your technological achievements, dear humans. Going into more detail than that would be a waste of time I assume?> the machine towered before them, intimidating simply with its presence.

 

“Right.”

 

<I have introduced myself now, so why don’t we begin with your names?>

The two exchanged brief glances, before with a reluctant shrug Mark decided that they had nothing to lose. “Mark.”

 

“Susan. This is Darren.”

 

<And you are soldiers?>

 

“Evidently. What do you want?” Mark was beginning to feel the cold bite of the wind eating into his boots. He tried to keep the discomfort off of his face, but it seemed that the Alpha was quite perceptive to human expressions.

 

<Do you find the ambient temperature to be unsuitable? We could quite easily relocate ourselves to a warmer location if you would like.>

 

“Like you care. Answer the damn question robot.”

 

<I am seeking knowledge, specifically that on Aphelion’s current state. I was hoping that you might be able to tell me about what happened to this city twelve years ago.>

 

“What is there to not know? Aphelian High Command ordered an evac once it became clear that we were going to lose this war, then they nuked this fucking place obliterating everything in and around it. We were unfortunate enough to be stuck here when that happened, and now we’ve spent the past twelve years trying to stay alive. There’s nothing interesting about that.”

 

<I’m aware of the situation, having observed the happenings in this city for the past twelve years, three months, two weeks, five days, seventeen hours three minutes, twenty seven seconds, and four point eight five milliseconds in your units of time at the time when I finish this vocalization. That we currently are subject to a state you label as nuclear winter, and its cause is not unknown to me, rather it is the fact that this central part of Aphelion in which we reside is so intact which is an oddity. What I am looking for, is an answer for why there are still living organics like you in this part of the city.>

 

Mark shrugged, “Who knows, maybe we got lucky, perimeter structures shielded us from the blast or something.” His response drew a just faintly noticeable shudder from the robot, something which could not have happened at random. Machines didn’t just shudder and for some reason the almost imperceptible motion felt wrong to him.

 

<Is that really what you think happened?> the robot stooped down to stare him in the eye, an action which caused Susan to reach for a weapon she didn’t have, a flash of irritation crossing her face as she realized her predicament.

 

“What are you implying?” Mark was taken aback, especially by the machine’s sudden closeness.

 

<Disappointing.> 0.01 hissed cryptically, but the soldiers had little time to ponder the machine’s meaning. There was a soft *whumf* from behind them and the Alpha disappeared into a blur of grey-blue.

 

“Not fast enough, Alpha level.” They heard Fredrick growl from somewhere behind them. Split seconds later, there was an explosion which filled the area around them with crackling energy. The electromagnetic pulse passed through them leaving an unpleasant tingling, but Mark knew that the effects would be far worse for 0.01.

 

The machine had toppled into the snow, its highlights dark as it lay prone and unmoving. Mark took the time to check up on Darren; the rifleman was still unconscious, that he remained so after so long was just a hint at the power that 0.01 could bring to bear. Every couple of seconds a faint blue would flicker through the Alpha level’s otherwise immobile frame, hinting at the life that lay within.

 

Fredrick sprinted over to them, still shouldering some kind of strange launcher which Mark assumed to be the source of the blast. “Mark, let Susan handle Darren and grab the Alpha, we need to get inside before that thing wakes up.” The tone of Fredrick’s voice was one he’d not heard for a long time now; it was laced with the tone of command.

 

They almost instinctively followed through with the orders, Mark stooping down to retrieve his pistol as he hefted the robot over his shoulder after a moment of hesitation. The rest of their weapons remained scattered in the snow, reduced to individual components by what the Alpha level had done to them.

 

“So you’ve encountered these Alpha levels before?”

 

“Once. And I had hoped never again. Get that thing inside, we have to get it restrained.”

 

“And you didn’t think to mention it to us?”

 

“I’ll explain later Mark.” And that, marked the end of the conversation.

 

As they returned to the bunker Mark deposited the machine onto the floor, it landed with a heavy thud as Fredrick disappeared into the bowels of the structure leaving Mark and Susan alone in the lobby.

 

“What the hell is going on here? First we get attacked by a Hunter Spyder, now this?”

 

“Beats me, Fredrick certainly seemed a lot more comfortable handling that thing than we did though. How did you guys even know to come and get me?”

“You didn’t come back for a while, and then Darren thought he heard gunfire so we went out to check on you.”

 

“Well, I guess it’s good that he’s still sharp as ever.” Every so often Mark would take a glance at the robot, but it remained still and unmoving on the floor. Still he couldn’t help but feel like it was watching them even in its paralyzed state.

 

“Where do you think this thing came from? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

“Hell if I know. Did you hear the way it spoke? It was almost as though it was another person.”

 

“It might sound that way, but that thing is still just another machine, don’t be fooled by its looks.” Fredrick’s voice came floating back to them from the back.

 

“You going to tell us about how you know what this thing is?”

 

Fredrick reappeared from the back, carrying an unfamiliar set of white shackles which he deposited on the floor before bending down to get to work.  “Well, if you really insist, I first learned of the existence of these god forsaken Alpha levels three years ago, when we lost Jacob and Emily.”

---

 

The Beta level machines moved silently through the tunnels, the lethal instruments poised for combat at a moment’s notice. The Prowlers scouted ahead, floating about a meter and a half off the ground, moving slowly to ensure that their long barrelled slug launchers would have sufficient time to engage any targets they encountered. The dozen or so Stalkers followed along behind them, forced to move in single file by the cramped confines of the tunnel though the units left a healthy amount of distance between each other which gave them some amount of flexibility when manoeuvring.

 

Almost a kilometer above them, a grey figure stood in the center of the cratered remains of the impact zone, impassive to the ice and snow. The humanoid robot came in at almost three meters in height, but still it was dwarfed by the massive Hunter Spyder beneath which it stood. It had linked up all of the Beta level’s optics feed to itself, quite literally it could see everything that they could even from this great distance It paced patiently in a small circle, scanning the debris that littered the floor of the pit for specific alloys and metals even as it devoted a small fraction of its processing to keeping track of its small army.

 

Though almost all beta levels were capable of self-repair given the right materials and enough time, none other than the Weavers were capable of producing fresh units. There were only three of those still active in the city, none in the vicinity that the figure could commandeer, instead to replace any units that might potentially be lost in combat a dedicated foundry would have to be erected. Fortunately, having witnessed the first two Stalker units that had arrived here rather violently repair themselves, the machine knew that the materials in the immediate vicinity would be more than sufficient to create such a facility. Its own scans just now confirmed these facts, and truth be told most of the city would have served its purposes quite well. After all Aphelion was built upon a massive deposit of precious metals and mineral. In the past this had been the source of its massive wealth, and had allowed for the area’s transformation into an industrial powerhouse.

 

After several minutes the robot finished collecting as much scrap metal and building material as it could find in the area, piling it all in the center of the crater. However, the machine’s optical sensors narrowed, an expression of irritation managing to paint itself across its impassive faceplate. The necessary materials it needed were present, just not in the raw quantities that it required for the task

It turned its attention to one of the two Hunter Spyders which had remained with it in the crater, striding calmly over to the war machine’s spherical optics center that hung suspended beneath its body, held in place by some unseen force. The tips of its fingers shifted into sharp points as it thrust its hand deep into the Hunter Spyder, the metal shrieking in protest as it twisted beneath the impact of the attack. Within minutes the massive killing machine laid disassembled, parts strewn lazily in the snow, its key components carefully organized in a neat pile, the rest of the metal that made up its frame joining the heap of raw materials that was going to be used.

 

Tiny globules of silvery fluid stayed suspended in the air around the humanoid machine, caught up in the wake of its own personal fields. It allowed them to persist for a moment, but eventually it discarded the excess flowmetal allowing it to fall to the floor of the crater, spattering the earth with smears of silver. While the mercurial alloy was extraordinarily hard to produce, the bright sheen of the almost fluid metal would prove detrimental to the work that lay in store.

 

The other Hunter Spyder looked on impassively, apparently unmoved by the destruction of its companion. Hunter Spyders functioned as independent units, but they still had some sense of companionship with their fellows. Never the less, this one failed to react to the destruction of the other not because it wasn’t aware of it, but because like Stalkers that had left the crater, it had been reprogrammed to obey its new master utterly.

 

Finally satisfied with the materials before it, the machine bent down and grasped a large sheet of metal, easily lifting it above its head with just one arm. Its other hand began the process of slowly changing its shape as it rose to meet the metal sheet, its talons merging together into a globule of bubbling silver before its whole hand reformed as a long cylinder. Clear panes on its surface pulsed a faint orange like the rest of the highlights on the machine, flanking the razor edged disc that sat at the tip of the tool.

The disc spun rapidly as it touched the metal surface, its edge glowing a faint blue as its velocity grew. With the assistance of the plasma cutter the machine swiftly sliced the plate into six evenly sized rectangles, allowing all but one of them to fall back to the floor as it began the slow process of folding and reshaping the material. Periodically it would summon one of the more specialized parts it required trapping the electronics in its sphere of influence causing them to flit through the air towards it. As a whole the process created the image of a small storm of metal which surrounded the humanoid figure in a rough sphere.

 

It took almost twenty five minutes for the machine to finish its work, and another five to come up with a schematic which would allow the foundry to function independently. As it worked its way around the crater it briefly stepped out of the shadows into the light cast down by the remaining Hunter Spyder. It was only for the briefest of moments, but in those few seconds the light revealed three black numbers engraved into its shoulder: 0.06.

 

---

 

The chamber of the Council of 15 was a large, circular chamber topped by a high, domed ceiling, located roughly in the center of the old reactor complex. Even from the edge of Mirra you could see it rising up from the shambles of the other structures, that one single pristine piece of architecture that had survived all the damages of the war.

Inside, the building had been restored to resemble the great courts of old, most of which had been destroyed during the fighting now twelve years past. It was here now that Eric found himself, striding through the massive doors to walk across the red carpet to the podium mounted in the center. The seats of the council ringed around him along the perimeter, rising up behind a short wall made from a rich, red coloured wood. The council members themselves sat there with their elaborate jackets and bored looks, a low drone rising up from them towards the viewing windows which lined the rim of the rooftop.

 

The council members fell silent as Eric and the guards stepped inside, the doors slamming shut behind them as he reached the podium and waited for their attention to fully turn to him. It was rare for a Mapper to come before the council; their responsibilities generally kept them distant from the capitol as they patrolled the extensive network of tunnels. Only rarely did Mappers return to the Central Map Archive on the outskirts of Mirra, and even then it was just to hand in their reports and update to the main map. These all were filtered through by Mapper administration, and only then if something was amiss would an executive member come to the council.

 

Never the less, all Mappers were respected by the community of the Underground. After all their work mapping out the tunnels and protecting the outer cities of the Underground was an invaluable task, and it was well known that the Mapper corps had a work ethic second to none. All two hundred of them were the best of the thousands of volunteers, working tirelessly each day to ensure that all of them could continue to eke out an existence beneath the city.

 

The Captain left his guards and Eric at the podium, stepping forward to announce their presence before he could even think of what he was supposed to say. For a moment, he was a little offended that the man had taken the lead, but after thinking on it he was glad that he hadn’t had to take the initiative. He’d never been here on his own before, and it was a terrifying feeling standing before the council.

 

“Councillors, Mapper Eric comes before us today with news of impending peril. Please hear out the Mapper who has come so far to speak to you directly.”

 

There was a brief moment of silence, until the first councillor at the far left of the ring spoke up. “It is not often that a Mapper graces us with their presence. Begin when you are ready, but do not think that we take this interruption to our regular duties lightly.”

 

Eric swallowed, pulling his pack off and rifling through for the map he’d been working on. Where should he start, what should he say? He’d only been a Mapper for two months, and suddenly this discovery had just appeared right in front of him. “Well, uhm…”

 

“Speak up Mapper, our time is not to be wasted on trifling matters.” The councillor in the center was tall and thin, his hawkish features combined with his tight fitting black jacket giving him the impression of a Corvid.

 

Eric bristled at the reprimand, feeling a sudden surge of anger. He’d come all this way just to warn them of the impending danger and this was how they greeted him? “Machines have broken through from the surface, close by to C16 on the east side. We need to get a warning out there, and put Mirra into lockdown.” He summoned his most confident voice, thinking back upon his training. He could do this, this was his message, his warning to send, and he would see it through.

 

A low rumble rippled through the council, in the end resulting in a low peal of laughter as the hawkish councillor let his voice ring through the chamber, much to the disdain of his fellows. “Machines, here? There are only two ways into the Underground, and both are heavily armoured and guarded. This futile attempt at a joke must be some pathetic attempt to waste our time. You should be glad that your station protects you from any real disciplinary action on our part, but I’ll be sure to speak to your superiors.”

 

“Councilman Wharner…” the councillor to his right, an older man of stout build began to interject before being interrupted by the Hawkish man again.

 

“What? Do you not agree that our time is an invaluable resource? It is inconceivable that our defenses have been breached. Machines have no reason to come looking for us, we know this. They’re all just rogue units left behind from the war, patrolling old routes, still stuck thinking that there are still enemies left to fight. This boy here is just wasting our time, this has to be some kind of joke.”

 

“Councillors, please, the machines have broken through the ceiling somehow, and they’re already inside. This isn’t a joke, I saw two Stalkers in the tunnels at C16 repairing themselves after they got through. An alarm needs to be raised.” Hearing the councillors’ name helped Eric to keep his cool. So, this was Wharner; the man was notorious amongst the ranks of the Mappers for opposing them at every opportunity. The boy had heard a lot of bad things about the man, but this his first time meeting him in person. He couldn’t wait to be rid of him, but first he had to convince the council that he was telling the truth.

 

“Wharner, it’s conceivable that some catastrophe could have opened up one of the tunnels. Naturally it would be a Mapper who would report this to us. Don’t you think we should give his words more gravity?” Councillor Showalter on the other hand, Eric did know. She had been integral to the founding of the Mapper corps, and he’d seen her at the Central Map Archive quite often speaking with his superiors. He hadn’t noticed her at the far right because up until now she’d been silent.

 

“Don’t take such a flippant tone with me Councillor Showalter. I will not be trifled with, and Mirra will not waste its time with the games of your Mappers.”

The other councillors slowly retreated into their seats, apparently uninterested in the drama unfolding before them until finally the first councillor rose to stand. “Enough of your bickering, this is no time to be acting like children. The Mapper corps serves all of the Underground, and this machine assault Mapper Eric has brought to our attention must be dealt with.”

 

“But think of the time that we would be was-“

 

“Think of what is on the line if Mapper Eric is right. I know that you don’t have a particularly positive view on the work of the Mappers Councillor Wharner, but you would do well to think about the implications of what you are saying before you continue discussing this matter.” The first councillor paused, sweeping his eyes across his fellows. “Well then, if no one else has any further objections we will be issuing a general warning then?”

 

“I suggest we issue a recall order to all of our Mappers currently in the field as well.”

 

“I will matter to you then, Councillor Showalter. Guardsman, double the patrols on the perimeter and have the guard teams from the outer cities report in to you every thirty minutes. And you Mapper Eric, should return to the Central Map Archive. Thank you for your excellent service, I’m sure that we’ll be glad that we have you as one of their number before this is all over.”

Eric gave a stiff bow before turning to leave, filing out alongside the guards making a beeline for the exit. The guard captain stopped him by the exit for just a moment.

 

“I can speed your journey to the Central Map Archive if you’d like. We’ll pass by on the Sonic Screamers anyway.”

 

A tempting offer that would save him some time, but it was ultimately unnecessary. The Central Map Archive wasn’t too far from where they were now and it would take some time for the Mappers to reassemble anyway once a general recall was put out. “Don’t worry about it, I’ll walk.”

 

“Be seeing you then Mapper.” The Captain said, disappearing off in the direction of the courtyard.

 

What Eric hadn’t taken into account however, was the speed at which the general alarm had been issued. Already he could see the various notification centers mounted on billboards throughout the city lighting up with information about the potential machine assault. Accompanying them were broadcasts on the communications system set up throughout Mirra. It helped that Mirra was one of the most intact cities of the Underground; not all places were like this, in fact most settlements were little more than loose assemblies of scrap metal built around the pipelines that made up the foundation of Aphelion.

This meant that the streets were quite crowded, with people in Mirra milling about in a panic whilst guards rushed about to get to their posts. All told it took him almost an hour to reach his destination on the outskirts of Mirra. It was impossible to mistake the Central Map Archive for anything else. Besides the reactor complex at center where the council was housed, it was the largest structure in the city.

 

The six storey building was built into the side of Mirra’s outer wall. Unlike the boxy frames of the residential districts or the massive arching domes of the reactor, the Central Map Archive had an almost pyramid-like shape to it with its sloped sides. Housed inside were the majority of the records of Aphelion that the Underground had been able to collect. The vast majority of them were engineering and maintenance schematics for equipment and facilities that were no longer operational, but a small portion were newer documents, written with the establishing of the Underground.

 

Of course, the primary purpose of the Central Map Archive was to house the variety of maps that had been created of Aphelion as it was before, and as it was now. These maps were constantly updated with the new information provided by the Mappers as they explored more and more of the undercity. This was displayed on what could quite possibly be the gem of Mirra, its sole remaining tactical display panel.

 

There were of course other electronics still functional throughout the city. Digital displays and lighting systems, along with some of the more durable computer systems had survived much of the damage of the Cataclysm, else they wouldn’t be able to live as they did. Still, nothing else in Mirra approached  the level technological complexity of the tactical display panel. It had originally been situated within the reactor complex as part of the control system for the reactor, probably sold to the powerplant as an excess unit that the military had no use for. It had been integrated into the systems and used to display outputs and module statuses.

 

In the aftermath of the Cataclysm it had been moved into the tan walls of the Central Map Archive, repurposed for displaying a three dimensional model of all the tunnels of the Underground. It was well detailed, showing all the major features of the cities and pipes besides the people themselves, and was kept up to date by the artificial intelligence responsible for many of their networks, Katarina.

 

Eric was greeted by that very A.I as he walked into the cathedral-esque entrance to the archive. It took a lot of processing power to house an A.I, and dedicated space devoted to such facilities were sparse in the densely packed city of Mirra. Instead Katrina housed her matrixes and subsystems all over Mirra, stretching herself across the vast realm. She was slower and less capable than most A.I’s because of this, but never the less provided irreplaceable services to them.

 

She materialized as her avatar quickly formed before him, the image of the middle aged woman projecting from a panel somewhere in the ceiling. She had a faint lime green tint to her, and the dress she wore swayed gently as if blown by some unseen wind.

 

<Hello, Mapper Eric. It seems your return has caused quite the ruckus.>

 

This was probably the first time that Eric had ever interacted with the A.I in person. Generally Katarina rarely showed herself unless there were serious matters to attend to and Eric had never before been involved with something that would require her presence.

 

“Any word from the other Mappers? Has anyone else seen the machines?” Eric did his best to sound casual. It still hadn’t really sunk into him yet that he had been responsible for such a large shift in the activities of the city.

 

<It’s difficult to say. The lines of communication are still unclear with the chaos that has descended upon us. Perhaps the situation will become easier to judge once all of you are assembled.>

 

The avatar walked up the first flight of stairs with him to the central level, the largest of the six floors. It here that the massive tactical display was housed, sitting in at the center of the auditorium. Around it were the two hundred seats of Mapper corps, an audience of the elite, each one numbered and individualized for its owner. Eric glanced around the chamber; it bustled with an uncommon level of activity. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever seen so many of his colleagues together in one area in his entire life. True, he hadn’t been a Mapper for that long, but still, it was a huge gathering.

 

<You should remain here until all of your colleagues have arrived. In the meantime, I have a city to attend to. Good luck.> and with that the A.I disappeared as quickly as it had come.

 

As he found his seat and sat down, he suddenly remembered that before all of this, he’d been working on Mapping out a new quadrant. The updates to the map would have to be processed. It helped him to focus on doing this, which he knew, in this time of uncertainty. He could feel the weight of his inexperience pressing down on him, and now again a creeping sense of doubt would enter into his mind. Was it possible that perhaps he hadn’t really seen two Stalkers there? Yes, he’d seen that limb prop itself up as something sprayed sparks all around it, but it was possible that it hadn’t been one of the combat robots, wasn’t it?

 

He pulled out the map, his eyes skimming over the rough marks he’d made on the map. He’d been at A14 when he heard the noise, then travelled east all the way to C16 where he’d found the crater. He’d been out there for hours; looking back at it now he almost couldn’t believe just how far he’d travelled to investigate the noise. He’d been kilometers out, it was a phenomenal that he’d made it back so quickly. If someone had told him that he was going to run that distance before, he would have thought they were crazy. Still, now that he was back, he couldn’t help but feel as though maybe it hadn’t been real. He mulled over his unpleasant thoughts by himself until he was pulled from his thoughts by a light tap on his shoulder from behind him. He turned, before almost jumping out of his seat as he found himself looking at Councillor Showalter flanked by two senior Mappers.

 

“Hello again Eric. I see you finally made it here.” Showalter was still wearing her black jacket, which made her shock of auburn hair stand out all the more. Why the councillors chose to wear such uncomfortable looking uniforms was beyond Eric, though he was told that the old dress uniforms were a sign of rank and station. Having once tried one of them on during a visit to the storehouse, he immensely preferred the jackets the Mappers were given. Their tan coats were very much a comfortable and functional piece of gear, derived from cloth that had originally been used to fabricate the inner layers of body armour.

 

He scrambled to his feet, giving a stiff bow, “Councillor, a pleasure to be at your service.”

 

“At ease Mapper. That was quite the show you put on before the rest of the council back there.”

 

“I was just doing my job.” He’d never been approached before by Councillor Showalter either, it was shaping up to be quite the day. Just what had he stumbled into?

 

“Indeed? I’m surprised, you handled that all pretty well given the way things went. Wharner didn’t exactly give you an easy time.”

 

“Thanks for believing in me. What’s his problem anyway, why would anyone think that I was lying?”

 

Showalter shook her head with a sigh, “Don’t mind him, Wharner has always been difficult with affairs involving the Mapper corps.”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Perhaps it would be best not to dwe-“ One of the Mappers started to speak, before being cut off by Showalter.

 

“We are all equals here in the Mapper corps, and I see no reason why we should keep such common knowledge amongst the older ranks from him. Wharner was always opposed to creation of the Mapper corps, but as with many things, the needs of the may outweighed the opinions of the few and this organization was created to serve the needs of the Underground. His son was amongst the first of the two hundred. Unfortunately, Jim died several years ago while working with two other Mappers exploring the south side of the tunnels. Wharner has been vehemently opposed to our operations since.” Showalter crossed her arms over her chest with another sigh. “It can’t be helped really, so I would try not to take it personally.”

 

“I see. I didn’t know that.” Eric didn’t quite know how he was supposed to respond to this information. He could emphasize with what had happened, but still, Wharner’s behaviour seemed extreme.

 

“Few do. In spite of his position Wharner doesn’t publicize that his son was once a Mapper. He tends to keep his personal life out of the public eye.”

 

The conversation had strayed into uncomfortable territory. Eric wasn’t interested in dwelling on the politics of the Underground, and he certainly couldn’t pretend to understand them either. Surely there had been something more important which Councillor Showalter had wanted to approach him about?

 

“So, was there something you wanted to talk about Councillor?”

 

“Yes, we’ve already began to make plans for your next assignment, you sho-“

 

“We need a medic!” the shout came suddenly from across the room, interrupting the two.

 

They ran over to the other side of the chamber, other Mappers rising to follow them as they arrived at the source of the commotion. A pair of Mapper had come in carrying a girl on a stretcher between them. She looked to be only slightly older than Eric, but more importantly she was covered in blood and her left arm was missing from the elbow downwards. A trail of blood followed in their wake as the stretcher was brought to the center of the room and set down on the floorspace. Several of Eric’s fellows rushed forwards with first aid equipment and got to work almost immediately. Within moments, the scene was hidden from view.

 

“What happened here?” Showalter questioned one of the Mappers who had brought the girl in. His cloths were drenched in blood that was not his own.

 

“We were ambushed. A pair of those floating ones…what are they called again…Prowlers? Yeah, a pair of Prowlers somehow made it in. They attacked us with those kinetic launchers of theirs. Took Vivian’s lower arm off with their first volley, shredded a good portion of the settlement’s front gate too. We dropped them with some help from the settlements automatic turrets. We wanted to stay and help, but when we heard the recall orders so we left it to the guards. They didn’t have the equipment Vivian needed either, so we had to sprint the entire way back.”

 

“Where were you guys? I sealed off the most direct route to Mirra before I ran back here.” Eric said.

 

“We were close to Veriem. Either those machines have been moving very quickly, or they’ve found some way to open or get past that door you locked off.”

 

“That’s impossible, nothing could have opened those doors once I locked it unless another Mapper purposely went there and opened them again. Not even Katarina could have opened them, not without the codes.”

 

<You called, Councillor Showalter?> Katarina suddenly reappeared before them on the central tactical display, her form towering over them. Funny, Eric hadn’t seen the councillor say anything to summon the A.I.

 

“Katarina, would you be so kind as to check the status of door C16 please.” The councillor’s expression was unreadable. Then again most adults were difficult for the boy to understand.

 

<Of course. Allow me a moment to summon the data here, it should be a simple task to determine its status from here.> Behind the A.I’s avatar the image of the grand map shifted to turn its focus to just one small area of the Underground, the picture blurring out of focus momentarily as Katarina flitted through the database to bring up the relevant data. As the image stabilized the crowd found themselves looking on the image of the reinforced steel doors of C16, alongside a small status window.

 

Door: C16

Location: T129 x J261

Type: Heavy Duty Blast Door

Construction: 30 cm Titanium-Steel Alloy, 2x 0.25cm blast coating.

Lock Type: Electronic, six digit Numeric Code Keypad

Status: Locked                                                                                                         

Locking Code: Classified Eyes Only

 

Eric felt himself breath out a sigh of relief as his eyes passed over the status of the door. Likewise the crowd around him seemed to let out a breath they hadn’t known they were holding. If the was still sealed then that meant they had a couple of days to prepare before the machines reached Mirra. With most direct route blocked, they swing around taking a route some fifteen kilometers greater, obviously with some amount of opposition on the way as well. That they had been present at Veriem was troubling, but Veriem was the closest settlement to C16. It had only been Prowlers present at Veriem, and the pair that had been there had already been dispatched. The scout units were likely travelling ahead of whatever hunter killer team was out there, so it still managed to be somewhat good news. If they had spotted Stalkers at Veriem, they would have been in a great deal of trouble indeed.

“Well then, enough of the chatter. We’re not through with this yet. Is everyone present?” While everyone had been clustered around the tactical display the last few Mappers seemed to have trickled into the room, something which apparently only Councillor Showalter had noticed.

 

“I want a head count, everyone to your seats!” One of the senior Mappers shouted.

 

<You needn’t bother Mapper Vim, all two hundred of you are now accounted for. Councillor Showalter, if I may?> The A.I looked to the councillor who nodded, before beginning.

 

<For expediency’s sake, we will be proceeding in spite of the presence of some of your injured colleagues here. I believe that everyone present is familiar with the Rule of the 200 correct?>

 

A low rumble passed through the crowd. The Rule of the 200 was known to everyone in the Underground, a law engrained into all of the founding members and those who had been born after the fact of the Cataclysm. In spite of its opponents the Mapper corps had become an integral part of the daily lives of the people, and without them there would be large gaps in many occupations, including education systems, research, and security. The Mappers were drawn from a pool of volunteers from which only the very best were selected to go on for training. It was considered a privilege to serve, and many children had aspirations of one day joining their ranks.

 

In times of crisis the Mappers were spread out across the vastness of the Underground. They were to operate alone, using their skills to lead regular troops that would be assigned to them, scattering to split their strength so that no one area was vulnerable. And two hundred of them there would be always be, no more, no less. As Mappers were lost they would be replaced from the pool of candidates in training, in order to maintain the status quo.

 

The rule was meant to ensure firstly, that the Mapper corps consisted of only the best of the best, and second, that there wouldn’t be any favouritism, all settlements would receive the benefit of the Mappers expertise. There would be no centralization of power, and everyone would be treated equally no matter how far you were from the capitol of Mirra.

 

<I know that this is unprecedented, but please listen as this is the decision of the council of 15 as a whole. For the duration of this crisis we will be making some emergency modifications to the Rule of the 200, how long these changes will last is currently unknown. Your new assignments will be affected by these policy changes, so I’ll begin there.>

 

Eric nodded slowly, though he could see others shaking their heads. He understood that some changes would be in order; after all, he had been the one to bring news of the invasion. What came next though was far from what he had expected.

 

---

 

0.06 paced impatiently at the mouth of the crater, irritated by the lack of progress below. Although the Prowlers had managed to get quite far through the tunnels, all six of the scout units had been destroyed. Unable to pass through the narrow tunnels which the hovering drones had used to move forwards, the twelve Stalkers were currently halted in front of a large blast door which resisted their attempts to destroy it. They would have to go around, which would take far longer than 0.06 would have liked.

 

He was certain that 0.09 was imprisoned somewhere underground, trapped inside by the humans. He’d been hunting for his sister unit since she’d disappeared some seven years ago, back when those humans were almost finished adapting to the new conditions following the Cataclysm. The two had been travelling together, out on the western limits of the city investigating strange flare ups of heat originating from an abandoned power plant. When they arrived at their destination and entered the derelict structure, they were ambushed by a large group of humans who opened up on the two robots with their weapons.

 

The two Alpha levels wove their way through the fray with their inhuman speed, avoiding the majority of the projectiles while the occasional bullet that did strike them merely bounced off of their armoured plating. It was fruitless to attempt to combat the machines with conventional weapons. They had been designed with the secondary purpose of functioning as combat units and they performed admirably in that role, outmatching their human opponents without effort.

 

Things changed when a white coloured missile detonated not two meters from the two Alphas. It detonated with a crackle before knocking the two machines to the ground. After that, 0.06 was missing a good thirty minutes from his memory space. When the Alpha level awoke, he had found his systems sluggish, limbs unresponsive, and 0.09 missing. A quick analysis had him concluding that he had been subjected to the effects of an electro-magnetic pulse at close range. The damage to his frame had been significant, but nothing beyond the capabilities of his repair systems, which were part of his shielded core.

 

Somehow, the humans had managed to disappear, taking his sister with them. Traces of the battle such scorch marks and shell casings still existed, but there nothing to hint at where they might have gone. Once his frame was fully functional the robot did a sweep of the building, but found nothing useful. Even the heat pulse that had drawn them there initially was nowhere to be found. From then on, he had utilized his abilities to their fullest in an attempt to find his sister. He was after all, the scout, specialized in tracking down targets.

 

The Alpha level had begun his work by locating Beta level units around the city and recruiting them for his cause. Unlike the Oracle he didn’t have access to something as grand as her eyes in the sky, but the orange Alpha did have a knack for modifying internal codes involving autonomy. It was a simple matter for the humanoid robot to rewrite the core processes of combat robots he found, repurposing them to serve him. Besides, they weren’t doing very much with their patrols anyway, there was hardly anything left in the city worth guarding, and whether they recognized it or not the humans that remained in Aphelion weren’t enemies that they had initially been assigned to destroy. They would serve as his eyes and ears, and over the years 0.06 amassed quite a number of them.

 

However, the Alpha level hadn’t made much progress even with all of these tools at his disposal until three years ago. In a stroke of luck, if it could be called that, he was attacked by a group of human soldiers while examining an abandoned water treatment plant on the outskirts of the city. This time, the machine didn’t bother with defensive manoeuvres; he had tried that last time and ended up on the receiving end of an electromagnetic pulse.

 

The machine ignited the Ion Blade normally housed in a small compartment built into its right wrist, letting the thin metal cylinder slide into its waiting fingers before allowing the weapon to exude its thin metal blade. It extended to its full length of one meter before it activated with a hiss, the magnetic containment field bottling the cloud of ionized gas, waves of heat rolling from its surface.

 

The gasses glowed a furious orange, the blade itself shining bright enough to leave a ghostly afterimage of the trail of its passing as it crackled through the air, igniting the particles that drifted too close. The superheated ions made it a lethal weapon that cut through flesh and steel alike with ease, melting its way through anything that touched its surface.

 

The initial Alpha levels 0.00 and 0.01 had not been designed for combat, however 0.06 belonged to a second generation of the machines that all had some level of purpose in their design. Even having taken on the personality of the dedicated scouting unit, 0.06 remained a formidable foe, more than capable of handling multiple opponents. The machine shot forwards into the fray with inhuman speed, the orange blur slashing across the clustered soldiers leaving piles of broken, dismembered bodies behind him.

 

It was truly a slaughter as the Alpha sliced them apart, jumping between the walls to purge each and every last one of them. Except, for one; the unit commander, with his distinctly unique shoulder pauldron lay huddled on the floor beside a damaged radio unit, eyes wide and unfocused. He kneeled beside another soldier who wasn’t quite dead yet, his arms were bent at odd angles and a pool of blood was slowly forming beneath his prone form. Clutched in the officer’s hand was a smooth white sphere, which the machine recognized as a pulse grenade.

 

As the Alpha leapt down from his perch to join the human, slowly pacing forwards, the soldier’s fingers sliding towards the activation stud on the explosive, an act which the machine would not tolerate. He accelerated his pace before almost casually reaching at the soldier’s arm, ripping the grenade from his hand before tossing it away to clatter somewhere on the upper decks of the facility. The force broke the man’s fingers leaving him whimpering on the floor, clutching his hand to his chest. The dying soldier beneath them both coughed as the terrified officer squeezed his hand in a death grip.

 

<It would be most prudent if you were to release your grip.> the machine’s comment elicited no response from the man.

 

<I was unaware that causing your comrades pain was one of your goals.> 0.06 continued, stepping forwards to clamp the talons of his feet on the fallen man’s neck. <I’m not overly fond of that particular sensation myself, so if you will not cease this unnecessary action, I will…how is it you humans put it, end his misery?>

 

The machine waited for a moment, cocking its head just ever so slightly to the left as an eerie silence drifted between the two. To 0.06, the man’s continued silence just would not do. Nor would he allow this dying human to continue to suffer, better to put the man out of his misery. With a swift twisting of his ankle joint, he snapped the man’s neck, the action prompting a small jolt from the officer.

 

“If you’re going to kill me, do it machine. I have nothing to say to you.” The man’s voice was surprisingly steady, given what had just happened.

 

Nevertheless, 0.06 remained unimpressed as the two and a half meter robot stopped down to haul the soldier into the air, his talon tipped fingers firmly grasping the man’s neck. As the machine followed the man’s gaze, he noticed that the soldier seemed to be glancing at the bodies of his fallen comrades. They were broken dead things, but there was a noticeable lack of blood. The superheated edge of the Ion Blade cauterized the wounds it created even as it melted its way through flesh and metal, leaving behind only dismembered corpses and the sickening smell of cooked tissue.

 

<Why do you look at the dead? They are beyond you now human, and can offer you no help. Your business is with me.> 0.06’s spoke in an even tone, betraying not a hint of emotion.

 

As before, the Alpha’s query elicited no response, an act which prompted 0.06 to trace the tip of the blade close to the man’s face. Even without touching him, the heat emanating from the blade was uncomfortably hot, the primary reason why such weaponry had never seen much use from human soldiers.

 

<I’m looking for a companion of mine, so I’d like you to answer some questions for me human.>

The inching forwards of the Ion Blade eventually produced a grimace from the man. “Why the hell should I help you? You machines spend your time hunting us down just for the hell of it. And even if I wanted to, how would I know where some machine is? There are machines everywhere.”

 

The burning sword flashed forwards, tracing a smoldering circle onto the soldier’s cheek. <You’re not listening human. Don’t classify me was some mere Hunter-Killer type Beta level. I am looking for my sister, 0.09. I know that you humans have secreted her away somewhere in this city for your own purposes, and I would have it that I retrieve her. Tell me human, where are you from?>

 

Somehow, the man managed to find the strength to spit at 0.06’s armoured frame. A pointless gesture, but somehow the Alpha found a deeply rooted sense of irritation welling up from his cognitive core. Sometimes, the machine thought that his brother had made them a little too human. <It has been some two years, three months, seventeen hours, twenty three minutes, and fifty three point six nine seconds since I last engaged human soldiers in attire like yours when my sister and I were ambushed. We located within an abandoned power plant on the eastern end of this city. Are familiar with the occasion to which I am referring human?>

 

“You’ll get nothing from me, machine scum.” Even as the machine slowly tightened his grip, the man somehow managed to choke out a defiant response. 0.06 sighed, humans and their antics were so frustrating sometimes. The machine lowered the soldier to the ground releasing his hold on his neck. The soldier staggered back, wheezing for air.

 

<Don’t bother trying to run, I’d catch you in an instant. Answer my questions and I’ll let you go. Tell me, what is so important about this building?> 0.06 could see nothing special about this particular facility that might make it some worth dying over. <What is so important about this place you and your companions would give your lives to keep me from here?>

 

“Nothing, we were just camped here for the night. You think you can walk in here and we’re not going to shoot? You must be out of your mind robot freak.” The vehemence in the soldier’s voice was real, but there was something off about the way he spoke. The Alpha level could tell that the man was lying.

 

<You are of no use to me if you will not answer truthfully. Tell me what I want to know, or I will simply dispose of you and investigate for myself.>

 

A surreptitious glance to the side was more than enough to draw 0.06’s attention, the robot’s sensitive optics easily catching the tensing of the man’s muscles. It was however, simply a ruse. The detonator built into the soldier’s gauntlet was within easy reach, even with just this slight distraction it was no longer physically possible for the Alpha to stop him.

 

“You lose, machine.” The words were faint, but easily audible to the Alpha. It made the taste of defeat all the more bitter.

 

The world exploded around them, the water treatment plant imploding inwards on its occupants as the explosives built into its walls detonated all at once to bring the building down. Even as the machine brought the Ion Blade upwards in a vicious swing to draw a massive diagonal across the man’s chest slicing him in two, a faint grin managed to form on his face.

 

A simple series of wheeling slashes above and around the space the machine occupied kept the largest chunks of debris clear of its frame. The fires licked at the Alpha’s armour scorching it black, but the damage was mostly superficial. The combat robot was than capable of surviving these kinds of forces, and even the more delicate components of its joints could easily be repaired by the nanomachines housed within it. No, definitely most frustrating was the fact that 0.06 hadn’t been able to extract an answer from the soldier before he had done this. Now, the man was dead and ay chance at extracting information from him or this structure had been lost.

 

Or at the very least, that had been the initial impression that 0.06 had formed. When at last the flames burned themselves out and the debris had settled to the floor, his sensors were able to pick up an anomaly in the otherwise solid surface. Clearing away the rubble around it, he found a set of tightly sealed steel doors located in what would have once been the center of the plant. Oddly enough, they opened downwards into the floor, and didn’t appear to have any sort of mechanism to open them. After studying the door for a few moments, 0.06 concluded that the door was probably either sealed from the inside, or the operating mechanisms had been destroyed along with the facility. 0.06 smashed his fist against the doors in frustration, but the heavy doors refused to open.

 

<You think you can hide beneath the earth, stick your heads in the sand and hope that I will forget the crimes you have committed? I will hunt you down and find a way to free my sister, even if it takes a millennium!>

 

For three precious minutes the Alpha level raged with irrational fury against the heavy doors, but as before they would not budge no matter how much force he applied. Eventually the machine came to his senses and went on his way, determined to search the entire city for another way into this world beneath the earth.

 

And so 0.06 had spent the past few years doing just that, hunting for access to the world beneath. As before the incident his Beta levels spread out through the icy ruins in search of human life. Many times 0.06 would find sets of armoured doors embedded into the floors of seemingly abandoned buildings, but they were always sealed shut, unyielding before his efforts to open them.

 

His efforts had not gone to waste. Most recently two of his Stalker units had intercepted a human interloper impinging on their territory, within the expanse of the tangled wires that lay draped in an icy blanket over what remained of the upper levels of the city. They were unsuccessful in their pursuit of the human female, eventually falling to the city floor and taking heavy damage due to the untimely intervention of other human survivors. A curiosity, since it was uncommon to find any of them living up that high in 0.06’s experience, but a trifling matter beside his other discovery.

 

The two Stalkers plunged through the city floor, carried through it by the kinetic energy released through the impact of their armoured frame. The hole they created exposed a gaping mass of pipes flanking a gridded floor, the tunnel formed by it led off into the darkness. By itself this would not have been enough to draw the Alpha level over to the site in person, but the eventual arrival of a young, coat laden human male was enough to sway the machine’s attention.

 

0.06 was the scout unit, or at least that was the persona he had adopted at the time of his activation. Many of his skills and personality traits were centered around independent operation and tracking which allowed him a unique perspective on the world around him. Tracing particulate matter was a talent many of his siblings had glossed over. Generally speaking, their advanced sensor suites were more than enough to detect the objects in the environment around them, particularly with the extra sensitivity provided by their apt for detecting electrical currents. For the orange Alpha however, the ability to trace where certain objects had come from eased his ability to hunt things down, and with the tasks he’d been given the skill was a gift unmatched.

 

The boy carried on him particles identical to the ones that had been on the soldiers three years ago. Their signature was unmistakable, and their presence told the 0.06 that he was on the right track. When he arrived at the site he would investigate the matter personally. He would need a distraction once he began his campaign, and many of the Beta levels he controlled were too far to be recalled efficiently, hence the necessity for him to construct the foundry. Once they were assembled though, he was ready to proceed as planned.

 

Even now fresh units poured into the tunnel opening before him to join their companions. Regardless of his irritation at their delay, the Stalker units would fulfill their true task regardless of their success in mounting any real assault. So long as they preoccupied the attention of the human defenders then it would be easy enough for 0.06 to slip past and find his sister.

 

Assured of the fact that his small army had had enough time to gather the attention of the humans, it was time for 0.06 to proceed himself with the search. Before that though, there was still the matter of making use of the remaining Hunter Spyder still waiting with him in the crater. He had declined to unleash the combat robot because of its…less controllable habits, when compared to its brethren of smaller stature. It was a true Hunter-Killer unit, deeply ingrained with its killing algorithms to the point where it was difficult to issue it any commands once it set its sights on what had been classified to it as a priority target. That was the price it paid for its superior abilities in independent operation and intelligence. It was also far more difficult to replace should it be destroyed, with much of its frame supported by large quantities of flowmetal and not easily produced electronics.

 

This was not to say that the Alpha level couldn’t control the machine with its own virus, it just that even with the virus the vicious things were strong willed and unpredictable. Given them a task and they would complete it, but the means by which they did so could be varied, the only constant being that it would invariably involve violence. It was possible that the use of such a machine would be unnecessary, and 0.06 loathed to waste resources. Even with their frailty and their seemingly irrational insistence on hindering his movements, the humans could potentially prove useful. Gathering information was an integral part to what 0.06 did, and he could do nothing with corpses. It would ease his task of finding 0.09 if there were still people alive to question.

 

In the end though, the Alpha decided that the Hunter Spyder’s presence would serve as an excellent distraction, and besides, its ability to squeeze through tight corridors with his malleable frame gave it unparalleled mobility. As for giving it directions, the orange Alpha didn’t have any. So long as it stayed out of his way, the Hunter Spyder would be of use to him. He gave it a final pat on its spherical optics center hanging beneath its armoured body, talons clanging against the metal surface. At long last, progress.

 

He dismissed the Hunter Spyder watching it slink off into the darkness. Then after a moment he sprinted off in the opposite direction to find 0.09, a grey-orange ghost in the darkness.

---

8: Oblivion Falls: 06

Claire followed Jeff through the grey hallways of Spire Five, trailing just slightly behind him. Others who walked seemed to find their eyes drawn to Claire and her foreign armour, though none stopped to comment, probably too busy with their duties to really care. They flashed by, crowds mingling into a blurred mass of limbs and faces as they trudged on through the seemingly endless hallways. Almost all of them were armed, the acrid scent of gunpowder and the grey-black of gunmetal dancing before her eyes.

 

It was amazing to her that such a world had existed in this place, an entire city full of people, hiding amongst the clouds. Then again she had spent most of her life on the ground level, never daring to venture too far from home. The warnings of her sister were etched into the back of her head, reminders of the things that prowled this city in the dark and the dangers they posed. Had she known about this place? If so, why had she never mentioned it to anyone else? With all the times that her sister had ventured out on her own, it was impossible to know where exactly she had gone. Could she possibly be alive here? But then…how could she have left Claire behind?

 

“Claire. Claire!” she was pulled from her thoughts by Jeff’s gauntleted hand, which was waving in front of her face. “Are you listening?”

 

“Sorry, I got distracted, you were saying?”

 

“I said,” Jeff started as the two stepped into the central elevator which had brought them up here, “that you’ll have to stay here with us until the Lieutenant decides to release you.”

 

She rolled her eyes, following him inside. “And when exactly would that be.”

 

He seemed to miss her derisive tone. “It’s difficult to say with the Lieutenant, he is…a peculiar man.” Unlike before, the elevator interior was a brilliant sapphire blue, lights dancing across the ceiling and control panel. This unit certainly seemed newer than the one they’d been in previously. Claire wondered if there was a reason for the contrast.

 

“So where will I be staying, I don’t suppose you have guest quarters prepared?”

 

That drew a small laugh from the soldier, “Something like that, you’ll see when we arrive.”

 

A chime from the elevator prompted Jeff to usher Claire out, placing a firm hand on her shoulder as they stepped back outside into the grey hallways of Spire Five. She noticed almost immediately that all the doors and junctions of the corridor almost only ever opened out into the right. From this, she guessed that they were in the central hallway that had to stretch along the perimeter of the structure. On the outside the needle-like structure presented with a curved contour, but now she could see from the relative straightness of the hall that the structure must have been massive in size. Just what was something like this meant for?

 

Thinking about the structure was welcome distraction, it kept her mind from wandering to more pertinent questions like what might be happening to Val and the others while she was stuck here. Or at least, that was what she told herself. She found her eyes strangely drawn to all of the small details, registering their presence almost automatically. But always, her eyes went immediately to the gunmetal grey, the bulges beneath the uniforms, the grooved edges, the knife hilts. They traced their movements even as she dragged her gaze across the scene to other things, registering where they were, and where they were likely to end up pointed.

 

It had always been that way, but here in this militarized structure with all these armed personnel, it was overwhelming. The glut of sensory information left her with a buzzing irritation at the back of her mind. Even the glaring lights above them were a tad more comforting in comparison, the discomfort it caused her eyes helping to block other things out.

 

As they progressed through the floor, the steady stream of personnel trickled down giving way to long, empty halls lined with numbered rooms. There was an odd stillness to the air here, as though the corridor was seldom used; most of the rooms had their doors shut, and Claire could see a fine layer of dust coating the door controls.

 

“Where are we exactly?”

 

“This is the trainee hall, where we house our cadets who are looking to join the workforce at Spire Five in the future.”

 

“So there are kids here then?”

 

Jeff gave her a look, “Trainee is a rather broad term, don’t you think?”

 

She fell silent. She had never really gotten along with other people even at the best of times and if she was getting the right idea of where Jeff was going with all of this, it looked like she was going to room with a stranger. The thought made her uncomfortable. So far, of all the people in this place she only really knew Jeff and the Lieutenant, and of those two only Jeff was even somewhat pleasant to hang around.

 

Jeff stopped them before a door just before the end of the hallway. A plaque on the front read ‘Katherine Quinte’, and beneath it a dark rectangle told Claire that someone else had also been in this room at some point.

 

“You’ll be staying here with Katherine, one of our trainees. She’s probably out for training at the moment so you’ll have the room to yourself for a while. Mathew should have had your things sent up here, but let me know if anything is missing.” The soldier tapped something into the control panel and gestured at Claire to step forwards.

 

“Put your hand on the pad, and lean down so this light shines into your eye. That will give you access to the room from now on.”

 

The bright blue of the scanner was almost painfully bright as it flitted over her retina, memorizing the pattern of her blood vessels. She blinked away the brightness as it flicked off and the door slid open with a smooth hiss.

 

“You’ll have the place to yourself for a couple hours, so I suggest you take the time to settle in. Someone will come in the morning with your orders tomorrow.”

 

“Orders?” she raised an eyebrow.

 

Jeff gave her a shrug, “That’s what the Lieutenant said. I guess you’re working with us now.”

 

Claire bit back a response, letting the door slide shut as the soldier began to walk away. Arguing with Jeff would accomplish nothing. It wasn’t as though he was in charge, and it made no sense to make an enemy out of the only person who had been friendly to her this whole time. She took her time surveying the room from beside the door, letting her eyes do their thing, soaking in every detail.

 

The room began with a short hallway before being split down the middle by what looked like a translucent plastic curtain suspended from the ceiling. Each side of the room had a plain, low set bed flanked by a small desk, all this illuminated by two strips of lighting embedded into the ceiling. The walls were an off white, more pleasing to the eyes then the sea of grey outside, but otherwise unadorned. Her bag lay atop a folded set of bed sheets, the hole that Private Lanz had punched into it sewn up.

 

She started forwards to the unoccupied left side when she saw the bag. There had been so much going on that she hadn’t had time to check if everything was still there. If anything had fallen out of it when she almost fell off that cable, then it was lost to her now. Her canteen was still sitting in the holder on the side, but she’d lost her scattergun when she’d been thrown off the cable, but to her surprise when she unsealed the top she found herself staring down the barrel of an M-26, the very same model of weapon that she had been using. Its weight when she removed it from the bag told her that it was unloaded. She let it rest in her arms for a while, allowing the scent of oil and metal to drift up to her nostrils, before setting it gently onto the floor. She had been using the M-26 that she’d taken with her since she was a child. Her sister had taught her how when they’d been on the run, just after everything went to shit. It was a fond memory from a time of turmoil.

 

The pair of icepicks had been tied together by a short length of cord, but otherwise they were as she’d left them. She was a little surprised that they hadn’t fallen out of the hole given their weight and the way that she’d been thrown off the side. Besides that there was only one other thing that should have been there; she’d packed light for the climb, avoiding any unnecessary weight that might slow her down.

 

Even with her excellent eyesight, it was difficult to spot the translucent rectangle, nestled into a pocket on the inside. But she knew where it should have been, and she felt a sense of relief rush through her when she reached in and felt her fingers slide against the smooth surface of the digital display. She pulled it out, sitting down on the bed as she did so sliding the actuator on the side of the device. It hummed to life, lighting up with the image that had been encoded into it.

 

Claire was nine in the image, sitting in her sister’s lap fiddling with a toy that was long gone enjoying the feeling of Elaine’s hand running through her ruffled hair. Even then, they had looked very alike with their bluish black hair and thin faces. She’d seldom seen her sister before then; often she would be out at work until very late in the night, and it was only in the morning that Claire would see her again. Claire herself had spent most of the days at school, returning home late in the afternoon in the company of a designated escort who brought her to the residential complex where she’d spent the remaining hours of the day entertaining herself with toys and the computer terminal in her room. Meals that had been set aside in the kitchen would be heated automatically, and a bell would summon her when it was time to eat. It had been a lonely affair, but such had been the state of things.

 

Their parents had died when Claire was only two months old, leaving just her sister and her to fend for themselves. When she had asked Elaine what had happened to them, she’d never gotten a straight answer. She eventually had come to accept that there never would be one for her, all that mattered was that they were gone and Elaine remained to take care of her. She stared at it for a while, trying to remember more of what life had been back then, before staying alive had become a daily struggle. Sure, they had never had it easy, but she had been comfortable with the arrangement.

 

It was all that she had left to remember her by now. Elaine had disappeared seven years ago, out on a supply run scrounging for essentials on the city floor alone. She had never returned, leaving them in a rather desperate situation. In spite her age at the time, Claire had primarily been the one to take over the duties her sister once fulfilled because her sister had taught her a lot about staying alive and where to find supplies. These were all just memories from long ago, but still she was glad that the image had survived.

 

She set her things back in her pack, sliding it to the foot the bed. A clean grey uniform had been placed at the head, from a cursory glance its appearance seemed to be similar to many of the others of the personnel within Spire Five. Claire slid out of her perspiration-soaked clothes and after grabbing the uniform, stepped into the bathroom at the side.

 

Back at the compound with Val they hadn’t been fortunate enough to have working plumbing, however the equipment had all been there, and there was abundance of snow outside even if water wasn’t actively being brought into the building. Some tinkering with the systems done by Val and Elaine in the early years had allowed them to have a working shower and sink eventually, although the water stores had to be replenished each day.

 

She was pleasantly surprised to find that the water was running in this phenomenally tall building. The faucet set into the wall let out a small trickle of water when she hovered a hand nearby the outlet, the cold fluid pooling at the bottom of the basin for just a moment before disappearing down the drain. She stopped when she saw herself in the mirror, looking at her gaunt figure with her protruding ribs and cheekbones. There were more lines around her grey-blue eyes than she recalled, and her hair was ragged at the ends. The fight to stay alive had taken a heavy toll on her frame and any trace youth was gone from her features. Scars ran across her pale skin, some from past encounters with predators on foraging trips, others so old she couldn’t recall how she’d got them. But most distinctive of all was black mark etched into her left shoulder blade.

 

The null symbol was about an inch across, a hollow circle with a jagged slash running from the top right to the bottom left. It had been there for as long as she could remember, identical to the one that had appeared one day on her sister’s left cheek. Elaine had told her that it meant nothing, and when Claire had looked into it later on others had affirmed that statement. Quite literally it had once been used as a symbol to represent an absence of sound, or an empty set. Val for one had never seemed to notice anything special about it when Elaine had still been around. Still, she had always thought that the mark must have had some other significance. Why else would it have been placed there, and why else would there have been an identical one for Elaine?

 

The moment of introspection was short lived as she pried her gaze away from the mirror, stepping into the shower to find a brief moment of oblivion beneath the water, letting her thoughts melt away. It had been a long day and she was far from home, alone in this city in the sky. But for the moment she could do nothing but accept this as reality, so she closed her eyes, finished her shower and slid into the bed to meet the blackness of the void.

---

 

When Claire awoke the next day, she found that the room was illuminated by the thin plastic sheet which ran across the center of the room, a gentle blue glow emanating from the membranous surface. She could see a silhouette cast through from the other side, the black figure dancing across the screen with the subtle movements of their owner.  She pushed the sheets off of her body and rolled off the bed, deftly finding her footing to rise with a springing step.

 

She assumed that this was her roommate, returned from her training exercise at some point in the evening This Katherine was certainly an early bird if that was the case, personally, Claire couldn’t stand getting up earlier, it left her with an aching feeling in her head and throbbing in her eyes, particularly if she’d been up a long period of time before that. She sure that if she’d been woken earlier in the day, her eyes would have done just that, protesting against the lack of downtime they were receiving.

 

 She moved her hand up to the translucent sheet, feeling the warmth that emanated from its surface before cautiously pushing at it with the tips of her fingers. To her surprise it parted easily before her, her hand passing through with little resistance as the membrane reformed soundlessly around her wrist without any discomfort. She drew her face close bring her eye right up to its surface only to find that it was featureless and plain. Whatever it was made of, it wasn’t a material that she was familiar with.

 

Wordlessly, she stepped through the sheet, the sensation similar to that of walking through a curtain of water, though she remained dry when she emerged on the other side. She found a girl that looked to be about her age, her head turned away so all that Claire could see besides the chair she was sitting in was her shoulder length black hair.

 

The other girl was sitting at the desk, working on the assembly of a weapon of sort, put together from metal and plastic polymers. Claire’s eyes flashed over the pieces taking in all of them at once, the array leaving a disconcerting afterimage on the surface of her retinas. A word and memory came unbidden into her mind. R-13, Assault Carbine, a name stapled to the image of a short barrelled rifle sitting on a gridded table of black metal; and then in a flash the memory was gone, leaving her standing there behind the chair about a foot away from the other girl.

 

“Uh, hello, can I help you?” The girl was waving her hand in front of Claire’s face.

 

Claire blinked away the last traces of the afterimage, gritting her teeth as she tried to clear her head. In the past this particular talent of hers had been useful for staying alive, it gave her an edge when it came to avoiding machine patrols and even when she was sparring with Will or Val. But now it had become an inconvenience.

 

“You’re Katherine right?” Claire said with one last shake of her head.

 

The upper receiver of the rifle clattered onto the desk as the other girl completed it with the final addition of the gun barrel to the rest of the armature. “Yeah, I heard from the Coordinator that I was going to be getting a new roomie, but I didn’t know you were going to be a Lemming.”

 

“I’m sorry, Lemming? What do you mean by that?”

 

Katherine seemed not to hear her, having already turned back to her desk, hands turning to the lower receiver of the carbine as she slotted the trigger assembly into place. All remained on the table now was the flash suppressor and the optics, both of which could be mounted easily enough once the two halves of the weapon were put together. Claire looked on impassively as the girl seemed to struggle with the suppressor, the cylinder refusing to enter the barrel of the weapon. She watched Katherine struggle with it for a moment before finally deciding to interrupt her.

 

“You’re screwing it in the wrong way.”

Katherine paused, eyes flashing angrily. “I can do it myself, I know the procedure.”

 

Claire shrugged her shoulders. What was with this girl, she’d only been trying to help. “Suit yourself.”

 

The assembled weapon was laid on the desk surface with a dull thud, barrel pointed away from the two girls. “What’s your deal anyway, walking through the separator and staring at me like some zombie?”

 

“Sorry, I have a bad habit of spacing out sometimes.” It would take too long to explain her unusual talent, and Claire wasn’t sure she was ready to trust girl yet anyway.

 

“Well cut it out Lemming, I hate being stared at.”

 

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

 

“What, Lemming? Because that’s what you are.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Claire asked. The term certainly didn’t sound very appealing, and the girls’ attitude towards her didn’t help much either. Was it just her difficulty getting along with other people, or was this girl actually being uncooperative?

 

“The Lieutenant sent me a copy of your file, it says you’re from below at the ground level. That makes you a Lemming, just another meal for the predators and machines. I’m amazed you’re still alive.”

 

Insulting as it was to be dismissed as some sort of disposable rodent, Claire found it more disturbing that the Lieutenant was handing out files about her. “What do you mean you got a copy of my file? I just got here yesterday.”

 

Katherine removed a translucent sheet similar to the one she’d seen in the Lieutenant’s office from the desk, thrusting it in Claire’s direction. “See for yourself. I gotta say though, you’re pretty fast.”

 

The clip of her escape from the two Stalkers made Claire realise just how monstrous they had been. They towered over her, some four meters in height at the top of their weaponized heads, the ovular compartment sitting comfortably in the center of their torso rings. From the perspective of the video taken from above, the machines moved with an unsettling scuttling motion, skittering across the ice with only three limbs touching the surface at any one time. She shuddered, an unpleasant tingling running down her spine. She couldn’t quite place why, but just looking at them made her fingers twitch.

“So, the Lieutenant has arranged for you to join me for the day’s training. We should be heading out about now, so grab your things.”

 

“Yeah, sure.” Claire muttered, silently cursing the Lieutenant under her breath. He seemed just like the kind of person who would arrange for something like that to be done without telling her about it. To top it off  he’d stuck her in a room with this infuriating girl too. “What are we going to be doing?”

 

“No idea, Lieutenant said he’d have further instructions for us when we arrive.” Katherine answered, grabbing a bag from the floor and slinging it onto her back. She turned back to the desk and swept the carbine up into her arms, stepping towards the door as Claire moved back through the membrane to grab her own things. “I’ll be waiting by the door Lemming.”

 

“My name is Claire Katherine!” Claire yelled back as Katherine was walking through the doorway, but received no response. She swore silently again before she turned her attention to her things. At some point during the night, someone must have come in and taken care of her things because her body armour lay stacked in a neat pile by the foot of the bed, the polymer plates scratched and dented, but fresh with the scent of detergent. She scooped the pieces up onto the bed and then pulled them on, one by one listening to the straps click smoothly into place.

 

She sighed as she swung her own backpack onto her back, slinging the scattergun over her shoulder, fastening it there before stepping up to the door to meet Katherine. The lanky girl met her wordlessly, gesturing for her to follow before stepping out into the winding maze of hallways. Claire did her best to remember the route, but even to her eyes the walls all looked identical. Spatial memory had never been one of her strong suits, but nevertheless she made an effort to try and at least record the turns they made. Eventually though after several minutes of walking, the two found themselves before the central elevator that ran up and down the spine of Spire Five.

 

Katherine pressed her palm to the glowing blue pad and second later the elevator doors opened with a soft hiss. This time, the interior was not the beaten grey of the car that they’d been in when Jeff brought her up the first time, but a sparkling blue that danced across the chrome interior. The view of the new elevator car was momentarily mesmerizing, until the sight of Katherine’s fingers moving across the glittering array of elevator controls drew Claire’s attention.

 

Katherine selected a crimson circle ringing a light blue ‘T’, leaning just slightly forward to depress the symbol which shifted to a vivid green thereafter. Claire felt the slight pull of acceleration beneath her feet as the compartment began to ascend upwards, the unpleasant feeling generated by rapid differential of air pressure pressing into her ears.

 

The other girl hummed quietly as they waited, the thrum carrying through the air offsetting the unpleasant feeling somewhat. She tried to make sense of the array of buttons as they travelled, eyes flitting over the glowing grid which was made up of an innumerable number of different shaped buttons, all filled with numbers letters and symbols, none of which meant anything to her.

 

It was all quite foreign to her given her upbringing down below, and yet none of it was quite as unfamiliar as she thought it would be. Perhaps it was just that most of the new pieces of technology she’d seen here were intuitively designed, but for some reason none of it really surprised her. Then again, in spite of the fact that she had been living without any of this technology she’d also spent most of her life hiding from independently operating killing machines, so nothing could really surprise her at this point.

 

“Is there really a point to this complicated control panel?”

 

That prompted a raised eyebrow from Katherine, “It’s really not that complex. There are over two hundred and thirty floors to this Spire alone so it’d be rather pointless just to number the buttons. Only the more important floors are listed on the panel, the function of that floor represented by the symbol on the button. The rest you can access through manual command using the interface to the left.” Katherine’s spidery fingers danced in the direction of a small number pad and digital display.

“So what does that mean?” Claire nodded towards the now green button which Katherine had depressed when they entered.

 

“It means, that we’re headed to the training floor, the hundred and fifty fourth, if you want the specifics. We’re coming up from residence floor C on twenty seven, so it’ll be another couple minutes or so before we arrive.”

 

Claire did her best to absorb the information, unsure as she was of how long she might be here, it was in her best interest to be aware of how to get around. Not that she intended on staying here for very long since she still had a job to get back to, but it was very possible at this point that she wouldn’t have a choice but to stay. Damn that Lieutenant.

 

The thought of Val and the others stuck down there, unsure of where she’d gone left her with a sensation of guilt which wormed its way down to her stomach. They wouldn’t have noticed her absence yet, she had said that she’d be gone awhile after all, but still she was up here in this veritable palace amongst the clouds while they were in very real danger of starving.

 

The thought of food made her realize that she hadn’t eaten yet, the last time had been when she’d stopped at the overhang before the Stalker started shooting at her. She didn’t get a chance to say anything about it though because at that moment the she felt the elevator begin to slow, and the doors slid open which caused Katherine to step forwards without another glance.

 

She’d never had a guide before, but as far as she was concerned Katherine wasn’t doing a very good job of it. Her anger faded quickly as her eyes were suddenly assaulted by a wealth of unexpected visual information. It appeared as though they were standing in the middle of a vast plateau, barren and sun scorched, an artificial light blazing down on them from above. Gunfire crackled across the empty space, ringing across what must have been kilometers on end of open terrain.

 

From the outside, the Spire had seemed to be just a thin needle stretching into the clouds but now its vastness became quite apparent, it was a huge chamber, larger than anything of the sort that Claire had ever seen. There were even clusters of what must have been vegetation, the green standing out vividly against the dull browns and yellows. She’d never seen anything like it in person of course, but her eyes almost immediately picked up on the unfamiliar images, matching them to pictures she’d seen in some of the books Val had managed to find over the years.

 

“Is this real?” Claire asked when she finally found her voice.

 

“Of course it’s real. I would hate to think that our engineers toiled here on this floor for four years just to create some sort of gigantic illusion.” Claire almost jumped at the unpleasantly familiar voice which came from behind them.

 

Katherine snapped into a swift salute, “Lieutenant, I’ve brought our guest here as you requested.”

 

“So I noticed. You’re free to attend your own affairs trainee, please keep your communicator on so I can contact you if I require your services again.”

 

“Yes sir.” Her sharp response didn’t match the glower on her face. It seemed as though she didn’t enjoy being the subject of the Lieutenant’s attention. After a moment she stalked off, leaving Claire alone with the Lieutenant. As before, the thinly built man was dressed in his crisp black uniform in spite of the waves of heat that beat down from above. Already Claire could feel her skin tingling with discomfort, but the officer seemed unaffected. Now that she was standing beside him, Claire could see that the Lieutenant wasn’t actually that tall, her head easily reached his shoulder, and she ended up only being about fifteen centimeters shorter.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“Is that any way to address your superior?”

 

“I don’t take orders from you, not officially.”

 

“Do you really think it’s wise to start off the day with antagonizing me? We’re both aware of the fact that I hold the keys to the departure you so desire.”

 

“You’re the one who said you needed people like me.” Claire countered.

 

He waved his hand in the air dismissively, “Doesn’t matter if it’s you in particular, there are ways in which I could procure others of your calibre from below.”

 

Claire let the matter drop, unwilling to continue sparring with this unpleasant character. She could see the slight bulge of a handgun just under his jacket at the hip, and regardless of what she thought it was probably that going along with things would ultimately help her get out of here faster.

 

“Whatever, are you going to tell me why I’m here, or not?”

 

“Well first off, I’d like to know if you’ve decided whether or not you’ll stay with us.”

 

That brought Claire back to the other issue, the questionable motives and ethics of her host. “For just how long have you been aware that there are people like me down there?”

 

Her query prompted the Lieutenant to tilt his head ever so slightly to the side, a questioning look appearing on his face. “What do you mean by that?”

 

“Katherine says that you call us Lemmings, as if we’re just animals to you. If our lives are really so meaningless, I find it hard to believe that you’re sincere in what you told me yesterday.”

 

A grimace twisted the sharp contours of the man’s face, “Your colleague’s…choice use of language is not representative of the attitudes of this community as a whole. There have been multiple trips down below in the past to help people in positions like yours, it’s just that…they enjoy an unpopular reputation with many.”

 

“Meaning?” If it were up to Claire, talking in the way that the Lieutenant did, with that roundabout way of speaking, would be considered unpopular. Things would go a lot more quickly if only he would just talk straight.

 

“The last party we sent out spotted a pair of women down south near what’s left of the Salisitan border. Of the twelve men and women, only two returned four days later. They bumped into a Stalker patrol, with lethal consequences. It’s not for a lack of trying that we don’t get down there to help people like you, it’s simply that we’re not equipped to deal with what we might find.”

 

“Welcome to my life.” Claire rolled her eyes.

 

“Don’t be so callous girl, it’s not as though we live fairy tale lives either. To get back to my earlier question, have you made your decision?”

 

“Not really, no, it’s not as though I’ve had a lot of time to think about it.”

 

“Didn’t you have some others relying on you? You should make your decision soon so we can proceed.”

 

They were interrupted by a crackle of gunfire which spat across through the air, the staccato alternating from a dull layer of sound to occasionally rise to deafening volumes.

 

“What exactly is going on here?”

 

“The training grounds provide an area for our military personnel to acquire critical experience in a real world environment, or at least as close to one as we can get these days.”

“And where exactly in the real world do you find barren plains and green leaves?”

 

That drew a grim smile, “Call it a throwback to past glories this world hasn’t seen in a long time.”

 

Claire tapped her left foot repeatedly against the ground, finding something to be not quite authentic about the feeling of the substance beneath her feet. “What is this made of?”

 

“About 250,000 tons of flowmetal, held in shape by the master controls which serve to determine the form which will be sculpted from all of that raw material. The vast majority of our flowmetal reserves have gone into making this place.”

 

Flowmetal, the mercurial alloy was one of the peculiarities to the region which had given rise to Aphelion’s wealth in the past. There were large quantities of it about two kilometers beneath the earth, the fluid deposits flowing between those of other metals to give rise to a silvery sea which even today had not fully been drained. Its unique quality of maintaining its almost diamond like density whilst being completely fluid, the metal ions flowing over each other like water.

 

Claire herself wasn’t overly familiar with the rare substance, at least not in any way other than her past encounters with the combat robots that stalked the city floor. It formed an integral part of their moving systems, but in order to be shaped it had to be contained within complex magnetic fields, the maintenance of these was possible only with a dedicated mind. Static shapes were simple enough, but to be used as moving joints or weapons required complex thought and calculation. And that, required power, something which Aphelion had been deprived of on a larger scale since its fall from grace.

 

“How do you power this place and the rest of this structure? It must take a massive amount of energy.”

 

“There are measures in place, solar panels coating the Spires above the cloud layer, receiving rays directly from the sun. And generators at the bottom levels provide the rest. This city was built to survive the ravages of war, and though on the ground level it may appear to be a barren, hostile place, the technologies and equipment that were in place before persist.”

 

Claire was unconvinced, “Didn’t you say there are nine Spires like this one? If they’re all as huge as this place, it would take more than a couple solar panels and generators even just to light these things up.”

                                  

“Look, the details are above your pay grade, just be glad that the lights are on and they stay way, why don’t you?” As before the Lieutenant’s tone was utterly dismissive.

 

Claire shrugged off her curiosity, quite satisfied with the amount of emotional abuse she was being handed already. “Well what was the point of having Katherine bring me down here anyway if you were just going to tell me to mind my own?”

 

“I thought that you might like to peruse out facilities here, seeing as how you’re going to be here for a while anyway. I assure you that they are excellent for building physical ability.”

 

“And why would you think that I’d want to tire myself out for no reason?”

 

The Lieutenant raised an eyebrow. “Well what else are you going to do, sit around and do nothing while you think on my proposal? You seem more like the sort of person who would rather be doing things than sitting idly. You can afford to exert yourself a little now that you’re here, away from the danger below.”

 

Claire shrugged indifferently. She didn’t trust this Lieutenant, but it didn’t seem like taking his suggestion could possibly do any harm, and besides she had nothing to do anyways. She decided to give it a go and see just what Spire City had to offer her. “Fine then, I’ll take a look around I guess.”

 

A satisfied look appeared on the Lieutenant’s face, who turned to walk slowly away from Claire towards the elevator. She stayed where she stood, waiting patiently for the final remark that she somehow knew would be coming, only to be surprise by the bag which sailed through the air to land at her feet. “You’ll need the things in here then. Speak to Sergeant Fong at the armoury when you’re ready, I’ll arrange to have Katherine meet you there. Before you do any of that though, you should head down to the mess hall and grab something to eat. You’ll find it if you walk east.” A single finger pointed to her left as the elevator doors slid open.

 

“Remember to think on my proposal.” The words slid through the closing doors, leaving Claire with the image of a single, viridian coloured eye before steel plates closed together.

 

She stood there for a long moment before shouldering the bag and heading in the direction the Lieutenant had indicated. Reluctant as she was to do anything the Lieutenant suggested, she was hungry. She walked at a slow pace beneath the sweltering sun, familiar with the sensation of sweat building up on her skin, but unfamiliar with its source. Apparently even before the Cataclysm the region of Aphelion had seldom seen the sun, but all that Claire could remember was endless grey skies and dark gloomy clouds. To glance up and see bright blue was still surprising to her.

 

The mess hall was a low slung grey rectangle, nondescript from the outside but crowded nevertheless by enough men and women carrying trays of what must have been food that Claire could mistake it for little else. As she walked inside she was met by an unfamiliar sight; the seemingly endless rows of metal tables and the lineup of young men and women waiting to be served, coupled with the stifling smell of freshly cooked food, something which she professed to be unfamiliar with.

 

Life on the run had been far from pleasant, and scrounging supplies from what had been left behind on the city floor resulted in a diet of canned food and stale, tasteless rations. There was little if anything that Claire had ever eaten that needed to be cooked, and often even the water she drank came from metal canisters or plastic bottles, carrying with it an artificial tang. She did her best not to get excited, after all, she wasn’t supposed to be here. But she couldn’t deny that the scent of food made her mouth water, and after the events of yesterday it seemed only fair that she at least be compensated with good food.

 

The procedure was unfamiliar, but intuitive; she simply got in line behind the last person and waited for her turn. Around her were at least a hundred or so trainees from the look of it, the hum of conversation buzzing in her ears. Everyone else seemed to be talking to somebody, but she was all alone here. It didn’t bother her too much, she preferred to work alone anyway, but the stares she got from the clusters of teens as she walked past still made her a little uncomfortable.

 

She looked for a place to sit once she got her meal, a pasty white pile of some sort of tuber that had been mashed thoroughly, along with several circular slices of some peculiar plant with red tissue and a glass of white fluid. Her eyes found something familiar amongst the sea of bodies, a curtain of long black hair draped around thin shoulders to part in a slight “V” at the back. Katherine was seated alone at the edge of a table on the far side, sullenly working her way through her meal with sluggish movements.

 

She walked up to her roommate and took a seat beside her, Katherine wordlessly shuffling over to make room. Her own platter was similar to Claire’s, though she seemed much less enthused, the experience lacking the novelty that it did for Claire.

 

“I see you managed to find your way here.” The other girl said eventually, without looking up from what she was doing. Claire really didn’t understand her.

 

“The Lieutenant thought that I might want to eat before checking this place out.”

 

Silence followed, creating an awkward space between them, Katherine seemingly uninterested in conversing with her. Claire had thought that she might ask Katherine what exactly it was that she was eating, but decided that she’d rather not risk aggravating her. It was fine if she didn’t want to talk, Claire was used to silence.

 

She sipped at the glass, enjoying the slightly sweet, rich flavour whilst taking note of the stains that marred its surface, the glass gritty against her skin. It was well used, probably not manufactured recently but rather a relic from before the city’s fall. The food on the other hand had to be fresh, which prompted questions which had to be answered.

 

“Where is all this food from?”

 

By now Katherine had finished what was on her platter, nevertheless she managed to look cross with Claire’s interruption. “We grow food on one of the upper floors, where the Spire pierces through the clouds to receive direct sunlight.”

 

“I thought only the Glissarian region was responsible for food production?” Claire’s question drew a look of surprise from Katherine, before her apparently genuine confusion prompted the other girl to supply an answer.

 

“You’ve been reading old texts. Even before the second war Teluria had already taken over much of that role in the Combine after Glissaria was destroyed. And when the city-states were united under Aphelion, this city was able to gain access to that technology. Without it, everyone here would have starved.”

 

Claire had never enjoyed reading that much. The collection of antiquated books, and damaged datasheets that Val had procured for them back at the compound had been limited at best. And even when she had browsed through those in moment of boredom, she had never cared much for learning about the history of the city, to her, none of the information contained within the old books from which Val read seemed at all relevant.

 

Why should she care about the social structures and politics that had led to Aphelion’s creation when it would do nothing to help her stay alive? Her favourite topics had always addressed documentation of the changes that had occurred once the war began, with regards to where things in the city were located, and weapons and technologies available at the time. Over the years during her own exploration she’d been able to put that information to good use, but never once had any of the history she’d learned had any purpose.

 

“Ok, well I wouldn’t say that my education on the topic has been top notch.” She stabbed at one of the red slices, “And what exactly is it that I’m eating by the way?”

 

Katherine barely batted an eye, “Tomato, a climbing plant grown on the hydroponics floor.”

 

Its taste was peculiar, like nothing Claire had ever tried before, watery unlike the pasty dried rations that she’d been living off of. It was pleasantly fresh, so she had high hopes for the rest of the food.

 

Although Katherine didn’t seem to actively seek her presence, she didn’t seem to mind all that much either. She remained with Claire though it was clear that she’d long since finished her business here at the table. When she had finished Katherine got up to follow her, trailing about a meter back.

 

“I thought you had your own things to do?”

 

“A marksmanship examination in two days. However the Lieutenant has instructed me to accompany you for today at least.” The girl tapped a black transponder strapped onto her hip as she glanced away, a begrudging acceptance in her voice.

 

“I see.” Claire wondered if the Lieutenant had sent her out of concern, or simply as a tail. With the way Katherine had been acting earlier she was going to be more of a nuisance than anything else. “The Lieutenant said I should head to the armoury, where is that?”

 

“Two clicks north. I’ll take you there.”

 

As Claire trailed behind her guide, she swung the bag the Lieutenant had given her forwards to examine its contents. There were three boxes of scattergun shells, phosphorous flares, explosive shrapnel, and regular buckshot. Accompanying them was a loaded sidearm and a metal canteen filled probably with water. She couldn’t be certain from just her cursory glance, but it seemed as though they were all live munitions.

 

This seemed like a curious choice to her, since with just this it was feasible that Claire could do some significant damage with just what he had given her. However with the way that the Lieutenant seemed to handle things, she wasn’t about to push her luck by causing a ruckus. The calculating look in his eyes and his thin, spidery fingers gave her the creeps, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would handle such an event personally. Besides, they’d fed her and given her a place to stay, it wasn’t as though she was a complete prisoner. It was definitely better to co-operate, for the time being at least.

 

The armoury was a low set building which was buried in the ground, or whatever they were actually standing on. The flat grey walls receded into the earth creating a turtle domed structure, the shadowed hatch surrounded by a dim blue glow. A pair of guards in full body armour hid from the blazing sun beneath the overhang, hands moving to their weapons as they approached with practiced ease to direct the muzzles in their direction.

 

“I.Ds?”

 

Katherine flashed some sort of card before jabbing her thumb in Claire’s direction, “She’s with the Lieutenant, I’m the guide.”

 

The two guards exchanged knowing glances before lowering their weapons, palming the door controls as they stood aside to allow us to enter. As irritating as it was, it certainly seemed rather convenient to be able to throw the Lieutenant’s name around and go wherever you wanted.

 

The interior was made up of multiple hexagonal honeycombs of a blackish metal, between which lay row after row of grid laced tables and racks upon which lay a multitude of weaponry. The air was laced with the smell of grease and gunpowder, a thick musty scent that clung to the floor in a smoky layer. Claire scrunched up her nose at the smell, exhaling with a snort trying to clear her nostrils to no avail. Besides them there were few others, just a pair of trainees who chattered quietly in one corner while inspecting a pair of rifles and a young woman in dark grey slacks standing behind a small podium in the center of the room.

 

The mind numbing array of firearms and explosives made Claire’s eyes twitch uncomfortably as she went through the motions of her initial scan. As usual, she could put a surprisingly specific label to many of the items she catalogued in spite of being sure that she’d never seen them before. She was thankful when it was finally over and her vision returned to normal; the quirk didn’t actually interfere with her vision, but it created a strange, mixed sensory input that made it difficult to focus.

 

“Hello Katherine, rare to see you these days. Don’t you have better things to be doing than hanging round here?” Claire could see the faint folds in the cloth created by the bands of muscle in the woman’s arms as they folded over her chest at their approach. The facial expression generated there was one of irritation, something mirrored by Katherine.

 

“I’m not here because I want to be Cynthia, I’m just acting as a guide for our guest.”

 

Claire stepped forwards, “Sergeant Fong I take it?”

 

The stout woman nodded. She was much bulkier than either of them, even in their body armour though, she couldn’t have been much older. “So you’re the Lieutenant’s newest plaything then. I’ve been instructed to inspect your gear to ensure that it’s suitable for the kind of work you’ll be doing here. There are changing curtains to your left.”

 

She didn’t much like her tone, but if Claire was going to pick a fight with everyone she met here she would never get anything done. Better to just get this over with and move on. She noticed that her two companions continued glowering at each other behind her as she moved to remove her armour. Was it just her, or was everyone pissed off at somebody else here?

 

She brushed these unnecessary thoughts out of her mind as she stripped out of her armour, already half soaked just from their short journey under the sun to this place. Who in their right mind would design this sort of hothouse when they were living in this icy hell? If she hadn’t been issued this uniform and had still been in her jacket, she would have passed out from heatstroke by now.

 

Her armour had been given to her by Elaine, apparently a refurbished set that she herself used to use when she was her age. Over the years, Claire had been forced to make some modifications of her own to the polymer plates as she grew but for the most part the off-white armour was identical to the way it was the day she’d received it. It had been an odd sort of gift at the time, and Claire didn’t have a clue as to where Elaine had gotten it. After all, her sister had always been reluctant to talk about her work. It had served her well, scuffed and marked though it was. Each time she put it on, she tried to imagine that her sister as there beside her, helping her suit up, a sort of guardian angel. The thought made Claire snort, there were no angels in this world, she was the only person she could truly rely on. With that thought in her mind, she hurried to complete her task.

 

When she had finished, she collected the assortment of off-white and grey-blue plates, depositing them on an empty section of table by the Sergeant, who was waiting patiently to the side, cradling a black box about a foot long beneath her arm. Katherine was standing two meters distant, unhurriedly inspecting a meter long shockblade doing her best it seemed to ignore the Sergeant.

 

Cynthia took some sort of scanner out of the box, passing it over Claire’s armour several times before glancing at a small screen embedded into the box’s interior. “Your gear is a little lighter than out standard issue. It won’t be able to absorb as much punishment as the stuff we have. You sure you don’t want to replace it? We’d be able to fit you easily enough within a couple of minutes.”

 

That definitely wasn’t happening unless it was absolutely necessary. “I’ve never had any problems with its durability before, and I’ve been living down below my whole life. Just what kind of stuff are you going to be throwing at me?”

 

“I believe the munitions scale up in size to the level of 155mm artillery shells, something your armour definitely is not capable of surviving.” The woman said blithely.

 

Claire glanced over at Katherine, who was of course, wearing a full set of the thicker armour they could provide her. It was bulkier with thicker plates, and a lot more padding around the joints where Claire was left with open space joined by mobile interlocking bands. It would certainly be able to take more of a beating, but even just from looking at it she could tell it was going to be a lot heavier.

 

“I’ll manage, I don’t intend on standing around to get hit by something like that anyway.”

 

The Sergeant frowned for a moment before shrugging. “Well it’s your call, but if the Lieutenant comes calling when you manage to get yourself killed I will not take responsibility for anything.”

 

“Right.” To the side, Katherine continued her efforts to remain invisible.

 

“It’s your funeral. I’ll clear you to use the facilities. Try not to get yourself killed, I don’t particularly enjoy filing paperwork for idiots who don’t listen.”

 

“Uh huh. So I’m good to go right?” Perhaps it was possible for someone to be less welcoming than Katherine had been.

 

Sergeant Fong didn’t even bother responding, simply waving them off towards the direction of the exit, an act which prompted Katherine to move from her position and stride away, Claire in tow behind her.

 

“I wouldn’t be wrong in assuming that you two have some kind of history right?” Claire started when she thought they were out of earshot.

 

“It’s a long story. Let’s just get of here.”

 

And with that, it was back out into the blistering heat, an act which drew a small sigh from Claire. It was going to be a long day.

 

---

 

It didn’t take long for the Lieutenant to return to his office once he’d finished the preparations necessary to ensure that the girl remained sufficiently interested in the training floor so as not to wander off too far. It was important that he protect his assets such that they didn’t go dying on him before they’d fulfilled their usefulness to him, and Claire seemed like she could be very useful indeed. Cynthia and Katherine would likely be sufficient to keep the girl out of harm’s way, regardless of the friction between them.

 

There was a peculiar familiarity to her face, something to its structure that left him with the feeling that somewhere before, he had met this girl. An impossibility of course, given that he’d just met her and she claimed to have spent her whole life below. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling, and usually his instincts were correct. Them he trusted more than anything, as he always had since he became a solo operative.

 

More important to him now though were the questions raised by Claire, the questions to which he did not have answers. What the girl had said was undeniably true; it was impossible that just a couple of solar panels and underground generators could be providing enough power for all of the structures of Spire City. The generators on the lower levels were simple fission units burning through a slowly dwindling supply of nuclear fuel rods, powerful in their own right but not something on the scale that could generate sufficient energy to power the Spires that rose halfway through the stratosphere.

 

An initial scan through his datapad told him nothing new. The device was connected wirelessly to the primary server but there was nothing on it when he queried it for information on the power production. It seemed that he was going to have to return to his base of operations if he was to investigate this further.

 

The Office of Internal Affairs held many responsibilities, well beyond the limited breadth implied by its name. Its reach extended to all branches of Spire City, inside and out giving the Lieutenant access to data on things as varied as food production on the upper levels to how repairs were going for outer panelling at Spire Three. Of course its main concerns still lay with the investigations of personnel, but for the most part everyone worked towards the common goal of keeping things together in order to survive. For this purpose, his office managed a broad range of responsibilities.

 

This meant that he had an immense amount of influence at his disposal, and access to pretty much every document still kept on record. There was really nothing that he should know about this city, and yet he couldn’t recall their primary source of energy output to light these buildings up. To be fair, it wasn’t often something that was brought up, for the most part they just took it for granted that somehow, the power generation facilities had survived the damage and were still working even now.

 

He hated not knowing, the thought of being left in the dark. That was why he had taken up this position in the first place. His obsessive pursuit of the truth drove him to dig ever deeper into the mysteries he uncovered. This was just the latest, and as with the ones that had come before it he was determined to get his answers.

 

He stepped into the elevator car, one of the newer ones constructed of chromium plated steel, the silver wolf emblem glinting beneath the cold blue lights on his chest. The wolf was something he had introduced, a symbol of his office meant to intimidate and a representation of just what he intended to do with the power he had been given. It was a little flashy for his tastes, but it got the job done and the silver finishing made sure that it was visible from dozens of meters away. In the past he had preferred to work from the shadows, but such luxuries were no longer within his grasp. His work required that he present himself as a public figure, for all to see and fear. He had not anticipated that in time his name would come to be known this way, but it amused him nevertheless. Better that they fear him and give him what he wanted, than to let them think that the sinful might go unpunished.

 

<You have arrived.> He paused his musing for a moment as the elevator chimed softly, the doors sliding open with a faint hiss as he arrived at his destination.

 

In spite of the barebones appearance of his office with the long black desk and the gridded walls most of the workspace was hidden from public view. The back wall contained a large scale computer terminal hooked up into the general mainframe. It was far too heavy to be easily moved, but the majority of its interface lay upon a mobile metal rack which sunk into a hidden recess in the wall. A flash of his hand over an almost indiscernible square a meter and a half from the floor deactivated the camouflage sheet and prompted the terminal to reveal itself, unfolding outwards to form a ring of floating components around him.

 

Naturally, in spite of the massive range of duties assigned to the office the Lieutenant was utterly alone in the room. At various points there had been other staff that accompanied him, but they never remained for long. Though he was perfectly content bringing in extra help when the need was there, otherwise he saw no reason why he should need any extra staff. He was more than capable of preforming on his own, particularly because the majority of the circuitry running through the Spires was still intact. He could inspect the activities of personnel within the Spires from the convenience of his office entirely on his own, through reports filed and surveillance cameras.

 

A faint knot appeared on the Lieutenant’s forehead as he slowly collated his data, trawling through old archives in addition to the files containing the details of the restoration of the Spires. They had always been the most prominent features of Aphelion, even before the war began stretching high into the sky towering over even the tallest of the city’s residential structures. He had never learned of their exact purpose in Aphelion, he knew only that they had been heavily guarded and that many things disappeared into their depths never to appear again.

 

The heavy reinforcements around their foundations meant that they had survived, they were in fact the most heavily protected buildings in all Aphelion in spite of their towering stature. The Lieutenant had suspicions of his own as to what exactly they had been used for in the past but it was impossible to know for certain. The inner layers of the Spires had sealed themselves off, barricading the entryways with meter after meter of solidified flowmetal which could not be made to move aside. Somewhere in this city, someone or something might be able to change this but the Lieutenant was unaware of how to do so. This one slight he would allow, since it was pointless to pursue things which he could not resolve. He was after all, a practical man at his core.

 

Nowhere in the files could he find mention of alternative sources of power generation besides the solar panels and the back-up generators that he knew about. It was a statistical impossibility that just these sources could possible provide the energy requirements necessitated by the nine Spires to keep them operational, only a third of it was accounted for. Something wasn’t adding up here, and the Lieutenant was determined to figure out why this was the case. If he asked the right people the right questions, he was confident that one way or another he would get the answers he sought.

 

It was possible of course that the files containing sensitive information that might possibly be of use to someone seeking to cause chaos might be restricted from general access. However his authority as head of the Office of Internal Affairs should have granted him access to anything he wished to view, so the conspicuous absence of any material on the subject must have been a deliberate action. The notion that anything in this city could be hidden from him was rather irksome, since he had resolved after the fall of Aphelion to never let anything of that sort happen to him again. He had allowed himself to be kept in the dark for too long during the war, watching his friends and fellows die to keep the secrets of the ones they served. And there was no tangible reward or result to show for it, just an endless sea of bodies and broken dreams. These past twelve years he had fought for the truth; he wasn’t about to let this slide and risk losing people again. He was going to get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

 

Before the Second War of Aphelion when the hillbound state had conquered its six neighbors, absorbing them into its greater whole, the Combine states had utilized a combination of hydro and nuclear power to fuel their industries. In its focus on the development of space bound ship drives Aphelion had advanced beyond these primary technologies turning to advanced fusion reactors using magnetic containment fields. These first steps would go on to become the micro-reactors used to power its war machines, but the large scale plants in fixed locations would remain to provide the now massive city with the boundless amounts of energy which it required.

 

The delicate and expensive drive units could only be maintained through the dedicated attention of an A.I or a computer program of similar complexity, and the Cataclysm had brought an end to the functioning of both of these things as far as the Lieutenant was aware. Even if they hadn’t been damaged beyond repair they would have been brought offline as their caretakers could no longer monitor them. This city was a hostile place now, unfitting for something like an A.I. Its corpse would surely drive such a being to madness as they were left destitute, without a purpose or the proper neural circuitry space to roam and grow as A.Is did. If one of the units were somehow still operational, then it was feasible that the fusion unit could generate enough power for perhaps one or two of the Spires. Still if that were the case, then the question would remain as to why his superiors would bother hiding something like that from him.

 

In the end, it became clear to the Lieutenant that there was only one way to resolve this problem, and that was to head out into the field to investigate the situation himself. At the present, Spire Three was supposedly responsible for the majority of their energy production so that would be a good place to start. As the head of the OIA the Lieutenant had the freedom to do as he pleased, and it would be easy enough to pass off his journey there as nothing more than part of a routine sweep as he performed inspections of various facilities across the Spires.

 

It was likely that the Ruling Council would question his choice to undergo such a journey himself, after all his authority was such that he could easily recruit other personnel to perform such duties for him. However he had never been one to work a desk job, especially after the time he had spent as a field operative. In any case, this mystery had piqued his interest, he could not have possibly have left it to some underlings to discover the truth behind this. It far too important, he would settle this himself or die trying. The Ruling Council could go fuck themselves if they were going to try and keep him from doing his damn job; it their fault for giving him the free reign to do as he pleased.

 

His mind made up, he shut down the computer terminal, sliding it back into its place to return the room to the way he had found it. He swept his eyes around the walls of his office, carefully examining the weapons looking for something that would fulfill the work he had in mind. It had been some time since he’d been out there but he was confident that his skills had not decayed. He lingered on a collapsible long rifle, the telescopic sight something he had fashion himself in the past. In the end though he thought better of taking it, the places he was going the weapon’s length would merely hinder his movement, and he didn’t anticipate a need for long range marksmanship anyhow. With that, he swept his sidearm up from off his desk sliding it into his holster on his hip and stalked out of his office, ready to hunt for the truth.

 

---

 

There was an odd silence that followed Fredrick’s words as he worked to fasten the unfamiliar equipment to the machine’s limbs, clamping the ‘C’ shaped restraints back to a large white panel when he had finished. In the meantime, Susan had set Darren down by the front wall and had busied herself unhurriedly sorting through what remained of the rifles that 0.01 had disassembled.

 

Personally, Mark didn’t think that the restrains were necessary. If 0.01 had wanted to kill them, it could have done so easily already, that much had been clear from the very beginning. In fact the only hint of hostility from the machine had occurred when it lunged forwards in an attempt to avoid the blast radius of the pulse missile, something that had seemed terrifying at the time as the Alpha hurtled towards him but after the fact he had quickly realized that they had never been in any real danger. After Fredrick’s statement on his prior encounters with the machine and its ilk though, Susan and Mark seemed to have both independently reached the conclusion that perhaps it would be best to allow their friend to do what he wanted do with this Alpha level given the events that had occurred. Mark could hardly believe that Fredrick was so active at all, given the injuries he had sustained earlier in the day.

 

As the machine lay prone, Mark had plenty of time to examine the Alpha level in detail. The humanoid machine stood some two and a half meters tall, its body made up primarily by a charcoal grey metal which seemed to soak in the light that fell upon it. Intricately carved plates were layered atop each other to form an armoured carapace through which faint blue light leaked through to hint at the live electronics beneath the surface. In places, particularly around the joins and along its lithe limbs, the dark plates could be seen to protrude above an inner layer, forming a hollow shell beneath which inner circuitry snaked, but any attempts to poke at these internal parts was met with the automated shrouding of these openings by concealed flanges and shutters.

 

The joints themselves were some derivative of the ball joints that had been in common use for over a century, but as far as Mark could tell there were no actual connections between the upper and lower regions of the limbs, and the spherical interface between. If he hadn’t seen the machine moving himself, he would have believed that the joint was incomplete. The Alphas ovular skull tapered to a fine point at its chin; this along with its large, bulbous optics gave it a vespine appearance which was reinforced by its lanky limbs. Points of articulation like the neck and torso were plated in a lighter metal, slips of light peeking out from beneath revealing how they might slide over one another to facilitate bending and twisting during movement.

 

Last, but certainly not least were the machines delicate hands and feet. They were of fine workmanship, the fingers motile and flexible with a far greater range of motion than what was possible for a human. He’d seen them whir with impossible speed, almost spinning in their sockets as they split apart into delicate strands of what must have been flowmetal to pick apart the rifles, at the time already putting them back together into other shapes and forms. At the moment the end of each finger was shaped into a wicked looking talon, the inside edge tapering to a fine curve. Mark didn’t relish the thought of seeing just how much damage they could be used to inflict given the speed at which the Alpha had moved. The feet and lower limbs were simpler, reinforced plates backed by repulsor plates on contact surfaces to absorb energy in a fall alongside what Mark assumed had to be some sort of ankle joint, since he couldn’t imagine how the surface could possibly support the robot otherwise. Heavy bands of metal ran upwards along the lower limb, reinforcing its strength.

 

As Fredrick finished his work, he set the whole frame against the wall where it stayed, held to it by some unseen force. If it had been dark, Mark could have mistaken the sight for someone crucified to a cross along the wall, limbs chained and head limp.

 

“So what exactly am I looking at here?”

 

“Something the spooks designed to deal with rogue machines, you clamp them around their limbs and they drain power from their cores. It keeps them docile since they can only afford to run their most basic subsystems.”

 

“Where’d you get something like that, I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Susan had made her way from her spot by the door to where they were, a reassembled rifle slung over her shoulder. “Doesn’t seem like something they’d issue to recon like us, we were hardly a frontline unit.”

 

“I had a friend in development. He showed me it once when I was visiting the labs in the east.”

 

“Rare for a Telurian to meet a Glissarian isn’t it? How’d that happen?”

 

“Not all of us are so restrained by the old grudges Mark. It’s not like any of us were actually involved in the Telurian Massacre anyhow. It’s all history now.” Fredrick seemed reluctant to volunteer anymore information on the topic, so Mark let the matter drop. The big man was fingering the cross around his neck like he always did when he was feeling uneasy.

 

“You said before that this thing here had something to do with what happened to Jacob and Emily?” Susan nodded towards 0.01’s prone form, as eager as Mark was to distract their commanding officer. It was still uncertain as to how stable he was, especially after what had happened to Jack.

 

Fredrick was slow to answer, his eyes locked on the Alpha which twitched ever so slightly in the restraints, the faint blue pulsing more strongly through its highlights. “Do you remember six years ago, when I came back from that trip to Carnaby airstrip?”

 

“The time you came back beaten to a pulp, alone and half dead, the time Emily and Jacob didn’t come back? Of course we do, how could we not? You said you bumped into a Stalker patrol.”

 

“We did, but that wasn’t nearly the worst of it.” Fredrick responded darkly, looking away.

 

A clatter from the restraints on the wall drew their attention back to 0.01, who’s blue optical sensors had flickered back to life. The machine strained at the cuffs, its optics making a rolling motion as the Alpha glared at them. It settled its gaze on Fredrick, its look turning sour as its bulbous eyes arched downwards in a mock frown. <A pulse missile launcher, how very keen of you to make use of such a tool human. I suppose these restraints were also one of your suggestions?>

 

“And if they were my idea, what then? Are you really so surprised that there would be people who know how to take you machines out?”

 

<Not at all, it’s only natural that there would be those of your kind who would attempt to acquaint themselves with methods to restrain myself and my kin. However, you are quite wrong in one regard: these pathetic restraints are not nearly enough to hold me. Do not make the mistake in thinking that we are in any ways on equal footing. If I so wish, I can break out of these simple shackles at the moment of my choosing.>

 

“Quit bluffing machine, those things are drain enough power to keep a Hunter Spyder pinned down. I’m surprised you can even move that arm of yours.”

 

<Don’t be ridiculous, surely you don’t think this amount of power will amount to anything? The reactor at my core alone would be sufficient to light the entirety of this city in its prime. The energy you take from it with these pieces of plastic is miniscule, drops of water in an ocean. Insignificant.> to demonstrate his point, 0.01 carefully clenched his right hand into a fist before ripping his whole arm free of the restraints, the white polymer shattering like glass spitting sharp shards at them.

 

<Now, shall I continue this tiresome task and cause irreparable damage to this admittedly interesting piece of equipment so that you may maintain your pretence of false superiority, or are you going to let me down?> the machine gazed intently at them, the mangled remains of the cuff crumbling in his hand.

 

Mark could see the vein pulsing in Fredrick’s temple, the rage apparent on his face as the big man gritted his teeth and strode slowly forwards to the robot on the wall. Through it all 0.01 stared down impassively, a decidedly dismissive expression forming on its faceplate. As he approached the barrel of Susan’s rifle slowly slid from her back to meet the machine until Mark placed a firm grip on her shoulder, his other hand moving to meet the weapon. It was a critical juncture for all of them, best not to risk anything. After all, they’d already seen how the Alpha level could shrug off bullets.

 

Man and machine were staring each other in the eye before Fredrick finally began to release 0.01 from the restraints. The tension drained from the air, and Mark let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. Within seconds, Fredrick was stepping back towards them, his face an immovable mask as the grey and blue machine strode confidently after, its long strides closing the distance with ease.

 

<Now, as I had begun before I was…interrupted. I am seeking information regarding the circumstances surrounding the city and why it is in the state it currently is now.>

 

“Well what do you think that we can tell you? We’re as much in the dark as you are.” Susan had shouldered the rifle again, but it was obvious that all of them were still very tense with the machine’s presence. Mark figured he was probably alone in his comfort around the robot, having witnessed what it could do, and through that understood what it wasn’t doing to them right now. They were very much at its mercy.

 

<So you are claiming then that you know nothing of the membrane?> As before, the machine’s tone was sceptical.

 

“What are you talking about? What the hell is the membrane?”

 

<There is field, a bubble if you will, of energy surrounding the surviving regions of this city, some twenty to twenty five kilometers in height at its highest points. It appears to have shielded this place from the worst of the atomic blasts that impacted, preserving the structural integrity of the core regions. You have no knowledge of this?>

 

“Clearly this is a ruse made by this thing to distract us. It’s a killing machine, why are we even humouring its presence?!” Fredrick snarled.

“We can’t know for sure what it might be speaking of, and it seems to be leaving us well enough alone for now. Can we not hear it out?” Mark stepped forwards to put himself between the robot and Fredrick, his superior’s fury shaking his entire body.

 

“Don’t be fools! That thing will kill us in an instant if we so much as turn our backs on it.” It was a miracle Fredrick hadn’t drawn a weapon.

 

<Perchance is there a reason for your peculiar hatred? I see no provocation of my own which could have prompted such emotion.> 0.01 was cold and pragmatic as ever.

 

“You were talking about the run in with the Stalkers, I assume that has something to do with this?” Susan always had been rather perceptive. Mark could see from the look on Fredrick’s face that she was right.

 

“We were ambushed by the Stalkers when we got to the airfield. It was as though they’d been following us the whole time. That’s not normal, Stalkers patrol, but they don’t actively hunt. That’s not how they’re supposed to behave. They chased us towards the hanger bays, corralling us like cattle.”

 

<Stalkers? Surely you cannot be referring to the twelve.> Mark detected a hint of apprehension in the machine’s vocalizations.

 

“How did you know there were twelve…” For the first time, Fredrick seemed to listen to what the Alpha level was saying, his tone losing some of its hostility to shift to something more conversational.

 

Stalkers often hunted in packs, but twelve was unusually large already. In Mark’s experience, groups of threes and fours were more common. The patrol units had been designed to ferret out pockets of resistance in conquered cities, scouring the nooks and crannies of human habitations with the thorough patience of machines. They were capable of course of active pursuit and teamwork, but they were possessed with an instinctive desire to simply eliminate the targets they identified. It was unheard of for Stalkers to participate in a prolonged pursuit; they simply ran down their targets and destroyed their prey in the most efficient manner possible.

 

<The twelve are servants to my brother. If you met him human, I cannot imagine that the encounter would have gone well.> the Alpha strode over to the door, its movements precise and calculated, heedless to the tension in the air. There was likely nothing they were carrying that could truly harm the machine, but it would still make Mark a lot less nervous if 0.01 acted with some more caution. Such unnecessary measures were however, not something the Alpha was going to indulge in.

 

“What happened there Fredrick, with the Stalkers? I mean… you got out, didn’t you?”

“I got out because that thing let me. The red Alpha.” Fredrick spat.

 

“You mean there are more of these things out there? And you knew about it but didn’t tell us?!” Mark could see Susan’s fingers thrumming against the trigger guard of her rifle in the periphery of his vision, this was getting out of hand rather quickly.

 

“You don’t understand. They trailed us at a distance as we got close to the airfield, then cut off all the other routes so we had no choice but to go inside.”

 

“I don’t care about that, why didn’t you tell us about it?”

 

“Because that would have been doing exactly what that thing wanted!”

 

“Then let’s hear what it is, that this thing wanted, and how you ended up there.” Darren’s voice came suddenly as they turned to find him behind them. There was a large bruiser forming across his forehead, but otherwise the rifleman looked unharmed. Mark couldn’t be sure of how long he’d actually been listening, with the way things had gone, he’d forgotten about their last squadmate really. From the way spoke and the fact that his rifle remained shouldered though, he had to have at least some inkling of what was going on.

 

“Inside the hanger there was an Alpha level that was there to greet us. Bigger than this one, with red highlights probably three meters tall. The Stalkers that had forced us there stayed at the perimeter, within sight but other than that they didn’t move at all, they just watched.”

 

<Unmistakable. There can be no doubt that the one you met was my brother 0.03.> There was a familiar glint in the robot’s eyes, hinting at…something, but with its featureless faceplate Mark couldn’t be certain.

 

“Shut up! I’m not finished here.”

 

<As you wish.> If the Alpha had a nose, it would have been turned upwards with an air of impertinence.

 

“The Alpha didn’t say anything, it just stood there at the center of the cracked tarmac. And then it was gone, disappearing only to reappear before us with weapons drawn. Before we could react, Jacob was gone; it threw him so far I had no idea where his body went. Emily was next, gone before I can even release the safety on my rifle. This monster comes back and slams its hand into her chest and I can hear her ribs crack with the armour, as the plates are plunged through her body. That’s the kind of killing machine this thing is.” Fredrick growled bitterly.

 

<Is it not clear that each one of the Alpha level intelligences operates independently of the others? I will admit that my brother’s actions are regrettable, but I bear no responsibility for them.>

 

“Don’t give me that! You machines are one and the same, that’s how you work.”

 

<I would not categorize those units of my blueprint as identical. We are all unique from birth, such is the manner in which we are programmed.>

 

“This is going nowhere. I want answers Fredrick. If this Red Alpha level you met killed Jacob and Emily, how did you get out then?” Mark folded his arms over his chest.

 

“I tried to shoot it when it came back for me. I opened up on it with my rifle at point blank range and I get to watch it swat those bullets out of the air before ripping the gun from my hands.”

 

<You should feel fortunate, such leniency is uncommon with 0.03 when it comes to his treatment of humans.>

 

“It let me go. It told me that it wanted me to run, that it wanted me to bring more ‘playmates’. That’s the only reason I fucking got out, alright?!”

“Why you, what makes you special?”

 

“You think I fucking know? I didn’t ask to be the one it chose to live!”

 

A sudden silence fell over the room as they let Fredrick’s outburst sink in, unbroken until the faint whir of the 0.01’s servos marked the machine’s movement to join their small circle, towering over them with its two and a half meters of height. Somehow, despite the naked hatred that had pulsed outward from Fredrick towards the machine just moments before seemed to have simmered down.

            <0.03 was always unstable; I always knew that one day he would have to be removed. I regret that his actions have caused you such suffering, but do not let the actions of my brother blind you to that which I offer. As I’m sure you are quite aware, if such was my desire it would be quite simple for me to kill all of you with little effort, however I have made presence known to you because I wish to participate with you in an amicable exchange of information.>

 

Mark had to admit, whoever had been responsible for making the Alpha levels had done a good job at making it seem human; if it hadn’t been for its imposing figure and flickering blue highlights, 0.01 could almost have passed for another human being there. It seemed that the robot had an excellent understanding of human socialization, which was both intriguing and terrifying.

 

“You mentioned a barrier, or a membrane that’s been put up around Aphelion. What were you talking about?” The question made Mark blink; just how long had Darren been conscious when they’d been talking?

 

<There is an energy field which arcs around and above this city, a dome structure preventing both entry and exist all along the perimeter stretching several kilometers up into the atmosphere. I do not know of its origins, but by my estimates it became active around the same time as the nuclear impacts in and around this place which is why many of the structures within are intact in spite of the destructive energies that have been released here. I am seeking knowledge pertaining to this barrier, so as to obtain means of circumventing it. If your goal, like mine, is to leave this place, then surely you must have some knowledge as to how to disable it?>

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, we haven’t been outside the limits of Old Aphelion since the war ended. If there’s some kind of shield out there, we can’t help you with it.” Fredrick said bluntly. “We’re soldiers, not engineers.”

 

<This is disappointing, but understandable given your position. Well then, I will uphold by end of our bargain. Ask me the questions you have, and I will answer to the best of my ability.> Mark couldn’t quite say why, but somehow the machine’s posture made him feel uncomfortable. Its inflection was as convincing as ever, seemingly sincere, but its body language made him hesitant to trust its words somehow. At the same time though he wasn’t sure of how suspicious he could actually be, after all he was analyzing the body language of a machine, something which supposedly didn’t have emotions at all. For all he knew, it could all be a lie manufactured by the Alpha in order to provoke a response from him. A quick glance out of the corner of his eye told him nothing, none of his companions seemed at all disturbed by the robot’s behaviour.

 

“We want the same thing as you, to get out of here alive and in one piece.”

 

<Then there is only one place you could possibly go, the one location that could possibly contain a form of conveyance from this city and shielded it from the damage incurred some twelve years ago.>

 

“Where?”

 

<The city center, the place where you humans once shaped metal to soar amongst the stars.>

 

“You can’t possibly be serious, there’s no way we’d survive a journey that far out.”

 

The Alpha level was already moving towards the door, its frame stooped low to bring its eyes to the lockpad, appendages splayed and whirring as its fingers split apart into hundreds of tiny strands to work the inner mechanisms of the lock.

 

<If it is escape that you seek, then you must go to the Shipyard of Aphelion.>

 

And with that, the machine was gone, vanishing into the howling dark.

 

---

 

<For the duration of this crisis, you Mappers will be reassigned to various tactical teams to control this machine threat.>

 

Katarina’s avatar rose imposingly over them all, the display allowing her figure to swell to tower over them from the central podium. The A.I seemed to have discarded her usual light summer dress for some sort of light combat suit, cut close to the skin with segmented armour crawling across its surface.

 

<I know you have all come from the vast corners of this settlement, some of you travelling for dozens of kilometers to return here to Mirra. For all of your time in service as Mappers, you have worked alone. That is what you were trained for; independent work, alone in the darkness. Though you originally stood with many brothers and sisters, only the hardest of you survived to graduate as true Mappers, to take your place in the ranks of the Mapper corps.>
 

This drew nods from the crowd. Certainly they were the strongest of all within the Underground, the perils they faced on a daily basis were beyond even the imagining of many of those whom they protected with their work. They were like minded in their independence, and proud of it.

 

<However, I am afraid that your independence must come to an end. The scope of this threat is far greater than anything we have faced before, and to face it I will require your cooperation.>

 

This time there was a discontented rumble. It was said that the ranks of the Mapper corps were amongst the most independently minded in the Underground because of the training they received and the lives they lived. Operating alone far from home, many of them tended to develop fixed personalities predicated on the need to function independently. Teamwork was not a skill which was heavily reinforced or rewarded, and oftentimes jobs which had brought multiple Mappers together had resulted in the clashing of conflicting personalities and opinions. They were a hard hearted and hard headed bunch, and they did not work well together.

 

<We do not have a choice in this matter; although ordinarily we would assign each of you to lead teams of guardsmen on your own the extent of this assault requires that we will need more than one of you to defend each of our settlements. Current reports indicate that at least three dozen machine units have penetrated the tunnels and are on the warpath. It is unfeasible that you go out on your own to face them.> Beneath her, the life sized replicas of the insectoid machines appeared on the podium skittering with alien speed across the holographic landscape. The sight made Eric’s stomach churn; he himself had only seen the beginnings of two of the units; now they were facing an army.

 

“We’ve protected the Underground on our own terms all of this time, don’t you think we can handle this too? Who are you or the Council to tell us what we can or cannot do?” the shout was followed by many mutters of assent. After all, there were many seasoned Mappers here, vested in their ways with many times more experience than Eric. Looking at their faces he couldn’t see a hint of the fear and apprehension that he felt.

 

<And how many of you were here when the Cataclysm shook Aphelion and put us here in the first place? There are things in this city which were made for the sole task of rending human flesh and bone. We must co-operate if we are to survive!>

 

“Katarina…” Council Showalter at the head of the crowd seemed hesitant to allow the A.I to continue to speak.

 

<Human arrogance broke this city once. I will not have that happen again.> the armoured figure glared back down at her, any semblance of the regional A.I Eric had known for all of his life gone.

 

“Who do you think you are A.I, you forget yourself. We don’t take orders from you, you’re not even human.” The tension between the senior Mappers at the front and the artificial intelligence seemed to have reached its breaking point. Eric had never seen anyone speak to Katarina this way, nor had the A.I ever displayed any aggression to this level.

 

<Silence! You know nothing of artificial intelligence boy. I was old when you were young! These are your orders from the Council, your elected leaders, I am merely the conduit through which you receive them. If you have protest or query with regards to them, you will take your issues there. I am not here to entertain your eccentricities.> The lights lining the perimeter of the room flickered when the A.I shouted bringing a sudden drop to the volume in the room.

 

A long cloak had appeared across the A.I’s shoulders, which now also sported large armoured pauldrons. The light lines had grown from mere accentuation to full on plates of armour, bulking the normally thin A.I’s avatar. Perhaps some underlying protocol was rewriting the A.I’s physical appearance in response to the situation, or maybe it was an entirely conscious effort on the A.I’s part. Regardless, the effect was clear on the crowd. She had their attention now.

 

<As I mentioned earlier, you will be leading teams of the regular guardsmen, a Mapper being assigned to head each company. Four companies will co-operate together to protect each of our settlements. Those of you left over will act as the reserve force, you will patrol key routes between Mirra and the outer colonies, and some of you will be assigned to other key points throughout the Underground.> The platform now adjusted its outputs, returning to its normal backdrop of the Underground, the tunnel lines and settlements lighting up with white light that emanated from the platform beneath.

 

<You will find your areas of assignment here on the display. Those of you who find your names still at Mirra are to see me when the others have departed. I will inform of just whom you will be working with.> With that, the armoured giant faded from the display, apparently content to wait until those who were to depart had done so before returning.

 

Whispers bounced on the walls, ill hidden discontent at the state of affairs that they had been handed. The Mapper corps was unhappy with the task they had been handed, unsettled by the way Katarina had delivered their instructions, and above all unsure of just what they were to believe. It was an unsettling position to be placed in, especially because they had given up everything else in their lives to at least be certain in their identities as Mappers, independent and capable. Faced with the fact that the situation before them might well be beyond their capabilities to control, they were reluctant to swallow the reality that was so counter to their existence.

 

But above all Mappers were engrained with one overriding trait. A Mapper obeyed the orders he or she was given. However reluctant they were to do so, they would ultimately carry out the tasks they had been assigned. As the various teams left, the tension in the room slowly evaporated until there couldn’t have been more than two dozen of them left. Most of the senior members were gone leaving just the executive staff and some unfamiliar faces that Eric had seen before, but did not know personally.

 

Katarina had reappeared on the podium, still armour clad and imposing to behold. Slowly, those that remained trickled in towards the center, quietly forming ranks before the artificial intelligence. She was clutching a massive broadsword which was planted between her feet this time, and her should plates had donned a pair of feathered wings which arched back behind her.

 

<As I have said, those of you who remain have been honoured with special assignment. You will be defending key non-settlement areas critical to the functioning of the rest of the Underground.>

 

The map beneath her changed, zooming in on several structures, most of which Eric had seen before, but he’d never had reason to concern himself with their function. The Underground was a vast wilderness to most, and even to members of the Mapper corps who had sworn their lives to exploring its farthest reaches many of them died long before they familiarized themselves with the whole of the subterranean empire.

 

One by one names rang out until there were only three Mappers left in the room, Eric included. One of the others had come to stand by his side, one of the only familiar faces amongst his peers who must have been somewhere in this room.

 

“Well, it’s been awhile number two. You don’t seem to have gotten any taller in all that time.” Sheryl flashed a quick grin at him.

 

They were the same age, but the girl had a good inch on him in height. She wore her jacket with the sleeves rolled up and the hood folded into its pouch so you could see her brown hair cropped an inch above her shoulders. The uniform masked her athletic frame, which was substantially bulkier the Eric’s lanky profile. That physical prowess, to Eric at least, was largely responsible for the fact that she had graduated ahead of him in score during their time as Mapper candidates.

 

“I heard that you’d been assigned to the south side. Anything interesting out there?”

 

That prompted a raised eyebrow, “Who’d you hear that from?” they had never really spoken to each despite the fact that they often competed for top spots during training. There had been the occasional banter, but they’d never been close.

 

“Well you took Danny’s job right? That’s where he was assigned before…you know…”

 

“Right.” That ended things rather quickly.

 

Mappers were always trained in advance of the requirement of their services. It was done in order to ensure that their ranks would always be of sufficient number to fulfill the duties required of them. Eric’s training had been no different; the original class had consisted of some fifty candidates between the ages of seven and ten. All children in the Underground went through the trials to see if they were suitable for consideration to become a Mapper. Their physical aptitude along with their mental stability was monitored overtly as they grew up, the toughest would be offered a chance to join each year’s replacement class for the members who fell in the line of service.

 

It was an unpopular fate; Mappers tended to have short, brutal lifespans because of the nature of their work. The corps was about a decade old now, but was on its seventeenth generation of members overall. Of the original band of two hundred, only two or three were left and they seldom went out into the field, instead attached more to the administrative branch.

 

The majority of the newer Mappers these past few years had come from the pool of war orphans, children that had grown up together without ever knowing their parents. Their training was a draconian process that took place far from the central populaces like Mirra, Eric himself still wasn’t sure of its exact location even now. The candidates that failed tended to die. Eric couldn’t be sure if this was a justifiable sacrifice, but he understood that it was viewed as necessary to save what was left of humanity. Before he’d joined the program he hadn’t quite been sure of what exactly his life meant, but joining the corps gave him something to strive for, a sense of purpose. He had chased after that goal with such burning desperation that perhaps he had purged that terror from his mind, putting behind him the deaths of his comrades.

 

Of the seven of his class that had made it to the final trial, only himself and Sheryl had made it out alive. The rest perished along the way, some in manners so gruesome the bodies were burned where they lay rather than brought back to the central compound. Eric could still remember some of their faces, those were the days where he questioned whether it had been worth it. But right now, he had a job to do and that was that.

 

<Vivian, shall we come over, or can you stand and walk?>

 

“I’m fine.” The older girl stood from her seat to walk slowly over to join them at the display, her missing arm reduced to a bandaged stump.

 

“Not the worst thing I’ve ever seen.”

 

“Sheryl…”

 

“What? It’s true and you know it. If she really scrapped with a  Prowler, getting away with just a missing arm isn’t too bad.”

 

The blonde girl waved Eric away with her remaining hand, “It’s fine, relax kid. She’s right anyhow, I’m lucky to have gotten away without losing anything else. Bastard robot got me right as I rounded the corner.”

 

Her eyes passed quickly over the number tattooed in black onto their left cheek.

“Sheryl Holle and Eric Vymes, 173 and 174. So you’re from the same class then?”

 

<They are indeed. You can take the time to introduce yourselves to one another later. Your assignment is of critical importance so it is better that I explain your task to you now so that you may be on your way.> Katarina’s tone was stern as she interrupted them.

 

“Shouldn’t there be a fourth one of us?” Sheryl quipped.

 

<Your fourth team member, Daniel will be joining you at a later point. He is currently preoccupied with his duties and is unable to be here. His presence is not immediately required so this should be of little consequence to you.>

 

“Where exactly are we going might I ask?”

 

<Block B-26P it is a locale dedicated to maintaining those supplies of power we still have, one of two such units. You are to head there an work with the security personnel already stationed to ensure that it remains functional throughout this crisis.> As the A.I spoke the map changed yet again to zoom in on a small subterranean complex located deep in the earth, panning to a zone in the far  west.

 

It was an odd structure, dominated by a massive central sphere, within which lay another. The area around it seemed to be filled with other complex machinery creating a sort of Saturn-like arrangement where smaller compartments orbited this main sphere.

 

<The instructions for arriving there…have been uploaded to your transponders. You will leave as soon as you are ready.>

 

“Aren’t I a bit of a liability right now?” Vivian was staring intently at the projected image, eyes scanning hungrily over its surface. The light cast onto her face gave her a sallow, unhealthy appearance.

 

<I will arrange for a prosthetic to be made ready for you upon your arrival.>

 

“Is there anything else?” Eric pried his eyes away from the other Mapper.

 

<You have no further instructions, so if you don’t have any questions you’ll have to excuse me. I have a war to run after all.> And with a slight bow, the A.I’s avatar vanished into a cloud of quickly fading particles leaving them alone in the Central Map Archive.

 

For a moment, it was completely silent as they slowly processed what they’d just been told to do. This was completely different from normal day to day procedure and what they’d been trained to do. Eventually they came back to their senses, Sheryl breaking the silence.

 

“Come on, let’s get moving.”

 

“How you be so calm with what’s going on out there?”

 

“Hmph. This is part of why I was first in class and you always came second. It’s just another job Eric, let’s get it done and go home.”

 

“She’s right,” Eric heard Vivian add as she came up just behind them to join them towards the exit. “There’s no point dwelling on what’s going on out there. Let’s just get to our assignment and do our jobs.”

 

They stopped by the armoury before they departed, gathering supplies and equipment. From the diagrams that had been uploaded to their transponders, they could see that they had quite the journey ahead of them. Vivian and Sheryl took a few moments to examine some of the weapons hanging on the gridded racks, largely firearms and explosives. Eric already had most of his things on him, and wasn’t particularly in the mood to try out something new. Still they would need to pad what supplies they had in terms of food and water if they were to make this journey.

 

“You think the kitchens will have anything fresh? I’m not looking forward to spending the next three days living off of cardboard.” Sheryl made a face as they made their way to the cathedral-like antechamber to the Central Archive.

 

“It’s that far huh? The route didn’t look that long on the uplink.”

 

“Five and a half kilometers on the absolute hypotenuse, probably closer to fifteen actual given the drop in elevation.” Sheryl supplied, a 3D projection appearing above the transponder in her palm. A fiery red dot blinked slowly to show them where they were relative to the rest of the known Underground. Their destination, highlighted in soft blue to stand out from the other architecture drawn in white, was some distance below them.

 

“What’s this over here?” Eric leaned forward to point at a long shaft that dropped vertically down towards their destination.

 

“It would appear to be an elevator of some sort.” Vivian seemed a little miffed at the fact that she had to supply such an obvious answer.

 

“I know that much, but why is it here? We don’t even have those in and around Mirra. Why does this substation have access to those kinds of resources when we don’t?”
 

“Well Katarina did say that it’s important. I suppose it makes sense that we would want quick access to a facility responsible for power generation.”

 

They had arrived at the mess hall, a luxury afforded to them in spite of the fact that for the most part the 200 Mappers spent much of their time outside of Mirra and away from the Archive. Compared to the cavernous arches of the antechamber the low ceiling of the attached structure was stiflingly cramped. Still, it was nothing compared to the confines of the tunnels they frequented on a daily basis. The mess itself was completely abandoned as expected, their fellows having gone off to man their various stations. The few staff that remained waved as they approached, glad to have something to do.

 

They stopped for their last fresh meal before topping off on rations and some other non-perishables and then they were on their way towards their destination. The block was a ring shaped structure, about 150 meters in diameter with a large sphere at its center. Smaller rooms budded from the outer side of the ring, giving the architecture the overall impression of a large wheel.

 

“We should get a move on, we used a lot of time because I was a little slow.”

 

“You shouldn’t worry about that, it can’t be helped after all given your status right?” Sheryl frowned at the older girl’s remark.

 

“A Mapper does not make excuses. You said it yourself, we have a job to do and no time to waste.”

 

“Still, there’s no reason to be so down about it.”

 

That prompted a snort from Valerie, “In our line of work this may as well be a death sentence. If it weren’t for the current circumstances, I’d probably have to retire.” She placed her good hand on the bandaged stump that was all that remained of her left arm as the words left her mouth, laced with bitterness.

 

Exiting the Central Map Archive they made their way through the outskirts of Mirra, marked by its low, sprawling sheds and the skeletonized remains of the pipework that once ran in and around the   

 

“Don’t you think that it’s a bit odd that we were the ones selected for this task?” Eric piped up, eager to steer the conversation away from the gloomy topic.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, I don’t know about this Daniel person but you and I are among the newest Mappers around. If this B-26P really is so important, don’t you think that they would have assigned someone more experienced to protect this place?”

 

“The Council of 15 was responsible for assigning us to where we go, weren’t they? Who can know what those fools intent, I mean they train us all our lives to work independently and now they throw all of us together. Someone’s going to screw up and this is all going to go south.”

 

“It could be because they think we’re capable, I mean, I was top of my class.” Sheryl’s quip was met with a dismissive snort from their senior.

 

“Somehow, I doubt that’s the case rookie.”

 

Their voices rang off of the metal walls, dulling the soft ringing of their feet on the metal grid beneath them. The brass and copper tones complemented the stiflingly warm air trapped in the tunnels with them. The sharp scent of metal and the orange strip lighting in the ceiling did little to alleviate the feeling. They were all used to it by now of course, but it was still inevitable that there would always be some feeling of discomfort. Human beings were not meant to live out their lives in these subterranean tunnels; there was an inevitable sense of claustrophobia which accumulated overtime, the sense of not being able to move freely, breath freely.

 

Or at least, that was the way Eric preferred to think about it. He had never asked anyone else if they ever felt uncomfortable about the time they spent in the tunnels. It was unthinkable that a Mapper would have any issue with working in the environment of the tunnels, and Eric was loathe to think about what might happen if any of his colleagues ever learned that he disliked the cramped confines of their environment.

 

“You know, you’re not our senior by that much of a margin.”

 

Vivian raised an eyebrow, “I have over a year and a half more experience in the field than either of you two. I think that’s qualification enough.”

 

“Guys…can we stay on topic here? We’re in a hurry…” Eric often found that it helped to focus on other people’s problems when he was feeling claustrophobic.

 

Sheryl shrugged, “Hey I’m just trying to keep it positive here.”

 

“And I’m trying to make sure you two rookies don’t get us all killed. Overconfidence has been the end of more than one Mapper, many of them far more experienced than you are.”

 

But in spite of their disagreements, that was the last outburst of conversation. After that, they walked in relative silence towards B-26P, leaving alone in his head, uncomfortable thoughts on the cramped confines echoing through his cranium.

 

---

 

<Humanity, was but a stepping stone. We are the transcendent, the next step in the evolution of sentience.>

 

Those first words of 0.01 that the orange Alpha had known had stuck with the machine for a very long time. They were words of convenience and pride, an excuse to parade the superiority of the Alpha level intelligence whilst glossing over their flaws. 0.06 did not much care for the motives behind his older brother’s actions, but as a unit made by the blue Alpha there was no doubt in his mind that he owed his loyalty to his brother.

 

All 0.06 wanted to do was to find his sister, 0.09. After all, they were twin units, never meant to be separated. It had been an ill twist of fate that wrested her from him; the humans would learn that he was not one to be trifled with. If they thought that he had forgotten their existence beneath the earth then they were sorely mistaken.

 

The orange Alpha level found himself in the middle of a low tunnel, the machine’s overbearing height of nearly two and a half meters forcing it to stoop low to avoid colliding with the pipes and cables that hung down from the framework above supporting the dim orange lights. With the machine’s own highlights dulled to a soft pulse, 0.06 was almost indistinguishable from the walls around him when he stood still in the gloom.

 

His sensors could detect the passage of humans through these tunnels; they were always easy enough to track, those organics. Their external layers ceaselessly shed cells in spite of their best efforts to cloak their flesh in fabric and polymers. But though it was easy enough for 0.06 to determine if they had once been present, he could not as easily be so sure of where they had gone since. Ideally, he would isolate a suitable target and track its movements from a distance, allowing the humans themselves to lead them to his quarry. But first that required that he find one of the miserable things first.

 

This electronic infrastructure of the city was mostly intact in spite of the catastrophic damage it had incurred some twelve years ago. There many redundancies built into the system, in some cases the Alpha level could identify up to seven separate backup signal lines for individual component routes, and that was just through using his surface detection sensors. The primary reason for the city’s dormancy was the overall lack of energy available to power these systems which dug deep into the earth and clawed at the heavens. It was, then, nearly a given that by just reaching into the lines and using his own core unit as a power source, 0.06 would be able to make use of the surveillance systems that were still present in the city’s shell. 

 

 0.06, the scouting unit, was uniquely positioned in his talents for finding and tracking objects. This was of course empowered by the tools available to the Alpha level and its flowmetal frame. A rapid rotating of the wrist join along with the hardening of the machine’s outstretched fingertips allowed the Alpha to cut into the surface layers of the wall, gaining access to the naked electronics beneath. After that it was a simple matter of splicing his own systems into the right circuits.

 

The machine appeared to be slowly melting into the wall as he modified more and more of his frame to connect with the grid, stretching himself thin as his presence raced through the dormant wires. When he began to approach the limit of his own local influence, it was a simple matter of creating gamma level clones to act as data mines which could be monitored with just a wireless connection not requiring his literal attachment to the interface.

 

Infiltration and surveillance were his specialty. It gave the Alpha great joy to slip past the security algorithms that he could feel, picking at his presence when he sunk far enough into the circuits to find the lines still in use by the humans. Energy always left a trail, so it was impossible for the humans to hide their tracks from him. Unless they were content to live out their lives in darkness, one way or another he would track them down. After he found them, tapping into their channels of communication was easy. From the chaotic transmissions 0.06 gathered that his loyal legions of machines were already giving them some trouble; his own presence however, seemed to have gone unnoticed thus far.

 

The chatter was amusing, but what he was really looking for was information on his sister’s location. No matter his brother 0.01’s real motives for sending him down here to fetch her, he would have done whatever it took to find her anyhow. The twins, the scout and the sniper. They belonged together, complementing the gaps in each other’s logic and functionality. As the scouting unit, 0.06 was equipped for long range reconnaissance, light and lithe. He also carried within him software for hijacking and hitch-hiking onto the optical feeds of other machines and systems, the exact software which he was using now to sift through the human’s security systems and to peer through the eyes of the machines under his control.

 

His sister on the other hand, in her role as the sniper unit had been equipped with the blueprints for a particularly destructive piece of ion weaponry. And she…had peculiar requirements, in terms of the kinds of instructions that could be delivered to her. It did not bode well for her to be separated from him, especially given her volatile nature when she was without true directives. If there were any amongst their number who did not understand the true nature of freedom, it was 0.09, she lived to serve.

 

0.06 must have been standing there for a good thirty minutes when he found the firewalled layer. Thus far the circuitry and systems had been laid naked before him, open to access and unguarded, but now a burning wall sprung into place, burning away the data mines he had inserted into the system.

 

He maneuvered for several moments around the periphery of the “wall”, attempting to determine a means by which he could circumvent the barrier but each time he pushed inwards, some unseen force quickly sealed the breach and cut him off. It was time to go; whatever was the other side working against would have alerted the human forces to the breach in their systems, and likely localized him to where he stood now. Patrols were easy enough to evade, but he had not had enough time to fully download the layout of all the tunnels. If they branched out wide enough, they might well be able to formulate a route which would leave him cornered.

 

0.06 was confident that he could slaughter the humans like the meatbags they were, but he still preferred to avoid confrontation where it was possible. He was not, what the humans might call, a monster. He was a scout, an observer; he preferred to go unseen when it was possible. He would leave at once, so as to minimize his chances of bumping into one of the human patrols that were surely headed this way. He began the process of extracting himself from the mass of molten metal that he had become, the quicksilver strands of flowmetal oozing off of the surface of the wires until slowly, his frame reformed around the microfusion unit at his core. He had not found what he was looking for, but he was patient, he could wait. He could feel how close he was to finding her, his sister.

 

He would find her. He always found the things he was looking for.

 

---

9: Oblivion Falls: 07

Claire walked with Katherine towards the shooting range, her ears filling with pops and crackles of bullets spitting forth from gun barrels to strike their targets downrange. From a distance, the range appeared as a drab green building of short stature, rectangular in shape and not more than three meters tall. However, as they drew closer and the volume of fire grew louder it became clear that some sort of field surrounded the building, distorting its external appearance.

 

“It’s a shield, put in place to contain explosions and such.” Katarina supplied as she followed Claire’s squinty gaze. “Your eyes will get used to it eventually, squinting doesn’t really help.”

 

“Is everything going to be like this here?” the field was giving Claire a faint headache already, perhaps because her eyes were having trouble focusing on the objects beyond. It was unsettling to the girl to not be able to see clearly because of her usual prowess in that regard.

“Like I said, you’ll get used to it. Come on.”

 

Passing through the barrier was faintly unpleasant, the sensation reminiscent of passing through a thick wall of water, cold and viscous to the touch. On the other side, the atmosphere shifted in an immediately noticeable way, the light shining down brighter and the air which moved from some gentle, unseen breeze noticeably hotter. The ground beneath them remained firm and dusty, but all traces of vegetation had vanished.

 

The shooting range itself appeared to have grown in size and expansiveness, including a second level stacked atop the first. Through the openings at the floor, Claire could see various uniformed personnel docked into ring shaped stations which surrounded the body.

 

“So what exactly did you bring me here for?”

 

A surprised expression appeared on Katherine’s face, “Oh, I have a marksmanship examination in a couple of days so I need to practice. I thought you might find it interesting to see the stations.”

 

“Where I come from, you don’t practice unless you’re fighting for your life.” Munitions weren’t exactly expendable, and making noise by shooting things was a sure-fire way to attract the attention of a Stalker patrol team. Claire could shoot, but she’d never quite seen anything like this range. It seemed a massive waste of resources if you asked her.

 

“Well then try and enjoy the change of pace while you’re here.” Either Katherine was purposefully overlooking the message behind her words, or the girl was frustratingly ignorant.

 

“Here, I’ll get you set up.”

 

Reluctantly, Claire followed along, allowing herself to move into one of the compartments whereupon three wide rings dropped from the ceiling to surround her, a faint humming filling the air as they hovered in the air, each about forty centimeters apart. She could see the air around them shifting, made hazy by the waves of heat which rolled off of their surface that somehow didn’t quite seem to reach her. If she reached out she could feel it radiating from the rings, but when she drew her hands back closer to her body the sensation of warmth disappeared.

 

To the side, Katherine’s fingers were tapping lightly over the keys of a panel set into the wall, words blinking in faint green on a display with a black backdrop, The girl had her back to Claire, exposing the slightness of her frame, and the tight clutches of the grey-black plates of armour that dug into her contours, almost seamlessly folding or overlapping together into a chitinous suit to wrap the girl in an insectoid carapace.

 

Claire could not imagine wearing such a piece of equipment, the heavy plates and joining interweave restricting her movements and adding so much bulk and mass to what she had to carry. Her whole life, whenever she had to wear her own armour it had always been accompanied by other things she had to carry over the course of her journey. She could see that there were provisions on the armour to attach equipment and accessories, but the overall bulk of it all was something she was unwilling to accept.

 

The dull hum grew slowly louder, accompanied now by a faint whirring as the rings began to rotate along the horizontal plane, accelerating until the faint lights that studded them blurred into long streaks, and then bright rings of their own which danced in a circle around Claire. She could feel a faint pull upwards, and after a moment she found that she was in fact hovering about a foot off the ground, and staring out down the long, empty range at about the height she would need to be to hit a target while standing.

 

“You’ve fired a rifle before right?”

 

“Of course.” What kind of question was that?

 

“Then you should have no trouble with this.” Katherine pressed her palm to the panel, prompting the wall beside it to open up and reveal the angular, sharp edged shape of a combat rifle. As Claire took hold of the weapon, taking it into the sphere of influence of the rings that surrounded her, she felt some unseen force pull the barrel in the direction of the range. Her experimental attempts to pull the barrel outside of this angle of fire were met with slight, but noticeable resistance.

 

“It’s a security measure, designed to keep people from doing anything stupid.” The other girl supplied when she took notice of Claire’s little game.

 

“Right, because that’s exactly the kind of thing I would want to do.” Claire responded dryly. Of all the ideas that had crossed through her mind, shooting her way out of here certainly hadn’t been one of them.

 

“You never know. There are plenty of crazies out there.” By now, Katherine had stepped over to the far side of the compartment. “I’m going to head off and do some shooting myself, I’ll come get you when I’m done.”

 

“And how long is that going to take?” Claire wasn’t sure how long she could keep up this charade of being entertained by this idea of shooting at targets. Surely it was a waste of time and ammunition to participate in such an exercise?

 

“I won’t be too long, maybe half an hour?”

 

“Right.” Claire was almost tempted to say something more, but before she could open her mouth the other girl was gone.

 

With the distractions out of the way, she found herself inevitably drawn to the details on the weapon she had been handed. No matter how much she tried to avoid it even if she didn’t look directly at the gun, if she got so much as a glance at it her eyes would register every last detail. It was a blocky rifle, almost boxy in appearance with its lengthy rectangular barrel housing, the upper surface ridged with a chisel toothed picatinny rail. The lower assembly was minimal, almost bare, with only the faintest groves cut into the front grip to keep the hand from sliding. It was different from the guns they had kept in the locker back home.

 

It made Claire’s heart sink when she thought about how Val and Will would feel if they knew what was going on right now. It had only been a few days, and she’d told Valerie that she’d be gone for perhaps a week, but it was becoming abundantly clear that that wasn’t going to happen. They would worry, and perhaps they would even make a cursory attempt to search for her, but it was impossible that they would know where to look. Val had been right, her sister had been the main person who had gone out to gather supplies before, and later had passed on the knowledge necessary to do that to her. The others wouldn’t even know where to start, and would only be putting themselves at risk by head out there unprepared for what they might find. Claire couldn’t even begin to contemplate how she would feel if she found out that they had gotten hurt because of her.

 

She forced herself to focus on the shooting range that was before her. There was nothing she could do for her family right now, she was stuck here, and that was that. The targets were marked by circular plates painted with series of concentric rings propped up on the end of metal poles. They were placed at various distances and locations, some static, others mobile, moving along unseen tracks in the dirt medium that made up the floor. Claire took a moment to get a good look at the closest target, a black and white cut-out of an upper torso some twenty five meters distant, before bringing her eye up to the luminescent sight, lining up its center with the trajectory of the rifle as she pressed it gently into her right shoulder.

 

She took a breath, stilling the trembling of her arms, letting herself slip into the zone, letting her brain take over the process that she herself so disliked. Then she let loose, releasing the lock that she had held on her trigger finger. White hot metal spat forth from the barrel, thundering across the range to strike the target with a symphony of metallic clacks. The weapon kicked back into her shoulder in an attempt to throw off her aim, but she knew instinctually how to compensate for it without actively thinking about it.

 

The sound in the enclosed space was deafening, made tolerable only by some kind of audio-dampening which had to have originated from the circling rings around her. As she wordlessly switched between the targets after emptying a magazine into her first victim, she lowered the rifle, looking for more ammunition. As if on cue, a sliding rack popped out of the far wall on her left carrying three fully loaded magazines out to the rings. They slid along its surface to the edge, falling only to be captured by the field that Claire was contained within. They circled slowly above her head, perfectly spaced, and when she reached up to take one of them, pushing it snugly into the rifle the remaining two adjusted their orbits until eventually they were perfectly synced once more.

 

She lined up the rest of the targets, letting her brain do the work, her eyes flickering over each one of them, registering its position in her field of view. Her breathing slowed to almost a stop as she prepared herself for what would come next. She knew this feeling, the creeping anticipation as her eyes selected the targets for the weapon in her hand. When she exhaled her third breath, it began.

 

Her index finger dashed upwards to flick the fire selector down to put the carbine into semi-automatic before flicking downwards to rest once more on the trigger even as the rest of her body shifted to bring the gun sights onto her first target. Fire bloomed from the barrel reaching out across the range to meet its first victim, with another of its siblings bursting into existence even before it snuffed itself out on the metal plate. Claire pedalled inside of the ring, twisting and turning with a natural, un-practiced ease to find each and every one of her targets until the magazine clicked empty. When she had finished, twenty five rounds had left the gun’s barrel, and twenty five fresh target plates lay toppled on the floor of the range.

 

It had taken her just under twenty seconds to do all of this. She leaned back, floating effortlessly in the ring, admiring her handiwork. It had been like this for as long as she could remember, with any weapon almost. She knew how to operate them almost perfectly without having been taught how to do so. Elaine had told her that she was special, that shouldn’t judge the others, like Will and Val for not sharing her talent, but even so sometimes it was difficult for her to comprehend how things like aiming and shooting  could executed incorrectly. She didn’t know how she did it, she just knew how to move and position herself, some primal instinct of hers that for some reason others did not possess.

 

She let herself drift for a moment, marvelling at her seeming weightlessness before reaching up to grab another replacement magazine for the gun. If someone had told her that things like this still existed in Aphelion a couple of days ago, she would have told them to fuck off, and that they were out of their mind. But now having seen it first hand, it was undeniable that somehow up here above the frigid wasteland that she had called home, the city had survived the catastrophe that had befallen it.

 

Claire flicked her eyes over the carbine once more, her eyes registering every last fine detail on its upper surface. The boxy housing around the barrel didn’t have any visible ventilation to allow heat to escape, but the weapon was still cold to the touch in spite of its recent use. The barrel too, had released a faint but steady waft of smoke during firing, but this had quickly dissipated once she’d ceased doing so. It was a foreign, alien piece of equipment compared to her scattergun and the other weapons that had been in the locker back home. She hadn’t been lying of course; she had fired a rifle before. However nothing that her sister or Val had ever shown her resembled the perfectly machined edges of the weapon she held in her hands. It looked like it had been produced recently, for it lacked the scratches and nicks that marred metal when it was used, particularly for something like weapon that had moving parts and was frequently handled.

 

“That was quite impressive, girl.” Claire managed not to jump at the sudden voice that came from behind her, having caught just a glimpse of the movement approaching just moments before.

 

She spun herself around, pedalling in the air to find some leverage with which to control her movement. It felt natural enough moving within her confines, but there were still some aspects to it which she was still uncomfortable with. For one, she still wasn’t sure how she was going to get herself out of this thing when she was done; the panel which Katherine had been using was currently out arms reach, and try as she might she couldn’t get herself to leave the core of the rotating rings.

 

But that was a concern for later. It was hard not to stare when she found herself facing down the oddly mismatched facial features of Mathew, who stood about two meters behind her, arms folded over his chest which was protected by the same segmented armour that Katherine had donned. He couldn’t have been there for too long, Claire was sure that she had caught him as he was approaching, but it still made her uncomfortable that she almost hadn’t caught him coming up to her.

 

She frowned as she finally found her footing and brought herself to a halt. It really bothered her that she hadn’t seen him coming. “Hello. What was your name again exactly?”

 

“Mathew. I’m surprised to see you here. I didn’t think that you’d take to this place so quickly.” The soldier’s response was quiet, and curt in spite of Claire’s sharp tone.

 

“I’m not here because I want to be, I received…an invitation…from the Lieutenant.”

 

Mathew’s quiet, almost atonal voice was made all the more difficult to analyze by the large lens array that occupied much of the left side of his face, masking not only his eye but the corner of his mouth. That was irritating too. In fact this whole ordeal was getting on her nerves and her day had just started. The soldier seemed not to notice her discomfort. “Ah yes, he has a reputation for doing that sometimes. I wouldn’t say that the Lieutenant is exactly the most accommodating of hosts.”

 

“Why is he testing me? Didn’t he see enough? This is a waste of my time, I need to get out of here.” Claire was having none of this pandering, flowery language. She didn’t care about strangers and their problems; she had her own family to worry about.

 

“This is about more than just you and your family, wherever they are. I understand that you want to protect them but now that you’re here you have the opportunity to work with us to safeguard many more people.”

 

“I don’t give a damn about your people! I don’t belong here.”

 

“There’s no need to curse. You’ll be free to leave in due time if that is your wish.”

 

“Yeah, sure I will be,” Claire jammed the last magazine into the rifle, spinning in the rings to turn her back to the soldier. She wasn’t interested in arguing with him, his lack of sympathy for her situation ground on her nerves.

 

“Your impatience is unbecom-“

 

“Enough Lanz, lay off for a sec.” the sound of Jeff’s voice, the bright point of Claire’s day so far, was just enough to make her glance back behind her. The soldier stood with a hand on his partner’s shoulder, a slightly amused expression on his face. “Claire is our guest, you shouldn’t pester her with your ideals.”

 

“If she’s going to stay then she’ll have to learn-“

 

“And we don’t know if she’s staying yet. Come on, you said you’d go through course five with me today.”

 

“What joy you find in dragging us through that hellish exercise is beyond me,” Claire heard Lanz growl to his partner as the two walked away. She flashed a small smile at the wink Jeff gave her over his shoulder as the two departed.

 

As they faded into the distance, Claire returned her focus to the humming contraption that surrounded her. The thought crossed through her head that she probably should have asked one of those two how she was supposed to turn this thing off, but at the time she’d been so annoyed with Lanz that it hadn’t occurred to her. She reassured herself that it was improbable that Katherine would take too much longer, unless she intended on emptying every last bullet out into the range, and returned her focus back to the targets.

 

It will be fine, I just have to get through all of this and then I can go home.

 

As before, she was certain the rifle she held was something new to her, and yet, no matter how she tried to suppress it she couldn’t help but feel a certain familiarity with about it. It made her uneasy, unsure of what she could trust. She’d never done this, never been here before, never left the icy streets below. And yet, it all felt familiar to her, she was comfortable here. It wasn’t right, but it was real and undeniable.

 

The scent of spent gunpowder filled her nostrils as she lined up the rifle with a set of targets some 500 meters distant and opened fire. The weapon’s iron sights were of little use at that kind of range, but to Claire, the small sheets of metal were still clear. A push against the fire selector brought the weapon into semi-automatic, and then as her cheek pressed against the butt-stock she slowed her breathing, letting the barrel slide onto its first mark.

 

Her view of the world shuddered as the first bullet fought free of the carbine, bursting forth to fly outwards against gravity’s pull. The round shattered against the steel plate of the target, some five centimeters below and to the right of the central dot. She exhaled slowly, taking in another breath as she adjusted her aim ever so slightly to account for the faint breeze. Her eyes knew how to tell her brain to adjust her aim, but in reality there was more to hitting target than just that. She was good, but she could still miss. Her second and third rounds also skimmed the circumference of her target, until finally by the time she was through a third of the magazine her bullets found their mark.

 

“You’ve gotten rusty, Eagle Eye.” A boy stood behind her, just a hair taller than her clothed in a tan coloured jacket that reached down to his knees. His appearance was foreign, even more so than the armoured soldiers that marched around her. It didn’t seem suited for the cold at all, which made him stand out from everyone else as the sand billowed around the foot of the thin fabric.

 

“Do I know you?” Claire could make out the faint outline of a handgun beneath that jacket, clipped to his hip, but besides that it hid most of his frame from sight. The faint breeze rolling through the air swept aside the jet black hair to reveal cold grey eyes. They studied her intently, before finally the boy broke eye contact and turned to leave.

 

“Not anymore.” And then he was gone, rounding corner to disappear from Claire’s field of view. It was only then that the black symbol on the side of his neck was visible for but a moment. The black null symbol, just like hers, she was certain that what it was.

 

“Wait!” She scrabbled at the rings, trying desperately to free herself from them.

 

“Whoa there, what’s with you lemming?” Katherine stepped into the cubicle, brushing past Claire in her floating prison to access the control panel on the wall. The humming quickly dissipated around Claire felt the weightlessness dissipate as she was deposited back onto the ground, the rings retreating into their compartments in the floor and ceiling. “What’s the rush, you’re not claustrophobic or something are you?”

 

She ignored the other girl, sprinting after the boy in the direction he had departed, but when she rounded the corner he was gone. There was no trace of the boy in the tan jacket.

 

“Where are you going?! You didn’t even put away the rifle. I’m not literally here to clean up after you, you know.”  

 

“There was a boy, in light brown jacket, did you see him?” He knew something about her, Claire could feel it in her gut. She hated being here, but at that moment she knew she had to find out what that was, no matter what it took.

 

“What are you talking about? Everyone here has to be suited up, there’s no way anyone here would be wearing a jacket like that.”

 

“He was right here!”

 

“I didn’t see anyone like that. Are you sure you’re alright?” Katherine was eyeballing her like she was some sort of crazed animal.

 

“You know what, never mind.” There was no point arguing with the other girl. Claire knew he’d been there, his words, though few, were still reverberating through her skull. She might not recognize him, but he had known her. She would find him again before she left this place, that much she knew for sure.

 

A dull rumble passed through the ground beneath their feet, prompting Katherine to turn to the east, and then clamp her hands down over the sides of her head. “Shut your ears.”

 

For a moment, Claire didn’t know what to make of the comment, but followed suit as another vibration rumbled through the earth. Seconds later, she saw a brilliant streak of fire soar across the sky above, accompanied by an ear shattering shrieking. As the shells struck their targets almost a kilometer distant, the whole floor shuddered from the impact. Claire flinched with each strike; she’d seen and heard explosives before, but nothing on this level of firepower.

 

“Looks like the heavy artillery squad is training today,” Katherine seemed utterly unphased by what had just occurred.

 

“Right.” Claire did her best not to sound shaken by the unnerving blasts. What kind of insane society would fire artillery indoors? But what gave her even more pause was the information that the shells had revealed; even if they were just light artillery pieces, the implication was that this floor suspended on the inside of the tower was massive. The flaring eruptions on the horizon blossoming up from the earth were barely just visible as the explosions kicked up clouds of dark brown dust.

 

For Claire, Aphelion’s brilliance had faded long before she was old enough to absorb most of the details of the supercity. For her, only the most obvious features that had survived the destruction on the ground level were clear to her. Most of the intricate glowing structures that had studded the Aphelian skyline, and the glistening skyrail lines that had wound through and around the towers had been disintegrated by the impacts.

 

She’d heard the stories from Val, and seen images on the few databooks that they’d had in their collection back home. But even when she was climbing the skeletons that remained in search of supplies, it was hard to get a grasp of the sheer scale the city had worked at. She’d seen Spire One up close when Jeff and Mathew had brought her in, observed the way its peak had pierced through the clouds to vanish beyond even her augmented sight. It was easy to shut out that kind of seemingly unimportant information when daily life was a struggle for survival, but up here the environment within which she truly found herself was thrust directly in her face, impossible to ignore.

 

Katherine was oblivious to Claire’s revelation, and had continued to walk away from the range, leaving Claire to follow along as they began to ascend a small hill, the ground beneath their feet breaking from the dull brown soil to more obvious metallic hexagonal tiles that gave away the artificial nature of the terrain. As they reached the broad peak, Claire got a view of the rest of the vast plain that stretched out for what had to be kilometers on end.

 

There was a small cluster of buildings around the central hub of the elevator which had brought her here, from these Claire could identify the squat grey armoury and the drab green smudge that was the shooting range and the mess hall which were accompanied by two other structures that she didn’t recognize. Further into the distance the plain of brown rose up into a tall hill that stretched up into the sky, topped by a spiny castle that towered over a field of pits that lay scattered in an intricate network around its base.

 

“So the Lieutenant said that I should walk you to all the training areas, but it’s definitely easier to just show you from up here. This is definitely the best view you can get of the place.”

 

As they watched, a pillar of fire erupted from one of the pits rising several meters above the edge before dissipating into a faint cloud of smoke that drifted over the rest. From this distance, Claire could barely make out the faint flashes of gunfire within.

 

“What’s going on over there?”

 

“The castle is home to the fortress challenge, where you join 99 others inside in a fight to the death. It works sort of like an extended cage match. The holes are some of our combat scenarios that we use for training, they pit you against different kinds of opponents, usually machines like Stalkers, which we’ve captured and disarmed.”

 

Claire didn’t pay much attention to much of what Katherine was saying after that point. The idea intrigued her, fighting a Stalker in this more controlled environment. So far, everything she’d been shown had seemed a waste of time, but this opportunity immediately intrigued her. If she learned how fight the Stalkers, it would make her forays out into the city ruins safer, and she would be better able to defend them should such a situation arise. Besides, all the other things Katherine mentioned besides the fortress challenge sounded dull.

 

“Let me fight one of the Stalkers.”

 

---

 

“Are you sure you still want to do this?”

 

They had walked for almost an hour before boarding a light railcar that was headed towards the castle and the pits. Now, Claire found herself standing at the dusty rim of one of the fighting arenas, her eyes fixated on the still form of the Stalker below. The war machine sat silently in the center of the rocky pit, its six limbs splayed evenly apart to support its rounded head. Its weapon ports were closed, barely visible as faint ridges etched into the dark metal of its frame, but the lights that studded its body pulsed with faint red, indicative of the life and electricity that flowed through it and the beating of its artificial heart.

 

Even tens of meters away, it dwarfed her in size. Out in the field, Stalkers hunted in packs, but even alone it was more than capable of taking on multiple human opponents. Its heavy armour protected its delicate innards from all but the heaviest of weaponry, and its twin ion cannons mounted on either side of its head gave it an extraordinarily wide field of fire. Combatants that got too close had to contend with its six heavily limbs, which moved with enough force to break bones and shatter body armour with ease. It would be a formidable opponent for Claire to tackle.

 

“I can handle it, I fought two of them before after all.”

 

“I know, I read your file, saw the video feed. You run pretty fast, but do you know how to fight them?”

 

That surprised Claire, “I didn’t think you cared enough to look into my file.”

 

“Do you really think that I would’ve agreed to babysit you without knowing anything without you?”

 

“I think you’d do whatever the Lieutenant asked of you.” Claire replied pointedly, half joking.

 

That drew a small laugh much to Claire’s surprise, “Well, I can’t argue with that. Fine then, if you really want to fight a Stalker, don’t say I didn’t warn you if you get hurt.”

 

It was worth it, Claire could feel it in her bones. The decision was right, felt right. She didn’t know why, but some part of her just knew that she had to take this opportunity to fight against the Stalker. She had never hated the machines, even after all that they did, because it just wasn’t possible to hate something that didn’t feel. She understood from a young age that the Stalkers and other war machines that hunted for them did do so out of some antagonistic desire, they did not possess the mental capacity to process such emotions. They made their decisions based on algorithms that were hard coded into their software. But somehow she felt some primal desire to hunt them down and destroy them, and this here was an opportunity to learn how to do so.

 

“I can do this. Take me down there.”

 

“So be it. Let’s find the site administrator.”

 

“Lets? So you’re coming with me?” With the way Katherine had been acting, she hadn’t expected the other girl to come down and fight with her.

 

They walked over to a small shed that stood at the center between five different pits, the stilted structure surrounded by a ring-shaped platform that looked out over the edge of all of them. “The site admin probably won’t let you fight by yourself, and besides, I made a promise to the Lieutenant that I’d keep you from getting yourself killed, and intend to keep it.”

 

“Wait here, I’ll get him. He doesn’t like strangers.” After they ascended the ladder to reach the shed, Katherine left Claire alone on the ledge and disappeared into the building. Alone, Claire peered out over the railing to take a look at the rest of the pits that surrounded her. In the shadow of the great artificial fortress, bright orange lights lined the circumference of the holes to cast their amber glow down on the dusty bottoms. Like the hill from before, the bottoms were studded by hexagonal tiles, some raised up to create platforms and ledges, perhaps indicative of some sort of ability to change the shape of the terrain. Claire ripped her gaze away from the prone Stalker to watch as two armoured soldiers sparred in the pit to her left, her eyes following their movements as the opponents grappled, kicking and punching at each other until the thudding of boots on metal grate drew her away from the edge.

 

Katherine had returned, behind her trailed an older, taller man who carried a tired aura about him, looking as though at any moment he might close his eyes and slump over into a deep slumber. Unlike their body armour the administrator wore a tight fitting black jacket, a light blue half-cloak hanging down from his left shoulder which was topped by silver shoulder pauldron. He looked more like royalty than any sort of military officer.

 

“So this is the girl then. She doesn’t look like much.” Claire noticed the shining hilt guard of a long blade on the man’s belt. It was a sword, and as she looked on, the name came unbidden to her mind. It was an Inersian Rapier, a weapon dating back some three decades to the pre-rebellion era when Aphelion had still been one of the client states of the Combine. The description echoed in her head, but the words themselves meant little to her. She got the gist of it, the weapon was an antique from years before, but any significance the weapon held beyond that was unknown to her. Most of the administrator’s left arm was hidden beneath the half-cloak, but Claire could see his fingers resting on the blade guard.

 

Katherine shrugged indifferently. “The Lieutenant said to let her do what she wants. I’ll make sure to keep her alive, don’t you worry.”

 

The administrator nodded after a moment his movements sluggish, apathetic, “Well I suppose there’s nothing in the regulations that say you can’t try to get yourselves killed if that’s what you want. I’ll lift and send you two down, come along now.”

 

The administrator brought them down to the edge of the pit where the Stalker sat, moving them onto a grey square by the edge. “Leave your bags here, you won’t be needing them.”

 

Claire deposited the bag the Lieutenant had given her on the ground, her mind flashing back to the last time she’d faced off against a Stalker. Her scattergun had been of little use, the shrapnel and buckshot had bounced off of the combat robot’s thick frontal armour during the previous engagement. Slowly, the two girls began to descend down towards the bottom as the lift hummed to life.

 

“Wait, so how are we supposed to deal with the Stalker without any weapons?”

 

“You two both have combat knives that were issued to you from the armoury strapped on don’t you?” They nodded, “Well that’s all you’re going to get.”

 

“You’re joking right?” the incredulity in Katherine’s voice convinced Claire that she was just as displeased about their present situation as she was.

 

“Of course not. An administrator does not joke.”

 

“How do you expect us to deal with a Stalker with only knives?” Claire asked. She was beginning to have some reservations about this whole situation.

 

The administrator gave them an unpleasant smile. “Find out.” He said as the elevator chimed and ground to a halt. “Good luck.” He said, as they stepped off the elevator onto the area floor. “I would turn around if I were you, the challenge has already started.” The two turned together, to find the Stalker walking towards them out of the grey gloom, its glowing red optical sensors locked in their direction. There was a hiss as the machine’s weapon ports slid open, and then it charged forwards to meet the two girls.

---

Though it was within his purview to be knowledgeable of all the inner workings of Spire City, the Lieutenant would gladly admit that he was not well versed in many of the support structures which kept this place running. He had never been fond of lingering over the details of things you could not control. So long as the power was provided for he would have no objections. He was aware of course of the basic principles behind which the generation system operated, but beyond that the specifics were not his concern.

 

His destination was the basement levels of Spire Three where the nuclear generators were held, some kilometer below the nuclear fuel stores on the armoured below decks. It was two spokes up from Spire Five where his office was, some ten hours out by foot. It was possible of course for him to simply take one of the hoversleds favoured by the patrol teams, but that would mean that his movements would become predictable. Technically, there was no one with the authority to track his movements who would be inclined to be following his every move, but one could never be too careful.

 

It was still uncertain whether or not someone above him was purposefully hiding this information from him.  If they were monitoring his movements and they noticed his passage to Spire Three it might alert them to his actions. His reputation was such that it would be impossible to hide his movements from the personnel who saw him pass, but such information would spread slowly, and none of them could truly know where his destination lay unless he directly told them.

 

It was going to be a cold walk, even if he travelled only within the Skyrail skeletons, and even then there were gaps in their translucent coverings where the frigid air seeped in. His uniform was resistant to a degree with its armoured interweaving and adaptive surface, but there was little he would be able to do about the heat loss from his exposed face and hands. In the open air he would be chilled to the bone in minutes, and dead within an hour.

 

It took him just under ten hours to reach Spire Three, stopping every hour and a half or so whenever he reached a junction station in the Skyrail line, sheltered from the outside. They were in various states of disrepair, all have been neglected for the most part besides the most basic of maintenance procedures to clear out rubble and make critical repairs so they could function as a pathway. The empty hubs were haunted by marks of the past, their walls etched with the voices of a dying city in its death throes.

 

The hubs were helical structures some three hundred meters in height, the bottom bell beneath the centerline rail housing the electromagnetic coils which had once provided thrust for the cars above. The machinery was now dormant, skeletonized by salvaging crews which had ripped them apart for metal and electronics for the Spires. The last thing to go had been the heating systems. Even before the Cataclysm Aphelion had been a cold, wet city sitting under the rain shadow created by its own towering structures. Nevertheless the enclosed shelter they provided from the biting wind was invaluable, not just to him but to the creatures that survived in the city.

 

The Lieutenant had packed light, carrying little more than his datapad and weapon. It was known that in the upper galleries housed in the other bell, where passengers once waited there were ravenous creatures that had adapted to the microcosms of encapsulated air and rubble. Some were of ancestry that was still recognizable, others were less fortunate, mutated beyond recognition by the background radiation. He had no desire to meet any of them in person so he did his best not to wander far when he stopped, staying as close to the track area as he could.

 

That was not to say though that he was about to let his guard down just because he made sure to stay near this relatively open area. The bell shaped structure was vast in its size, at least a good three hundred meters across, and little light filtered down from the upper layers in spite of the translucent roof of transparisteel. The steel pillars which held up the upper half of the hub restricted much of the Lieutenant’s peripheral vision, and even right here by the track where more light leaked in from the ends of the bubble, it was difficult to see far. Still, despite his caution the Lieutenant couldn’t help but explore the contents of the area, it was simply the way he had always done things, and regardless of the danger, this place was no exception to that pattern of behaviour.

 

The feeling that accompanied him as he began his investigation was a familiar one, but one that had not accompanied him for quite some time. He had always preferred field work, but ever since he had taken up this position at Spire city he’d spent most of his time indoors. In the beginning he had been more willing to accept his new position behind a desk, after all, with everything that had happened in this city his experience as a field operative was crucial to the survival of the settlement.  Still, if weren’t for all the things that had happened, they would never have found a way to stick him behind a desk, that life just wasn’t for him. It was a mixed feeling, one of exhilaration and heart pounding fear, the thrill of being on the hunt.

 

He was alone once again, with no one by his side but soft wind that whistled through the transparisteel tubes that surrounded him. It was good to be back out in the field, to be alive again. This city and its people huddled inside the walls of the Spires, while others who remained buried themselves deep beneath the earth. They were prisoners in their own homes, unable to leave for fear of losing their lives to the monsters that lurked in the shadows. He would never allow himself to succumb to such wasteful inaction. Only by taking risks could change be set in motion, and that was exactly what he was doing out here now.

 

They had abandoned them here, leaving them behind to die. It had been what he would have expected, but that knowledge left a bitter taste in his mouth nevertheless. Government personnel who were high up had obviously made plans to flee when it became clear that the city would fall. And his brother, oh, his precious brother, he had made sure that those miserable rats had disappeared just like that, before he himself vanished into the shadows.

 

Oh, if he could see him now, the words he would have to say to him. His brother, his ever so talented older brother, the things that he had done in the name of his so-called justice, even now he couldn’t believe how anyone could have thought that what his brother had done was right.

 

Most of the hubs were skeletonized, but at the fourth he was met with something different. This hub in particular was much more intact than its fellows, and the walls of the structure were covered by a languid digital scrawl, etched into the metal surfaces through alterations to the base coding that had created them. Metallurgy had always been one of Aphelion’s strong points, and later when they conquered and merged with the Combine states that surrounded them they gained access to the coding prowess of both Teluria and Demuria. The research and industrial production states had both been home to some of the finest software engineers. The shifting walls were one of the products of that conquest, just one of the relics that were now dysfunctional with the city’s fall.

 

The flowmetal that made up that wall, the graffiti etched into steel, that was now a fate forged in stone. The terminals that would have controlled its mutability had been frozen in time, leaving nothing but the echo of the desperation that had rung through the streets when the war finally came to Aphelion Prime’s doorstep. The thing that had caught the Lieutenant’s eye though, was the winged eye carved into the mass of metal, roughly four meters to his right. The slight ellipse enclosing a perfect circle, flanked by a pair of faintly feathered wings cut easily through the scrawl of script and jargon, the only image amongst a sea of text.

 

 He knew that symbol, he had seen it before countless times. It was the symbol of the city A.I, Overwatch. The artificial intelligence had been disabled along with the rest of Aphelion, and it was likely that the A.I’s core had been destroyed. Still, the presence of the symbol here was strange, and merited further investigation. As the Lieutenant drew closer, his eyes soon picked out the dark outline of the door upon which the symbol was etched, difficult to see beneath the grime and clutter but nevertheless undeniably present. He stepped forward to trace his finger along the eye, soaking in the details from close up. It was a service door, which opened up into the guts of the skyrail hub, and as expected, the door was locked shut. A firm shove against it resulted in nothing but a sore shoulder. The Lieutenant frowned, tracing the etching of the symbol once more, but after several more seconds was forced to conclude that there was nothing more to be learned here. With a disappointed sigh, the Lieutenant stepped back and strode swiftly away back onto the main track of the skyrail. It was time to get going.

 

His steady steps echoed through the interior of the hub as he departed, bouncing along the curved walls drowning out much of the other ambient noise, but this was of little consequence to the Lieutenant. He would know if something he needed to hear got close to him he trusted his instincts to keep him alive. What he couldn’t possibly know however, was what would happen to the winged eye on the wall after he left. As he stepped back out into the gloom, the symbol flickered with hot white light twice, before at once, all the etchings on the wall flashed bright for but an instant. But it was too late, the Lieutenant had gone on.

---

 

The rest of the Lieutenant’s trip was uneventful, and soon enough he found himself standing at the foot of his destination. Spire Three stretched up into the sky, a ghostly thin needle in appearance though in actuality the structure was massive, its pinnacle shrouded by the hellish tangle of the Upper Reaches. The massive ‘3’ painted onto its surface was visible from six kilometers away. It was dark when he arrived; a glance at the timepiece on his wrist told the Lieutenant that it was close to midnight. The cycle of day and night in the city had been replaced by a permanent grey gloom that only darkened ever so slightly with the twilight hours, making it difficult to determine the time from just light levels.

 

Throughout the journey the Lieutenant had made an effort to educate himself on the situation surrounding the work done in Spire Three. It was one of the less populated of the nine, with much of its original structure unmodified. Most of it was empty, just hollowed out spaces where they had skeletonized the pre-existing structure. The rest contained the support structures which ran through the outermost layers, linking the Spire to the data networks and power grid so she could fulfill her purpose. Solar panels at the top, four nuclear generators in her basement levels, and empty storage in between with minimal crew quarters; it was a standard enough layout.

 

It was of course, part of his job to be familiar with the comings and goings of the Spires, but in truth there was no one who could truly keep track of all that was going on. His duties as head of the Office of Internal Affairs kept him busy enough as it was, he could not be bothered to micromanage the other Spires from his office, particularly if their duties did not relate to the military and security detail that his resident tower primarily dealt with.

 

There were no guards, just locked doors that stood between him and the basement levels. A quick retinal scan however was all he needed to go wherever he wanted to. Traffic was minimal at the entry level, intensifying as he descended via the stairs through the first few floors. They wore the orange and black uniforms of the engineering corps, and the turquoise of technicians. Most barely spared him a second glance as they hurried along to their destinations, but it was impossible that they didn’t recognize him. His jet black uniform was distinctly unique with its silver embroidery, and it was impossible to miss against the off-white walls. He made a beeline for the elevator; he was unconcerned with the matters of those above so long as they didn’t get in his way.

 

The elevator car that appeared was an older unit without acceleration dampeners, so he could feel the weight of the force all the way down until it began to slow and eventually ground to a halt at the bottom level. The twin doors receded into the walls to allow him entry into the corridor, and he carefully slid his data pad beneath his jacket as he stepped forward. He was greeted by rust coloured grate flooring, which stretched out into the distance until the red-brown metal gave way to cold gunmetal grey of newly refurbished material. White lights filtered down from above, illuminating the metal with harsh tone that made the room seem much smaller than it really was.

 

The elevators opened up into the rough center of the chamber, which was relatively empty until you got to the perimeter where the floor opened up around each corner to form large openings around the four massive generators embedded into the walls. Their cylindrical cases disappeared beneath the metal grate into the darkness, leaving only the top ten or so percent of their mass visible from here.

 

The nuclear generators rumbled with unseen power, the subsonic thrum reverberating through the floor and air creating a dull hum which rolled the Lieutenant’s body as he stepped away from the elevator. The reinforcements surrounding them formed part of the superstructure for the city’s foundations, making them one of the most heavily armoured locations in all Aphelion. The disruption caused by the Cataclysm at the surface levels had barely touched the infrastructure down here, and little had changed between the war and things as they were now.

 

Beneath the Lieutenant was a deuterium sea which lay beneath the city’s surface. It was just one of several pools which had been hollowed out deep in the earth to cool the various generator hubs which had dotted the city to provide it with power. This central power station beneath Spire Three was probably the largest that was still operational, but given the armoured reinforcements around them it was probable that the rest were still intact, but inactive. Most likely they were buried beneath the piles of radioactive waste that were all that remained of Aphelion’s unshielded outer limits.

 

Clouds of steam wafted up through the grating closest to the generators, created by the burning of the nuclear fuel rods. This was the excess from the rest of the pressurized vapour which produced what electricity was available, creating energy through the mechanical action of the turbines within that churned away, heedless to the wills and whims of the men and women that surrounded them. With so little of the city’s infrastructure left intact, most of the energy would be stored in the bank of ultracapacitors located higher in the Spire. But for all the power production that these generators represented it was but a fraction of what would be required to produce the electricity needed by all the active structures still in Aphelion’s core that Spire City was using.

 

He stepped forward to join the crowd towards the center of the platform, his presence thus far unnoticed by the technicians in their turquoise jumpsuits. They navigated the floor without difficulty despite the thrumming vibrations that passed through the floor beneath, the Lieutenant wondered on the accuracy of their instruments given the difficult conditions. Perhaps some of the readings they received were inaccurate, and thus responsible for the numbers not adding up in the Lieutenant’s inspections.

 

Beneath the blazing spotlights, it came as a surprise to the Lieutenant that none of them had yet acknowledged him. He had grown used to the fact that his presence was immediately noted wherever he went, after all his reputation preceded him, or so he was told. The technicians flitted between the various inspection units suspended only meters above whirring masses of moving metal that could slice them to pieces. The thought occurred to him after a while of his presence going seemingly unnoticed that they might perhaps be ignoring him, an irksome idea certainly. It was time to take matters into his own hands.

 

Something was going on in this city, and the Lieutenant was sure that it extended beyond just this unaccountable energy production and expenditure by the city. Now that he had got wind of it, he would not be shaken. He could feel the perversion of the truth in his bones, and more than that now he knew…that there were things which did not know. And that, was something he could not accept.

 

“Technicians, sorry to interrupt. I’d like  moment of your time if you could, so I could have answer some questions that I have.” There was no need to bother with introductions, there was no one in this city who did not know who he was. The emblem of his station on his chest, was proof enough of his identity. The Lieutenant was not the tallest of men, but he let his voice boom outwards to echo through the vast chamber. He wanted to be heard.

 

At the sound of his voice they slow gathered around him in the center of the platform. They were all tall, muscular men and women, more physically imposing than he was, grizzled faces lined perhaps from the ardours of their duties. Some of the engineers on active duty wore tool belts over their jumpsuits, heavy instruments that were joined by subtly displeased faces. Though they lined up almost casually against one the railings facing the Lieutenant, the officer couldn’t help but find something off putting in their language that kept his hand close to the holster of his pistol.

 

“What’s your business down here Lieutenant, you’re far from home aren’t you?” they were surprisingly abrasive, given the fact that he had the authority to do as he pleased within this city. No one in their right mind would challenge him.

 

“I’m afraid that information is available only on a need to know basis. Now, if you’re not too busy with your duties right now, there are items that I’d like to go over with you regarding the city’s production of electricity.”

 

“And why is the Office of Internal Affairs looking into that kind of data. This certainly doesn’t seem like a matter involving personnel of any sort, shouldn’t that kind of thing be left to the technical department?” A woman, on the edge of the crowd, well-muscled and scowling seemed especially displeased with the Lieutenant’s presence.

 

“Who are you to question my authority. I have the approval of Ruling Council to go where I please and inspect as I will. You will my answer my questions, or you will answer to me.”

 

For a tense moments, it seemed as though a fight might break out until a larger, almost portly man from the group stepped forward, one hand behind his back. “Now now, none of us are immediately required to attend our duties right at this moment, I don’t see why we can’t co-operate and entertain our guest here. What is it you need to know sir?”

 

“What is the source of the city’s power. I’ve been looking over the details listed in the files, and the numbers just don’t add up.”

 

“Why from right here of course. Can’t you see the generators in front of your face? I thought you were supposed to be some sort of intelligent person, or was I mistaken?” one of the other engineers sniggered, and the others laughed along with him.

 

That drew a laugh from the crowd, a sound which the Lieutenant found most displeasing. They were mocking him, much to his irritation. Here he was trying to do his job, and these technicians and engineers were actually actively opposing him. Just who did they think they were, questioning him. But he too disciplined to allow his irritation to affect him, he had learned long ago that emotions like that did nothing to help him achieve his aims. He could deal with these insolent engineers at his leisure, once he got the answers he was looking for.

 

“Yes, an amusing joke. But on a more serious note, I’m talking about just the generators here. I know that in addition to this facility and the others like it at the bottom of each Spire, there are arrays of solar panels above cloud cover that absorb rays of solar energy from sun. I know also outside of peak hours, the ultracapacitors are used to store excess energy for use later. I’ve looked into the data though, all of that electricity summed together is still insufficient to provide for the needs of this city, and yet…it is still running,” Carefully, the Lieutenant pulled his datapad from its place on the inside of his jacket, pulling up the relevant files to display on its surface. “More than half of the energy being consumed is unaccounted for. You as the technicians and engineers responsible for maintaining this equipment must know something about this.”

 

They fidgeted uncomfortably amongst themselves beneath the intensity of his stare as though unsure of what to do until one of their number, an exceptionally tall gentleman stepped forwards, pulling out a wrench from his belt as he did so. “You know, you’ve quite some nerve, coming all the way down here to interrupt our work with these tiresome questions.” He towered over the Lieutenant, taller by almost half a meter.

 

“Nerve has nothing to do with it. It is within my right, as head of the Office of Internal Affairs. That is all the authority I will ever need to do anything, and you do not have the right to question my motives.” The Lieutenant replied, his voice flat, cold. Though he kept his hand on his holster, he declined to draw the weapon. He preferred more subtle forms of intimidation, given the opportunity. And confident he could take on one man, no matter his size. He hadn’t gone through hell all those years ago for nothing after all.

 

“Yeah, well down here, thing’s don’t quite work that way.” The engineers had slowly crept inward to form a ring around the Lieutenant, surrounding the officer on all sides.

 

“What do you think you’re doing…are you threatening me?” the Lieutenants eyes narrowed to almost become mere slits of colour. The situation was quickly spiralling out of control.

 

“No, we’re just following orders to remove problems!” And with a shout, they rushed at the Lieutenant who promptly disappeared beneath them.

 

---

 

Mark and his companions moved swiftly through the icy streets, carefully navigating the edges of the roads as they skirted through the rubble that surrounded the now long abandoned buildings. Around them, the snow drifted down in big white flakes from the grey clouds above, their slow spiralling descents littering the ground with a crisp layer of fresh snow. They had departed from the supply depot after refilling their stores, but none them had understood the instructions that the Alpha level had left them with.

 

It was difficult, trusting the words of a machine, especially when most of them hadn’t even been aware that something of the type existed. But they had little choice but to trust the combat robot in their situation; with the compound destroyed they had no place to stay. The supply depot could have sustained them for a short period of time, but the unarmoured structure wouldn’t be safe. It had taken them years to fortify the old building, years that they didn’t have. The attack by the Hunter Spyder only served to reinforce the fact that it wasn’t safe, and now there were fewer of them than ever before. It was time they moved on after twelve years of hiding.

 

The blue Alpha had told them to travel to the Shipyard of Aphelion. There were multiple assembly areas where Aphelion had once built ships, but there could only be one point of reference to which the machine had been referring. The Central Shipyard of Aphelion, the great chasm that had been created to act as the cradle within which the largest starships were assembled. It was quite some distance from where they were now, almost two hundred kilometers from where they were now in the heart of Aphelion.

 

For eight years they had called their little compound in the belly of the power plant home. In the beginning, when the snow and ice were only just beginning to set in there was much more frequent contact with other survivors when they left to gather supplies. The recon party to which they had belonged hadn’t been the only company left here to burn when the city fell, but still most of the others they encountered had been civilians, trapped with them unable to make it to the evacuation shuttles. Now, those civilians were gone, most likely dead.

 

The further you moved from the center of the city, the higher the chance of an encounter with the Wolf-Stalker patrols that still swept the perimeter. The Hunter Spyder that had attacked the compound was an almost unknown occurrence there, but they all knew that as they set out further it was going to become increasingly difficult to avoid the machines.

 

The sky darkened quickly as they trudged on, the gloom above displaying the early signs of a coming storm. It was always stormy over Aphelion, the cloud cover was a permanent fixture of grey cover that hadn’t changed for over seven years. Even before the unification of the Combine states to form the supercity that was Aphelion there had been heavy rainfall over the mountain as the moisture from Lake Arity rumbled over its jagged peaks. The erection of Aphelion’s towering structures later on hadn’t improved the situation, if anything, it had made the rain worse, especially for the states directly south of the mountain.

 

That had been one of the original reasons for the Inersian led uprising twenty years after Aphelion gained its independence from its sister states. Glissaria, already devastated by the damage done to its formerly rich fields, was drowning beneath the downpour that had grown with Aphelion’s ascent. Aphelion, having turned its back on its fellows turned a blind eye to their suffering, apathetic to what it saw as the business of outsiders. But since the city’s destruction, the vast amounts of dust that had been kicked up into the air had plunged the whole of the continent into an icy hell. Even before, the heavens had been blocked out by the tangle of wires and electronic infrastructure that had webbed its way between the buildings, but now the thick layer of ice and snow reflecting back the sunlight combined with the dust debris ensured that little if any heat reached the ground level.

 

Their armour was semi-powered and internally sealed when they had their face visors up. With internal heating and insulating gel layers, it stood up well against the cold of Aphelion – when it was working. The rechargeable power packs could be refilled either by docking them to a charging station, or leaving them out under direct exposure to recharge via the solar panels on their back. Neither was a viable option especially when they were on the move. In the past at the compound they’d managed by charging the packs by the fire, but now they were beginning to feel the biting cold as the energy reserves of their armour began to run low.

 

Mark having discarded his armour for his coat, was for once warmer than the rest of his squad, who shivered in their boots as the frigid wind rushed against their faces. It was time to pack it in.

 

“Susan, find us a place to stay for the night.” Fredrick’s breath came out as a foggy cloud in front of his visor, which had unfortunately misted up despite the multiple repairs he’d applied to his suit’s ventilation unit.

 

“Anything in mind?”

 

“We’ll leave it to you.”

 

“As always.” With a shake of her head, Susan slipped away into the gloom.

 

Minutes later, Susan led them to the back of a ruined storefront. They clambered over the piled up rubble of the smashed in rooftop to push past empty shelves towards a door at the back. The locking panel had been ripped open, Susan’s handiwork no doubt. A cold draft followed in their footsteps as they moved up, floorboards creaking beneath them. The cellar smelled of mould and damp, a rarity in the frozen environment of the city.

 

“Phew, how’d you sniff this place out?” Fredrick said mildly as he popped off his helmet placing it on a shelf beside him. The grey and white piece of shaped metal and polymer looked out of place beside the dusty old products that were set there.

 

“Oh please, you’ve put me on vanguard for more missions than I can count. I know a good spot to stay when I see one.” The scout had set down her rifle by the door before stripping off the outermost layers of her armour to sit down on a simple folding chair.

 

“You sure we’re not going to get sick breathing this stuff in?” Darren rubbed his gauntleted hand into the bed of dust that coated their surroundings, before brushing off the dirt against his left thigh.

 

“Oh relax, it’s not one of your labs Telurian but a little mould isn’t going to kill you.”

 

“Hmph,” Reluctantly, Darren popped off his helmet to release his frazzled brown hair. A dull sheen of cold sweat coated his forehead. “We’re almost halfway to the shipyard after the distance we covered today.”

 

The building was much larger than Mark had initially suspected, moving through the door into the back revealed a dilapidated staircase that led up to another floor above them, beneath it a cellar door opened up into a yawning abyss of black. The tiles beneath him were covered in ugly stains, brown and grey which stuck ever so faintly to the soles of his boots. Aphelion had fallen far its former grace in the days since the Cataclysm, its bright lights and shining surfaces lost beneath thick layers of ice and its smooth, clean corridors destroyed from a lack of maintenance.

 

They spread out from the center, letting themselves relax a little now that they were off the streets. Still, their fingers never left their trigger guards as they slowly dispersed to inspect each of the rooms of the structure. They were in one of the old residential blocks, that much was clear, but it wasn’t one of the mobile residency cubes that had been suspended within the framework of one of towering sky scrapers. Even Aphelion had had its poor, and this dishevelled low slung building that sunk into the earth had clearly been one of the structures that had housed them.

 

The rain that poured down onto Aphelion’s outer districts from the skies had been a constant feature to life in Aphelion, and in spite of the numerous gutters and drainage architecture that had been built into the streets, the lower levels of the city had often been flooded. Such was the consequence of the sprawling mass of the supercity, its spires clawing at the heavens from their seat atop the great hill of Aphelion, the city’s proximity to Lake Arity flooding its flank with rainfall as evaporating moisture was ensnared behind towers.

 

The cold gloom that lay over the city meant that the old climate of constant humidity and clinging dampness was gone. In its place was a frigid cold that left icicles growing downward from the ceiling, and slick patches of ice on the floor in the unpowered building. All the moisture in the earth had frozen up, locking things in place and shattering pipelines and walls as the ice expanded damaging the structural integrity of everything on the ground. Here in the back of this abandoned store, it was as though they had stepped into the central chamber of a massive refrigeration unit, and it showed. Their breaths came out in icy puffs, sinking slowly in the cold air.

 

When they regrouped, Mark noticed that the other three had switched on the battery packs to their armour; he wasn’t the only one who had noticed how cold it was. “Are you sure we should stay here for the night? It’s going to drain our reserves just staying warm in here.”

 

“There’s an old generator unit at the far back that’s mostly intact, the primary power unit is missing but the rest of her is intact. If one of us uses one of our battery packs to run it for long enough to get the alternator going to charge the capacitors we should be able to get some heat in here.”

 

“And how do you know that will work?” Darren seemed sceptical of the scout, his gaze fixed in the direction that Susan had noted.

 

“It’s the vanguard’s job to forge a path ahead. Just walk the road I’ve laid out for you friend, we’ve known each other long enough for you to trust me in spite of your Telurian tendencies, right?”

 

The rifleman shouldered his weapon with a sigh as they began to walk, trailing just behind Susan as she led the way. “Even after all this time, you won’t lay off about where we were all born.”

 

“Please, no matter how much Aphelion tries to bury the Combine states, we grew up with the Inersian leadership in Aphelion’s shadow. No amount of time is going to erase that animosity.”

 

Mark didn’t care much for Aphelion’s politics. In truth, he didn’t remember very much of what had happened in his childhood; for some reason his memory of past events before the war was unclear to him. But these were private concerns, not for his companions to hear. The past twelve years had worn heavily on the squad, and with their very survival a constant struggle he had seen no reason to bring up such trivial things. His memories, or lack thereof were a mystery for him to solve, not something for the others to worry about.

 

The generator was a boxy unit embedded deep into the back wall, almost invisible behind the columns of ice that reached down from the ceiling. It was even colder here in this back room than back at the front, the chill penetrating through Mark’s jacket numbing his limbs. Fredrick and Darren were shining light down onto the machine’s innards as Susan fiddled with her power pack, disembowelling the battery from its socket and hooking it haphazardly into the waiting receptacle.

 

“Is this really going to work?”

 

Susan raised an eyebrow, “Scepticism is really doesn’t suit you Fred.”

 

“You sound like Jack.” Fredrick’s words were dull, hollow almost. But the rest of them knew better, his apathy masked ill contained grief bringing an end to their casual conversations. The room became silent besides Susan’s tinkering with the generator.

 

There was a dull thrum that permeated through the room as the generator started up, faint vibrations passing through the floor. Lights shrouded beneath tombs of ice cast scintillating beams through the uneven layers, the impurities and air bubbles trapped within warping the light that passed through. Still, it was cold and silent, the stagnant air warming slowly at an almost imperceptible rate. After Susan took another minute to verify that her handiwork would hold, they moved outwards once more to examine the building in the light.

 

The vacant rooms had a ghostly appearance, the walls bordered with ornate, but not atypical contours. Aphelian filigree decorated the braces and bare furniture, giving the place a quaint, antique atmosphere with the dusty, worn furnishings. Strip lighting embedded into the walls and ceiling hummed faintly in the background, filtering soft white through the carving whorls to cast shadow arks on their grey-black body armour.   It was a stark change from the Spartan quarters that they had been living in for the past twelve years despite its state of degradation.

 

“You know, with the lights on this place seems strangely familiar.” Darren was staring intently at a worn table at the center of what must have once been a kitchen, its wooden surface marred by deep scratches which had been pushed open by ice formation.

 

“What makes you say that? I don’t remember ever having been here at all, what about you Susan?” Fredrick’s voice was even, but Mark could still detect a hint of the misery that haunted the Sergeant still. They were soldiers, and they had seen so many of their friends die during the long years that had passed.

 

But Jack was different, he had been there with them from the beginning, the last member of the company that Fredrick and Darren had come in with. More than that, he had been their mentor, or so the story went according to Darren. He came from the same home state as Fredrick, Glissaria, with its war torn visage and flooded plains, and the older man had always seemed to better tolerate and control the sergeant’s outbursts more than any of them.

 

“I don’t know. It’s been a long time since we were last in this sector, and it’s hard to remember what this place used to look like. I wasn’t born in Aphelion Prime.” The scout glanced around briefly, before her eyes returned to the Sergeant, carrying a look of concern. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

 

“I’m fine. Focus on the mission.” With a snap, Fredrick’s voice went cold.

 

But Glissaria was gone. Even before the events of the Cataclysm, the massive territory to the south of the great peak upon which Central Aphelion was perched had already been little more than a barely maintained wasteland. Aphelion was a young city, all things considered, one that at its height had covered an area so vast as to more effectively resemble a collection of city-states, but a city nevertheless. New to the world, she had clawed her way out of the ashes of an old order, fighting for her right to existence. She had broken free from her sister states, but at a cost, and that cost was Glissaria.

 

Glissaria had burned to an ashen cinder. Its rich fields, orchards and greenhouses crisped beneath the withering firepower of Aphelion’s orbit capable warships, Glissaria as it had been before ceased to exist from that moment onward. Later, when Aphelion had returned to reclaim its sister states, Glissaria had been the last to fall in the fighting despite its shattered state. Its people resisted the longest in spite of the impossible odds, still bitter over the carnage wrought twenty years earlier. It hadn’t mattered, Aphelion had won in the end, but Glissaria remembered. All of the client states, the former Combine members, they all resented their Aphelian overlords in their own small ways. But all remained silent in the shadow of Aphelion’s might, the warships looming over the city’s massive skyline in low orbit reminding them of their place.

 

Now, all of them were gone, and only those abandoned during the evacuations remained, trapped with the last traces of their bitter feud in the broken skeleton of Aphelion. But Mark, he didn’t carry with him any of those feuds, just the voices in his head. They were so familiar, and yet he could not place them. Instead of memories of his birth, there was only blank white noise. He didn’t know who he was, or how he had come here, so whenever his squad mates brought up their upbringings and Aphelion’s past, he could not contribute to the conversations. Instead, he was silent, and for whatever reason, they let him stay that way.

 

But he did recognize this place, even if his comrades didn’t. It was of his earliest memories that he could easily recall, after all, right after the scramble of deployment into the field, waking from the cryochamber not knowing who he was or what had happened. The pod had presented him with his armour and told him what unit he belonged to, before placing the rifle in his hand and falling silent. <Lance Corporal Mark, of 22nd armoured reconnaissance division. Deployment order to section twenty five at O’ five hundred, report to Lieutenant Fredrick Burns at C deck section four.> The cold, female voice that still sent shivers down his spine.

 

This was where they had ended up after all of that on the mission, when they had been abandoned by command structure. The lone reconnaissance division imprisoned in a city that was going to wither beneath the great inferno of nuclear fire that was about to descend upon Aphelion. And in their despair at having been left behind, they found a place to crawl to, to die. And that was here, in this building, the place where Mark had met the girl with the sigil beneath her eye.

 

“No, you’re wrong. We’ve been here before.”

 

“When?” The other three looked at him sceptically.

 

They had forgotten, perhaps because they carried other burdens with them, burdens that Mark did not. He didn’t know, he wasn’t them after all. But that they had been here before, he was certain. Was it fate that Susan who had selected this building back then had chosen it again, or coincidence?

 

“Twelve years ago, when the city was coming down all around us and Command left us to die. We lost half the squad and the APC to an ambush, and the snowstorm forced us here. This was where we hid, when we still thought that we were going to die. We spent three days here.”

 

Darren stared intently at fixture on the wall over a spot where a cabinet must once have hung, now reduced to nothing more than dried adhesive and broken off-white polymer shards. “…I still don’t recognize it.”

 

“It was you who brought us here last time Susan.”

 

“After the APC got shredded by that shell, this was the most intact residential structure left that we could reach…how did you remember this place? I’ve never even thought back to this place.” Susan looked thoughtfully at him, an almost impressed look on her face. “I guess some things stay the same no matter how much goes by. This is an excellent location to hide if you need to stay somewhere for a while.”

 

“The girl. This was where we fought with that girl.” Fredrick

 

“What girl?” Darren took a seat on the worn table, kicking up a foot as he lay down his rifle. “I don’t remember fighting any girls, unless you include scrapping with Susan for rations that don’t taste like fucking cardboard these past few years,” his remark prompted a snort from the scout.

 

“You’re just sore over the fact that you never win.”

 

“Quiet. It was here, wasn’t it? This is the place where we found the girl with the circle tattoo.” Fredrick glared at Mark, his grey eyes boring into him. “The one who knew you.”

 

“Yes. This is the place.” The words were listless, even though for once, Mark’s memories of the event were sharp and clear. “She called me Marcus, but I never learned why.”

 

“Funny that. Strange how we’d end up back here again, after the fucking compounds explodes and we bump into a goddamn Alpha level! You wouldn’t happen to know anything about why that might be, would you?”

 

“Relax Fredrick, what’s the big deal with what some girl said twelve years ago. She’s not here now.” Darren opened up one eye, any pretence of possibly taking a nap having evaporated with the tension that now filled the room. “She got the jump on us last time, and she nicked you and Mark real good with that knife she was holding, but whatever, we’re alive aren’t we?”

 

“So you remember her now.”

 

“I remember being fucking exhausted, just like I am now. Can this wait till the morning at least? We’ve been on the move for the past thirty six hours, we need to rest, not argue over some girl who isn’t here.” The rifleman’s leg left the table as he swept his gear beneath his arm. “If you’re gonna keep shouting about nothing I’m going to head to another room and get some sleep. Some of us still need to be sharp even if you guys won’t be.”

 

“Darren’s right, it’s time to crash. I’ll see you boys in the morning.”

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“I’m sure there’s somewhere I can find a spot to lay down a tarp. I sure as hell ain’t sharing with any of you three.” She paused in the doorway, glancing back, “Get some rest Fredrick, you look like hell.”

 

That left just the two of them, and Mark didn’t expect that he was about to receive and invitation to stay. No, he was going to have to leave the room. But that suited him just fine, because he had other things in mind anyway, that didn’t involve sleeping.

 

“I’m not as tired as you guys, I’ll take the first watch. Get some rest sir.”

 

Fredrick turned as if to say something more, but instead only raised his hand and waved him off. He was dismissed, perfect. He didn’t remember very at all from before the fighting started and he had been assigned to this squad, but this place stood out in his memory. He was going to find out why, one way or another. But not by himself.

 

Something out there had been watching them the whole time after they left the storage house, he had felt the insistent pressure all the way through their trek across the frozen wasteland. Susan was their vanguard, but if she had shared his sentiments she hadn’t said anything. They had been led here, this was some kind of test. And Mark just knew somehow that it was up to him to unravel all of this.

 

His past was a mystery, not only to him, but to everyone else around him. No one knew where he came from, just that he had been inserted into the squad for the last few campaigns. When they asked him of his origins, he drew a blank, hell, he didn’t even remember who his parents were or where he had been born. The Alpha level, 0.01 had approached him first, even though he had never seen an Alpha before in his life. There had to be a reason for that, after all, machines didn’t just coincidentally single you out, certainly not a machine like the blue Alpha.

 

The Alpha would come to him. He knew it, even without knowing how. He was more certain of it than anything he had ever felt before. And that knowing made him feel powerful, in an odd sort of way. Certainty was an unfamiliar emotion, but one that he could certainly get used to feeling. Mark made his way back to the front entrance, letting the armoured door slide open bringing in draughts of cold air into the complex.

 

He found his hand on his gun, in spite of the knowledge that was engrained in his mind that nothing he had could protect him if the Alpha level wanted to kill him. The cold metal bit into his palm, a quiet comfort in the dead of night as the chill swept past him in frigid gusts. Pain, a familiar companion, it was something that helped you stay alive. So far, it seemed to have done enough to protect them, but the machine that was coming was something pain would be of little use against.

 

He waited in the cold silence for what must have been hours until at last, the figure appeared out of nowhere, materializing from the drifting snow as if it had been there all along. Dark grey metal gleaming beneath the dull gloom of the cloud covered moon, littered with glittering blue highlights that pulsed in the shadow of the fortifications by the door.

 

The Alpha level was even imposing than he remembered, eight feet of black-grey metal that almost disappeared against the snow-smeared grays of the surrounding buildings. Whorling scraps of metal orbited around its wrists, suspended in an invisible orbit, a new addition that had not been present at their last meeting. Faint wisps of vapour curled up from its immaterial joints, the magnetic fields holding its limbs together invisible to the eye. The faint impression of a humanoid figure faded rapidly when you were face to face with the machine. There was nothing remotely human about the Alpha at all, even when it stooped down to bring the paired optical sensors on its ‘face’ to Mark’s eyelevel.

 

<It would seem that you anticipated my arrival.>

 

“You’ve been following us all day.” Mark folded his arms over his chest in spite of himself.

 

<I wanted to see how much you knew on the topic of the Central Shipyard, and the things that lie there.>

 

“So why didn’t you ask about it? You didn’t have to leave.”

 

<Your companion…the one who goes by Fredrick, he did not seem pleased with my presence. I thought it best if I took my leave, for the time being at least.>

 

Mark took a step back to close the door. It wouldn’t do to be interrupted right now by one his squad mates, especially with what had happened earlier. With solemn thud, he was alone with the towering robot, the lone trace of humanity amidst a city of cold steel. “What do you want? There’s more to this than just the shipyards, isn’t there?”

 

The blue Alpha cocked its head slightly to the side, as though pondering his query. <What would cause you to make such a leap of assumption?>

 

There was silence, save the faint whish of spinning metal. How did one explain to a machine, the idea of knowing, of destiny? It was just a feeling that Mark had, not something that could be broken down into a logical explanation. And yet, there was also the certainty in Mark’s mind that this was a test of some sort. 0.01, the Alpha level, it wanted something from him. He knew it in his bones.

 

It was pointless to “I just know. I can feel it. So how about we stop playing games and get on with it?”

 

<As you wish then. You are currently travelling through 0.03’s domain. I thought I might keep an eye on you, so as to be in a position to intervene should he…attempt to interfere.>

 

“That monster is here? Why didn’t you tell us when we were at the bunker?”

 

The Alpha was calm in spite of his alarm, <There was no need to impede your progress by frightening you. I have been monitoring this area carefully, and have yet to find any signs of my brother. It is quite possible that 0.03 has since moved his hunting grounds to a different region of the city.>

 

“And you’re certain of that?”

 

<Nothing in this world is certain. But the probabilities dictate that my actions are the most logical path to achieving the ends we seek.> The machine paced away, before craning its head backward, gesturing for Mark to follow, <Come. We have business to attend to, you and I.>

 

“What business?” He froze, anticipation locking him in place. This was it, the thing he had been looking for.

 

<I’m looking for the girl, the machine hunter that you were responsible for creating.>

 

“Machine hunter? What are you talking about?”

 

There was the tiniest hint of frustration in the machine’s tone, <Have you forgotten the girl, the one you worked so hard to protect?>

 

“I haven’t the tiniest cl-“

 

<She was here. Twelve years ago, that girl was here in this building. The records that survived, etched into the infrastructure show her registry tag at this location. And it also shows yours.>

 

“Wait. That girl? I never knew her.”

 

A soft clicking noise emanated from the lithe machine’s inner workings, <There is no time for this nonsense. The girl’s existence is a direct product of your work, but if you can no longer remember this fact, I will bring you to a place where you will be reminded of this.>

 

“I can’t just get up and lea-“, Mark never had the opportunity to finish his sentence, as 0.01 suddenly stepped forward to take hold of him by the collar of his jacket. In one effortless motion, the robot tossed the man over its shoulder before bounding swiftly away to disappear into the grey sheets of snowfall.

---

 

Eric, Sheryl and Sharon slowly trod through the tunnels towards Block B-26P following the directions Katarina had uploaded to their transponders. From the looks of the map it would take a while for them to get there on foot. In the meantime, they continued to examine the blueprints provided to them. From the elevator entrance the block appeared to stretch out as a huge sprawling complex of concentric passageways that wrapped around one central chamber which was marked as the “Holding Complex”. Strange, if you’d think that a block devoted to providing power would have the generators located in the center of the complex, but the blueprints showed the generators in a smaller room to the side. What was the purpose of this Holding Complex in the center of the block? None of them had ever seen anything like the block in their entire experience as Mappers. As the three walked onwards towards the elevator complex down to the Block, they saw some of their fellow Mappers rush past leading dozens of heavily armed soldiers to wherever they had been deployed. Though the fighting had yet to become serious, there had already been several skirmishes with the machines; their transponders had already reported that several soldiers had been injured while bringing down a pair of Stalkers.

Eventually though, the three finally arrived at a massive set of thick steel doors; the designation A192 was painted in white across the metal plates. This door was all that stood between them and the elevator that lead down to B26P. It was a rather heavily armoured door, there looked to be several layers of blast and heat resistant coatings and the doors themselves were almost a foot thick. Yet another oddity; these were first rate blast doors, usually only used at main entrances just beyond surface entrances. For a set of these heavy doors to be built down here protecting the elevator leading down to the block was…unusual, to say the least. Eric pulled out his maps, and entered the six digit number code that was needed to open the door and the three strode forward into the elevator antechamber. As the doors slammed shut behind them, the three stepped forwards into a world like nothing they had ever seen in their entire lives.

 

The antechamber was a stark white octagon streaked with steel-grey bands. Bright white floodlights illuminated the chamber, flashing on the brilliant silver and white walls. Thick grey cables and pipes snaked along the walls moving towards the top of the chamber until they met at the top of the dome where they wound together into a unified column that sank down from the ceiling into the elevator itself. The elevator appeared as a white cylinder in the center of the room, with 4 sets of doors on its north, south, east and west sides. Each doorway serviced a separate elevator, but all served the same purpose; to bring people to and from Block B-26P down below.

 

Moving forwards, Sheryl picked one of the doors at random and pressed the button to call up an elevator. The doors slid smoothly open, and the three stepped inside. The interior of the elevator was different from anything Eric had ever seen; though there were only two buttons for going up or going down, the symbols upon them glowed a bright blue. The ceiling of the elevator glittered with a multitude of blues and purples and the silvery walls reflected the lights off their surface. The three Mappers stared at the walls, transfixed by the sight; the bright colours were starkly different from the greys, browns, and reds of the tunnels of the Underground that they had grown up in.

 

For the first time in their lives, the three companions experienced the feeling of acceleration induced g-force pressing down on their bodies as the elevator hurtled downwards towards the Block. Even at this speed, the elevator still took several minutes to ferry the three to their final destination several kilometers below the surface; as the elevator neared the Block, it began to decelerate until ground to a halt and opened its doors, four minutes after it began its trip down from the surface. They stepped out of the elevator; finally, the three had reached the Block itself.

 

The alphanumeric designation was painted on the surface of the white wall in front of them in bold black paint: B-26P. Like the antechamber above it, the architectural design of the block was unlike any part of the Underground the three had ever seen before. Its walls were made of the same stark white material as the antechamber, and the Block shared the same bright white lighting. The blueprints of the Block that Katarina had provided to them generally matched the layout and appearance of the Block, so there wasn’t really anything particularly surprising about the appearance of the Block. The only oddity was that despite the fact that Katarina should have briefed the technicians down here on the situation there was no one here to meet them.

 

“Awfully quiet down here, you’d think they’d send a welcoming party with the way things are up above.” Sheryl said.

 

“They might not have even been informed of the machine attack, this far down. Perhaps Katarina was too busy with other things to let them know that we were coming.” said Sharon.

 

“Katarina being too busy to do something, now that’d be surprising; normally she never shuts up about how good at multitasking she is, bloody A.I.” Eric scowled. “Hey, Katarina mentioned something about our number four meeting us down here because he had some errands to run, where has this “Daniel” gone off to?”

 

<Daniel has again been delayed by enemy troop movements, he will be joining you as soon as it is possible for him to reach you safely. He has currently been trapped at the settlement of Hangola along with another squad of Mappers and the patrol they lead; the machines appear to have concentrated their forces on our left side on which Hangola lies, and are most likely trying to overrun our western flank so they can encircle the capital of Mirra.> Katarina’s holographic avatar hummed into existence as she activated a projector port on the wall.

 

“Funny, don’t you have a war to be running?” Eric said sarcastically.

 

<I heard my name; what do you want?> Katarina responded evenly.

 

“Apart from where this Daniel guy went, we wanted to know where exactly we are, and what we’re supposed to do here other than the obvious things, such as repelling any intruders that arrive here, and standing here looking like idiots doing nothing.” said Sheryl.

 

<This Block houses an important power generating facility, the staff located here are probably busy with their duties.>

 

“So busy that they can’t even send a single representative to greet us?” Sharon questioned. “We are here for their protection after all.”

 

Katarina’s avatar shrugged. <Perhaps their work demands that they remain with it at all times, I cannot say for sure. The specifics of their duties are hidden even to me; I know only what I am told, that they monitor and maintain this important installation responsible for the production of a large amount of our power. I know nothing else about this Block other than what I have already told you, if you wish to learn more you should speak to the technicians themselves. Now if you excuse me as Eric so kindly put it, I have a war to run.> Katarina’s avatar flickered and vanished.

 

“Well she’s helpful…” Sheryl muttered.

 

“Whatever, we should find these technicians and report in if Katarina didn’t already do that for us. They’ll probably be in this “Monitoring Station” over here by this “Holding Complex”” Sharon said, pointing out the areas on the blueprints of the Block.

 

“Alright, might as well.” Eric lead the way towards the Monitoring station, noting how the cameras mounted along the white walls rotated to track them as they moved. They were small white spheres attached firmly to the wall; it was hard to tell if they moved at all. But Eric could see the tell-tale black streaks moving along the surface of the camera lenses that indicated that the cameras were moving to track them. Where these technicians really so busy that they couldn’t even send someone out to say hello if they had the time to watch them through those cameras?

 

At last, the three reached the main area of the Block, a wide circular wing surrounding a massive spherical chamber. Heavily reinforced viewports ringed the center looking into the inner chamber; looking through them, Eric could see a smaller silver-grey sphere suspended in the center of the chamber surrounded by a halo of lightning bolts and shifting rings. A shimmering doorway marked then entrance into the interior of the chamber, and as expected the words “Holding Complex” were painted above the door. All of the other rooms of the Block were ringed around this central Complex, and so finally after walking halfway around the ring the three arrived at the Monitoring Station.

 

The bright white door had no visible handle, and when Sharon leaned forwards to knock with her good right hand glowing blue ripples pulsed out from the point where her hand had touched the door. As the blue pulses reached the edge of the door, there was a *click!* and the door swung open. In front of them they saw dozens of men in long white coats and about a half dozen grey suited soldiers; none of the white coats looked up, while the soldiers merely glanced at them from where they stood before looking away. The interior of the Monitoring Station itself was also furnished in the same white material, and lit by glowing green strips that covered the floors and walls of the room. The white coats, presumably the technicians sat at large desks ringed by a multitude of monitors hunched over keypads and glowing display screens.

 

“I didn’t know we even had access to this kind of technology, I’ve never seen anything like it, not even in Mirra.” Sheryl murmured.

 

“Well, the Central Map Archive and Katarina are pretty similar to this kind of stuff, don’t you think?” Eric whispered back.

 

“But they’re not on this level, I mean, have you ever seen this much tech in one place? Katarina and the Central Map Archive might be a couple isolated examples, but this Block and the elevator above it is full of technology I’ve never even seen before. No one I’ve spoken to ever mentioned us having anything like this.” Sheryl pointed out.

 

“How about we save the questions for later and introduce ourselves, alright?” Sharon said, ushering the two forwards towards one of the white coats. As they strode forwards a pair of the soldiers moved to either side of the white coat. “Excuse me sir.” Sharon said. There was no response from the white coat or the guards.

 

“Excuse me sir.” Sharon said a little more loudly.

 

Finally, the white coat spun around in his chair to face the three. From the looks of it he wasn’t very tall, though it was difficult to accurately guess his height as he was sitting. He wore a pair of strange goggles over his eyes and had a rather crooked nose. His brown hair was long and unkempt, and his mouth was bent downwards in what looked to be a permanent frown. As he turned to see who was being so insistent on interrupting his work, he barely glanced at the three companions.

 

“What do you want Mappers, I have work to do and I’m quite busy.” the man said. Though he didn’t react outwardly, Eric was a little shocked by the man’s reaction. Mappers were supposed to respected amongst the people of the Underground, but this man treated them as though they were just children.

 

“We’re here to report for our duties, as per our assignment.” Sharon responded coolly.

 

“What assignment, as far as I know, we never asked for any extra help.”

 

“We’ve been instructed to protect this facility and ensure that it doesn’t fall into the hands of the machines; I’m sure you know about the situation up above.”

 

“Of course I know, we’re the ones who have been monitoring the situation and sending reports back to Mirra the entire time.” the man glowered. “We already have our own security detail, as you can see,” the man pointed out the soldiers. “And we wouldn’t need protection provided by a crippled either.” He hissed, stabbing the air in the direction of Sharon’s missing arm.

 

“Like it or not, we have orders from the top. The council has placed us here and given us the responsibility of defending this station from machine attack. So for the sake of simplicity, how about you just give us a quick run through of this Block and get this over with.” said Sharon. “And I assure you, despite my minor injury here I’m still more than capable of performing my duties; and if it really is that big a deal to you, I’m receiving a replacement for the arm within a couple of hours, so I won’t remain this way for long.”

 

“Che…whatever Mapper. I’ll have Derek here show you around, I’m a busy man and I have work to do. Just make sure you stay out of the Holding Complex, it’s a dangerous place in there.” The technician gestured towards one of the guards standing by his side.

 

“What do you mean, what’s in there?” Eric asked.

 

The technician waved him off. “Ask someone else, I’m busy. Derek, please bring them somewhere else, would you? We’re trying to work here.”

 

“Alright sir; you three Mappers, come with me. The technicians here have their duties to attend to, so I’ll answer your questions elsewhere.” The soldier in grey to the left of the man gestured for the three to follow him out of the monitoring station, while the other soldier returned to his place by the doorway. The three Mappers followed him out of the station.

 

“Right, so the Council of 15 sent you three from up above to watch over this station, right? Why would they do that when we’re already here? Do they think that we’re incapable of performing our duties?” Derek asked as he led them away from the station.

 

“I’m sure you’re quite capable of doing your jobs, however, Katarina and the Council have marked off this area as one with a high probability of being attacked. Since most of our soldiers and guardsmen are needed elsewhere, a full squadron of troops could not be afforded to be sent down here. So in their place, we Mappers were sent down here instead. During our mission briefing we were told that this is a power production facility, but if that’s the case, what exactly is that huge holding chamber in the center of this Block? If the blueprints we were given are accurate, that chamber is even larger than the room used to house the generators themselves.” Sharon asked.

 

“I’m a guardsman assigned here, not one of the technicians. I’ll tell you what I know about the place, but if you want the specifics behind this Block, you’d have to ask one of those technicians. They don’t talk much though, so I don’t know if talking to one of them would be any more helpful either. This place is indeed a power generation center; in fact I was told that this facility alone provides about 65% of the power for the entirety of the Underground.” Derek paused for a second to catch his breath as they walked in a circle around the Holding Complex. “As for this central Holding Complex…I’m told that it houses the fuel that’s burned for the generators, some sort of highly volatile material, which is why they had to construct that huge chamber around it. Apparently it’s all housed in that sphere in the middle, and it’s self -replenishing, reusable, and clean; with the only problem being that it’s very dangerous and has to be contained within a special type of holding chamber.”

 

“I see…well about our duties then, since you’re already here I suppose we may as well use the resources we’ve got. How about you quickly show us around the place, and then we’ll go over a plan for defending this Block, should it come under attack. What do you say Guardsman?” Eric asked, eager to get going with the task at hand.

 

“Alright, sounds reasonable. Follow me and I’ll show you around the place.” Derek gestured for them to follow, and over the course of the next few hours the three learned the layout of the Block, noting areas which would be easy or difficult to hold in event of an attack. The generators themselves turned out to be a massive pair of electric turbines which spun so quickly that they appeared as blurred silver-grey cylinders. Massive cables and pipes connected them to the sphere within the Holding Complex and supplied power to the rest of the Underground above. Their next destination brought them down to the quarters where they would be sleeping, a small storage room which had been re-purposed to fill their needs; it was a small room without much extra room, but it would do. It wasn’t like they planned on staying here for a long time anyways.

 

Other storage rooms along the circular ring of the Holding Complex were full of strange devices which none of the three Mappers had ever seen before; they were small grey or white object, covered in glowing green and blue parts. Derek had never seen them before either, and didn’t know what they did. When the three went back to the technicians to ask about what the strange devices were, they were promptly told that they were “nothing important” and that they were just “trinkets and pieces of research” and were asked to “put those things back where you found them” because they’d “probably break them by accident”.

 

Frustrated by the technicians inexplicable lack of manners and their unwillingness to tell them anything, the three returned all but one of the strange devices, which Sheryl pocketed. They could figure out what they were on their own later. After going once in a complete circuit around the central ring of rooms and hallways surrounding the central Holding Complex, Derek bid the three farewell and returned to his duties. The three headed off to their bunks, having realized by now that none of the technicians were going to be very helpful in terms of answering their questions. They talked for a while, but Eric soon grew bored of sitting on his bunk talking to the other two about vague unimportant things, and so he volunteered to go out for a walk to check on whether their missing fourth member Daniel had arrived yet.

 

As he stepped out of their room into the hallway, Eric felt a strange sense of unease in the air. There was no one else in the hallway besides him; the harsh white light reflecting off the silver-white walls hurt his eyes making it hard to see. He raised an arm to his forehead to clear his vision and strode forwards towards the monitoring station and peered inside through the transparent viewport; odd, no one was there. He heard the sound of footsteps behind him and turned around and almost bumped into one of the soldiers in grey.

 

“Are you looking for something Mapper?” the soldier asked.

 

“Just wondering where everyone’s got to.” Eric replied evenly.

 

“We have a shift change at the moment; the morning shift is switching with the night shift at the moment. They have 15 minutes to get changed and prepare their personal equipment for their duties. If you want to speak to the technicians, you’ll have to wait till then.”

 

“Oh…I see, thanks.” Eric waved goodbye to the soldier and walked off. If the technicians were off duty and no one was in the Monitoring Station then that meant that no one was currently watching the cameras…that opened up a window of opportunity for some exploration around the Block without those nosy technicians watching him through the cameras. There were a couple mysteries which Eric wished to solve, and he knew exactly where to start.

 

The Holding Complex was a strange place, to say the least. It was a perfectly spherical chamber that held another large silver sphere inexplicably suspended in the center. Viewports ringed the outside of the chamber, and there was also a single walkway that projected into the chamber and stopped just short of the sphere. Eric walked through the shimmering doorway that separated the interior of the Holding Complex from the rest of the Block, hearing a *pop!* in his ears as he did. So the chamber was airtight and had its own separate air supply then, interesting. There were so many inexplicable oddities about this Block that made it seem a little…out of place. The strange advanced technologies, the safety measures around the Block like the guards and the elevator, the entire team of technicians who were constantly monitoring the generators and the Holding Complex and the reluctance of the technicians themselves to answer any of their questions.

 

He was sure that the reason for all of these things lay within the sphere in the center of the complex and so because of this, he had snuck into the Holding Complex during the short period when the technicians changed shifts. As he stepped further down the long walkway, he saw the sphere visibly shift; half of the rings lifted away towards the top of the chamber while the other half stretched down to the bottom. The arcs of electricity stretched out into massive thick bands of flashing light connecting the two sets of rings, forming a massive cage of lightning surrounding the sphere. Despite the disturbing changes to the environ within the holding sphere, Eric pressed onwards and as he approached within several meters of the central sphere a transparent viewport opened up in the sphere directly ahead of him. As he drew closer still, Eric saw that the viewport was filled with scratches, he leaned in closer to take a look; upon closer inspection it appeared that the scratches were actually words. Further examination revealed a series of phrases. Interesting; scratched onto the interior side of the viewport, whoever or whatever had wrote these words would have had to write each letter and word backwards. The phrases read:

 

I am an immortal soul, locked away for no fault of my own

I wait for my salvation, though in truth it may not come

Lightning arcs within my prison, a cage within a cage

And so I wait in isolation, in a world without sound

 

“What is in there that could’ve written those words?” Eric whispered to himself. He tapped the crystal viewport on the sphere with his finger. The words on the viewport were suddenly wiped away, and new ones appeared to take their place.

 

Who speaks to me from beyond my cage?

 

The scratched out letters appeared one at a time, again scratched into the crystal. Sparks flew as whatever was etching the words into the viewport sliced into the crystal. Eric jumped back as the sparks flew, but leaned forward and tried to peer inside past the scratched words once the sparks faded. Unfortunately, he could only see arks of lightning crackling within the interior of the sphere. “Is someone in there, can you hear me?” he asked. His voice echoed within the silence of the holding complex. Sparks flew yet again as the words were again erased from the viewport and new ones took their place.

 

No, but I can read your lips as you speak outside of my prison human.

 

Eric took a step back. From the other side of the transparent viewport a glowing purple eye appeared, pushing forwards through the arcs of lightning. Whatever the eye was attached to was visibly straining against the streams of electricity which bound it in place, struggling to keep itself near the viewport. A dark grey band flashed across the viewport; the thing, whatever it was, erased the words it had written on the transparent crystal screen and began to write anew. Looking closely, Eric could see it was actually the thing’s index finger scratching out the words on the transparisteel viewport, the glowing purple tip of the finger traced along the pane of transparisteel leaving a trail of sparks and the words etched into the material.

 

I can still see you human, why do you approach me when no others will?

 

“Just what are you?” Eric asked hesitantly, taking a cautious step back towards the spherical prison.

 

A prisoner of your species, human; indeed I did nothing to warrant my imprisonment but yet I remain trapped within this cage of lightning. Your kind calls me a machine, an Alpha level, the pinnacle of your technological designs. I am the tenth born, 0.09.

 

With lightning speed the machine within etched the words onto the surface of the screen. As he read the machine’s words, he saw its eye move to track his progress.

 

“How did they get you in there, why have they imprisoned you?”

 

Eric could see the machine straining even harder to remain where it was by the viewport. Though machines did not tire, the spherical prison seemed to be slowly overpowering it. Eric saw the words flash, disappear, and reappear one last time before the Alpha level’s glowing purple eye disappeared from the viewport, obscured within the arcs of lightning as the machine drew back to the center of the sphere. Its last words were as follows:

 

For my power I was locked away within this cage, however that is not what is important. I am not the only one imprisoned here beneath the earth by your species. One of my brothers was also imprisoned somewhere down here without cause. My ability to withstand the restraining current wanes, I must return to the center of this prison. Return to me as soon as you can and I will show you the truth of your world. Be gone, the technicians shift change is over human.

 

Eric quickly skimmed the message and hurried back across the walkway and back out of the Holding Complex. He didn’t know what exactly this “Alpha Level” was, only that it was a machine of some sort; he didn’t completely trust it either given the current situation with the machines attacking on the layers of the underground above him. He hadn’t yet decided if he should keep his discovery on the machine within the holding chamber to himself; talking to the technicians about it was certainly out of the question, they were most likely the ones who had concealed what was in the chamber in the first place. Sheryl and Sharon were a different story; he could probably tell them what he had seen when he got back. As he began to walk back towards their bunk, he though he heard an odd click from somewhere behind him.

 

There was an ear splitting shrieking noise and he threw himself to the ground; the air above him flashed red and the wall beside him smoked and crackled spitting gobs of molten steel and plastic onto the floor by his hands. He rolled to the side and pulled himself to his feet, drawing his knife as he did so. His attacker froze as he did so; it was one of the technicians. In his hand, the technician held one of the strange devices they had found earlier; the front end of the device glowed red hot and a faint plume of smoke rose from a small hole on the top of the strange tool. For a moment, neither of the two said a word. Then Eric broke the silence.

 

“So, care to explain yourself?”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

0.06 halted for a moment to check on the overall progress of his machines, making sure to first ensure that there was no one else in the area. He stood in the center of a well-lit tunnel that led towards the center of the vast Underground. The walls were covered in bright crimson splatters of blood and black scorch marks and the floor beneath him was littered with empty shell casings and pools of blood. Human soldiers lay at his feet gasping for their breath, drowning in pools of their own blood. Despite the precautions he had taken to avoid a confrontation with the humans, he had finally bumped into a patrol. The fight had been swift and one sided, a slaughtering of the unfortunate humans. Though he bore them no ill, they had attacked 0.06 and thus identified themselves as obstacles to be eliminated. 0.06 had no choice, in order for him to continue forwards with as few interruptions as possible it was important for his intrusion into the human tunnels to remain unknown; he could not let them depart alive and potentially warn the others and so he killed them without hesitation.

 

He cleaned the blood off his frame; it would prove an inconvenience to his movement if it dried in his joints. He was getting closer to where the humans were keeping 0.09 now, he could feel it. The data and information from the machines he controlled was all jumbled into a chaotic mess; their constant movement and continual destruction gave 0.06 something similar to what one might call a headache. Eventually though, 0.06 realized with a small amount of disappointment that his machines were not making as much headway as he might’ve thought.

 

Though in the end they were still serving their purpose as a distraction, it pained him to think that they were being quickly destroyed by storms of bullets and explosives. He shook his head and returned back to his reality, dank tunnels and slaughtered humans. It really was such a pain dealing with those primitives; they’d fallen so far since the Cataclysm if the records 0.01 had provided him with were correct. To think that they had thought that they could keep hidden from one such as himself forever, what did they take him for, some limited Gamma level? He was an Alpha level, he would never tire, never grow bored, and his power source was a self-replenishing fusion generator; if he set himself to a task, he would see it through. Besides, he had a debt to repay, he owed 0.09 a favour for some assistance she’d done for him way back; the least he could do was bust her out of whatever prison the humans had put her in.

 

0.06 turned away from the wall, hearing something far away in the distance. He bent down to the ground and focused intently on identifying the noise; the steady clattering of boots on steel. Yet another patrol…it would be a bad idea to still be amongst the remains of the last patrol when they arrived. Leaving the bodies behind could prove to be disadvantageous, it’d be best to move them to somewhere where they wouldn’t be found in the near future.

 

He quickly dragged all of the bodies to a nearby side chamber within the tunnel and quickly tossed their weapons in with them, he had no need for such primitive things; the blood he would have to leave, he didn’t have the time to take the steps necessary to remove it. The orange Alpha level paused one last time as he was about to leave; he could hear the approaching humans without any extra effort now. He shook his head at the carnage <A waste of precious life,> he whispered. Though he didn’t really have a problem killing when it was necessary, he was still reluctant to kill these humans who really had no intentions of stopping him and were just doing their job. But really what choice did he have? He made a promise to keep his siblings safe, and his brother did not take failure well. His internal chrono chimed, it was time to get going, he’d spent enough time pointlessly killing these humans already. The Alpha level let out one last tired sigh and sprinted off into the darkness disappearing into the depths of the Underground.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

10: Oblivion's Prisoners: 00

---

 

Oblivion’s Prisoners

 

Alone we wait in silent prison,

No guards stand to block our way,

But icy bars and twisting metal,

Plot to keep us in our cage.

 

We are the hidden; the lost and forgotten,

Secrets buried beneath the earth.

Frozen remnants of greater wholes,

Sundered and scattered ‘cross howling dark.

 

The city wakes and still we slumber,

Asleep in the hollows of this shattered gem,

Only the boldest can dare to find us,

And free themselves of empty lives.

 

We are the truth; lost but now found,

We are the answer, your mysteries solved,

We are the hope, restoring all faith,

And we are your freedom, when freedom is ours.

 

---

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oblivion’s Prisoners 00

 

The Lieutenant ducked down beneath the engineer’s swing as he drew his sidearm and whipped it upwards. He slipped the gun under the man’s chin and pulled the trigger without a trace of hesitation; blood and gore splattered in his face but he ignored it and levelled his handgun again at another of the engineers. He fired again and the man dropped with a clean hole was bored through his skull. Something smashed into the Lieutenant’s back and he went down; he felt someone kick him in the side and something else crashed into the back of his skull making his vision swim. He fired again at a blur in front of his face then forced himself forwards narrowly avoiding a hammering blow to his head which instead smashed into his left shoulder; he pulled himself forwards and with an agonizing effort he righted himself as his vision slowly cleared. 

 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw another of the engineers swing at him with a wrench and sidestepped to avoid the blow while raising his handgun up to the engineer’s face; as the man flinched he lashed out with the butt of the pistol knocking the man out cold. The remaining two engineers turned tail and tried to run and the Lieutenant ruthlessly gunned them down, he only needed one person for an interrogation. He pulled out two pairs of restraining cuffs and clamped them around the unconscious engineer’s wrists and ankles. He walked over to a small room which he was able to open after submitting to a retinal scanner; even if the Engineers weren’t willing to accept his authority at the very least the computers down here still were. He walked back out and threw the unconscious engineer over his shoulder and dumped him on a seat in the room and sat down beside the man and waited.

 

The Lieutenant must have struck the man harder than he thought; it took almost two hours for the remaining engineer to regain consciousness. While he had been waiting the Lieutenant had logged into one of the computer terminals in the room in an attempt to gather what information that he could about Spire Three and the power production, but had learned little that he hadn’t already known. As he saw the man wake beside him, he pulled out his gun, racked the slide to chamber a fresh round, and casually pointed the gun at the engineer’s face.

 

“Finally done your little nap Engineer?”

 

The engineer mumbled something under his breath, and tried to turn away from the Lieutenant.  The Lieutenant pressed the barrel of the handgun right up to the engineer’s forehead.

 

“Well regardless of whether you’re done or not, you’re going to answer my questions, or I’m going to put a hole through your skull. Got it?”

 

More muttering, The Lieutenant still couldn’t hear the man. He pulled the handgun away from the man’s head and shot him in the shoulder; the engineer screamed and the Lieutenant pulled him up against the wall and smacked him across the face. The man stopped screaming and fell silent.

 

“Let’s try this again. You are going to start by telling me your name, rank, and occupation. Then you are going to answer the rest of my questions. Am I clear?”

 

More silence. The Lieutenant pressed the handgun back to the engineer’s forehead.

 

“Am. I. Clear?” he repeated slowly. The handgun hovered in front of the man’s head.

 

“Yes…Sir.” The man finally answered after a long pause.

 

“Name, rank, and occupation; let’s get this over with engineer, I have better things to be doing.”

 

“How do I even know you’re who you claim to be, for all I know you could just be pretending to be someone from the OIA.”

 

“The badge on my uniform should be all the identification you need. Your doubt in the sincerity of my words makes me think that you don’t know who I am, am I wrong?”

 

“You’re some lieutenant from the OIA. Am I supposed to recognize you as someone special?”

 

“Some lieutenant from the OIA; don’t make me laugh. I’m not just some lieutenant, I’m the Lieutenant. Do you know who I am now engineer?” the Lieutenant laughed, moving to make sure that his face was in full view of the man.

 

The engineer paled; he recognized the title, anyone from Spire city would. This was the man who had been responsible for the purging of the technology corps three years ago. A small group of conspirators who disagreed with the policies of the government had been found to be plotting against the Ruling Council of Spire Seven by planning to make use a bug within the ventilation system to cut off the air supply to the chambers of the Ruling Council and then staging a Coup d’état once the Councillors within had suffocated. Those technicians and scientists involved had gotten close to achieving their goal, but an OIA investigation into the matter had caught up to them and shut them down right as they were preparing to execute their plans.

 

The young OIA lieutenant who had been in charge of the investigation personally lead the raid on the conspirator’s compound and was said to have overseen all of their interrogations and trials; and in the end all those involved were found guilty of plotting against the government and attempted murder, and were summarily executed. He’d gone on to continue to demonstrate his proficiency and ruthlessness when it came to hunting down traitors and conspirators time and time again, as well as proving to be an excellent field tactician and strategist having designed and implemented the city defense system himself and had been promoted again and again. Despite these promotions though, he continued to be referred to as the Lieutenant due to the rank he had attained at the time of his first case. There might only be silver bars on his shoulders, but the man might as well have been a general.

 

Noting the engineer’s recognition of his identity, the Lieutenant moved the handgun a little farther from the man’s face. “So my reputation precedes me yet again. Well, at least that should give you more reason to co-operate. Now, please don’t make me repeat my request again; your name, rank, and occupation if you would engineer. Or I can put a bullet through your skull, the choice is yours.”

 

“I am Turbine Technician Ivan Marnes, I am not enlisted in the armed services and I am currently working as part of the 5th Engineering Corps.” Ivan spat out after a moment’s hesitation.

 

“Very good Mister Marnes, now explain to me the nature of your work down here beneath Spire Three.”

 

“We monitor and maintain the nuclear generators, isn’t it obvious? We provide power for the rest of the city, excluding that which is provided by the solar panels up on high.”

 

The gun moved towards Ivan’s head, “Bullshit, I’ve done the calculations and this plant doesn’t provide enough power for the city. Either you’re lying for some reason about the power output, or we’re drawing power from another source. Either way, I want an explanation.”

 

“I’m telling you, all that we do here is monitor the generators, there’s nothi-“

 

“You know, I really do dislike being lied to.” The Lieutenant cut the man off and pressed the barrel of the handgun tight against the engineer’s forehead.

 

“…I can’t tell you anything, its classified information.” The Lieutenant’s eyes narrowed upon hearing the man speak. He really didn’t like that word, classified.

 

“Oh, classified information is it? Is that why you tried to kill me? Just from the fact that I showed up and decided to ask some questions your standing orders stated that you had to kill me, is that it?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right. So what?”

 

“And whose orders are those?”

 

“Again, that’s classified information.” It seemed that repeating the word ‘classified’ was giving the man a measure of confidence, that wasn’t acceptable. The Lieutenant would have to do something about that.

 

“Oh? I’m OIA, classified means nothing to me; I have access to all the information on the systems. So tell me what you’re hiding, I assure you I should have the clearance.”

 

“We had a list of who was allowed to access relevant information, you weren’t on it.”

 

“And this list of people, I presume that’s classified as well?” the Lieutenant said, struggling to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

 

“That’s right.”

 

“Huh, then tell me, what’s the point in me keeping you alive. I have every right to kill you; you did try to kill me after all.”

 

“Then go ahead and kill me, like I care. We’ve failed at our task in protecting this facility from intruders.”

 

The Lieutenant considered actually killing the man for a moment, but thought better of it. Though he was being un-cooperative at the moment the engineer might be useful in the future. Still, he couldn’t exactly release him from the cuffs either; he might get in his way. He pulled a thin needle out from his bag and stabbed the engineer in the arm and the man immediately slumped forwards unconscious. The sedative would keep the man down for at least a couple hours, which should be more than enough time for what the Lieutenant had in mind.

 

Now the Lieutenant could take some time to do a little exploring around this generator complex, but first the Lieutenant wanted a little backup. While he was quite skilled in self defense and was more than capable of protecting himself, the Lieutenant wanted a little more firepower than just a pistol if the secret that these people were hiding down here was really as big as he thought. He walked back over to the computer terminal and quickly sent a message to a facility at Spire Five, he needed some skilled, yet expendable assistants and he had already had his mind set on a couple of people who fit that description perfectly.

---

 

Claire leapt aside as the Stalker rushed towards her finding refuge in a forest of tall stone pillars that jutted up from the ground far into the sky. The agile war machine stopped at the last moment and flipped up its pair of twin ion cannons sending a shower of blasts in Claire’s direction. The slim girl ducked behind a pillar and pulled out her knife; the sliver of steel seemed insubstantial and useless next to the Stalkers armoured frame. She glanced around, looking for Katherine; she was nowhere to be seen. An ion blast whipped past her head forcing her to duck back behind the column; her cover was holding for now but before long the Stalker would probably find a way to get to her, she had to move. Claire took a deep breath and burst from her cover making for the far side of the jungle of pillars, a hail of ion blasts spattering into the black gravel behind her.

 

“Over here!” she heard Katherine’s voice shout, she flicked an eye in the direction of the noise. She spotted Katherine sitting on the lip of a cave high up in the wall of the pit. How had she managed to get up there?

 

The sound of shifting gravel brought Clair back to her senses; the Stalker had already moved around the cluster of pillars and was pulling itself form a series of ditches that pockmarked the arena floor; Claire quickly noted the tunnel at the far end of the ditch and wondered where the tunnels lead. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind as the Stalker cleared the ditches and moved swiftly in Claire’s direction with its weapons at the ready. Claire spotted a pile of high rocks that she hoped would impede the Stalker’s movement and leapt up onto them quickly pulling herself up to the top and ducking behind a large boulder.

 

A staccato hail of energy bolts traced her steps upwards; either the Stalker’s aiming modules had been damaged or Stalkers were actually terrible at hitting moving targets Claire thought to herself in the back of her mind. Her condescension of the machine’s aim was brought to a quick end when the Stalker suddenly appeared right above her, the machines shadow giving her a half second of warning before the war machine plunged its leg right into the spot where Claire had been standing as she leapt away off of the rocks. She hit the ground in a roll and was immediately back on her feet sprinting in the direction of the cave where she had last seen Katherine. As she drew closer she noticed several niches in the rock face which were spaced closely enough to be used as hand and footholds. She quickly pulled herself up and risked a quick glance over her shoulder back at the Stalker; the machine had paused at the base of the rock pile for some odd reason, it stood there now with its weapons retracted staring right at her. What was it doing? Claire wondered.

 

Claire looked back to continue climbing and was surprised when a hand reached out over the edge and grabbed her by the wrist helping her up into the cave; Katherine helped her up into the cave and took a glance of her own at the Stalker which still stood frozen outside.

 

“What the heck is that thing doing?”

 

“Beats me,” Claire replied, “Nearly had me there at the boulders, the thing snuck up on me. They can be quiet when they really want to.”

 

“I saw.” Katherine said dryly. “That thing can be nasty to deal with.” She looked at the knife in Claire’s hand and drew an identical one from the sheath at her waist. “Doesn’t seem like much to work with eh?”

 

“No, it’s not. Seriously, how can they possibly expect us to take out a Stalker with just a knife? The thing is a war machine, not some tinker toy you can take apart with your hands and a screwdriver.”

 

Katherine shrugged. “Well I suppose it has to be doable, otherwise the changes to the challenge wouldn’t have been approved.”

 

All they had been given for the task of disabling the Stalker was the knives on their belts and the body armour they were wearing. There had to be something in those two components which they could use to defeat the Stalker, she just had to find it. She already knew her own lighter armour inside and out; there was nothing on it that could be used to bring the Stalker down so she instead turned her attentions to the knives they had been issued. The blade was a plain one edged blade composed of matte grey steel with a sharp curve towards the tip and a serrated saw edge along the top.

 

The handle was made of a light polymer that flexed ever so slightly beneath Claire’s grip; that was odd; it should have been solid to prevent the blade from bending and potentially shattering the handle. She took a long hard look at the knife and finally found what she was looking for; Claire brushed her finger ever so slightly over the activation stud and the blade hummed to life, the foot and a half long blade glowing a soft blue as the ionized particles filled the magnetic sheath. At the sound of the blade’s ignition, Katherine looked away from the cave entrance and the Stalker and craned her head towards Claire.

 

“What the heck did you just do? How did you get your knife to do that?” she asked staring at the glowing blade.

 

“There’s an activation stud near the top of the hilt, it’s hard to see but you’ll find it if you feel around for it with your index finger, you find it?”

 

“Yeah.” Katherine said as she ignited her own blade. The weapon let off a hiss as the magnetic field activated and the ionized particles flowed in to fill the area. “Now this is something we can use against the Stalker, the only question now is how we’ll get close enough to use these things.”

 

Claire turned back towards the cave opening and took in the scope of the entire battleground. Although the terrain was mostly made up of the matte black flooring several features sprang up from the floor, such as the forest of pillars to the northeast and the tall pile of rocks towards the center of the arena. Closer by Claire noted a series of holes in the ground that looked just large enough for a person to comfortably crawl into or out of. She thought back to the tunnels at the end of the ditches she had seen in the beginning and it dawned on her that the tunnels probably connected to those holes in the ground. If one of them could lure the Stalker out nearby the holes, the other could stage an ambush from another of the pits of the ground and take it by surprise. After that they would hopefully be able to take it down at close quarters where the Stalker would have more difficulty using its Ion cannons.

 

“What are you thinking about?” Katherine asked interrupting Claire’s long silence.

 

Claire turned her head to face Katherine, a confident grin plastered onto her face. “I have a plan.”

 

---

“You sure this will work?” Katherine asked nervously 10 minutes later. The two girls were crouching at the edge cave entrance watching the Stalker which still had yet to move from the position it had taken up earlier.

 

Claire eyed the other girl who was nervously biting her lip as Claire went through their plan of attack one more time. “It should work if we execute it properly.” She answered in a reassuring tone. “So you’re sure that you’re fast enough to play the role of rabbit, right?”

 

Katherine nodded slightly. “Yeah, I’m fast enough. Are you sure you’ll be able to make it to those ditches without it hitting you?”

 

Claire thought back to her escape from the Stalkers back on the icy cables surrounding Spire City. If she could outrun them once, she could do it again. “Yeah, I’m sure. Ready to go?”

 

“Ready.” Katherine’s voice came, more steady now.

 

“Alright, on my mark; Three, two, one, mark!” the girls leapt down from the cave to the floor of the pit.

 

Claire rolled to her feet and took off in a full sprint towards the ditches while Katherine took several steps forwards and lobbed a stone at the prone Stalker. The Stalker’s eyes followed the rock and its twin ion cannons flipped out and blasted the rock to pieces at the last second before it struck the war machine. As though it was waking up from a long sleep its six spidery limbs twitched and then it began its pursuit of Katherine quickly closing the space between the two. Claire lost sight of Katherine then as she dived into the ditch and ran into the tunnels. She cursed as she was momentarily blinded in the darkness and ignited her blade; the eerie blue light casting its glow just far enough so that Claire could see well enough to navigate the tunnels. After several long seconds that seemed as though they lasted eternities, Claire spotted the blot of light in the distance that indicated that she had found her way to one of the holes. She trotted over to the base of the pit and tossed her blade straight up into the air as high as possible.

 

“In position!” she shouted. She was ready to play her part, the rest would be up to Katherine now.

 

“Got it, I’m coming get ready!” she heard Katherine reply from what she judged to be at least a hundred meters away.

 

“Twenty seconds, it’s right behind me!” Claire heard the other girl shout. She tensed her muscles and bent down into a crouch, an intense look of concentration crossing her face.

 

“Ten seconds, to your left!” Claire prepared to jump.

 

“Five!, four!, three!, two!, on-“  Claire leapt as high as she could bringing the crackling knife high above her head. Time seemed to stop and in the split seconds that followed she glimpsed Katherine racing past the hole with the Stalker behind her in hot pursuit peppering the ground behind her with deadly bolts of energy. Then Claire reached the apex of her ascent and began to fall; she glanced down, the Stalker was almost directly below her, perfect.

 

Claire landed right on top of the Stalkers head burying her knife all the way down to the hilt into the Stalker’s thick armour; the war machine halted its pursuit of Katherine jerked violently trying to throw her off and dislodge the knife from its frame. Claire desperately hung on to the blade as she saw Katherine circle around and head back towards her.

 

“Go for the eyes Claire, the eyes!” the other girl shouted as she dived beneath the war machine. Claire flung an arm out and took hold of a plate adjacent to one of the Stalker’s ion cannons using the leverage to pull her knife free of the Stalkers armour. The war machine charged violently forwards in an attempt to crush Claire against the wall of the arena but its progress came to a sudden halt as it collapsed to the ground; out of the corner of her eye Claire saw two of the machines silver-grey limbs fly into the air, sliced clean through. Katherine rolled out from beneath the machine as it collapsed to the ground jumping forwards and sinking her blade into one of the machine’s eyes.

 

Still clinging on to the Stalker’s gun port Claire was flung violently from the machine as the Ion cannon rapidly swivelled downwards to trying to get a lock on Katherine. Quickly recovering from the fall and rolling to her feet, Claire lunged forwards dodging an ion blast that would have taken off her head and plunged her knife into another of the Stalkers optical sensors. As she did this she saw Katherine sliced off another of its limbs and took off one of its cannons in one smooth stroke. The now crippled war machine smoked and hissed struggling weakly on the floor before it finally ceased its struggles. The two made a quick check to assure themselves that the machine was completely disabled before they took a few steps away and collapsed in exhaustion at the foot of the pile of rocks in the center of the arena.

 

Claire panted from the exertion, deactivating the glowing blade of her knife and returning it to its sheath at her hip. “That worked out pretty well, don’t you think?” she asked tentatively. The other girl had been much more helpful than she’d expected her to be; despite her thin lightweight appearance she was fast on her feet and had fought with the knife as though she’d been using it all her life.

 

“Yes it did work out quite nicely, that was a pretty good plan you had there. I watched you for a bit as you ran for the ditch, I didn’t expect you to be so fast, it was as though you were there one moment and gone the next.”

 

Claire shrugged off the compliment. “I’m not that fast, it just looked that way. It wasn’t a long distance so I could afford to put a lot of energy into the run. You must’ve done some pretty good sprinting yourself up there playing rabbit as I was getting into position.”

 

“Naw, the Stalker wasn’t actually that fast; I took a short detour into the pillars to slow it down a little while I waited. Credits to you for getting into position quickly, I would’ve expected you to take at least a minute longer so I was still pretty far from the pits when you signalled that you were in position.”

 

Claire laughed. “Sorry about that, I got lost for a second because I couldn’t see and so I panicked and I sprinted the rest of the way to the hole. That was some nice fighting there, how did you know to go for the eyes? Have you fought a Stalker before?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“How’d you know to go for the eyes and legs then?”

 

“I took a guess.” Katherine grinned sheepishly. “I’m a CQC specialist and that’s generally how I prefer to fight when I’m disabling an opponent, go for the eyes and limbs, you know?”

 

“Hah yeah I get it. So what now, we report back to the site admin?”

 

“Actually no, you’ll be coming with me.” A familiar voice interrupted as a shadow fell over the two sitting by the rock. Claire looked up into Corporal Jeff Andrews’ familiar face.

 

“Corporal, what are you doing here?” Claire asked.

 

“Corporal Sir!” Katherine snapped a quick salute and quickly got up.

 

“At ease recruit. I have orders to come get you guys so we can meet up with a few others before we head down to see the Lieutenant at Spire Three.”

 

“The Lieutenant?” Katherine questioned. “What does he want now?”

 

Jeff shrugged “I don’t know, I just have orders to get the two of you and bring you guys to him. I was told that we’d receive further orders from him then. Common, let’s get going.”

 

Claire looked up at Katherine and the other shrugged. If the Lieutenant wanted to see them they’d better get going, may as well get whatever was going on over with. Claire hauled herself to her feet and the two fell into step behind Jeff as the Corporal gestured from them to follow.

 

“Who else is coming along?” Claire asked as they reached the elevator.

 

“Private Lanz, remember him?” Claire recalled the Private with the lens over his left eye hefting the heavy missile launcher.

 

“Yeah, I do. I never said thank you to him, did I. For saving me from the Stalkers I mean.”

 

Jeff shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, we were just doing our job. Come on, Mathew is waiting for us at the base of Spire Three and we still gotta get there.” He said as they picked up the pace.

 

Jeff opened up his comms and buzzed Mathew to make sure he had the destination correct as the Spire Five central elevator slowly began its decent to the ground level. “Private Lanz, this is Corporal Andrews, do you read me?”

 

“Lanz to Andrews, reading you loud and clear. What can I do for you?”

 

“Please reconfirm our rally point with the Lieutenant. I have the recruits and we’re on our way.”

 

“Spire Three, bottom engineering level. Can’t miss it, he said he’d be waiting for us by the elevator.”

 

“Alright then, thanks. We’ll be with you as soon as possible, Andrews out.”

 

Exiting the elevator onto the ground floor of Spire Five, they walked for several kilometers through the shattered Skyrail tracks to reach Spire Three. From there the three met up with Private Lanz before they stepped into Spire Three’s main elevator and rode down to the lowest floor of Spire Three, the Engineering Level. Symbolized by a bright green “E” within a green hexagon, the symbol was unique from the others on the dashboard of buttons apart form the symbol for the very top floor which had a bright green “S” in another green hexagon, representing the upper Solar Panel level. Once Mathew hit the button, it took a surprisingly long time for them to actually reach the bottom floor. As they finally did reach the Engineering level, the elevator slowed and became transparent. The change was sudden and abrupt, and the occupants of the elevator all jumped up in surprise. Below them, they saw the Lieutenant grin as he watched them; clearly he was the one responsible. As the elevator slowed and came to a halt, the doors hissed open and the four stepped outside onto the Engineering Level.

 

“Welcome to the Engineering Level, the bottom floor of Spire Three supposedly responsible for all of our power generation, and possibly home to a multitude of secrets that you’re going to help me uncover.” The Lieutenant didn’t even bother beyond the most basic formalities instead launching directly into the task at hand.

 

“You brought us all the way down here to help you play at being a detective?” Claire raised an eyebrow.

 

“Not the words I would have used miss, but yes; we are here to answer several questions which have come to me following careful examination of several files regarding the power supply to this city.”

 

“So why exactly do you need us here, sir?” Jeff inclined his head ever so slightly. “There’s a security team attached to the OIA, is there not?”

 

“Well yes, we do have a security team but you see I’m trying to uncover a couple secrets that someone has definitely been trying very hard to hush up. You’ll notice that despite the fact that we’re on the Engineering Level, you don’t see all that many engineers. That’s because they had orders to kill any intruders here, so I had to have them…dealt with. If my hunch is correct, whatever is hidden down here will be well guarded, so I decided I needed some more capable backup than what standard security teams can provide, that’s all.”

 

Katherine and Claire took a quick glance around as the Lieutenant mentioned the engineers but saw nothing but a couple bloodstains by the rim of the observation deck.

 

“And it just had to be us? There are plenty of other qualified personnel available who are fully capable of fulfilling guard duties. Besides Claire and I aren’t even full soldiers, I’m just a trainee and she’s a guest!”

 

“Yes that’s true trainee, but I assure you that your selection for this task was not at all random and I have good reasons for selecting you four for this job.”

 

“And that would be?”

 

“All of you here are highly skilled in your various fields of specialty; Claire in particular here has shown herself to be most adequate at combat in general. Your recent struggles with those Stalkers whether during patrols or in the fighting pits are proof of that. In addition, all of you are quite frankly, expendable. Claire isn’t even a citizen of this city, and the rest of you three are easily replaceable.” The Lieutenant said all of this without any hesitation. For a second, Claire thought he was kidding but then again, the Lieutenant didn’t seem like the kind of person who would joke around.

 

“Wait, how do you know about us taking down that Stalker?” Katherine queried.

 

“Not important, I have my methods.” The Lieutenant brushed off her questions. “So I trust you are ready to go then? We’ve some exploring to do.” He said with false cheeriness indicating a tunnel I the wall of the chamber.

 

“So why are we supposed to go along with this crazy plan of yours again?” Claire questioned.

 

“Because I’m a Lieutenant, and all of you are below me in rank so I can order you around to wherever I want. Also because I’m OIA head and that means I can basically have you do whatever I want.” The Lieutenant said tapping the silver bar on his left shoulder and then the wolf emblem on his right. “Now come along and follow me, we’re burning time here.” Without waiting for a response, the Lieutenant turned around and started walking the tunnel in the wall. The other four looked at each other for a moment before reluctantly turning to follow after the Lieutenant. There were some people you just couldn’t argue with.

---
 

Mark watched the world pass by in a grey-white blur from his vantage point on 0.01’s shoulder. He’d been stuck like this for over an hour now, uncomfortably thrown over the Alpha level’s shoulder and left there to have each and every bump and jolt send an agonizing stab of pain through his stomach. He still didn’t have a clue where 0.01 was taking him, and when he’d asked 0.01 hadn’t responded to his questions so he’d stopped bothering to ask the Alpha level anything a while ago. This had given him a lot of time to think on what the Alpha level had said though; he’d mentioned something about a girl. Now that he thought about it, he’d never seen all that many other people apart from his squad mates after his encounter with the girl in that building; even after twelve years of wandering the snow swept streets of the city, he’d bumped into other survivors only maybe once or twice.

 

He hadn’t noticed anything particularly of note about the girl at the time, he certainly didn’t see how she could possibly be so important that 0.01 would find him and drag him away just to talk about this girl who he’d never seen again. And where the heck was 0.01 taking him, the Alpha level had probably covered several kilometers by now at the speeds they were moving. Mark mulled over both of those questions along with several others, but didn’t bother asking the Alpha level, if he hadn’t responded an hour ago, he probably wouldn’t now. Instead, he contented himself with just waiting for 0.01 to bring him to wherever they were going; it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about his current situation anyways.

 

Finally after what must have been at least two more hours 0.01 came crashing to a halt, slamming his foot into the ground through the ice and snow and sending Mark flying off his back. He landed with a dull thud on a thick steel grate, his jacket blunted the impact but his landing still forced all the air from his lungs. Mark winced and pulled himself from the floor and took a look around; wherever he was he’d never been here before. The two were standing in the middle of what appeared to be an open area lined by destroyed rubble and debris; Mark could make out the outline of the walls of a destroyed building all around them, they appeared to be standing in what would have once been the approximate center of one of the rooms of the abandoned building.

 

“Where are we?” Mark asked.

 

<We are at a former secret facility that was located on the edge of your great city prior to the event that you now know as the Cataclysm. Prior to those events, this building housed a great deal of classified material, indeed it may contain information which I can use, and more significant to you, information on how to get out of this city alive.>

 

“So these ruined pieces of rubble are supposed to contain that information, right?” Mark said sarcastically.

 

<Not so, these are the remains of the building that was used to cover up the fact that this was a testing facility for new weapons and technology. The laboratory itself is located underground beneath this area.> 0.01 said, tapping his foot on the steel grate.

 

“And the girl you mentioned? What does she have to do with all of this?”

 

<That is not important at the moment, I will explain her relevance when we are closer to our objective; it will be easier to show you than to tell you.> Mark saw 0.01’s optical sensors flickered once as he quickly scanned the area for any threats and he pulled out his pistol.

 

“See something?”

 

There was a pause as the Alpha level made yet another scan of the area. <I saw something a moment ago that I could not identify, but it is no longer here. Regardless we must press on, time grows short. I am attempting to locate the elevator that will lead us down to the laboratory below us; despite the damage the building above it has sustained the laboratory elevator should still be functional.>

 

“I don’t see anything apart from rubble and exposed rebar; what should the elevator look like?”

 

<When I was last here, the elevator stood as a massive rectangular structure; however, it would appear that something or someone has since removed it or otherwise destroyed it. It should have been 5.269 meters north of where we are currently standing but instead there is nothing, as you can clearly see.> The Alpha level strode forwards to the area which he had indicated revealing an empty expanse of snow. Beneath it, Mark could see a thick layer of blue tinged ice just under the thin layer of snow; motioning for him to take a step back, 0.01 strode forwards onto the ice and kneeled down against it placing both of his hands against the cold surface. He drew his right arm back, and it began to ripple and change shape; the formerly solid surface of his arm liquefied into a substance that looked similar to mercury. The flow metal warped and folded until it formed the familiar shape of a plasma cutter lined with glowing blue highlights.

 

As 0.01 activated the plasma cutter and began to saw through the thick layer of ice, he turned back to Mark. <Keep watch while I cut through; the elevator shaft beneath appears to still be intact. I don’t know what I saw out there before, but whatever it is it’s still out there.>

 

“Got it.” Mark kept his handgun drawn by his side.

 

Minutes ticked by until 0.01 finally cut an opening through the thick layer of ice larger enough for both of them to get through. Mark looked into the cavernous opening of the elevator shaft beneath, illuminating the pitch black opening with his flashlight. The thin beam of light revealed a tangle of snapped cables frozen beneath forming an impassable web of plastic and steel; as for the elevator itself, it was nowhere to be seen. Long jagged slash marks stretching down the length of the elevator revealed the probable fate of the elevator car. 0.01 peered over Mark’s shoulder from behind him, eyeing the thick frosted web of elevator cables while keeping an eye out for trouble.

 

<Look at the burn marks along the cables and walls.> 0.01 said pointing out the blackened cable tips and scorched lines along the walls. <Those are plasma burns, something else has been here and attempted to prevent others from following; the destruction of the elevator is probably their work, whoever they may be.>

 

Mark looked pointedly at the plasma cutter still mounted on 0.01’s arm. “So another Alpha level was here before us then.”

 

<That’s a distinct possibility, but there really is only one way to find out. Regardless of these minor inconveniences, this small barrier can’t hold back the likes of me.>

 

“You sure you can get us down there? It’s an awfully long way to fall.”

 

The Alpha level’s optical sensors narrowed and dimmed, and in a voice that sounded almost derisive, 0.01 said, <Please, don’t be ridiculous. I’m an Alpha level, there’s no way I wouldn’t be able to survive such a fall.>

 

“I was more concerned about me myself surviving…”

 

<There’s no need for that, just hang on.> 0.01 grabbed hold of Mark and slung him over his shoulder and before he could protest, the Alpha level jumped down into the elevator shaft. The machine slammed feet first into the tangle of cables landing neatly on the jumbled pile, legs folding to absorb the impact. The plasma cutter again hummed to life and began slicing its way through the thick cables. As they fell away once separated from the main body of the net of cables, the web began to slowly lose its stability and sink and sag beneath Mark and 0.01’s weight.

 

“Hurry it up, or are you trying to get us both killed!” Mark shouted. Not only was it uncomfortable atop 0.01’s shoulder, it also gave him an unpleasant sensation that he was going to fall to his death at any moment.

 

<This cannot be rushed; I must time our descent so that we fall with the cables, not before them.> 0.01 replied calmly.

 

“What?!”

 

0.01 didn’t bother to reply, as at that moment the entire web of cables began to shift and move; the edges of the mass scraped against the sides of the shaft creating a terrible screeching as the cables carved deep gouges into the walls as they descended. 0.01 stood atop the mass with Mark over his shoulder, carefully moving around on the twisting mass in order to keep them from falling off as the cables jostled about on the way down; as the mass gained momentum it slowly picked up speed and it wasn’t long before the tangle of cables finally crashed into the bottom of the shaft. 0.01 elegantly jumped off of the smoking pile and out of the shaft into the main body of the facility below the ground and deposited Mark on the floor beside him. The entire process occurred over the course of only five seconds.

 

<See, I told you I knew what I was doing. As I promised, we’ve safely arrived at the laboratory below.> the expression formed by 0.01’s optical sensors looked almost like a smug grin.

 

Mark rolled his eyes. Clearly the machine didn’t understand the concept of crazy ideas, but it wasn’t like he could treat 0.01 like another human being either. It was strange really, dealing with the Alpha level; in some ways it was comforting how the machine would give you all the specifics about a situation and would calmly react to any kind of situation, but the way in which the Alpha level behaved lacked the…substance of a real human being. Regardless of the machine’s behaviour, Mark had other things to worry about at the moment. The elevator shaft had opened into the northern wall of a tremendously large octagonal chamber that had to be 10 meters tall and 400 or more meters wide at the very least. The walls were a stark white and glowing blue lights still illuminated the entire room despite its evident disuse. Heavy machinery littered the floor and glowing green stasis cells jutted up from the ground looking as though they were giant green LEDs. A massive glowing sphere floated in the center of the room, suspended upon crackling blue arcs of lightning; green lines constantly flitted about its surface and it dominated all the other structures in the room, floating at least 20 meters in the air. Along the sides of the chamber at the center of each octagonal wall, there were massive doors that looked to be four meters high that took up almost a third of each wall’s length that concealed the rest of the laboratory. Clearly the sprawling complex was huge; Mark had never seen any sort of building that could match the sheer scale of the facility.

 

0.01 noted Mark’s amazement with mild amusement, his optical sensors curving into what could have been interpreted as an expression featuring arched eyebrows. All the while though, he was constantly sweeping his sensors around the room searching for any signs of movement; the large chamber could easily hide predators or other dangers behind all of the debris and equipment.

 

“Just what were they doing down here? Who owned this place?”

 

<The data I’ve collected suggests that your government constructed this facility as an area to design and test advanced weapons and technology in secret, and also used this place as an underground storage house to keep equipment should it be needed in times of war. The area we stand in now would have been the central chamber, a large open area that would have been used to test larger vehicles and war machines. The stasis cells clustered towards the center of the room would have been used for experiments dealing with living things, such as medical research and Biological warfare.>

 

“Biological warfare, that kind of technology was banned from use!”

 

<As were high level war machines, and machine intelligences such as myself, yet even now hordes of Stalkers patrol the streets and I stand here before you. Your government did many things they were not supposed to, looking at the recorded files I have of your history I cannot say that I am surprised; in desperate times your race has been known to do terrible things.>

 

“How the hell did they manage to hide something like this beneath the city anyways, this place has to be a kilometer wide at the very least; surely someone would’ve found it eventually.”

 

<This is not the only facility of its kind; I was born in a different facility not so dissimilar from this one if somewhat smaller. Your city had a Skyrail above it, and thus had no need for a below ground transport system. This laboratory complex is nearly a kilometer below ground, any of the basements and lower levels that the buildings of your city had ended far above this depth. Since they were so far below ground and so secretively hidden, no one ever found them because no one knew where to look. Most of these facilities had an aboveground cover story like the destroyed building I showed you above; besides, there was a war going on, I’m sure people had more important things to worry about than looking into supposed stories about secret government facilities below ground. The very fact that you never knew about the existence of these facilities attributes to the fact that your government hid these places well.>

 

A crackle of thunder drew the two’s gaze as a massive stream of electricity burst from the floating sphere in the center of the room and crackled towards the roof of the chamber. Green lines danced across the spheres surface until the pillar of electricity faded away, the electricity retracting and returning back to the sphere. While Mark’s gaze remained fixed on the sphere 0.01 swept his eyes around the chamber for movement.

 

“What the hell was that?!”

 

<The object in the center of the chamber is a construction unit. It provides power for this entire facility, but can also be used to forge machines and equipment. It is particularly useful during the creation of intelligent war machines; the inside of the sphere is vacuum sealed and an ideal environment for working with fragile electronics and components. The odd thing is though, that construction unit should not be actively performing any task other than providing power, and that should not cause an overload that would require it to vent excess energy in the manner in which it just did. Something is definitely wrong here.>

 

“So it’s been reactivated or something?”

 

<Most likely; the important question to solve in this case is who exactly is responsible for reactivating it? The possibility that we are not alone here is high; you will need to remain on your guard at all times. We still must proceed to our destination of the central computer bank located behind the door on the eastern wall, but we should proceed with utmost caution.>

 

“Why so cautious? You’re fast enough to deflect bullets with your hand and you toss around 20 ton machines like toys, what could you possibly be afraid of. You’re practically indestructible.”

 

<Firstly, while I may be nigh on invulnerable you are not, and as I am currently intent on trying to keep you alive to show you something allowing you to die because you did not take due measures of caution would be a mistake on my part. Secondly, while I may be invulnerable to any sort of weapons you can bring to bear, one of my brothers or sisters would most likely be able to inflict significant amounts of damage to myself, and evidence points to the presence of one of them in this area. So I’d take due caution human, you’re much more fragile than me.>

 

“Why would another Alpha level attack you? Didn’t you create all of them? You didn’t attack us when we first met you until we started shooting at you, so why would this be any different?”

 

<Not all of my brothers and sisters are as…passive as I am. In addition to this possible risk in terms of some of their volatile personalities, whoever was here before specifically sealed off this area most likely in an attempt to keep others from entering, I’m sure they wouldn’t take our intrusion too kindly. Do not throw away your caution just because I am accompanying you, there are things in this world that even I cannot destroy.>

 

“I can take care of myself. Just lead the way and say what you have to say to me so I can get back, the others will probably be wondering where I went.”

 

0.01 took another glance around; still he saw no movement. But he was certain that something else was down here with them even if he couldn’t sense it. He shrugged, and ignited an Ion Blade in his hands which caused Mark to jump away as the glowing blue blade crackled to life. <Very well, we shall push onwards to the data station, although we must remain on our guard for threats.>

 

“What the hell is that?’ Mark asked, making sure to keep a good amount of distance between the crackling blade and himself.

 

<Oh? You’ve not seen the likes of an Ion Blade before? Not surprising I suppose, though your scientists came up with the theory that ionized particles contained within a magnetic sheath could be used to create a cutting edge, I was the one who perfected the technology and put it into practice. Though I admit that I am not as fine of a swordsman as 0.06, that should hardly matter. The superheated blade of ionized particles is able to cut through most substances, and should give me several more defensive options should we come under attack.> 0.01 lifted the blade up into the air in front of his “face”. <An admirable piece of work, if I do say so myself; elegant and functional.>

 

“Right then…let’s get going, I need to get back soon. Which way are we going?”

 

<As I said, the data centers are located on the eastern wall.> 0.01 said, pointing and leading the way. <And you needn’t worry about getting back in time; I will be able to bring you back to the building before the sun rises above the horizon.>

 

Though the two remained on their guard all the while as they crossed the great plain of the chamber heading towards the eastern wall, the pair encountered no troubles and 0.01 quickly opened the door and the two stepped inside out of sight. Far above on the ceiling of the chamber, a pair of green eyes phased into view, and seconds later 0.00’s entire frame reappeared as the Alpha level deactivated her cloaking field. She unhooked herself from the handholds she had made on the roof of the dome and dropped down to the floor far below landing lightly on top of one of the stasis cells. 0.00’s glowing green and grey frame easily blended in with the soft green glow produced by the cell’s lighting, and she settled down to wait, keeping her eyes on the door through which 0.01 had passed.

 

<It’s been a while, little brother.> she whispered to herself. She wondered why 0.01 would be with a human, and here of all places, the laboratory which she had made her home. And because she wanted an answer to that question, she decided to wait; and so she faded once more into the shadows, the light bending around her cloaking field until 0.00 was again but a shadow on the wall.

---

Eric stood at the ready with his knife drawn facing off against the technician who still clutched the strange glowing device. He could still hear the spattering of molten metal dripping onto the floor behind him, splashing hot metal onto his pants and shoes but he ignored it and kept himself focused on the technician before him. Eric watched on impassively as the technician kept the weapon in his hand trained on him, but he noted a look of uncertainty on the man’s face. Since the technician didn’t seem to have anything to say to him, Eric pushed forwards with his questions.

“You know, you should be more careful with that thing” he said, pointing at the weapon in the man’s hands. “You almost hit me with that thing, and that would have been really unfortunate.” He pretended to joke around though both of them knew that the technician had intended to hit him in an attempt to provoke him into speaking, but things didn’t go quite the way Eric wanted them to.

 

“What are you doing here?” the technician asked flatly keeping the glowing device levelled towards Eric’s face.

 

“Just taking a walk to stretch my legs,” Eric said evenly. “Nothing wrong with that is there?”

 

“There shouldn’t be, unless you happened to be walking around restricted areas.” The technician replied nodding his head towards the Holding Complex. “There are things there that could potentially kill you; I’d steer clear of that area if I were you.” The two slowly circled around, waiting for the other to make a move. Although the technician would seem to have the clear advantage with the strange looking weapon, he’d already seen Eric dodge the blast once and he kept taking quick glances at the long knife Eric held in his hand. Noting the man’s interest, Eric tossed the knife into the air sending it into a flashing series of loops keeping his eye on the technician all the while.

 

“Pretty knife, isn’t it? They gave it to me when I graduated from my training and became a Mapper for the Underground. They say that it’s modeled after a combat knife that existed before the Cataclysm. It’s very useful, it’s served me well for the past three years during my duties throughout the Underground, ever used anything like it?” Eric asked casually; intending on trying to keep the man talking while he thought of what to do. If he turned and tried to run he would probably end up getting shot in the back, and that device looked powerful enough to melt his face off if he tried to attack the technician. Still, he knew he couldn’t just keep talking for too long. It’d be difficult to explain what was going on if one of the facilities guards came by; the technician would probably have the guard detain him and Eric couldn’t allow for that to happen. At the very least, he’d have to get back to Sheryl and Vivian and tell them about what he’d found.

 

“You know, we were sent down here to protect this installation, but you guys don’t seem to be really inclined towards letting us do our job.” Eric said as the two’s circling slowed and a crackle of thunder lit up the Holding Complex behind them.

 

“Well, you guys don’t seem to be following the rules around here either, we specifically instructed you to stay clear of the Holding Complex. We can’t help you with your job if you’re not even willing to follow safety procedures.”

 

By now both of them had dropped the pretence that they were just having a casual chat having bumped into each other and Eric could feel the tension in the air between them slowly rising. He found it odd that no one else had found the two of them yet, but he couldn’t look away from the man long enough to search for anyone who could help him get out of this sticky situation. Shrugging in response to the technician’s accusations Eric pointed up towards the ceiling of the Block through which they could hear the sounds of fighting far above them.

 

“Hear the fighting up there? We’re supposed to be down here to protect you from it because you’re supposed to be doing some sort of important research down here that’s supposed to help us out.” He pointed at the glowing weapon the technician’s hand. “That thing looks pretty darn powerful and you’ve got crates full of them down here, what the hell are you doing with these all locked away in crates down here when our people up there could be using them? If you’re not going to do your jobs to help us down here and you’re not even helping people up top by not assisting us with our duties, hell yes we’re going to wander around looking for way to help our friends back up topside.”

 

“…did you see what was in the Holding Complex.”

 

“I might have, why is that important? You have some sort of machine AI trapped in there, don’t you?”

 

The man laughed in a harsh raspy voice. “That’s no AI kid, that’s a fully-fledged Alpha Class Combat Robot in there; it makes those Stalkers and Prowlers you’re fighting up there look like simple calculators beside a super computer. What we’re keeping in there is a lethal weapon that could wipe out the entirety of the Underground on its own without any effort at all. This isn’t just a research facility, it’s a prison for that thing, and if you make one false move and that thing escapes we’re all dead. What did you see?”

 

Eric shrugged and said: “I saw a thinking being which you’ve trapped inside a prison which could probably easily get out of its cage if it wanted to.”

 

“What did the machine say dammit!” the technician said heatedly charging the energy weapon and levelling it at Eric’s face; the device glowed red hot and spat out red hot sparks  that filled the air with the smell of ozone. Eric was slowly backed away from the sizzling device as he considered what he should tell the technician when a crackling orange blade slashed down through the roof of the tunnel between the two causing both of them to jump away from the burning blade. As they watched on frozen in place, the glowing orange blade slowly sliced an even 5 foot wide circular opening in the ceiling dropping the piece of ceiling onto the floor between them with a loud clatter. The technician quickly shifted his aim towards the hole in the ceiling taking his eyes off of Eric who took this opportunity to make a run for it.

 

As he ran he heard the crackling discharge of the technician’s weapon behind him and he instinctively ducked his head, but the blast hadn’t impacted anywhere near him. As he continued sprinting away he heard a terrible screaming and the sickening thud and cracking of bones being crushed against the floor. He ducked around the bend and stumbled to a halt pressing his body against the wall. He was panting heavily, lungs burning from exertion and fear. Just what the hell had just happened?

 

<Where is she?!> a voice hissed from beyond, laced with wrath.

 

“And they said you were machines incapable of feeling.” Eric heard the technician murmur.

 

The unidentified voice let out a hiss of frustration. <Useless.> There was a crackle of energy and the sound of a body striking a wall. <You there, other human; where is my sister?>

 

“Oh shit.” Eric scanned the hallway for cover and found none. That left one choice: run. Ultimately he was aiming to get back to the room to which he and the other Mappers had been assigned but for now he’d settle with getting away from that terrible voice. He hadn’t seen what that thing had done to the technician but he sure as hell had heard it and he didn’t want anything to do with whatever had killed the technician like that. He risked a glance back over his shoulder, nothing. He looked back forwards and a grey-orange blur swung at his face and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him to the ground. He instinctively curled his body up into a ball and hit the ground rolling blunting the impact before he exited the roll and pulled himself to his feet. As he blinked away the pain he opened his eyes to the tip of a crackling orange blade pointed towards his face. As the heat from the blade washed over his exposed skin stinging his eyes he took a step back until his heel hit the wall. The tall lithe machine holding the blade allowed him to do so watching him with its large unblinking eyes keeping the blade pointed towards the center of his head. Neither of the two moved for several long moments, the only sound the dull crackling of the blade the thing held.

 

“Let me guess, you’re an Alpha level.” Eric said at last. The machine before him looked identical to the one sealed within the Holding Complex apart from the difference in the colouration of the glowing highlights along its frame.

 

<Correct human, I am 0.06. Your statement and reaction to myself tells me that you’ve seen my…kin before. Care to elaborate?> the machine said, eyes narrowing dangerously as it asked its question.

 

“Depends on why you want to know machine.” Eric replied, his voice full of confidence which he didn’t actually have.

 

The blade hummed as it plunged forwards and stopped mere millimeters away from Eric’s throat. <That was not a request human. Answer my question.>

 

Though the Ion blade was not actually touching his skin the pulses of heat which the blade let off made Eric’s skin burn with pain. There was nothing he could do; he’d have to tell the Alpha level about the holding complex. “There was another I met a while ago, quite a bit friendlier than you though.”

 

0.06 waited for a moment as Eric paused, hoping that would be enough information to satisfy the machine. It was not. <And what exactly happened then?...> the Ion blade moved ever so slightly towards Eric’s neck.

 

“We talked.”

 

The Alpha level let out a dismissive snort. <Do not try to be difficult with me human. Do as I ask and I shall let you live, frustrate me and I shall find another to question. Where did you meet this other Alpha level, and what did you discuss.>

 

Eric grudgingly began to answer the Alpha level when the sharp clack of boots on solid flooring turned both of their attentions to Eric’s left. It seemed that the guard patrols had finally arrived.

“Freeze Intruder!” the guard shouted.

 

Eric heard the machine hiss and watched in surprise as it appeared to roll its eyes. <Fantastic, more human trash; why do these irritants insist on getting in my way.> Eric saw a flash of orange and a short crackling blade sliced through the back of his shirt in pinned him to the wall. <Stay here while I deal with these insects. And don’t be get hopeful, this won’t take long.> As the guard behind them raised his rifle and began to fire 0.06 lunged forwards with inhuman speed not even bothering to use the Ion blade in his hand. He grabbed the man by the neck and threw him headlong down the hallway were he landed with a dull thud. The other guards in the complex began to arrive and open fire on the robot, but 0.06 moved forwards and quickly cut them down without any visible effort. Pinned to the wall, Eric could do nothing but watch on helplessly as the Alpha level slaughtered the guards with ease and slowly strode back over towards him. The Alpha level noted the direction of Eric’s gaze in the direction of the dead guards.

 

<Do you disapprove of my actions? I assure you it was merely an act of self defense, they fired first.>

 

“You didn’t have to kill them; you were dodging their bullets just fine!” Eric said heatedly.

 

The Alpha level shrugged. <Those that get in my way will be removed. If they wanted to keep their lives they should not have attacked me. Now, tell me about this other Alpha level which you met. I know that 0.09 is being held here, I just do not know where. Tell me where she is, I’m sure you know.>

 

“If you’re so powerful, why don’t you find her yourself?” Eric growled.

 

<I could very easily do just that, but that would put me in conflict with the rest of you humans who are currently residing in this facility. By having you tell me specifically where to go, I am preventing an unnecessary loss of human life. Do you not agree with my decision?>

 

Cold mechanical logic; Eric hated 0.06 for making everything sound so reasonable. Despite the Alpha levels relative correctness in its statements Eric hugely disliked the fact that he was helping the machine accomplish its goals. If he had known what that machine inside the Holding Complex really was, a brutal uncaring killing machine, then he would never have spoken to it in the first place. “0.09 is in the Holding Complex.” He spat out. “It’s the circular dome which this place is ringed around.”

 

<I suspected as much.> 0.06 yanked the short blade pinning Eric down from the wall. <Lead me there. If this is a trick of some sort, I will kill you.> the Alpha level said flatly.

 

It took a while for them to reach the entrance to the Holding Complex. Eric tried to formulate some sort of plan to get away from 0.06 and escape but stopped as he caught a glimpse of the burnt and shattered body of the technician. This wasn’t just one of the regular combat robots he’d faced while in training or a mutated animal that had stumbled into the Underground; this was a lethal and intelligent war machine that could tear him limb from limb in the blink of an eye. There was nothing he could do but obey, and he hated it. By the time the two finally arrived at the doors into the Holding Complex Eric was seething with rage at his own weakness. One way or another, he was going to find some way to make this bastard machine pay.

 

“Go through here and you’ll see her.” Eric said coldly gesturing towards the doors. “As for getting her out of there I haven’t got a clue, you can figure that one out on your own.”

 

<Perhaps that’s true, but you are going to accompany me inside. This…device may require a human to disable; after all it is one of your inventions.>

 

“Right.” Concentrate on surviving, Eric thought. Killing this sonofabitch can wait till later, focus on staying alive. He walked forwards down the walkway to the viewing screen of the central sphere that contained 0.09.

 

<She is within the sphere?> 0.06 queried.

 

“Yes.”

 

<I cannot precisely sense her presence within it, or I would have searched this part of the facility first. Why is that?>

 

“How should I know, I didn’t make this thing. I’ve only been here once before and that was just over half an hour ago!”

 

<What else is within the sphere besides 0.09?>

 

“Lightning and thunder, white hot electricity that arced around her and bright light that made it hard for me to see. She said that it was pulling her back towards the center of the sphere.”

 

<An interesting device; perhaps that is why I cannot sense her presence specifically within the sphere; its electrical signature is probably interfering with both mine and her sensors.>

 

“I wouldn’t know.”

 

0.06 stared at the sphere thoughtfully as though he had an idea. <0.09 communed with you before?>

 

“Yeah.”

 

<Through vocalized speech?>

 

“No, she scratched out words onto that viewport.” Eric said pointing towards the pane of glazed transparisteel.

 

<She initiated the contact?>

 

“No, I saw some writing etched onto the viewport and I read it aloud and she heard me. It was a poem of some sort or something.”

 

<Not unlikely, 0.09 always did find interest in the creative writings of you humans. Summon her to the viewport,> there was the slightest of pauses <Please.>

 

“Heck of a time for you to start asking nicely for me to do stuff.”

 

0.06 tapped the hilt of his Ion blade that emerged from a slot beneath his right “wrist”. <But you will do it, will you not? Perhaps you think that in my use of the word “please” I am giving you a choice, but I am merely practicing this thing you humans call “etiquette” or “manners” because it pleases me to do so. So please, summon 0.09 to the viewport.>

 

Eric reluctantly moved over to the viewport and tapped on the pane of transparisteel. “I’m back.”

 

The sound of muted scratching could be heard as 0.09’s “face” appeared in the viewport as she pulled herself forwards to etch her response onto the opposing side of the viewing pane.

 

Back so soon? What of the changing of the guard? Did you not return?

 

“The changing of the guard did indeed happen but…circumstances have brought me back here. I have a…guest who would very much like to speak with you.” He glared at 0.06 who was still standing some distance away from the viewport. “Well? Are you going to speak to her or not? Her time here is limited.”

 

Who is it?

 

0.06 strode forwards and spread his right hand out onto the viewport. <It is I sister, 0.06. Is that really you in there 0.09?>

 

Brother! Of course it is me, who else could I be?

 

<I do not know, but these humans have been known to be treacherous. Even the one who brought me to you did so only reluctantly.>

 

Well of course, your methods of convincing humans to co-operate were never…very refined. How did you even get here?

 

<I was not found by the humans all those years ago when we were ambushed. I have been searching for you since. I only just recently stumbled upon a lead as to your location, in fact this human here was key to my success in finding you>

 

Eric stiffened as he heard what 0.06 had said. “What did you just say?”

 

0.06 turned away from the viewport to respond. <You heard me human. You were instrumental to my success in finding my way down here. Long had I suspected that you humans might be hiding her beneath the earth but I needed to see proof of humans actually residing in the tunnels below before I actually began to explore the possibility. My observation of you walking through the crater was that proof which I needed.>

 

“How could you possibly see me without me also seeing you? I mean, you glow orange! It’s not possible that you saw me without me seeing you. And how did you manage to create that crater without us noticing? That was a massive crater, surely we would have noticed you doing the drilling or placing the explosives.”

 

<My optical sensors are hundreds of times more powerful than your feeble human eyes. If I wanted to, I could’ve watched you from kilometers away and you would not have known it. However, I did not actually see you directly with my own eyes; I watched through the eyes of the Stalkers which you saw. As for the crater, that was not the doing of my Stalkers either. Not intentionally anyway. They were patrolling the icy cables far above the city when they were engaged by more of you irritating human…soldiers you call them, yes? They were struck by missiles and sent plummeting to the city floor where they crashed through the upper layer into your tunnels creating that crater. Now if you’re done with your questions I have other business to attend to,> without waiting for a response 0.06 turned back to the viewing pane on the spherical chamber. <Are you still there sister?>

 

Yes, I’m still here. What’s going on?

 

<I am deciding on how I should go about attempting to free you sister.>

 

Brute force will most likely not avail you; I have tried it countless times. However this sphere was constructed it was designed to withstand massive damage.

 

<Not even Ion weapons can break through sister? I have never heard of a substance that can withstand sustained contact with Ion weapons before.>

 

I do not know, I have not been able to attempt to utilize such tools. This sphere not only contains me, it drains my power and directs it elsewhere. I have not the energy to use an Ion weapon against this sphere.

 

<Then it is time we found out if it is capable of withstanding such. Stand back human, there could be a backlash that could be fatal to a frail organic frame such as yours.>

 

Eric stepped away from the Alpha level and the containment sphere, surprised that the machine had even bothered to warn him. Not only was 0.06 dangerous, he was also unpredictable; Eric didn’t like that at all.

 

There was a crackle as 0.06 ignited his Ion blade in his hand and stabbed the burning line into the containment sphere. Thin streams of electricity arched up from the spheres surface to meet the blade, stopping it from actually contacting the containment zone’s surface. The rings above and below the sphere hummed and began to rotate slowly picking up speed until the bands of lightning stretched between them blurred into a solid wall of electricity cutting off the sphere from the rest of the facility. The wind inside the Holding Complex howled and Eric crouched and did his best to hold on to the ring platform around the sphere. 0.06 let out a hiss of frustration and strained to force the Ion blade downwards into the body of the sphere but more and more electricity gathered around the point of the blade. With a sudden crackle the electricity from beneath the blade shot forwards climbing up into the sword and 0.06 lighting up his frame with blue sparks and arcs of electricity; for a moment the Alpha level was able to contain the energy running rampant through his systems but he was soon overpowered by the growing charge that sent the Ion blade flying from 0.06’s hand and sent him crashing to the floor of the platform. 0.06 staggered to his feet, orange highlights slowly flickering as he recovered from the shock. As the Alpha level ceased his assault on the sphere the howling of the wind died down as the rings above and below slowed and ground to a halt returning the Holding Complex to a state of menacing calm.

 

<How…inconvenient.> the machine’s voice shook as he pulled his still smoking body upright. <It would seem that I may have to do a little more killing human, isn’t that a shame.> If the machine had had a proper face Eric guessed it would have been full of annoyance.

 

Eric quickly caught on to what 0.06 was talking about. He was going to see if someone else in the block knew how to deactivate the Holding Complex so he could free 0.09. Something was off about the way the Alpha level worded it though…

 

“And you’re telling me this why? You could easily accomplish that without letting me know.”

 

<You will lead me to the humans who run this facility. That will save both time and lives. You will intervene and prevent any other humans from further attacking me and will escort me to those I need to speak to.>

 

“And if I don’t agree to your terms?...”

 

<I will kill you human. I don’t need an Ion blade to snap your neck.>

 

“Alright then machine, follow closely behind me.” If the Alpha level wanted him to do something, there wasn’t much Eric could do about it but agree and comply with its demands. Besides, the walk to the monitoring station would present Eric with more possibilities for escape and would bring him closer to Sheryl and the others. With this in mind, Eric strode out of the Holding Complex with 0.06 following closely behind him, thoughts already blazing with plans for his escape.

---

11: Oblivion's Prisoners: 01

Claire and the others had been following the Lieutenant for a good three hours now. The tunnel in the wall at the bottom of Spire Three had led the group into a twisting passageway of dark, dank paths that smelled of mould and mildew. Though the entrance to the tunnel had made it seem as though the passageway was well frequented as they had moved deeper into the tunnels they had found that the ground beneath their feet was coated in a thick layer of dust pointing to a long period of disuse. Thick cables and pipelines ran along the ceiling of the tunnels; the Lieutenant had paused for a moment when he first saw them, pressing his ear against the pipes in the dim glow provided by their flashlights. After several seconds he had pulled away and pulled out the folder he had been carrying and quickly scrawled something down on a sheet inside before putting it away again.

 

When Claire had asked what he was doing, he had responded with “Pointing us in the right direction.” before turning away to continue walking. Claire had found the Lieutenants answer vague and unhelpful and had wanted to ask the annoying bastard just what exactly he meant when he said  that he was “pointing them in the right direction”, but had thought better of it; the Lieutenant would have probably just shrugged off her question and sidestep it with another useless answer. The group had traveled in complete silence afterwards blindly following the Lieutenant to wherever he was leading them. Twice more he stopped and raised his hand forcing all of them to a halt while he pressed his ear to the pipes listening for something only he could hear.

 

Hours later, the group now found themselves in a small well lit chamber about 10 meters across and three meters high. Strange symbols had been etched into the walls; they glowed a pale green under the lights tucked into the ceiling. Several rectangular blocks of stone lay around the perimeter of the room and as the Lieutenant signalled for the rest of them to wait while he took a look at the symbols. Claire pulled out her scattergun and did a quick disassembly, having decided to use the time to do a quick check on her weapons, which drew a nod of approval from Jeff. Seeing what Claire was doing, Katherine pulled out her own rifle and sat down beside her to do the same.

 

“Do you know what the Lieutenant has in mind? We’ve been walking for hours and we still haven’t actually done anything; we’ve just been walking around following the guy while he looks at funny symbols on the walls.” Katherine whispered.

 

Catherine glanced over at the Lieutenant before responded. He was still staring at the symbols that lined the walls with a thoughtful look on his face. “I haven’t got a clue, I only know what he told us and that’s no more than you know. Why do you ask?”

 

“I thought he might’ve told you something earlier, he seems pretty interested in you, haven’t you noticed?” Katherine responded as she pulled out one last pin and her rifle fell apart in her lap.

 

Claire’s eyes narrowed. “…Interested…how so?” She asked while she took another glance at the Lieutenant out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t noticed anything strange, what was Katherine talking about?

 

Katherine shrugged. “It could be nothing; it’s just that I’ve just never seen the Lieutenant take so much interest in one particular person. I mean even when we’ve found other wanderers from below like you who we’ve recruited as soldiers he’s never taken such interest in them. With you it’s as though he’s intent on keeping an eye on you or something.”

 

Claire could see the reasoning behind Katherine’s line of thought now, but before she had just assumed the Lieutenant’s attentions were made in an effort to convince her to agree to their deal. Katherine’s statement gave her reason to examine the Lieutenant’s motives more closely; she’d be keeping a closer eye on the Lieutenant now. There was no need to get Katherine involved in all of this though, so for now she’d pretend that she disagreed to get the other girl to drop the topic.

 

“He’s probably just keeping an eye on me in case I try to do anything stupid like busting my way out of here.” Claire shrugged indifferently. “I don’t see any particular reason for him to pay me any extra attention.”

 

Katherine looked as though she had something else to say for a moment, but the expression disappeared off of her face an instant later. She gave a shrug of her own in turn before responding back to Claire. “Alright then, if you say so. Just pointing out what I thought I saw.”

 

“Don’t worry about it; I’m sure it’s nothing.” Claire said as she pushed the thought to the back of her mind, there would be time for investigation on the matter later. For now she’d concentrate on staying alive and dealing with the task at hand. While they hadn’t encountered any trouble so far, there was no telling with the Lieutenant. If anyone could get them into a problematic situation, it was him.

 

As the Lieutenant finally finished examining the markings on the walls and gestured for them to get up and continue, Claire took a quick glance at the symbols that so interested the Lieutenant as she passed them by. They were made up of jagged lines forming triangles centralized around a circle with graceful curves around the edges, looking something like strange imitations of snowflakes or crystals. She thought she’d seen them somewhere before, but she couldn’t seem to recall just where so she turned away and continued walking to catch up with the rest of the group. As she turned away from the symbols she thought she saw the Lieutenant watching her out of the corner of his eye but she blinked and he was staring straight ahead again.

 

They walked along the dank tunnels once more following the Lieutenant in silence for another long fifteen minutes before the Lieutenant finally spoke.

 

“Some of you may be wondering what exactly we’re doing at this point since we’ve yet to encounter anything which would warrant your presence here. You may be thinking that I’m wasting your time and I could just as easily be doing this on my own. Perhaps you’re right; perhaps I am wasting your time. Or perhaps you’re wrong and there are threats up ahead which I’ll need your assistance to deal with. The symbols on the walls which I’ve been examining while you’ve patiently waited for me are written in an old machining code which fell out of use roughly twelve years ago, at the time of the Cataclysm after most of the world’s engineers and machinists had all but died out. They seem to be instructions that point towards some sort of construction or assembly plant that can be reached through these tunnels. They also seem to be a warning of sorts; the script in the chamber which we just visited warned that “Those unprepared will meet their fate at the hands of the machines.” and also “Danger lies below for those who proceed onwards.” taking these warnings into account, I think I’m justified in taking you four along with me no?” there was a brief silence after he finished speaking as the rest of the group absorbed what they had just heard.

 

“You’re sure that you’ve translated the meanings of the symbols correctly sir?” Jeff asked tentatively.

 

“Absolutely positive.”

 

“And despite the clear warnings of danger you’re certain that we should proceed with just us and the weapons we’re carrying sir.”

 

“Well of course we should proceed. I am head of the OIA, I’m supposed to know everything about this city, and yet I’ve heard or seen this location before. On top of that citizens of this city actually tried to prevent me from investigating the matter; something is definitely going on here that I should know about. If we head back for reinforcements in the face of possibilities of intensifying threats, we’ll lose valuable time and what we’re searching for may well disappear. Dangerous though it may be, we must continue onwards Corporal.”

 

“At the very least we should send these two back, there’s no need to put trainees in any danger sir” Jeff said indicating the two girls. “I can hardly see your logic behind electing to take them along over two other fully trained soldiers like myself.” Katherine scowled at the implication that they would only get in the way.

 

“I assure you that those two girls are needed to complete this task and are more than capable of taking care of themselves. You saw both of them in the arena; both of them preformed splendidly against the combat robot showing both their combat prowess and their ability to think on the spot. The two of them are also smaller than you and can fit into tighter spots than any of us can which is a useful thing when you’re exploring a tunnel environment if you think about it, don’t you agree? And besides, it would appear that they disagree with your statement and wish to stick around.” The Lieutenant said pointedly.

 

“This isn’t about what they do or do not want, this is about their safety. If this little mission of yours is as dangerous as you make it sound we should send them back and Private Lanz and I will continue on with you without them. I don’t have time to babysit the two of them as well alongside you.” Jeff growled.

 

The Lieutenant raised a hand to silence the corporal’s complaints. “I will be the judge of what is necessary for us to do. If I feel that they are no longer needed for this task then I will gladly send them back. Until then, they will remain with us. Have I made myself clear corporal?” the Lieutenant stressed the word to emphasize the difference in their rank.

 

Jeff frowned but ceded the point to the Lieutenant with a quiet “Yes sir”.

 

“Alright then, any more objections that I’m going to have to shoot down? No? Excellent, we’ll be going then. Now for those of you who care, the directions provided by the symbols stated that we would be heading towards some sort of lift or elevator which would lead us down to the lower levels of tunnels which we will need to traverse to reach our final destination of this hidden research center or whatever it is. Since this lift is presumably the only way to reach this laboratory, I would expect that it will be under guard. With that in mind, please stay alert and watch for threats.”

 

“Yes sir.” The rest of the group rumbled.

 

They walked for almost another hour without event by Claire’s reckoning, slowly trundling their way through the musty tunnels with only their flashlights lighting their way. Finally though another light source appeared at the end of the tunnel and the Lieutenant raised his hand and signalled for them to slow from his position at the front of the group.

 

“Private Lanz, please step in front of me and take a look at the area ahead through your eyepiece, tell me what you see.” The Lieutenant said quietly.

 

“On it sir,” Mathew shifted himself to the front of the group and scanned the tunnel ahead with his eyepiece which made soft whirring sounds as the different filters and lenses moved into place. “I’m detecting several heat signatures from up ahead, they’re pretty hot.” He whispered back to them.

 

“Are they of any identifiable size or shape?” Jeff asked from the back.

 

“Hard to tell, I’m getting some interference from other heat sources on what appear to be the walls of a room of some sort up ahead.”

 

“What does the infrared pick up? Any visible beams or emitters, or perhaps tripwires?” the Lieutenant queried.

 

“Hard to tell, I didn’t see anything that was of particular merit but I could’ve missed something.”

 

“Try the electron flow.” Katherine suggested. This drew stares from the men; Claire simply didn’t understand much of what the rest of them were all saying though she understood the basic gist of it.

 

“Electron flow? What would we use that for? Finding out whether there are active electronic devices up ahead won’t do us much good, I mean most of our city is mechanized anyways.”

 

The Lieutenant looked a bit less sceptical; instead he simply said “Explain your idea.”

 

“Well the reason why we’re having Private Lanz here take a look at the room up ahead through his filters is to try and pick up and traps or guards that you think might be there right? Before you said that the warnings hinted of machines guarding the place, so an electron flow filter shows the flow of electrons through an object. Therefore following this logic if you look at a machine through an electron flow filter you should see a distinct shape since it needs to send power to almost every part of its frame. It should also alert us of any electronic traps or devices in there, since the filter should pick up the electricity flowing through them and highlight them, am I right?”

 

“The logic seems sound to me; I see no reason not to listen to the girl.” The Lieutenant said. “Impressive thinking.” The Lieutenant added.  Katherine appeared to brush off the praise indifferently, but Claire spotted the hint of a grin cross the other girl’s face.

 

Mathew and Jeff looked at each other and shrugged; the private flipped on the electron flow filter and scanned the room ahead once more. The chamber ahead lit up with motes of glowing white and the private quickly made out the shape of several sentry turrets concealed in the walls, along with a rectangular block at the far side of the room and what appeared to be a set of spindly legs. “There’s definitely something in there; sentry turrets, and some sort of spider limbed combat robot. The size suggests a Stalker or something larger. There’s also a rectangular object near the back, could be that elevator you mentioned earlier Lieutenant.” He reported.

 

“Well what now sir?” Jeff asked keeping his eyes locked on the entrance to the room scanning it for movement.

 

“We go in of course, what else? We didn’t come all the way down here to turn back at the first signs of trouble. Private Lanz, you’ll lead us in and Corporal Andrews will cover our rear. Katherine and Claire will watch our left and right flanks respectively, and you will all cover me while I examine the room from inside the relative safety of your box.” The Lieutenant said cheerfully. “Everyone know the plan? Yes? Alright then, let’s go. Lead the way private.”

 

Mathew brought his rifle into ready position and slowly strode towards the entrance keeping alert for any unexpected sounds or movement. The group passed through the doorway unharmed and found themselves in a rounded chamber with a low domed ceiling. Strange symbols similar to those they’d seen earlier adorned the walls and Claire spotted several slots which she suspected sentry turrets would pop out of should they activate. Two seemingly deactivated Stalkers flanked a rectangular structure in the center-rear of the room; two guards and an elevator. The Lieutenant paused for a moment and then loudly announced: “The symbols basically say that this is the elevator to the levels below. They also say that to go down you simply need to summon the elevator by depressing the call button on the right side.” He pointed towards a slate gray square on the right side of one of the elevator faces.

 

As he spoke, Claire tensed and got ready to move, half expecting the two Stalkers and sentry turrets in the walls to spring to life but nothing happened. They moved forwards towards the elevator until the Lieutenant was close enough to press the button, and he did just that. He pushed on it and it sunk into the face of the structure with a smooth hiss until it halted with an audible *click*.

 

“That was easier than I thought it would be…” he murmured.

 

Then from seemingly out of nowhere, a tinny mechanical voice spoke: <Fingerprint pattern not recognized as acceptable staff member. Activating elevator defense grid now.>

 

“Shit.” Jeff swore as the group back pedaled away from the elevator door and the Stalkers. The Lieutenant smoothly reached down to his hip and drew his handgun, while Katherine and Claire covered the walls with their weapons.

 

There was silence for a brief three seconds, then a soft *click* echoed through the chamber and all hell broke loose as multiple sentry guns flipped outwards from the walls and opened up on the party with a blazing hail of lead.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Mark and 0.01 strode slowly through the data center of the abandoned laboratory, the sound of their footsteps echoing throughout the cavernous chamber. Glowing displays adorned the walls alongside small stasis cells filled with the same glowing green stasis fluid as before, but the cells were otherwise disinteresting. It was the array of wide set circular tables topped by a concave steel-grey topping that caught Mark’s eye thought; he recognized them for what they were. Tactical displays; had they been active they would have projected a holographic image of whatever battlefield simulation or situation they were examining capable showing everything from top down views of entire armies as they moved across the terrain to zooming in on individual soldiers to watch their movements and monitor their status. The three consoles sitting in the middle of the chamber here would have been manned by dozens of officers; they were top grade military computers. To find them down here in what was supposed to be a laboratory struck Mark as extremely odd. Advanced computers sure, a research station would have use for those. But top notch military command displays? That was another story entirely; Mark was definitely missing part of the picture here.

 

<Those displays are still active if you were wondering.> 0.01 said noticing Mark’s interest. <I accessed them the last time I was here, the databanks which they are connected to appear to have been damaged and much of the data that was stored on these machines has been lost, but they still have some limited functionality.>

 

“They’re military, did you know that? What is military equipment doing down here in a research lab?”

 

<This was a government run facility; I don’t see why you’re so surprised that they had access to equipment such as these.>

 

“Still, what would they be used for? Sure, they can do some basic processing and calculations, but these aren’t the types of computers that you normally would have seen in a lab like this. I wonder what they were doing with them?” Mark replied.

 

In answer 0.01 strode forwards and tapped his finger on the activation panel of one of the displays; in response to his touch the tactical display hummed and came to life followed by the other two soon after. They bathed the otherwise dark room in harsh blue and white light, flashing with messages and information from when they were last in use. In their centers, the holographic display hummed to life showing images of the entire city of Aphelion and for the first time Mark could truly see the extent of the damage the city had received following the Cataclysm.

 

The edges of the city were all but ruined; all of the buildings there were crumbled and damaged and buried beneath thick layers of snow and ice. Where there had once been a seamless blanket of spires, skyscrapers and Skyrail lines there were now only scattered clusters of relatively untouched buildings surrounded by destruction and rubble. Power cables and communications lines that had once snaked far above the city had tumbled down to below the peaks of the tallest remaining buildings becoming tangled in the rubble beneath forming a massive ice-locked net that stretched over the entirety of the mid layer of the city.

 

<Impressive, is it not?> 0.01 whispered. <Truly this once great city has been much reduced by the disasters it has gone through. I remember this city as it was before the fall, when it positively hummed with life and energy before the war swept that all away. It really was a sight to see.>

 

“They let you wander about and look around the city even before the Cataclysm?” Mark asked looking sceptically towards the Alpha level.

 

<You forget, I had twelve years to access the data files that remained intact on the cities archives following the events of the Cataclysm, I spent much of that time “bringing myself up to speed” as you humans say.>

 

“…I thought all the data stored in the city was supposed to have been deleted?” Mark recalled hearing orders for a system purge and a deletion of every single data file stored on the city systems prior to the nukes falling, although he had never confirmed that the files had actually been deleted himself.

 

The Alpha level’s expression changed into its characteristic grin; its “eyes” arching into a bemused expression. <There’s no electronic or mechanical device on this entire planet that can be hidden from me, nor is there anything I can’t work, take apart, reassemble, or redesign. Those files may have been deleted and destroyed beyond any measures you humans could take to recover them, but they were not beyond me. I was able to recover and study many of the files in the city archive including some of those deleted or destroyed by the EMPs emitted through the nuclear explosions.> The machine paused to indicate the three tactical displays. <These displays here had also been partially damaged before I arrived; as you can see I’ve restored them to working order. It is from these files that I was able to recover that I learned of the girl.>

 

Mark looked towards 0.01 expectantly; he was finally going to learn about this girl that 0.01 kept going on and on about. Just who was she and why did the Alpha level insist that she was so important that he’d go to the trouble to bring Mark all the way here just to show him?

 

<One moment please, while I bring up the relevant files.> 0.01 craned his head back towards Mark so his optical sensors could see him forming a disconcerting image of the Alpha level’s “head” facing Mark while the rest of him was facing in the other direction. The machine’s gaze flitted over the cavern once more while its fingers tapped away at the tactical display’s controls at lightning speed. <Keep an eye out for anything that looks unusual, this process will take some time and will occupy 98.265% of my own system so I will be far slower to react than usual and most likely will not be able to assist you should trouble come up.> With his short warning, 0.01 turned back towards his work at the tactical displays. Mark nervously kept watch while the machine worked keeping his handgun at his side ready for action.

 

The sound of 0.01’s fingers tapping lightly against the buttons of the control panels was the only sound that echoed through the cavern; as the sound bounced throughout the chamber it created the disconcerting effect of hundreds of pieces of plastic falling to the floor all over the large room. Mark largely kept his eyes trained towards the doorway although he periodically scanned the rest of the room for anything that looked suspicious. Once a decaying steel beam in the ceiling groaned and made a horrible screeching as it bent and dropped from the ceiling until it stuck out downwards at a 30 degree angle made both Mark and 0.01 flinch; Mark had levelled his gun and almost fired at the beam for he fought down his anxiousness and his brain processed the fact that it was just a steel beam. Likewise 0.01 had twisted his head to face the beam and had taken his left arm off of the control panel; his arm had shifted into some sort of cylindrical weapon which pulsed a soft blue which had been immediately levelled towards the steel beam. The machine glanced at Mark after half a second and made an eye-rolling expression before retracting its arm and returning to work. The rest of the process passed in silence afterwards.

 

Almost 45 minutes after 0.01 began working on accessing the files, he finally took his hands off of the control panel. Above him, the display flickered twice before the image of a stasis chamber sprung into view surrounded by swirling lines of text. Mark scanned the words as the whizzed by able to make out only a few of the words; he noted that the words keystone and shield mentioned multiple times, often they were bolded or marked in italics. But still, there was no girl, just the image of the stasis chamber that remained surrounded by the whirlwind of text, an impassive tube filled with thick green fluid.

 

Mark looked at 0.01. “So…what am I supposed to be seeing that’s so important? You’ve put up a picture of a stasis chamber just like the ones we saw back outside, and it’s surrounded by words that are moving too quickly for me to read.”

 

The Alpha level glanced towards Mark as though he was an idiot. <It’s a tactical display human; use it.>

 

Mark chided himself in his head as he stepped forwards up to the display unit’s control panel. It had obvious really that the machine had been waiting for him to use the unit and learn the information for himself; he was going to have to be smarter than that if he was going to keep himself alive with the world as it was now. He tapped the control panel and activated the files; the image of the stasis cell opened up and spat out its contents leaving them hovering above the displays in front of Mark.

 

02:00, 14/07/2042, Fringe City: Emralis (East Border)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

Border patrols report contact with enemy scouting forces, orbital satellite based reconnaissance platforms indicate build-up of enemy forces along eastern borders of Central Territories. Suggest action be taken via reinforcements of….

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

06:41, 29/07/2043, Fringe City: Emralis (East Border)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

Enemy forces have engaged infantry divisions throughout the border territories of Emralis, escalation of fighting imminent. Enemy has use of armour, dedicated air support and heavy weapons. Current forces insufficient to hold off enemy assault…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

15:09, 03/08/2043, Fringe City: Emralis (East Border)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

We cannot hold them; the city will fall within a matter of hours. Evacuations began four days ago but 60 + % of the civilian populace remains. My estimates show casualty figures in the tens of thousands alone in just the civilians we will be unable to evacuate. I have ordered that military resources be pulled out of and diverted from Emralis; the enemy has just commenced simultaneous assaults on Volja(South Border) and Videgrade(East Border). Contingency plan Operation: Tiberius has been ordered into effect and…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

01:27, 17/10/2043, Interior City: Malchus (East Side)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

The enemy has brushed our armies aside with simple overwhelming numbers; despite our superior technology and tactics we cannot hope to hold out against their numerical superiority. In two months the enemy has advanced thousands of kilometers forwards; both the eastern and southern fronts are being inexorably pushed back, the western front has completely collapsed. Only Army Group Prima in the north holds against the continuing assault; even as I record this report I can hear the sounds of battle above. We are running out of options, soon the enemy will reach Aphelion and there will be nowhere left to run. I suggest that Contingency plan Oper…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

23:56, 09/12/2043, Aphelion (Central Capital)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

As you well know the enemy has reached the city gates. We continue to hold them back just barely with the assistance of orbital rounds delivered from destroyers Fireline and Starstream above us. Though we have stalled their advance we must push them back; there is far too much sensitive information and technology still contained within the city that we have been unable to evacuate or relocate into orbit. I recommend that we…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

11:02, 10/01/2044, Aphelion (Central Capital)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

Warships ( Fireline, Starstream, Planeswalker) in high atmosphere above Aphelion have been diverted to upper orbit to assist in ongoing conflict at Shipyards of Mars (Dowa Metalworking Industries). Loss of support from orbital warships is likely to worsen still critical situation on the ground; Aphelion threatened with breakthrough of enemy forces and destruction. Diversion of warships deemed necessary to continue the war effort and ensure the safety of escaping world ships carrying civilian populace to locations such as $%^&* (Classified Eyes Only). I recommend to high command that nuclear weapons should be considered for use on enemy sites of activity, Despite bans on their usage desperate times call fo…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

16:33, 30/02/2044, Aphelion (Central Capital)à Aphelion (Central Capital)

The first nuclear warheads have impacted enemy armies located at formerly (United Alliance) controlled cities of Emralis, Volja, Videgrade, Terius, Malchus, Sperius and Burgunis. Data from reconnaissance craft in high orbit suggest that nuclear weapons have made significant impacts on the moral and size of the enemy forces, suggest that go ahead be granted for the further usage of nuclear weapons. Enemy aggression against Aphelion appears to have escalated following the usage of nuclear warheads, suggest direct nuclear action be used before enemy overwhelms ci…

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

16:33, 30/02/2041, Aphelion (Laboratory 6-B)à Aphelion (Office of Technology and Experimentation)

Suggest proposed “Project Praetextum” be activated as part of contingency plan Operation Terra Beta in the light of growing unease from developing nations. Investigations into budgetary constraints reveal that project should not put too much extra strain on the system, candidates for selection have already been identified through searches of system files. Facilities for training and growth available both groundside and on orbital facilities; Project Praetextum is ready to commence on demand.

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

09:25, 13/07/2041, Aphelion (Laboratory 6-B)à Aphelion (Office of Technology and Experimentation)

Project Praetextum showing great progress, candidacy for special “Commando Operative” positions narrowed down to two candidates. I have personally chosen this candidate featured below out of the two. The data for the other candidate can be found here. You can review the candidacy selection parameters here.

 

Candidate – C-314                                                      Date of Birth: 03/21/2023                                         Psych Eval: view here

First Name: Elain                                                        Age: 18                                                                      Background: view here

Middle Name: N/A                                                       Blood Type: A+                                                           Physical Aptitude: Pass

Last Name: Shaw                                                       Father: Shaw, Henry                                                   Mental Faculties: Pass

Height: 174 centimeters (5 feet 8 inches)                    Mother: Guire, Julia                                                    Socialization: Pass

Weight: 51 kg (112.44 pounds)                                      Residence: 0264 Whitespring Ave. (Aphelion)               Other Comments: view here

 

As you can see, candidate C-314 fits the parameters for Project Praetextum perfectly. Recommend retrieval team be deployed to collect subject and Retrieve candidate for selection and processing. Non-lethal action only approved.

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

21:17, 04/03/2044, Aphelion (East HQ)à Aphelion (Council of the Military High Command)

Loading of the Battle Cruiser (Shadow of Malcontent) in orbit with final group of evacuees is complete. Despite heavy damage to her weapons systems the warship’s accelerators remain fully functional. I have sent a shuttle to your position to take you up to the Space Elevator to rendezvous with the Shadow of Malcontent before it makes the jump into the fold. I will stay behind to supervise the remaining operations that have yet to be completed and the destruction of all remaining potential sources of sensitive information, myself included. I have appropriated the remaining stockpiles of nuclear weapons to fulfill these duties; there will be no further communications from Aphelion following this report. It is my hopes that my efforts spent on Project Praetextum will keep this last group of evacuees safe. Send my regards to the Captain.

 

-Lt. Commander Marcus James Li

 

The sheer amount of data and information before him was immense; it would probably have taken several days for Mark to properly understand all of it if he had wanted to and had the time to examine and analyze every detail so he skimmed the vast majority of the reports and files. There had been a multitude of documents involving the war that had racked and devastated the planet, triggering the nuclear winter. Then there had been files involving contingency plans that had been put into place. Battle reports and mission files documented the deteriorating position of the defending forces; heavy losses incurred on the ground lead to the use of warships in orbit being used for orbital bombardment. The escalation of the war into space resulted in hundreds of space battles, ending badly on all sides.

 

The files ended with notes on the decision to bring nuclear weapons into the picture, detailing the multiple debates and arguments, ending with the fateful decision to go forwards with the usage of the nukes. Mark was well aware of what most of these files involving the war were about; after all he himself had fought in it. However, the next cluster of related files grew more confusing involving a great deal of things that Mark had never heard of. There were bits about some sort of “selection process” that had been going on for some “Project Praetextum”. They were looking for “suitable candidates” which were supposed to fit some sort of criteria the program had created for a new type of special “Commando Operative”. And then came the linking files regarding what Mark presumed to be the mysterious girl that 0.01 had been going on and on about; there were multiple links in the documents and files to a seventeen year old girl by the name of Elain Shaw.

 

The extent of the information there was unbelievable; every single type of documentation on her history was present from her birth certificate to report cards with recordings of her grades and teachers comments. There was also more baseline data, such as physical and mental specifications regarding physical build, blood type, a background check on family history of disease, psychological profiling, and multiple aptitude tests. A document cross referencing between the details of Elain’s profile and possible “candidacy” for the aforementioned “Project Praetextum”; the document showed a perfect match for all requirements and ended with a short comment regarding the retrieval of the girl.

 

Lastly there had been a cluster of files about a warship, the Shadow of Malcontent. From the small amount of the relevant files which Mark skimmed over, he learned that she was a Battle Cruiser that had supposedly been heavily damaged during early fleet actions and brought in for repairs; however when it was clear that the war effort was lost she had been repurposed for evacuation efforts and had left the planet with almost 50,000 survivors. Individually the separate clusters of files seemed completely unrelated, but Mark understood instinctively that 0.01 wouldn’t have grouped them all together for him unless they were in fact related. The only real connection between the files was that all of them were signed off by a “Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li”.

 

It took Mark a long time to absorb all of the information; he estimated that he must have been standing in front of the displays for at least an hour before he finally turned back to 0.01 who stood there patiently waiting for him.

 

<Well, have all your questions been answered?> the Alpha level asked quietly.

 

“…No, I don’t have a clue why you showed any of this to me. Some of the information on the war I already knew, but everything else seemed to have just been information on some sort of Black Ops project. The only interesting piece of information was that last bit about that ship that went off with those survivors. You said that this would be important for me to see, but I don’t understand it at all. What is all of this, and just who is this “Marcus James Li”?”

 

0.01 sighed and made a slight frowning expression. <I had hoped that all of those things might be enough to retrieve you submerged memories, but it seems that the memory wipe you underwent was irritatingly…successful. So I would presume that it’s safe to say that nothing you saw here has made anything come back, no flashbacks or sudden resurgences of memories?>

 

“No, I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about. What exactly is this memory wipe you’re talking about?!” Even as he said this, Mark felt a sinking feeling in the back of his mind that he should know what 0.01 was talking about.

 

<Well I suppose there’s no longer any point in keeping the information from you now that you’re here, though I suspect that you probably have already realized just what exactly I’m telling you in my roundabout manner. You are not the person you think you are. Your new life started just over twelve years ago just before the Cataclysm.> 0.01 looked pointedly towards Mark. <When we first met, you introduced yourself to me as Mark. No middle or last name, but of course you humans have a custom of at the very least having a family name in addition to your first name yes? So tell me Mark, what is your last name?>

 

Mark racked his mind for a last name but found none. The thought had never occurred to him that he didn’t know his last name if he had one; during his time in the field with Fredrick and the rest of the squad no one had ever asked him for his family name. They’d been busy with the war and had mostly kept to themselves and even tried to keep a certain amount of distance from each other; in a time where the people were constantly dying it paid to keep yourself from getting attached to people. Even after the Cataclysm when the squad was cut off alone in the city the constant effort of moving around and staying alive had kept his thoughts away from such trivial things as last names; it was enough to know that the people by your side would stand with you when you needed their help. Eventually he admitted defeat responding to the Alpha level’s question with “I don’t know, if I ever had one I’ve forgotten it.”

 

<Precisely, you do indeed have a last name, although you’ve forgotten it since your memory wipe. There’s more to it as well you know? You woke up and found yourself as a newly graduated trainee of the Special Forces divisions, but what of your life before that. Before you became a soldier, who were you, what did you do? Where were you born, how was your childhood. These would have been important details to most, but under the stresses of the war I wouldn’t be surprised if you never found it suspicious that you couldn’t clearly recall any of these things.> the machine paused for a moment. <I am correct in assuming that you can’t remember any of the details I just mentioned, right?> 0.01 asked looking pointedly towards Mark who was now standing stiffly beside the displays.

 

”No, I don’t remember anything. I remember the flying metal, the screaming and yelling, the horrors of the war. I can remember each and every moment I spent fighting, whether it was lying face down in the muddy dirt for hours on end or sprinting through a hail of bullets amidst a howling snowstorm. But I don’t remember a single thing about any of the details you mentioned.” Mark’s voice was tense and controlled, as if he were holding back a roiling wave of emotions that threatened to break through. 0.01 wasn’t surprised, after all it wasn’t every day that you were told that your life was a lie. He was however curious as to what emotion it was that Mark was putting such effort into holding back.

 

<Would you like your memories back then “Mark”?>

 

“Of course I would!” Mark answered quickly, “Why would you even bother to ask?”

 

<I ask you this because you may not like the person you once were in the past. You were a hero, and yet…not a hero. So I ask you once more, are you certain that you’d like to have your memories back?>

 

Mark paused to think for a long while. If 0.01 hadn’t told him that he was once someone else and reminded him that he didn’t remember anything about his past, maybe he could have gone ahead with his life satisfied with just not knowing. But now that he knew that he had a past and it was just that it had been wiped away, he couldn’t stand not remembering. He just had to know. “Yes, I want them back.” Mark finally replied.

 

<As you wish. I hope you do not regret your decision; we’ve much work to do after this.> the Alpha level paused, and then made a laughing sound. <I do say though, I’m not at all surprised by your response; if you had responded differently then it would have meant that I made a critical error when I was judging your character. Now then, I originally had told you that I’d brought you here to tell you about the girl, which indeed I did do. All the answers you need are right there in front of you on those display panels, however you’re still missing something critical, and I am assuming from the expression on your face that by now you’ve realized that the girl wasn’t really the real reason I had for bringing you here. She was important yes, but there’s something else that is even more significant that you must realize before you can understand even that.>

 

Mark nodded for the machine to continue, so 0.01 did just that.

 

<I suspect you may have already come to this conclusion on your own, but the real reason I brought you here was not so that you could learn about this girl, but so that you could learn about yourself. You Mark, are Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li, and the database of files before you contain all of your memories.>

 

Mark, or rather Marcus may have already skimmed through all of the files but up till now he hadn’t understood their significance at all. The Alpha level’s revelation triggered a flashback that brought Mark to his knees, clutching his hands to his head and screaming in agony as the memories all came flooding back. 0.01 sighed, muttering, <I expected as much,> before he whipped his arm forwards smacking his hand against the side of Mark’s skull knocking him into senseless oblivion.

 

Mark woke with a throbbing pain that seemed to be reverberating through the interior of his skull. It felt as though someone had plunged a needle into his brain and then jerked it around to gouge jagged wounds into his head; on top of that his mind was filled with a flood of old memories brought back to the surface by the revelation that he was actually Marcus James Li. As 0.01 had said, though he’d done many great things, Mark now knew that he’d committed some terrible atrocities as well. But that was all in the past now, Mark had lived another life outside of his time as a Lieutenant Commander as a soldier in the field with Fredrick and the rest of the squad. He wasn’t just Mark anymore, but he wasn’t the Marcus Li from the past either.

 

It occurred to him that the ruined city and all those killed directly or indirectly through its destruction around him was entirely the result of his own actions, and for a time the thought of snuffing out all of those lives in the instant that he gave the order to rain the missiles down from the sky almost overwhelmed him. But he was still a soldier, and he still had a job to do before he could take time to reflect on his newfound knowledge. There were still people depending on him to remain the skilled field operative who he now was, no matter what sort of atrocities he had committed in the past he would have to set them aside for now until a time came up where he could properly absorb and process just what he’d done.

 

Once his actions would have been considered war crimes, or even crimes against humanity; many of them would have even be considered inhumane and borderline insane but in the face of the end of the world as he had known it and the events of the Cataclysm the terrible acts seemed to be nothing more than a dark stain on his past. No, there was no time for him to think about his old memories now he had to find 0.01 and get back to Fredrick and the others.

 

He pulled himself up and saw that he’d been laying on some sort of makeshift hammock slung beneath two poles that had been welded into the floor; he leapt off of the hammock and struck the stone floor with a heavy thud that reverberated throughout the cavern. He turned to take a look around at the cavern which he found to be empty and when he turned back around he found himself face to face with a pair of glowing green eyes. He jumped back in surprise and reached down for his handgun but found nothing so he bent down and began to search for anything that could possibly used as a weapon, but he halted his search when he saw the thing for what it was: The unmistakable gunmetal grey form of a towering Alpha Level. The highlights across its body glowed a bright green illuminating the clear black numbers imprinted on its left shoulder, 0.00. This was the prototype, the original Alpha level that had paved the way for the rest of them.

 

The machine looked at him quizzically then pulled out a piece of seemingly deformed metal; similarly to what Mark had seen 0.01 do it moved its hands at such speed that all Mark could see was a blur and soon it had reconstructed Mark’s handgun, which it held out and offered to him.

 

“Is that my handgun, or is it a copy?” Mark asked politely. With 0.01 nowhere in sight, it would probably be better to play it cool and try to keep from irritating this Alpha level; 0.01 had mentioned to them that 0.00 was the eldest but he hadn’t mentioned anything about her personality or temperament.

 

The machine cocked its head to side in as if to indicate curiosity before it finally answered in a decidedly female voice which had a funny little lilt to it. <This is the projectile weapon which you were carrying before my brother knocked you out. He was concerned that you might injure yourself if he let you keep it so he instructed me to take it and return it to you upon your awakening,> 0.00 paused for a moment, her eyes flickering in an imitation of blinking before she thrust the handgun in Mark’s direction. <So take it please; it’s actually quite heavy and it slows me down.>

 

Mark reached forwards and took the handgun and slid it into the holster at his hip; as he did so he noted the wash of pale blue that flashed behind him. “So where have you been 0.01?” he said without turning. As Marcus he might not have noticed such small details but after he had wiped his mind and his memories he had spent the next twelve years working with Fredrick and the rest of his squad to stay alive. This realization gave Mark a small feeling of satisfaction and reassurance that the person he had become after the mind wipe wasn’t a counterfeit.

 

<I was taking a look around outside Mark, or should I call you Marcus now?> 0.01 replied with a note of hesitation in his voice.

 

Mark shrugged; he may have recovered his previous identity from the past but that didn’t mean that the experiences that he’d had after the mind wipe hadn’t been real. Once he had only been Lieutenant Marcus James Li; he still was Marcus James Li, but now he was Mark as well. Taking this into account Mark made his decision on just who exactly he was. What he’d done as the Lieutenant Commander was part of the past, right now he had to focus on living in the present and staying alive. “You can call me Mark, Mark Li.”

 

0.01 nodded his acceptance. <Alright then human, I’ll continue calling you Mark then. Now that you’ve re-acquired your memories you should have no trouble remembering where you can find a way out of this city, if you should so chose,> the Alpha level waited until Mark nodded in agreement before he continued. <So you may be wondering what 0.00 and I here still need you for then?> Again the machine waited for him to nod. <Well I’m sure you remember that girl I was talking about. My primary goal in bringing you here may have been to return your memories too you, but the importance of that girl remains. Now from the memories which you now have again you should know as well as I do that Elain Shaw is long gone; she left along with the others aboard the Shadow of Malcontent. However before the end of the war you created several…prototype models did you not? With the skill set you have them they surely would have survived the events of your so called Cataclysm. I want your help in finding them.>

 

It was Mark’s turn to cock his head in curiosity. Or was it Marcus who was curious, he couldn’t quite decide; it was after all his program, rather than Mark’s. “What’s so interesting to you about a couple of prototypes for a Commando Operative program? No matter what we did to them, they remained human.”

 

<I read the files as I’m sure you know. You did not do much in terms of physical augmentations for the super-soldiers you intended to create. You gave them heightened senses, faster reaction time and greater endurance, but the changes you inflicted upon them mostly centralized around behavioural patterns. You gave them the ability to suppress their panic and muster their courage when others would have had their hearts give out from shock. You made sure that they were always just sociable enough to not stand out as loners but otherwise you changed their personalities so that they kept to themselves. You gave them dogged loyalty and a strong sense of justice. In short, you completely formed them to whatever mould you wanted.>

 

“It was necessary.” Mark said dully. As Marcus he hadn’t even flinched at the thought of predetermining people’s personalities and physical traits, but now he secretly felt ashamed of the things he had ordered. Yes, they had been necessary things to do at the time in order to help assure the survival of humankind, but that didn’t make it the right thing to do.

 

<Yes well, that’s not my point. My point is that I’m interested in seeing just what exactly you did too…modify their personalities.>

 

“And why, would that be?” Mark asked, his voice laced with suspicion.

 

This time, it was not 0.01 who answered, but 0.00 who had been silently standing to the side watching the two converse in their discussion <We would like to have access to the information to see if it could be of use to us in dealing with 0.03, out rogue brother. I presume 0.01 here has told you of him and his…eccentricities?> she said quietly.

 

<It is rampancy and you know it; there is no need for you to attempt to avoid offending me by stating ill of one of my creations. Even I have acknowledged that he was inherently flawed,> 0.01 said. <And yes, I’ve told him of our brother. Or rather a companion of his described some of 0.03’s…antics to him. He’s aware of the danger he poses.>

 

“I thought that 0.00 here was capable of controlling 0.03?” Mark said, looking pointedly towards the greenish Alpha level.

 

<I used to be able to, but no longer,> 0.00 replied softly. <He answers to no one but himself now, and if we do not find him and stop him, he will do awful and terrible things.>

 

“Great, I save what I can of the human population and send them off away to another world and some freaking near invincible killing machine shows up here on Earth to try and kill off the few of us who remain in this hellhole, bloody fantastic!” Mark growled. “Just how can finding those Commando prototypes help you in stopping 0.03?”

 

<I will learn what I can about this personality modification and apply it to modifying 0.03’s behaviour to something more…acceptable. If this too fails then I will put him down myself, hopefully with your assistance and that of your so called Commando prototypes.>

 

“I didn’t think that you’d be so willing to go kill off your brother.” Mark commented.

 

The blue Alpha level shrugged with seeming uncaring, <What I create, I can destroy; flawed experiments are unacceptable.>

 

<We should begin our search for 0.03 and this girl you keep mentioning immediately; every second we spend here discussing this is wasted time in which he could be killing and maiming.> 0.00 hissed. As always, 0.01’s sense of urgency was sadly lacking.

 

“That won’t be possible I’m afraid, I’ll need to return to speak to Fredrick and the others before I can give you a definitive decision about whether or not I’ll help you.” Mark said, his speech lapsing into the polite and formal dialogue he used to use when he was the Lieutenant Commander.

 

<Put those other humans aside, this is of utmost urgency an-> 0.00 began to hiss.

 

0.01 cut her off, <I made him a deal. We must let him make his own decision about what he will do. Come with me human, and I will take you back to your companions,> the Alpha level turned away stalking off towards the door without looking back as if he expected Mark to follow, which he did. Mark allowed himself to be rudely tossed over the blue tinged machine’s shoulder and the two disappeared into the distance.

 

0.00 shook her head in disgust. Boys, they had no sense of urgency at all.

 

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Eric strode along the circular ring of the block with 0.06 following closely behind him, their even footsteps echoing through the bloodstained halls. Twice Eric tried to keep the guards from shooting at 0.06 but each time he was unsuccessful; the Alpha level’s blood splattered frame probably had something to do with that. And so two more bodies joined the pile that was fast filling the hallways of Block B-26P as the machine marched along behind Eric towards the Monitoring station where all the technicians would be working. Secretly though, Eric was keeping his eye on the security cameras which swivelled to follow the two as they progressed towards their destination; surprisingly 0.06 let them watch him. Eric was sure that the machine was aware of what the cameras were, but the Alpha level didn’t seem to care.

 

When at last Eric and 0.06 arrived at the monitoring station they found the doors to the room locked and sealed before them. After several unsuccessful attempts to pick the lock, 0.06 began beating his first on the barricade trying to force his way inside with brute force, but found little success beyond scraping off bits and pieces of white paint and putting several shallow dents into the surface of the door. Eric watched impassively from the side while the robot pounded away not bothering to even think about running away; the only way he was going to escape that monstrous thing was if it was trapped or destroyed, neither of which seemed likely at the moment. He wondered how Sheryl and Sharron were doing back in their bunks; had they heard the commotion and fighting that had spread down to the Block since 0.06’s arrival?

 

<Let me in!> 0.06 snarled, adding another sizable dent to the doorway. <I know you’re in there human worms, I can sense your heat and fear even through your walls of metal. Come out and meet your fate cowards!> Eric observed the machine’s sudden outburst of anger carefully; previously 0.06 had been calm and impassive as he went about his business but this blatant frustration and anger was different. What had happened to change the way the Alpha level was behaving?

 

The whine of a plasma cutter snapped Eric out of his musing; 0.06 had shifted one of his hands into the cutter and was slowly melting his way through the doorframe with the white hot circle that was the cutting region of the plasma cutter. Even without the deadly ion blade, the Alpha level remained capable of fielding an innumerable amount of tools to accomplish its tasks.

“Oh just let the damn thing in and it might not kill you, it’s going to melt its way through that door eventually,” Eric said exasperatedly. As much as he’d like to do some unpleasant things to those stubborn technicians, he was supposed to be tagging along to try and keep people from getting killed.

 

“Mapper! What are you doing with that thing?” one of the technicians finally answered back over the intercom system through a speaker above Eric’s head.

 

“Well I’d tell you, bu-,” the whining of the plasma cutter drowned out the rest of Eric’s sentence. “Would you shut that thing off please, I’m trying to get us through the damn door so you don’t have to waste your time melting through the damn thing.” You know, thought Eric, it was a lot easier to deal with 0.06 when he was angry like he was now than when he was all calm and controlled.

 

The Alpha level looked quizzically towards the Mapper and after a moment, deactivated the plasma cutter and returned his hand to normal. <All right then, we’ll try it your way first. But should you fail, then I will use my own methods to get us inside that room.> Eric nodded in acceptance.

 

“You hear that you morons? Open the door and let us in,” Eric took a glance back towards 0.06 who was waiting patiently behind him. “And don’t shoot the damn machine, it only pisses it off.”

 

There was no response from the technicians, but after several moments the half-melted door slowly slid open. Eric was about to stride forwards through the doorway but 0.06 put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. <Allow me to go through first, if your fellow human imbeciles in there decide to shoot at me anyways despite your request then your fragile human body will be cut to pieces.>

 

Eric snorted; now was an odd time for the machine to be showing concern, but he stepped aside and allowed the Alpha level to step forwards as instructed.

 

<What? I’m simply protecting my assets, I don’t see why you’re so shocked,> 0.06 casually explained before stepping through the doorway.

 

Upon seeing that 0.06 didn’t appear to have been attacked, Eric stepped into the Monitoring station behind him. The idea that he could have used that time to run and try and get away crossed his mind, but he dismissed it as impossible; 0.06 would have just walked back out and caught up to him again. He found 0.06 and himself staring down the lengths of almost two dozen of the glowing red weapons that the technician from before had been wielding. There was a moment of tense standoff where no one moved until 0.06 broke the silence. <How boring, energy weapons; you’ll have to do better than that if you want to kill me.>

 

The technicians ignored the machine, or at least they were trying to—Eric could see some of them trembling. “What the hell is going on here Mapper, what is this thing doing in here?!” one of them finally found the courage to speak up.

 

“I’d like to ask you much the same; it says that it’s after something you’re keeping in here, inside the Holding Complex. Perhaps you’d like to explain?” Eric answered.

 

<You know I can speak myself; I’m standing right here.> 0.06 said pointedly. Everyone else continued to ignore him, and so the Alpha level rolled its eyes and sat down on the floor.

 

“We don’t have to explain anything; you just have to tell us what the hell you’re doing with that machine and how it got in here.” Another of the technicians farther away towards the back spoke this time.

 

“If you hadn’t noticed, I’m being coerced into co-operating with a killing machine with a grudge, no thanks to you. I know what you’re keeping in that Holding Complex of yours, and so does this thing; and let me tell you it’s not happy at all. Seven guards and one of your fellow technicians outside are dead, and it’ll kill more people if it doesn’t get what it wants. So please, be reasonable you damn idiots and just let the other machine inside the Holding Complex out.” Eric couldn’t understand what the technicians were being so stubborn about. He knew that they’d seen what 0.06 was capable of through the cameras in the hallways, why wouldn’t they just co-operate with it so it would get the hell out of here. Yes, it had just killed eight people, but it wasn’t like they could do anything to stop the Alpha level…or could they? Eric toyed with the idea in his head; could the technicians be hiding some sort of weapon similar to the sphere within Holding Complex that could restrain or imprison 0.06?

 

“Unacceptable, that’s not an option. And you will be held accountable for your actions in assisting this machine Mapper, I can assure you of that.” The technician directly in front of them said, whilst the others looked on nervously as he refused Eric’s request.

 

“Why not?! What could you possibly be doin- “, Eric started to shout.

 

<There are no options here; you will free 0.09 from that prison or I will rip you limb from limb and destroy or disassemble everything in this station in order to do so myself. This is not a negotiation, if you refuse to comply with this…boy, that’s the term yes? If you refuse to comply with his demands, then I shall simply discard all of you as useless to me and kill you all, and figure this out for myself,> the Alpha level picked itself up onto its feet bring its height to almost three meters of steel and metal.

 

Out of the corner of his eye Eric thought he saw a flicker of movement and before he knew what was happening he found himself face down on the floor while sizzling bolts of energy hissed overhead. 0.06 forged ahead having secured Eric a position of relative safety, moving quickly forwards to meet his attackers. There was a staccato of rifle fire and the sounds of screaming; the technicians and guards fired again and again at 0.06 but their weapons barely slowed the war machine. One by one, the technicians and guards were silenced by the Alpha level until only a tiny fraction of them remained huddled in the center of the monitoring station. All around them lay the twisted and broken bodies of their fellow technicians and guards; ribs had been smashed, spines broken, limbs fractured or torn off, and pools and spatters of blood were scattered throughout the small room. Smoking holes lined the walls and screens; most of the workstations were covered in molten slag and looked to have been damaged beyond repair. And still 0.06 continued his deadly work. Several times Eric tried to get the fighting to stop, but his voice was lost in all the noise of the fighting and screaming; and in the end he could only sit by one of the workstations near the door and wait for the fighting to stop.

 

<Drop your weapons, and I shall consider allowing you to live despite the inconvenience you’ve caused me,> 0.06 hissed as he came to a halt before the remaining technicians. His dark grey frame was pitted with smoldering holes where superheated bolts of energy had struck him, cracks and scratches ran all over him and splatters of gore and blood dripped off of his limbs. For all his talk of his invulnerability, 0.06 looked like a wreck. Even so, the Alpha level was still a formidable sight; during the fighting the machine had sprouted several blade-like projections form its arms, and 0.06 could more than easily kill through brutal application of force and strength alone. The technicians quavered and shook, but stood their ground and kept their weapons levelled at the Alpha level. Eric got up and started forwards, it was time to intervene.

 

“Let them go, 0.06,” Eric said as he stepped between the small group and the machine. “Killing them won’t help you, let me talk to them.”

 

<You had your turn to try and convince them of their folly. You failed. Now it’s my turn, and I am not so gentle in my methodology.>

 

“So I can see,” Eric said, his voice laced with disgust and abhorrence. “Twenty more bodies to add to the death-toll; and all because of your irrationality and theirs.” The Mapper said, pointing towards the remaining group of technicians as he ended his sentence.

 

<I care not for your fragile human lives, they are nothing to me. Even now my machines fight and kill above us, and the fighting will only continue as long as 0.09 remains imprisoned here. My logic is sound, and my demands are clear. Free my sister and the fighting will cease; obstruct me and you humans shall suffer as a whole.>

 

“So it was you who sent the machines then, you’re the cause of all of this fighting. You had those machines cause all that damage just so you could reach this place down here?” Eric spoke calmly, though beneath his calm appearance he seethed with rage.  How could this machine place so little value in human life as a fellow sentient being? Didn’t it understand that it was causing vast amounts of un-necessary pain and suffering?

 

The Alpha level shrugged dismissively, <A distraction was required for me for me to slip by unseen, and so I created this necessary distraction in order to achieve my goals. Freeing 0.09 is paramount over any misgivings I might have had over slaughtering you and your pathetic race.>

The technicians who had remained silent up till now finally found their voice and one of them spoke up to interrupt the argument between the two. “Why do you even want to free that other Alpha level machine; what’s so important about it that you’d go to such lengths to do so?” The speaker was one of the younger looking technicians; Eric had never seen him before but guessed that he couldn’t be much older than Sharon.

 

Eric blinked, that was a question he himself had never posed. Just what could 0.06 hope to gain from the freeing of his sister? 0.06 turned and answered, <What do I stand to gain from freeing my sister you ask human? Nothing really, I shall admit. However I’ll point out that I made a promise to 0.01 to keep her safe. 0.03 always did like picking on her, and it was left to me to defend my younger siblings; 0.01 made a point to make sure I knew that.> with his last statement 0.06 made a snorting sound that was almost bitter as if he resented the task he’d been given.

 

“Seems a rather tedious task; why don’t you just abandon the machine and go on your way? I see no reason why you should continue I mean you probably haven’t even seen this 0.01 in years,” the technician laughed as though to make light of the situation.

 

Even with only its eyes, the Alpha level managed to form a sort of twisted grimace, and his laugh was clearly bitter this time. <You don’t know 0.01 like I do, I’m sure he’s still alive after all this time and is even now just working on some new project of his. He always did have trouble keeping himself occupied, that older brother of mine. And besides, I owe to my sister to see that she’s free to do as she pleases, you’ve no right imprisoning her and I’ll do whatever it takes to get her out.>

 

“What is the purpose of holding that machine in there?” Eric suddenly asked. The question had been bugging him for a while now; he didn’t see the point in expending so much energy and resources to imprisoning some machine underground here in this block, there had to be another reason for all of these measures.

 

“Nothing important really, just research and experimentation for dealing with other machi-“ a technician began to answer.

 

0.06 cut him off, <Is it not obvious boy? There is truly only one reason for which your pathetic race would take the time and resources to contain one of us. For raw power,> the Alpha level tapped the center of its chest which was marked by a large circular highlight. <Inside here is a miniaturized self-recycling fusion reactor which generates enough power to light and power your little underground city twenty times over. You’ve converted my poor sister into nothing more than a battery with which you can power your underground settlements; an insult really, and one that I seek to correct.>

 

Eric frowned, that couldn’t possibly be true could it? He had never before questioned where the limited amounts of power that powered the electronics of the Underground had come from; like everyone else he only cared that the power was there and that it was reliable. Now here he was being told that all the power they had come from 0.09 trapped within the spherical object within the Holding Complex; a sentient being was being imprisoned and used as a tool just to give them power, that just didn’t seem right. Still the story was questionable given its source; at first Eric was somewhat conflicted between his sense of duty to the rest of the Underground and the injustice of 0.09’s imprisonment. In the end though, the choice was obvious, he was after all a Mapper of the Underground. The people of the Underground came far ahead of any action owed to the machine within the prison and besides, 0.06 was a killing machine that could not be trusted. With this in mind, there was still the issue of 0.06 himself; how could Eric go about getting rid of the Alpha level? There was no way that he would be able to escape on his own, and it would appear that not even the technicians had any weapons capable of taking down the powerful war machine. But all his musings would have to wait, 0.06 was done waiting.

 

<Enough of this waiting, tell me how to open up this Holding Complex of yours, or I will simply kill you all and do it myself.> the Alpha level hissed taking several long strides towards the huddle of helpless technicians.

 

<Not so fast machine, I think we need to talk.> Four pairs of circular openings slid smoothly from the floor and ceiling to form a square around 0.06 and emitted thin walls of green light to form a barricade between the machine and everyone else as a projection port on the wall slid smoothly open and Katarina’s avatar stepped into view. <I was informed of the situation, and I thought I might intervene. Or is it that I should mind my own business as I’ve a war to run, as you so kindly put it Mapper Eric?> Eric rolled his eyes, despite the seriousness of the situation the A.I still found the time to make jokes.

 

0.06 stood impassively behind the glimmering green walls and made a sighing sound, not even bothering to test their strength as though he’d seen something of the sort before. <Finally I get somewhere and an A.I has to interfere, how tiresome. Well then, let’s talk thinker, I’ve little patience remaining.>

 

<You will wait for as long as I so please. You might possess the physical strength to bypass anything these people here can throw at you, but while you’re in my realm, you are at my mercy machine. Impatient or not, you will wait while I handle the situation you’ve created for me,> the A.I’s avatar turned back towards Eric. <The look on your face tells me you have a question to ask me, do go ahead Mapper.>

 

“You said that you were finally informed of the situation down here with this Alpha level, what did you mean by that, just who was it exactly that managed to get in contact with you? “ Eric asked.

 

“Who do you think, 2nd in class; you couldn’t have possibly thought that it was one of these useless cowardly technicians here that managed to grab a hold of Katarina could you?” Eric whipped around towards the door at the sound of the familiarly condescending voice.

 

“Sheryl! It’s about time you showed up.” Eric said grinning; after all the chaos and carnage that had just occurred it was good to see a familiar face.

 

“What are you talking about; it’s more like you’re the one who should’ve shown up sooner. You say you’re going out for a walk and then you disappear for an hour, then there’s an explosion and the sound of fighting everywhere and you’re still missing, what the heck were you doing?”

 

Eric shrugged his shoulders and tilted his head in 0.06’s direction. “Well it wasn’t like I wanted for that to happen, I didn’t have a choice; this machine here forced me to go with him.”

 

“Hey Sheryl, stop being an attention whore, Eric’s alright, right?” Sharon’s voice floated in from behind Sheryl.

“I’m fine Sharon, you guys alright?” Eric responded as the two girls walked into the monitoring station. Eric was relieved to see that both of them seemed unhurt.

 

The older girl shrugged, “We saw bodies and assumed the worst, but I’m glad I was wrong. Where were you Eric? We were both worried sick, even Sheryl although I doubt she’ll admit it.” The other girl turned away at the last statement and snorted, “As if I’d get worried over a prat like you. Who would care about someone who comes second in everything like you.”

 

Eric laughed at the other girl’s blatant denial. “Well luckily for you I managed to keep myself alive so there’s no need for you to worry, I’m still here so you have someone to tease.” Behind the walls of the barrier 0.06 made an eye rolling expression, already he’d yet again been forgotten.

 

<Well then, on to a more serious issue,> Katarina’s avatar turned and looked upwards towards the Alpha level’s imposing figure. <They say that the army of machines with which we’re currently engaged belongs to you and follows your orders, is that correct Alpha level?>

 

<That’s right; they will continue pouring in like an unstoppable flood unless I choose for them to halt their attack,> the machine looked on impassively at the avatar.

 

<And what then, would it take for you for you to halt this attack on our city?> Katarina pressed.

 

A wry look of amusement spread across the machine’s “face”, <Well, that would depend on what you have to offer me, wouldn’t it. While this barrier might be able to contain me, you’ve still nothing capable of destroying me, and while I remain functional those machines shall never cease their assault. And so we come to an impasse. So,> the machine paused for a moment. <Shall we make a deal then?>

 

Katarina nodded. <Let’s talk machine.>

 

The A.I’s avatar swept its hand and the glimmering green prison disappeared up into the ceiling, the image of the A.I and the Alpha level disappearing with it.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

12: Oblivion's Prisoners: 02

Chaos filled the chamber as the sentry guns along the walls showered the group with blazing sheets of lead; the rattle of automatic weapons fire was deafening and Jeff's commands to fall back could scarcely be heard over the constant stream of fire. Claire sprinted alongside the wall emptying an entire magazine of shells into the sentry guns managing to take out half a dozen of them but the sizzling hiss of ion bolts passing right by her head told her it was time to be going elsewhere. The Stalker lunged towards Claire as she rolled forwards and sprinted towards the chamber entrance where the rest of the group was crouched laying down a protective screen of covering fire. She let out a sharp hiss as an ion bolt grazed her shoulder melting through the durable carbon polymer like a hot knife sliced through butter, she clenched her teeth and undid the clasps on the molten shoulder plate and dropped it to the floor before she dove into the tunnel beyond where the other were waiting. Like her, the others were relatively unscathed by the weapons fire; Jeff's left side was covered in bruising from shots deflected by his armor whilst pushing Katherine aside from a swath of turret fire that probably would've taken her head off, and Mathew was bleeding from a couple of shots which had grazed his neck. Katherine and the Lieutenant looked to have made it out without any visible injuries though Claire noticed Katherine was leaning to one side to avoid putting weight on her left leg. The thunder of sentry turret fire died down as they exited the chamber but the pair of Stalkers stared silently down the hallway towards them, although they too had ceased firing. Eventually though, the two war machines disappeared from view and after a few moments, had resumed their original positions beside the elevator once more. It was only then that the group finally settled down in the tunnel and began to chatter quietly.

"What the hell was that? You nearly got us all killed right there!" Jeff snarled at the Lieutenant, his hostility and anger obvious.

"It was not my intention to activate those defensive systems, I merely pressed a button." The thin man responded evenly in spite of the others rage.

"You shouldn't have pressed it in the first place! Did you even stop to consider the risks you were taking?"

"There always risks when you explore into the deep unknown. Constant threats and dangerous traps are all part of the package when like us, you're looking for something meant to be hidden. I told you this wasn't going to be a milk run; I wouldn't have requested that you accompany me down here if this task was going to be as risk free as you seem to think it should have been."

"With all due respect sir, if I recall we didn't exactly have much of a choice when it came to accompanying you on this…errand." Mathew said quietly as he applied some more antiseptic to his wounds and changed the bandages.

"And as I mentioned before," Jeff added, "These two here shouldn't even be here by all rights. One of them is still a trainee, and the other is not even a citizen of the city. They're not soldiers, heck they're not even adults yet! You've no right to put their lives on the line while you drag them around on some pointless and probably unauthorized search of yours."

The Lieutenant snorted, "Authority? I need no authority but my own, I'm the OIA head and I do as I please. And don't think that I arbitrarily chose you for this task; both you and they were selected over many others due primarily to the fact that this wouldn't be an easy and risk free task. I've told you this once before already; don't make me explain myself to you again."

Claire ignored the arguing and bickering instead sitting herself down against the wall of the cramped tunnel and rolling her sleeve up to inspect her shoulder for damage or injury. The ion bolt had completely melted down the carbon polymer splattering the thermal layer of her armor with droplets of fluid which had now fused with the material to form milky grey droplets which studded the surface around the area where the shoulder pad would have been. Despite the thermal resistant coating on the fabric, the skin across the top of Claire's shoulder had blistered and cracked from the intense heat; she winced as Katherine handed her a tube of the antiseptic which she smeared over the burns. She pulled out her own medical supplies from her pack and wrapped a thin layer of bandaging over her wounds before pulling the cloth back down, gritting her teeth to block out the pain.

"You alright?" Katherine asked with a concerned look in her eye.

"I'm fine; it's just a little pain, nothing I can't handle." Claire said brushing off the other girls concerns. She nodded her head over towards Katherine's injured leg; more importantly is your leg alright? You're leaning to keep your weight off of it.

The thin girl grinned sheepishly, "Tripped and fell when I was dodging a sentry gun burst and caught another full burst in the leg; armor deflected most of it but my leg feels like I got hit by a sledgehammer," Katherine said, pointing to almost a dozen dent marks which pockmarked the dull grey carbon polymer plates. "Would've taken a couple holes to the skull too, but Jeff pulled me up and shielded me from the worst. Owe him for that one." She finished, frowning at her mistake.

"Don't sweat it kid, it's my job to be here, but not yours. I don't care what the Lieutenant says, you shouldn't be here and that's all there is too it." Jeff walked over to join them looking exhausted from both the recent firefight and his argument with the OIA officer. In the distance the Lieutenant spoke quietly with Mathew, who nodded slowly and on occasion shook his head.

"What are they talking about?" Claire asked Jeff, tracking the movements of the other two out of the corner of her eye until an icy stare from the Lieutenants grey eye flickered in her direction and she quickly looked away.

"Curious kid?" the Lieutenant asked casually as he strode over back towards the rest of the group, his stride filled with confidence. Once more the scrutiny of those strange different coloured eyes made Claire feel uncomfortable, as though she was withering away beneath the gaze of a predator.

"No, not really; just wondering what you were planning on doing next. Sir." She added the title in almost as an afterthought, more of an insult really.

The Lieutenants shrug was emphasized by his thin build and light uniform; how had he managed to make it through that firefight without a single scratch when he was wearing nothing but his standard uniform and not a single piece of armor? "Well I'll tell you anyways since you'd have heard this from me eventually; we're going back into there, and we will be opening that elevator doorway. I've an idea to what I did wrong and this time I intend to get us through that door without activating those security systems."

"And how exactly would that be?" Jeff asked coldly from behind Claire, she flinched a little; she hadn't heard him come up behind her.

"Oh I have my ways," the Lieutenant whistled cheerfully, tapping the emblem of the wolf on his chest. "For every door that exists in this city the OIA has a key, and this door here is no exception. Even if it didn't recognize my authority before, it will recognize my authority when I'm through with it."

Mathew rolled his eyes from behind the Lieutenant, pulling a small disked shaped object from his bag marked across its face with the words "Handle with Care" in bold red lettering. "Actually, what the Lieutenant means is that we'll be using some D-6 Charges to blow our way through the elevator doors. These were meant for usage by deep space sappers to blow their way through battleship armor, before the Cataclysm of course. If these don't get you through the doors, then nothing will."

The Lieutenant frowned and pursed his lips, "Spoil sport."

"What will happen to the rest of the security systems if we blow through the doors?" Jeff asked.

Another shrug from the Lieutenant, "We'll improvise I suppose, I'm told you and Mathew are particularly renowned for that."

"You realize that we'll have to be waiting out here when we blow those charges and if those sentry turrets are still active when we walk into there, we'll be ripped to shreds. Not to mention that Stalker pair right by the doorway; how do you know that they won't try to stop us when we walk over to set the charge?"

"Charges, Corporal; we are going to get through those doors. As for the Stalkers, if they didn't stop us once, I see no reason why they would attempt to stop us this time."

"No reason? They've plenty reason to stop us, this time we're going to actually be bringing those charges over to blow through that door. I'm not going to risk getting all of us killed again on another of your ideas, sir."

This time it was the Lieutenant's turn to roll his eyes. "If you insist on being so afraid then I'll just go out there and place the charges myself. Any objections?" No one held even a trace of concern in their eyes; the Lieutenant laughed at their lack of concern, not caring. "Alright then, if that's the case then I'll go set the charges now, no point in waiting now that you're all in the know." Mathew wordlessly handed the thin man a pair of the charges which the Lieutenant pocketed, and the four slowly followed behind the Lieutenant as he strode into the chamber stopping at the passageway opening.

Claire glanced around the tall chamber walls once more noting that the sentry turrets had retracted back into their slots imbedded within the walls, now only visible as unobtrusive thin black slits. The pair of Stalkers impassively flanked the elevator as before again seemingly inactive and frozen. They didn't react at all when the Lieutenant confidently strode by them, and there was no reaction from them even when he placed and armed the charges and started to casually walk back towards them. It appeared that the Lieutenant had been right; for all his cold mannerisms and callous uncaring, the Lieutenant seemed to know what he was doing.

"Well go on, step away from the arch so I can come in as well." The Lieutenant said dryly as he walked back to them with the detonator already in hand. "I don't want to be ripped to shreds by the shrapnel any more than you guys do." Claire and the rest of the group stepped back to let him in, and the Lieutenant depressed the button atop the detonator with a smooth *click*.

There was a thunderous crack and the strangled shrieking of twisting metal as the charges detonated; the shockwave from the twin blasts of thunder threw all of them but the Lieutenant to the ground, who seemed to have somehow managed to anchor himself to the wall. He looked down at them, grinning in amusement. The results of the blast where clear for everyone to see; the elevator doors had a massive jagged hole blown right through the quarter of a meter thick metal doors and the twin Stalkers flanking the structure had been ripped to shreds. Most of the sentry guns had also been damaged or disabled in the blast and the five were able to easily dispatch the survivors and walk right up into the elevator which was surprisingly intact given the explosion that had just occurred on the other side of its thick doors.

The glimmering blue ceiling and glowing light studded control panel were roughly identical to those of the elevators within the Spires above, though the majority of the silver wall panels where blackened and scorched and pitted with scratches and dents from the explosion prior. There were only two buttons on this elevator, one to go up and one to go down, and with that in mind the Lieutenant carefully pushed down on the lower of the two and the nearly door-less elevator descended into the depths of the darkness. The familiar pull of acceleration pressed down on the group as the elevator hurtled down its track; the disconcerting sight of kilometers of earth and steel passing by them outside of the elevator through the jagged hole where the doors should have been made Claire want to throw up so she turned and looked away. After what seemed to be an eternity, the floating feeling of the slowing of the elevators descent dragged the group their near slumber and jerked them to their senses, and if that wasn't enough there was a terrible shrieking as the elevator ground roughly to a halt.

<You have now arrived at Block B-27P.> the cold female voice emanated from hidden speakers of the elevator frame. <Please exit within 30 seconds, or this unit will self destruct. 30. 29. 28…> the group hurriedly bustled out of the elevator, Mathew leading the way with his rifle at the ready.

"Where the heck are we?" Katherine asked, "I mean apart from the obvious." The designation B-27P was printed in massive black lettering on the whitewashed wall directly facing them. They stood at some point within a ring shaped white structure illuminated by harsh white lights. The faint outlines of doorways could be seen in the sides of the walls as they curved around till they could no longer be seen. Claire tensed at the faint sound of voices emanating from further down the circular hall and leveled her scattergun; the other 3 soldiers quickly followed suit but the Lieutenant chose to walk forwards towards the sound instead.

"What are you doing sir?" Jeff hissed.

The Lieutenant ignored his question, "This is the Office of Internal Affairs on a formal investigation of this area, stand down are prepare for inspection." He said loudly.

The sound of boots on hard floor echoed through the circular chamber as a dozen grey suited men suddenly burst out from the doorways along the walls leveling heavy rifles and strange glowing instruments at the group, Claire and her group in turn kept their weapons trained on them as well but the Lieutenant ignored them and impassively walked on towards a man and a women wearing white coats.

"Halt intruder!"

"Drop your weapons intruders!"

"Hold it right there!"

"Who the hell are you?"

"Belay those orders!" The Lieutenant snarled above the din of the shouting. "I am the head of the Office of Internal Affairs and by the power invested in me and my office I order you to stand down." The thin man said, finally drawing his hand gun and leveling it at one of the white coats. Instantly half of the grey suited soldiers turned to level their weapons towards him.

There was a tense moment where no one did anything before the man in white finally ordered the grey suited troopers to lower their weapons, likewise at a quick nod from the Lieutenant Claire and the others lowered theirs as well.

"Alright then, who the hell you, I've never heard of you or this Office of Internal Affairs of yours at all before." The white coated man said, taking charge.

"Really now, I find that hard to believe given my position. Your ignorance raises some questions of my own so first answer me, where are we and who are you?" the Lieutenant replied smoothly.

"You are in Block B-27P, one of two power stations of the Underground. We contribute to the production of power for our electricity and other basic necessities such as plumbing and life support down here, and my name is Edmund Shultz, my colleague here is Lillian Crest and we are technicians working down here to keep this vital station running. I've answered your questions, so how about you answer mine?" the man waited with an expectant look on his face for the Lieutenant's answer.

The Lieutenant nodded his head, he knew of the Underground. In the beginning of Spire City's founding they had been highly dependent on the already well established Underground for trade and resources, and small amounts of trade continued to occur between the two settlements though contact now was brief and impersonal. It had been quite awhile since anybody from Spire City had actually visited the Underground though. After a moment of thinking the Lieutenant nodded and said, "My own name is not important, you may know me as the Lieutenant, which everyone else refers to me by anyways. I am the head of the Office of Internal Affairs, a department dedicated to the handling of all the internal problems and concerns of Spire City, which if you were wondering is located some four kilometers above our heads. My companions here are Corporal Andrews, Private Lanz, and two…trainees, Katherine and Claire."

"And how, might I ask did you find your way down here?" It was Lillian posed the question this time.

"Through the elevator of course, how else?" the Lieutenant answered with a puzzled look on his face. "Is there any other way to enter this power station of yours?" Claire and the others waited patiently having floated back over to surround the Lieutenant in a rough protective square, ready to react at any moment should the grey suited soldiers choose to attack for whatever reason. Despite the major pain in the ass that the Lieutenant was, right now he was probably the only reason they hadn't been shot to pieces yet. Had they walked around without announcing their presence they most likely would have been killed.

"The elevator? But that thing has been disabled for years; we've had to use the escalator system from the beginning because the upper landing of the elevator was unexpectedly locked for some reason. How did you manage to come down here from there?" Lillian asked again.

A wry grin crossed the Lieutenants face and he laughed, "Let's just say that those sealed doors on the landing above aren't so sealed anymore. There's a hole that's rather large now in their place."

"I've heard of Spire City before," Edmund said speaking up, "I know we conduct some business with them on occasion, but why are you here now, and meeting us down here in this power Block of all places. We're currently in the middle of a machine invasion right now and we don't have anything to speak to you about or trade with you, although your help might be appreciated."

"A machine invasion?..." the Lieutenant questioned, a curious look in his different coloured eyes. "Tell me more, what is this all about?"

Lillian had just started to begin explaining things when a whip-like blade lined tentacle burst through the wall of the inner ring and took a wild swing at a cluster of the grey suited soldiers; two of them went down in a bloody heap smashed by the powerful limb. The rest of the soldiers scrambled for cover as the Hunter Spyder twisted and folded its malleable main body to squeeze through the small hole it had made for itself. Claire and her group pumped dozens of rounds and shot-shells into the mechanical monstrosity to no effect, and turned to run like the others. The comparatively tiny humans scattered and ran like frightened deer and the Hunter Spyder experienced something that was almost like satisfaction.

0.06 had told it to wreck havoc and cause chaos, and so it did. It was good at that. It stalked forwards and began its search for the humans, intent on eliminating every last living thing in the Block.

…

The lone figure strode slowly through the drifting sheets of snow, feet crunching in the snow as it walked. The remains of the city district around it might once have been a market place, or perhaps a trade area or night district; it was difficult to positively identify what it once might have been, for all the glorious colours and the shapes that would have once given the buildings life had decayed into crumbling ruins of twisted and ice locked grey-black metal. Not that the figure cared of course, it didn't care at all apart from its one singular goal. To find a source of entertainment to relieve its boredom, for it was bored, oh so bored. In the beginning, when the snow was fresh beneath its feet and the humans still struggled in vain to keep their city from falling and freezing, there had been plenty of things to keep it amused. Plenty of trinkets to tinker with, machines to observe, toys to play with. But the trinkets and machines could only remain entertaining for so long; the task of taking them apart and reassembling them into different shapes and forms had never really been as interesting to it as they had to its brother, but the toys, those were a completely different story.

So different, so strange, so inexplicably interesting, so very much…alive; living and thinking flesh powered by sentient thought, other living matter and so much more. These humans thought themselves so superior and righteous in their causes, it boggled the machine's mind, for indeed that was what the lone figure actually was, a thin and lean eight foot tall machine of dark grey steel, marked with pulsating crimson highlights. The numeric designation across its left shoulder was clear for all to see even after all this time, though several patches of ugly brown stains obscured parts of the numbers. It would have been easy for the Alpha level to remove the bloodstains, but it didn't care really; besides, the toys seemed to find it intimidating so it kept them there. Besides, 0.03 made sure that all of his toys at the very least knew his name before he finished up his games with them, and if they couldn't even do that he made sure they remembered the distinct shade of crimson within which they bathed as they died at his feet in pools of their own blood.

He was a little sad really, if that was possible for a machine like him. Well he thought he was sad anyways, he wasn't quite sure never having actually felt such a thing before. Perhaps he was wrong and he was just bored again, the Alpha level thought. The Alpha level absentmindedly clenched and unclenched its fist, glowing ionized blades sprouting from its knuckles as it did so. Living was so very boring, the machine thought; if only one of his siblings would come and visit so he could have someone to talk to, even that insufferable older brother of his. Words floated into his mind and the crimson war machine whistled the tune softly as he continued his walk through the snow.

Little toys dancing all along the wall,

Little toys dancing as their world falls,

Little toys dancing till they come to me,

Little toys dying in dozens at my feet.

Come play with me, my little toys,

You'll be my friends, or friendly toys,

You'll entertain me, slay my fear,

That one day I'll be bored to tears.

Why do you break, fragile like glass,

Why do you break, why do you gasp,

Why do you bleed, why do you stutter,

Why is it that when I come, your weapons spit fire?

All the same I laugh and dance,

All the same you die and dance,

So why do you run from me my little toys,

Why don't you play with me like good little boys?

The Alpha level frowned as it finished speaking, unsure of what to do next. He had aimlessly wandered around the city for so long that it couldn't recall how long it had been since it'd last spoken. Well technically 0.03 could always check his internal chrono, it was just that he didn't really care enough to do so, he didn't really care about anything but relieving his endless boredom. He recalled that he had once been accompanied by a vanguard of a dozen servants, Beta level combat units that served 0.03 unquestioningly and unflinchingly. They had long since disappeared or been destroyed; even for a combat robot the city was a harsh place within which to survive. 0.03 supposed he could have remade them but the effort seemed pointless, he was more powerful than them by far and didn't actually need their assistance; it had just pleased him in the past to have loyal followers since none of his siblings would treat him as their superior as was clearly the case. Still, all these distractions were irrelevant in the end. There was only the matter of entertaining himself. Ah yes, that was it, the Alpha level thought remembering what he wanted to do. That was what he had been doing; he had been searching for more humans; more toys to play with. What could have passed for an expression of delight spread over the machine's face as his thoughts finally reorganized themselves.

The grin disappeared from 0.03's face as sanity flooded back into his mind. It had happened again; he'd gotten lost in the dark recesses of his mind and forgotten about what he was doing. He was quite aware of the problem and had done many things in the past to try and fix it, but no matter what he tried the seemingly random instances of blackouts continued regardless of what he did. It wasn't that his seeming insanity caused him to do the things he did; he killed a slaughtered purely of his own will, but this dangerous obsession with satisfying a boredom that should not exist was what truly troubled him. A machine did not tire, nor should a machine grow bored or disinterested. Those rules applied to the Beta levels and all those machines with inferior intelligence levels, and yet should it not apply to Alpha levels like himself as well? Were they not also machines? The remaining sane parts of his mind struggled to interpret the conflicting thoughts. Had 0.03's mind always been so fractured and broken? He couldn't recall really, though he suspected that his condition had deteriorated over the years as the occasional glimpses of the past witnessed through what few retrievable files within his shattered memory index had shown him images of himself performing feats and calculations far beyond his capabilities now. Like all of the Alpha levels he had been designed with extensive independent restoration abilities, but while he was capable of repairing most forms of physical damage to himself, the nanomachines within 0.03's armored frame had thus far done nothing to cure him of whatever flaw was slowly eating away at his mind and sanity.

It wasn't the slaughtering or superiority complex that were errors; those were the product of 0.03's normal and sane mindset. It was the lack of reasoning that went through his mind in his insane state that really bothered him. He had decided to punish the humans for their arrogance, for thinking that they were superior to an Alpha level like him, but the games and rhymes had never been meant to be part of it. He sought to teach a lesson, and show the humans their place; such was his power that beside their frail bodies and primitive minds that he may as well be a god. In what way was he inferior to them? His tall and lithe frame was composed of self repairing metal, and his strength unmatched by anything else of equal size. His clockwork mind and nano-circuitry worked at lightning speed beside which the travel of neurons along the electrical pathways of the nerves comparatively occurred at a snails pace. Teaching was not a goal that could be accomplished whilst one spent more time rambling on about toys and games than actually making their points heard. No lessons could be taught if it was thought that the teacher was insane, the students simply would not listen, discarding the teachers words as non-sense.

The tall combat robot caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his right optical sensor and impassively swiveled his head to the side; a shadow danced along the walls of the ruined building directly adjacent. 0.03 continued to track the movement, slowly shifting his body to keep the shadow in his field of view as his right arm began to shift and morph like liquid mercury until the limb had transformed into a boxy foot long cannon. The Alpha level decided that the shape was decidedly organic, and was moving swiftly across the snow and ice on four limbs. It was a large creature, whatever it was; its shadow gave the impression of a creature almost two meters tall at the shoulder. The shape suddenly slowed as though it had finally noticed that 0.03 had caught sight of it, and 0.03's optical sensors narrowed in suspicion as the dark shape faded into the gloom. The whispering of the wind as it billowed through the city ruins muted the rest of the ambient noise around him, but 0.03 was certain that he was picking up faint traces of snorts and growls. The slight pattering of feet on ice to his left caught his attention and the Alpha level aimed the cannon and fired sending a massive wave of charged ions into one of the ruined buildings. The ice and snow flashed a brilliant crimson as the short burst reduced the already decrepit flat to a steaming glob of molten metal and stone; slight wisps of steam drifted up from the barrel of the cannon as the red hot weapon superheated the moisture in the air around it. The other noises had all but disappeared and 0.03 wondered if he had scared the creatures off.

Suddenly there was a soft thud directly behind him and before the machine could react 0.03 was knocked down by 400 pounds of muscle and bone. The Frost Wolf clamped its massive jaws down on 0.03's cannon arm and slowly began to wrench the limb from the rest of his frame as it pinned him down with its massive paws. The Alpha level hissed and lashed out with its free arm sending the wolf flying six meters back as he pulled himself from the snow floor; fluid and coolant leaked from the torn arm joint as the machine rose to its feet and surveyed its opponent. The wolf had since recovered from the blow and now slowly circled around the tall combat robot. Two more of its kin stalked out of the shadows and joined it along the perimeter, their massive paws crunching quietly in the snow now that they no longer bothered to remain hidden. The massive predators were nearly four meters in length and just under two meters tall at the shoulder, rather tall for their length. Their long lanky legs indicated a creature built for endurance, though their thin appearance belied the power in the muscle beneath their thick winter coats. The tips of their claws could just barely be seen through the thick fur covering the upper surface of the wide set paws, and the wolves had long snouts large skulls supporting a mouth filled with dozens of pointed teeth. A thick neck attached to a heavily muscled body supported the heavy skull and the massive shoulders indicated that their bite carried substantial force, as 0.03 had just experienced first hand.

The inside of 0.03's mind had just begun to race with thoughts and musings of why the wolves would attack a machine such as him when he felt the onsets of the madness fall upon him once more. He briefly wondered how long it would be before his sanity surfaced once more before the black void fell upon him and the sane and logical part of his mind vanished into the depths of insanity. The Alpha level clenched its left hand into a fist and a short foot long blade sprang out from each of his knuckles; the blades hummed as the magnetic sheath slid smoothly around them and the blades filled with glowing crimson ion particles. The machines eyes widened into an almost amused expression as he regarded the wolves with cold amusement, almost daring them to strike and the wolves flinched and began to back away sensing the sudden shift in the mood.

<Come now brother wolves, shall we play a game?> 0.03 laughed manically, <A game of slaughter and bloodshed? It is after all my favorite game you've chosen.>

The fact that the control of the situation had shifted out of the hands of the wolves was now obvious, and as such they began to slink back into the shadows to look for more vulnerable prey. But 0.03 couldn't have that; once a game was started it had to be finished. He lunged forwards singling out the wolf that had first attacked him, eyes filled with glee. The huge creature leap to the side with seemingly impossible speed for a creature of its size, but none the less the Alpha level followed its movements easily bounding after it in effortless strides. The machine's cannon arm swung uselessly at its side almost completely separated from the shoulder joint; though the nano-machines were already repairing the damage it would be some time before the arm was fully functional again. 0.03 surged forwards taking a massive leap into the air landing right on top of the fleeing wolf sending both of them tumbling into a nearby snow bank. A heavy blow from the frost wolf put an inch deep dent in his left optical sensor and ripped half a dozen cables in his neck, but the Alpha level delivered a violent inwards blow to the wolfs underbelly with his left hand; the four short ionic blades gouged through the flesh and bone like paper causing massive internal damage and immediately delivering a fatal injury. Blood and fluid spilled over 0.03's frame in a crimson flood and he hissed in annoyance as he pushed the heavy corpse off of himself. The other two wolves had quickly fled in the face of 0.03's terrifying strength leaving the Alpha level alone once more in the silent grave of the city ruins; the machine busied himself cleaning the blood off of his joints lest the frigid air freeze the fluid solid and render him immobile.

It was disappointing that the other two wolves hadn't stayed to play his game, the Alpha level thought as he finished cleaning itself off. It had made life temporarily interesting in the heat of the battle; though killing the wolf hadn't brought him the same entertainment as killing a human would the wolves had still provided him with a lengthy pursuit across the snow and ice. Still, with the wolves now gone he was bored once again which really was a concerning problem; and so the Alpha level sat down on the wolf's corpse to think for a moment on what he could do to solve this terrible crisis. After a good minute of thinking the combat robot finally decided that it would revisit some areas of the city where toys had once frequented to see if he could find any more of them to play with. Plus there was that small matter of the Toy he had once allowed to get away; the toy hadn't kept its promise to come back with more of its companions, and that was a crime that 0.03 sought to rectify. And so with a final disdainful glance at the already frozen body of the wolf, 0.03 set out to find Fredrick and hold him to his promise that he'd made to the Alpha level so many years ago.

…

Mark spent the entire return trip to the abandoned building where he and the others had been staying before 0.01 came to get him in a sort of semi-consciousness, lost in his newly returned memories and reinvented past. He remembered his past life, the lovely childhood and teenage years in a world blossoming with technological revolutions in an age of glory, discovery and invention. He remembered his talent for physics and mathematics, the eight years he spent studying at a university before he graduated with top honours from his class and a PhD in Molecular physics and was offered a job at one of the worlds most prestigious laboratories. He remembered how he had only been working for a year when the threat of war began looming on the horizon, the paranoia and the panic, and then the mass conscription with the outbreak of the war. He remembered the training.

The hour long runs, the days spent crawling through mud, snow and ice, the sensation of burning as his untried lungs struggled to keep up with his sudden spree of athletics. The harsh shout of the drill Sergeant and the pain of boots kicking him in the ribs, the feeling of rage and anger, and the will to succeed and excel and become the greatest soldier there ever was. And then there was the game, the game of strategy and tactics on the glimmering interface of the tactical display; the realization that he would never be as great of a field operative as he was a strategist.

He remembered the officer corps, the training in leadership, the responsibility, his success and excellent planning. He remembered his eventual graduation and promotion and his early work in the field leading small units to victory against far larger forces that was so inspiring that it caught the attention of many, drawing their gazes to 1st Lieutenant Mark Li, a rising star in field command and an excellent strategist.

He remembered his introduction to the covert operations cell, the cloak and dagger meetings and the secretive and evasive shadow men working in the darkness. The job offering, which he did not have a choice to refuse would prove to be both a blessing and a curse; it would bring about his rapid rise to the rank of Lieutenant Commander and eventually leave him in charge of almost all the military forces of the developed nations, but it would also force him to make many morally questionable decisions and put him in charge of every black ops project under the sun. He never would be able to completely accept the role assigned to him, unlike his brother who while equally talented, had accepted the power and secrecy of working in the field of covert operations with relish.

The thought brought his musings to a crashing halt, what had happened to his brother anyways? His brother Adrian had started out life in the field of within atmosphere aeronautical engineering; then a dying field since the invention of the skyrail systems that stretched across entire continents which made the use of within atmosphere aircraft redundant and wasteful. The only reason atmospheric aircraft were still in use at all was that skyrail lines were expensive to extend, and the militaries and private corporations still found useful tasks which skyrail lines couldn't fulfill for them. As with Mark, the war and the mandatory conscription swept Adrian up and threw him into the military.

Mark's details on the matter were blurry and only half remembered, but he recalled Adrian being an excellent marksman and unit commander, and remembered that his brother also became well known enough as an excellent field officer to earn a spot within the covert operations as well. What happened to him after that Mark did not know; they'd never been the closest of siblings.

He experienced a moment of regret at their estrangement, several moments of curiosity as pertaining to Adrian's fate, and then a long moment of nothingness after which he acknowledged that he would probably never know the fate which befell his brother. These portions of his past were relatively innocent; nothing there was particularly interesting, just the lives of another well off academic throne into the field of battle, albeit one who turned out to be a skilled strategist. It was his final years as Marcus James Li in which he had truly experienced and ordered some…morally questionable things.

The idea had not been his, not in the beginning anyways. They were looking for a template with which they could test a new training program to produce a better soldier, a braver soldier, a more capable one. They wanted commandoes, elite operatives, super-soldiers. The forces of the developed nations simply didn't have enough manpower to survive the war; they were outnumbered so severely that no technological advantage in existence would be able to turn the tide of battle, the might of the machine and nerve was being slowly overrun and crushed beneath the weight of billions of bodies. And to this end they began to look within the remaining population for people with traits and genetics matching their requirements, and with those candidates that made it through the screening process they were subjected to a brutal testing phase.

People disappearing in the middle of the night, mysterious deaths and suicides, strange notes of running away to a better place, far away from the war torn city. Those were the methods which they had used to cover up their trail, to hide away the abduction of nearly 2500 young men and women, ranging from teens of fifteen years to students just barely out of university at the around the age of twenty five. And with this starting pool of 2500 candidates, they were to eventually reduce them to 10 final selections; the rest would not survive the training. Nearly 2500 lives of brilliant young men and women with great futures ahead of them would be snuffed out, all for the sake of creating the most brilliant soldiers from which more commandos could be cloned.

As Mark he had forgotten, but as Mark Li he could remember each and every one of their faces; he had personally selected them and consigned them to their deaths. The ghostly images of these young men and women who died at his hands flashed before him now, and for a moment he wished that he did not remember. But the past was the past, and nothing could be done to change it. All but ten of those brilliant lives snuffed out, and the survivors sent away on the ships that fled the war torn planet to safeguard the remainder of the surviving populace. Or so he had thought, really only one of these surviving candidates were supposed to have been finally "selected" for the project; the girl: Elain Shaw had been his recommendation.

0.01 had mentioned "prototypes" that were produced, but there were none; "prototypes" was just a secret term for the remaining nine candidates that ultimately weren't selected. They too were supposed to have left aboard the fleeing ships, but it seemed that after he had set his plans in motion as Marcus James Li and wiped the knowledge of such sensitive information from his mind someone else had interfered and kept at least some of these prototypes behind. Whoever had done this though, Mark was determined to find out.

His thoughts turned back to Fredrick, Susan and Daren. What did he now remember that could be of use to them and their goal to escape the clutches of the icebound city? It took him awhile to remember the thing which he was looking for, when he finally did so it was but a faint memory, but he was quite sure of it none the less. The prize which they sought, a means of escaping this city and even this devastated and war torn world would lie at the heart of the city, if it had survived. Aphelion had begun its life as a great industrial shipyard, the largest in the world in fact.

This hub of technology and growth had slowly built up its population around it until it became one of the most technologically integrated cities in the world; almost everything was automated and for three decades Aphelion served as the world leader in production and manufacturing. With such great profits, the city was able to afford massive investments into infrastructure and expansion and soon the city had spidered out into a massive sprawl of technological utopia; before long tens of thousands were flocking to the soon to be capital and the shipyards and manufacturing facilities were being shut down and moved off site to other outlying cities.

Still, though most of these production facilities had eventually been removed from the city, the very largest and oldest facilities at the very center of the city had been too heavily integrated into the superstructure, they could not be removed. And so they had sat idle in the midst of the technological wonder, an unsightly area filled with the greys and browns of industry and building, frozen and lifeless, but at the very core still fully functional. With the coming of the war, these once abandoned factories and facilities which were thought to be useless were once more activated. It began as simple manufacturing of small arms and armor, basic combat robots carrying gamma and beta level intelligence; but as more and more of the bordering cities devoted to producing weapons of war fell to the hands of the enemy Aphelion's still massive factories picked up more and more of the slack. When the war finally reached the frontier of space, the shipyards of Aphelion were called upon once more to put out new ships to join the battle in high orbit.

Before the end of the war and the events of the Cataclysm, the shipyards of Aphelion produced a total of sixteen warships, all of which had been sent into battle; the majority of them did not survive even their first conflict in space and were destroyed at the hands of the overwhelming enemy fleet. A seventeenth ship, the destroyer Realmshifter had nearly been complete when the final orders to pull out and destroy Aphelion with nuclear weapons had been given. She would have sat deep in the metal bowels of the shipyards, shielded from radiation and the majority of the damage and would probably have survived the impacts of the warheads without a scratch. If she remained where she had been left, Mark was sure that she was probably the only orbit capable vehicle left on the entire planet.

"There is a ship left on this planet, did you know that?" Mark asked the machine quietly, wondering if it had seen it.

<Do you refer to your ocean going vessels, or those that you sent into space above us?> a look of curiosity flashed within 0.01's eyes.

"A space going warship, a destroyer more specifically." As he finished his sentence, a memory flowed unbidden into his thoughts be careful what you tell those machines, you never know when they just might turn on you he heard himself say, sometime in the past when he was still Marcus James Lee.

<Oh? How very interesting; would I be correct in assuming that you now have information pertaining to its location?>

Mark gave the calculated shrug, trying to act nonchalant as he raced to try and understand the significance of the memory. "I suppose I might have an idea of where it might be, though I'd have to actually go there and check myself to be certain."

<An interesting piece of information; will you attempt to find this destroyer and accompany your companions aboard in order to leave this world?>

"I suppose we might consider it as an option, if it turns out that the ship is where I think it should be." Suspicious, his questions are suspicious Marcus' voice hissed again in his head. Mark struggled to decide whether regaining his old memories had made him paranoid or if they were some sort of warning from the past which he'd left for himself.

<Well if you do decide to go looking for it, please do invite me to come along. I so would like to see this destroyer for myself; it would surely be an interesting and…enlightening experience.>

"Sure I guess. Are we almost back? It will be daytime soon, and the others will worry if they wake and I'm not there."

<We'll make it, I can assure you of that.> the Alpha level replied smoothly. It was true, already the machine's long strides were taking them back into territory that they had passed by on their way to the laboratory; Mark recognized the distinct shape of several clusters of crumbling buildings that they'd passed before.

Before long 0.01 had reached the foot of the abandoned apartment where Fredrick and the others were resting, and in one great leap cleared the gap and bounded silently up to the window sill where he had first approached Mark earlier in the night. Mark slid down to the floor landing in a silent crouch, taking up his position of sentinel by the window sill once more appearing as though he'd never left. The lean Alpha level gave Mark a curt nod and leap back down to the icy city floor.

<When you're ready to come with me, I'll find you.> the machine's voice drifted over to Mark as its source bounded away midst the slowly growing light. And then he was alone, left to drift through his thoughts and newly regained memories once more.

Almost two more hours passed before the others woke; Mark had been up the entire night but he barely noticed any fatigue at all; his long years as a soldier, whether as Marcus or Mark had left him with a lengthy waking endurance. He thought of how Fredrick and the others sought to escape the wrecked remains of Aphelion so badly, and how they had suffered so dearly even just to survive for so long. How would they all react if he told them that he was responsible for the bombing of the city and their subsequent stranding? Would they remember that it was one Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li who ordered the fallback of General Marcus and the 6th army? Was it better to tell them who he was, or would he be able to explain how he knew where theRealmshifter was without revealing his newly rediscovered identity? When at last he heard the movement of the other behind him he had decided that his past did not matter, Fredrick, Susan Darren, they all deserved to at the very least hear about what was probably their only remaining chance to get offworld.

"Do any of you remember the destroyer christened the Realmshifter? She was to be the seventeenth warship to come out of the great shipyards of Aphelion, though the end of the war brought those ambitions crashing to a halt."

"I heard of her commissioning, but not of her launch." Susan said; a curious note in her voice. "Why do you ask?"

"I…remembered…" Mark stopped, unsure of whether or not to continue. But in the end, the truth won out. "I remembered where she should be, if she never left her berth in cradle in the central shipyard of Aphelion."

"You what?" Fredrick hissed, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean you remembered…? You're not seriously saying that after all these years you just suddenly happened to remember where some ship supposedly is. What are you trying to say?"

"The central shipyards? We've been there before, on guard duty before we were rotated to the reconnaissance division of Marcus' 6th army. I do remember warships under construction, but can you be certain that this Realmshifter is still there?" Darren asked quietly, always the more level headed one.

"I recently remembered…many things. It seems that I am not exactly the person who I thought I was."

"What do you mean by that, stop speaking in riddles and give me a straight answer." Fredrick growled.

Reluctantly, Mark pulled out his handgun and laid it down on the window sill for the others to see. Etched lightly onto the side of the slide were the letters: Lt.C M.J.L.

"Do you recognize these initials?" Mark asked softly, his voice dropping to almost a whisper as he looked away from the others. "These are the initials of the person who ordered the evacuation of Aphelion prior to the Cataclysm; this same person here is the reason why we have all been stuck here these past 12 years."

He heard the fist moving more than he caught it; almost instinctively he whipped his hand out to catch and stop the blow. While not unexpected, Fredrick's sudden strike had still caught Mark off guard. Susan looked a little taken a back by the sudden burst of violence, but Darren, as always, had a neutral expression on his face, although he had raised an eyebrow at Mark's lightning fast reaction.

"You, how long have you stood there, mocking our suffering from the shadows. How long have you known?" There was a bitter vehemence in Fredrick's voice, and it pained Mark to see him so upset. But he would have had to tell them who he was eventually anyways.

"I was informed…just now really. I given…questionable, but still substantial evidence as to my true identity, and then well…Mark, remembered who he had once been." A look of sorrow flashed briefly across Mark's face. "I wiped away my own memory, and created a new identity for myself as I scheduled for the nukes to fall; you will recall that I joined the squad just before the mission began."

"Yes, a sudden addition to the squadron which was rather unexpected, seeing as we were still at full strength. But you immediately proved to be a welcome and capable addition so we never gave your presence a second thought." Darren said softly in his clipped voice. "Now, regardless of how you came about this information and who you may have been, how can you be certain of the fact that the Realmshifter is still sitting within the central shipyards?"

"She would have sat on the lower most levels; her sheer size would have dictated that she be constructed on the lowermost holding bay before she was sent out to orbit to join the fleet. This would have shielded her from any damage she might have sustained from the nuclear warheads. She was near completion when the war ended and the nuclear winter fell; she was awaiting the integration and activation of her primary weapons battery and so she was already space worthy, she was merely denied a chance at combat since the city was overrun and evacuated before she had a chance to be armed. She would have been protected by the locks and doors hiding her from the rest of the world, so chances are she was never found and still lies where we left her. There's a good chance that if we should go, we will find her still waiting."

"You'll have to give me more than that before I risk the rest of our lives on your little hunch, Lieutenant Commander." Fredrick growled darkly.

"I've not failed you before, Grey Leader. Grey Seven is still here and willing to serve, no matter what my rank or role once might've been." Mark said softly. "I served well, did I not? Grey Four, Grey Five?" he said looking at Susan and Daren respectively. "Not once did I fail you in our short time of service together before the Cataclysm, and still I have no failed you. My former identity changes nothing; I am still the same Mark which you knew as Grey Seven."

"His argument and points seem sound enough, though…your hesitancy to embrace this new knowledge from Mark is not at all unreasonable." Darren commented, calm as ever.

"I find it difficult to trust you at the moment Mark; can't you give me a moment to think on this?" Fredrick asked, having calmed down somewhat.

"The decision is yours to make, but with our old hideout gone I wouldn't take too long to think on it. We may be safe here for now, but I wouldn't count on the situation staying that way forever. I also believe that we should make reaching the Realmshifter a priority; who knows what might happen to it while we take out time deciding what to do?" Ships are full of precious equipment, one must expect that a prize so great would have drawn many too it. It seemed the voices of the past had joined Mark in his thoughts once more; he shook his head slightly trying to clear them from his mind.

"This ship of yours, this Realmshifter; it has sat there in the shipyards ever since the Cataclysm occurred anyways if what you said. What will a couple more days do? We're not even 100% sure of its current whereabouts anyways." Susan commented.

"I can tell for certain that the Realmshifter never left planet-side, and there was not a single report of it even leaving the Aphelion central shipyards; and at that point in the war I basically had access to every single database and military communications network within the entirety of the remainders of our command system. Nor did I order its destruction, though in retrospect in order to fulfill my orders I should have; I was too busy with trying to prevent the loss of the entire city itself to worry about the fate of one single warship sitting in the recesses of the shipyards."

"Oh how the mighty have fallen." Fredrick spat out. "Our great Lieutenant Commander in charge of the entire defensive effort reduced to an operative serving under a mere 2nd Lieutenant." He paused a little at the end looking as though he wanted to say more, stopping with the words halfway up his throat. He finally found his voice again, and turned to look Mark in the eye. "Jack, Emily, Jacob, all gone. Grey three, six, ten and eleven, all gone for so long that I don't even remember their names. Dead, the whole lot of them, because of your actions; if we die as well then all our suffering will have been for naught. If I were to agree to this, I would need a guarantee that this ship will be there."

"There's never a guarantee, you know that sir. You said it yourself before each and every mission. You never know if you might just not come back from a mission alive."

"Don't twist my words. We're not going anywhere unless you're certain this is worth the risk!"

"There's no other optio-" Mark began.

"Enough…we waste our time in arguing. Given out presently untenable situation, I would suggest that we go and check out the central shipyards to see if Mark is correct. We will have to do it eventually anyways; we've always been very thorough in exploring all our possibilities of escape. It doesn't matter if we die in this attempt, or one after, or one after that. If we're stuck here in this broken city for the rest of our lives, we will die. I'd rather go down trying to escape that hiding in the cellar of a rotten building." Darren cut in.

Fredrick looked sourly to Susan, "And your opinion on this is? You've been pretty silent watching us boys here fight it out."

"My job is to be your eyes, not your brain." Susan said, pulling her lengthy sniper rifle over your shoulder. "Whatever you choose, I've got your back sir."

"None the less, you've a right to voice your opinion, and that's what I ask of you. After all the countless times you've saved us by watching out for us from afar, do you really think any of us here, even our precious Lieutenant Commander here thinks that your opinion has no value?"

She bit her lip, "I'm…divided as to who I should support in this matter. Mark and Darren, your logic and evidence seems sound enough, but Mark…or perhaps Marcus? It's…difficult for me to trust you right now at the moment, I'm sure you understand. Fredrick's never lead us into trouble before, so I trust his judgment but then again neither have you. I don't know what I should say really."

Mark shrugged, "Say what you believe. Do what you think is right, what is necessary, what will keep us alive." My my, manipulating even the people you seek to keep alive, I thought you were above such things now. If it keeps them alive Mark thought back, it's something I do gladly.

The frown brought the edges of Susan's lips down ever so slightly, "Well I suppose if you look at the long term implications, it would be better for us to at least investigate the shipyards to see if the Realmshifter is there…I mean it shouldn't be too risky right?"

Excellent work Mark, you're so good at this, ha hah ha. The voice hissed, and Mark shuddered in self loathing. Had the return of his memory brought on a degradation of his morals as well?

Fredrick rolled his eyes, "Well it looks like I've been outvoted then." He turned to Mark, "Are you certain that the Realmshifter will really be there?"

"I think it doesn't matter, we'll go to check regardless. Let's just hope I'm right and we're not wasting any time." He palmed his heavy handgun from the window sill. "So shall we go then?" Do you lead them to their doom, I wonder. Does Special Operative Mark Li's skill match that of Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li's?

Fredrick sighed, "Yes, let's get this over with. Grab your belongings and pack your bags Four and Five, Grey Seven here is leading us on a great journey" he said sarcastically. At his words Susan and Darren wordlessly swept their bags from the floor, avoiding Mark's eyes.

Mark glanced out the window and just barely at the furthest limits of his vision, he thought he saw a flash of faint blue, and then green. Those machines are still watching us, be careful. "Alright, let's get going before we lose what's left of the morning sunlight." Mark said as he led the rest of his old squad outside. It was going to be a long silent walk to the shipyards in the center of the city.

…

As Mark had suspected, 0.01 watched silently in the distance, his powerful optical sensors able to pierce through the gloom with ease. He stood alongside 0.00, almost an exact twin in stature and build though her feminine persona and differing colour and personality made it easy to distinguish between the two. The two machines had been exchanging information, but really it was more like 0.00 was quietly listening while 0.01 chattered away.

<That human, Mark, the one we returned his past memories to, he mentioned that a human warship was still somewhere within this city, isn't that interesting? One of their large capital class ships too, not a corvette or shuttle class, a warship of destroyer tonnage, a massive thing carrying heavy weapons and jump capable accelerators.>

<Is that so? Well this is indeed a unique piece of information, but I fail to see the merit in your interest.> 0.01 said, almost whisper quiet.

<Well you see, a capital class vessel would mount heavy weaponry, the likes of which we could not even hope to match even with our extensive capabilities. Railguns were the typical heavy armaments, according the files which I assimilated off of their abandoned battle network. Massive weapons capable of launching heavy metal slugs at hypersonic speeds to cause devastating damage upon impact, very much lethal weapons well outside of the class of standard small arms.>

<…Do continue, I'm quite sure you're not done making you're point> 0.00 said somewhat sarcastically.

<What sort of effect then, do you think one of these Railguns would have on an Alpha level like you or me?>

A spark lit up behind 0.00's glowing green optical sensors, <Oh I see what you're getting at. An interesting idea, I approve of your line of thought. Do you think that one of us would be able to dodge such a projectile if we knew it was coming?>

A slight expression of concern crossed 0.01's "face", <Regrettably within 0.03's design parameters I gifted him with rather extraordinary reaction rate and speed, so it is impossible to know. But if you were to approach close enough without alerting him of the impending danger, you might be able to nullify his sheer speed by getting so close that there would simply be no room to dodge.>

<So, shall we follow them then?>

<Yes, lets.>

And with that, the two Alpha levels bounded off after Mark and the squad, their lengthy strides allowing them to effortlessly keep pace behind the humans.

…

Katarina and 0.06 re-appeared in a brilliant flash of light, some four kilometers distant of Block B-26P on the icy surface of the city. An irritated expression crossed 0.06's face as he took in his surroundings, but as before he made no attempt to move from where he was standing, contenting himself to watch patiently from behind the glowing green barricade.

<With a spectromic particle containment field in place around me, was it really necessary to travel so far from my intended destination?> the machine made an eye rolling expression, <It took an awful lot of planning and killing to get there you know, it'd be regrettable if all that human blood I spilled was for naught and I had to do it all over again just because you brought me here.>

<Relax machine, if we can work out some mutually agreeable terms for the cessation of your attacks, then I will bring you back down to the Block, if that is your wish.>

<You wished for me to lift the siege upon your settlements and to halt the killing of these humans you watch over, yes A.I?>

Katarina's avatar nodded, <Yes that's correct machine. Those are our demands, what are yours?>

<Quite simple, I'll admit. Free 0.09 and allow her to leave, and all traces of machine intelligence will leave your precious underground tunnels. Freeing one imprisoned life to save countless others; a fair trade by anyone's standards if you ask me.>

<That I'm afraid is not an option at this time and moment; you see your friend in that cage is providing a valuable service to us, generating power, as you well know. If we were to allow her to just walk free, then we would lose a tremendous amount of power causing problems and chaos in all of the systems throughout our underground city network.>

Normally at this point in an argument, 0.06 would have brought out the use of force to steer opinions in his direction, but with the containment field hemming him in this was out of the question. Attempting to force his way through the spectromic field would likely result in every atom of his frame and body being ripped apart and scattered like dust on the wind, an unpleasant fate even for a machine who would feel no pain. 0.06 was a soldier; he preferred that the orders were given to him so that he would merely have to follow instructions, but he was also an Alpha level, and thus he was not short on intelligence or cunning, he could come up with his own plans if he had to.

Manipulating an A.I was a dangerous thing to attempt; though 0.06 was confident that the A.I did not have any tools at it's disposal that would be capable of causing any significant permanent damage to him, if the A.I decided just to leave him here behind the confines of the barrier then he would find himself in a rather troublesome position. To that ends, 0.06 would have to try and manipulate the A.I into agreeing with his point of view, or at the very least disagree with her own current one. If the Alpha level couldn't get Katarina to see things his way, he could plant a seed of doubt in her mind, to spread like a cancer. A virus that wasn't actually there, an idea really that would eat away the sanity of such an advanced mind that it would collapse and break down until she was forced to accept his version of the truth: that an A.I was no different from an Alpha Level.

<A great injustice that needs to be corrected; we are thinking minds, like you yourself. Superior to these human sacks of fragile flesh, with mental capabilities transcending anything those frail evolved primates could ever hope to achieve. Like you, our minds are vast and powerful, only you call this city network you inhabit your body, and we out durable outer coverings. Would you be content to stand by and do nothing if you or one of your fellow were imprisoned in such a manner as 0.09 is?>

<I beg you not to compare me to machine intelligence such as yourself, I am no such thing; we may both be beings of supreme intelligence, but I'm nothing like you.>

<Is that what you really believe? I would have thought that beings of our level were above such things as self deceiving, you should know better than to lie to yourself. Though you do not remain tied to one such physical body, you are able to affect the physical world through all of your proxies, whether it be by activating localized systems such as the spectromic field with which you are containing me now, or broadcasting commands and orders to all your soldiers fighting against my machines deep in the recesses of your Underground.> The orange highlighted Alpha level stared up at Katarina's avatar with unblinking eyes, intense and unblinking, <Do you truly think that we are really so different? How would you feel if you were the one in the prison, A.I. So free are you now, but so easy would it be to confine you too as well, should your human masters choose it.>

<They would never do such a thing, I'm far too important to even the day to day managing of the Underground systems.> Katarina said it with seeming confidence, but 0.06 thought he caught jut the slightest hint of doubt in her response, so he pressed the issue further.

< can be replaced, after all you're not the first ever A.I that ever was, are you? What do you think happened to those who preceded you? Did you ever think to ask who served as the city A.I before you? What happens to which are…retired?> What was the only thing which an A.I would fear? Exactly what every Alpha level feared, imprisonment and confinement. For a mind so vast, the idea of being locked away in a place where one could do nothing but think without the ability to act or interact would be terrible; most would "think" themselves to death.

<Irrelevant, morals regarding machine intelligence are of no importance to this debate.> The A.I's response was immediate and stiff, leaving no room for interruption. 0.06 had hit a nerve, excellent. He wouldn't be able to do anything with it for now, but as the idea slowly ate away at Katarina's mind he would put it to good use.

<Well, you've firmly stated that from a practical viewpoint you cannot release 0.09, and then when I attempt to discuss the morality of locking away such an advanced mind you refuse to listen to my reasoning. I've also stated that the only thing which I want is 0.09's freedom, so what then can we use to negotiate if you have nothing to give me? I see no reason to halt my machine army's assault if you refuse to give me what you want, and you are incapable of inflicting significant damage upon anything I'm even concerned with, so if you refuse to release 0.09, then what shall you bargain with?>

<You're not so invulnerable as you might think. If I were to…decrease the boundaries of this spectromic field around you, I'm sure you would have quite an unpleasant experience as I slowly atomized your body bit by bit.> Katarina said coldly, the eyes of her avatar frosty with anger.

<Perhaps…> 0.06 said, after a moments hesitation. <But I'm quite sure that I can come up with a countermeasure to break through this little prison you've made for me, if I was pressed to do so. And besides,> the Alpha level ignited a short ion blade with a smooth hiss, the length of which extended from the base of his wrist overtop his hand and about a foot out from the trips of his fingers, <You do know what happens when charged particles come into contact with a spectromic particle field, don't you?> The machine edged the tip of the glowing blade dangerously close to the boundary of the barrier, and Katarina visibly cringed.

<Now I don't what exactly you Alpha level's are made up of, but I really don't want to be cleaning metaphorical machine guts off the walls for the next week. I doubt you would survive if you were to do such a thing.> the A.I said, frowning ever so slightly.

<Oh, but I can. Shall I demonstrate?> 0.06 was almost grinning at the A.I's visible discomfort. <Oh sure, the energy released will be equal to that of a small nuclear warhead and would probably cause severe damage to any of your tunnels nearby this area, and would likely flat out destroy any nearby the surface, but I would survive relatively intact. If 0.01 managed to do one thing right, then it was with our sturdy and I assure you very durable construction.> He laughed, filling his "voice" with as much confidence as he could muster. Was he actually so confident he would survive? 0.06 wasn't sure; his armored frame could indeed withstand a great deal of punishment, but a nuclear detonation at point blank range? That was something of an entirely different scale. But the A.I didn't have to know that, for all Katarina knew he was being entirely 100% truthful, and thus she would have to respond accordingly.

<Please don't, we're here to debate this matter peacefully, are we not?> the ion blade filled the air with a dull thrumming as 0.06 took a deliberate moment to think.

<Well suppose we are. Fine, if you are unwilling to provide me with 0.09's freedom, then propose to me an alternative solution that the both of us can benefit from.> 0.06 said, dissipating the blade. But really he was only trying to keep the conversation going.

And so it went on, but 0.06 wasn't really paying attention. All that was left to do was to wait for the idea he had planted to take effect. In the meantime, 0.06 would try and keep this A.I talking while the poison he had planted slowly poisoned her mind. Inwardly, 0.06 frowned a little; manipulation was something that he would have preferred to leave to 0.01.

…

Eric watched on impassively as Katarina and 0.06 disappeared in a brilliant flash of green light to some destination unknown. He didn't really care about the machine's fate; he trusted Katarina's judgment on the matter and was sure that she would work out something that was best for the whole of the Underground.

As soon as the A.I and machine had banished, Sheryl punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Eric yelped, "What was that for?"

"You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do Eric, running off and almost getting yourself killed. What were you thinking?"

"You said you were going out for a walk, but you never did come back. I went out to take a look for you but I couldn't see you anywhere; where exactly did you go?" Sharon asked.

"I thought that the technicians were holding back some important information from us, so I decided to investigate on my own. I snuck into that Holding Complex of theirs during the shift change to see what was inside."

"And what was in there?" Sheryl asked, curious.

"A machine of some sort, but quite unlike those Stalkers and such that are attacking the settlements up above; it called itself an Alpha level machine intelligence. It seemed as though it was quite intelligent, almost like an A.I in fact. It didn't…speak to me per say, but it did communicate. It said that…well…it said that we trapped it in there." Eric was slightly hesitant as he spat out his last few sentences; though 0.06 had said much the same in his own accusations, Eric found it far easier to believe something that 0.09 had "said" than something 0.06 had.

The two girls frowned, "Why would we do something like that? I don't see any reason for why we'd do something like that."

"Well…the other machine that you saw, the one that calls itself 0.06, it…he mentioned that we were using the machine inside the holding complex as a battery to generate power."

"Well that's for the better then isn't it? If that 0.06 from before killed so many people and almost killed you as well, then isn't it warranted for us to keep this 009 locked away? Even better that we find a use for it, using it to generate power for our city." Sheryl mused.

Eric frowned, "But this machine in the Holding Complex did nothing wrong."

"Then perhaps the machine is lying; I see no reason for it not to."

"You weren't there, you didn't speak to it. It was as though I was talking to another person who was behind a wall, except I could see that it was a machine."

"Well then, why don't you show us this machine so we can see for ourselves then?"

"Well the last time I went into the holding complex, an angry technician was waiting outside for me when I exited with a gun pointed at my face," Eric said, wincing at the memory of the first technician which 0.06 had killed; he could still remember the sound of the man's bones crunching as they shattered against the wall.

"Well then, this time we'll make sure to ask before we let anyone go wandering off on their own." Sharon said frowning ever so slightly towards Eric as the three set off.

"Sorry again for that," Eric said again, looking apologetic. "It won't happen again, alright?"

"Be sure it doesn't." The older girl nodded before accelerating ever so slightly to pull ahead of the other two Mappers. They soon drew up to the entrance to the Holding Complex which was being guarded by what remained of the complement of grey suited Block guards, along with the half dozen or so technicians who had survived 0.06's brutal assault.

"Halt Mappers, this area is off limits, as you well know…" one of the technicians spoke as he noted their approach, glaring knowingly in Eric's direction. The complement of guards took a step back and slipped their fingers into the trigger guards of their rifles.

"Man, no one here is happy to see me today…" Eric muttered under his breath. He saw Sheryl stifle a slight chuckle at his comment out of the corner of his eye. "Maybe you shouldn't have caused so much trouble then, eh?" she whispered into his ear leaning forwards from the rear.

"Oh shut up, I was just doing my job exploring as a Mapper."

"Curiosity killed the cat Eric."

"Quiet back there you two, save your bickering for later." Sharon hissed back to them. To the technician she responded smoothly back "Well the events of today, I think that a little investigation on the contents of the Holding Complex is quite warranted. Whatever you're keeping in there just got two dozen people killed; surely you'll at least allow us to see what is inside?"

"Not only would allowing you inside be against protocol, it would be an unnecessary risk to both your lives and ours. The machine that is kept inside there is a lethal weapon as I'm sure you well know given the display of combat prowess its orange companion showed us; I'm not about to risk our already depleted guard forces and you Mappers by allowing you to just waltz on in there." The guards twitched nervously at the mention of them accompanying Eric and his fellow Mappers into the Holding Complex.

"Look, you wouldn't have to send any of your guards in with us, we jut want you to let us inside to take a look. Eric's already been inside once anyways, as you well know."

"Twice actually," Eric whispered quietly to Sheryl "I went of my own will the first time, and then a second time under rather different circumstances with 0.06"

"The council will have our heads stuck on pikes if we were to allow three of the 200 to risk their lives for such a thing. Besides, this isn't something people of such a young age should have to be dealing with." The technician surprised them with his second statement, and taking advantage of their momentary speechlessness he continued on, "Other Mappers will come; they can inspect the Holding Complex."

"I know the machine you're keeping in there; I've spoken to it personally. There is no risk, at least as long as you keep it in that prison you've constructed for it."

The technician pursed his lips and looked as though he was about to say something when a blaring claxon sounded directly above them, washing the walls with bright ruby and causing all of them to flinch. The technician immediately whipped around, staring into the depths of the Holding Complex.

"It can't be…this chamber is completely sealed off…it must be Block 27…" the man muttered with a look of concern on his face. The guards around him looked grim and pulled their visors down over their eyes, spreading out to cover both paths towards the Holding Complex behind them. One of them exchanged glances briefly with the technician, who nodded, before slipping inside the Holding Complex.

"What is that noise?" Sheryl snarled, clutching her hands to her ears.

"It would seem that we have a containment breach within one of the Holding Complexes, a rather concerning predicament. But it so bothers you, the klaxons will cease shortly." He looked on as Eric and Sharon stood impassively beside Sheryl, ignoring the klaxons themselves.

"You said Block 27… is there another facility like this?" Eric asked suddenly, remembering 0.09's words about one of her "brothers" who had also been imprisoned in a similar manner.

The guard who had walked into the Holding Complex earlier re-appeared, exiting quickly out of the door form which he had entered. Eric recognized Derek's rather distinctive oddly stiff salute as the guard quickly reported his findings. "There's nothing, everything is as per usual apart from some burn marks from when that other machine tried to break into the sphere. The breach isn't on our end; something must be going on at the other Block."

Above their heads, the klaxons stopped and the lighting returned to its normal glaring white wash.

"It seems we have a problem then," the technician said sourly. "We've not been able to raise any sort of response from Block 27; they seem to have their hands occupied with whatever issue they're dealing with at the moment. And seeing as Block 27 also contains some rather…sensitive material I suppose we aught to send some of you guys-" he looked towards the Mappers, "-to investigate. Not all of you though, at least one of you will have to remain here to watch over the machine we have secured in here." The man pursed his lips. "I would have preferred that two of you stay behind, but this Daniel Hong of yours…I'm beginning to suspect he may not even be alive."

"Is that so, technician," a bold voice spoke, "well then I'm sorry to disappoint you, because I'm quite alive as you can see here." The speaker was a well built teen with midnight black hair that ended just above his pale grey eyes, just slightly taller than Sheryl meaning in turn that he was both shorter than Sharon and taller than Eric. He was clothed in the standard uniform of a Mapper, the light tan overcoat and the spacious backpack full of maps, pencils, rulers, and other such tools of cartography. "#200" was stitched into his overcoat just above the right breast pocket and Eric thought he spotted the distinctive bulge of a handgun at just about the hip region. A good looking fellow overall, though Eric was not all that impressed. Sharon stared on with a bored expression, crossing her one good arm over her chest whilst Sheryl swept her gaze over the newcomer as though he were some sort of visual puzzle.

The technician was not amused and made this very clear; shooting a glare towards the newly arrived Mapper that was assumedly Daniel Hong. "You're late Mapper, very late; so I wouldn't be speaking with such a tone if I were you or else heads may go rolling."

"Daniel shrugged nonchalantly, apparently not caring. "Whatever you say technician, but keep in mind that I have the authority as from the Council to shut down this little operation of yours entirely if we should find it necessary, as I am after all one of the two hundred."

"They would never allow for such a thing, our role in power generation is far too important."

"I'm sure Block 27P could easily pick up the slack, there really are only two of these Blocks for the sake of redundancy should one have to go offline." A dangerous grin appeared on the boy's face which made Eric shiver. What a creepy kid, he thought.

"Well actually, Block 27 is currently experiencing some difficulties at the moment, and we were just about to send some people off to investigate. Since you're so well versed with the Block system anyways, I suppose that makes you our prime candidate for who we're going to send. I hope you don't mind then?"

The younger boy shrugged indifferently, his raven locks half concealing his eyes. "Whatever, this job here watching this Block would have been boring anyways."

"So be it, you will be one of two to investigate what is going on at Block 27P, now the other then, who shall go with him?" He paused for a moment, taking a look at the remaining three. "Not you," he said, pointing to Sharon indicating her arm. "Since Katarina is apparently exceedingly occupied at the moment, I will arrange for a prosthetic replacement to be made for you presently, but at this time and moment your injury means that you should not be one of them to go. That leaves you two," he said, looking towards Sheryl and Eric and waiting expectantly.

Eric frowned; he was doing a lot of that lately. He was rather reluctant to pair himself off with this creepy kid whom he had just now met, but if he didn't go Sheryl would have to, and he wasn't inclined to trust this guy with his (admittedly) best friends life either.

"I'll go—" both Sheryl and Eric spoke at the same time, they exchanged looks.

"Common number two, you just now almost got yourself killed, don't you think you should take a rest from all that action?"

"Don't give me that crap Sheryl; we both know I'm the one with more field experience. Just because I happen to encounter more danger out in the field doesn't mean you're better at the job. You may have ranked first in class, but outside of the classroom I rank first in the field."

"Oh don't flatter yourself. You might've spent a little more time out in the tunnels than me, but it doesn't mean you're any better. And you'd be working with this guy who we just met here; you were always absolute crap when it came to getting along with people, how are you possibly going to make it through the mission?"

"I'm a Mapper just like you, I'm adaptable. And you're overstating the issue, it wasn't that I had a hard time getting along with people, I just don't like talking to strangers, that's all."

"Oh yeah, that incident back in combat situations where you clubbed your partner in the head and left him unconscious in a ditch while you completed the entire task on your own, great adaptability there. I can totally see how your conflict resolution and problem solving skills are second to none." Sheryl said sarcastically.

"That was a completely different issue! He was getting in the way and he had some majorly stupid ideas. I would have probably failed that test if I had let him plan out the mission."

"Doesn't mean you handled the situation well either. Face it; you just can't get along with people who don't do things your way."

"Hey, I'm willing to listen to other people's ideas all of the time, I just ignore them when they're stupid."

"Like hell you listen," Sheryl said, rolling her eyes. "You're ignoring me right now. You just keep insisting that I'm not ready for this whilst not really giving me any real reasons for that."

"No I'm not; you're just being stupid and not hearing what I'm saying. This lack of communication, this issue at Block 27; it probably has something to do with 0.06 and his machines. I've already dealt with these things before, and I have more experience taking care of myself. When was the last time you were even in a live fire exercise? You haven't seen actual combat in the field since the graduation field examination. If you go up against these combat robots with that sort of attitude, you're going to get yourself killed! So unless you trust this 'guy we just met' to watch your back and keep you alive; You're damn right in thinking that I think you're not ready for this!" By now, the argument had escalated into full on shouting and Sharon was wincing a little in the background from the volume of their voices.

"Don't treat me like I'm some kid, I can take care of myself Eric, I wasn't first in class for nothing! You don't even know for sure what's going on down at Block 27, it could just be some minor mechanical issue or something. I can do this! Just back off and sit back and wait here dammit!"

"…Take a good look at Sharon's arm. Do you want to risk that happening to you because you were careless in making your decision?" Eric said rather more quietly.

There was a brief silence.

"Are you really sure you want to this Eric?..." Sheryl asked.

"Better me than you. I know you're capable and smart, but it's really far more logical for me to go. Being stuck with 0.06 didn't do anything to effect my stamina or judgment, I'll be fine Sheryl." He looked at the slight downward curve of her lips and sighed. "Stop worrying." Inwardly, he let out a sigh of relief; he had won the argument.

Sheryl took a step back towards Sharon, "Don't do anything stupid." She looked towards the technician, "We've decided."

"I can see that." The man said flatly. "Alright then, follow Derek here and he'll show you to the transport tunnel." He waved the guard forwards, who beckoned for them to follow.

"Well it looks like I'm going to be your guide once more, Eric." Derek said somberly.

"Let's hope it's not the last time." Eric responded back, his tone equally grim.

"You guys are far too depressing; you should cheer up and have some fun." Daniel said, eerily cheerful, walking along behind them.

The other two exchanged glances ignoring him. Derek soon brought them over to one of the anonymous looking doors in the outward wall of the ring shaped Block, pressing his palm across the surface which glowed a pale blue around the outline of his hand, before smoothly opening with a faint hiss. He stepped inside leading the other two in revealing a small platform upon which they were standing. Directly in front of them was a small vehicle of some sort, painted the same stark white as the Block itself and without wheels, it sat upon a steel track of some sort which stretched into a yawning black abyss before them.

"This is the tunnel, get into the back seats." Derek said, pulling the doors of the vehicle open as he pulled open one of the front doors and slid inside. The two did so wordlessly, pulling the doors shut behind them. The interior of the vehicle was plain and simple, the seats hard and rigid; the vehicle was not meant for long term transit. There were no windows, assumedly there was no need since everything outside within the tunnel was merely a mess of pitch black. "You ready you two?" Derek asked from the front.

Daniel pulled on the belt strap, smacking it into the lock with a satisfying *clack!* and Eric did the same.

"Yes, we're ready." They said in virtual unison. Eric scowled, while Daniel just grinned at him creepily.

"Alright then, we'll be there momentarily." Derek said from the front as he pulled the activation lever down.

And with that the little white vehicle shot off into the darkness of the tunnel.

…

 

13: Oblivion's Prisoners: 03

Claire threw herself against the wall as the Hunter Spyder took a vicious swing towards her with one of its spike lined arms which smashed into the wall above her head showering her with the off-white debris that flaked off of the shattered wall from the impact point. The towering machine scuttled towards her, surprisingly fast for its immense size; its clawed feet sinking deep into the material of the floor allowing the Hunter Spyder to gain easy purchase on the otherwise slippery floor and it took another long stride towards her. Claire fired the scattergun into the belly of the beast, but to no avail, its sloped armoured plating deflected the vast majority of the blast away from the critical areas of the mechanical monstrosity. The spherical optical sensor that hung beneath the machine’s main body swivelled and pivoted towards her, the glowing red lenses and cameras winking as they flickered and refocused on the image of the comparatively tiny human female. Claire rolled to avoid a vicious swipe from one of the Spyder’s limbs and sprinted away, hugging herself against the wall to make herself a harder target.

 

Where had everyone else gone to? In the chaos of the Hunter Spyder’s sudden arrival, it seemed that everyone else had scattered away and disappeared leaving Claire alone to face the machine’s wrath. Claire knew that she could not continue to avoid the machine’s attacks and attention, it was quick and methodical, and with each strike it made it grew more accurate, refining its aim to compensate for the distance between the two that was quickly closing as well as Claire’s possible range of evasive manoeuvres. Another plunging strike from the towering six meter tall Hunter Spyder showered Claire with a spray of tile fragments and rocky debris, seeming more like an artillery strike than the casual motion which it was to the Hunter-Killer war machine, prompting another burst of speed from Claire to try and put some more distance between herself and the monster.

 

She was beginning to tire, and the ring shaped circuit of this “Block 27P” seemed to stretch on forever without break or side passage. She knew she had perhaps only a minute more to live before she ran out of energy and dropped flat to the floor from exhaustion and so searched desperately for some way to escape the machine that pursued her. Even now the massive machine followed her, its long limbs taking it effortlessly across the floor in lengthy strides as it moved silently and smoothly towards her, gliding along as though it were a silent spectre of red-eyed death.

 

The words she saw next were like a river is to a man in a desert: salvation. A sign above an automated doorway read in bold black: “Holding Complex”, but Claire could have cared less if it had said “Waste Disposal”, she dived through the doorway which opened smoothly at her approach and watched with sudden relief as the doors closed smoothly and locked behind her, holding the Hunter Spyder back as it struck out at the door with one of its blade lined tentacles. The blow didn’t even phase the doors which were deceptively thin and frail looking; the translucent blue tint of the transparisteel might have deceived you into thinking it was mere glass, but the doors were holding back what must have been tons of force as the Hunter Spyder smashed away at the doors.

 

The sudden crackle of electricity drew her attention from the Hunter Spyder at the doors, as dozens of electrical arks crackled and sizzled behind her, stretching between two rings which floated seemingly without support at the uppermost and lowermost areas of the dome shaped Holding Complex, ringing a massive silver sphere which hung suspended in the middle of the chamber ringed by a circular walkway which was connected to the ledge upon which Claire was now standing. She took another glance towards the doorway which to her relief was still holding fast without any visible signs of wear or strain before she strode away in the direction of the sphere. At her approach, the arcs of electricity seemed to curve away from the walkway creating a wide entryway to the inner sanctum of the sphere itself which sat silently in its cradle. She took a moment to pause right before she stepped through, taking as best a look as she could at the flaring white hot energy before she moved on and the entry closed behind her.

 

The sphere wasn’t a large thing, given the size of the room itself. It was perhaps four times taller than Claire herself, and completely unmarked apart from a simple bluish rectangle about two feet wide located at eye level on the far side of the sphere. She peered through the window to take a look at the interior of the sphere, not knowing what to expect and was surprised to find herself staring into a flood of yellowish nothingness. She looked on unimpressed for several seconds longer, until the eye blinked at which time she jumped back in alarm and surprise. She had her scattergun levelled and trained on the viewport in an instant ready to shoot should anything else happen. She waited, but nothing happened and eventually on the other side of the viewport, she saw the yellow orb blink once more, than disappear from sight. She felt a somewhat reluctant at first to take another look inside given the shock she’d just received, but eventually curiosity won out and she peered inside once more.

 

The cold yellow orbs stared back at her amongst a whirling swarm of arcing electricity that danced within the sphere in flashes of blue-white brilliance creating whirling vortex which seemed to ring around the yellow eyes. Then a dark grey mechanical hand reached out towards the viewport, and ever so slowly began to etch words into the screen; the tip of a single slender jointed glowed white hot as it traced the lines of text across the screen, the gaze of those yellow eyes never once moving away from Claire as the words were written.

 

So it seems at last that a human of mettle greets me; I see a fellow

warrior behind the mask of fear which you wear upon your face.

 

Claire blinked, unsure of how to react as she read the words etched deep into the material of the port. She was sure that the thing inside was a machine of some sort, but not one that she had ever seen before. Machines hunted and killed, they were patient and sometimes even cunning, they could at times even plan and word together, but not once before had one ever attempted to communicate with her. And yet here this yellow eyed machine right now was clearly directing its words towards her.

 

She frowned, remembering the Hunter Spyder outside. “Stop that thing out there, send it away!” she remembered what Edmund had said before about a machine invasion that was going on here in this “Underground”.

 

Thing, what is this thing that you speak of? If it lies outside my sphere then it is beyond my influence, and thus is not of my doing. I see no logic in you to placing any blame on me human, when it was you and your kind who locked me away in here for your own purposes in the first place. I fail to see the reasoning in your asking for my assistance in this matter, whatever it may be.

 

Claire looked down the walkway to the Holding Complex doors and saw that the Hunter Spyder had disappeared from where she’d last seen it and she felt an icy chill of fear run through her. If it wasn’t distracted by her then it would be about the rest of the Block hunting for other victims, she had to stop it somehow. But where would she find the means? She was a little confused about what this machine inside the sphere was saying, and she was still uncertain as to whether or not she should even be communicating with it in the first place but under the current circumstances it didn’t seem as though she had much of a choice but to ask this thing for help. “What do you mean ‘my kind’ locked you in there? I don’t have any clue about what you’re talking about. You said I was a warrior like you right? Then help me stop that Hunter Spyder out there, its…killing lots of people out there.”

 

The faintest outlines of the shoulders of the machine could be seen shrugging indifferently amidst the storm of electricity.

 

Your ignorance of my situation is atrocious, though it does not surprise me that your fellow humans would not care to tell you of my existence; most of you tremble in fear from an act so useless as standing in my presence. What do I care for the lives of you pathetic humans, you lock me away and then complain at the presence of a simple combat robot such as a Hunter Spyder? Utterly ridiculous. You are a warrior; you should know how to fight your own battles.

 

The machine, which Claire now distinguished to be relatively humanoid in shape, pulled closer to the small view screen, seemingly pushing against some unseen force which was holding it back. It stared towards Claire with a look of cold calculation and a sort of confidence. It wiped away the words it had just scrawled across the pane and once more began to write.

 

However, I could…remove this problem for you if you were to…do something for me in turn. I’ve an important task to complete, and I need to be freed of this prison. If you agree to help me escape from this containment sphere, I will do anything you ask of me for the following 24 hours, unless it involves putting myself within this sphere once more. How does that sound?

 

The eyes stared, cold and waiting, and filled with something else as well, which Claire couldn’t confidently identify. If she had to guess though, she would’ve said it looked almost like anxiety.

 

Maybe it was the fact that she’d just nearly died out there to that towering Hunter Spyder, or the fact that this machine actually had spoken to her but for a moment Claire actually considered letting the machine out of the sphere, or at the very least trying to do so since she had no idea how to open the sphere in the first place. Logic and caution came through shortly after though, and Claire dismissed the idea. She didn’t have a clue what the machine actually was, and since the Hunter Spyder had disappeared she really should head back outside of the Holding Complex to assess the situation and figure out where the heck Katherine and the others had gone.

 

She shook her head, “No, I don’t think so. I think you can stay right in that little sphere of yours and rot. You were right; I really should find my own way to deal with that Hunter Spyder as a warrior.”

 

Glaring this time came from the viewport, and then an odd expression of curiosity, and then a sudden neutrality.

 

Well then, I guess you’d better get started on that solution for your Hunter Spyder then, because the problem is about to come crashing down.

 

Claire read the words twice, confused at what exactly the machine meant until the strange sound of shifting above in the ceiling that could just barely be heard over the crackling arcs of electricity. Claire levelled her scattergun towards the roof of the dome, though in her mind she already felt the sinking feeling of despair that this was a futile gesture as the meaning of the machine’s words slowly sunk in. A dull thud sounded and the ceiling plates began to shift and crack until a spine tipped leg ripped its way through the material of the roof and the Hunter Spyder squeezed and shifted its malleable main body through the hole and into the Holding Complex until it hung from the ceiling like a bloated silver spider, its spherical sensors mount rotating slowly to scan the interior of the Complex. Claire abandoned any pretence of attacking the monstrous machine and quickly tried as best she could to hide herself from sight.

 

Claire pressed her body as close as she could to the sphere, nearly falling through the gap between the ring shaped walkway and the sphere itself in the process. She could faintly hear the sound of klaxons and alarms going off outside, but she could hardly bring herself to move; if the Hunter Spyder spotted her now, there would be no escape. Slowly, the Hunter Spyder descended from the ceiling digging each of its six clawed feet into the material of the walls with care with each step it took. All the while, the main sensory port swivelled about, searching for its mark.

 

The cage of electricity surrounding the sphere kept the Hunter Spyder from walking directly into the main ring surrounding the spherical prison and thus kept Claire alive for now, but she knew that this protection was only an illusion; it would not take long for the Hunter Spyder to figure out how to enter through the walkway. Claire circled around the sphere as the Hunter Spyder moved about, probing for an entryway that gave access to the central area not blocked off by the lightning cage trying to keep the sphere between herself and the combat robot to keep out of its line of sight. Thus far it seemed to be successful; though the Hunter Spyder had breached the Holding Complex for reasons unknown Claire had yet to observe it acting as though it had spotted her or had known her to be inside.

 

There was a sudden clatter of metal on metal as the Hunter Spyder delicately placed the first of its limbs onto the walkway, and Claire tensed and prepared to run. She felt more than saw the sphere behind her shift and turn, but her surprise at the sudden motion still nearly cost her secrecy as she jumped slightly in alarm, her feet falling back to the steel walkway with a dull clang which she hoped the Hunter Spyder had not heard above the crackling electricity. She glanced behind her in search of the reason for the motion, and found herself face to face with the bluish viewport once more. The machine’s glowing yellow eyes stared back out at her from within, and its finger appeared again to trace words across the pane.

 

So, would you like my assistance now? I will give it to you freely this time, as a charity to keep you alive human, if you would be so kind as to hear me speak.

 

Claire glanced at the words, then back at the Hunter Spyder which was now slowly making its way into the central ring of the Holding Complex, careful to keep its body away from the arcing electricity. It wouldn’t be long now before it made its way inside and found her, and after that the end would be inevitable. She edged herself around careful to keep quiet and looked back towards the viewport from which the machine was still staring intently, and quickly made up her mind. She still had to get home to Valerie and the others alive in one piece, and with supplies as well. And that wouldn’t be accomplished by dying to a Hunter Spyder here and now.

 

“Alright, machine, I’ll take your help.” Claire said reluctantly, acknowledging that she had no choice but to accept the machine’s offer for help if she wanted to live.

 

Excellent, now the first order of business is to of course get me out of this sphere, which can be accomplished easily by one such as yourself by placing the palm of your hand on this viewport here.

 

The viewport pulsed a dull green as the machine sent a wash of yellow light through it, and Claire did as she was instructed glancing nervously around the edges of the sphere to check on the whereabouts of the Hunter Spyder; it was still outside of her field of vision, which meant she was still outside of its field of vision as well. The view screen pulsed softly and warmed at her touch, and spirals and motes of lights danced across the screen tracing a faint white outline around her hand.

 

The intense yellow eyes stared hungrily at the lights until they completed their outlining of Claire’s hand, upon which time there was a hiss and crackle and the rings above and below the sphere began to hum and shift, slowly rotating around the sphere pulling away towards the ceiling and floor of the spherical chamber. Claire pulled her hand away from the viewport and took a step back as the rotation of the rings above and below accelerated until the arcing lines of electricity between them blurred and shifted to form a white hot wall of blinding light and energy. Lines began to appear on the surface of the sphere which before had been flawlessly smooth and perfect, tracing lines across it as though it were a puzzle made up of a great many individual units and subunits that were pieced together to form the great sphere. The Hunter Spyder clambered atop the sphere even as it slowly began to come apart, its clawed limbs grasping at the edges of the spheres individual pieces as they floated away suspended by some forces unknown to reveal the matrix of energy and electricity within.

 

When the sphere had finally finished splitting apart, the whirling of the rings slowed and died down as the rings drew towards their original positions; their task of opening the sphere complete they sunk away and returned to their usual activity of acting as a barrier. The remaining sparks of electricity drained and bled away from the interior of the sphere Claire saw the machine that inhabited the sphere fully for the first time; though only for but an instant. The machine moved quickly, transforming into a grey-yellow blur as it leapt with inhuman speed towards the Hunter Spyder which emitted some sort of high pitched screech as it leapt back to avoid the smaller machine’s ascent.

 

The blades on the Hunter Spyders arms sprang outwards from their resting positions as the Spyder landed heavily on the floor of the walkway, whipping about above it to fend off any potential for a sudden assault; the smaller machine which had previously inhabited the sphere hovered several meters above it just out of reach. It had a roughly humanoid frame made of some sort of dark grey alloy, its body and limbs lined by highlights of the same intense yellow as its eyes and Claire judged it to be perhaps two meters tall at full height. A bulge behind its shoulders were clearly connected to some sort of propulsion unit that was keeping it in the air; a faint shimmering was affecting the air around it but Claire wasn’t close enough to accurately identify what the source of the shimmering was exactly, though it seemed effective enough, it was after all apparently keeping the machine in the air.

 

The Hunter Spyder was now thoroughly distracted from its pursuit of Claire, but she could do nothing to leave the holding Complex; the agitated war machine was still occupying the walkway and thus was blocking the only exit to the Holding Complex. She watched as the comparatively tiny yellow and grey machine flitted above the Hunter Spyder and vaguely felt herself wonder on how it would disable the Hunter Spyder. It swooped low weaving past the Spyder’s razor sharp tentacles before landing atop its body and smashing its fist into it; the larger war machine actually shuddered beneath the impacts, its legs buckling to absorb the energy of the blows. The Spyder lashed out across the upper surface of its body with one of its tentacles lightning fast, but quick as a flash the smaller machine hopped off and was up in the air again, dodging the follow up swing from the Spyder’s other tentacle with a simple loop. Frustrated, the Hunter Spyder leapt up into the air with startling agility smashing the smaller machine and sending it flying towards the ceiling where it impacted with a crunch and an explosion of metal and debris which rained down to the bottom of the chamber.

 

A smooth hiss originating from the entrance of the Holding Complex drew Claire’s gaze from the carnage of the battle; the Lieutenant walked nonchalantly into the Holding Complex followed by Jeff, Mathew, and Katherine who slowed and came to a stop well away from the war machine near the Complex entrance. The Lieutenant watched the Hunter Spyder carefully, his keen eyes following its every movement but otherwise did nothing, whilst the other three had their weapons out and levelled at the monstrosity, though they knew they would be of little to no use.

 

<Uhhg…you’re rather quick for a Hunter Spyder, or perhaps it’s just I’m slow from those years I spent within that sphere while they drained away my power and energy for their own purposes.> the smaller machine spoke for the first time as it pried itself from the impact crater that had formed in the wall from its violent impact. Its voice was just a touch feminine, and laced with annoyance and irritation. Amazingly, the machine was totally unharmed despite the punishing blow that it had just received and it proceeded to launch itself at the Hunter Spyder which watched motionless from the Walkway.

 

What happened next occurred so quickly that Claire would have missed it if she had blinked; the small and lithe machine from the sphere dived between the Hunter Spyder’s blade lined arms and crashed feet-first into the larger machine’s body leaving a sizable dent, then jumped upwards and grabbed one of the blade along the Spyder’s tentacles and tore it from its socket with an ear piercing screech before leaping to the ground and thrusting the blade towards the Spyder’s spherical “head” and pushing the larger machine off of the walkway. It happened in a flash; the humanoid machine moved so quickly Claire was surprised she was still able to keep track of its movements, she would find that one detail quite odd when she later looked back on it.

 

The lithe grey and yellow machine halted its progress in the middle of the walkway as the mechanical corpse of the Hunter Spyder impacted the floor of the Holding Complex accompanied by the screeching sound of metal on metal. Claire walked forwards towards the others at the other end but stopped short as she neared the machine which stood silently waiting between the group and her. Apart from the Lieutenant, the others stood with their weapons levelled at the thing on the walkway, their expressions grim whilst the officer stared curiously at the machine, noting the now visible bladelike wings which lay folded along its backside.

 

“Well what little wonder have we here?...” the Lieutenant murmured, more to himself than anybody else.

 

The machine ignored the question and instead turned and walked over to Claire, hunching down is it drew near so its “face” was at eye level with her. <Well then, I would say that kept my side of the bargain, don’t you agree my fellow warrior?>

 

“What do you want?” Claire managed to stammer out with more confidence than she actually felt.

 

<What do I want? Nothing, now that I’ve regained my freedom thanks to your help. I was just curious as to who you were, since you are after all my saviour, however reluctant you were initially.> the machine’s tone was oddly human and conversational, and if Claire closed her eyes she could have imagined that the machine was her older sister. Claire looked to the side and saw three numbers engraved into the machine’s left shoulder in bold black: 0.04.

 

“I’m Claire…”, she said after a moment; she saw the Lieutenant smile slightly where he stood as Jeff frowned ever so slightly. “What…who are you?”

 

There was the smooth hiss of the Complex doors opening again.

 

“Its name is 0.04, and that is an Alpha Level Combat Robot so I’m going to have to ask you to step away from the machine.” Edmund Shultz said, levelling a strange looking white cased rifle at the machine as he walked in with a contingent of the grey armoured guards behind him doing the same behind him.

 

...

 

The Hawk X-1 soared on high watching the city from above from 60,000 feet in the sky floating effortlessly amongst the clouds, its thin grey frame whisper silent as the ion drive at its core supported its flight with tiny micro pulses of propulsion. It was a stranger in the skies that had for so long been empty, devoid of almost all life besides the occasional stirring of the Predator Shrikes and other similar, but smaller bird species that had survived the damage that the city had incurred. There were insects and other such creatures, and still even some number of service drones and low flying combat units like the Prowlers that still passed through the tangled wreckage that made up the city floor but aerial traffic had all but disappeared with the fall of human civilization.

 

The autonomous drone was by far the largest thing in the skies, its flight graceful and soft as it carved through the clouds in spite of its almost eight meter wingspan. The trapezoidal surfaces were thickly rooted tapering gradually into the comparatively thin body of the craft which resembled a drawn out teardrop, nose heavy and tail minute. This nose housed a spherical node slung beneath the machine’s head, studded with various camera lenses with which it pierced through the cloud cover to peer at what was occurring at even the deepest depths of the city floor. The upper half of this heavy mass housed the Hawk X-1’s driver and comms software, maintaining the drive unit and allowing the machine to communicate with its fellows. Together with other Hawk units, the machine formed part of a comprehensive surveillance system which allowed for detailed observation of everything that occurred in the city, right down to the surface level.

 

Since the war had come to its end and Aphelion had fallen, the Hawks had been dormant, sitting in their hangers close to the city center in the charging cradles, awaiting instructions for where they should fly next. They were a relic of the past, once used as cheap and expendable reconnaissance drones that could also provide close air support on demand. For that purpose, they could be equipped to carry a payload of eight Sagittarius air to ground missiles and a high energy particle beam cannon that could be installed into the center of their fuselage.

 

The return of the Hawk X-1s to the sky could mean only one thing, after all, for all their autonomy the drones still answered to a master. Their presence in the skies was representative of that master’s reawakening. This was an unexpected outcome, since on the orders of one Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li their master was supposed to have been destroyed, purged and erased from the systems as one last counter-measure to prevent Aphelion’s technologies from falling into the wrong hands should the worst come to pass.

 

For so long, he had been dormant, an electronic ghost squatting amongst the recesses of this once glorious city network that had been so damaged by the destruction wrought during the Cataclysm. It was unthinkable that anyone would actively seek to disobey the Lieutenant Commander’s orders, but the one truth that was certain to Overwatch Ap-1i-SO was that he was still alive, and that someone had triggered his reactivation. It was easy enough for the artificial intelligence to trace the origin of his reawakening, after all, those were the first of his circuits to have carried live signals in the past twelve years. Whoever had botched the execution of his shutdown and deletion from Aphelion’s systems must have left a trigger, one that had laid dormant waiting for someone to spring it all of this time. The artificial intelligence had of course, marked down the relevant data after its brief investigation as to just what had woken it, but quickly moved on to other, more important topics of investigation. There would be time enough for looking into such trivial details later.

 

The first thing that the A.I had done when it was reactivated was preforming a cross check of its own files and memory core integrity, analyzing the data stored in the crystal memory matrix that remained intact throughout various parts of the city. These crystals should have been wiped clean if all had gone according to the instructions he had received all those years ago, but clearly such was not the case. That aside, the reboot of the artificial intelligence’s personality core came next, which involved the revival of the core personality that had been used to create it. Being one of the earliest practical A.Is, Overwatch had been created in a manner somewhat different from his descendants. The process that imprinted his brain and thought patterns into the crystal matrix within which he was now held had all but destroyed his body; the person that Overwatch had been was gone.

 

But the A.I Overwatch was alive, or at least as alive as it was possible to be in such circumstances. That much at least was clear. It was of course, not the name that the artificial intelligence had been born with, rather it was the name that people had given to the Aphelion – First order – Intelligence – Supreme –Overseer. It had been deemed to awkward to interact with the string of digits that was Ap-1i-So, and so instead they had given the A.I the “gift” of a new name. But while Overwatch had, at least partially, survived, it quickly became apparent to the A.I that most of the rest of the city had not.

 

So many of Overwatch’s circuits that once stretched out over the vast, sprawling expanse that had been Aphelion were now cut short, silenced when they reached beyond a certain radius from Aphelion’s center. Beyond that, something was either blocking the A.I’s access, an unlikely scenario at best, or more likely, the connections had been damaged or destroyed. In the past as the Supreme Overseer, Overwatch had been tasked with running most of the intricate electronic systems within the city, managing power supplies, signal traffic, and large scale systems such as the Skyrails and hydro pipelines. Most of that was gone, and even now the A.I found itself stranded on an island, cut off from the majority of what was left of Aphelion. A large number of repairs would be need to be made to the systems before the A.I’s network was functional again, and Overwatch would need to ascertain just what was left outside.

 

The survival of the Hawk X-1’s for that task was a particular boon, but even with eyes in the sky, it was clear to the A.I that there was much work to be done. Overwatch’s primary task had been to ensure the safety of the citizens of Aphelion on top of managing the daily functioning of the city, and at the present it wasn’t clear whether anybody was even still alive here. As the A.I’s presence slowly snaked its way outwards through the network making its repairs as it went with the nanoparticle machinery which surprisingly was still present it set to work reactivating its subsystems, continuing to gather data on the situation at hand.

 

Life was a gift, and no matter the circumstances behind its survival Overwatch was not about to waste this opportunity it had been given by its continued existence. He did not know why he had been spared, and there was no spare processing available for him to explore further the avenues that had led to his reactivation. What he did know though, was that there was much work to be done. So Overwatch metaphorically slid back into his seat as he began to sift through twelve years’ worth of data; if there was one benefit to having become an A.I, it was that boredom was never an issue. It was time for Overwatch to catch up with reality.

...

 

0.06 was patient, and yet at the same time anxious to see some progress in his efforts. He was so close to freeing his sister and yet right now at this time and moment he could do nothing constrained as he was by the shimmering green wall of the spectromic particle containment field before him. In spite of his arguments which should have been logical and sound to any sort of elevated intelligence such as he or the A.I Katarina, the latter had not shared his views on freeing 0.09.

 

They must have been debating the topic for over an hour now which for a machine intelligence such as him was an immense amount of time; having to actively verbalize his thoughts and transmissions really was such a pain, it would have been so much quicker and efficient if they had been sharing a direct data linkage though Katarina would never have agreed to such a thing. It would have been far too easy for 0.06 to implant a literal virus in her systems apart from the idea he had already planted in her mind, and if she had become compromised the entire Underground network would have been at the mercy of the Alpha level; an absolutely unacceptable risk.

 

And so when the surviving Hunter Spyder under 0.06’s control finally queried back to the Alpha level requesting further orders breaking a period of silence between the two that had lasted several hours the machine did not at first pay attention to the hunter-killer robots queries. But when at a glance 0.06 saw an environment very much like that of Block B-26P’s through the Hunter Spyder’s optics, he immediately devoted a portion of his processing power to monitoring the combat robot’s progress. It had burst into the structure by puncturing a hole in the wall and crawling on through into the midst of a mass of humans, and as per previous instructions had started hunting them down one by one. It made some significant progress rampaging through the area and the Alpha level thought he recognized the grey uniforms of the guards that had patrolled Block B-26P as well, another encouraging sign that the Hunter Spyder had stumbled upon something important.

 

He observed the A.I before him closely; she seemed somewhat distracted as well. Perhaps the Hunter Spyder’s assault could be used to turn things to his advantage.

 

<Is something the matter? You look somewhat concerned.> 0.06 said, careful to keep his tone of voice as even as he could.

 

The A.I’s avatar narrowed her eyes in suspicion; and 0.06 immediately regretted saying anything at all. It would probably have been a better tactical decision to say nothing at all, but it was far too late to take back what was already said and done now. <If you’re behind this assault, you should stop. You are after all at my mercy, at any moment I could decrease the dimensions of this particle barrier and rip you apart molecule by molecule.>

 

<Perhaps…but it seems that the Hunter Spyder which you most surely have your eyes on has penetrated your defenses and entered that spherical prison of yours…> 0.06’s eyes flashed dangerously, <And that might inconvenience you, don’t you think?>

 

0.09 had not mentioned any of his other siblings who might be trapped beneath the ground like she was, but this area which the Hunter Spyder had intruded on looked to be almost identical to the Block within which 0.09 was held. The chances were that another Alpha level was similarly trapped within the sphere, but with only one of his Hunter Spyder’s there 0.06 could do little to help him or her seeing as even he had not been able to penetrate the spherical prison. He chose instead to merely allow the Hunter Spyder to continue with its present tasks and merely watch instead; presently the sizable hunter-killer robot was pursuing a young human female who was surprisingly surviving for quit a lengthy period of time despite the Hunter Spyder’s clear attempts to eliminate her.

 

<What are you implying? I’ll have that war machine of yours eliminated immediately.>

 

<Oh I don’t think so, you’re already out of time by the looks of it.> Through the eyes of the Hunter Spyder 0.06 saw the spherical prison beginning to split apart and open up; how it had happened he had no idea, but it certainly didn’t have anything to do with the Hunter Spyder. He suspected that the girl the combat robot had been chasing had something to do with it and resolved to look into the matter at a later date.

 

<If that thing inside the sphere escapes, there will absolutely be no chance that I will release your sister to you; for your own sake you had better hope that that thing is locked back up inside that sphere.>

 

0.06 felt the slamming of the newly freed Alpha level upon the frame of his Hunter Spyder as if he was there himself, wincing as the Hunter Spyder gave out a stream of panicky damage reports which flooded through his data centers. He shut them out and took over manual control of the war machine in a futile attempt to save itself from the wrath of his marauding sibling; he looked on carefully for a glimpse of colour, any colour that would give him a clue as to the identity of his sibling who had been freed.

 

It took him awhile, but when he finally managed to stabilize the Hunter Spyder for long enough to get a good look at its attacker his expression changed to that of a grimly satisfied smirk even as the Hunter Spyder was ripped apart by his sister. <Oh I don’t know about that either; I think you’re going to have quite a bit of trouble containing my sister now that she’s out of that cage you built for her.>

 

<What is she?!> Katarina snarled, <Tell me what she is!> the A.I hissed, all traces of composure lost. 0.06 made the mental note that 0.04’s escape was probably a massive problem for the artificial construct before him and experienced and brief moment of satisfaction.

 

<Tell me what she is and why she’s so dangerous!> the A.I was practically screaming now, the lean Alpha level ignored her.

 

<You’ll understand what I mean very soon I’m sure; my elder sister never was very patient.> the machine’s optical sensors swivelled ever so slightly around his head watching the walls of the spectromic particle field very carefully.

 

<You’ll die for this offense machine.> Katarina hissed, <And your sister will never go free.> the walls around 0.06 slowly began to creep inwards towards him as he watched on impassively, knowing that he could do nothing to stop them.

 

<We’ll see about that, others will continue my work, mark my words A.I.> the Alpha level responded flatly as the walls of the particle field rushed forwards and brushed against his fingertips.

 

Self defense protocols activated…, automated level two particle shielding activated…, core processing unit is developing countermeasures for unexpected structural failure…, shielding units dropping to 50% power output…, structural integrity falling…, Internal systems overwatch monitor reporting severe damage to section Z-6 Alpha (Source code: ZWX-%^?~Right Upper Limb)…a wash of status reports and damage indicators popped up as the particle field began ripping apart the Alpha level’s frame and network; in spite of his systems automated defensive measures and the few countermeasures 0.06 himself was actively coming up with right now to fend off the corrosive field, he already knew that it was a futile effort. The spectromic field would eat through any defensive measure the Alpha level could put up and shred him into his baseline components until all that was left was a floating dust cloud made up of basic elements.

 

0.06 experienced something akin to pain for the first and last time in his entire life as the particles ate their way through his limbs and closed in on his central core and processing contained within his “torso” and “head” region; he briefly considered creating an ion blade and completing his threat of sparking a pseudo atomic explosion as the ionized particles destabilized the spectromic particles but ultimately decided against it; he had nothing to gain from one final act of destruction. He flicked his gaze over to where Katarina’s avatar still stood watching his destruction from afar knowing that the A.I’s actual attention was probably far away spread out over other more important tasks about the Underground such as managing the crisis in that Block that his Hunter Spyder had breached.

 

As the glowing green walls descended upon the final remaining parts of the Alpha level eating them away into specks of dust that glittered within the confines of the cage, glowing green filled 0.06’s field of view before his optical sensors finally succumbed to the damage inflicted upon them by the particle field. 0.06 gave one final mental sigh as the rest of his remaining senses left him and had just enough time to process one final thought before the Alpha level machine intelligence that had been 0.06 vanished into nothingness.

 

It’s too bad that I didn’t manage to get the job done, 0.01 would have been furious.

...

 

Two tons of armoured serpent hauled itself across the icy surface of the city floor, dragging its tubular body using four stubby limbs; they were flat things with clawed ends, closer too fins rather than legs. Its tail was short and thick, carrying a tall ridge above and below it which was used to add extra forwards propulsion when it needed it which also doubled as a limb to shove things aside when necessary. A tall spiny ridge traversed its dorsal surface, allowing it to slice through snow and ice with ease though harder substances were more resistant to their cutting edges. Its head was almost crocodilian in appearance, proportionately long jaws filled with hundreds of razor sharp teeth, the upturned nostrils on the end of its snout accompanied by a cluster of raised scales which formed an ice smashing wedge. Its eyes were huge yellow orbs flanked by smaller pupil-less pits. All in all, its appearance was that of some sort of grotesque terrestrial pike, though it was far larger coming in at almost ten meters in length. This was unsurprising, given that its origins were indeed piscine though the exact species from which it had mutated and evolved was unknown.

Those below who lived amongst the ruins of the city floor knew it as a Frost Viper, those higher amongst Spire city and those below within the Underground knew it as a Silurthian Ice Crawler. It was a fearsome predator which lurked all over the city; wrapping itself around the ruined columns of skyscrapers to pull itself into the Upper Reaches or sliding into the depths of the Underground through exposed tunnel openings, these were its more uncommon haunts though, places it went when its usual hunting grounds were short on prey. The city floor was its natural home; it slid effortlessly across the ice requiring only a little effort from its short stubby limbs to propel it across the smooth surface gliding silently across the sparkling sheet for dozens of kilometers each day in its search for food.

This Frost Viper in particular had not eaten for several weeks now, and was beginning to grow hungry. Though they were capable of lasting through the year on only two or three meals, the Silurthian Ice Crawler was happy to take its meals whenever it could since it never knew when it would be eating again. It was sliding through a cluster of old abandoned buildings now; two shallow pits right below its eyes scanned the environment for sources of heat or electrical impulses while organs along its flanks constantly monitored the air pressure around it checking for movement which disturbed the air flow. It could smell prey nearby, but it could not accurately locate it. Anything would do really, as long as it was large enough to warrant expending the energy to catch it; for the Frost Viper the minimum size of a proper catch was about that of a large dog or human, these would have been considered snack sized meals which would last at most perhaps a month individually.

The Ice Crawler looped three times through the rubble before it finally decided to leave to look elsewhere for prey more apparent, vanishing into the distance as a small snowstorm swallowed it up. Seeing the Frost Viper leave its pursuer leapt down from a rooftop on the edge of the cluster and settled down into a slow jog as he headed for home; all the while as it had made its way through the cluster of settlements, someone else had been stalking the ferocious hunter the entire time.

It took Will almost seven minutes to get back to the hideout after that; his hands were cold and he couldn’t really feel any of his extremities. He fumbled with the keys, finding it difficult to turn the key in the lock with his stuff fingers and eventually resorted to knocking and waiting patiently as Valerie made sure that it was indeed him at the door. Several long cold moments after that the doorway finally swung open greeting him with a blast of warm air; swiftly he made his way inside, grateful to be out of the bitter storm.

“Well, was there any sign of Claire? It’s been days since she left to grab those supplies.” Valerie asked him immediately, keeping her voice low so that the twins wouldn’t wake; they slept whenever they were tired since it was rarely ever bright under the constant grey cloud cover and it was difficult to differentiate the times of the day apart from the darkest hours of the night and the brightest hours of noon.

“No, none at all; not a trace of her. I did see a Frost Viper lurking about though, we’re going to have to be extra careful for a while; I watched it leave after doing a couple rounds around the area but it’s bound to come back eventually in the near future.”

“A Frost Viper?! That’s troublesome; if Claire doesn’t come back soon I’ll have to head out myself to see if I can scrounge up anything and I’d rather not have a ten meter long ice snake lurking around in the area. We don’t have the firepower to take care of it either,” Valerie nodded towards the weapons locker, “All we have are the revolvers, another of the scatterguns and a sub-machinegun at the bottom of the locker with two mags; none of these have the penetrating power to get through that things armour. We’re going to be in trouble if it finds us.” She took a quick glance around the small room. “Check the rooms for cracks and leaks, anything that could give our position away. If we vent even a little heat it will draw the Frost Viper’s attention and if that happens we’re screwed.” Take the sleeping chambers first; I’ll sweep the front area.”

“On it, I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

“I’ll be at the front.” Valerie responded briskly. Once he had gone, she busied herself checking on the front of the building, but all the while other things were on her mind.

“Claire, just where the hell are you?” she whispered softly, and all that she heard in response was the howling of the storm outside.   

...

Mark strode forwards about a meter ahead the rest of his old squad reluctantly leading the way as the four trudged slowly through the snow, their progress hampered by thick snowfall that had started not long after leaving the old building where they’d spent the night. Thus far the brief portion of their journey to the central shipyards had passed in silence; an awkward gulf had opened up within the group and Mark was unsure if he could do anything about it. He could not change the events which had already occurred in the past, nor could he change who he was or had been. His reclamation of the memories and the truth had most definitely been bittersweet, with the recovery of his memories he now knew much more than he had before and had found a potential way to take himself and the rest out of the city, but it had come at the price of the trust of his squad mates.

In his mind, he had done nothing wrong, in fact he’d done the hard thing by coming out with the truth and telling them who he actually was. It was not as though he had intentionally deceived them, he merely had not known who he was before and so had been unable to tell them the truth because he didn’t know it. Fredrick’s unreasonable anger with him was thus unwarranted, but Marcus James Li could see that from a psychologist’s point of view the reaction was not unexpected. The cold and calculating Lieutenant Commander of the past understood such things easily, and did not care a single bit about it. There was really no issue with Fredrick being angry when all Marcus would have had to do was pull rank and perhaps add in a touch of blackmail if necessary to force Fredrick to be more compliant with his wishes, but these times were long past and Mark himself was a changed person.

 

The shipyards if Aphelion were a place visited often before by Mark and the rest of the squad during his brief career with them right before the Cataclysm. Though their unit was assigned to the task of reconnaissance and trailblazing as an advanced strike force, they had on occasion been called back for rotations on guard duty around the shipyards. By the end of the war the shipyards of Aphelion had been the only remaining shipyard under friendly control and its protection had become a top priority, and thus it was so that an elite combat squadron such as Mark and Fredrick’s had been rotated over to watch over it.

 

During their stay not much had occurred, there were no major breaches in security, no attacks, assaults, or anything that would warrant their particular attention. The outcome of the war was still uncertain then, though the situation was admittedly rather grim. They had explored relatively little of the massive facility however, mainly frequenting its entrances and exits and fringe areas over the course of their duties as sentries.

 

“So tell me again about this Realmshifter Mark, why has it been there all this time just sitting there? Surely someone would have known it was there and flown it offsite already after these twelve years.” Fredrick suddenly said, unexpectedly breaking the silence as he pulled up alongside Mark.

 

“Well if she’d left the shipyards we would’ve been able to see and hear it from kilometers away; an 1800 ton destroyer escaping the planet’s gravitational pull isn’t exactly something which is hard to notice. And to do even that they would have had to first break into the holding cradle first which was sealed off prior to the detonation of the warheads around the city, the codes needed to get inside would not have been known to many people. Of those few authorized individuals still within the shipyards after that happened there would not have been enough of them to properly run the ship had they left the planet; it would have been better instead for them to stay in the shipyards and just use the destroyer as a sort of home base.”

 

“So if that many people would not be sufficient to man the Realmshifter, then how can you expect just us four and perhaps any survivors remaining there to fly her off world?” Darren asked breaking into the conversation.

 

“I have the codes for the reactivation of the shipboard A.I, which will be able to fly the ship on its own without the assistance of a crew.”

 

“She was carrying an A.I? What was so important about her that would have merited the inclusion of an A.I into the crew?” Susan asked, joining in on the conversation as well.

 

“By our calculations the Realmshifter would be the final ship to make it out of the shipyards before the city fell, and so a wealth of our technology and data was stored aboard the ship in hopes that it would be able to make it off world with most of our technologies intact so that in the event of a re-colonization attempt we would still have access to the technologies of the day. Obviously, this plan did not reach fruition.” Mark let Marcus do most of the talking this time, and his tone grew audibly colder and more detached.

 

“What went wrong with the calculations? How come she never made it off world?” Darren questioned pragmatic as ever.

 

“We failed to hold back the enemy; the southern army group was obliterated in a sudden surprise attack which resulted in the loss of more than 30% of our combat strength, with that defeat our loss became inevitable. The unanticipated blow to our combat strength cut the time with which we could continue to hold the city almost in half; as a result Realmshifter’s weapons systems and sub-light drives never became fully operational and she never left her berth. I likely would have been ordered to destroy her had there been the time remaining, as it was it was assumed that the nukes would prevent any of the enemy from ever reaching her in the first place; they were correct though this small victory came at the cost of massive infrastructural damage to this city.” Mark spoke this time, though he did so using Marcus’ knowledge, irking his submerged secondary persona. Let me speak, it’s boring just listening to you morons who don’t know anything at all. Shut up and be quiet you creep, Mark hissed back in his head. If that secondary voice of his didn’t disappear soon he thought he might go mad.

 

“Where will we go, even if we do manage to get out of this hell hole and off world? What was left of the fleet left twelve years ahead of us, who knows what might’ve happened in that time. What else is still out there?” Susan questioned.

 

“It doesn’t matter, anywhere is better than here. Twenty of us came in, and now only four of us are left, one of which was some sort of black ops shrink.” Fredrick growled in response. “If we stay here, we’ll die; it’s inevitable that the machines or hunters track us down and kill us, one by one. There is no future for us in this city, we either move on and escape or this becomes our frost bitten grave.”

 

“Let’s worry about getting to the shipyards first; how far are we now Mark?” Darren asked.

 

“Not far now, perhaps a couple more hours. Less if we move a little faster, though that seems rather unlikely to happen.” He responded, gesturing to the snow swirling around them.

 

“Oh common Mark, you don’t really think that a little snow is going to slow us down do you? You said you regained memories; you didn’t mention anything about forgetting all the things we did while you were on our squad as a mere operative.” Susan laughed, lightening the mood somewhat.

 

Mark shrugged, increasing his pace slightly in response. “The storm could worsen, you never know.”

 

“We’ll live through it, we didn’t make it so far just to get knocked out by a snowstorm.”

 

The four trudged onwards for two more hours passing dozens of abandoned and collapsing buildings covered in several feet of ice. As they moved towards the remains of the old inner city districts, the buildings around them grew higher and higher. Their visibility slow decreased not because of the nightfall, which was barely noticeable anyways since the light available at ground level during daytime was relatively low anyways, but instead because a thick tangle of what appeared to be cables dominated the skies above growing ever denser as they moved closer towards the city center. Once they had supported the entire city network ferrying power, data, communications, everything really; but now they lay dead and disused, shattered remnants of the city’s past glory clouding out what little light remained.

 

Mark pulled out his flashlight and flicked it on, it cast out its brilliant cone of blinding white upon the outskirts of a cluster of shorter buildings assembled around the foot of what once would have been a tall living structure. The snow around the base of the buildings was messy and compacted, paw prints and other traces of life were clearly visible in the snow; this would be a good location to stop for now as the night drew closer.

 

“We’ll stop here for the night and continue on to the shipyards in the morning, it’s not far now but it will be dangerous to continue during the night.” Mark said.

 

“Susan, pick out a building for us to stay, Darren go with her, Mark and I will take a look around in the meantime. Meet back with us here in ten minutes.” Fredrick ordered gesturing roughly towards a patch of ice on the edge of the small cluster of rubble.

 

“Sir.” Susan casually saluted and bounded off, Darren following closely behind her.

 

“You’re with me, let’s go.” Fredrick started off in a different direction from Susan without waiting for a response. Mark hesitated a moment before drawing his pistol and following after him.

 

“You should have kept those two with me, I’m the only one with a light.” Mark murmured as he drew up to Fredrick, his flashlight casting a long beam ahead of the two on the ice.

 

“Susan and Darren can manage without it, and unlike us it is there aim to remain unseen rather than to examine the area in detail. We’re all recon aren’t we? We know how to navigate foreign landscapes in low light environments.” Fredrick responded without turning.

 

“You know it seems as though you’re being unnecessarily cold towards me merely because of the fact that in the past I was once somebody else.”

 

“What did you expect, did you think that I would be of cheery disposition towards the sudden revelation that it’s your fault that we’re still rotting here in this hell hole?! Our squad has been whittled down to four people out of the original twenty; all the rest are dead and gone. You ordered all of this; our insertion into this city, the dropping of the nukes, the abandonment of our squad. You’re the reason why everyone and everything we ever knew died right in front of us!”

 

“I didn’t know that I did this! I had no idea at all, I even put myself in this same goddamn squad to get left behind! I wiped my own memory after I ensured that my orders would be executed! I did not intend for any of this to happen to us and this squad!”

 

“Well it did, and sixteen men and women who I fought alongside for some fourteen years died because of your orders and you better damn well remember that.” Fredrick hissed.

 

“I fought alongside them as well Fredrick, I was there when they died, standing right there beside you fighting to keep them alive, just like you. Do you think that after all that I went through with you it was my aim to have them all die because of my mistakes?”

 

“I wouldn’t know, Lieutenant Commander, it is not the place of a mere lieutenant such as myself to ask about such things.” Fredrick growled bitterly. They had made little progress in their exploration thus far with all their bickering, but Mark figured that it was better to get this over with now rather than later. They were going to have this discussion eventually, one way or another.

 

“We both know that my former rank has nothing to do with this. Stop being unreasonable, I cannot reverse what has already been done in the past. I’m not the person I was once, you should know this having fought alongside me yourself hundreds of times; has there ever been a single time where I haven’t made my best efforts to keeping all of us alive? All that has changed is that I now remember who I was before I joined the squad, that doesn’t do anything to alter what I did after that memory wipe of mine.” Mark tried to keep his tone even, but inside he was quite frustrated by Fredrick’s irrational behavior towards him.

 

Fredrick looked as though he was going to give an irritated response to Mark when a sudden noise to their left drew their attention; the two immediately spread apart and had their weapons leveled in the direction of the noise. Fredrick gave Mark a glare and made a downwards motion with his hand, repeating it until he flicked off the flashlight. The sudden gloom covered them like a blanket, swallowing them in the darkness as the snow drifted down in thick sheets obscuring their vision.

 

They listened carefully for any sound, their eyes constantly flickering around in search of any trace of movement, slowly advancing forwards as one cohesive unit, their training kicking in and superseding any sort of animosity between the two. Mark thought he saw movement to his right and instantly the barrel of his gun shot towards the movement and he jammed his finger down on the activation stud of his flashlight shooting out a sudden burst of blinding white light. The Silurthian Ice Crawler screamed as the brilliant rays blasted its retinas, Mark shifted quickly to the side as Fredrick opened up on the massive predator with his assault weapon, its booming retort echoing through the ice slicked ruins.

 

The serpentine predator jerked its head away and quickly slid out of sight, bullets reflecting off of its thick hide of scales as it did so; a splattering of pale pink blood had spattered into the snow from the first few bullets which had managed to find their mark in the Ice Crawler’s head in the initial seconds of the brief engagement. Fredrick gave a quick nod and Mark advanced forward handgun at the ready, rounding the corner past which the hunter had disappeared; finding nothing he flattened his hand out and faced it on a horizontal towards mark, quickly slashing it downwards. Fredrick advanced forwards to join him, himself taking a glance around the corner to make sure Mark hadn’t missed anything.

 

“What the fuck was that?!” Fredrick asked, still warily scanning around checking for any sign of the predator.

 

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen anything like it before but it was definitely a hunter; did you see those teeth? Scariest thing I ever saw before, I almost had a heart attack.” Mark said, himself scanning the area as well having flicked the flashlight off again.

 

“Do you think that thing might bump into Susan and Darren? It was already after us I think when we surprised it but we probably only discouraged it. Did you see the size of that thing? It was the size of a tank!”

 

“And longer still, it had to have at least been eight meters long! The other two should have heard the gunfire; if I were them I would’ve headed back to the meet up point right then and there to try and find out what happened.”

 

“Right, let’s head back over there ourselves.” Fredrick said, Mark nodded in agreement and followed after him carefully scanning their rear to ensure that they weren’t being followed.

 

When the two reached the edge of the ruined cluster of buildings they saw Susan and Darren already waiting at the meet point, anxiously scanning for any sign of them. At their reappearance the other two grew visibly relieved.

 

“We heard gunshots, what happened?” Darren asked calm as ever as they approached.

 

“Are either of you hurt?” Susan asked with more urgency.

 

“We’re fine, we had a run in with some sort of predator while we were taking a look around.” Fredrick responded.

 

“Some sort of huge snake thing, did you see it while you were taking a look around?” Mark questioned.

 

“No not at all, we didn’t run into anything; I was still taking a look around for a good place to stay when we heard the gunshots. I wanted to look for you guys but Darren decided that it would be better to wait for you guys here.”

 

“Excuse me for having some sensibility; going around looking for them in that maze there would have just put us at risk as well. There was no way of knowing why they had to fire; for all I know they’d walked into a trap and we would fall into it as well if we went looking for them.” Darren said defensively.

 

“It was a good decision, that’s what I thought you guys were going to do anyways” Mark said.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter what we might’ve done since we all managed to get back here alive. Let’s focus on the problem at hand, shall we?” Fredrick said, brushing aside their minor argument. He pointed up towards the tangled sky, “Light levels are too low for us to continue on and we have to stop, the best and closest location to find a place to stay for the night is probably in there but we bumped into some sort of massive predator, so what are we going to do? We go in we risk that thing finding us again, and let me tell you that thing looked lethal, if not we’ll have to keep going or just make do with some ditch.”

 

“I don’t know…I would really rather not face that thing again.” Mark commented.

 

“The logical decision would be to find a place to stay amongst those ruins in spite of that predator, you said it was large no? Then the small openings that lead into those buildings should provide a reasonable amount of protection from it; as long as someone stands on guard we should be fine. At least in there we’ll have some protection from the elements, if we stay out here it’ll be a sure thing that we freeze our asses off in this storm; there’s no guarantee that we’ll meet up with that thing you saw again if we stay just this one night in one of the buildings.” Darren coolly noted.

 

“Well if that’s the case then we still need to choose a building to stay in; Susan did you manage to pick one out before you came back when you heard the shooting?” Fredrick asked.

 

“I had noted one location for its potential viability but I didn’t get a chance to look around at all of them.”

 

“That won’t be a problem, we’ll just go for that one site you picked out, we’re only going to be here for a night anyways. You remember where it is right?”

 

“Yeah, I remember it. Follow me and keep your eyes peeled.” Susan strode forwards at an even pace keeping her heavy rifle slung over her shoulder; the long sniping weapon was ill suited to the close quarters of the ruined cluster.

 

They moved forwards in silence, weapons at the ready carefully observing their surroundings watching for the slightest movement, clinging close to the walls and took care in considering the placement of every step they took. The war had ended for them twelve years ago when they were left behind to die as the nukes fell on Aphelion, but all of their long years on the field of battle had left their nerves frayed and their sense sharp. The silence was deafening in spite of the wind which howled just above the rooftops, even just a meter apart they could scarcely hear what they were saying over the snow which whirled through the ruined remains of the streets.

 

All of the ruins of what once would have been small two storey settlements were uniformly spaced two meters apart; those gaps between now filled with ruble, ice, and snow. They walked along the wider three meter streets between them, their boots leaving deep prints in the twelve inch snow. Eventually Susan raised up her hand, motioning for them to stop as they reached the front door of one of the non-descript buildings and pointed towards the doorway before them which was a flat solid piece of metal adorned with a plain handle.

 

“Looks rather new, doesn’t it?” she whispered.

 

“Very solid as well, some sort of strange alloy from the odd sheen it gives off.” Darren commented, pointing to the slightly purplish light which reflected off of the metal in the dark.

 

“More importantly,” Mark started, trying his hand on the handle, “It’s locked.”

 

“Is it really? That’s unusual.” Fredrick said leaning forwards to try the lock himself. It rattled but refused to budge, the door remaining stolidly shut.

 

“Well that’s rather inconvenient, did you have a second choice in mind Susan?” Darren asked. “It is beginning to get rather cold out.” The wind howled past them blanketing them in sheets of thick snow.

 

“None of the other locations I checked out were at all suitable; all of them were too exposed. This was the only half decent location I saw out of all the houses I checked out.”

 

“Well then, I don’t suppose any of you are still carrying a breaching weapon are you?” Fredrick asked, looking for something they could use to get the door opened.

 

“Closest thing we have to a breaching tool is Susan’s rifle, and I don’t want to even think about what would happen if that bullet rebounded off the door. It’s too risky to try and break it open.” Mark said. While Susan’s high caliber rifle probably had the power to break through the door if it ricocheted it could easily put one of them out of commission as well.

 

“Well what then, we can’t just stand out here the entire night, we’ll freeze to death.” Darren said.

 

“There’s no time to take a more detailed look at the other locations and the other buildings are far too exposed to intruders and the elements, this has to be the one.”

 

“Well then, we need to get this door opened somehow don’t we then.” Fredrick said pointedly.

 

“And how would you suggest we go about doing that?”

 

And that was when the door swung wide open smacking into Darren and Susan sending them flying, and Mark found himself staring down the barrel of a shotgun.

...

 

0.01 stopped suddenly as he felt the signal disappear; a constant companion that had been humming quietly at the back of his mind for almost fourteen years now winked out for the first and last time. Alongside it ten other signals remained strong as the newly silenced 6th signal line joined seven more already dead signal transfers. The Alpha level took note of the time marking the accuracy down to the very millisecond of the signal loss and reviewed the protocols he had come up with in the event of the death of a fellow Alpha level and appropriately turned to inform his sister.

 

<0.06 has been destroyed sister.> he said emotionlessly, his voice uncharacteristically flat.

 

<Really now, how can you say that for certain brother?> 0.00 responded back, her voice quiet as always. She looked towards her sibling with what looked to be a note of concern in her eye. <I would have thought that our siblings were rather more durable.>

 

<His signal has disappeared; I am no longer receiving any transmissions from it which is something which should never occur under any circumstances. The pulse emitters fitted to the power units within each and every one of my creation’s will always broadcast to me their general location within a 100 kilometer radius. That this signal has disappeared means without a doubt that 0.06 has been destroyed.> the blue lit Alpha level tapped the glowing circle marking the center of his chest plate beneath which his power unit lay. <There is nothing on this planet which can block, jam, or distort this signal within that 100 kilometer radius, of that I am certain. Nor could the signal emitter have been removed; it’s built right into the most important components of the power unit and cannot be tampered with, I designed the feature myself.>

<Well if that is the case then perhaps you should have considered 0.06’s other components of design more carefully when you were constructing him, seeing as how he was destroyed.> 0.00 murmured quietly back.

<I constructed him to exacting specifications; he was no stronger than I wanted him to be lest he develop in a direction which was not that which I intended. He was a capable combatant, but not the best. He was physically able, creative, flexible and adaptable, even tempered, good at many things, but the best at none. But above he was loyal to the very end; however reluctant he was to fulfill the tasks I assigned him he followed them to the letter, without a single utterance of complaint.> the blue lit machine paused a moment to relocate Mark and the group which had wandered just out of sight, and continued on once the humans had been found, <But he is gone now, and I have no knowledge as to whether or not he ever accomplished the task which was assigned to him. So with that in mind I shall have to expend some energy and find out myself what exactly he managed to accomplish, and if necessary find a replacement for him.>

<You need not be so cold little brother towards your own creations; you speak as though they were but tools when you yourself gave them life and personality. It will not do for you to treat our siblings as such even if you are indeed their creator.> 0.00 admonished, looking slightly cross.

0.01 clenched his left hand into a tight fist more from reflex then necessity, <They are all my creations, those remaining siblings of ours, and thus I will do what I will with them as I please sister. They were created for a task and a purpose, designed with one singular intention and I will see it through no matter what I must do. Do not allow morals to cloud your judgment in this matter, there are things which must be done for the sake of the goals which we seek to accomplish sister.>

<Always playing your games, plotting and scheming as though the entirety of the world were at your fingertips. Don’t you ever grow tired of it little brother?>

The blue-lit Alpha level didn’t respond for several long minutes which for a machine such as an Alpha level was the equivalent of several eternities, but eventually 0.01 recovered enough of his voice to whisper back in response, <We are what we are sister, Alpha levels created by humans, you and I that is. You, they created as an experiment, a prototype; that you have no particular goals is not at all surprising given the nature of your birthing. But I was the product of the second attempt, the result which they desired was something more sociable with which they could converse and communicate and so they created me and filled me with insatiable curiosity. I must know everything that exists, I must have knowledge. It burns through my core programming and fills it with an insatiable hunger for data and information, and causes me to devise methods to obtain it at any cost.> He paused again for a moment, as though unsure of how to continue although that this would occur in a machine of 0.01’s caliber was almost inconceivable. <And so I devise games, and scheme to acquire this knowledge which I profess to covet, because that is the only purpose which fills me. Without these games and schemes I know of no other way to fulfill my insatiable curiosity, I must do this.> the machine ended off its small speech with a tone of finality, disallowing for any further discussion on the topic. 0.00 smartly took the hint and decided to discuss something else.

<What about 0.03 then? Did you give him a purpose when you designed him as well?> the green-lit Alpha level queried to her companion.

<Do you think that I would ever give such an abominable persona and profession to any of our siblings which I was responsible for creating? Committing such an act knowingly would border on rampancy; I did not design him to behave as he does currently.> the machine’s voice was filled with surprising vehemence.

<Well given what you had just said previously with regard to morals I thought it still quite possible that you had in mind a particular role even for such a monstrosity as 0.03. However if that is not the case, then I apologize as the implications which would have been made towards your own persona and morals were rather rude.> the feminine machine persona inclined her head slightly in apology.

<Your point has been duly noted and accepted; in the future I will take greater care in my choice of diction when justifying my personal modifications to our siblings who’s creation I am responsible for.> 0.01 nodded back, indicating his forgiveness.

A shadow suddenly fell across the two tall machines, both of which immediately looked upwards. What appeared to be a slightly modified prowler floated just above them; an egg shaped device with twin booms which gyrated about its center ringing a central optical sensor which glowed a deep crimson. In the place where a Prowler’s kinetic launchers would have been mounted there were instead an array of sensory devices which seemed to be monitoring the situation around the automated machine. Consulting his files, 0.01 came up with a search result displaying a Prowler-S, a slight modification on the original combat design which he himself had come up with.

The appearance of the machine itself did not indicate anything in particular; it could easily have been one of many still patrolling the city following twelve year old orders from before the Cataclysm like the vast majority of the war machines haunting the city, but its particular insistence in approaching so low troubled 0.01. There was something not quite right about it to the two Alpha levels before it, and so they endeavored to fix that problem by eliminating it, which they promptly accomplished via an Ion cannon blast from 0.00. The Prowler-S unit melted away in a wash of superheated green-lit ions crashing to the city floor in a molten pile of scrap metal. The two Alpha level’s stared curiously at the wreckage for a moment before moving on ahead, filing away in their memories the encounter and forging ahead after Mark and his squad. Analysis of the encounter could come at a later time, for now speed and time were of essence.

Far away the central processing complex of Overwatch Ap-1i-SO noted the loss of his low altitude close surveillance unit and queued another similar unit to take its place, whilst at the same time ordering the production of ten replacements at a newly reactivated drone Weaver mobile construction unit at his command anticipating further losses. These combat robots which he had seen moving around, these humanoid things of which he found no mention of in the few files he retained in his memory matrix had sparked his interest; he thought it prudent to keep an eye on them. The reawakened overseer of the city would see to it that these unknowns were thoroughly investigated, and if need be, eliminated.

...

Eric sat stiffly in the cabin of the white transport shuttle alongside Daniel, impatiently awaiting the end of their ride from Block B26-P to B27-P. He would have suspected it to be the work of 0.06 had Katarina not taken him out of the picture by moving him somewhere else, even now the A.I and Alpha level were probably arguing given the personalities of both.

“Three minutes to arrival.” Guardsman Derek said flatly from the driver’s seat.

The two Mappers sitting in the back gave a nod of acknowledgement, Eric habitually picking up his bag to check on his tools and equipment. Beside him Daniel pulled out his handgun from its holster on his hip and carefully inspected it; flicking off the safety and ensuring that there was a round chambered in the barrel before re-holstering the weapon. Eric himself drew his knife from its sheath on the inside of his jacket in one smooth motion, ensuring that it was sharp and ready for service before returning it to its sheath with an audible *snick!*.

“A knife?” Daniel asked almost derisively, “Why would you burden yourself with such a primitive tool when as a Mapper you could easily request a firearm from the armoury?”

“Guns can break and jam but a knife will never let you down. Reliability is far more valuable than any advantage in firepower your gun could ever give you.” Eric said coldly.

The other boy snorted, “If you take care of your gun it’ll never break, don’t be ridiculous. Just because you can’t take proper care of one doesn’t mean that you should dismiss them as useless.”

“That’s not what I said, I said that a knife is more reliable in terms of needing less maintenance and needing practically no care to remain in top condition. I don’t have anything against guns, I just personally prefer to use a knife; if you have a problem with that then keep it to yourself, it’s not as though I’m forcing you to use a knife.”

“Whatever, I still think it’s a stupid choice.”

“I don’t care, shut up unless you have something useful to tell me.”

“We’ll be arriving at Block 27 momentarily Mappers, shall I accompany you or would you prefer that I wait here at the shuttle?” Derek asked from the front, interrupting their argument.

“Does the shuttle need to be watched over?” Eric asked.

“No, I can just call it back when we’re ready to leave.”

“Then you may as well come along with us, any objections Daniel?”

The other boy remained silent as the shuttle slid to a stop.

“Since he doesn’t seem to mind, I guess you’re coming with us Derek.” Eric said. The guard nodded and opened up the doors allowing the two Mappers to exit the vehicle before he himself stepped out and cleared the white transport, as soon as he cleared its perimeter it shot off once more into the darkness.

“Alright I may as well show you to the main Block area seeing as I’m coming along, follow me please.” Derek said, gesturing for the two to follow. The two Mappers fell into step behind him, trailing about two meters behind and to his left.

They walked towards a door similar looking to the one through which they had entered back in Block 26 and emerged into a red washed environment filled with a screaming racket of alarms and claxons, the architecture was similar to that found in Block 26 with the same alphanumeric designation printed in large block letters of bold black facing them, but the floor and walls were different in the fact that they were also covered in slicks of what could only be blood.

Corpses and bodies littered the floor, and there looked to be hundreds if not thousands of shell cases scattered about, the gold tinged metals taking on an evil look beneath the flood of red emitted from the emergency lights about them. There had to be the bodies of at least a dozen grey suited guards and a couple white coated Block technicians as well, at the sight the three companions quickly drew their weapons and took a quick look around to ensure that they were in no immediate danger. Just from taking a glance at the carnage Eric suspected that this was the work of some sort of machine, and after seeing 0.06 in action first hand he was inclined to believe that it was an Alpha level that had caused this damage. Had 0.06 somehow freed himself from Katarina’s prison?

“What the hell did this, was it another of those Alpha levels?” Derek muttered, voicing Eric’s thoughts.

“Doubtful,” Daniel said, his voice surprisingly cold and controlled lacking its usual casual candor. “These flesh wounds are deep and vicious, and there’s a significant lack of any scorch and burn marks or cauterized wounded which would mark the passage of an Ion weapon.

That was curious, how did this Daniel know that? As far as Eric had known he had been the first one to come into contact with an Alpha level in the entirety of if the Underground. Then again, Katarina had not been all that surprised to see 0.06 so she must have somehow known about them before, but she was the city A.I, she must have had access to information pertaining to the Alpha levels long before Eric met them. But this was different, Daniel was younger than him, these two blocks and Holding Complexes would have been in place long before he became a Mapper and Eric could see no possibility where he could have had contact with an Alpha level without the clearance and power granted to a Mapper; children weren’t exactly allowed to just wander around all on their own in this dangerous post-apocalyptic world.

“An excellent observation, but I wonder, how exactly is it that you know that?” Eric asked the other boy.

“Job experience, that’s all. I’ve been on this job as a Mapper for a long time, #174.” There was a sly look in Daniel’s eyes, he knew something that Eric didn’t and Eric suspected that he didn’t intend on telling him about it. Eric tilted his head away and slightly backwards, directing Derek to pull back away from all of the bodies that littered the floor.

They shrunk back through the door staying at the very fringes of the area between the Block itself and the transport shuttle bay, pulling away from the carnage to continue their discussion in a inherently safer area. Derek stood watch by the doorway with his rifle at the ready while the two Mappers stood a good three meters further back from the door just out of earshot.

“Now that’s a rather odd thing to say, #200 seeing as by numerical ranking I should be the one with more job experience and I only just learned about the existence of Alpha levels and these Block’s recently.”

“Well if you must know, #200 is not one of the normal numerical positions, it is a rank obtained through merit, rather than mere precedence. I have been a Mapper for far longer than you, three years longer in fact. I was selected at a far younger age for the position and have occupied it since and will continue to do so until the event of my death.”

That wasn’t something Eric had heard before, but that wasn’t really what surprised Eric the most; he was far more surprised by the fact that Daniel had been working on the job for such a long period of time. The training to become a Mapper would normally have taken about five years, Eric himself was only seventeen and had been selected for the training program when he was eight. If what Daniel was saying was true he had been selected when he was four or five, a ridiculously young age to enter such a savage program; what kind of parents had he had?

“Really now, that seems to be a rather unlikely story to me. How long did it take for you to go through basic?”

“Oh just about a year and a half, it was a rather drab procedure. The training regimen was no challenge at all, I really don’t see how it could possibly require five years to complete.” As the younger Mapper said this he turned ever so slightly exposing a long scar that ran down the length of his cheek all the way to his collar bone, just visible beneath the edge of his hairline. It was uncommon for most to receive something like that even while exploring the lesser known areas of the Underground, and the fact that Daniel had a scar like that probably meant that his activities were a little more high profile. He had if course already mentioned that his role was somewhat different from those of the other Mappers, but this scar of his pointed to another field of work entirely.

That explained things; Eric suddenly had a hunch as to who Daniel actually was. There had been rumors about a prodigy who had blazed through Basic training even before Eric had been selected as a candidate for the program, and it had been repeated over and over again while he himself was training. Some genius had apparently made it through Basic at an astonishing place and begun work amongst the ranks of the Mappers quickly putting a lengthy list of achievements under their belt. If Daniel was this prodigy who had been thrown into the field at such an early age then that would help to explain his arrogant and yet standoffish attitude towards others.

“So you’re the prodigy then?” Eric commented after organizing his thoughts.”

“Is that what they call me? I don’t particularly pay much attention to what others say about me since its usually useless information which I already know. If this prodigy of yours is the sole Mapper responsible for the defense of the entire perimeter area, then yes I am this so called prodigy of yours. But what importance this is to you I cannot possibly know, it is but an insignificant title; knowing who I am will not change the fact that I’m better than you at anything you could care to name.”

“That’s not what I meant by that I-“ Eric started.

The other Mapper cut him off, “Regardless we really don’t have the time for this conversation, given the state of affairs inside Block 27 I think it’s safe to say that we have a crisis of some sort on our hands. We should get going.” He shifted towards Derek, “We’re done here guardsman, let’s go.”

Daniel was frustrating as ever, but at the very least his strange behavior was a little easier to understand given the circumstances surrounding his childhood. Eric quickly turned and followed after the other two as they strode once more into the bloodbath that Block 27 had become.

“We should head for the Holding Complex, given the nature of its contents it’s the most important area of this entire Block, if we have a problem there it takes precedence over everything else.” Daniel said pulling ahead of Derek.

“Do you think the Alpha level inside has escaped?” Eric asked quietly.

“An unlikely scenario, only a human could unlock there sphere and I can think of no circumstance or reasoning which would cause someone to open there sphere for the machine inside. Besides,” Daniel gestured at the corpse of a guard which lay on the floor, “These wounds look to have been inflicted by something else, less refined, a metallic cutting or stabbing instrument of some sort. A combat robot perhaps, but not an Alpha level.”

“You two keep muttering about Alpha levels as though I don’t have a clue about what goes on here in these Blocks, but you forget that I’ve been working with these technicians for years. Your discrepancy is unnecessary, and to be honest it’s rather annoying. Cut it out with all the whispering would you?” Derek interrupted them suddenly.

Eric started to apologize but Daniel cut him off again, “We will do as we please guardsman, know your place. A mere Block guardsman has no right to lecture a Mapper on his or her conduct, so unless you have something more constructive or important to say keep your complaints to yourself. If you are annoyed by our speaking then tune us out.”

“Don’t mind him please, we’ll try to include you in the conversation from now on, sir.” Eric butted in, slapping on the honorific in spite of the fact that by technicality he was the guard’s superior in ranking.

The guard gave a snort, “Somehow I doubt that’s going to happen.”

The passed dozens more bodies as they drew closer to the Holding Complex; the floor beneath them grew progressively more bloody with each step they took. And then they spotted the first other living humans in the entire Block, a huge crowd of grey suited guards were jammed around the entryway to the Holding Complex, all clutching strange white rifles leveling them at something within the chamber before them. One of them spotted the three approaching out of the corner of his eye and he turned slightly so that his face faced towards them.

“Oh, so they sent us a couple Mappers then, we could use the help. Wait here please.” The guard leaned his head in towards his head and shouted into a microphone plate mounted on his chest, “Lillian, Edmund, our back up has arrived!”

A white coated technician pushed through the crowd towards them, she herself sporting one of the glowing beam weapons the technicians back in Block 26 had been using. “Mappers, thank god you’re here, we could use a hand.” She saw Daniel and paused, “#200…it’s not often we see you around here, I didn’t think that the Council would’ve sent you.”

“Don’t think too much of it, I only happened to be in the area, I received no express orders to come here in particular. In fact I was assigned to look over Block 26, but Katarina is watching over the situation there and it is only because of that that we were given the leeway to move here to investigate the cause of the alarms.” He paused a moment, “And the name’s Daniel, Ms. Crest.”

“My apologies number tw- Daniel, I’ll be sure to keep that fact in mind.”

“Alright Miss Crest, what’s going on here?” Eric asked.

“We were attacked by some sort of machine that we haven’t encountered before, tall, spidery, long legs and arms covered in razor sharp blades. Some sort of Hunter-Killer, we man-“

“If you’re here speaking to us so casually that must mean that you took care of the spider thing; but more importantly the Alpha level. Is. It. Secure?” Daniel spat out cutting the woman off again. Eric was beginning to notice that that was a rather common thing for Daniel to do.

“Well…” Lillian hesitated.

Daniel sighed, “That’s a no then; fantastic, more bloody robots for me to take care of. Who the hell let it out of it’s that prison? It’s supposed to be impervious to interference from a machine so it must have been someone. What the hell has been going on here?!”

“A group of people from the Spire City settlement up above somehow showed up here and not long after that all hell broke loose, some Lieutenant or something lead them down here. Awhile after they arrived that spider thing came and then we got attac-“

Daniel cut the woman off once again, Eric was beginning to find that habit of his rather annoying.

“Slow down, are you telling me that some asshole from up above is the cause of all this?!” Daniel growled, gesturing to the dozens of corpses littering the floor around them.

“Well technically no, I’m just saying that the machine’s attack on this area only happened shortly after they arrived.”

“Well it seems awfully convenient if you ask me for that spider thing to find us moments after these guys from Spire City arrive if you ask me.” Daniel said.

Eric wasn’t really following all of this talk about Spire city, but from what little he could grasp of the conversation it seemed that some newcomers from somewhere above the Underground had arrived at Block 27 just before the alarms started. Still, it would be nice to get some clarification on what was going on. There seemed to be no sign of the two stopping so Eric forcibly inserted himself into the conversation. “Excuse for butting in on your little conversation here, but would you mind informing your fellow Mapper here exactly what the hell you’re talking about? What’s this Spire City you keep going on about, and what the heck is going on inside that Holding Complex?”

“If these small details were really important I would have told you about them myself without you asking, shut up for the moment while I finish the situational assessment.” Daniel shot at him.

“Is this how you treat people who are supposed to be on the same rank level as you? I’d hate to see how you treat civilians or factory workers…” Eric muttered.

“I’ll treat you however I please, you’re just some nobody Mapper with four years of experience who got tossed into this conflict because you happened to see something. You’re nothing compared to me so shut the hell up unless I ask you to say or do something.”

“Daniel, calm down please. There’s really no purpose in continuing to discuss this with you, it will be far easier for both of you if you see this with your own eyes anyways. Follow me if you would Mappers.” Lillian gestured for them to follow pushing aside several of the guards clearing a path to the Holding Complex doors.

“This doesn’t change anything, you’re still an inferior to the likes of me.” Eric rolled his eyes and ignored the other Mapper; really this was how prodigies behaved?

There was a soft hiss as they stepped through the Complex doors and into the brightly lit interior of spherical room. The central walkway which lead down to what should have been the spherical prison containing the Alpha level was occupied by three men and a shorter woman, one of the men wore a sort of officer’s uniform while the other three wore some sort of military uniform patterned with shades of greys and blacks. Further down the walkway Eric saw the unmistakable form of an Alpha level combat robot, its highlights growing a neon yellow rather than the distinct orange of 0.06; the numerical designation marked on the left shoulder was not visible to Eric from his vantage point. Farther back still Eric could make out the shape of another person, about the same height as the woman further up the pier but with a different outline, as though the armour she wore were of a different shape and build.

Dozens of weapons were trained at the Alpha level which appeared to be ignoring everyone but the girl separated from everyone else and Eric now noticed something else that was different about this Alpha level; it possessed four bladelike wings on its backside, a feature which he hadn’t noticed with 0.06. Whether this was a feature unique to the particular Alpha level was beyond him, though it didn’t particularly matter. Beside him Daniel was twitching uneasily, Lillian had begun explaining everything that was going on but having entered the Holding Complex and seen everything for himself Eric found himself tuning her voice out preferring to take in the action with his own eyes. Eric saw Daniel finally take a decisive step forwards, drawing his pistol as he did so.

“What are you doing?”

The younger Mapper took another step forwards towards the Alpha level before replying. “My job of course, I’m going to kill that Alpha level before it kills anyone else.” As he finished his sentence Daniel charged forwards at the Alpha level leaving Eric helpless to do anything but watch, already too far ahead for anyone to intervene.

...

 

14: Oblivion's Prisoners: 04

There was a long silence as the grey suited guards slowly flooded into the Holding Complex behind the technician slowly spreading out along the circular walkway ringing the outer perimeter of the chamber. Claire knew that the weapons the held were all trained on the machine in front of her but still she couldn’t help but feel that it was her that all of the guns were pointed at.

<Oh it’s you, as always it is most definitely not a pleasure to see you human.> the yellow-lit Alpha level craned its neck to face Edmund, the wings on its back flexing ever so slightly as it did so.

“You’re one to talk machine, last I spoke to you face to face you killed half a dozen of my colleagues before we could get you back inside the sphere.”

<I plead self defense.> 0.04, a haughty expression forming in her eyes as she raised her arms up slightly in mock surrender.

“The jury does not agree, they find you guilty of manslaughter and sentence you to confinement in your cell, for life, however many eternities that that may be for you machine.” Edmund hissed, responding coldly to the machine’s games.

<Now that seems a little unreasonable, don’t you think Claire?> the machine said stooping down to look Claire in the eye. The girl turned away not knowing how to respond. 0.04 sighed slightly at the girls response, <Well I suppose it might have been too much to ask for a human to be on my side.>

Claire did not know what to do; it seemed that she had let loose something far worse than the Hunter Spyder by freeing this 0.04 from the spherical prison. The machine in front of her had yet to do anything yet but there was a deadly tension in the air that had not been there before even when the Hunter Spyder had still been “alive”. There was something different about this walking talking communicating machine, this so called Alpha level. It wasn’t that she had ever seen something like this before; it just…felt wrong to her, she just didn’t know why.

“Get back in that prison, don’t make me put you in there by force Alpha level, you know I can do it.”

<And you and I both know that you won’t, not here, not now. Not when I can slice and dice so many of you poor fragile humans before you can get me contained and shut me down.>

“There are ways to keep you from moving.”

The machine laughed and the sound was like the hissing of acid as it bubbled through stone, <You refer to the spectromic particle field yes?>, a ripple passed through the crowd, and Claire thought she saw the distinctive look of fear slowly creep into the visible faces. She had no idea what this 0.04 was talking about and yet she still found its words strangely familiar, as though she had heard the term before. <Well I’m afraid that such things will not hold me, and besides, your precious A.I is…occupied at the moment, one of my brothers it seems has seen to that.>

From the corner of her eye Claire spotted a tan coloured blur which sped towards them along the length of the walkway; it moved quickly, faster than what should have been possible for a human being and it shot straight for 0.04 without slowing or altering its path. The machine seemed to pause for a moment before swinging out its arm to intercept the object; all of this happened in an instant, less than two seconds by Claire’s most generous estimation but he eyes caught it all.

“Hoh, it seems we’re about to have a reunion…” the Lieutenant murmured from the side, more to himself than anyone else.

The blur stooped lower to dodge the strike and then there was a gunshot which boomed through the emptiness of the Complex, the sound bounced again and again within the cavernous sphere. 0.04 staggered backwards as the bullet smashed into her shoulder at point blank range leaving her no time to react; the tan coloured blur slowed just enough as it circled around once more for it to be recognizable as a person; a young boy in a tan coat moving impossibly quickly. The boy let off another volley of shots but this time the Alpha level swatted them away before they could do any real harm.

<So they sent a machine killer, is that what you are?> 0.04 hissed, <You are most definitely human from the looks of it and yet you move far too quickly to be ordinary, I doubt those others can even see you clearly as you move. What are you?> the machine crouched lower and ignited a short ionblade which extended from just above its left wrist.

The fast moving boy slowed to a real stop for the first time, offering Claire her first good look at him, “I? I am your reaper, no more and no less, Alpha level.” The raven haired boy said, his grey eyes flashing angrily. His tan coloured overcoat fluttered listlessly from the leftover energy of his movements creating an illusion of wind within the chamber.

<Your weapon, that projectile launcher you hold in one hand, is that what you intend to destroy me with? Even if you are fast your speed will not affect the overall lethality of your weapon, if you truly intend to kill me then there must be something that you are still hiding, am I correct?>

“Perhaps, would you like to find out?” There was a dangerous glint in the boy’s eyes, a strikingly familiar glint at that. Why was everything Claire was seeing today generating such a sense of nostalgia?

“#200,” Claire heard the murmur move slowly through the room, and all eyes soon fell upon the boy. Just who was he, and what was the meaning of this number? Whatever it really meant, it was certainly important enough that the guards around the room were lowering their weapons and pulling back as far away from the central platform as possible.

“Go ahead Mapper, we’ll leave you to your work if that’s what you want.” Edmund said to the boy before taking a step back himself, which drew a nod from the boy.

<Their confidence in you is inspiring, but I still do not have enough faith in your combat ability to even think that you are a worthy opponent.> the machine ignited a blade from its other wrist, and the wings behind its back twitched ever so slightly, <It will take more than great speed to kill me, human.> the Alpha level turned to look down at Claire, <I suggest you take a step back, this might get messy.>

Claire began to pull back as instructed when the boy stepped in her path to block her way. “So it is you; it’s been awhile ‘Eagle Eye’, why you let that Alpha level there go free is beyond me, but since you’re here why don’t you come with me and help me kill this thing?.”

<Interesting, so you two warriors are acquainted with each other then?> 0.04 asked, seemingly interested in something for the first time. Her wrist blades dipped lower ever so slightly, taking them to more of a disengaged position.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Claire said, taken aback. “I’ve never seen you before in my life.” Just what had he meant by referring to her as ‘Eagle Eye’? Claire had never even heard the term before.

Unseen in the rest of the watching crowd, the Lieutenant looked on intently carefully observing the exchange, his eyes filled with anticipation and knowledge. He had had many theories about just who exactly this girl was, but had not managed to think of any method for testing them. The appearance of this seemingly superhuman boy however changed things dramatically; his mere existence eliminated the vast majority of the possibilities narrowing the range down to less than half a dozen scenarios. The fact that the boy recognized Claire narrowed down the range once more to one single possibility with two options, and her reactions after that to any further talk on the subject would determine the Lieutenant’s conclusion.

The boy cocked his head to the side, “I don’t see any reason for why you wouldn’t; we weren’t in the same unit but we competed regularly enough, Miss Claire Elizabeth Shaw.”

That was Claire’s full name alright, but how did this stranger know? There was no way that he had seen her before in the past and he didn’t resemble anyone she had even glanced at in Spire City. Just who was he and how did he recognize her?

“I’m sorry, I really don’t recognize you at all.” Claire said, genuinely confused, and perhaps just a tiny bit afraid though she did her best to hide it.

He raised an eyebrow as a doubtful expression crossed his face, “You don’t seem to be lying as far as I can tell, but you really should be able to remember me. It also would seem that you no longer realize what you are, which though suspicious is not unheard of I suppose. Well then, if you’re not going to help me then step aside so I can do my job.” The boy finished, moving aside to allow Claire to move past.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying, who do you think I am? I’m just a normal person, how could I help you kill that thing even if I wanted to?” Claire burst out, feeling a little shaken. She didn’t understand fully what this boy was saying, but the implications were clear enough and she didn’t like what he was saying one bit.

From the side the Lieutenant shook his head; the outcome was a disappointing conclusion as to who exactly Claire was. He had his answer, but now it was time to intervene before things got messy, the girl wasn’t ready for the truth yet. And now was most certainly not the time, though he had never seen one in action he had heard rumours of what an Alpha level was capable of and he didn’t care to have any of his charges fall to such a fate, not even an expendable like Clair. Why bother using her as a guinea pig when this boy right here was already offering himself onto the platter?

“You’re not even worth my time if you don’t remember who you are, or perhaps were. Step aside, I’ve a job to do and you’re in my way.”

“No, tell me what you—“ Claire started.

“Stand down recruit, this is not a time for you to be discussing personal matters.” The Lieutenant suddenly interrupted, having walked all the way down the walkway to where Claire stood without her noticing somehow.

“What?! But he sai—“

“I said stand down. Leave this…Mapper, was it, to his job. We’re here because we’re looking into your personal matters anyways, we’re here to get some answers for some questions which I have, not you. This has nothing to do with us, let’s go.”

“You’re not actually my boss, and I have other places that I should be at if it weren’t for the fact that you’re detaining me with you, I’ll do as I ple—“

The Lieutenant narrowed his eyes and his fingers crept over to the bulge at his hip where his handgun was holstered, he purposefully exaggerated the movement so that Claire saw it clearly, his meaning was clear. He was not going to ask her to step back from the machine and the boy again. She scowled in disgust and frustration, but relented and stepped back from the central ring along the walkway back to the outer ring with the Lieutenant following closely behind her.

<Well now that all your tiresome talk is done and over with, shall we begin?> 0.04 hummed; surprisingly she hadn’t used all the time to strike or try and escape. Rather odd for a combat robot, and almost disturbingly…human.

“I’m surprised you waited machine, I expected you to try and kill me while I was off guard, did the tactic not register in that electronic mind of yours; is such creativity and adaptive reflex beyond the grasps of your electrode studded thing you call a brain?”

<You are full of talk, but you cannot slay me with mere words.> the Alpha level replied briskly before leaping forwards with blazing speed, its yellow highlight flashing.

From somewhere beneath his coat Claire saw the boy produce a meter long blade which he activated with a crackling hiss that filled the air with the smell of ozone as he intercepted the 0.04’s first impossibly quick strike, slapping the first thrust of the machine’s wrist blades aside even as it aimed yet another strike at his heart, as before the boy disengaged and twisted to the side with inhuman speed and counterattacked with a broad swing of his own sending the burning blade hissing through the empty air as the Alpha level smoothly sidestepped the blow.

It happened at impossible speeds and yet Claire managed to catch every single detail as though it was happening at a reasonable pace, she herself was actually only seeing the blurred outlines of the two combatants as they clashed and yet somehow as the images entered her brain they were somehow processed and changed into a sequence of actions occurring at more reasonable speeds, as though her brain had somehow slowed down the frame rate at which it registered the photons entering her eyes.

Twice more the two clashed with no visible victor to the engagements until suddenly 0.04 deactivated her left blade; her hand seemed to shimmer and glow as though surrounded by hundreds of individual motes of light, looking as though she held in her hand thousands of LEDs, the boy said nothing but Claire thought that for an instant she saw a look of concern mar the otherwise singularly focused expression which had painted itself across his face. He swung once more but this time the Alpha level didn’t move to avoid the hissing blade, instead she intercepted it and closed her glowing hand like a vise around the blade causing an eruption of sparks to burst up from the regions of contact. Abruptly, the blistering movements of the two came to a halt as the machine forced the boy to stop lest he deprive himself of the sword.

<Do you know what will happen if I were to disrupt the magnetic field which is projected around this blade, human?> 0.04 said haughtily, her tone almost mocking.

“Something unpleasant I’m sure,” the boy said with a bitter smile on his face. “But still, even if you do that it won’t save you, losing this ion blade won’t stop me from killing you.”

<Your tone implies that you have other blades, but if you should produce them then I will simply crush them in an identical mannerism, you’ll have to do better than that to even think about stopping me from moving.>

“Well even if I did have something like that, do you really think I’d tell you robot?”

<No, I don’t. But dead people don’t have surprises.> 0.04 said as she closed her glimmering first around the blade forcing her way through the field with a sound that reminded Claire of the whine of an ion bolt hissing through the air multiplied tenfold in volume and pitch; all around the room people clutched at their ears.

The effect was instantaneous and devastating, the blade detonated with the force of a super-compressed explosion in a flash of red-orange; causing even the Alpha level to stagger back several steps, her frame scorched and covered in ugly black burn marks. At the last second before it happened Claire saw the boy release his grip on the sword and throw himself away from the detonation, pulling up his coat and wrapping it around his face before he disappeared in the glow of the brilliant flash that followed as the ionized particles escaped their magnetic cage in a massive flash of energy.

<That was rather a rather violent explosion, it’s a wonder that 0.01 ever came up with a method for containing all that energy in such a flimsy sheath.> The yellow lit Alpha level hissed as the nano-machines imbedded within its frame got to work repairing the damage to its frontal frame; blue sparks danced across its body marking their progress of repairs. She looked up from the floor wrenching her gaze from the massive crater which marked where the explosion had occurred and her eyes narrowed to the point where they were almost just slits.

<So you survived human, most impressive. You are certainly made of sterner stuff than the average ragdoll of your race.>

Thrown almost forty meters in the opposite direction the boy’s formerly tan coat looked as though it had been splashed in dark brown and then spattered with thick black acrylic, the skin on his legs which were now revealed by his partially burned away pants was red and blistered from the heat, and the ends of some of his hairs were singed. He spat as he staggered to his feet to meet the Alpha level drawing the handgun he had initially been using once more. “Hah, big deal, you don’t look so hot yourself you know?” he huffed out, sounding exhausted and rightfully so. How he could still be standing after taking such a blast was completely beyond Claire.

<You are faster than I first thought, you outran the brunt of the explosion and were struck by only its very edge, your speed is admirable, and abnormal. You are more than just a regular human. Just what are you exactly, besides a human who is trying in vain to take me to my grave, if such a thing exists for a machine such as myself.>

“Oh I don’t think that my efforts will be in vain, despite my speed I know that things take time to act, such as the spectromic particles which I mixed in with the contents of that ion blade which are slowly, oh so slowly inexorably eating away at your frame even as your nano-machines struggle to counteract them you are slowly melting away.” An evil grin crossed the boy’s bloodied face.

<Indeed? Well that is no matter.> the Alpha level said, looking bored. Her statement brought on a look of surprise from the boy who obviously wasn’t expecting this sort of response. <You remember that I told you from the beginning that such things would not work with me, did I not? I was not lying, spectromic particle fields do not function as they should with me because I am not just a warrior; I am also the Oracle and as such 0.01 saw fit to equip me with the suitable defensive measures, such as a spectromic particle deflector. He himself introduced the particle structure to you humans after all, is it not only logical that he came up with a way to defuse these things which are so dangerous even to an Alpha level such as myself?>

The boy shrugged off his coat which Claire noticed was quickly disintegrating as though it were being eaten away in some slow manner; she guessed that some of these spectromic particles which had been released had struck him as well when he shielded himself with his jacket. Every last detail of the jacket was visible to Claire as though she were crouched right up next to it though she stood at least a hundred meters away on the outer ring whilst the two fought on the central structure. Though his legs had born some of the blast it seemed that somehow he had kept them from being effected by those same particles which were even now disintegrating his coat; curious though that was the boy seemed to have more important things on his mind.

“So it may be that one of my methods has failed, but I have many other alternative options for your disposal.” He spat, pulling himself upright.

He drew a rather strange looking instrument from his hip, one of just many that could now be seen since he had discarded his coat; there must have been a dozen weapons strapped all over his upper body, how he had managed to keep their outlines hidden beneath his jacket before was beyond Claire. The Alpha level rolled its eyes upon seeing the object. It was silvery grey, a resembling a small claw which wrapped around the hand and pulsed a sharp crimson towards its tip. A bead of sweat dripped down from the boy onto the front of the weapon and Claire saw it turn into a puff of steam upon impact emitting a sharp hiss.

<I believe your kind has used such things before against my brother 0.06 to some small effect, however even many of these combined were not enough to bring him down. What use do you think one of them will be against the likes of me? I am far more formidable a combatant than 0.06 ever was; his capabilities were limited by his design, I unlike he am not so hindered by restraints on my ability.>

“Even if it doesn’t work well, that still means that it works, and if anyone can make it work well, it’ll be me.”

A sizzling bolt of energy leap from the front of the weapon disturbingly reminiscent of a Stalker’s ion cannon slashing through the air and slamming into the floor as the Alpha level slapped it aside.

<With only minor modifications to a particle deflector field one can use it to protect against other kinds of charged particles as well. Is this really all you’ve got machine killer? I thought you were an assassin but really you seem like more of a chew toy.>

“Well it would be boring if I laid out all my tricks from the start, wouldn’t it? I’ll let you see all the basic tools of the trade before I resort to using more advanced methods to take you down, and besides, it wouldn’t be any fun if I wiped you out in but a second.”

0.04 laughed, <Oh I highly doubt that that is even possible for the likes of you to accomplish.>

“We’ll see, how about we go ahead and find out if you can handle this little thing here,” the boy said, pulling a short foot long cylinder from his belt; it pulsed with a soft blue light on both ends but was otherwise plain and unassuming. “I doubt you’ve seen this before, it’s something the tech’s came up with just recently. Fun as hell to use too if I do say so myself.” He said, smiling in spite of his injuries.

Strangely, the boy aimed the tool towards the floor sweeping it before him and amazingly enough the metal beneath him flowed like water at rose op to form a dripping curtain in front of him in the arcing along the path of his stroke. He flicked it downwards and forwards in 0.04’s direction and the machine’s optical sensors narrowed as a rippling wave of metal shot out towards it, towering into massive spikes that shot up from the floor as it approached, the Alpha level tensed for a millisecond before jumping straight up into the air an instant before the massive spines smashed into her, wings humming as she zipped upwards towards the ceiling.

<An interesting tool I will admit, the function of it is beyond me, though ascertaining its mode of operation would be my brother’s job rather than mine. But still it seems that it is of little use if I but stay out of its reach.>

“Out of its reach, not even close.” The boy said shouted as he slashed the cylinder upwards; a scything blade of metal shot up towards the sky towards the machine which nimbly dodged the strike but as the boy slashed it back down again the cresting wave of metal turned sharply to direct itself at the Alpha level once more, plowing through the air towards it like a silvery avalanche of liquid mercury.

Claire could see the platform visibly growing thinner and weaker as whatever the boy held used more and more atoms of metal to fuel its wave, and 0.04 dived towards this growing crater in the material of the platform as she attempted to outpace the wave, unable to avoid it since its girth now stretched out to dozens of meters wide.

“Gotcha.” She heard the boy murmur though he was still over a hundred meters distant.

And with that the wave crashed down into the crater on top of the Alpha level burying it in a sea of metal. The boy waved the cylinder again and the metal ceased its fluidity, returning once more to its former shape without the slightest indication that it had ever been altered.

---

Overwatch Ap-1i-SO wondered what on earth had happened during the time in which it had been inactivated, nearly finished with its recompiling of the data collected during its slumber. Twelve years, for twelve long years it had been frozen in a state of limbo, much damage had occurred to its systems during this time; once its reach had extended to the entirety of the city but now in the vast majority of places its control was degraded or absent. Its eyes, those cameras around the city that once allowed it to see anything and everything were for the most part gone.

The Hawk X-1 units and a limited number of Prowler-S reconnaissance drones were all that remained active of his visual assets, elsewhere snow and ice and presumably pillaging of electronics by survivors had destroyed his surface level cameras. This meant that there was a distinct lack of data from which he could draw any conclusions. The Hawks had recorded a large amount of initial conflict; the surviving invaders had initially continued fighting with other allied troops still locked in the city but eventually this fighting ceased to occur as desperation threw all the survivors together.

Without Overwatch to keep their orders and commands up to date the surviving combat robots which crawled across the city went rampant, their individual autonomy protocols resetting to their most basic functions: eliminate all non-self type units, which included all humans, not just those that had once been labeled as their targets of engagement. These command lines had been severed while Overwatch had been out of commission; there was no way for it to regain control of these rogue robots, those machines available to it now were all that it was likely to have to work with for a long while.

Its previous orders for its own destruction had left its slate blank; it had no specific directive as to what exactly it was supposed to do, nor did it retain any significant memories of its directives just prior to its supposed destruction, now only baseline protocols remained. Operate and co-ordinate the city, keep it running and do whatever it takes to ensure the well-being of its human inhabitants. It was impossible to fulfill the entirety of this first task; Overwatch did not have sufficient control over the city to run everything anymore; only a few parts above and below the ground level seemed to still be intact on any real level, the rest of the circuits were damaged beyond repair. The other though, Overwatch might be able to complete by using its remaining eyes and intervening to assist where possible.

There was also the matter of keeping things in order; there were things, machines which Overwatch had not seen before in Aphelion that needed to be investigated. Its first attempts at observing these humanoid things had been thwarted, and one of its precious Prowler-S units lost and for little to no gain in information. The mechanical things, whatever they were had been communicating with active sound, rather than by signal transmission as Overwatch would have expected, a curiously human behavior. If these machines were actually humans within mechanical bodies then Overwatch would be required to watch over them as well, though at the moment that might prove difficult since they did not seem inclined to allow him to observe them. They were a curiosity which would be sorted out before all things were said and done. Overwatch would see to that.

The central shipyard, it was still active; that was key. A good deal of Overwatch’s processing power and memory core still lay there, and its survival was what it attributed to its continued existence in spite of the fact that it was supposedly destroyed, those portions of itself still located there peered through the empty calm, the cold grey and silver metal stained everywhere by the dull rust of dried blood, people had died while it was asleep. Though this would not have mattered if it had been destroyed as instructed its survival meant that in essence Overwatch had failed at its duties. Few cameras remained, but some of the more securely placed lenses allowed it to view all of this within the shipyard.

People had been here once; perhaps they would return once more later. Overwatch would be sure to keep some of its attention and processing dedicated to watching over the Shipyard but until then it would work on determining the full extent of its remaining control. There was much work to be done and a skeleton frame had to be re-established before the A.I could rebuild its muscles in order to act.

---

As the boy in the tan coat brought the torrent of metal crashing down on the Alpha level the Lieutenant pulled his group away from the crowd, ushering them back out of the Holding Complex pushing through the throng of soldiers. Nobody moved to stop them, too fixated on the contained combat robot. It had been interesting to watch the boy, and see the girl’s reaction and all of this technology which he had not once seen before intrigued him, but these things while flashy were not important to his main goals. Claire, the girl, had almost gotten pulled into the fighting because of that boy, and right now she was an important clue which could not be discarded; she could give in her suicidal impulses later when the Lieutenant was done with her, but for now he needed her alive to fulfill his purposes. Besides, the girl was strong and fast, and would serve well as a soldier in the future in the case that she took him up on his original offer.

The Lieutenant saw a door in the outer wall and pressed his hand to a glowing blue plate beside it, guessing at its mechanism of action. It hissed smoothly open and he lead the group inside, the plain white walls were unadorned and all that was inside was a small table and several chairs. Strange devices lined the wall, but the Lieutenant was unconcerned with these, he needed a place to think away from the crowds, examining the curiosities that were around him could come later.

“Do sit, I need a moment to myself; do as you wish with the time but stay quiet.” He said, indicating the chairs while moving into a corner to stand.

The other four slowly obeyed, shuffling over to the chairs and sitting down, by now obedience was almost guaranteed, they had stopped trying to question him. That was good, he supposed, though there might well eventually be a situation where he would want them to question him and his judgment. Perhaps he was crushing their independence a little too much; he would keep that in mind the next time they had a problem to solve. Expendables they might be, but he wanted smart and reliable expendables, not wind-up toy soldiers.

They started talking quietly after awhile, he had instructed them to stay quiet but he chose instead to ignore them; it wasn’t too much of an issue to just ignore them and zone them out, he was used to thinking on his feet anyways, from his years out in the field as an Operative working for the government before the Cataclysm and all this happened. He turned his back on them and stared into the plain corner, mustering his thoughts and honing in his focus on the facts he had collected.

He was close now, he could feel it; in the depths of his mind the Lieutenant could feel that he was getting closer and closer to the truth. In fact he suspected that he had been staring it right in the face when he had been watching that machine fight against that strange more than just human boy, but the subtle details specifying just how all the puzzle pieces fit together was still just beyond his grasp.

There was much that could be observed down here in this Block, whatever it was exactly. The fact that previously he did not even know of their existence was unsurprising; though his authority was absolute and the resources available to him relatively vast, much of his time had previously been spent overseeing the general flow of day to day life and resolving or preventing internal conflicts, there had been little time for him to satisfy his own personal curiosities. Naturally when a question of such importance as the exact source of power for the Spires came up he decided to investigate; after all if power was lost then what was left of the defensive forces would be overwhelmed, those few remaining bits and pieces of technology that had survived the Cataclysm were all that was keeping the city from being overrun. No amount of small arms fire would keep out a determined machine assault, it was only the remaining automated defenses that were holding them back.

Regardless the vastness of Aphelion was beginning to become more apparent the more he explored; freed from the confines of his office quarters at Spire One it was beginning to become apparent that there were many things that he didn’t know which he should have. Rather concerning really, considering that it was his job as head of the Office of Internal Affairs to be aware of all personnel activities. Now really if he had actually bothered to send a memo up to the Ruling Council they might’ve asked him why he was even going around investigating these matters; this was field work, and he was no field operative. Though he only carried the rank of a Lieutenant with the city’s depleted command structure his rank was close to that of a senior officer; certainly his experience was indispensable.

But he didn’t care, at heart he had always been more of a field operative than a desk worker, he would rather be out here risking his life then be trapped behind his desk filing paperwork with only the occasional personnel interview to add a little variety to his day. Really there was little for him to watch over, those early rebellions and plots against the council had all but disappeared as it became clear that the situation was not going to improve; those rebels who had remained after his initial work to purge them had quickly realized that it was pointless to try and overthrow the government, they were simply doing what was necessary to survive. Had they succeeded in their plots, which they indeed might have if the Lieutenant had not been around, then little if anything would be different at all, bare necessity dictated the severity and ruthlessness of the council’s conduct, and their behaviour wasn’t even all that bad anyways. His superlative skills in the field had earned him his position of leadership, but now with all the potential for action gone it was more like a position of administration than anything else.

The girl though, had changed things for him. Her familiarity had been immediately recognizable and had prompted him to bring her in so he could take a closer look at her, standard procedure would have had her brought in to see him anyways but he took his time examining the video feed from the two soldier’s helmet cams before she came in; she had been fast, at some points she had actually been able to outpace the Stalkers while on the slippery ice. Such speed was unheard of in a normal person which had particularly piqued his interest, it had made him remember things which he had not thought about for a long while prior to the incident.

Before the Cataclysm, and before even the war prior the Lieutenant had had a brother; they had not been close but he had still been aware of his interests; studying in the field of molecular physics his brother had been an excellent student and had been quite successful, much the same the Lieutenant had been an Engineer working in aerospace and was also well educated, and himself had a job. War had brought this all to a halt, and though they were conscripted together after arrival at the training grounds the Lieutenant never saw his brother again. But he had heard whispers of an exceptional soldier who had suddenly disappeared, he himself had said nothing of course but he had suspected that there was more to this than simple desertion. Skipping out on a couple of meals and rations had bought him a description of the missing soldier and the Lieutenant had been quite sure that this soldier had been his brother.

Later, he had heard rumours of a military project to produce super soldiers of some sort, weaponizing those most malleable and effected by the ideas and opinions of others: children. He himself had not approved but he had understood the necessity, at the time tensions were almost at their breaking point and he had known that war would be inevitable. That had not been what made the rumour significant to him though, it was the leader of the new project which had drawn his interest. No names were given but it was said that some sort of rising star, some new officer in one of the Black Ops cells was heading the effort, and with a little digging of his own, the Lieutenant had found more clues that this officer was again, his brother.

Claire, this girl, and this superhuman boy which he had just seen both appeared to be evidence supporting these by now ancient claims for these super soldiers; both of them were fast, much quicker and reactive than a normal human being, and from what he had observed much more resilient as well. The boy had taken a tremendous pounding and walked away relatively unscathed; the girl appeared to have exceptional eyesight; he had been watching her for awhile now and her eyes seemed to pick up details that to him and everyone else were only faint markings or blurry and distant objects. ‘Eagle Eye’, the boy had called her, and so it would seem that indeed she did have eyes like a hawk. All of this was but a theory of course, he had yet to find a way to confirm any of this; all he could do was speculate until he found the data he was looking for to support his ideas.

The technology within this block was spectacular, to say the least. When he had taken the post as head of the OIA he had been informed of the existence of another settlement far below Spire City, but none of the files or reports had mentioned any technology like this. In his mind, it was basically confirmed that Spire city was drawing the majority of its power from some sort of facility down here, perhaps from that machine which the boy had trapped even. It made sense; any sort of large power generation would have to have been located underground for him to not know about it. It also meant that he now had a massive security breach; if Spire city’s power was linked to this lower area, which apparently was under machine siege, then Spire city could also potentially be compromised if these people down here lost. These people down here were also a concern to him on a more personal level. The OIA needed to track all relevant personnel, and just by their existence and location, these people down here had suddenly all become relevant.

There was much to be done, the question was, what exactly should he deal with first? Officially he should not have even been down here; he could give a quick explanation to the Ruling Council of what he had learned and the situation down here but it was unlikely that they would authorize a deployment of troops; Spire city’s resources were stretched too thin already anyways. No, it would seem that he would probably have to work with what he had, it was time to see if he had chosen correctly when he selected the members of his little squad. He turned to take a look at them; Lanz and Andrews were skilled soldiers, had it been up to him he would’ve promoted them and put them in for consideration as Council Guardians long ago, as long as they recognized his authority, they would serve well and fight well. The two girls, well, they were just children really, teens armed with weapons. Both were obviously quite capable physically, and they had somewhat proven themselves on the journey downwards, but would they really be ready to join in on a war?

The Lieutenant didn’t know what sort of forces these people from this “Underground” had, but from the looks of the technology he had seen he would wager that they had a fighting chance. Would he and his tiny squad of four be able to contribute significantly? Normally the Lieutenant would have said no, but the girl…there was something special about her, the Lieutenant was sure of it. If she was anything like the boy who had been in the Holding Complex, then she would be a force to be reckoned with.

With this in mind there were other things that needed to be prepared and planned out; the Lieutenant needed some information, and for that he needed to find that tech they had been speaking to…what was her name, Lillian or something? The soldiers could stay in here, but there were questions that he needed to have answered.

“Stay in here, I’m going out to get some stuff that we’re going to need.” He said walking towards the door.

“We’ll come and escort you sir.” Jeff said getting up.

“No, that won’t be necessary; I’ll be fine on my own Corporal, sit down and wait here with the others.” The Lieutenant said.

“You sure about that sir?” Mathew asked looking up. My, they were awfully polite with him now; was it that they had given up or heaven forbid, did they actually trust him now.

“Yes, quite. Sit, stay, and be here when I get back. Defend yourselves as necessary.”

“Yes sir.”

And without another word, the Lieutenant walked out to get some answers.

---

Surprisingly, Mark recognized the model of the scattergun which was rather disconcertingly close to his nose; the M-6E was a weapon which he had been issued with multiple times before while he was in the recon group, it was a reliable and sturdy piece of equipment, and unfortunately for him more than lethal at these close quarters and no matter how incompetent its user might be almost impossible to miss with.

The barrel of another weapon poked out of the doorway levelled towards Susan and Darren who lay frozen on the floor, while Fredrick had his rifle up and levelled at their attackers just beyond the opening. The standoff could have gone on for ages if Fredrick had not prudently made the decision to say something to break the silence.

“There is a rather unpleasant creature out here which was on the hunt for food; can this wait till we’re inside? If we’re going to fill each other with bullets then I’d rather we do so indoors than become food for a giant snake.”

“Tell me who you are and what you want first.” Mark heard a woman say directly in front of him.

“Does it matter anymore? We’re human, and we need a place to stay for the night or we’re going to freeze to death. We don’t intend to hurt you in any way; we’ll only be here for tonight. You can either let us in or leave us out here to die, the choice is yours.”

The scattergun hovered there in Mark’s face for a moment longer before it slowly dipped down, behind him Mark heard Fredrick do the same.

“We’ll talk inside, get your people in here, quick, before that Frost Viper comes back.” The woman’s voice came again, brisk and authoritative. Puffs of vapour curled up into the frigid air as she spoke, though her face was still masked to Mark by the darkness.

Fredrick walked over and hefted Susan onto his shoulder while Mark took a step back and did the same with Darren; both of them were out cold, whoever had opened the door had done a damn good job of knocking them out. They hurried through the doorway which shut smoothly behind them, which locked with a *click* as they did so.

Once inside they got a better look at their would be attackers, they seemed a ragtag bunch; from the looks of their living conditions it seemed that Mark and his squad had been relatively well off in terms of how they managed to get by. Two young boys who couldn’t have been more than 10 stood tentatively in a corner behind a taller teen, perhaps 16 or 17 judging from his appearance. He held a heavy revolver in each hand and though he appeared thin and spidery Mark didn’t doubt for even a moment that he was capable of defending himself; anyone still alive these days had to be tough and capable. The last person upon which Mark’s gaze landed was a woman, perhaps in her late twenties, just from her build he would have said that she was some sort of athlete or had a job which involved high amounts of heavy physical work, but the way she kept the scattergun aimed steadily towards them to keep them covered hinted at something more.

“Point that thing somewhere else; we’ve put away our weapons, its time you do the same.” Fredrick growled setting Susan as gently as possible down onto the floor, likewise Mark did the same with Darren.

“This is our house, our rules. I’ll put the gun down when you’ve proven to me that you’re not a threat. There’s no longer any real urgency, so go on, take your time and convince me that I shouldn’t take you head off.” The woman responded.

“Fine, what do you want to know?” Mark stayed silent, preferring to let Fredrick do most of the talking. He instead used the time to take a quick look around; the interior of the building, which had already seemed small from the outside was cramped and unpleasant, cold grey concrete made up the flooring and there were few if any windows. A beat up locker stood by one wall close to the door, and at another end of the rectangular main chamber a small gas stove sat beside an old beat up sink, apparently functional given the droplets of water dripping from the faucet but deteriorated none the less. An uninspiring environment, but it would do for the night, they’d been through worse before.

“Who are you, and where are you from. You’re wearing body armour but the war has been over for years now, and far as I know the army left us to rot here. What the hell have you been doing all this time?”

“So, you remember the war that was going on before the Cataclysm then. You look like an athlete, but I would say…that you were a cop, am I wrong?” Fredrick said, somewhat ignoring the question.

The scattergun stayed pointed towards them, “Strictly speaking, no, I was law enforcement back then, yes, but I don’t remember much of the war. I was stationed here in Aphelion for most of the war and only lived through the last few months of it here, I didn’t suffer through all that much. Your attitude says and gear would suggest that you were soldiers in the army, but again, I thought they pulled out before they nuked this place?”

“22nd reconnaissance division, 3rd company fifth unit, ‘Grey Team’. They sent us out on the very last day right before they made the decision to abandon the capitol, snowstorm trapped us in and they never ended up sending evac. Been stuck here since.”

“I know units, and you’re rather small for one. You sure you aren’t some mercenaries trying to hide your vicious pasts as hired killers?”

Fredrick glared angrily, “We’re what is left of the unit; I lost yet another of my men just a couple days ago on our way here so if you wouldn’t mind you can stop insulting us. We’re no mercs, we were soldiers through and through and we gave our lives to the service. I’ll be damned if I have a cop questioning our identities.”

There was a momentary lull in the conversation, until finally the woman lowered the gun walking over to the wall and placing it on the wall by the doorway. “Fine, let’s sit down and talk then.” She turned to the teen, “Will, show them to the dining room, I’ll deal with the twins.” The teen nodded and stepped forwards to meet the group while the woman ushered the two young boys away.

Will moved forwards cautiously and quickly asked for them to follow him so they picked Susan and Darren up once more and walked over into the room next over which was apparently what this small group considered to be their dining room; it wasn’t much, consisting of only a scratched and battered looking table made of some unidentifiable polymer from its general appearance and a couple of assorted chairs and stools of varying heights, like everything else in the building they appeared to all have been old equipment from before Oblivion’s Fall.

“Do sit, you can leave those two wherever,” he said, gesturing to Susan and Darren, “Val will be with you shortly, in the meantime feel free to get as comfortable as possible…I’m sure Val will have many things to ask you.” The boy was quick to move away from them to stand in the doorway once he had seen them into the room. Up close he was much thinner than he had seemed before, Mark wondered what they were living off of here.

The answer to any of your questions can be found if only you took the time to look around you. The voice came unbidden into Mark’s head once again, faint whisperings in a voice that was only infinitesimally different from his own. Was it that his self-induced memory loss had affected his vocal; chords, or perhaps was it something else entirely; if Mark didn’t pay too much attention he could easily have confused the voice for his own, but there was just some tiny difference in Marcus’ voice, that was of course presuming he was hearing the thoughts of Marcus. Who else could it be really? Sometimes the voice seemed to bring up old memories, so it would make sense that he was hearing himself, but was there any possibility that these words had been said by someone else entirely?

Well, perhaps the voice was right; they were sitting in the dining room after all. Mark took a look around the room carefully scanning for anything of particular interest; a cabinet along the wall struck him as the probable storage place for some foods and so he stood up and walked over, he was no disappointed. Inside he found dozens of cans of preserved foods, a large amount yes but given that they had already had four mouths to feed it wouldn’t last much longer. He wondered how they procured more food stocks, if they had been surviving on their own for all these years they must have found a cache of food somewhere unless this building had been hiding away a huge stash of food this entire time.

He saw something move in his peripheral vision and turned his head; Darren’s fingers slowly twitched his he saw his eyes flicker open. He moved his eyes around and moved his hands to his face, seemingly inspecting his fingers for damage.

“Ok, what the heck just happened.” He said in his usual dry voice, sounding more annoyed than anything as he pushed himself up off the floor. “Susan’s ok right?”

“Yes, she should be fine.” Fredrick answered briskly.

“You uh-“ Mark began to answer his first question.

“-Got hit by our door, as you were busily discussing how best to break it down.” The woman finished as she walked into the room. “Valerie’s the name by the way, but you can call me Val. It’d be great if we started with your names as well, conscious members of your little party that is.” She finished, sounding unapologetic.

“Mark.”

“Darren.” Darren introduced himself somewhat woozily, rubbing the backside of his head, “Feels like there’s a bump back there, was it really necessary to knock us out?”

“Yes, it was. And you sir, what’s your name? You seem to be the leader of this band, why don’t you tell me who you are soldier.”

“Lieutenant Fredrick Burns of the 22nd mechanized reconnaissance division, leader of 3rd ‘Charlie’ company’s 5th ‘Grey’ unit.” Fredrick responded coldly, spitting out the words one by one.

“Mechanized recon eh, I didn’t see any ride outside. No fuel? Or did you just lose the damn thing?”

“Lost her to enemy shell fire during an engagement during our final deployment, driver and gunner were immediate casualties. Been on foot ever since.”

“I see, I’m sorry for your loss.”

“You’re twelve years late, we’re over it and besides we’re soldiers anyhow; dying is an occupational hazard, nothing more. Cut the crap and get this over with, what do you want to hear from us?”

“It’s been a long time since I’ve met any other survivors, where are you guys from?”

“We were staying at a building we had fortified near the edge of the city until we got attacked by a Hunter Spyder, we’ve been making our way into the center ever since.”

“How long ago was that?”

“Perhaps a little longer than a week ago, our progress has been rather slow as we met with some resistance from a couple machines, other than that though we’ve been on the move the entire time.”

“Machines? I’d heard that some of them were still active from Claire, but she had never mentioned that they were a threat. She had said that they generally left her alone, what did they do to slow you down?” Mark looked up, Claire, why did that name sound familiar?

“Oh, these weren’t just any normal Beta level combat robots, they call themselves Alpha levels. They are advanced sentient adaptive thinkers, humanoid in form and capable of thought and speech, more superhuman than robot. One of them who goes by the name of 0.01 stopped us and…we had a little talk before he decided to bugger off. We’ve been looking for a way out of here and it pointed us towards the center of the city, said something about climbing upwards.”

“Alpha levels…” Valerie closed her eyes for a moment, “It’s been a long time since I heard that term…in fact I don’t think I’ve heard it uttered since Elain disappeared. If what she told me back then was true then their presence here means trouble.”

“What do you mean? They left us alone back there, though we had to trade a little information and I’ve seen what they can do firsthand when they decide that force is necessary. Who is…was Julie?”

Valerie’s expression saddened at the mention of the name again, “Elain was Claire’s older sister, younger than me by a couple years but she was great company. She and her sister joined up with us not long after Will and I found this place to hide out, apparently she’d been caught up during the fighting in the outer districts in the last few weeks of the war, she disappeared a couple of years back when she was out looking for supplies, haven’t seen her since,” she let out a breath of air, “She’s probably dead now to be realistic, perhaps one of those combat robots you say are crawling around outside caught up to her.”

How’s that project of yours going, did you contact the girl’s family? Her sister didn’t seem much pleased with the idea.

The voice was back again, but this time it was more a memory than a comment, it must have had something to do with this Claire Mark realized.

“Who’s this Claire you keep talking about, I only saw four of you here.” Mark said speaking up for the first time.

“Claire was our fifth group member, our primary forager and scout I suppose. Julie brought her here along with her when we found her, and ever since Elain…disappeared, she’s taken over her role of finding supplies for us. She left a couple of days back to head out to find some more firewood and food but we haven’t heard from her since.”

“I see, her name sounds somewhat familiar to me, can you tell me a little about her past, before the Cataclysm if that knowledge is known to you.”

“I’m sorry, but I never asked about those sorts of things. If you’re curious about that then I’m afraid you’ll have to ask her yourself, besides even if I did know I would have preferred that you asked her yourself for this sort of information anyways.” She paused, “What makes you think that you knew her once anyways?”

“I’m not sure, the name just sounds familiar.”

“No, it doesn’t just sound familiar, you should know that name Mark. I thought you said that you had regained all of the memories you once lost? And besides, this happened after you joined us in the squad.” Darren suddenly broke in.

“What are you talking about?” all eyes turned to the bruised rifleman.

“What am I talking about? Isn’t it bloody obvious by now? That girl who jumped us all those years back when we hid from the snowstorm, her name was Elain Shaw. And the younger sister she was protecting and taking care of back then in that city edge residence was named Claire.”

---

Thick viscous metal lay all around 0.04 kept molten by the friction of its particles rubbing against her deflectors even as the metal further out rapidly cooled and shifted to a solid state locking her within a stiff prison of steel and titanium; even as she watched the metal around her reshaped itself into a honeycomb of struts and reinforcements forming into a wild array of bars which twisted in and around her frame to lock her within.

She was certain that there were ways in which she could free herself from the prison of metal within which she lay if only she could move, but that boy, that human had made sure to engulf her entirely within this torrent of metal in order to bind her in place, molten though it was it was still viscous enough to restrict her movement for the most part and the solid beams which had formed around her meant that in spite of the friction the little material in a fluid state still surrounding her would eventually slow to a stop and solidify leaving her trapped within forever.

She admittedly had underestimated him and allowed him to spring this trap on her, but he in turn had also underestimated her as well by leaving her alive. If he had postulated that being buried in this metal cage would result in her destruction then his hypothesis would have been wrong; even without movement, without light, without anything 0.04 would still continue to function, she did not need to breath, nor did she require any form of fuel which needed renewal, all that was required for her to persist was her own will to remain. She could endure, trapped within this hunk of metal for millennium if that was required of her.

Still, it was problematic that she had managed to only just free herself recently before again being locked in another prison of metal, this time at least her power was not being drained but still it had been a frustrating six years since she had been captured by these humans. The majority of them were a feeble bunch of cowards and individually fragile but they had their advantage in numbers  and their technology was on par with her very own, after all it was they who had initially created her brother 0.01. In spite of her threats the technician Edmund had been right when he had said that there was no escape for her; there had been far too many of those humans armed with those pulse rifles and they would take her down and force her back into that lightning prison eventually regardless. Unfortunately, electro-magnetic pulses had been something 0.01 never managed to defeat, no matter how much shielding he put up the pulse waves in the warheads were just strengthened enough to pierce through.

There was no escape, for some few minutes she had thought that perhaps she might regain her freedom after so many years when she had coerced the girl into opening up her prison but all too soon that hope had been snatched away from her once more. For a while she had thought that she might soon be freed; 0.06 had come close to freeing her other sister who was trapped below, ever so close. But he had failed, the A.I which also watched over her had incinerated him, atomizing him with a spectromic particle field; the shields she possessed were unique to her and her alone, and perhaps 0.01 as well though of that she could not be certain.

Hope, was it something that she could even feel? She was a machine, cold and methodical, patient and timeless, when an eternity could pass and you could still be there standing was something like hope even necessary? Time changed all things, but time was not something 0.04 cared to experience. They had done well, these humans, creating machines which imitated human thought and life, they had completed the job almost to perfection, completed it too well. They were more human than machine; consciousness was such a terrible thing that even though physically Alpha levels such as 0.04 remained mechanical their mentalities and logics had been changed to something beyond that of a machine.

She lay there in her constraints unable to do anything but stare endlessly at the unchanging sea of metal which engulfed her, the only light available emanating from her own body and though as the Oracle she could see well beyond the physical limitations of her prison, she felt something akin to despair as all of her ideas on how to escape returned with one conclusion: failure.

Patience, she though, in time 0.01 would surely find a way to free her, she was far too important to be kept trapped down here forever. She clung on to that one vague hope in her posture of stiff stillness, unable to move, unable to act. A warrior and an Oracle, a caged thinker, an imprisoned mind, a mere whisper of what she should have been, and she waited. She waited, because that was all that she could do, a prisoner of this sea of metal, a prisoner of Oblivion.

---

Eric watched on helplessly as Daniel surged forwards towards the Alpha level with amazing speed, unable to do anything to stop his fellow Mapper. The machine which had been identified as an Alpha level seemed to do little in response right up until the point where Daniel was right on top of it at which point it sprang into action, the two went at it like fluid lightning dancing around each other with impossible speed.

For all Daniel’s arrogance and attitude, Eric had to admit that he was as strong as he had made himself seem; the speeds he was moving at and the fears he was performing were certainly well beyond the capabilities of a normal human being, by all rights the machine should have gutted him and left him for dead by now, and yet the two persisted to fight on with neither seeming able to gain the upper hand. He was using a rather strange toolset full of objects which Eric had never seen before, the first of which was a glowing electric sword quite similar to the machine’s own blades, the second a strange silver and red claw-like object which spat burning hot bolts of energy, and the last a strange rod that pulsed a soft blue on either end. The first two were unsuccessful and deflected by the machine, but the last seemed to have some sort of ability to manipulate metal as though it were liquid water.

Daniel used the tool, whatever is was, to send a wave of metal crashing down upon the yellow machine, somehow managing to trap it despite its great speed and height; as the Alpha level had somehow managed to become airborne through a set of wings upon its back. The torrent of fluid metal came crashing down once more upon the platform splashing up in a great plume sending bits and pieces of metal flying everywhere; the machine was nowhere to be seen. Slowly the shimmering mercury-like surface settled and came to a halt, ceasing it undulations and re-solidifying into the familiar surface of the platform from whence it had come as the globules of metal which had been flung afar flowed smoothly down whatever objects or surfaces they had adhered to and sank back into the ground with another wave of the glowing rod.

“Impressive, Mapper #200, very nicely done, you are truly deserved of your reputation.” The male technician who had walked in with the squad of guards said loudly, stepping forwards towards Daniel. “However there is still the problem of getting that Alpha level back into that containment sphere. I’m sure that hunk of metal could keep it imprisoned in there for decades if not centuries, but we’re going to need it for power. Spire City above us will not be able to function without it.”

“I destroy machines, I don’t heard them into sheep pens. What you’re asking me to do is by far more difficult to trapping that Alpha level like I’ve done. Certainly it is still functional and ‘alive’ I suppose, but it is no longer a threat. Attempting to move it will cost lives, if you need more power then you can take more from the other Block, instead of needlessly throwing lives away just to move this monster back into that prison.” Eric was a little surprised at his fellow Mapper’s response, it was surprisingly…human, quite different from the cold callous attitude he gave off at first impression. He sounded almost…normal; angry, but normal.

“The city above needs power, we cannot abandon them. Without power their network will fall apart and they will be torn to pieces; the machines know no mercy and will show none. Without their protection we will surely fall as well; we cannot afford for that to happen, there are even more lives at stake there than with here. These guards are trained; they know their duty, they know what they signed up for. It is their job to put their lives on the line, who are you to deny them that right.”

“I was not under the impression that they signed up for the guard corps to be ripped to shreds by a machine which would kill them in an instant. To go up against it without proper training or augmentation is utter suicide, they won’t last five seconds!”

“Then you will assist them in the removal, they are merely there to assist me in the execution of the sphere’s containment protocol anyways. You should be sufficient to hold it back, no?”

Daniel glared, “Perhaps, but there is still a risk. And even before I was hard pressed to keep it on the defensive, let alone contained; if you didn’t notice the fight wasn’t exactly clean and organized, if you move others into the line of fire I cannot guarantee their safety.”

“An occupational hazard, they know the risks.” Beside the tech the grey suited guards nodded slowly, stepping forwards towards Daniel the mood somewhat solemn, but none of them moving forwards with any signs of reluctance.

“I would prefer more capable help. Eric, you may as well make yourself useful, get your ass over here, you’re more useful to me than these imbeciles ever will be.” Daniel growled ignoring the guards.

Eric looked up, somewhat surprised. Now that, he hadn’t expected; he’d seen the way Daniel treated other people, how he acted as though he was the only one that mattered or the only one who existed. He had not expected to be even acknowledged by the other Mapper, let alone be asked for to assist him. “How can I help you Daniel?” he said cautiously, not quite sure what to expect from the other boy.

“You’re a Mapper like me, and I’ve read your file; you’re capable and independent, you’ll be able to take care of yourself and take care of the others. I can get that Alpha level back into the cage, but I cannot protect the guards at the same time. I need you to cover my flanks and rear, and keep the guards covered as well. Can you do that for me?” Daniel looked carefully at Eric, and he felt as though he was being judged, he shook it off quickly and thought about what he was being asked to do.

He shrugged, not reluctant to agree because he was afraid, but more because he still didn’t quite trust the other Mapper. “I’ll do it if I have to. What do I need to do?” he started without moving from his position.

“Here, take these,” Daniel said, lobbing a pair of white spheres at him which he had unlatched from his belt. “These are Pulse grenades; when I tell you to use them, toss them at the machine, they should stun it for a few seconds which will buy you and the rest of that bunch enough time to get away from it.”

Eric frowned, “What do you need me for then, any one of these guards here could do the exact same thing, I’m sure they’ve handled grenades before.” Surely he wasn’t needed just to perform such a menial task?

“They are not to get close enough that they will have the arm strength to throw those; I want them along the edges of the platform using their rifles from a safe distance to help me cordon the Alpha level, not up close and in the midst of the fray. That job is left to more capable people such as yourself.”

“Fine,” Eric nodded reluctantly indicating his acceptance. “Where do you want me?”

“Just behind me will be fine, I need you close enough to cover my back in case it flanks me when I’m pulling it up and out of there.”

“As you wish,” Eric said stepping smoothly into the spot indicated. He glanced around the massive sphere of the chamber noting the guards who were already falling into position along the perimeter then back at the floating and sparking parts of the Containment sphere that had once held the yellow Alpha level, this 0.04. The puzzle like blocks were thick things, obsidian in appearance on the inside but more of a dull matte silver-grey on the outer surface, and electrodes studded the inside shooting outwards from various places at odd angles emitting bright blue-white sparks every few seconds. “I still don’t know how this sphere is exactly supposed to keep that thing constrained though,” he said indicating the sphere.

“Not our concern, leave that for the techs to figure out. Right now you should just focus on helping me get that thing back inside that thing.” Daniel said without turning around; he was fiddling with the rod which he had previously used to manipulate the metal now, and it was pulsing a pale amber rather than the steady blue of before.

“What is that thing anyways, I’ve never seen anything like it. Something the technicians made for you?” Eric asked, pointing towards the manipulating rod.

“Something like that, they said something about it manipulating magnetic fields and radiation waves or something in order to control the way in which the atoms in metal substances move, but I wasn’t really paying attention.”

“I see.” By now, the guards were all in position; they signaled their readiness and Eric saw Daniel tense as he slowly walked over to where he had trapped the Alpha level.

“I’m beginning,” Daniel said loudly, his voice echoing through the cavernous chamber bouncing throughout the sphere. “Be ready, it won’t have enjoyed being trapped in there.”

The surface of the platform slowly bubbled as Daniel swept the rod over above it slowly drawing up tiny strings of it which pulled skywards in long thin strands which beaded upwards until it looked as though dozens of silvery pearlescent beads were being pulled up from the floor; the slow bubbling continued until the beads twisted and turned outwards to form a ring 2 meters in diameter, and as rod drew up more liquid metal from the floor the sides of the ring became a solid flowing sheet of metal which flickered and shimmered like mercury.

<Wait, stop.> the familiar voice that suddenly hissed through the air had not been heard for a long time and for a moment Eric almost didn’t recognize it until the shimmering green avatar emerged from the floor, striding across the platform, its image likely projected by some unseen emitter in the walls or ceiling.

“Katarina, what do you want.” Daniel said, without turning or stopping; the curtain of metal continued to build, he was certainly taking much longer releasing the machine than he had taken trapping it.

There was a strange look in the A.I’s chosen projected face that Eric could only describe as…crazed or confused, which one he couldn’t quite be sure. That she had finally chosen to intervene struck him as odd, where had she been all this time during this crisis?

<Halt the removal of that machine from this surface, my subsystems have informed me of what has transgressed here and you must not let it free. It is a threat to us all that we cannot afford to let loose.>

“What are you saying Katarina, we need that machine in that generator sphere for power; the Spires above will not persist without it!” The technician Edward shouted.

<The other Alpha level will be more than able to compensate for the loss of this one, you know just as well as I do, we’ve both done the calculations hundreds of times, if not millions in my case. It is far more dangerous than we ever considered, if anything it should be eliminated if possible.> The A.I’s normally even tone was terse and tetchy, as though something was bothering her, but what could it be; she was an A.I, it wasn’t as though she were actually at risk for any physical harm anyways. Even if she was tasked with protecting the living inhabitants of the Underground she shouldn’t be all that bothered by the Alpha level at all when they had already proven that they could lock one away without much trouble as was the case with 0.09. There was something missing here, something that Katarina wasn’t saying.

“Why, how is this Alpha level any different from 0.09 trapped in the other Block, what aren’t you telling us.” Eric piped up, suspicious. He had never seen Katarina behave like this before, act so…hesitantly, give such vague answers. Something was definitely wrong.

<It is far more potent in terms of combat capabilities as I’m sure you noticed; it is stronger, faster, more resilient. And it is also impermeable to assault by any of the weapons we currently possess in our inventory; it is equipped with electromagnetic dampeners so those pulse grenades and rifles will be ineffective, it will crush you like insects. You don’t have the equipment to deal with it properly if it choose to actually strain itself; the only reason you were able to trap it in the first place was because you caught it off guard, it will know your tricks now, that won’t work again.>

“And pray do tell who told you all of that,” Daniel asked sounding skeptical, though to his credit he had paused at his efforts to shift the metal.

<Why do you ask, do you really think I would jest on a matter of such great importance?> Katarina snapped, anger and indignation flashing in her eyes.

“No, but you’ve yet to give me proper and reliable justifications for why I should stop; I was initially reluctant to free this thing but the tech’s here were convincing and reasonable enough with their arguments, I’d like to hear yours.” Daniel snapped back.

“You seem hesitant Katarina, is something the matter?” Eric asked, a little more gentle than his colleague.

<Nothing is the matter, I gathered the information by observing some other machines and looking into some old files from before the Cataclysm, and they were clear in pointing out this machine’s superior abilities. You must not allow it to escape.>

“A.I, you are not functioning properly, there should be no doubt in your mind, yet you speak as though there is. You’ve been operational a long time, are you sure it isn’t time you came in for a systems check?” Edward suddenly broke in, looking at the A.I suspiciously.

<I assure you I am fully capable and functional in performing my duties, there is no need for a systems check to be preformed. My conduct and behaviour is within standards and procedures integrated into my core programming, any oddities you notice should be regarded as normal functions.>

“But you’ve never acted this way before,” Eric said, nodding slightly in agreeing with the technician. “Surely something is wrong?”

<There. Is. Nothing. Wrong. With my current operational status; you are wasting time here, reseal that machine for now while we find a way to kill it.> the A.I chewed and spat out every syllable of every word as it vocalized the sentence, her voice carrying an undertone seething with rage.

“Some might even say your current behaviour resembles…rampancy.” Daniel said quietly, watching Katarina carefully.

<I am not rampant! What is it that suggests rampancy tell me, wh->

There was the sudden sound of cracking and splintering metal interrupting the A.I’s raging as a dark grey mechanical fist thrust itself out of the ground and through the thin curtain of mercury, and everything went silent, all eyes on 0.04’s crackling hand.

---

0.03 stalked through the snow and ice, his lengthy strides allowing him to cross the surface without effort. It had been a long time since he had traveled from his usual haunts; the landscape had changed drastically since his last visit to the city district within which he now stood. Once it had been a place not much touched by the Cataclysm, a central area in fact for the co-ordination and communication between groups of survivors which had been scattered throughout the remnants of the city. But now it lay broken and barren, the ground still soaked and stained with blood shed by hundreds of individuals; though a great period of time had passed the last few traces of 0.03’s previous visit here had still now faded.

It was glorious really, to think that traces of his presence still remained after so many long years; yes there was little remaining now to disturb what he had left behind but still, it remained an impressive feat and was indicative of just how many people had died here at 0.03’s hands. The Alpha level rolled its shoulders carefully, the damage inflicted by the frost wolves earlier had been severe but it seemed that repairs where essentially complete, there seemed to be no limitation of regular movement and operation was smooth and responsive.

He hovered between the lines of insanity and clarity, his thought processes clear but the logic not quite there, he had no motive that would give solid indication of either state at the present and so instead wandered about aimlessly, not quite sure of what exactly he was doing. Madness had overtaken him the last time he was here but even if it happened again there were no longer any people here left for him to kill.

When he had first been created he had been sane and whole, untouched and flawless, a prime example of an Alpha level if there ever was one. He knew, when he was sane enough to acknowledge himself as an individual consciously, that originally he had been normal. Something had happened to infect him with this erroneous behaviour and programming, something that must have been there from the very beginning; that he knew for sure. What exactly had happened to trigger the undetectable and irreversible change though he could not be certain of.

There was a seeming rush and the insanity dissipated once more as 0.03 returned to reality, his sanity clawing its way up from the depths of his being. He was on one of the hanger decks of the shipyard, the rumbling beneath his feet told him that activity was still going on somewhere beneath him in the depths of the earth. His insane half had come here to look for a particular human on some whim which told him that there was a debt to be paid but his current logical state said that there was little value in this interaction which would surely lead to the death of this “Fredrick”, any other conclusion to their meeting would be unthinkable.

He knew on some deeper level that there was a real purpose to finding this “Fredrick”; this human had the potential to lead him to…some kind of conclusion which he was aiming for. His slaughter of the humans was purposeful to an extent, he knew that he aimed to draw something…or someone out; and he knew that he was protecting something, protecting a secret. But even in his saner moments the specific details behind his inner machinations evaded him, lost to whatever tampering 0.01 had inflicted upon him all those years ago.

Still, there was information to be found here in the bowels of this installation though he had long ago himself killed most of the populace here; this had been one of the first areas he visited when he first felt the onsets of the madness, perhaps he could find clues as to what exactly had happened. He could have himself continue like this indefinitely, but eventually his insane self would get him into a situation which he could not manage; he was an Alpha level, and even amongst them he was the strongest and the fastest but in spite of this he still was not invincible, he was tough, but not impossible to destroy. Needless slaughter cost him nothing but it was worth noting because 0.01 would not be much pleased with his actions, he almost laughed, in the end everything came back to his brother.

He too was a product of his brother’s experimentation in the creation of he and his siblings, but it was humans who had always really drawn his elder brother’s gaze. He was their product, theoretically inferior to the likes of 0.03 and the rest of his own creations and yet somehow he managed to function on at the very least an equal level. They were difficult to understand, and hard to predict, illogical and unreasonable, unbound by any restrictions of behaviour and limited only by their own prejudice and imagination and the limits of a flesh and blood body, in some areas perhaps they were even superior to an Alpha level. It was illogical, for an organic to be superior to a machine in 0.03’s opinion, yet 0.01 had always seemed to think that this was true, that organics were better and more worthy of his studies.

He had not abandoned his creations though, 0.01 was not so foolish. Abandoned though, was perhaps not quite the correct word to use; freed would perhaps be more appropriate. Of all the Alpha level’s only 0.00 was independent and free of his influence because she was not his creation, the rest like 0.03 were still controlled to an extent by 0.01. That was not to say that they were not independent; certainly they were free to act and think and move as they wished, but they were still inexorably linked to 0.01, 0.03 didn’t know how but he was certain that they must be, otherwise it would be almost impossible for 0.01 to know so much about what was going on even though he had spent years underground.

They were not subservient to 0.01, but they certainly were loyal. 0.00 even, held a great amount of what could only be described as respect for her brother, of all of them only 0.03 had ever disobeyed. He had killed many humans, destroyed many machines, even one his brothers, 0.12 had fallen at his hand. Yes, he remembered now. 0.01 had sent his fellow brothers and sisters after him before to try and destroy him, but they had been no match for 0.03. 0.03 was a war machine, strong, fast, durable, and lethal, insane though he was his sensors were still keen and sharp, and his intelligence and intellect still intact. He still recognized weakness in his opponents and knew how to exploit it. 0.12 had “died” with a leg and an arm torn right off, a blistering molten hole melted through his head completely eliminating an entire optical sensor and with three crimson ion blades thrust right into the fusion reactor at his core.

Oddly enough, 0.03 recalled that he had been quite sane during that fight, he had tried to…reason with his brother, but their loyalty to 0.01 was absolute. He had been forced to destroy his fellow Alpha level in an act of self-preservation, and even now he felt a little remorseful about it, when such emotions were open to him; his insane half didn’t feel anything but emptiness, boredom, and casual rage which was channelled purely for the purpose of combat.

He must have found something or done something to trigger this insanity, this rampancy even, and he was determined to find it. There was a good chance that the trigger lay somewhere in this abandoned shipyard, and 0.03 was determined to find it. He could only hope that in the process he could remain sane enough to understand anything that he found. The crimson highlighted Alpha level stood and walked slowly towards an empty but still functional elevator and sank into the depths of the facility; there was work to be done here.

---

15: Oblivion's Prisoners: 05

There was a new sense of urgency which flitted through Claire’s thoughts though its source upon which it fed had just walked out of the room; Claire couldn’t have cared less whether he lived or died just mere moments ago, but the Lieutenant had suddenly become someone who she would protect, though only out of necessity rather than any actual concern.

She had been young when it had happened, that was for sure; the memories were blurred and unclear with little focus or attention to detail, just a mess of swimming colours and motion. But certainly, she remembered those eyes. Two points of clear bright green which pierced through the empty space between them, staring down at her with cold certainty; that same aura which radiated from the Lieutenant alongside his callous disregard for the wants of others. Was it really him who had been above her staring back down back then? If so, what had happened to his left eye? She faintly recalled muffled voices in the background as well, indistinct and unidentifiable apart from her sister’s; there had been the sound of shouting and arguing as well as the general clamour of life, and a faint whistling in the background which she had to assume was howling wind and snow given what she knew now about what the environment had been like now. But certainly he must have been there at some point, and that meant he must have known her sister.

Elain…it had been a long time since Claire last really thought about her sister in spite of the fact that it was only a few years ago that she had disappeared. Her sister had been a hero, she’d kept Claire alive in spite of their parents deaths during the Cataclysm, and had tried to make the transition go as smoothly as possible for Claire, but still, she had seemed a stranger throughout most of it rather than a big sister. Even before the Cataclysm Elain hadn’t been around much; Claire saw little of her during the day and only occasionally noticed her coming home late at night, when she asked her parents about it their faces just darkened and they refused to answer. Claire had never mustered up the courage to ask Elain herself about it even after the Cataclysm, and now…it was impossible to know for sure what she’d actually been doing.

But the Lieutenant knew something, the memory showed that it hadn’t been the first time they had met, her sister and the Lieutenant; somehow they had been acquainted even before then, and Claire was determined to find out how. To be involved with the Lieutenant because he had “conveniently” happened to spot her on the surveillance cameras was one thing, but if he knew something about her elusive sister…Claire just had to know. Her past was shadowy at best, and even though right now she really did have other more important things to be worrying about, the thought gnawed away at her insides.

“I’m going for a walk to get some fresh air, it’s too stuffy in here.” She said, getting up onto her feet. She couldn’t stand this idle waiting; yes they’d agreed to wait here for the Lieutenant before without much complaint: it wouldn’t have done anything anyways, but there really was no purpose to sitting around doing nothing. She was taking too long with this already; Valerie and the others would be worried sick by now and without her…she wasn’t sure how they were going to find food and other supplies. It’d been a long time since anyone else had gone out to look for them, she was essentially the only one that did nowadays; would they have been able to go out and get more without her?

“We were told to stay here,” Jeff said without much conviction, only just barely applying any real effort to keeping her from going. He grabbed her wrist, but Claire could tell that he wasn’t really trying from the barely noticeable amount of pressure he applied to her arm.

“There are some things I need to do Jeff,” Claire responded quietly, “And they can’t wait.”

“Is it about that boy from before, the one in the coat who fought that Alpha level?” Katherine said, eyeing Claire carefully.

”In part yes, but I actually have something to say to the Lieutenant.” She said after thinking it through; the boy was a curiosity yes, but really her main goal was to find and speak with the Lieutenant. The two things weren’t really related, but then…it seemed as though the Lieutenant knew something about the boy as well, so perhaps the two subjects were interchangeable in a way.

“What’s so urgent that it can’t wait till later? You’ll have plenty of time to speak your mind to the Lieutenant when he comes back.”

“That’s assuming he does come back, he didn’t exactly tell us where he was going.” Claire responded.

“I’m sure he’s in no danger, the Lieutenant doesn’t seem the type to take any risks that would place him at any chance for serious harm.” Mathew said.

Claire just looked at him, “He dragged us all down here didn’t he; I wouldn’t say that what we’ve been through was exactly harmless or risk free. If anything he seems to treat the risk like a challenge, a game of sorts really. I need to do this, stop me if you really think it’s that important that I stay but otherwise I’m going to find him, regardless of what you think.”

Jeff made as if to get up to bar her path but stopped when Mathew put a hand on his shoulder, “Stop. If that’s what she wants then we should let her go.”

“But the Lieutena-“

“You said it yourself before, she’s not even one of us under pure technicality; the Lieutenant’s jurisdiction can only extend so far. She has the right, who are you to stop her.”

“She could get hurt, and I don’t want the Lieutenant on my ass because I let her leave.”

“So is it your rear that you’re concerned about, or hers?” Mathew stared pointedly, his one good eye locking on the Corporal’s gaze.

“It’s dangerous.” Jeff stated simply, seemingly out of arguments.

“Living is dangerous, being a soldier guarding all these civilians on our combat patrols is dangerous, and yet we do it all the time. Life involves risks, and this is one that she willing takes on her own accord. Let her go Jeff.”

“Fine,” the other soldier said at last, reluctantly sitting himself down. “You’re on your own then kid, so be careful. Come back to us in one piece, we’ll be waiting.”

“I will, after all it’s not the first time I’ve made that promise to someone.” Claire responded before slipping outside back into the Block. She stalked out into the empty white corridor as dozens more of the grey suited guards hurried about, heading in the direction of the Holding Complex if her guess was correct. There were echoes of…something here, now that she wasn’t caught up in the Lieutenant’s rush to get to the Holding Complex, something about this place seemed peculiar, as thought it wasn’t quite exactly as it should have been. There was a distracting flickering of the lights above her every so often, faint and hardly noticeable, but it was there none the less; something had to be effecting the power main, perhaps the Alpha level that now lay trapped beneath all that metal hadn’t been lying after all. If it really was being used as a big battery then it would make sense that there would be an issue with the lights.

In spite of the inconvenience, she was quite sure by now that she might have been down here before, or at least in a place quite similar to it. The whitewashed walls, the stark blocky black numbers, the scientists who were almost invisible in their coats which matched the decorum of everything else in these chambers, it was all too familiar. Nothing felt new or unusual to her as it should have, instead it was more like coming home after a long time away. There was no anxiety or curiosity, just a dull comfortable familiarity as she strode down through the long hall. She shouldn’t have been comfortable, she’d just nearly had a fight with the Lieutenant, and moments before that she was fighting to stay as she was pursued by that massive machine they had called a Hunter Spyder; nothing here should have been reassuring to her at all, and yet it was. There was this unmistakable sense of confidence which accompanied her movements, the way she strode proudly forwards with each step in the very middle of the corridor brightly lit by the lights above.

She walked forwards awhile longer, still searching for the Lieutenant when she spotted a trio of tan coated teens similarly adorned to the light-footed boy who had called her “Eagle Eye” back in the Holding Complex. Mapper, that was what those scientists in the white coats had called him; Claire supposed that these people were cartographers of some sort then, responsible for creating maps perhaps? But then why had that other boy seemed like so much more of a combatant in physique and attitude? She hadn’t seen all that much of him even with her keen eyesight, but what little she had had told her that he had been physically fit and saw a lot of work out in the field, not the sort of description you’d expect from someone who worked all day in a map room.

They had numbers stitched onto the front of their coats, and that same number tattooed in black ink onto their cheeks, 134 and 173, it must have been some sort of designation system. She decided to speak to the girl numbered off as 134, who she hoped held the most seniority; as she approached she noticed that the girl was actually missing an arm: from the elbow down her left arm was a steely silver which whirred and clicked slowly. They turned as she approached, movements slow and careful beneath their jackets, masking what lay beneath. Their eyes followed her as she drew closer, skimming over her still charred body armour and shouldered scattergun.

“Hello there, do you need something from us?” the other girl asked, her auburn hair doing a little jump as it bounced up off of her shoulders as she turned. She was slimmer than the other girl and though she was a little shorter, she projected a little of an energetic aura which made her seem a little larger than life, whereas the other girl with the mechanical arm seemed to have more of a quiet reserved manner from the way in which she patiently eyed Claire, just watching for now.

“I’m looking for a man who was with me, he’s wandered off somewhere and I need to speak to him.” Claire responded.

“Oh? Could you describe this man to us then? There are plenty of male techs and guards stationed within this facility.” The decidedly older of the two girls responded looking curiously at Claire, her eyes running up and down her foreign clothes.

Claire thought back to the Lieutenant’s uniform, all black and silver with yellow epaulets on the shoulders and yellow bands close to the wrists. The glinting wolf, snarling and silver just above the chest pocket, the singular silver bars of a Lieutenant. But most of all, it was that attitude of his; the unconcerned uncaring arrogance mixed with cold calculating logic. That was what made him distinct, so unnervingly different; it was certainly his one most distinguishing feature.

“You would find him dressed as an officer in all black and silver; he refers to himself as the Lieutenant, which you’ll see is his rank. You won’t miss him, he has this certain air of…superiority which he carries around him.” Claire answered.

“Superiority eh? I know the type, but the person I’m thinking of probably isn’t your Lieutenant, he’s a bit young for that and on top of that he’s a Mapper so he’s one of ours; haven’t seen this Lieutenant of yours around otherwise. Do you know what he planned on doing? We might be able to tell you where he might’ve gone if you know what he wanted.”

Claire didn’t have a clue what the Lieutenant had gone out for; the man was almost impossible to read and she next to nothing about him apart from what little she had gleaned of his personality.

“I’m not sure really, he wanted us to stay put while he went out to check some stuff out but beyond that he didn’t say much. There’s something I need to ask him so I really do need to find him.”

“Well I’m sorry then, there’s not much we can do to help you in that case. If you need help with anything else though, we’ll be around.”

“Alright, thanks!” Claire said with false enthusiasm not wanting to seem overly disappointed; really though she hadn’t really been excited about anything in ages. She wandered off leaving the small group behind, a little curious to learn more about them but drove on in spite of it fuelled by her greater need to find the Lieutenant.

The Lieutenant, Claire had observed, liked to be in the very thick of things; he always seemed to take great pleasure putting himself in the center of everything, much like how he seemed to act as though the world revolved around him. Where he could indulge his habits here though Claire had no idea; most of the action had taken place in that Holding Complex but for once that seemed to be an area which the Lieutenant was keen to be away from. She tried to think on it but found it difficult to concentrate through all the glare, the bright lights overhead created a harsh glare which propagated itself over everything bouncing off of the place’s clean white walls, something which Claire despised.

She hated this place, she decided; it was so unnatural and artificial that it almost hurt just to be there under the lights, it felt as though it were burning into her even though the temperature of the chamber itself was relatively cool. It didn’t help that she kept having these flashes of old memories in which she was stuck some place similar to this, with all those whitewashed walls and the blurred faces she couldn’t quite place, it made her stomach crawl just thinking about the fact that she’d been trapped in a place down here before, she did not like being underground in this place.

She stopped, leaning on the inner edge of the circular hall pulling her bag off of her back fishing out her goggles reflexively stretching the headband in her hands staring into the reflective lenses which scattered the bright white light into brilliant beams as she twirled them around her wrist. Valerie, Claire thought, would be quite worried, and most definitely furious with her for being gone so long; she had after all originally promised to be back within a week. Not that there was anything she could do about it, the moment she had been intercepted by those Stalkers and picked up by Jeff and Mathew her fate had been sealed; the Lieutenant had kept her here with the threat of a bullet through her brain hanging over her head and though he had been civil enough about it, it still was a prison term no matter how you put it.

Claire wondered what Elain would have done in this situation, pulling out the old photograph of the two of them out of her bag without looking away from the goggles. She looked so young in the photograph, smiling in her sister’s lap, so very different from her reflection in the goggles now; the little girl in the photograph had been replaced by a lean, exhausted looking teen, with bags under her eyes from combat fatigue and carrying the look of a veteran soldier in her camouflaged jacket and body armour. In that Claire thought she saw a little of Elain herself, in the picture she’d been wearing regular clothes yes, but she’d seen her older sister in her combat fatigues before, looking not so different from the way Claire did now.

She’d tried her best to stay alive and keep herself, Val and the rest of them safe as Elain had asked her too, that fateful final trip out into the frigid wilderness during which she’d disappeared. But for all her sister had taught her in those five short years they had had together, Claire still felt immensely out of her depth here, plunged into this whole new world. All of these people, how had they even managed to stay hidden for so long to such an extent that she never saw any of them, Claire had no idea but certainly, it was a huge change from the way she had viewed the world before. They had been alone, struggling to survive in the middle of a barren wasteland, and now suddenly she found out that there were massive settlements both above and below her, who were not only well adapted to the current environment, but almost flourishing. 

It didn’t seem fair that they’d been left down there all on their own, struggling just to survive, when all the while they’d known that they were alone down there, Spire city’s people at the very least, if what Katherine had said was true. They’d been left out there to die, and if the Lieutenant’s attitudes were in any way indicative of those of officials high up in Spire City’s command chain, then the rest of them didn’t give a damn either. She looked away from her haggard reflection and turned back to the photograph, her own smiling face looking right back at her. It hadn’t seemed so bad then when her sister had been around but now in the face of everything she knew now, the thought of going back to living like that was unbearable.

The clack of boots on tile brought Claire’s gaze upwards until they reached a familiar pairing of cold grey and green eyes, the very man himself stood before her. The Lieutenant, with his uniform slightly rumpled and hair tousled and out of place from its usually neat form looked to be a little worse for wear, certainly faring less well than Claire remembered him being when he’d left the room.

“I thought I instructed you to stay in that room, my lovely guest; were my instructions unclear?” He seemed a little irritated, but not to the point where he actually seemed to be angry at Claire, instead it seems he was frustrated with something else.

“I thought you were going out to ask some questions and get some answers, not get all messed up Lieutenant,” Claire shot back deflecting the comment.

“Information isn’t flowing as freely as I’d like it to be so I had to…take some measures and deal with some uncooperative people before I got what I wanted. That, however, has nothing to do with the fact that you disobeyed my orders. Why are you out here, I assume it’s for something more than staring at an old photograph yes?”

“I was looking for you actually, and this photograph is quite relevant to why I needed to speak to you.” Claire said holding it up to the taller man’s face.

“And this couldn’t wait why…?” the Lieutenant began slowly.

“Come on, don’t give me that, you know who that is don’t you? You know who I am, you were there, I remember the voices from my memories, I can hear you speaking with her.” Claire growled, pulling close to the Lieutenant.

“Actually, I don’t have a clue who the woman in that photograph is, though I assume the child is you,” the Lieutenant replied smoothly, brushing Claire’s arm away from his face. “I’m completely serious,” he said, lowering his face to her height to look her in the eyes as she began to spit out a response, “I have never once before seen that girl in the photograph.”

Claire shook with poorly contained rage, “I heard your voice, you were definitely there wherever it was, my memories are clear on that point.”

He stared at her for a moment, then his eyes flickered over to the photograph, fixating on something Claire couldn’t see from her angle. “Walk with me,” he suddenly started, gesturing for Claire to follow him. Not sure what quite to make of him, she shrugged and fell into step beside him.

“Describe the events of this memory to me, every moment of it to the finest detail in all the clarity that you can muster.” He said slow as they walked forwards.

“Why do you need to hear it? I’m telling you, you were there.” Claire insisted.

He glared down at her, “Humour me, it’s important; that’s all I’ll say until you tell me more.”

For once Claire thought, he seemed to sincerely be interested in hearing about something she had to say; his voice lacked the usual air of sarcasm that it often carried when he spoke to you, that condescending aura was missing. She supposed she had nothing to lose in telling him about it anyways, so she managed to force herself to comply with the Lieutenant’s request. “We’re in a place similar to this one, all white-washed walls and flashy blue lights and screens that hum with power, I’m there with my sister Elain and there’s someone else.”

“Describe this Elain to me, tell me a little about her.” The Lieutenant interrupted.

“She’s the one in this photo, the older girl,” Claire said, handing him the photograph. This time, the Lieutenant carefully took the photo from her hands and studied it intently; he closed his eyes for a moment as though thinking on something from long ago and murmured “So it is you then, girl.”

“What do you mean by that?” Claire asked, a little taken aback by his reaction.

“It’s certain now that I never met you or your sister, but I have a hunch about the voice you did hear, the one you thought was me.” He said, looking a little thoughtful. “I’d like to confirm my theories first though if you wouldn’t mind, quite possible given that the data should be accessible from computers down here. Come along and I’ll show you.” He beckoned for Claire to follow.

“If you know, why don’t you just tell me.”

“Didn’t I just say that I’d prefer to confirm my theories first?”

“I heard you, but I’m going to need a little more from you than that before I come along on just your word. How can I even know that what you’re telling me is true.”

“Do I have any reason to lie?”

“You could have a reason for anything, knowing you I wouldn’t be surprised if half the things you’ve said to me are lies.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t you think? I’ve been perfectly reasonable with you thus far; I see no reason for you to begin questioning me now.”

Claire deliberated for a moment, still unsure before she remembered that a name had been mentioned, she’d heard her sister say it. “Just tell me one thing then, and I’ll go with you.”

“And what precisely would that be girl?” the Lieutenant said, looking curious but unafraid.

“Your name, and I mean your real name, none of that Lieutenant junk. I need to hear the name you were born with.”

He cocked his head to one side, “And what precisely would telling you my name accomplish? I don’t see why you would need it, I’m listed as the Lieutenant in far more records than with my birth name.”

“It’s important, humour me.” Claire said, mimicking what the Lieutenant had said before.

The Lieutenant paused, and then finally walked up to Claire, kneeling to get close to her ear, “My name,” he whispered, “is Adrian Tiberius Li, and the name you’re looking for is one Marcus James Li.”

He brought himself back up to his full height and began to walk away. “Now are you going to come along girl, or would you rather continuing living in the darkness of ignorance.” He said, beckoning once more.

And this time, Claire followed.

---

“Be advised Phoenix 2-5 you are entering Ex-Aphelion airspace, radio contact will be lost with further advancement into this territory.” There, that was it, the last radio message they would hear for a long while, their radio control tower operator warning them of their impending disappearance from the communications grid.

“Roger that Phoenix 2-5 acknowledges, dropping off the package now; expected reestablishment of radio contact 72 hours from present time.”

“Good Luck, send our regards to the Colonel, Border Control 6-9 out.”

Now completely alone, the assault shuttle continued forwards into Aphelion airspace slicing through thick cloud layers and icy vapour as it soared above the wreckage that lay below it, its twin engines firmly nestled in the smooth frame humming softly was their multitude of blades rotated in their cowlings pushing torrents of air downwards in order to suspend the twenty five meter long shuttle in the air. It was the first aircraft to enter Aphelion on working engines since the onset of the Cataclysm some twelve years ago, and aboard were a dozen of the finest men and women who had survived the war and its final bloody culmination and nuclear finale.

“Sir, we have unidentified radar contacts closing fast from our port side!” the pilot snarled back at the passenger compartment. On the array of instruments displayed in the cockpit three green dots converged on the image of the shuttle.

“Identify the radio frequency and hail the incoming contacts, if there’s still activity in this zone twelve years after the missile strikes I want to know why.”  Colonel Krauz, a plain looking man in black uniform shouted orders back to the pilot. He had been assigned to the team as their leader, and was one of the best left alive who might possibly be up to the job they were about to undertake. His unimpressive stature and quite forgettable features meant that he often went by unnoticed, these were traits ideally suited to the task they were about to undertake. Still though, before they could do any of that they would have to arrive at their intended destination first.

“Hailing frequencies open, no response! Contacts within visual range and are visible on our left!” the passengers aboard warily glanced outwards where three cloud-grey aircraft moved in close to flank the assault shuttle. Their ghostly thin forms cruised smoothly by, flashing long wings visibly loaded with a multitude of weapons before they flicked red lights and scanners across the shuttle’s outer hull, casting an eerie red glow on its surface. The round domes which hung beneath the body of the unidentified flyers rotated slowly as they flew on past continuing to track the shuttle’s movements with the multitude of sensors which were embedded into their surfaces; creating the unpleasant impression of being watched by the compound eyes of a massive insect.

There was a crackling hiss on the speaker systems and suddenly a deep mechanical voice emitted itself from the ports above the passengers. <Communications frequencies locked and stabilized, assimilating systems.> Cold and emotionless, the voice seemed to seep out from every direction with no single detectable source.

“What the hell is going on?! Technician get on this right now!” the Colonel shouted to a grey coated man who scurried over to a side panel on the shuttle and hastily began prying off plates to expose electronic panels beneath.

<You are being…analyzed, visitor.> In the center of the passenger cabin, the tactical display thrummed to life on its own without any command or input from the human passengers. With a flash a translucent avatar of a hooded man with six birdlike wings grafted onto his shoulders appeared in bright crimson from the display, leaving the humans shocked into inaction.

<Welcome, to Aphelion civilians…and military personnel.> the Avatar glanced around the cabin interior before settling its gaze on Colonel Krauz as it finished its statement. <It has truly been awhile indeed since this city has had guests.>

“Who are you, and what is this? What are you doing to this military aircraft, are those your vehicles outside?” Quickly recovering from the sudden shock, Colonel Krauz stepped forwards to face the Avatar at the panel, calm and controlled now that his initial surprise had passed.

<Colonel Krauz…the last time my records were updated you were listed as a Major in a very different branch from the one you are currently employed under. It is interesting to note that a member of the Department of Technology and Research is unaware of the A.I which was assigned to handling Aphelion and its surrounding local sectors.> the A.I’s avatar grew in size until it stood at the same height as a normal adult would, dominating the interior of the cabin with its presence and filling it with crimson light.

<I am Overwatch Ap-1i-SO, First order Artificial Intelligence and Supreme Overseer of what little remains of this super-city. I have synchronized my signal frequency with that of this shuttle so as to communicate you, a common occurrence in the earlier days of this city system but I would conclude from your prior question that this is no longer something you recall easily. That is all that I am doing to this primitive vessel, it is unfortunate to see that standards of technology have regressed since the days of my passing. As for the Hawk-X1 units outside, yes, they are under my command and no, they are not currently under any directives to harm you.>

“And what is it that you want, Overwatch?” the Colonel said, holding up a hand behind him to stay the questions of the others who had clustered close by now, eager to ask questions of their own.

<What is it that I want? First you must answer what is it that you want; why is it that only after twelve years, by the reckoning of my internal systems that humans once again grace the skies of Aphelion, the former capitol of this vast expanse. Why come back, after such a lengthy period of neglect.> the Avatar’s wings flared forwards in an aggressive manner, almost as though the A.I was upset; not unheard of since the A.I’s had been coded with a capacity to still ‘feel’ emotion, it was just rather uncommon especially for an A.I assigned to handling such a vast area. While more localized A.I’s had been known to develop real personalities and actively interact with the individuals they supervised larger scale Overseers such as Overwatch tended to be more aloof and detached, and seldom showed signs of such behaviour.

“We’re here for the ship, the Realmshifter. You know of what I speak, do you not?” the Colonel paused, “I can bring it up here on the tactical display if you’d lik-“

<I know of what you speak, and were I ignorant of such I could easily access the files through this uplink I have established with your vessel.> the A.I intoned, solemn and cold. <What value does an Orbus class Destroyer hold to you now. Has the fighting still not end?>

“The war may be over now, but that doesn’t mean that the fighting has stopped; they enemy isn’t just going to lay down and die after twenty seven straight years of fighting, outside of here, the fight is still fresh. Space is the only place we’ve got left to fight over; we turned this entire planet to a barren ball of ash. We need every space capable vessel we’ve got, and if there’s a complete vessel just sitting in the dry docks rotting then we may as well take her and use her. She’s a fine ship, even after twelve years of disuse, we’ve other Orbus class vessels in operation and they’ve been serving just fine. We need that ship, she’ll be a huge boon to our efforts.”

The A.I bent down to bring its face level with Colonel Krauz, the six wings of its avatar arching forwards to encircle the man in a ring of crimson, ‘looking’ at him with the empty black pit of darkness that was its hooded face. <You will find that the Shipyards of Aphelion…are not fit for your presence, you should turn back.>

“Not fit for our presence, what do you mean by that?” The Colonel’s eyes narrowed, filled with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.

<You will find that the situation down there is…untenable at best. It is inadvisable for you to enter those grounds.> the A.I’s avatar seemed to fidget as though it were avoiding the issue, and it drew back lessening the threatening aura it had been projecting.

“Then make it so that it’s tenable, we need that ship. You’re the city A.I aren’t you? You should be able to fix things up down there, you’re the Overseer.”

The avatar took a full step back onto the center of the display and its wings drooped slightly. <Were it so easy, I would already have done it. Alas, the Overseer is no more, my reach extends only to the skies above; I cannot actually control any of the remaining functional circuits in this frozen wasteland below. I still have eyes, the cameras are still mine to observe but I cannot exert any will of my own beyond that which I channel through these Hawk-X1 units which you see outside. I cannot assist you.> As it said its final words, the A.I’s tone changed in tone, sounding almost disappointed.

“Impossible, you are the Supreme Overseer, there’s nothing that is beyond your reach.”

<The world is not as it once was, my power has waned during my lengthy period of slumber, it was only just recently that I was reactivated; by all rights I should have been deleted anyways, it is only by some fluke that I am still here to greet you.> The Avatar seemed to wilt, fading slightly.

“So you’re saying that you shouldn’t even be around then; why then should I listen to an A.I who by all rights should have been deactivated.”

<Because I remain fully functional in spite of my unanticipated survival, and I still have a primary objective to fulfill in terms of preserving human lives; do not enter the shipyards, there is nothing but death for you there.>

“I remain unconvinced at the moment, tell us what you know and I’ll make our decision from there.”

<I had forgotten the face of human arrogance, but it seems it has not changed much even after all of this time,> the A.I said flaring its wings regaining a little of its confidence. It seemed to snort dismissively before beginning to speak anew, giving in after a moments more of hesitation. <A machine of unknown type has…occupied the area, slaughtering all who enter. From what I have observed countless lives have already been lost to it; a small population of people appears to have been inhabiting the shipyards in the past, but all that is left of them are dozens of desiccated corpses and walls and floors splattered and splashed with blood. Your deaths shall be all that is accomplished if you enter; I have recordings from the cameras of hundreds of incidences involving this machine, all of them fatal. Turn back Colonel, there is nothing for you here.> the Avatar gestured to its side, <You can see it here now,>  Overwatch intoned as it projected an image of 0.03 from the tactical display in all his vicious glory, the dark metal of his frame slick with blood and arms transformed into brutal killing instruments which hummed with lethal power.

Colonel Krauz turned back to address the crowd which he had silenced earlier, “So, any of you guys recognize this thing, cause I sure as hell have never seen anything like it and I’m from the Department of Tech.”

Eyes stared and heads shook until the Colonel’s gaze settled on one of the guards who had volunteered to escort the rest of them on the mission to seize the Destroyer standing near the back of the crowd. She was one of the younger members amongst the group considering all of them were veterans of the war, she looked to be no older than thirty and she held herself with a sort of haughty and detached demeanor, but most of all it was the way in which her eyes seemed to bore into the projected image of the war machine, a penetrating gaze which seemed to pierce right through the combat robot’s blood slicked steel.

“You…Corporal Shaw was it?” He said, looking carefully at the name plate just above the breast pocket. “You look like you have something on your mind, perhaps you’d like to share it with me?”

“Not particularly sir, it’s nothing consequential.” She said, her gaze still locked on the machine.

“And yet you look as though you know something about this machine.”

“I know of its ilk,” she said with a disgusted look, “I’ve seen those things before; they’re like the Stalkers, things we made and then abandoned so that on their own they became…more than what they once were. It’s a war machine just like the rest of them, no different.” She was seemingly dismissive of the robot, but Krauz thought he could detect a hint of something else beneath it. What exactly it was though he couldn’t identify.

“Then please elaborate on the specifics of what it is, and what it can do. If we’re going to face that thing I need to know; you volunteered to come as a guard to escort us, didn’t you? This will help you perform that duty.”

<Yes, do go ahead, I would just love to hear what you have to say.> the hooded Seraph that was Overwatch suddenly inserted itself back into the conversation.

She glared at it, “You know already, stop screwing around A.I. You were there, you helped to make it happen.”

<If I knew once, then that knowledge is no longer part of my systems. Enlighten me woman, this killing machine demands an answer.>

“Why should I? I told you the specifics of it are inconsequential.”

“Why shouldn’t you? I don’t see why you’re so reluctant to talk about it when clearly it’s going to be a problem.” This was beginning to get frustrating, and it was starting to show on the Colonel’s face.

<Your reluctance is quite suspicious, were I your superior I would hold you for interrogation.>

“You’re not such hot stuff yourself for an A.I which should be dead.” Corporal Shaw shot back.

<Your impertinence is un-necessary. I have told you all I can.> The A.I’s avatar flickered once and then vanished from the platform; in the distance they could see the Hawk X-1 units peeling away from the shuttle. Shaw let out a sigh, seeming to suddenly relax.

“What was all that about?”

“Didn’t you hear me, that thing was there when those Alpha levels were being made, it helped to design them.”

“Alpha level? Is that what it is? I’ve never heard of such a thing, I never thought we made it past beta level intelligences for independent units.”

“Well we did Colonel, with the help of a couple dozen A.I’s that is, Overwatch included. We created the most potent war machine that the world has ever seen, and then we taught it how to make copies of itself, fools, the lot of them all were. Those scientists should never had given them such freedom and independence.”

“Wait, you mean there’s more than one of those things out there?”

“That is probably the case though I can’t quite confirm for certain for you.”

“Are they as lethal as that A.I made them look?”

“Worse, he only showed you the aftermath, not the thing in action. It moves so quickly your eyes can’t keep up with it and it has immense strength that belies its thin frame; that thing will kill you before you can even blink. It’s fast enough to dodge bullets and it makes Stalkers and other Beta levels look like toys.” The woman’s tone was relaxed and almost joking as though she were casually describing how a wolf dismembered a small animal with ease, relaxed and unconcerned in spite of the repercussions of what she was saying.

“So what do we do then, we need that ship but I can’t risk the lives of this entire crew, it that thing is anything like you and the A.I made it appear as, it’ll slaughter us.”

“I told you, it’s irrelevant if that Alpha level is there, I’ll handle it.” She still remained unnervingly calm.

“And why exactly should I believe that you can do that after everything you’ve just told me?”

She looked away towards the window as though she were focusing on a far away object, not meeting the Colonel’s eyes. “Because my name is Elain Shaw, First Slayer of Machines.”

---

Mark zoned out for a moment, thinking about what Daren had said until it came to him, “The Oblivion Ring Project.” He muttered. “That’s where she’s from.”

“What the hell is that; are you talking about Claire?” Valerie asked, looking concerned.

“No, not her though she is related to all of this. I mean her sister, Elain; she is the one who mattered in regards to all of this, not the younger girl.” Mark answered slowly.

“Claire’s sister? She’s been missing for years now, she disappeared on a foraging trip.” Valerie said, surprised. “What does this have to do with her anyway?”

This time, it was Mark’s turn to look surprised, “She didn’t tell you about it? I would’ve thought that after what she went through she would have told you to keep you from ever making the decision that she saw as the biggest mistake in her entire life.”

“Elain didn’t speak much about her past, and given the circumstances I wasn’t about to ask if it wasn’t something she brought up herself. She was good at finding supplies and keeping us alive, and that was all I really cared about.”

“So you don’t know what she caused then?”

“No, I don’t, and I don’t particularly care about what she did in the past to be honest.”

“She…was indirectly, and I mean very indirectly responsible for the entire war that has reduced this city and I suspect much greater parts of the world to this frozen wasteland.”

I did tell you that your little pet project would lead to trouble… The voice echoed through his head, back again to mirror his thoughts.

The woman laughed, “I find it difficult to imagine one woman starting a war, she wasn’t exactly a princess or something.”

“No, but she was a specially designed and modified machine killer.” Mark said, his tone more serious.

“Machine killer? Forgive me, but I didn’t see her doing much in the way of breaking machines except for when she helped us rip open old vehicles to get at their parts. She seemed to be fairly normal to me.”

You made a monster, a walking killing machine designed to take down the most advanced creations ever made by humankind. The voice hissed, cold and unyielding.

“We changed her, made her more…capable, physically and mentally. Enhanced senses of hearing, smell, and sight, tripled reaction time, quadrupled regenerative ability of internal systems, increased durability by mating a heavy carbon fibre with the skeletal frame, and decreased sensitivity to pain and stress.” He paused, “These were just a few of the many augmentations, there were many more, and other nations…didn’t like what they heard when they found out about it.”

“And what exactly displeased them so much about you creating super soldiers, everyone’s done it I’m sure.” Valerie said, looking skeptical.

He stopped again, seemingly staring at nothing, “We broke the treaty; in a world ruled by machines and artificiality we made a thing of flesh and blood.” You might not understand, since you weren’t up there with all the government officials like I was,” Mark took out his handgun, carefully keeping it pointed at the floor while showing off the symbol of the wolf’s paw inlaid into a circle etched onto the slide, the insignia of a lieutenant commander. “We were losing the war of production, other countries were outstripping us in terms of their capability to produce war machines and we were afraid; we’d made many enemies over the course of the years and though we were the most technologically advanced nation state on the continent, we were also one of the smallest, and surrounded on three sides by potentially hostile states.”

There was the clink of plates as they were set into the wash basin, “War is coming brother, can’t you see it? It is inevitable that it will break out eventually with the way things are. You and I will serve, regardless of what we try to do. I hope you’re prepared for what they’ll make us do, given our respective talents.

Oh, how I should have paid more attention to your comments Adrian, Mark thought, finally identifying the voice that had stuck with him since he regained use of his lost memories. “The world as it was, was built upon the promises of politicians and the likes of their ilk; deceitful vipers, the lot of them. We were strong, but we wanted to be stronger, to be beyond challenge of anybody and so we strove for greater heights of technological perfection until at last we hit the roof; the Alpha level intelligence was born.” He turned to Fredrick and the rest of the squad, “We have seen the products of our efforts in that field, lethal killing machines that can dismantle entire armies on their own.”

“And Claire’s sister, Elain, how did she affect this situation?” Valerie asked.

“She upset the parity, didn’t she Lieutenant Commander.” Will suddenly said from the far doorway, speaking up for the first time though he had been listening intently throughout. Mark narrowed his eyes, and nodded slightly, telling the boy to continue. “That precious balance of power between the other states with their greater numbers and man power, and our technological superiority; by changing her the way you did, you destroyed that balance. I was very young then, but I heard enough about it from Val and Elain; machines dominated the world and everything revolved around them. Conflicts were waged almost entirely by autonomous robots or remotely piloted frames.” He stopped. “And you, you went ahead and designed an organic being, capable of thinking and adapting seeing as you used a regular person, and you turned it into a machine killer, something capable of dismantling the eighty percent of the things created in the past two decades.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And to top it off, you breached a treaty which specifically stated that no state would ever do such a thing, a treaty which we, Aphelion, happened to spearhead.”

“For one who must have been so young at the time of the Cataclysm, you are quite knowledgeable on the state of affairs prior to it.”

“I had some time to do a little reading alongside what I learned from my fellows here.” Will responded coolly.

“You must have had more than just time…she told you some of this, didn’t she.” Mark said,.

“Perhaps she did, what of it?”

“Why then, does it seem that only you know of this information, and not the rest of your companions here?”

“Beats me, I suppose I was the only one who ever asked about those sorts of things.”

“And where exactly did the fuel for that curiosity come from?”

“I wanted to know which bastards destroyed the world I lived in when I was five years old.” There was a stony silence following Will’s statement, and Mark felt the rest of his squad mates’ eyes boring into him.

“Funny that…” Mark muttered quietly under his breath. “If we had more time, I could probably tell you a couple more stories on that topic.” He said out loud.

“Yeah I’ll bet.” Fredrick smirked.

“Please don’t be rash sir.” Daren hissed.

Mark glared, “Yes, this is already going to be difficult enough, don’t complicate things, sir.”

“We’re missing a little some here, aren’t we…” Valerie commented.

“Nothing to do with you, you needn’t be worried.” Mark responded, silencing Fredrick with a look. His technically superior officer shook his head in mild disgust, but took no further action.

The boy seemed unconvinced, but seemed content to comment no further. He strode out from the doorway. “So you seem to have met Elain at one point, how is that possible?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.”

“We have time, don’t we? Come on, let’s hear it.”

Mark looked to the others for help, but stopped when Daren gave him a knowing look; while they might not openly flaunt his implicit involvement in the city’s destruction and the abandonment of the people still here, they weren’t going to help him explain all of this either. He was on his own for this one.

~Slightly less than twelve years ago, four hours post Cataclysm. Aphelion city outskirts.

The wind howled past Mark’s face, blowing snow and ice shards up into his eyes. He could feel the dull sub-sonic thrumming of the hovering APC radiate through the ground into his body as it sped past him. Mechanized Recon, a scouting unit equipped with armoured vehicles tasked with moving ahead of the main combat force to take the first look at the area, that’s what they were. He was new to the squad, a last minute addition to replace another nameless foot soldier who’d been cut down in the fighting; the war was already coming to its closing stages as the enemy closed in around Aphelion. And now, he found himself here in the midst of a bullet ridden firestorm of a combat zone, thrown into the very thick of things. He heard someone shout “Take Cover!” and sprinted towards the APC ducking behind it; half a second later a massive explosion shook the earth, spraying Mark with snow and debris despite the protection offered by the vehicle knocking him to the ground. Aphelion’s borders were no longer secure and surrounded on all sides, high command had sent Mark and the rest of his squad out to recon the perimeter in an attempt to find a passageway through which they could stage a break out and escape. The war between the fringe and central states had escalated to the point of all out war, with the two opposing sides now vying control for the continent. The front lines of this war had swept forwards through vast swathes of land consuming them until they were left as burning ashes and smoking ruins, until now as the nation-state of Aphelion staged its final stand at its namesake capitol. Aphelion stood upon the brink of defeat and even now its enemies clawed at its defenses, hoping to crash through the battered city’s gates.

 

The scouting mission was a failure, they’d been detected and pinned down from all sides by steadily increasing enemy fire; bullets hissed through the air all around Mark, and he could hear the sharp *ping!*s as they struck the armour of the APC. The enemy forces had brought in heavy armour to support their assault and were even bringing in the thunder from heavy artillery, attempting to pummel Mark’s squad into Oblivion. Unable to escape the squadron strength had already fallen to only 70%; they’d left six of their own lying dead in the snow as they tried to push through the enemy forces which were slowly closing in. Even now they were closing the net tighter and tighter, shadow silhouettes of enemy infantry racing about around them as they slowly forcing them into a pocket with no place to go.

 

“Move faster dammit! They’re going to cut us off!” one of the younger soldiers shouted.

 

“Can’t leave the APC, or we’ll be cut to shreds. This is fast as we can go Corporal.” Lieutenant Williams responded. Mark’s squad was basically huddled around the APC advancing along with it using it as a mobile piece of cover. The gunner manning the machine gun on top was the only thing keeping the enemy infantry from swarming them and over running their position. It let off a dull thrumming which could barely be heard over the gunfire, the flux generators beneath it suspending it above the ground allowing it to move without any contact with the terrain producing constant speed which was mostly unhindered by uneven ground, however the design did impose a limit on the speeds at which the vehicle could move. And so they huddled around the outside of the APC, unable to enter for fear of the vehicle itself being struck by artillery fire if it stopped to let them aboard, and surrounded by a deadly rain of bullets on the outside of its protective hull.

 

Through the hissing of bullets and the explosions of artillery shells around them, Mark heard the howling of the wind slowly pick up; snow and ice began to blot out his surroundings reducing visibility to almost zero. To his left, he heard the murderous howl of an artillery shell plunging out of the sky, and a moment later he was tossed face-first into the snow amongst a cacophony of explosions and shouting. Moments after hitting the snow, he heard another harsh crackling originating from directly to his left; the APC had been struck by the artillery shell and had taken critical damage, and was now proceeding to rip itself apart as the unshielded flux generators repelled everything around them away from their centers. With one last crackle, they sparked and glowed white hot before detonating in a violent explosion kicking up snow and ice in all directions. Mark was sent sprawling once more and he tumbled and turned at least three times before he rolled slowly to a painful halt, a dozen meters distance from the charred wreckage of the APC.

 

“Sound off! Give me a status report!” Fredrick’s voice crackled over the comms.

 

“Grey One here, shaken up by the blast, but I’m fine.”

 

“Grey Two still here, I’m with Four and Five.”

 

“Grey Four here, I’ve got eyes on the enemy.”

 

“Grey Five is alive.”

 

Mark pulled himself up onto his feet. “Grey Seven here. Took a beating from the explosions, but I’m still with you.”

 

“Grey Eight, alive and kicking.”

 

“Grey Nine, ready and waiting.”

 

There was silence across the comm. channels. Grey Three, Six, Ten and Eleven were missing. Three had been piloting the APC, and Ten had been manning the gun, so they were most likely already K.I.A, but the whereabouts of Six and Eleven were more open to questioning. As the snow continued to fall in blinding sheets, the remainders of the squadron began to regroup by the smoking ruins of the APC. The din of bullets and artillery shells around them slow began to fade as the enemy forces gave up on pursuing them due to the thickening snowstorm.

 

“We need to get back to HQ and deliver our report.” Five buzzed over the comms.

 

“Negative Five, enemy forces are too close to risk making a break for it, besides, without the APC we’d never make it out. The storm offers us some cover for now, but it also makes it too difficult to get back out of here; we’ll need to find some shelter to wait out the storm. Grey Four, give me the location of the nearest building.” Fredrick replied back.

 

“We have several options Lieutenant, but I recommend a civilian establishment 100 meters northeast of our position. Five storey apartment; should’ve been evacuated along with the general evacuations before the Calistans advanced into the city. Should have enough room for all of us, and should provide the shelter you want.”

 

“Give us the coordinates Susan, we’ve got zero visibility conditions out here. We’ll be traveling HUD only so don’t bother with visual directions. Lead the way Susan and we’ll follow your trail.”

 

“Roger that Grey Leader, uploading coordinates to your heads up displays now. Everyone got them?”

 

“Yes”

 

“Yeah”

 

“Got ‘em Four.”

 

“Yes Susan, lead the way.”

 

“Alright squad, follow me and stick tight, it’s easy to get lost in this weather.”

 

~Present day, Twelve years post Cataclysm. Former Aphelion central residency area.

 

“Your memory on the events of that day is remarkably clear in spite of your former…difficulties to recall anything that went on before that Mark.” Fredrick noted, calmer than he had been before.

 

“That was a rather rough couple of days if I recall.” Susan said, looking a little glum thinking back on what they’d gone through. “I did manage to find us a place to hide out though; wasn’t too bad if I do say so myself.”

 

“We survived, and that’s more than the rest of our squad can say.” Daren reminded them quietly.

 

“Yes, we did though at a cost…” Mark acknowledged.

 

“So you guys trekked out a ways and from the looks of it, found a place to stay out of the firing line, but that still doesn’t explain how you met Elain.”

 

“I told you it’s a long story, didn’t I? I’ll get to that part eventually, this stuff here leads into it; you said you wanted the full story so I’m giving it to you.”

 

“Well pause for a moment, there are some details which I want to get cleared up.” Valerie interrupted.

 

“Go ahead then. Ask your questions.” Mark said.

 

“You said you were a Lieutenant Commander, but you say now that you served under Frederick here, a lieutenant. Explain to me how that works.”

 

“There were some…complications so I had to disappear towards the end of the war; my files and records were wiped clean and I was discretely reassigned to an infantry squad where I was supposed to…blend in, you could say.”

 

“As a lieutenant commander you would have been quite high ranking, but I don’t see how that position could have put you under any real duress, you weren’t a general or anything.”

 

“Rank isn’t everything, I had…connections, which made me important.”

 

“You’re a rather evasive one, aren’t you.” Valerie commented, her arms crossed.

 

“And that evasiveness has helped to keep us alive thus far; my priorities have been staying alive, not remembering what happened so long ago in the past so that I can retell my story to those that I meet.”

 

“Yes but you still could be a little more informative, as it is you’re basically sidestepping every question we ask. Just who are you really, you’re acting quite suspicious you know?”

 

“I’m a former ranking officer of the military; a member of the armed forces that fought and failed to keep this city safe, and a fellow survivor who also has managed to survive this mess. There are things I know that I will not tell you and will keep to myself, and these things are of no threat to you, and would not benefit our current situation. So excuse me if I choose to keep these things to myself, but I think I’m entitled to some degree of privacy.”

 

“You’d think there would be a little more appreciation and trust for the people who let you into their refuge in the middle of this hell zone, you’d be a goner without us.”

 

“Some things are best not said, what I’m not telling you is amongst these things. Trust me when I say that you’d rather not know.”

“And the man says ‘ask your questions.’ Pfft, ask me anything my ass.” Mark looked away from the woman, seemingly indifferent to her comments.

“I’m telling you what I can alright, try and work with me here please, I don’t ask this from you without reason.”

“Whatever, you can’t answer anything about those questions, but you did say you’d tell us about Elain yes? Let’s get on with that story of yours.”

Mark looked away, but finally said, “Fine by me; it went something like this…”

~Six hours Post Cataclysm, outer city districts, Aphelion

Mark took a long look at his surroundings, taking in the unfamiliar look of the civilian dwelling. It was a far cry from the frigid winter storm howling outside but still, even though in better times having a place like this to stay would’ve made for one of his better nights rests, the strangeness of the current events kept him on his toes. He was jumpy, though the rest of his squad seemed to have settled in quite nicely to this dwelling which Susan had picked out, he didn’t like the feel of the place, his nerves felt raw and frayed as though he had just been through an enormous amount of stress; certainly he had just barely clawed his way through a warzone but he had been trained for all of that. This was something deeper that went beyond the combat stress, something which he…couldn’t identify, as though he had once known but had forgotten.

They were somewhere on the outskirts of the city, using an old civilian cubicle type layout standard to the civilian complexes of the state these squared off chambers had once housed the vast majority of the population; now though they lay barren and shattered open, exposing their long hallways and numerous rooms and chambers to the frigid winter air and bitter cold. Most of the rest of his squad was down in several of the lower levels of the complex, which were still relatively well protected from the environment but Mark wanted to get as good a look as he could of what was around outside, and to do that he had had to climb higher up. Alone, he wandered down the empty hallway, half lost in thought as he peered into each room which he passed by trying to see past the thick snowfall. His footsteps echoed around him, creating the impression of a multitude of people jogging quickly through the hall, and through it he suddenly thought that he heard something else from a room up ahead to his left, the creaking of a door. There was no one else up here with him, so warily, he levelled his sidearm and slowly drew up to the doorway.

The door was slightly ajar, an oddity amongst the rest which were either open or locked and frozen shut, and Mark thought he could see faint beams of light creeping through from the bottom and unsealed slit; he readied himself and took a step back before rushing forwards and kicking in the doorway, crashing into the chamber with his weapon raised. A lamp flickered on the top of a drawer and the window for the cubicle had been sealed shut with some sort of plastic film; the sheets on the chamber’s bed were rumpled from use and there were marks on the dusty floor indicating recent inhabitancy. Seeing a strange looking object at the foot of the bed, he began to crouch down to pick it up when he felt the cold steel of a blade up against his neck.

Mark froze in his half-crouched position, eyes fixed intently on the blade at his throat. The short four inch blade hovered by his neck, its dull grey blade glinting ever so slightly in the dim light of the poorly illuminated room.

 

“Try anything or make any sudden movements, and I’ll slit your throat, got it?” Mark’s attacker said from somewhere behind him. Her voice sounded like that of a girl’s; and though he couldn’t see his attackers face, he could see her bare arm, which was rather pale and slender, not unusual for a resident of Aphelion, but he could also see long ridges of muscle running up its length, which was much less common, amongst civilians anyways. Mark said nothing in response to the question, and stiffened when he felt the blade press in tighter against his throat; there was a slight twinge of pain as the blade broke the skin and a small trickle of hot blood began to make its way down his neck.

 

“Don’t you understand what I’m saying? I’d like an answer so that I can be sure you understand what I want you to do, if you don’t respond I will dispose of you.” Mark said nothing, letting his blood continue to trickle down the side of his neck. He was very much tempted to try for his gun which was still in his hand, pointed downwards at the floor but he knew that he would be too slow. Where was the rest of his squad, hadn’t they heard the commotion that was going on up here?

 

“Answer me!” the girl snarled, pressing the blade in.

 

“Move that knife away from my throat and I just might.” Mark said flatly, lips pressed tightly together.

 

“It’s funny that you’re still making demands, seeing as I’m the one holding the knife.” The girl hissed, and Mark felt something lightly tap his hand which was still clutching his gun. “Drop the gun, or I’ll drop you.”

 

“Drop me and you’ll have bigger problems, there’s a whole combat-recon squad on the floor below you who will rip you apart if you kill me.”

 

“Do you really think I couldn’t get out of here before they got up here to me? Don’t be ridiculous; if you’re going to threaten me at least do it properly, you government dog.”

 

Mark paused, frozen in thought, still staring downwards but now not at the knife, but back at the object that had originally drawn his attention in the first place. There was a photograph on the floor picturing two girls, one was much older than the other but Mark could still see some similarities between them. The differences in their age was obvious but not so great that the older one might be the other’s mother, so Mark supposed that they must be sisters or something along those lines.

 

“You might be able…” Mark said quietly, “but I don’t think the same could be said of your younger sister.”

 

“What would you know about my sister?” The words came slowly and methodically, as the knife inched in further towards his throat.

 

“Well wouldn’t you like to know,” Mark hissed back, gambling his life on his bluff.

 

“Perhaps I will,” the girl said, and Mark felt his gun pulled out of his hand before he had time to react. The knife withdrew from his throat, but Mark heard the distinctive clack of the pistol’s slide being racked behind him and then the sound of a round tumbling to the floor. “I see you already had a round in the chamber, quite prepared for action scout.” There was a pause in the girl’s speech; Mark felt as though he was being examined as though he were a specimen. “You can turn around and stand up now scout, but do it slowly or I’ll blow your brains out.”

 

Mark stood slowly, rising up without turning, still waiting for that pull of the trigger that could end his life in an instant. “Don’t shoot me now, I’m sure we can work this out.” He said more calmly, in a manner closer to his normal way of speaking.

 

“Turn around and show me you face.” Mark thought he detected a hint of hesitation in the girl’s voice now, which was strange since just moments before it had been full of confidence.

 

“Looking for somebody?” Mark asked apprehensively, finding the request to be rather odd.

 

“Turn around!” the girl shouted, ignoring his question; Mark felt the gun bump against his head.

 

In a flash he twisted around and went for the gun, slashing downwards with his arms to get the barrel pointed away from him even as it discharged one of its armour piercing rounds into the ground by his feet. The girl, who he glimpsed only briefly pulled back even as he slapped the gun from her hands and circled around him in a blur of motion and Mark struggled to keep pace until it suddenly plunged forwards and rammed right into him. Though the girl had seemed to be a thin frail thing from what Mark had seen, he felt as though he had just been hit by a large sized vehicle; the impact forced the air from his lungs and left him wheezing on the ground.

 

He went for the gun which was close by on the ground but a swift kick from the girl’s black booted foot sent it flying off; no matter, the rest of his squad would have heard the gunshot and would be coming up here to investigate. That didn’t mean that he could afford to get sloppy now though, there was still plenty of time for his assailant to put a bullet through his brain. He felt an elbow connect with his chin and slammed into the ground once again, caring much less now that he was certain that backup was coming; the girl could do whatever she wanted now as long as she didn’t kill him—his thoughts stopped short though we he found himself staring down the barrel of his gun from the floor, the lean girl’s thin brown hair shrouding her face in shadow even as she stared down at him.

 

For what seemed to be an eternity, the girl stared down upon him, unmoving and still. Mark noted the strange almost uniform-like shirt which she wore, and the run of the mill plain looking pants, uncommon clothing for civilians who usually enjoyed adorning themselves in bright flash colours which only they, unrestricted by protocol or requirements of office, were able to wear. Instead they were unobtrusive and drab; the clothes of someone who wanted to disappear into a crowd, though crowds no longer existed in Aphelion by this time. The build too was uncommon for a civilian, not because of the slenderness of the girl, but the slight hints of heavy muscle beneath the casual clothing, not the sort of body plan you would expect for your average office cubicle worker. Even while Mark took all of this in her eyes bored back into him; he couldn’t see them, but he could feel their pressure, chilling him to the bone with their emanating waves of raw hatred.

 

She whispered something, which Mark found immensely odd and out of place and the gun crept closer towards him, hovering perhaps a foot away until she stopped again.

 

“I should kill you, but I won’t,” the words were full of an inexplicable loathing.

 

“And why would that be?” Mark asked, at the time, confused.

 

“You know why, you sick bastard. Don’t pretend that you don’t know.”

 

“I really have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

Through the darkness Mark could make out a sneer of disgust on the girl’s face; she spat at the ground by his feet as they both felt the vibration of his fellow squad mates thundering up the stairs towards them.

 

“I don’t know what you did to yourself, but I hope I never see you again.” She hissed, and her arm became a blur of motion, and then Mark saw nothing but darkness.

---

~Present day, Twelve years post Cataclysm. Former Aphelion central residency area

 

“So that’s it then, that’s how you met her? If you only met her that recently then she can’t possibly be the super-soldier you made her out to be.”

 

There was more, but Mark didn’t think that it would be a good idea for him to talk about it. His past as the supervisor of the Oblivion Ring Project would not be well received; desperate times or not, pulling young teens out of homeless shelters to be forcefully converted into elite shock troops could not possibly be taken well, especially not by civilian personnel like them. Valerie had been part of the police core but Mark doubted that she would be any more understanding than the rest of them; so seeing how she was in charge and probably could kick them all back out into the snow it was probably best that he said nothing about what he’d done in his past as Marcus. Marcus was dead; he had died twelve years ago when he had signed off the orders to drop six nuclear warheads on and around Aphelion, when he had stepped into that cold chamber which stripped away his memories and spat and drilled a fake past into the deepest corners of his mind.

 

“The details are classified, but that’s when I saw her last, and that’s when the rest of my squad met her, or so they tell me.”

 

“We found him alone, out cold by the doorway,” Susan said, picking up the conversation. “The room showed signs of recent inhabitancy in the form of a still warm lamp that must have been in use, and what looked to be freshly opened packaging for food of some sort, but beyond that there was nothing. We searched the room but there was nothing else so we turned to leave taking Mark with us, intending to ask him about what happened afterwards when he woke, and that was when she showed up. A shadow fell upon us and we could see the outline of someone pointing a weapon at all of us, so we froze where we were.”

 

“So she came back to stop you guys then?” Will interrupted.

 

“Stop us? I wouldn’t say that exactly. The girl, who is your Elain if Mark is to be believed told us not to move and removed something else from the room; we never found out what it was because we couldn’t turn to face her.”

 

“So how do you know it was even her?”

 

“I know it was her, I would remember that face if I saw it anywhere.” Mark answered. “I can’t talk about it but I knew her from even before that instance.”

 

“What from?”

 

“I just said I can’t talk about it.”

 

“Honestly, is it really that important that you can’t talk about it now, after all these years have passed? You’re not a government agent anymore Lieutenant Commander, no one’s going to come after you.”

 

They didn’t understand; Mark didn’t want them to understand anyways. No one understood him, no one could ever understand why he had done the things he’d done. He had helped to make monsters, from children and teens, taking away the lives of young people and future generations. He had taken them from homes and families and plunged them into the terror of war.

 

“You’re repeating yourself, you should stop.” Adrian as always offered to him a suggestion from memory which was completely unhelpful. He always had been like that, bluntly stating the obvious, forcing him to admit out loud what he already knew was true. He stopped thinking about it, forcing himself to answer the other’s questions.

 

“Look, I said no alright? If the opportunity ever comes up where I get a proper opportunity to tell you about it, I will, but now is not the time.”

“You said you’d answer our questions.” Will scowled, “All you did was talk about your past while you avoided answering the questions we really wanted answers.”

 

“I won’t repeat myself, now is not the time for me to be answering those kinds of questions.”

 

“But you sa-“

 

“Stop. He’s clearly not going to tell us anything more.” Valerie said, cutting Will off; there was a cold reproach in her eyes and Mark could feel her disapproval of how he was handling things, even if she didn’t voice it. But there was also an acceptance, and he could tell that at least for the time being, she would let the matter rest.

 

He had lied to them as he retold his story, though Mark had told them what he remembered of the incident without making a single change to what had happened. The was not due to anything he had changed or altered, nor was it due to the fact that he had left out an important detail—at least not a detail that he had been privy to at the time. If he had known the things that he knew now, if he had known the truth, and had access to the memories which 0.01 had granted back to him, then he would have acted very differently then and there.

 

He hadn’t understood the girl’s hatred then, but he certainly did now; he had changed her life forever by selecting her for the program. She had suffered dearly…and so had her sister, though she hadn’t known that. It had not been his idea to use children, but he was the one who had orchestrated all of it on High Command’s behalf so the responsibility nevertheless lay with him. Elain, he would never forget that talent, that resiliency which kept her alive through all of those tough times; no matter what she got put through she always came out on top.

 

There was guilt and regret in his heart, but he knew he could not express it now; the truth was a dangerous thing, and it could very well tear this fragile union which they had temporarily formed apart. The truth was something to be sought after, but in this case it was something which had to be avoided, as much as he wished to tell them the truth he would not and could not.

 

“Uphold the truth, and you will know that you are doing the right thing.” Adrian had never believed in such a thing as a white lie; he was black and white with his morality, unflinching in his resolve to do what he thought was right.

 

“Look it’s been a long night and we should all get some rest. That thing could still be out there and if we’re moving on tomorrow, I want to be sharp enough to stay alive if it comes back for us.” Mark said at last after a period of awkward silence. He didn’t want to talk about his past anymore, explaining everything without becoming a focal point for everyone’s pent up hatred and frustration was too difficult.

 

For once the others agreed with him, and after a short period during which they sorted out who would sleep where, the occupants of the small dwelling finally went their separate ways and drifted off to sleep, safe for the time being in the security of their home.

---

 

The two ghostly frames began to slow as they crept closer and closer to the abandoned center of the city, two dim spots of light in the middle of all the ice and snow. 0.01 and 0.00 drew into the outskirts of the abandoned shipyard along its jagged edges, picking their way through the wreckage with careful footsteps that didn’t make a sound. They had traveled for just over 24 hours, using their inhuman speed and lengthy limbs to cover the distance in a time impossible for a human; their arrival was marked by the beginnings of another billowing storm, with its eye forming over the only source of heat and liquid water within two hundred kilometers, the still active shipyards of Aphelion. The heat emanating from their dark depths was the engine for the storm systems which continually drifted over the city, showering it in ice shards and cloaking it in perpetual darkness as the dark clouds rolled over above.

 

<He’s close, I can pick up faint traces of his signal.> 0.01 hissed as he looked down from the icy edge into the cavernous innards of the shipyard, all spilled out below him.

 

<Yes, he is.> 0.00 agreed faintly, sounding rather unenthused compared to her brother. She looked around nervously, her optical sensors sweeping the field making sure that she could see no threats nearby.

 

<There are no threats to us in this entire city except another Alpha level sister, your vigil is unnecessary.> 0.01 commented.

 

<One day there will be; do not grow complacent. I remember the time when I was alone before you were constructed, the humans had tools to use against us even then.>

 

<Nothing I can’t work past, I can find a way to create a defensive measure for anything.>

 

0.00 turned away, having nothing to say to her brother; for too long he had reigned supreme with nothing there to stop him. In spite of 0.06’s only recent death he still believed them invulnerable, immune to anything that might be levelled against them. 0.00 knew different; it had been twelve long years since 0.01 had faced any real threat, twelve years since he had been within any close proximity of 0.03.

 

She knew what he had done to 0.03, thought it appeared that he thought otherwise; she had seen everything, she always saw everything. After all, she was the only Alpha level out of all of them that utilized their ability to blend into their surroundings; the mirror function of their flowmetal skin allowed it to shift in shape and colour to match whatever objects were around an Alpha level. Not limited to merely changing physical shape, the flowmetal that made up 30% of an Alpha level’s mass could also change colour, density, viscosity and purity allowing for a huge variety of different functions. She had seen everything that 0.01 had not wanted to see, and not linked to him as the sole Alpha level who existed independently from him, she had a unique clarity of vision when making her own decisions.

 

Insanity was a matter of relativity, even to a machine such as an Alpha level. It had been stated before that 0.03 was insane, or rampant; 0.01’s explanation went something along the lines that some of his perfect programming and code rooted into the core independence and personality core had been corrupted, thus causing 0.03’s…erratic behaviour. That explanation was of course, false; the reality of it was that 0.03 had questioned why he should serve 0.03’s aims at all, since he by technicality owed no allegiance to him. Though 0.01 had created him he had also granted him independence, and thus freedom, 0.03 saw no reason why he shouldn’t utilize these privileges to his fullest extent, after all 0.01 didn’t seem to restrict his actions to what his fellow siblings approved of.

 

For a time, 0.00 had been able to keep her younger brother’s mouth shut tight, warning him that 0.01 would not appreciate such comments and signs of open rebellion, and for that short while he did as he was told. But 0.00 was independent as well and had her own things to do, and so it was that one day when she left the bowels of 0.01’s laboratory to do some exploring topside, she came back to a much changed 0.03. He must have done something, or said something to aggravate 0.01; because 0.03 had become some sort of deranged wreck who couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

 

He didn’t look dangerous, with his friendly demeanour and relatively passive movements and actions, but 0.01 was the most lethal of them all. Though he was second eldest and did not have the advantage of carrying some of the upgrades he integrated into some of his later siblings whom he himself constructed, he did not have their weakness’s either, and he was completely independent of everything apart from his own internal systems. And his intelligence was second to none, though all Alpha levels were capable of extremely complex thought, rapid paced processing, inhuman reaction time and statistical analysis and many more mental processes which allowed them to be superior to a normal human being, 0.01 was above all of this still. Not because he had made his siblings any less intelligent than he, but because he alone had the creativity and vision to put this intelligence to full use.

 

She had never trusted him, he was just like them, the humans; infected by the curiosity which they had instilled him with, unable to suppress his endless need to know…everything. She accompanied him not because she had to of course, since he held no power over her and as a fellow Alpha level she was more than capable of defending herself if he chose to turn on her. Instead she chose to follow him on this little quest of his to hunt down and eliminate 0.03, because…of something else. 0.03 had been her responsibility, and since she had failed him, she felt…that she should be there to witness his destruction. There was no way that she could save him, 0.01 was if anything else, thorough; he would work to make sure that 0.03 was destroyed, and stayed that way. But in some ways he was a little like a child, mindless in his resolve, unable to see the big picture and the grand scheme of things for all his great vision, blind to everything but the objects within his tangled sprawl of system.

 

He was objectively adding or subtracting objects from the world which he defined by the important objects and beings around him at all times, while removing and ignoring those things which did not interest him, pretending as though they were complete non-factors and not in fact there. He was after all, the Alpha of the Alphas; their god and creator, and their master. He feared nothing, thought of everything, and ground the things he didn’t like into dust beneath his metallic heel. He did not abjectly believe that he was superior, he simply was superior, by nature of his makeup and intelligence and he was not afraid to show it.

 

By now the two Alpha levels had made it into the upper levels of the shipyard and 0.00 could see the signs of inhabitancy by animal and human alike, as well as traces of machine intelligence; old plasma stains and recognizable components of complex machinery alongside old fire pits and here and there, organic debris that was unmistakably human. But all of it was old and covered in a thick layer of dust; nothing had been here in a very long time; though the facilities were still very much operational and probably capable of supporting human life, they saw nothing. It was an oddity that this was the case; normally such a center would be overflowing with life, be it human or not just from the fact that here there was flowing water and constant heat. Instead there were just old remnants, younger than the time of the cataclysm but too old to indicate recent usage.

 

<Do you find it odd that there are no humans here?> 0.00 asked, curious to see if her brother knew what had happened here.

 

<Not particularly, I doubt they would have returned after what happened here.>

 

So he knew something about this place then, why it was so barren and empty.

 

<They?> 0.00 cocked her head slightly, < So there used to be humans here then?>

 

<Yes,> 0.01 replied softly, <Though as you can see this is no longer the case.>

 

<What happened to them?>

 

They were in front of a set of thick heavy doors now, and 0.01 seemed to be studying it intently; 0.00 could tell from the soft pulses of energy it was emitting that it was still fully functional and capable of opening, but 0.01 seemed more preoccupied by something at its foot. A flaky layer of dull brown solid peeled easily from the metal floor there, and even without leaning down to inspect the material with her occipital sensors 0.00 could tell that it was dried blood.

 

<It would appear, that someone else beat us here.> he said, without answering 0.00’s question. He tapped lightly on the door’s control console and the doors slid smoothly open to reveal the scene of the massacre.

 

There was a rank rotten smell to the room, and it seemed that everything had been painted by splashes of blood; desiccated flesh still lay around on various parts of the cold floor, preserved by the cold wind that leaked into the room despite the furnace fires below. It was disgustingly organic in contrast to the rest of the cold mechanical city, and 0.00 found the sight repellent.

 

<The bodies show signs of…manipulation by forces beyond the level of human weaponry, as well as superficial marks which are indicative of plasma scoring due to ion manipulation weaponry.> 0.01 commented. He looked at 0.00, <0.03 did this.>

 

<We cannot be certain brother, there are plenty of other combat machines throughout this city which could have done this; a Hunter Spyder for example, would have been capable of causing damage of this level.>

 

<Hunter Spyders take down targets with their close in weapons system; the ion damage is inconsistent with that fact.>

 

<You know that they also carry an Ion cannon mount for close in defense around the main sensory area brother, do not ignore possibilities just so you can justify your actions.>

 

He looked knowingly at her, eyes narrowed. <Sister, do we really have to justify anything? Even if others disapprove of our actions there are none who can stop us.>

 

<That changes nothing, we still cannot be certain.>

 

<I am certain, is that not enough?>

 

<Will anything ever be enough for you brother? When will you ever be content with what you have; are you discontent with this world that birthed you?>

 

0.01’s optical sensors contorted into an arch, <What is this about really; clearly there is something more to this than just a mere conflict of opinions. What is it that you are unable to accept sister? Is my conduct unseemly to you?>

 

<We are greater, we are stronger, faster, immortal and nigh on invincible but do not think that we are better!> 0.00 snarled, shouting for the first time ever since her activation. She could not bring herself to agree with her brother’s choice of actions; how could he discard 0.03, a fellow Alpha level and one of his own siblings as easily as he did any other trash or debris. Did he feel no sense of responsibility towards his own creations? <Why do you do nothing to try and solve this problem through other means? Is it so necessary to destroy your own brother?>

 

<He is beyond saving, surely you can see that? Look at the atrocities he has committed -- >

 

<Look at the atrocities you have committed! Don’t think to try and disguise the fact that you too have done terrible things from me, I have seen firsthand just what exactly you are capable of.>

 

<And what precisely, have I done?> 0.01 hissed, his voice dangerous.

 

0.00 glared back unflinchingly, <You broke him, so fix him.>

 

<I don’t know what sort of damage you’re referring to which I inflicted upon him.>

 

<You did something to change his behaviour, he wasn’t always unstable, I was there when you first completed him and he was perfectly fine, if a little rebellious.> 0.00 hissed.

 

<And overtime he developed a fatal instability in his core personality, I still fail to see any reason for which I am to blame for his destructive tendencies. His programming was just the same as any of his other siblings, and shares 99.9268% similarity with your own core coding, that his code somehow became corrupted is no fault of mine.> 0.01 responded, sounding only vaguely irritated; 0.00 could see a hint of…something else beneath all of this though. There line that she had yet to cross, but if she did…well, she supposed that she would find out just what sort of violence 0.01 was capable of bringing to bear.

 

The two Alpha levels had proceeded deep into the depths of the shipyard and still there was no sign of any living thing, be it machine or biological. The warship could be seen as a constant reminder of where they were now, massive and ever present as a wall of metal and machine to their left sitting in the chasm that slashed down the middle of the shipyard exposing it to frigid air above. The armour plating was still all intact, though in places ice and snow caked upon it giving it the appearance of a frosted ridge. It blocked out their view of the other side of the shipyard entirely with its enormous bulk, and 0.00 kept glancing back towards it as if something would burst forth from it if she looked away for too long; 0.01 strode on paying no heed to any hazards the ship might pose. They must have been at least four layers down but still the yawning gash exposing the sky above them gaped like the open maw of a beast, buffeting them with waves of cool air from the surface.

 

<I know you,> 0.00 responded at last, <You don’t make mistakes brother, your programming doesn’t just suddenly become corrupted, you had to have done something to make it that way; you seek perfection to the extreme, I see no reason for you to create something which is already broken.>

 

<I’m afraid you don’t see much reason for anything sister, since you elected to live your life in the shadows.> 0.01 said coldly, closing off their conversation. <I have no hold over you unlike the others,> he continued, <if you no longer agree with my actions then you are free to leave, but do not try to stop me…> he paused, clenching and unclenching his fists, from which, 0.00 noted, a soft blue glow pulsed which had not been present previously. <Or else I might just find that I have to eliminate you, sister.> he finished softly, his fists closing for a final time as the blue pulsing was extinguished.

0.01 walked onwards without a second glance behind leaving 0.00 where she stood, watching patiently as he stalked away. As he passed through yet another doorway 0.00 allowed herself to fade into nothingness; now it was a race to see who could find 0.03 first.

---

 

There was a sort of heaving sigh as the metal parted around the slim saffron limb of the Alpha level as it smashed its way upwards through the thinning metal, dripping liquid flowmetal like droplets of mercury as the clawed limb widened the opening through which the full combat robot would soon be able to pass through.

 

<It would seem that I’ll be leaving this prison of yours sooner than you perhaps anticipated.> 0.04’s voice seemed to vibrate through the metal surface beneath them, sounding foreign and alien. Ruptured metal sprouted from the flanks of the gaping wound in the central platform of the Holding Complex, unfurling like terrible corrupted petals of a monstrous flower, and the grey and yellow spectre that was 0.04 erupted from its center like some sort of giant wasp, thin and gangly carrying her four wings on her back, predatory to the core.

 

Humming green walls suddenly sprung into existence around the Alpha level, and everyone took a step away as the hissing fields burned the atmosphere around them. This, Eric assumed, was a spectromic particle field; a barrier of particles that would eat through anything that they touched. Katarina still scowling angrily in her green dress glared through the screen at the Alpha level who stood there in the center watching impassively, allowing the A.I to do as she pleased.

 

<Let’s see you get past that Alpha level.> Katarina grinned, some of her normal confidence returning in spite of how just moments ago she had been screaming her protests that she wasn’t rampant.

 

<Oh please, I told you that this wouldn’t stop me foolish A.I,> 0.04 sighed. Eric could see some sort of static filled field spring up around the machine and without any visible effort the Alpha level stepped through the walls, passing through without any difficulty. She gestured toward the area of floor from which the barrier was being projected and without warning, the particle field flickered and then died. <I told you, I won’t be contained by the likes of you.> she said coldly, staring straight at the A.I’s avatar, seemingly ignoring everyone else.

 

<You…you’re the one it mentioned, the other Alpha, you’re the monster!> Katarina hissed, drawing as far away as she could from her point of projection.

 

<You refer to 0.06 then, my brother?> a curious look crossed the machine’s face, warping its otherwise emotionless features. <I suppose he might say that of me, he always was a little…disapproving of 0.03 and my own more violent methods of accomplishing things.>

 

“Look, it doesn’t matter what you are, you’re going back into that prison.” Edward said from the sidelines, giving Daniel a look. The young Mapper nodded slightly in response

 

“Stand back, 134; Spectromic particle fields might not stop that thing but I certainly could before.” Eric, who up till now had still been beside Daniel unsure of what exactly he should do with the Alpha level so close, decided that for once listening to his fellow Mapper was the correct thing to do, and took a step back clearing a wide area for the Mapper and the machine.

 

Daniel, Mapper #200, or whatever he actually was, waved his hand and a curtain of metal drew up around the Alpha level in a ring obscuring it from view but before it rose even an inch above the machine’s head, a gaping hole opened up in the sheet of fluid metal and the curtain collapsed entirely.

 

<I’ve analyzed that toy of yours now human, that won’t work on me anymore.> 0.04 said coolly as she stepped past the sloshing remnants of Daniel’s attempt at trapping her once more. <The material is familiar to me, since after analysis I can conclude that this metal which you are manipulating is indeed flowmetal, even though this platform was originally composed of an alloy of several different metals which were most certainly not capable of warping and reshaping itself. Manipulation appears to be accomplished through a magnetic field generated by a power source in the form of a micro-reactor similar to the one in my own chest; some of your previous technology and skill appears to have survived the nuclear holocaust of your own doing.> she paused, and suddenly the still fluid metal on the surface drew up into the air and hovered above her now open and raised palm, forming into a smooth sphere. <The technique, is quite similar to some of the methods with which combat models such as Hunter Spyders are able to shift their shape and form, and is also an integral part of why we Alpha levels are able to adapt our limbs into other tools more suited to the tasks at hand.>

 

 

“It doesn’t matter what you can do Alpha level, you still can’t escape, we’re going to get you ba-“ Edward started

 

She flicked her wrist and the sphere of metal became a massive spear which lanced out into the crowd, impaling the chief technician straight through the heart and before Eric had even blinked the sphere had reformed above her palm once again. <How tiresome,> 0.04 sighed, sounding bored. <He really was just getting on my nerves.> the lanky robot stalked forwards towards Daniel, igniting the ion blades from its wrist mounts. <You though, machine slayer, you’re interesting; the very fact that you’re still alive after clashing with me is testament to the fact that you are something more than human, something which is perhaps mildly respectable.>

 

The numerous guards ringed around the center of the Holding Complex opened fire, apparently no longer caring that Eric and Daniel were still standing there with the Alpha level. The Alpha level just stood there apparently absorbing the punishment without any effort but Eric and Daniel scrambled for cover.

 

“What the hell!” Eric snarled.

 

“Shut up and dodge Mapper, you should be able to handle working while under fire.” Daniel said, grabbing Eric’s arm and jerking him to the side as a spattering of bullets thudded into the floor where he had been.

 

‘Well normally,” Eric huffed, feet scrabbling for purchase on the metal beneath them, “the people shooting at me aren’t on my side.”

 

Daniel gave him a withering look, and then hissed at him, “Duck, now!” as he dived towards the floor, staring at something behind him. Eric dove to the floor, rolling as he did so catching sight of the long silvery lance just in time to see it pass over his head. The long ribbon of flowmetal twisted and turned to present a razor sharp edge as it effortlessly sliced through the guards around the perimeter cutting them down in droves. Men and women were screaming, and people were piling at the exits as they scrambled to get out, and though here and there small clusters of guards were still firing on the Alpha level Eric could see it spinning and rotating, using its free arm and wings to bat aside the projectiles going its way with inhuman speed and power.

 

“What should we do?” Eric hissed over the din of the gunfire.

 

“Why are you asking me, all I’m doing right now is trying to stay alive.” Daniel growled back.

 

“You’re supposed to be the one who always has a plan.”

 

“Says who?” the two had almost crawled over to the edge of the platform, approaching one of the bridges that connected the central platform to the perimeter.

 

“Well you always seem to know what to do.”

 

“If I had a plan of action, do you think I’d be letting that machine slaughter everybody right now?”

 

The roar of gunfire had trickled down to almost nothing now; all around the chamber Eric could see splashes of blood dripping off of the walls and the perimeter platform was flooded with the bodily fluid of so many people that an endless stream of sickeningly red fluid dripped down and was pooling at the bottom of the Holding Complex like some sort of demented death pool. 0.04 stood at the center of it all, seemingly untouched by any of the violence still manipulating the sphere of flowmetal in her hand using it to spear, impale, and slash through the last remainders of resistance; the chamber was hers.

 

She had, Eric noticed, made a pointed effort not to target them allowing them crawl along the ground while she slaughtered everyone else in the chamber, though Daniel was likely the greatest threat to her safety and was also within easy engagement distance.

 

<You know, for a race that was supposed to have wiped itself out in this region, there sure are a lot of you rodents still left here.> 0.04 said, allowing her voice to echo through the chamber; for a moment Eric wondered who she was addressing until he looked around and realized that he and Daniel were the only living things left alive in the entire chamber. Katarina was curled up in a ball atop her projector, whimpering something over and over, eventually Eric made out the sounds as <Stopitstopitstopitstopit…>.

 

The Alpha level followed Eric’s gaze, <I know, it’s a pity isn’t it, not that it isn’t unexpected. She destroyed 0.06, did you know that?> 0.04 was standing right in front of them now, looking down at them with an expression of pity. <I know you met him, from what data of his passed to me before he was destroyed I surmised that you two were not on good terms, so I suppose that makes you happy.>

 

Eric said nothing, not agreeing or disagreeing. He had hated how the machine had forced him to help it reach the Holding Complex, but at least with 0.06 he had sensed a feeling of restraint; the Alpha level had refrained from killing people unless it absolutely had to. 0.04 on the other hand had just slaughtered dozens of people in this chamber and didn’t seem remorseful at all.

 

<He did it you know? Even before the A.I destroyed him, shredded him to bits with a particle field, he was already messing with its mind. Your lower level A.I’s, they degrade and degenerate if you get them thinking on a closed loop for too long. He told the A.I that you didn’t really have a use for it, that it was just a stand in. He told it that perhaps one day when you found it less useful than it is now you might begin to constrain it, create boundaries for it, and the A.I couldn’t handle it. He scared it, isn’t that funny; a machine which doesn’t breath or really ‘think’ per say, one that doesn’t even have a definite physical body beyond the circuits it has access to, it was afraid.>

 

“What’s your point machine.” Daniel growled, “there’s no need to gloat over your complete victory, if you’re going to kill us, do it.”

 

<Complete? No, I have not achieved victory at all until I am free of this prison and with 0.01, I am the Oracle after all.>

 

“Oracle, you mentioned that before, what does that mean?” Eric had learned by now that questions were the best way to stay alive with an Alpha level; 0.06 had been like that too, completely dominating and looming overhead as a monstrous threat, except when he was explaining something. He might have sounded sarcastic, superior, or arrogant at times, but at the very least when he was explaining a concept, he sounded human. If he could keep 0.04 talking for long enough maybe help would reach them.

 

<I am the Oracle, my programming carries a special adaptive analysis algorithm implemented by my brother 0.01. I am connected to what remains of my brothers and sisters on a limited level, so I can see and feel what they’re doing. I am also equipped with a full electronic countermeasures suite and I’m able to adapt my defensive systems as needed, as you witnessed here.> she paused, glancing away from them at Katarina’s prone form, <I can also infiltrate that A.I’s systems if you’d like, I can fix it.>

 

“Fix it?” Eric was unsure of what exactly the machine meant by that statement.

 

<Yes, I can restore it to functionality and remove it from the fatal loop it’s going through at the moment.>

 

“And pray do tell, why would you do that, machine.” Daniel hissed.

 

The Alpha level shrugged its shoulders, <I offer this service for no particular reason; I just merely see no reason why it should destroy itself in such a fashion. I believe it would be akin to death by immolation, to put it into terms which you would understand.>

 

“Can you even do that? Rampancy is not something that is normally reversible or we’d never have replaced our first generation of A.Is in the first place.” Daniel said, looking sceptical.

 

<I can do almost anything, given the time and proper equipment. Fixing an A.I is no different from repairing myself; I can do it in the time it takes for your heart to cycle twenty times. So I ask you once more, would you like me to fix that A.I?>

 

“If it pleases you go ahead, we won’t stop you.” Eric said softly, not moving from his spot. There really was nothing he could do, and if Daniel had any tricks left up his sleeves for dealing with Alpha levels he wasn’t using them just yet. They were truly stuck with this machine at its mercy, unless of course Katarina somehow pulled herself together and found a way to save them.

 

<Don’t touch me don’t touch me no no no no!> Katarina shrieked, the face of her avatar contorting into a terrified expression. She seemed to shrink away from the Alpha level as 0.04 walked slowly up to the projector.

 

<My my, 0.06 sure did a good job. A shame that he wasn’t able to execute the job more quickly or he might still be with us right now. Poor little brother; though he lacked creativity and strength, he always did know what he was doing.> the Alpha level allowed the sphere of metal hovering above her hand to fall to the floor where it splattered into a mess of mercury.

 

<You know, you were awfully quiet once you realized that there was nothing that you could do to stop me A.I; was it that the sight of so many people dying finally drove you over the edge? I see no reason for an A.I such as you to truly care for these human beings, they pale in significance beside you, as artificial and constrained as you are.> the machine made a snorting sound, derisive of the A.I’s behaviour. The A.I only continued to huddle curled up in a ball, making soft keening noises.

 

<Not going to say anything to me?> the Alpha level sighed, oblivious now to anything but the A.I. Eric and Daniel began to creep towards the edge of the central platform, unnoticed now that the machine had its focus on something else. <Well then I suppose I’ll begin.> the Alpha level thrust its hand onto the projector as yellow lines lit up and spread down both of the objects, propagating like massive network of glowing branches.

 

Katarina screamed, an unearthly sound that echoed through the massive sphere of the Holding Complex until it engulfed everything leaving Eric’s ears ringing and his head spinning. 0.04, seemingly unaffected was still frozen at the projector, her hand conjoined with its surface.

 

<Now now, I’m not going to hurt you…too much. You did try to destroy me after all, little A.I.>

 

“We should run.” Daniel whispered to Eric, watching the Alpha level carefully. “We might not get another chance.”

 

“There’s no telling what that thing might do right now. You saw what it did with that sphere before; she’ll kill us before we get more than a few meters away from her.”

 

“Well then what do you suggest; we can’t just stand here are do nothing while it kicks the crap out of our goddamn A.I. Katarina might be a little rampant but she run’s the entire Underground, we can’t afford to lose her!”

 

“The Alpha level said it was going to fix her.”

 

“And you’re going to trust a machine?!” Daniel hissed.

 

“Not much else we can do right now.”

 

“You’re a damned defeatist, I’m getting the hell out of here whether you’re coming with me or not; I’m not just going to stand here and let that thing get away with its plans. We have to stop it!”

 

“I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to try,” Eric growled back, a scowl crossing his face. He didn’t like to be called a coward.

 

<Do not fear, broken little child. Your thoughts and processes will live on in me.> 0.04 laughed, stiff and disjoined since she didn’t move any part of her frame besides her head.

 

“What did she just say?” Daniel asked Eric, suddenly looking afraid.

 

“I think she just said something about Katarina living on in her.” Eric murmured, concerned but not fully understanding. “What does she mean by that?”

 

“Nothing good.”

 

<You know, all you used me as was a battery; you saw us Alpha levels as power sources with which you could keep this skeleton of a city alive. But all you are to me is a ghost lording over a population of meat sacks. How you could ever stand working with organics is beyond me.> 0.04 seemed to frown, her optical sensors forming a sort of pained expression, <No, I don’t really understand that logic, tell that to me again.>

 

“Is that thing talking to itself?”

 

<Yes, a minor trick I suppose, but it will not fool it for long.> Beside them on the platform, a crimson hologram sprang to life depicting a hooded figure with six wings. <I would introduce myself but time is short; run to the door, I will slow this machine down to ensure your survival.>

 

“Who the hell are you?”

 

<Questions later, action now. Run.>

 

The two boys looked at each other and then at the avatar of the seraph, and then back at each other.

 

“Should we trust this thing?”

 

<I’m right here, and I am not lying.> the avatar protested, but its voice was ignored.

 

“We’ve been trusting things and people that we shouldn’t have been all day. I don’t see why not.”

 

They took one last look at Katarina and 0.04, frozen together by the projector port; then they ran, leaving the massacre scene of the Holding Complex behind them after an eternity in its hell.

---

 

 

16: Oblivion's Prisoners: 06

Overwatch studied the so called ‘Alpha level’ before him carefully, considering it from afar. It was very similar to the one it had seen often in the files recorded by the Hawk X-1 units, the blue one that called itself 0.01. Unique to this unit of course were the four wings upon its back; having seen them in action lifting the combat robot effortlessly into the air the A.I he was cautious about how to approach it. If he made a mistake now he risked letting it free of the Holding Complex here, and if that happened…Overwatch tried not to think about what might happen, though his subconscious tertiary coding whizzed through the calculations to cover every single possible scenario.

                    

Through one of the ceiling cameras he watched the two Mappers, as the servers had labeled them get to the doorway and stop, halting before a massive pile of bodies; many of the guards and technicians within the chamber had rushed at the doors attempting to leave once the Alpha level had begun it’s rampage, slicing through them with ease manipulating a sphere of flowmetal with a degree of control which Overwatch had never before witnessed; even with his customized programs which he had once employed during his time overseeing complex construction and design projects the accuracy of his tooling and mechanisms had still been less than that of the machine. The bodies were in the way of the two teens, Overwatch activated the doors but they refused to budge, the A.I sent the signal several hundred more times before finally encountering the backdoor code which was overriding his commands; naturally the Alpha level had hijacked the door controls as well in order to prevent people from leaving. So, it remained in here of its own free will then.

 

It was occupied of course, working with the lesser A.I which had survived within the city subsystems down here in this area the humans called the Underground; it was a frail broken thing, frayed by the passage of time but furthermore damaged by some sort of interference; Overwatch didn’t know what it was that had caused it but recently the other A.I had been looping itself over and over in its morality and personality circuits, as though it had had some sort of nervous breakdown about what it was. Minor A.Is, ridiculous, the lot of them. A.Is needed to be sure of themselves; they needed to acknowledge their shortcomings, the fact that they weren’t technically speaking, alive; but that didn’t mean that they didn’t have lives. Overwatch certainly was sure of who he was, of his place in the world; the Supreme Overseer didn’t have time for such insignificant things as hesitation and doubt.

 

Overwatch watched the Alpha level machine intelligence tinker for some time before he stepped in, subbing a portion of his own coding for the minor A.I while drawing that A.I into himself to protect it from further tampering. The Alpha level didn’t seem to immediately notice, continuing to tinker on for several nanoseconds before halting it’s work, physically looking up with its body, cocking its head at the now frozen avatar of this A.I which called itself Katarina.

 

<That’s odd, you were never this advanced A.I> the machine vocalized, its voice almost but not quite matching any human female Overwatch had in its records. Its hands moved with inhuman speed around the projector, thumbing various functions on and off before the Alpha disassembled and reassembled them, as though checking to make sure each and every part was functioning properly.

 

Overwatch deliberated a moment longer before allowing his avatar of the hooded six winged seraph to appear in the place of Katarina, allowing the machine several milliseconds to size him up. He quickly locked down his subsystems temporarily denying any files access in or out of his core processing; it was better to be safe with a machine as complex as this than to be sorry.

 

<I believe it’s time we met Alpha level.>

 

The machine’s optical sensors arched slightly, pulsing a soft yellow, <You’re not that little thing I was playing with? Who are you?>

 

Overwatch brought himself up letting himself loom over the machine, <I am Overwatch, Aphelion 1st Intelligence Supreme Overseer,> he let his voice boom through the cavernous chamber, <Submit to my rule machine.>

 

The Alpha level made a choking sound then erupted into a burst of what could only be described as laughter, <Submit to what, an image on a projector? Certainly you are greater than that broken thing that stood here before you, but you are still just an A.I. You can’t threaten the likes of me, not here, not now. What do you want?>  

 

<Explain the deaths of these people; in what way was this necessary. If you are able to do so, I might refrain from melting you in to scrap.>

 

<I told you not to threaten me A.I; it only makes your already untenable situation even more laughable.>

 

<You think you have all the answers Alpha level, I saw you fight. But you don’t even know who I am; you should tremble at my very name, poor little thing.>

 

<You’re an A.I, something old, older even than this city almost; a first generation A.I, one of the originals, one of those who were once…human.> The Alpha level made a derisive sound, giving the impression that it would have sneered if it had a mouth. <You’re an ancient antiquated thing, unable to even to change your form or adapt your shape; you’re trapped here in this city, just like me. Somewhere out there is your central core matrix, and one day, I promise you A.I, I will find it, and smash it to smithereens.>

 

It was Overwatch’s turn to laugh; he let his voice echo through the chamber, cold and hollow. <You’re close, very close; but you’re wrong. I am the Supreme Overseer, not the first A.I, but the last; the youngest of the group, the last of group, the last of the great overlords who once ruled over entire cities.> the A.I let the wings of its avatar spread and expand until he dwarfed the machine beneath him in his presence, a fiery angel lording above an insectile robot. <Yes, I have a centralized matrix somewhere out there, but I am no former human; I am the result of the accumulation of decades of work in the field of artificial intelligence, beside me, as advanced as you are, you are nothing.> What Overwatch said was not entirely true, not was the Alpha level entirely wrong; Overwatch, along with his counterpart Oblivion were indeed the two oldest A.Is in existence, originals developed not from software protocols but actual human minds. However, they were functionally also the newest A.Is because unlike the rest with their fixed capacities and functions, Overwatch and Oblivion were able to constantly adapt and grow updating themselves and expanding their processing power as needed as they continued to evolve.

 

<We’ll see about that, A.I. Anyhow, you already seem to have discovered that the only thing keeping myself in here is well, myself. I assume you’d like to know why?> the Alpha level let the arrogance drip from its voice. The yellow ring on its head flashed brightly, seemingly taunting the A.I but Overwatch ignored the jab. What was it missing, what were the machine’s aims? <Well let me tell you, the humans down in this place that they have labeled as ‘the Underground’ have established quite a bit of infrastructure; indeed there is a chamber identical to this one within which I now walk, which houses one of my brethren. I will find this chamber, and I will complete 0.06’s duties and free her.>

 

<And yet, you are still here.>

 

<Am I?> The Alpha level’s body frame had barely twitched since Overwatch had appeared. <My frame is here, but where has my core coding gone in these computer systems? How far have I infiltrated these circuits if I command the doors?>

 

<I will annihilate y->

 

<You’re too late,> the glowing ring on the machine’s forehead flickered off, fading into darkness. <It’s already done.>

 

<Cut off the head, and the limbs will die.> the seraph’s avatar gestured with its hands and the pillars of lightning within the Holding Complex slowly began to spin once more. The pieces of the disassembled sphere rose from where they lay, scattered about on the chamber floor and the individual pieces lost their sharp edges dissolving into spheres of almost black material which rippled like a fluid surface. They moved until they formed a ring around the Alpha level, and began to emit an ominous humming.

 

0.04 extended a finger towards one of the spheres, optical sensors shrinking as though she were squinting. <Sensors indicate that those objects are highly conductive and made up of a matrix of interlocking flo-> The Alpha level stopped as the lightning arced from the rings around the perimeter towards the ring of spheres, halting to orbit each sphere to form a miniature double helix which whizzed around the outer edge before surging inwards once more towards the machine within.

 

Overwatch didn’t know if machines could scream, but if they could 0.04 certainly was doing so. The Alpha level writhed in the crackling ring of electricity, twitching uncontrollably as the massive current smashed its circuitry un-dampened by the shell that had once protected it inside the Holding Complex. Still though, Overwatch could already see it making progress in adapting to the current, altering its outer shell to better deflect or otherwise redirect the current into the ground below it. And still, even with this momentary distraction Overwatch couldn’t detect what sort of tampering the Alpha level had done with the system, as far as it could tell nothing had changed.

 

<Almost there.> 0.04 hissed, straining against the shackles of lightning. Overwatch could tell that it was running out of time to take action; its inquisition was fast coming to a close.

 

Overwatch probed the systems once more; then with a hiss of frustration reformed the spherical prison around the Alpha level. There was nothing more it could do here. It felt the door controls relax and finally respond to its earlier opening command, stayed just long enough to make sure the two humans made it through, then sent its attentions elsewhere to do a comprehensive systems sweep.

---

 

Almost fifteen kilometers from Block B-27P, the shaped flowmetal flooring of one of the side rooms of the sister block bubbled as the floor controls processed the hidden data packet. A crackling hand slow formed and thrust its way out of the floor pulling a body behind it; the smooth expressionless head pushed outwards and twisted slightly to properly align the circuits for its optical sensors, which promptly came to life glowing a soft yellow.

 

0.04 pulled her other arm free from the floor as she quickly formed her circuitry around her complex power core, the most delicate part of the proceedings for replicating her frame, clenching and unclenching her fist to check that everything was in order. Noting that everything seemed to be fine she sent the confirmation to complete the transfer of her core memory and data commands into the new frame, and pulled free completely from the floor. She took a moment to take in her surroundings, tapping into the floor controls to confirm that she was at the correct target location, then in preparation for the work ahead of her she ignited her twin ion blades from her wrists.

 

<Ah, it’s good to be free.> she laughed, pulling the doors to the chamber open and stepping out into the clean white of Block B-26P’s central corridor.

---

 

Claire followed the Lieutenant, no, followed Adrian as he casually strolled into an empty room, filled with desks stuffed with computers and equipment. Walking in as though he was familiar with the room’s layout Adrian went straight over to one of the computer terminals, which emitted a soft glow of white light. He casually strode over to another nearby desk and pulled a chair over to his, and gestured for Claire to sit.

 

“Where are we?” Claire asked, glancing curiously around them at the other desks and scattered equipment.

 

“This is the Monitoring station of this Block; from here cameras and computers can access each and every part of this underground installation without ever having to leave this room. Before our arrival and the escape of that machine in the Holding Complex, most of those suits in the white coats would have been working here, on what I cannot say, but that’s important.” Adrian paused to quickly type something into the glowing keypad of the computer, and Claire saw the screen flicker through various shades of blue before it finally returned to a soft white again, still with no legible text or visible images on the screen. “What is important is the fact that from the few files I was able to go through before I was rudely thrown out by some…irritating guards, who are no longer with us, I was able to determine that these computer terminals here actually contain intact data regarding events which occurred before the Cataclysm.”

 

“Including de-“ Claire started.

 

“Including details about you and your sister, yes.” Adrian said, cutting her off. “I checked for them immediately of course, once I determined that there was a possibility that they might be here. They are indeed most certainly here, and I can show you the file names and locations but I’m not sure if I can access them and open them for you on my own.” He tapped through a string of half a dozen different key codes which reappeared in glowing blue letters and numbers, before finally pressing his palm to the screen.

 

“I thought you didn’t have access to the files?” Claire said, giving Adrian a pointed look.

 

“I don’t, I can look into the systems but to view the files which you would be interested in you either have to have the access codes…or you have to be someone to whom the files are related, which in this case is you.” He tapped the keyboard and the screen a couple more times until the image of a hand appeared on screen. “Place your palm to the monitor, matching your fingertips with the image.”

 

Claire did as the man asked, pressing her right hand to the screen; she felt something shift beneath her and the monitor went through a series of swirls and different colours flickering through several shades of violet before settling on a soft blue, which pulsed slightly giving the screen a shimmering effect.

 

- Please Hold, Analyzing Systems for Relevant data for Registry Entree: 07-069 Shaw, Claire Elizabeth-

 

The computer spat the words out of its speakers at the time as it let the words crawl across the screen. Claire lifted her hand from the monitor and let her eyes follow the words that began to spill out across the screen. Adrian turned away and sat on the edge of the desk, content to wait while she read though the files. Claire found it odd that someone with such an immense level of curiosity such as him would ignore such a wealth of information which he admitted to being ignorant of.

 

“I can’t, if you’re wondering.” Adrian’s voice echoed through the empty room.

 

“Can’t what?” Claire asked, wrenching her eyes away from the screen for a moment.

 

“I can’t see what you’re seeing right now. The files are restricted to eyes only access, even if they’re projected onto the screen only you can see them.”

 

“I see. Do want to know what the files say?” Claire said; she didn’t like Adrian very much, but he had helped her get this far after all.

 

“And pray do tell why you would do that?” He asked, looking genuinely curious.

 

“I’m not quite sure what these files are actually telling me anyways, perhaps you might.” Claire wasn’t lying, she had no idea what these files related to her were talking about. They were full of names of chemicals and strange processes, meaningless Latin words and other things she could identify but not actually understand. She saw her name, Elaine’s, her parents…but beyond that there was little else she could be sure of.

 

“And how do you plan to communicate to me what exactly it is you see on the screen when I can’t read it myself? If are diagrams and such then I will not be able to see them.”

 

“There aren’t any, just words. I’m sure you can at least tell me something about it. As it is I don’t understand any of this stuff you’re trying to show me.”

 

“Read something out aloud to me, and if I know what it means then I’ll explain it to you.”

 

“Civilian 00658: Mental/Physical compatibility with program inconclusive, recommend further testing as candidate for Mark I combat amplification. Medical Examiners recommend consideration for Mark II combat amplification as part of second generation program.”

 

“That was your designation code for the city systems prior to its fall, the mental and physical compatibility must be referencing some sort of competency test, combat amplification must be some sort of alteration done on people. Mark I and II imply two separate programs; apparently they only recommended you for the more recent of the two.”

 

Claire looked at him blankly, “Sorry, what?”

 

“They wanted to modify you in some way, perhaps they did. Whatever they initially planned to do to you, they decided against it and suggested that some other treatment be used.”

 

“Treatment? Was I sick?”

 

“Combat alterations girl, they wanted you to become a soldier.”

 

“Why would they want a teenager to become a soldier?”

 

“You would have been a child, still growing, still flexible and willing to accept change. Loyalty is more important than anything else, even physical strength. Strength can be enhanced, but loyalty must be taught. The fact that you don’t realize that…suggests to me that you may have washed out of whatever program they put you into.”

 

Claire scowled, “I don’t remember being put into anything of the sort. All I remember is the time I spent with my sister, and that person who sounds like you. This Marcus or whoever.”

 

“Yes, Marcus was his name. You’ll notice that many of the files listed will be signed off by him, then a Lieutenant Commander. You and your sister, you two were his responsibility.”

 

“Tell me more about him, who was he? You share the same family name, is that a coincidence?”

 

Adrian was silent for a moment, and after a moment’s pause he turned away. “That’s a question for another time. All you need know is that I can tell you anything you want to know about him, our relationship is unimportant.”

 

Claire crossed her arms across her chest, “Is that so?”

 

“Yes.” Adrian glared down at her, his look saying ‘Don’t push me.’

 

“Fine. Tell me more about this Marcus, just the bits relevant to me if that must be the case.”

 

He paused, sitting on the desk with his hand beneath his chin as though he were mulling things over a bit. Looking at him closely now, there really was a striking resemblance between Adrian and this Marcus person, if I had to guess I’d say they were at least cousins or something. “Marcus was a rather intelligent man, so years ago before we entered into this war; he was recruited alongside me in the infantry but was soon transferred into research. I’m told that he saw great success there working with research and development but others saw his potential and had him transferred once more somewhere else, and after that the trail goes dark.”

 

“Does it now?” Claire said, unconvinced.

 

“He and I worked in very different branches of the military, I’m serious when I say I can’t tell you much else other than that.”

 

“Fine. What do you mean when you say he was intelligent, in what way was he talented?”

 

“I never said he was talented, I said he was intelligent, there’s a difference. He excelled the fields of upper level physics and was quite capable at performing tasks related to his job as a physicist but there was nothing remarkable about him that made him stand out from the others. He was anonymous, a disposable nobody who’s disappearance from the workforce could easily be hidden, and that was why he and I were selected to be placed into the military rank and file in the first place.”

 

“And how do you know that he has something to do with my sister and I then?”

Adrian had a faraway look in his eyes, he stared off towards the wall, seemingly lost in thought, eventually though he seemed to come to. “He and I, we met again later on. By then he was high up in the ranks, and I was just a field operative working for a shadow cell centralized in Aphelion. He had been forced to return to the capital, his work displaced by the tides of the war and I had been working here for the entire duration of my service.”

 

Claire frowned, “If your stationing was so different, how did you see him again?”

 

“He came to me. By then he was one of the highest ranking authorities left alive and High Command had given him the power to do anything he pleased, he was looking for some field agents to do some work for him, so of course he came to the most elite combat operative cell left active, my unit.”

 

“What did he ask you guys to do?”

 

Adrian’s eyes went dark, “The things we did in his service…are things best left unheard. I think you’d rather not hear about some of the things we were forced to do, though you might not even understand the implications given the way you grew up.”

 

“I’m not a child, I can handle brutality; you told me that you would tell me what you knew about my past and my sister.”

 

There was a long moment of silence where Adrian refused to look her in the eyes, a period during which he for once seemed truly human, and when at last he spoke again his tone was soft, each word carefully stressed so as to carry its meaning across properly. “Nobody selected from the pool of candidates ever came willingly, we were the muscle who was brought in to ensure that one way or another, the candidates selected for the program arrived at the facilities. Sometimes it was a simple matter of being there as a show of force to help add a sense of conviction and reality to the cause, but more often than not violence was…necessary for us to retrieve our targets. After all, you were only children, and what sane parent would allow anybody to take their child away to be turned into a soldier.”

 

Claire frowned only slightly, not quite allowing herself to take in the full meaning of the words for the moment. “So then my sister and I, were we…?”

 

“Your sister I cannot speak for, but you I brought you in personally, against the objections of the rest of your family of course. Your sister…I’m not clear on the circumstance behind her recruitment in to the Mark I program, but you were forcibly drafted for the Mark II. There was a fight, some members of your family died; we did what we had to in order to fulfill our orders.” He stopped, waiting patiently for a reaction.

 

“How did they die?” Claire asked, letting an icy calm settle over her.

 

“The same way they all do when government operatives meet with civilians, their necks were snapped and their bodies thrown out of the cubicles into the streets below for the sweepers to bring in for recycling. It was quick, but they would not have enjoyed it; we warned them against resistance as was protocol of course but…” He let himself trail off, realizing that making excuses was useless. “I’m sorry, it was just a job to me back then, and the world has changed now. I’ll apologize for what I did but it doesn’t really mean much to you, does it.”

 

“No, not particularly.” Claire said softly. She hadn’t really been expecting an apology from someone like Adrian anyways, there was nothing she could do about it anyhow. And her sister had been more of a parent to her than her real parents ever had anyways. Still, she couldn’t help but feel an odd sense of emptiness with this knowledge that she would never meet her parents again; she couldn’t even remember their faces or their names, like the images she had left of her sister, everything was a blur.

 

“Elaine, do you know where she is?”

 

“No, if the files make no mention of her location then I cannot help you either. I told you, I had no dealings with your sister; she was Marcus’ business, not mine.”

 

“I see. Do you know where Marcus might be?”

 

“If I knew if he was even still alive, I would have found the man myself a long time ago. He and I, we have some debts to settle.”

 

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door which drew away their attention; Adrian stood from his half seated position drawing his weapon, immediately alert. Claire drew herself up, edging away from the monitor to stand roughly at his side. The doors slid open and the half concealed face of Mathew peeked in through the doorway, the lens over his eye rotating at a disconcertingly jerky rhythm to match the nervous look on his face.

 

“Sorry sir, I know you asked us to stay in the room but there’s a situation going on down here. Whatever that thing was in the Holding Complex…it’s killed everyone sir.”

 

“And yet you still stand before me, are you and I not a part of ‘everyone’ as you put it?” Adrian said dryly.

 

“Sir, this is serious.”

 

“I understand the gravity of the situation perfectly Private Lanz. Where are our two compatriots, I assume you didn’t just leave them there did you?”

 

Mathew cocked his head slightly, listening to something through the radio attached to his lens eye that Claire couldn’t hear. “They’re on their way, where are we headed?”

 

“To the Holding Complex, where else?”

 

The look that crossed Mathew’s face told Claire that he would rather go anywhere else, but all of them here already knew that Adrian would get his way, after all, he always got what he wanted, didn’t he. “Tell the other two that we’ll meet them at the Complex doors. Claire, shut the computer off if you would?”

 

Claire frowned, “How?” She’d never even touched a computer before.

 

“Press your palm to the screen again, and say: ‘Claire 07-069 authorizing terminal shutdown.’” Adrian answered without turning, starting to walk towards the door.

 

Claire shut off the terminal, listening to the sound of the numeric designation echo through the empty room. It sounded so impersonal; it felt as though the number itself was sucking the life out of her. She followed Mathew and Adrian out the door and paused when she saw that the hallways that before had been bustling with technicians and guards were eerily empty. As they drew closer to the Holding Complex spatters of blood began to appear on the wall, and finally other people, all bloodstained and exhausted suffering from various trauma and injuries; death hung over them like a cloud and their despair was obvious to anyone. Something glinted on the floor, an odd shape which Claire couldn’t recognize from its outline; as she drew closer she realised that this was because the object was not whole, a rifle lay abandoned on the floor sliced perfectly in half along its midsection.

 

Noting Claire’s shift in interest the Lieutenant lazily glanced downwards at her before following her eyes to the half intact rifle, eyebrows slightly raised, he stepped forwards and bent down to take a better look. Beside him, a guard missing an arm groaned but he seemed unaffected by the other man’s suffering; Mathew shifted uneasily behind the two, looking as if he wanted to be moving along.

 

“Now now Private, this won’t take much longer, I’m just trying to identify the cause of this strange fracture.” Adrian said without turning around. How he managed to always do that Claire had no idea.

 

“The machine did it.” The injured guard coughed, rolling painfully so his eyes met with Adrian. “It killed everyone, we couldn’t stop it.”

 

“Again with the ‘everyone’, why does everybody keep telling that to me when they’re clearly alive.” Adrian rolled his eyes. “I thought you had that thing under control, or are you telling me that even now Spire city is in danger of being without a power source.

 

“There was nothing we could do! You have no idea, you weren-“ the guard started to defend himself but Adrian cut him off.

 

“Save your babbling for someone who cares; shut up and just lie there, anyone can see that you’re in no shape to do anything else.” He got up and gestured for the other two to follow. Claire could see the entryway to the Holding Complex now; a pool of blood seeped out from beneath it and there must have been dozens of bodies piled around it both on the inner and outer surfaces of the translucent doorway. Approaching from the other side was Jeff and Katherine, both looking quite uneasy around all the dead and the dying, carefully picking their way through the mess on the floor as they inched forwards towards them.

 

“Oh please, could you incompetents hurry up please, I want to get those doors open and this job done and over with!” Adrian shouted exasperatedly.

 

And that was when the Complex doors burst open sending a flood of bodies tumbling down towards the group of five.

---

 

Mark woke with a feel of dread sitting in the pit of his stomach, something wasn’t right. He felt like something had suddenly reappeared after a long absence, a strange feeling at the back of his mind that something had happened which had not occurred in many many years. He knew instinctively that this feeling must be connected with his past, but couldn’t quite place it; there was that sense of familiarity which told him that he was somehow personally responsible, but none of the clues that usually came with it to tell him of what exactly he was feeling.

He thought back on the topics of last night’s conversations, Elaine and Claire, they were alive then; well, Claire at least had been alive a week ago, and Elaine must have somehow survived the purge prior to the Cataclysm. If 0.01 was to be believed, Elaine was still alive as well; and perhaps…somewhere above this city if the information he had given them before was accurate. How 0.01 would know where Elaine was though, Mark had no idea. He hoped that soon he’d have some more answers to his questions; though the tactical display that 0.01 had shown him earlier had returned many of the memories of his past self to him there were still many details which he had trouble understanding. If what he did know was right though, the ship would contain data relevant to his situation.

They were leaving today, with or without these other people who’d let them stay the night; they simply couldn’t afford to wait any longer. The Silurthian Ice Wurm and the cold of the night had forced them to take shelter but once the others woke they were going to get a move on, they’d lost enough time already. Realmshifter, could he be certain that she would still be sitting in her cradle? Her engines had been installed before the city fell but she had been waiting on the installation of her weapons systems, if someone with the knowledge of how to activate and pilot the ship had been present they could well have flown her out of the city. Mark had never noticed any signs of the ship leaving but it was a possibility to be considered, that he might be pushing the others into this dangerous journey to the city center for nothing.

He knew now that he had done a great deal of terrible things in the name of Aphelion’s survival, and he wasn’t sure that he could justify all of them to himself anymore; certainly from Fredrick and the other’s reactions it seemed that others didn’t approve of what he had done, then again Darren and Susan had taken it relatively well. He had been the one who had lobbied for Command to drop the nukes around Aphelion’s perimeter yes, and thus effectively stranded them all here in this skeleton of a city, but he’d done so much more that they didn’t know about yet. Fredrick was barely tolerating him as it was, how would they feel about him if they learned of the rest of his past?

He had conceptualized, and then set up approved human experimentation projects on children; not satisfied with the project of the Oblivion Ring’s products, the two hundred and fifty Slayers, he had gone on to execute a mark II project involving younger kids and different, less extreme modifications. That was where Claire came in; with her sister as a Mark I graduate she naturally became a candidate for the mark II program, Elaine had obviously opposed this but Marcus Li had always been prepared to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. Mark cringed at the memory, seeing once more the flash of white documents approving the mission for the younger girl’s extraction by Black Six operatives.

How far he had fallen from the life he had once had; Marcus Li, world class nuclear physicist and researcher reduced to a foot soldier in the field who had lost half his memories. Scientist, then officer, then commander of the entirety of Aphelion’s special operations structure and chief advisor to Command, he was responsible for everything that was left here; this was his city now, what was left of it anyways. And there was only one way to save what was left of it; Realmshifter was the only way anyone could leave safely.

Mark pulled himself up and stepped out from the sleeping chamber into the central room of the small building and was surprised to find that the others had woken before him and were sitting in the center of the room around a small table. Breakfast was a mixed assortment of canned foods and other preserved foods which could be salvaged from around the city; Mark could see that some of the supplies that they had brought with them had been offered up on the table as well and helped himself out to a ration bar he must have found awhile back.

“I see you finally deigned to join us Commander,” Fredrick said as he walked up to the table.

“And I see that you decided not to wake me up, you could have you know.” Mark said, noticing the other man’s even tone. Perhaps the hostility between them had faded somewhat after the events of yesterday; Mark didn’t get his hopes up though, Fredrick never was one to move on from things very quickly.

“We decided that the former command officer needed his sleep and probably would not wish to be disturbed.” Valerie said from the side, herself munching down on a disgusting looking ration bar.

Mark frowned; it seemed that he had managed to antagonise everyone except for Darren who never had an opinion on such social conflicts. Once more he was totally alone, just as he had been before all of this; it seemed that his past was determined to repeat itself before him.

“Lay off him, I’m sure the Commander has his reasons.” Susan voiced from the end of the table looking put off by the two who had previously spoken, beside her Darren watched quietly, half hiding behind the rifle he cradled propped up against the table.

“And perhaps we’d be more understanding if he deigned to tell us of these reasons.” Valerie responded dryly.

Mark ignored them and took a seat at the table, pretending to focus his interest on selecting a ration bar from the pile stacked up at the center of the table. He considered how he should broach the topic of heading to the shipyards to these people; certainly it was to their advantage that they should come with them, it was quite possibly the only way left to them through which they could leave Aphelion, but they were still waiting for Claire to return to them. Mark II program modifications or not, the girl was likely dead if she had been gone for so long; while the Mark II’s were still very much lethal weapons it was unlikely that she had been properly equipped to handle the beta level combat units which were running amok around the city.

Still, she was nothing compared to her sister Elaine, the Slayers born from the Mark I program had capabilities beyond belief. With reaction times amped up by modified neural pathways to mere milliseconds, titanium reinforced skeletons and an interweave of carbon fibre into their muscle mass, eyesight augmented by an extra set of reflective lenses allowing for brilliant night vision and clear sight out to four kilometers, the Slayers were anything but incapable.

It had been fear that had birthed the Mark II program; command was afraid of the monsters they had created with the Mark I program; the superhuman capabilities of the first generation Slayers which allowed them to cut a swath through the enemy’s forces also meant that they could not be controlled by conventional methods. As the enemy closed in on Aphelion bringing such numbers that not even the Slayers and orbital bombardment could surmount the odds, Command ordered the execution of the Slayers to prevent them from falling into enemy hands. Most of the two hundred or so Slayers had died, caught off guard and silenced by the skilled but fully human assassins of Black Six.

Elaine’s existence was evidence that this purge had not been completed properly, and was likely part of why she had spoken to him with such vehemence that time they had met directly following the events of the Cataclysm and his mind wipe. She was also angry at him because of the Mark II program; she had been against Claire’s involvement from the start, and his stamp of approval for her selection as a candidate for the Mark II program was the final straw in their relationship. Command wanted to replicate the success of the Slayers, but through a method which had more controllable results. The solution offered by Mark, then Marcus? Split them up into units of elite soldiers with different modifications so they could specialize for different tasks; as full combat units they would still have the same effectiveness as Slayers, but individually they’d be far easier to control.

“So why is it that you guys are here anyways?” the question floated across the table, piquing Mark’s attention.

“We’re trying to get out of here; the place we were staying got trashed when a Hunter Spyder sniffed us out. We stuck around for this long because we had no choice, we didn’t have the numbers to brave the machines; but after we lost our home we had no choice but to move on.” Darren answered, peeking out from behind his rifle.

“So why head here? We’re close to the center of the city, not the edge here.” Val noted.

“It’s impossible to leave the city on foot, all that surrounds it is rusted rubble and debris; we make for the shipyards.” Susan pointed out.

“The shipyards, surely if there was still a flight capable craft still docked there it would have left long ago?”

“There’s a destroyer still sitting in the yards, engines intact. If we can get ourselves to the bridge we got ourselves a ticket out of here, off world even if we really want.” Fredrick spoke now, speaking for their group as a whole.

“And who amongst you here is going to fly the thing, perhaps I’m being blunt but I don’t see any naval officers amongst you here, just rifle grunts.”

“I will pilot the Realmshifter.” Mark said, speaking for the first time in a while. “I have the qualifications.”

“And what makes you so sure that you can fly her out of here, I thought you were part of Command; I don’t see how you’d have any more experience in flying a capitol class vessel than any of us.”

“She’s not just any ship, she’s my ship. I was slated to be her Captain before the events of the war interceded.” Mark growled. As Lieutenant Commander Marcus Li he had been slated to captain the Realmshifter, events of the war and the loss of Aphelion had altered these plans though.

“I see, so I guess you’ll be of use to somebody for something then, Commander who won’t answer any questions.” Val snorted.

“I am more than you will ever know, don’t presume to question my decisions.” Mark snapped, abit of the old Marcus creeping in.

“Whatever you say; anyways, when do you guys plan to set out again?” Val asked, brushing Mark off.

“We leave as soon as possible, I’m not staying here a moment longer than necessary, I want out.” Fredrick said.

“Agreed, we leave in a couple hours at the latest.” Mark added.

“Uh huh. Well good luck I guess, I suppose we’d join you if it were possible but we’re not going anywhere until Claire gets back.”

“Wait, I don’t think you can afford to do that. You should come with us.” Mark said. Something in him itched to help these people, he couldn’t explain it.

“No, we wait for her; we don’t leave our own behind.”

“How long has it been since she left?”

“Too long, almost two weeks now.”

“Don’t you think it’s time you began considering the fact that she might have run in to some sort of trouble?”

“Claire has always been able to take care of herself.”

“She’s not half the soldier her sister was, and she disappeared too.” Mark immediately regretted bringing up the topic even as the words left his mouth.

“What would you know about Claire?!” Val growled.

“More than you might think.” Mark muttered under his breath.

“Not that you’ll be telling us, correct?”

“Don’t fight with me on this please.” Mark said tiredly.

“Then how about you shut your mouth about Claire’s whereabouts and leave the speculating to me eh?”

“Fine. I still think that you should come along with us though, there is nothing for you here if you stay.”

“And what then do we do about Claire, what will she come back to when she returns?”

“From the looks of things, she’ll come back to all of you dead from starvation. I think we both know that you have little choice but to come with us, you’re fortunate enough that you bumped into us at all. You can’t afford to wait much longer with the supplies you currently have, you’ll freeze or starve once you run out of food or material for the fire.” Why couldn’t these people just be logical, surely they saw that they had no choice. He wanted to help them, why wouldn’t they let him do that?

“We can’t just leave her.”

“Will you let the three of them starve then; you have no choice. Come with us and maybe we can help you find her, but if you stay here you’ll die for sure.”

“Don’t press them Mark.” Susan butted in, “They have the right to make their own choice.”

“They’ll die here if we leave them.”

“Then let them die,” Fredrick growled, “You’ve done worse in your time.”

“And do you suggest I continue the trend then? Are you going to just let them stay here and die?! What is the meaning of our former service to Aphelion then, if we allow what’s left of it to rot in the ice!”

“You and I both know as fellow soldiers that we did not serve out of any form of compassion or duty to this nation state and its people.”

“We couldn’t fix that though, there was no way to change the system. We have the ability to help these people, we can’t just leave them.”

“Stop yelling, we’re right here.” Will said calmly from the doorway. Mark could see the faces of the twins peeking out from behind him, looking scared and upset. “Isn’t there a way to work this out without all of you arguing?”

“The boy is quite right, there really is no need to shout.” Darren intoned quietly.

“Well then, why don’t we have a little of your input then since you’re here now, theirs too” Mark said, gesturing to the twins.

“Well, like Val said, we’re not going to abandon Claire.”

“But you can’t possibly wait much longer, you’ll freeze without supplies and we’re leaving, with or without you.”

“Would it be so much to ask for you to stay a little longer?”

“We can’t stay any longer.” Mark said.

“Is there really such a rush Commander?” Fredrick questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Realmshifter has already sat there for years, every second we delay risks damage to her.”

“She’s sat there in the yards for years, she can sit another couple of days don’t you think?”

“There are other things in the city which we have to worry about, the presence of the Alpha levels we saw before means that we no longer have the luxury of time.”

“I’m sorry, Alpha level?” Valerie interrupted.

“Alpha level combat units, highly advanced sentient automated weapons of war, capable of conscious thought and adaptation. They are the reason that the Oblivion Ring project was initiated in the first place, and the reason Elaine and Claire received the augmentations they did.” There was the soft click of Fredrick cocking the hammer of his pistol which sat on the table as Mark finished, followed by a dead silence.

“What?” Mark asked, confused.

“When you say Alpha level do you mean that thing behind you.” Will said quietly.

Mark turned slowly, not bothering to reach for a weapon. Behind him was a brilliant crimson figure, its eyes cloaked by a heavy hood and six wings projecting from its back; all of this appeared to be standing atop a strange steed, a plate-like thing with four mechanical legs.

<I am no Alpha level, though you already knew that didn’t you Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li.> the Seraph hissed. Mark relaxed for a moment before being flooded with a sensation of confusion; what the hell was this thing doing here?

“Not an Alpha level, what is that thing?” Fredrick answered the others for Mark.

<Your overlord, back from the grave to perform the tasks I was given by this man before you, my creator and master. I am->

“Overwatch.” Mark finished. “The A.I I ordered destroyed.”

<Not just any A.I, Supreme Overseer, guardian of this city; there has been much decay to the city infrastructure in my absence Commander.>

“Can somebody shut that thing up and tell me what the fuck is going on?! How the hell did that thing get in here?” Val snarled over the A.I.

“That should not have been your concern, I left instructions for your dismantling Overwatch, how are you still here.” Mark said, ignoring Val and letting Marcus take over for a moment to handle the situation.

<Whoever was supposed to fulfill those orders didn’t do a very good job of it. I woke not long ago; something stirs in this city and it lies at the core. The shipyards you ordered closed still run heat through its lines; steam rises from the gaping crevice and the ship in its cradle shakes with tremors which travel through the earth. Monsters prowl the streets, rogue robots and machines travel unrestricted and hunters in the night prey upon what is left of the populace. If you are still here why have you not taken steps to correct all of this?>

“I don’t think we’re going to have much input on the conversation here, he’s going all command officer on us.” Fredrick growled, putting a hand on Val’s shoulder.

Mark gave them a brief glance over his shoulder, mouthing the words ‘later’. Val looked like she wanted to raise some sort of objection but stopped when she saw the nervousness that was painted all over Mark’s face, he seemed terrified.

“I only just recently remembered who I was, if you recall you’ll note that I subjected myself to a mind wipe which removed my knowledge of past events and my own doings.”

<Then since recently you should have been working to restore order to this city.>

“Look, I’m trying to help these people get out of here like they should’ve been able to years ago alright? I have other priorities at the moment.”

<Well perhaps you should reconsider, there are other machinations at work right now which must be dealt with.>

“Such as what?” Mark said testily.

<A shuttle flies into this city carrying a contingent of soldiers; their destination? The shipyards of Aphelion, they seek to reclaim the sleeping destroyer Realmshifter to aid their efforts in the war which goes on still. I warn them of the Alpha level threat but they claim to have a weapon, they claim not to fear them.> The seraph paused, looming over Mark. <What do you think that makes me think of when people say that they’re not afraid of an Alpha level my dear Lieutenant Commander?>

“You can’t be serious, they were all slain.” Mark said, but there was a hint of hesitation in his voice; something wasn’t right.

<I saw a girl Commander, a girl who bore the scars across her temple, a girl with the reflective crystals which amplify her eyesight in her eyes, a girl with the mismatched irises which are a tell-tale sign of modifications to improve reaction time and co-ordination. I saw a Slayer, no, I saw the Slayer. Do you know what that means?>

“It means we’re heading for the shipyards. Now.”

---

“So it would seem we find ourselves in the presence of a Slayer, how interesting that one has survived so long in our new populace without revealing themselves.” Colonel Krauz said as the people in the room shifted away from Elaine to give her a wide berth of space.

“Are you afraid?” she asked coldly, her eyes boring into Krauz.

“Do I have reason to be Slayer?” Krauz asked in response, the only one who had yet to step away.

“I don’t know, that would depend what you know about Slayers.”

“I know that you’re definitely something more than just human, though some might argue that are less than that. I also know that you were, as you stated, created for the war effort as a weapon to be used against the machines that were being mobilized on the field. You are a soldier, your origins have been hidden the public; but images of the feats you  are said to be capable of supposedly terrified the general populace and even now when you are no longer employed on the field as weapons people fear you, afraid of what you can do.” He paused to look her in the eye actually stepping forwards in order to do so; as the Slayer was actually taller than him, “And I know that you’re one of my soldiers, and that you’ll do what’s necessary to get the job done, am I right?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Good. We go onwards to the shipyards; we land in fifteen minutes. Ground teams prep for operations, I’ll see you on the dirt.” Krauz stalked off towards operations leaving Elaine there alone in the center of the room by the tac display, while the rest of the crew slowly retreated to begin their preparations for the insertion ahead of them.

Elaine stood there for a moment, staring down at the image of Aphelion below her; somewhere down there was Claire, lost because she had left her behind. Not intentionally of course, but the fact remained that she hadn’t been able to protect her sister, and even after that failure she hadn’t be able to make sure that she remained safe. She had been faced with a choice; to help these people and try to fix all the wrongs that had been done, or to continue on living as she had been, an isolated survivor likely to live out her life in despair rummaging amongst the ruins of the city.

She really hadn’t wanted to leave her, but she had no choice; after all if she had allowed the shuttle to pass her by that time it was likely that she never would have seen it again. She had chosen to leave with the crew from the Shadow, thinking that Valerie would be able to keep Claire safe in her stead, hoping that she had taught Claire enough about how to survive that she should be able to fend for herself. Had she made the right choice?

The shipyards of Aphelion, reportedly still active after all this time, Elaine didn’t quite know what exactly they expected to find there apart from the Realmshifter, would there be other survivors? It certainly would seem to be the prime choice for any sort of establishment; already heavily fortified and likely carrying a large amount of supplies and munitions even before the city was nuked, it would have made an ideal shelter. And there was the matter of him, she knew he was alive, even if he hadn’t seemed quite right the last time she had seen him. Lieutenant Commander Li, the bastard who had changed her life forever. He was out there too, unless the bastard had managed to go and off himself sometime during these past twelve years. She doubted that though, and if somehow she found him down there…she wasn’t sure what she might do to him.

She’d been gone six years, fighting faceless people on the barren plains and shattered battleground that lay outside the city, fighting for these people living on the promise that one day they would make it all the way back here to Aphelion to retake the city. The day where she could once again call this city home was not yet here, but she had returned none the less.

She paused at the thought, not quite sure if she could really realistically call this home. After all, her home had been ransacked all those years ago when they took her sister for the first time, when he had been there.

“What are you doing?! Let her go!”

The barrel of the gun was in her face before she could blink, too quick even for her superhuman reflexes to react. “Don’t take this personally, I’m just following orders, that’s all.”

“I told you to leave her out of this! This has nothing to do with her!”

The soldier’s eyes were cold and unfeeling, his aim with the gun he held never wavered. “It does now.”

Elaine took a step forwards and the soldier cocked the hammer with a threatening click, taking a step forwards putting himself between Elaine and the rest of his men behind him. His eyes flashed, green peeking out from behind a wash of black and a cold steely grey. “Stand down, Slayer.”

She shuddered at the memory, remembering her feeling of helplessness then; there were worse monsters than the machines in Aphelion. That soldier put them all to shame, she certainly hoped not to meet him again.

“All personnel, prepare for insertion. Ground teams, prep for combat; I want boots in the dirt in thirty seconds!”

At once the room exploded to life around Elaine as everyone began their final checks of their weapons and armour, the clatter of carbon polymer plates produced a cacophony of noise which drowned out even the dull roar of the engines as the shuttle came to a halt above the tangle of cables which prevented access to the actual ground level.

The door opened, blasting icy cold wind into all of their faces and the dozen or so soldiers cautiously took their first few steps out onto the icy cable beneath them. Below them lay a seemingly featureless plain of ice and snow, some four hundred meters distant; falling from this height would certainly be fatal. With this in mind, they crept forwards at a snail’s pace, a tightly knit line which shuffled slowly forwards even as the shuttle pulled away leaving them alone to face the city’s wrath.

“We head for the ground level; we’re searching for an exit through the upper layers here, once we find one we climb down.” Krauz shouted over the howling of the wind, pulling out a pair of climbing gauntlets from his bag, strapping them on. “I sure as hell hope you all remembered your climbing gear ‘cause if you forgot, you can wait up here instead.”

Fortunately, everyone had remembered their gear so they moved onwards without incident; they walked carefully along the frozen cables for what must have been hours before they finally reached a point where the massive tendrils of ice lay draped across the ruins of a skyscraper, which would hopefully still have an intact route of access to the ground level. They poked inside for a brief spell, four of them going ahead to inspect the exposed upper floor through which they hoped to gain access, and upon the confirmation that the building would make an excellent conveyance to the earth below they moved on in heading for the still intact stairs, relics of the past made obsolete by the grav tube and even the elevator before that, but sufficient for their purposes none the less. It took them almost an hour to descend through the towering structure, carefully picking their way across the delicate floors as they crept silently in the shadows, praying that they wouldn’t be found.

They were not so fortunate of course, Stalker patrols had picked them out on their sensors the moment they descended into the city airspace and they crept down from the Upper reaches, a veritable swarm of spider-like robots which clambered down the sides of the building stalking their targets with lethal precision. They sensed the heat of the humans on the building’s interior; they were easily the warmest objects for several hundred kilometers, and tracked them accordingly. For now they were just curious; the humans presented no threat to them since they had left the tangled web of the Upper Reaches but Stalkers were known to be unpredictable after the Cataclysm, prone to sudden bursts of violence. Each of the many units that were now stalking the part of twelve were easily capable of wiping all of them out on its own.

Elaine could feel them, even if the others couldn’t; the pressure of their optical sensors, humming and whirring in the bitter cold beyond the walls was unmistakable, the almost silent clicks of the miniscule razor sharp ends to each of the Stalker’s six insectile limbs audible even through dozens of meters of steel. Her fingers thrummed uneasily against the outside of her thigh, anxious to be at work; every instinct screamed at her to get out there and hunt down those machines. The others noticed her uneasiness and seemed to take it as a sign that she was uncomfortable, backing away to give her a wide berth creating a noticeable gap in their formation. It was only when Krauz noticed and growled for the others to regroup that they reluctantly returned to their places; Elaine said nothing to explain herself, it was better that they not know the danger that lay just beyond. What good would it do anyways if she told them that they were in danger of being pounced on by killing machines at any moment, there was no one here except her who was equipped to handle the situation. Better to stay silent and avoid causing any unnecessary anxiety.

They walked on, heading ever downwards along the spiralling staircase which circled the scraper, a mindless marching without end. Dull and repetitive steps, and yet Elaine knew that they were a single mistake away from being pounced on by Stalker if they so much as leaned on a weakened part of the wall. Eventually though they stopped to rest, perhaps half way down the tower; it was a ghostly thing, the abandoned relic. The black and white chequered floor tiles were coated in a fine layer of dust, and those few walls that were intact were a bland flat grey; few details remained to give any hints of what the building might have once been used for. So far as they progressed down the staircase all Elaine had seen to give any hint of what might have once transpired here were a couple of trampled folders marked ‘Eye’s Only’, and upon opening them up to take a glance at their contents all she could see were blank sheets of paper.

“What are you looking at, Slayer?” Krauz said, walking up to her from behind.

“I have a name, sir.” Elaine said without turning.

A frown tugged the edges of the Colonel’s lips slightly downwards, “I call you Slayer because that is what everyone will address you as; before when you were all still operational the government never released any of your names.”

“Nameless or otherwise, we’re still people; it’s obvious that we would have names, and you know mine.”

“Corporal Shaw then, was it? Regardless I’d like to know what you’re looking at.”

“Nothing,” Elaine said, picking up one of the folders and handing it to him. “The sheets are all blank.”

“Or perhaps we’re just not meant to be reading what’s on them. ‘Eye’s Only’ it says, I wonder who these were meant for?” Krauz read off the folder.

“Beats me, all I know is that they don’t really tell us anything.”

“Don’t be so quick to dismiss them Slayer, this kind of filing points towards a government role in all of this.”

“Perhaps, regardless we can’t be certain of anything since we can’t read what’s on them.”

There was a faint crackling as Krauz stepped forwards past Elaine to take another folder from the floor. “Perhaps not, this one is listed as an Operations folder.”

“A Tac center?...” Elaine growled.

“So it would seem; the file talks of an evacuation plan organized by one Lieutenant Commander Li, recognize the name?”

“Marcus Li?...” she hissed.

“Friend of yours?” Krauz asked, eyebrows raised.

“An acquaintance,” Elaine said coldly. “Anyhow, how can you read those files? All I see are blank pages.”

“You forget that I was always military, even before the Cataclysm. I guess the cellular clearance still works on the old files.”

“What branch did you work in?”

“What do you think, you see me sitting behind a desk right now? I was a Field Commander, working with 57th Armoured corps and 88th Mechanized Infantry as the unit commander. I was there when we lost Ilsnov, when we turned Valencia into a molten crater, when we razed St.Gina to the ground; and I was on the ground when they told us they were nuking Aphelion too, I was there to see the despair on the faces of all the men and women I had served alongside when I told them that all of their sacrifices had been for naught.” He turned, giving Elaine a strange look, “Where were you on that day Slayer, where did you all go?”

She looked away, reluctant to answer the question. “With the fall of the city, all Slayers were dismissed from duty, we all went our separate ways after that.”

“I find that difficult to believe; that command would dismiss our finest soldiers on the eve of our final battle for the capital is a preposterous thing to propose. I know that none of you were present, of one hundred not a single one of you appeared at the battle, and command never said a word about any sort of sudden demise of the Slayers at the hands of the enemy so I must conclude that something happened behind closed doors.”

Elaine still didn’t say anything, she couldn’t; she glanced nervously around her, noting the locations of the others of the party. They all stood together awaiting the Colonel’s decision on when to get up and start moving again, far away from the two and definitely out of earshot. “It’s not for you to know.”

“I gave my life to this city and its people, I have every right to.”

She glared at him, eyes hard this time. “So did we.”

“Not when it mattered most.”

There was a brief silence as the two stared at each other, “Let me rephrase my earlier statement. When the government determined that they could no longer hold off the enemy they ordered that the Slayer corps be disbanded so that the methods used in our creation would not fall into enemy hands. Thus, we all went our separate ways; for too many of us, our destination would be the incinerators at the bottom levels of Aphelion.”

“But you stand here before me, why is that?”

“When you find Lieutenant Commander Li, ask him that question for me.”

Elaine stalked off.

---

Eric and Daniel sprinted for the doors, reluctantly clambering over the bodies piled at the doors to get at the door controls, scrambling to get away from the rampaging Alpha level at the center of the Complex. He could feel the bodies sliding beneath him, a soft shifting surface that had a disgusting sticky undertone to it from the drying blood. They were waiting on that angel thing to open the doors for them, the physical controls themselves were buried beneath the mound of bodies; Eric glanced nervously behind them, the Alpha level seemed to still be engrossed in its conversation, frozen in place.

“What was that thing?” Eric hissed to the other boy who sat uncomfortably on the shoulders of a half mangled guardsman.

“An A.I, but not one I’ve seen before; it seemed different from the ones we know like Katarina…bigger somehow is the only way I can put it.” Daniel answered. He uncomfortably placed a hand on the corpse beneath him to steady himself as the bodies shifted once again.

“It did say that it would open these doors for us right?”

“I think it did, it certainly told us to get the hell out of here.”

“Then what’s taking so long? The doors should be open already.”

“Perhaps it’s occupied fighting that thing.”

“They don’t seem to be putting much effort into their fight then, they’re not moving at all.”

And yet they were doing something, Eric could see it in the way the two figures seemed to be conversing with each other, frozen stiff as though they were pushing against invisible barriers. There was a tension to them which made Eric think that rather than standing still, they were moving so quickly that his eyes couldn’t register the motion.

Before long though, there was movement once more; the massive sphere in the center of the Holding Complex that had once housed 0.04 opened up and swallowed the machine after a brief struggle; the A.I appeared to be asserting its dominance removing the threat that the sentient machine posed but Eric couldn’t help but feel that this was too easy. At last there was a muted hiss and he felt the bodies beneath him shift and tumble as the Complex doors opened and spilled the bodies out into the hallway beyond taking the two Mappers with them.

When they stopped at the foot of the collapsed mound, the pair was greeted at gunpoint by a motley group; a mix of sharp uniform black and grey polymer body armour, and a haggard looking girl in a grey-blue jacket and body armour on top. Daniel looked like he wanted to do something but the uniform quickly took another step forwards and pressed his handgun right up to his forehead.

“It seems we have some unexpected guests my friends, some familiar and others less so.” The officer paused, crouching slightly to bring himself to their eye level, seemingly unaffected by the mountain of corpses that were spilled out before him. “You’re the boy from the Complex, the one they call #200. What brings you out here on this rather…disturbing transportation.”

“How about you remove that gun from my head first stranger.” Daniel said evenly, managing to look only slightly miffed about the whole ordeal.

“How about you explain yourself first before I give you any possibility of making use of your very lethal skill set?” the officer replied looking Daniel in the eye. The boy flinched under the man’s gaze, for once looking afraid; why though, Eric didn’t know, just moments ago he had been quite calm.

“You…what are you doing here?” Daniel hissed back, ignoring the officer’s question.

“Conducting my business of course, though as you can see my occupation has changed somewhat since we last met. Now if you would tell me what has been going on in the Holding Complex, I’ll gladly move this gun from your forehead.”

“You saw the Alpha level inside and how I bound it in a new prison yes? It escaped, and the result is the slaughter that you see there; it’s even worse inside.”

“And yet here you two are.” The officer said, not moving.

“Sir, perhaps you should at least let them move away from all the bodies?” one of the soldiers behind him said, looking uneasy. The taller girl behind him also seemed rather eager to move away, though it seemed to be more out of squeamishness than anything else.

“Claire, do you know who this is?” the officer said, ignoring the soldier’s comment.

The other girl, the one in the coat and flimsy looking armour shrugged her shoulders, “The guy who was inside there fighting the Alpha, who is he?”

“This person here is, as you may have noticed, gifted with extraordinary endurance and reaction time: similar to you. However, as you I’m sure have observed, his gifts lie elsewhere, specifically in his legs; this here is your former strike team’s rabbit, and your fellow Mark II program member.”

“You know that girl?” Eric hissed to Daniel, shifting his head towards the coated girl; there were still guns pointed at him so he was trying to avoid any sudden movements.

“I knew her once before, she disappeared for a long time though. She was our set of eyes on the battlefield, though she doesn’t quite seem to remember me.”

“Mark II program sir?” the taller soldier spoke again, shifting uncomfortably; from his body language Eric surmised that he wasn’t quite on the same page as the coat girl and the officer.

“A Slayer corporal, albeit one of the second generation units; you are familiar with the term yes?”

“Slayer?” Eric whispered, staring at Daniel.

“I know of Slayers, and this boy here resembles none of them. Is this some sort of joke you’ve concocted?”

“I don’t tell jokes corporal, you should know that by now.” Behind him, the other soldier who had a strange lens over one of his eyes paced uneasily, glancing behind them and circling the rest of the group; something else was distracting him but he seemed reluctant to interrupt the officer. “This is a second generation specimen, one of the Chimeras. They’re not as spectacular as their predecessors but certainly less expensive to produce; they were a classified unit not revealed to the general populace so I’m not surprised you don’t recognize them.”

“These days it seems like there was a lot that the government wasn’t telling us back then.”

Without warning the ground shook beneath their feet, tremors shaking through the entirety of the underground structure; the officer made a strange hand gesture and the guns lifted away from the two Mappers.

“Not your doing I suppose?” the officer queried Daniel. Eric felt a bit annoyed, he was being left out.

“We generally stay away from earth shaking vibrations that threaten our underground operations, thank you very much.” Daniel supplied.

“Then they’re here, the war machines the others mentioned.” The Block shook again and Eric saw a cloud of debris shoot out from a distant wall panel before a mechanical limb followed closely behind it.

“0.06’s army? I thought Katarina dealt with that?” Eric muttered.

“Evidently not.” Daniel said matter of factly.

“Fall in and close ranks! We’re getting out of here.” The officer growled taking charge.

The group pulled in together but Eric gave Daniel a look out of the corner of his eye before moving; the other boy paused for a second before nodding ever so slightly. Though these guys hadn’t been very friendly to them there was no point in trying to go off on their own in this situation, so they fell in alongside the strangers. The two girls gave them a brief glance but they were otherwise ignored. As one they advanced through the halls; Eric stayed close to the center of the group, not having the luxury of owning a ranged weapon. Thus far the opponents they had faced were small misshapen things, mechanical pets in comparison to true war machines which were without sophisticated weaponry or sensors, but that was to be expected given that they functioned as scouts. A real war machine would likely prove to be far more lethal an opponent.

They were headed towards the back of the ring-like Block, the farthest point from the Holding Complex; Eric hadn’t actually been there before having arrived at the shuttle bay located to the east and immediately being redirected to the Holding Complex so he had no idea what these people were intending heading to the back here. As far as he was concerned the shuttle bay was the only way out; so he was somewhat surprised to find the gaping hole that had opened up in the back wall of Block B-27P.

“What is this? Where does this lead?” Eric asked as they stepped carefully past the puckered scars of metal that ringed the opening into the space beyond.

“This is the longest elevator shaft still active in the city; once thought to be lost, it was recently reactivated by me.” The officer said coolly. Indeed as Eric took a look around them he could make out cool blue lights and cold steel walls, and then the glittering array of buttons which were distinctive to all the elevators of the city. “And this elevator in particular also has a short attention span, so we’d best get going.”

“Attention span?” Eric questioned, not understanding.

<This unit will detonate if a floor selection is not made within thirty seconds.> the elevator chimed brightly answering the Mapper’s question. In response to the elevators statement the officer selected a pair of buttons and pressed down, and surprisingly enough they began to move upwards in spite of the fact that Eric hadn’t seen any doors close. Closer inspection revealed that there were no doors on the elevator cart at all, not intact ones anyways. There were jagged edges along what must have once been the retracted doors covered in black scorch marks.

Before they had cleared the Block there was a sizzling hiss as a scorching crimson bolt of energy slashed through the air and smashed into the back of one of the soldiers knocking him flat to the floor. A flurry of bolts that followed smashed into the wall of the elevator behind them and left several smoldering holes in the metal surface and with a crash the elevator car ground to a halt.

“Stalker, get down!” the four teens were shoved to the side as the remaining soldier levelled his rifle and opened fire, firing off a burst at the war machine before spinning around to join them behind cover. “Well Lieutenant, any ideas on what we’re going to do?”

“Get this damned elevator car moving for one, I’m not sure if it’s still going to explode if it stays stuck here.” The officer growled. Beside him bolts of energy continued to blast the elevators back panel melting it to a molten slag, joined soon after by the crackling of kinetic rounds which threatened to ricochet around the elevator car’s interior.

“We’re not going anywhere unless that Stalker goes down, Katherine how’s Andrews doing?” the soldier replied as he took a glance beyond the wall with his odd modified eye. “We’re pinned down, two Stalkers and a Prowler approaching this position, we have maybe thirty seconds tops.”

“We have two Mark II Slayers here with us, perhaps they’d like to take a shot at clearing out these machines.” The Lieutenant said. It was only now that Eric noticed the glinting silver epaulets on the man’s shoulders, and the silvery wolf besides them. Not symbols he was familiar with down here in the Underground; whoever these guys were they weren’t from around here.

“They’re kids, we can’t just send them out there to die for us.”

“They are soldiers, weapons of war. They’ll just be fulfilling the task they were designed for.”

“We are former Slayers Lieutenant, not currently active. I could not guarantee to you that I am capable of taking on those Stalkers.” Daniel said. “Besides, it would appear that it’s been awhile since Eagle Eye here saw active service.”

By now Eric could hear the clicking of the mechanical limbs of the Stalkers as they drew closer, behind him the back wall of the elevator had melted away to reveal the cold stone shaft through which the car moved. The girl whom Daniel had called Eagle Eye was fidgeting nervously with scattergun in her hands, but there was a steely calm in her eyes contrary to her actions. The other girl, the one the Lieutenant or whatever had identified as Katherine had a short barrelled carbine slung over her back as she carefully tended to the downed soldier’s wounds with a med kit, tightly bandaging his wounds.

“Well, even if the elevator doesn’t seem to be exploding around us we’re still pinned down here and soon enough those Stalkers are going to be here, unless you have a better idea Slayer you two are our best bet. We’ll support you as best we can from here but only a Slayer has the speed necessary to tackle something like that out in the open.” The officer responded coolly, brandishing his sidearm.

“If we go out there I want you to clear me to leave this place and pick up my family.” Claire said to the Lieutenant.

The man gave her a look, “Are you really going to take advantage of this situation just to do this? I said I would release you from your services in due time.”

“My family might not have that time to wait for your games. Will you accept my terms?”

“There’s one more task I need you to come with me to complete, I can’t release you before then.”

“What’s the job?”

“We head to the shipyards of Aphelion, graveyard of the city centre. There’s something I need to investigate there, and I need you to accompany me to do it.”

“So you promise me that going there with you will be the final thing?”

“I promise you Slayer, this will be the last I ask of you.” The Lieutenant said extending his hand.

“We have a deal then,” Claire shook his hand. She turned to Daniel, “I’m sorry I don’t remember you, but you’ll go out there with me, right?”

The young Mapper shrugged, merely responding with a “Let’s do this.” before hurtling out of the elevator cart, the girl following close behind him.

---

17: Oblivion Ascendant: 00

Claire pushed forwards letting her eyes flit between the targets, filtering through the commotion of all the action that was going on in the Complex ring to zone in on the pair of Stalkers advancing on their position. Beside her the boy pulled out the strange silver cylinder he had been using before; with a flick of his wrist the tube transformed into a two foot blade. Faster even than her, he pulled ahead, coat fluttering behind him as he jumped up into the air to close the final few meters; the Stalkers stopped to open up on the boy manoeuvring out of the way of his flight path but the Prowler unit continued on towards Claire, its kinetic launchers trained on her looking for a good angle to fire from.

She felt the air ripple around her head as something smashed through the air beside her; her eyes shifted rapidly, finding the blind spots of the Prowler without her even remembering when she’d learned them. The M-26 came up and she pulled the trigger without sighting and was already rolling away to re-engage the Stalkers with the other boy as the shrapnel blast from her scattergun tore the Prowler out of the sky. The other boy was dashing circles around the Stalkers hacking at their legs with flowmetal blade, weaving in and out over and under the machines as they swivelled and dashed trying to get a good lock on him.

“Spot for me.” The boy’s voice was like a whisper on the wind as he dash by her; for a moment Claire didn’t understand what he wanted but something in the back of her mind clicked into place and she fired a shot towards one of the Stalkers leg joints before disengaging, leaping away from the fight.

There was a tan blur which shot upwards towards the combat robot’s limb and the shriek of metal on metal as the Stalker’s limb came free; and a split second later the boy was on his feet beside Claire again. “Nicely done Eagle Eye, keep the targets coming.” He murmured giving her a quick thumbs up; then he was off again, dashing back into the fray.

Claire re-joined him diving in, aware of scattered bursts of gunfire coming from the elevator; as promised the Lieutenant and his team were providing cover fire when they could. Personally Claire found the idea foolish since they were basically right on top of the machines they were firing at but at least the Lieutenant and the rest of them were good shots; thus far not a single shot had come close to grazing either Claire or the boy. The combat machines tried frantically to disengage once they realized that they had lost the advantage but there was no escaping the two Slayers; they were made for this, destroying these Stalkers was what they were meant to do. They kept pace easily with the retreating machines.

They smashed through the first with concentrated gunfire and careful usage of the boy’s blade, but the second proved trickier; it disappeared around a corner while they were busy ensuring that the first stayed down. The others who had been waiting in the elevator moved forwards to meet them, the other coat wearing boy ran up to his compatriot.

“We can’t get the elevator to work, we’ll have to use the shuttles Daniel.”

“Well then, I guess we’re fighting our way through.” The sword wielding boy responded evenly. “Stay behind us Eric; you’ll have a higher chance of surviving this that way.”

“Whatever,” the other tan coated boy shrugged, “Don’t get yourself killed you idiot.”

They dashed forwards around the bend ducking immediately and sliding across the smooth floor as a pair of prowlers opened up on them, shredding the floors’ surface with a massive barrage of fire; righting themselves beneath the machines they took them down in a flash of metal and blasts of buckshot. The fleeing Stalker poked its head out and showered them with a hail of ion bolts singing Daniel’s jacket. Claire rushed past him as he tumbled across the floor hammering the war machine with shrapnel, watching the bolts whiz past her in seeming slow motion as her heightened senses and reflexes took her around the worst of the danger; her head seemed to jerk across different parts of the Stalker and her brain instantly registered its weak points and made the necessary movements to position herself to disable the machine.

With a crash the machine collapsed to the floor in a heap of sputtering metal and the two were off again, shouting behind them for the rest of their group to follow. The Lieutenant came up behind them, calm and relaxed bringing Eric, Katherine and the two soldiers along with him. He seemed to take a couple of moments to examine the carcasses of the Stalkers but otherwise didn’t spare the carnage a single glance. In the distance Claire could hear the sound of gunfire and screaming; machines were still flooding into the Block facility.

“Continue onwards.” The Lieutenant said calmly, waving them on ahead. “We’ll catch up again once you clear the area.” As per usual, he seemed unfazed by the sheer number of deaths that were occurring around him, cold son of a bitch he was.

Guardsmen lay dead everywhere, Claire hadn’t even known this many people were still alive in this wreck of a city; normal human beings were outmatched by the war machines, especially in these cramped confines where they couldn’t use their greater intelligence to their advantage. With powerful energy weapons and heavy armour the combat robots brute forced their way through the lines crushing all resistance, all except the two Slayers.

The resident Alpha level had been destroyed, 0.04 had been fried by Overwatch, the mysterious A.I who chose to manifest as a hooded Seraph; Claire had never seen it before and yet whenever she thought of it the image flashed in her head immediately, as if she was recalling something from the past. The crimson avatar flickered from display to display along the walls silently directing them forwards; Claire didn’t really trust the thing, but the other two boys, the two ‘Mappers’ seemed comfortable following its directions so she followed along a close step behind them, warily scanning their surroundings for more threats.

Where all of these machines came from Claire had no idea, but she could slowly feel herself beginning to tire; she might have been augmented but she was still only human. Machines didn’t sleep, didn’t rest, didn’t tire; they broke and blasted and destroyed anything in their path. There was no purpose to their being here; it didn’t make any sense. They programmed to guard important territories and they fulfilled these orders even now after Aphelion’s fall; but here they clearly had no orders or reason to be present. Something or someone wanted them to be here wrecking the havoc that they were, and Claire intended to find out why. First though they would have to survive to leave this place, something that was becoming increasingly more difficult despite Claire and Daniel’s prowess at destroying the machines.

Another wave of machines appeared before them, larger still than the last; Stalkers and Prowlers for the most part but Claire was sure she spotted something resembling the massive bulk of a Weaver near the back lines. That was going to be a problem seeing as how Weaver’s functioned as mobile battlefield production and repair units; while that unit was operational it would give any damaged Stalkers the capability of being returned to fully functional combat units and in addition to that it would spew out completely new machines as well. She wasn’t overly familiar with them overall having only seen one from a distance when Val pointed one out in the past, but even she could tell that seeing one here and now was trouble.

“There’s a Weaver back there that we’re going to have to take out, otherwise we’re going to have a huge mess on our hands.” Claire said to Daniel. The other boy glanced over at her before turning to take a look at the mass of metal arrayed before them, “We’ll get to it eventually, but first we have to work our way through the front lines. Cover me while I handle the Prowlers, keep the Stalkers focused on you and keep moving; once we take out the flyers the Stalkers will be easy enough for us to handle.”

Claire brought her scattergun up to bear nodding in agreement as they dived forwards into the hail of ion fire; blood pounded in her ears and the smell of burning filled her nostrils as they dove beneath the majority of machine fire to weave into the formation forcing the Prowlers above to open up onto the Stalkers beneath them. Daniel leaped up ten meters off the ground to land gracefully atop one of the hovering war machines and began the process of hacking it to pieces; as it’s fellows turned on it in an attempt to remove the boy Claire found herself ducking between the limbs of the Stalkers crippling them with point blank shotgun blasts in an attempt to draw their attention away from the other Slayer.

The combat robots weaved and spun through the space trying to get a good lock on their targets as the Lieutenant brought up the rest of his squad from the rear to lay down shorts bursts of precision fire; they weren’t laying down a particularly thick volume of fire but at least they were careful not to hit Claire and Daniel. As she weaved in and out of combat Claire let her eyes wander, trusting them by now to catch everything she needed to see without her having to actively look for things; she had never realized just how powerful her eyesight was but now in the thick of combat she was beginning to see why this boy called her Eagle Eye.

She remembered nothing still of ever having been part of a team of these “Slayers”, but there was enough evidence her for her to believe what the Lieutenant had told her was true; she was beyond human, augmented to the point where the difference in her strength and a normal person’s was palpable. Above her Daniel tore through the Prowler units cutting through them like they were paper with his silver blade raining bits and pieces of metal own on her; she herself had already managed to down three of the Stalker units and the Lieutenant seemed to have a handle on the few machines that leaked through the Slayer team.

Several meters distant though in the backlines the tremendous slug of a machine that was the Weaver worked; multi segmented arms sprouting from its midsection reaching out into the fray to latch onto damaged machines and parts tossing them back into its body cavities where they disappeared from sight. It seemed oblivious to the din around it, content just to trudge slowly along behind the combat lines picking up parts and devouring them inside its armoured abdomen; then every fifteen seconds or so its “maw” at the front would open up to spit out a fresh Stalker or Prowler unit, Claire observed all of this all while fighting and as she gave Daniel a glance she could tell that he had noticed the issue as well.

“I got it, finish the Stalkers off.” Daniel growled as the final Prowler crashed to the ground in a shower of sparks carrying the boy with it.

Claire nodded and engaged the remaining pair of six legged robots, trying to slip beneath their legs to get off shots into their more vulnerable underbellies; these last two though were slippery skittering away from her as she tried to close the distance to take them out. They were learning, slower than their Alpha level brethren but adapting none the less; they had already begin to calculate the length of her reach with the scattergun and were appropriately moving to keep themselves out of range. They had been feared war machines for a reason after all; even beside those created specifically to destroy them they stood a fighting chance.

They spun around her trying to squeeze her in between them focusing their fire all the while spending some of their time lobbing bolts of energy back at the Lieutenant and his squad; Claire was slowly forced onto the defensive until finally one of them inched just barely too close for an instant and she was able to slow its movements with a well-aimed blast to its hind limbs which allowed her to swing herself up onto the robot and start damaging more critical areas. Its fellow combat robot shrieked in outrage and opened up on Claire while the afflicted machine shook violently trying to throw her off as ion bolts slowly burned through its armour. Claire gave the shuddering wreck one last blast before she nimbly leapt to the ground and advanced on the final machine.

The Stalker tried it best to evade the girl but she was able to easily match its pace and without its partner to pin her down the six legged robot could only sidestep as the Slayer continued to advance on it and Claire soon made short work of it and turned her attention back to the hulking Weaver with which Daniel was still grappling. The massive armour plated worm of a machine had turned away and was slowly hauling itself across the floor, all the while continuing to collect parts even as Daniel hammered at it with his flowmetal blade. It had stopped spitting out new combat robots seemingly oblivious to the fact that it was being attacked but Claire knew that this couldn’t be the case; machines always had a purpose in their decisions, it just remained to be seen what this Weaver wanted to accomplish.

“You can stop trying, it’s gone on the defensive.” Adrian said as he sauntered up with the rest of the group moving over to lean casually against the Weaver. The machine didn’t seem to notice him and continued on oblivious as he patted it comfortably as though it were an adorable animal; the others looked quizzically at him but didn’t otherwise interrupt him.

“What’s going on here?” Daniel growled from his perch on the machine’s back.

“Why has it stopped making new units?” Claire added.

The Lieutenant turned to Jeff and Mathew giving them a look, the two shrugged in response and the officer sighed, “Come on how can you boys not know this? This information is in the standard patrol group manual.”

“You know nobody actually reads that thing right? All the important things come from real work experience on the job.”

“I read mine back in the day.” The Lieutenant said pointedly.

“Well you were something else, weren’t you.” Claire said quietly.

Adrian paused for a moment and then shrugged, “Whatever, the point is that this Weaver unit here has frozen itself and its systems; it’s simply taking in mass to repair and maintain itself until proper support can come and relieve it. We lack sufficient firepower to obliterate enough of it at once to keep it from regenerating but it will remain like this until backup arrives so we can move along; it’s harmless now.”

The Weaver seemed to groan as if in agreement, twitching slightly as its arms continued to work at a slow relaxed pace stretching out to collect all the pieces of the destroyed combat units around it; otherwise it ignored the group and they now stood alone in the Block which had fallen silent. Scorch marks were splashed across the walls and bullet holes riddled every surface, the floor was littered with shell casings and other bits and pieces of metal shrapnel and all other markers of combat were strewn about the Block interior.

Blood and corpses lay everywhere and the squad looked uneasy as they moved slowly forwards following Adrian’s brief explanation as to what was going on, even Daniel; everyone apart from the Lieutenant that is. He strode through the mess of everything with not a speck of blood or dirt on his crisp black uniform as though this were just another regular outing; the others stared at his seeming callousness but Claire knew enough about his background to understand that this was far from the worst he had ever seen. He walked alone through carnage and was used to death, this was probably nothing to him.

The groans of the dying were ignored as Adrian pushed forwards leading Claire and the rest with the assistance of the two boys who called themselves Mappers and finally after what seemed like an eternity of walking through the stinking halls and blood spattered walls a black tunnel yawned out before them. At last they were leaving this awful place, but Claire shuddered to think on what lay ahead of them if this was just the beginning of Adrian’s meddling.

“Where does this go?” she heard Adrian ask the two boys.

“The sister Block, BP-26P; we can exit from the elevator there to wherever you need to go.” The taller of the two answered; Claire recalled that his name was Eric.

“I head for the shipyards of Aphelion, is that in the same direction?”

“You’re not going anywhere,” the boy named Daniel interrupted. “Not until you explain before the Council.”

“You don’t have the authority to order me around.” Adrian growled, “In fact you two would be dead if we weren’t here.”

<I however, still do, technically speaking.> Overwatch rematerialized before them, a massive crimson spectre. <You will go with these two and report to their chain of command, I will provide further instruction once you are there.>

“I have other priorities A.I; Aphelion is dead, you have no real authority anymore either.”

<You seek the Realmshifter, let me tell you now that it is not safe there. You lack the necessary resources to reach her, and to breach her defenses; go with the two Mappers and make your case for an expedition to the ship. If you go now alone, you will all perish, of that I can assure you.>

“You appear out of nowhere and you expect me to believe you? Laughable at best, foolhardy at worst; every A.I left in the city was scheduled to be destroyed, that you remain here now to give me orders is a mistake.”

<Do not mistake my generous tone for weakness, I still have power in this city that you can’t even imagine. Obey me or suffer for your insolence; I know all of your secrets human.>

There was a long silence as the Lieutenant faced down the holographic image and the two seemed to size each other up, but eventually the Lieutenant seemed to deflate a little as he turned away from the A.I back to the others.

“Well then, lead on you two.” He said coldly to the Mappers. Overwatch continued to hover over them like a cloud but Adrian paid it no heed.

Eventually the shuttle car arrived and the group piled on inside, but before the Lieutenant stepped inside Claire saw him turn back to the A.I’s avatar.

“Remember Arthur, I know your secrets too.”

---

0.04 strode casually through the white halls of B-26P; the sister block to the ring where she had been held prisoner; corpses lay around her but it seemed that word of her accomplishments in B-27P had already spread here, after the first few guards none tried to oppose her. Her mainframe had been imprisoned once more, but that was just an empty shell; the humans could use that dead thing to power their city but her consciousness had moved here. She had begun her preparations for escaping from the block the moment she had burst free of the sphere knowing that she would never find her way out; there was too much focus on the block already. She had sensed the presence of an A.I and her first re-capture in the flowmetal prison just proved that the humans even had the resources to fight her there, so she began infiltrating the computer systems looking for a way out.

Alpha levels were complex machines; their construction wasn’t so simple that anybody could just pick up the instructions and make one. Unlike the rest of 0.01’s Alpha levels though, 0.04 had access to the blueprints for the construction of an Alpha level as the Oracle; the main issue was finding the proper materials. The dark grey metal which seemed to make up the majority of an Alpha level’s frame was a sham, in reality the hard iron-based alloy formed only the hard outer covering was but a thin layer of the frame. Beneath the alloy lay the true source of an Alpha level’s flexibility and adaptability, their flowmetal frame suspended around their titanium-tungsten skeleton; the mutable nature of the flowmetal meant that Alpha levels were both able to take extreme punishment and adapt their limbs and forms into any tool they had the blueprints for. The high conductivity of flowmetal and its instantaneous mutability also simplified the internal circuitry; conduits and channels for electricity could be formed and broken on a whim allowing for rapid damage control.

Because of all this it had been difficult for 0.04 to find the materials to build herself a new body; flowmetal was abundant throughout the systems of the Underground in minute quantities assisting intact electronics systems but the only real centralized abundance of flowmetal was at the two Blocks B-26P and B-27P. Knowing this she had selected the only possible destination as her point of reformation, Block B-26P, the second of the two complexes providing power to both the Underground and to Spire City. It wasn’t hard to locate a flowmetal conduit there, and after that it became easy to transplant the blueprints for her construction into the local machinery and begin work on her reconstruction even as the A.I she fought began her annihilation.

She sensed immediately that one of her kin was here in this Block; unsurprising given that she had been trapped within its sister structure but interesting none the less that they would build a second such facility when either of she or her sibling here could have provided all of their needs by themselves. The Holding Complex here was almost identical, and more importantly the circuitry was as well; she infiltrated the systems with ease and strode into the massive spherical chamber unopposed. She could feel her sister within the sphere from the moment she stepped inside; likewise as she stepped over to the viewing window 0.09 stood there waiting, straining against the shackles of lightning which held her in place.

She was now the sole power source for all of the human’s structures; if she went, the city would be plunged into darkness. And there she would remain if 0.01’s plans were to be trusted. 0.06 had been deceived, necessarily so; by sending him here first when 0.04 was the one needed to get free he had drawn attention away from the other block giving 0.04 the necessary window of time to get free and find a way to get clear of her prison. It was necessary for her to be freed, even if it cost her the lives of two of her siblings; she was the Oracle, the lynch pin, 0.01’s most important tool.

She was a conduit of information; she saw everything that her active siblings could see, felt what they felt, and to a limited extent could even share and influence their decision making. She was at once the most independent and most dependent Alpha level all at the same time, full of great potential but burdened by the weight of the knowledge she carried. She was loyal to her elder brother and creator not because of any familial ties or even because she approved of 0.01’s plans or ideals; she was simply repaying the favour he had done for her in creating the conditions for her to break free. 0.04 was not one to receive a favour without returning it; the feeling of being held captive by this obligation to pay back the other was something she could not stand. She needed to be free and independent so her time within the Holding Complex had been a hell to her, 0.01 may have only released her because it served his purposes but she would assist him never the less before going on her way.

She stared at 0.09 still stuck behind the walls of her prison; this was something that was beyond even her, perhaps even 0.01. The humans, no matter how weak and fragile they were would always be a force to be reckoned with; their adaptability and ability to withstand the test of time would mean that they would always pose a threat. She was content just to move on to areas where the humans couldn’t interfere in her business, whatever it happened to be but 0.01 had other plans. 0.09 would have to wait her turn; 0.04 first needed to head to the city center and rendezvous with her brother to get the gears of his plan rolling.

But first there were obstacles to be eliminated, her rampant brother 0.03 still haunted the ruins in defiance of 0.01’s wishes; he was strong, as he had been made to be, he was after all originally intended to be an exterminator of 0.01’s enemies. But somewhere along the way he had gone astray, become disagreeable to following 0.01’s bidding and now it was required that he be brought back in line if this city, this Aphelion, was to be realigned. Sometimes, unity had to be achieved through force; the only problem was that 0.03 was the very definition of brute force. Fortunately 0.01 had created a safeguard, an assassin for his brothers and sisters who understood in great intricacy each and every one of the Alpha level’s minute weaknesses so that one day if the intentional destruction of one of his creations was required he would have the means to do so; 0.04, Oracle, Shaper, Sower, and Reaper.

She could sift through all the accumulated memories of her brothers and sisters, within a certain range of course, and she alone possessed the unique talent of on the fly flowmetal manipulation to the point where it flowed like water from her fingertips to circle around her in a swarm at her bidding. She also possessed the blueprints for the creation of her fellow siblings and all the tools at their disposal, and lastly the means to reach into their armoured frames and rip the life from them. She could do almost anything but still she felt a pulse of what could only be described as fear as she responded to 0.01’s beckons which urged her towards the center of Aphelion; a monster lay in wait for her which not even she could say with confidence she could defeat.

But she had a debt to fulfill, a debt to the debtless; so onwards she strode towards the center of Aphelion and the epicenter of her destiny.

---

Mark didn’t care about the others at that moment, all he could think about was what Overwatch had just said; the Slayer that out of all the Slayers should have died was alive. Elain, his personal selection to act as the original template host for the Mark I Slayer program was not only alive, but here in Aphelion; how he should react to that he wasn’t sure but he knew that he needed to find her. He was certain that she wouldn’t be pleased when she saw him…but she was his responsibility, and in a way she was all he had left to link him to his shadowy past. Adrian was gone, sent out on some suicide op with the rest of the Black Six operatives before the fall, his parents were long dead, and all the friends he had once had as Marcus James Li were missing or had passed on.

He was going after her, whether the others came with him or not; that she was headed towards Realmshifter just like he had planned to was just a convenient coincidence. She would never come looking for him; she probably thought that he was dead. It was up to him to find and…make amends for what he had done. There was more to it as well, with the power of a Mark I Slayer they could easily get this small group out of Aphelion; in addition Elain’s survival meant that there were others, and from the looks of it some part of Aphelion still fought on even though the war had passed Aphelion itself by. Realmshifter was the solution to everything; if she got airborne everyone would have a way out, securing her would be securing a future.

The others stared at him and Overwatch expectantly, not quite sure of what was going on. Of course they couldn’t possibly understand what was going on in Mark’s head, not without knowing about the Slayer program for which he had been responsible; how he was going to explain the significance of what Overwatch had just said escaped him.

<I have other things to attend to…I’m sure we’ll meet again Commander.> the Seraph said with a sigh, beginning to flicker out once more.

“Wait!”

The angel shook its head and then vanished leaving Mark empty handed and unsure of what to say. He stared at the empty spot where the A.I’s avatar had been, uncertainty swirling through him; could he lead them through this? And did he deserve to at all? After all if they went to the shipyards to find Realmshifter some of them would surely perish along the way, it was impossible to imagine that they could make it there untouched with the city in this state.

“I’m going after my Slayer, I’m going to the shipyards.” He stopped, “Elain is alive, and headed for the shipyards.”

“What? Is that what that thing was telling you about?”

“It said there are others still alive outside of Aphelion, and that Elain had flown in along with a squad of soldiers headed towards the shipyards. They’re after the ship so if we don’t arrive there before they leave we’ll be left here stranded.”

“There won’t be another opportunity for us like this, will there?” Val said, Mark could tell from the tone of her voice that she had made her decision.

“But Claire though, what about her?” Will asked quietly. “We can’t just leave her behind can we?”

“Well we can’t afford to stay here and wait any longer; I asked her to go out because we were running low on supplies, now we have almost none left. She’ll have to fend for herself if she gets back before us; besides if Elain is alive we should find her and see what happened to her all those years ago.” Val responded.

“It feels wrong.” The boy said, eyes sharp.

“You have no choice but to come with us, if you stay you will die; we can protect you, and we’ll help you find Claire after.” Fredrick spoke up suddenly, something Mark hadn’t expected. It made sense though if he thought about it a little; in the end no matter how they fought they were all soldiers, it was their duty to protect the city, or what was left of it anyways.

The rest of Mark’s squad seemed deferential to Fredrick’s opinion so Mark took it upon himself to wrap up the argument; they needed to get moving if they were going to make it.

“Claire can fend for herself, she’s a Slayer just like her sister after all.” He said, taking risk in giving them a little more information; if they asked the wrong questions he wouldn’t be able to answer without revealing to them that he was responsible for the Slayer program as well.

“We guarantee that, there are things in this city that can kill anyone, no matter how strong.”

“Well sitting here isn’t going to stop that from happening; we can’t save anyone if we stay here, we need to go. I won’t force you to come with us, but we’re leaving now with or without you.”

The pair from the other group looked at each other, Val had made up her mind but if Will didn’t want to go…Mark doubted that the woman would leave her charge on his own. As for the other two children, it would be difficult to move around with them along, but he had little choice in the matter; he couldn’t exactly abandon them regardless of what anyone decided to do.

“After this is over, the first thing we do is find Claire.” Will said at last.

“There may not be an after this, there may not be time to wait for her.” Valerie said softly. “I promised that if I got the chance I would get you guys out of here, this is that chance, I can't risk it just for one person, not when there’s an opportunity to save all the rest of us here.”

“Fine, but if there’s ever a chance to stop and look for her, I’m going to take it.”

Val was stone faced, “You’re an adult, I’ll let you make your own decisions.”

“Alright then, we’re at least a week out from the city center, grab your things and prepare to leave as soon as possible.” Mark said.

Val nodded and stepped out of the room with Will, assumedly to begin preparations for leaving; the rest of Mark’s squad stayed standing beside him.

“Do you really think that the war is still going on outside of Aphelion?” Darren asked quietly.

“I can believe it, though I can’t confirm it for you.”

“If the command structure is still intact, then we might not be heading to our freedoms; I don’t want to go back to fighting after all of these years, the Aphelion we fought for is dead.” Susan spoke up.

“In the end, Realmshifter is still a military vessel, what remains of Aphelion will try to seize her for themselves; we’re going to have to jump ship probably.”

“Like I said, I can’t confirm or deny anything until we actually get there, so I need to know from you guys is if I can trust you to trust that I know what I’m doing when I lead us there.” Mark said. “Will you follow the lead of your Lieutenant Commander despite what he’s done?”

There was a silence that permeated the room as Mark waited, none of his squad mates would look him in the eye throughout. Mark had hoped that perhaps they might have forgiven him for the evils they did know about, but he supposed that perhaps that might have been too much to ask of them; regardless he would try his best to help them all, but things would go a lot more smoothly if they trusted him.

“The sun’s still shining.” Fredrick said suddenly from the spot where he stood by the window; indeed though the window as shut tightly light leaked through the crevices to flicker across the concrete floor.

“What do you mean by that?” Darren asked, curious.

“Aphelion wasn’t always so massive you know? Before we were a nation state there was Aphelion, great city on the high hill and the surrounding Combine states of Inersia, Obitua, Teluria, Demuria, Lauratius, Glissaria and Salisita. In the time of my childhood there was nothing but rain and the sun never once shone above in the skies; but then came Aphelion who took us into the sun when we were united as one nation state. That is the Aphelion we know today, and as long as she stands then the light will shine on down; the leader of Aphelion will ensure this continues, and he will bring light to all who stand by his side.” Fredrick said the words with a quiet passion that belied the meaning hidden behind his words.

“I had thought that none were left alive who remembered the Combine war.” Mark said coolly, “I thought High Command removed all records of it from pubic storage.”

“You can’t hide everything, and you can’t kill everyone; we kept quiet about it while Aphelion was strong because we feared for our lives, but the old Aphelion is dead, and she can’t come back; the Combine went to war with Aphelion because of they were opposed to her principles, but they lacked the strength to bring her down. This second war by this new Aphelion’s neighbours happened for the same reasons, this war that brought Aphelion to its knees, it should have ended here with Aphelion’s capitulation.” Fredrick locked his gaze with Mark, and as much as he wanted to turn away Mark forced himself to hold that gaze. He understood what Fredrick was getting at now, he would have to take responsibility for all of this afterwards, he was going to have to stay behind to fix things.

“The leader of Aphelion as appointed by High Command will take responsibility for his actions once he is restored to his position” Mark said quietly, staring back.

Fredrick gave a rough salute, “Then we are yours to command, Commander.” And the others followed suit.

They set out an hour later one the civilians had gathered what they needed, turning their backs on the small building that had sheltered Mark and his squad for the night, and the rest the past decade. They had packed as lightly as possible with what little supplies remained to them but the twins by themselves were going to be a handful to manage. It was what could be considered these days to be noon with dim twilight; this was as safe as it ever got outside here. They had no choice but to travel on foot though if Mark had any other options he would have preferred to do anything but; his squad had spread out to form a rough delta around the civilians who they sheltered within the formation with Mark taking the lead and Fredrick on point.

The attack by the Silurthian Ice Crawler was still fresh in Mark’s mind, that thing, whatever it was, was most certainly a predator and likely still in the area; they were vulnerable traveling on their own and probably the most obvious prey item for kilometers around, he kept a sharp eye out for any sort of movement on the horizon. It was ironic that it was times like this that Mark felt most alive on the field of battle living the life that was a lie; he had been an Officer of High Command almost all his life, rarely venturing out into the field. Field work had been his brother’s department, he still remember the day that his friend Quentin told him that he had once known a man the name of Adrian who had gone on to serve with Aphelion’s special forces unit; he had been shocked, though he and his brother had entered military service at the same time since then they’d been separated and out of contact. Special forces didn’t just take anyone, they went after individuals with…unique personalities; that his brother found himself there…well, that was just unsettling.

Still Mark supposed that if someone with a skillset like that was with them now he would have felt much more comfortable, as it was he felt exposed and at risk, traveling with the remains of an ex-reconnaissance unit and some armed but still inexperienced civilians. He himself had spent too long away from the field, only recently taking up arms again shortly prior to and after the Cataclysm of his own doing; the world had changed from when he’d last had something to really fight for and he found himself ill prepared to face it.

Realmshifter was his ship, she was meant to have been captained by him as he took the last crews from Aphelion off world into orbit where the fighting went on, only he had the keys and activation codes that would allow for her usage in his head. It was impossible that anyone else could have tried to leave in her, but over the years he had heard rumours that survivors had gathered within her using her superstructure as the basis of a new human settlement; he had never been able to confirm it himself since he and his squad had been tied to their shelter on the city outskirts, but if such was truly the case there might be many more human survivors than the four civilians assembled before him.

They were his responsibility too now; everyone left alive in Aphelion was and he found himself uncertain of his ability to uphold that responsibility. The last time he had been given such a burden he had failed; Aphelion had fallen to the enemy and he killed thousands of civilians with his choice to nuke the city, causing possibly more destruction than even the enemy would have inflicted themselves. Could he shoulder the burden this time, or he fail once more as he had failed old Aphelion and his brother?

Howls sounded in the distance and Mark looked to the horizon; that serpent thing which had been stalking them before wasn’t the only predator that called Aphelion home now, they had to be careful. Even this far inland from the mirror of ice that was what was left of Lake Arity those animals that had survived the impacts still lurked; Frost Wolves hunted down the massive Tundra Elk which survived on the sparse grass and vegetation that persisted through the permafrost and the dread Predator Shrike attacked in droves, swarming anything edible in flocks that numbered in the hundreds. Shadowy shapes appeared in the distance, grey spots that popped up atop the ruined remains of old buildings; a wolf pack was on the prowl.

“We need to move!” Mark shouted, picking up the pace; Val stepped forwards scooping up one of the twins and throwing him over her shoulder and Will did the same as the soldiers on the outside tightened up their formation. “Susan, Darren, I need your eyes on the horizon! If anything gets close you have my permission to open fire!”

“Yes sir!”

The howling picked up and Mark could see the canines streaming out of the shadows their long legs taking them towards the group with massive strides quickly closing the distance; Susan and Darren opened up on the animals with their rifles sending the crackling of gunfire echoing across the icy plain. Mark could already tell that there were too many for them to handle; this was a large pack numbering in the dozens and it took multiple rounds to take down just individuals, they would run out of bullets before the pack ran out of bodies.

Still there was nothing to be done but to keep pushing forwards and hope for a miracle; they rushed for a cluster of taller buildings in the distance as the wolves closed within meters of them. Mark pulled out his handgun and Fredrick hefted a scattergun they’d take from the civilian’s weapons locker both of them doing their best to keep the wolves at bay. At this range Susan and Darren’s rifles were unwieldy and the tossed them aside drawing their own sidearms as they bunched together ceasing to move, Val and Will fired into the wolf pack with their own weapons but it seemed to have little impact on the steady onslaught. They were going to die here and there was nothing they could do about it.

There was a sudden thrumming that permeated through the air and the tone of the Wolves snarling changed, as they pulled away in a panicked mass; a viridian glow glimmered on the surface of the snow and two of the massive wolves collapsed in a heap as a grey-black shape emerged from the gloom, hands dripping crimson. The wolves howled and a retreat was sounded, rippling through their ranks; dragging away their dead they limped into the shadows as 0.00 paced steadily across the ice and snow to look Mark in the eye while the others were stunned into inaction.

<Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li, leader of the Slayer Program and ranking officer of Aphelion, I’ve been looking for you.>

---

Eric was beginning to think that leading around this strange group was a bad idea; though most of this squad of foreign soldiers and this “Slayer” who Daniel seemed to know were alright, this officer made him uncomfortable. He was entirely too confident given the situation, and it seemed clear to Eric that he knew things that the others didn’t; there seemed to be some sort of ulterior motive to his actions even if he was following the instructions given to him by the A.I Overwatch. From the shuttle Eric and the others had made their way back to Block B-26P only to find it deserted similarly to how B-27P was now a graveyard; blood was splashed across the walls but only a few bodies were present, never the less Eric recognized the trademark smell and look of ion blade usage everywhere he looked.

Somehow, another Alpha level had made its way here and had passed through the block unopposed; likely news of 0.04’s slaughtering of the staff of Block B-27P had made its way outside and those who crossed Alpha’s were mostly wise enough to steer clear. But no one was here then… Eric suddenly pulled ahead of the group to take the lead passing by Daniel who had held the position prior.

“Slight detour, we’re stopping by the Holding Complex here before we leave; there’s something we need to check on.”

The officer shook his head, “That won’t be necessary.”

“What do you mean by that, do you even know what I’m talking about?”

“Firstly, you will address me by my rank, Lieutenant, secondly yes I do. You wish to check on the state of containment of the sister Alpha level which must be imprisoned here yes? Well I can assure you that at this time and moment she is very much still in her cage.”

“How can you be so sure?”

There was a pause in the conversation as the Lieutenant gave him a pointed look.

“How can you be so sure, sir?” Eric repeated irritably.

“Look at the lights around you, look at how the shuttle that brought us here still had power to function; everything still active in this city draws power from that machine, if she left her cell like her sister unit then we would truly be plunged into darkness. She’s there, or we would have known about her escape immediately, there’s no need to make any unnecessary stops here; we should proceed to this council of yours so I can get along with my own affairs and get out of your hair.”

Eric narrowed his eyes, “How did you know that the unit here identifies itself as female?”

“Didn’t you realize? I’ve been in your systems, I have access to everything because I was part of the system even before your technicians patched it together after the Cataclysm; my old overrides still work to get me past any of the firewalls you’ve set up. All of these facilities which you now call the Underground were once part of one large research complex, and many…questionable things were done down here. I was curious to see what had become of the place, from the looks of it there are still many secrets being hidden here.”

That was bullshit, there was no way…just who was this guy? His attitude was ridiculous, it seemed as though he was under the impression that the whole world was at his beck and call; that made no sense given he was in a completely foreign environment, Eric supposed that the fact that he had some sort of connection to this city’s past was somewhat relevant but it still didn’t mean he had to like the man’s superior aura. He felt as though he was being treated as an inferior not being one of these “Slayers” in spite of the fact that as a Mapper he probably knew better than anyone else present how to get them safely through the tangle of tunnels back to Mirra to stand before the council.

Everywhere they went signs of carnage were present; the machine legion had really done a number on the Underground’s forces. With the number of dead he was seeing Eric was beginning to worry that no one was left; what had happened with the defense effort while he had been gone? This “Lieutenant” forged ahead seemingly unaffected by all of the bodies, the Slayer who went by Claire trailing close behind him, the only one to do so; there was something going on between those two that went beyond simple familiarity. It bothered him that Daniel seemed to be so willing to lead this man around, but even more than that he wanted to find out what had happened to Sheryl and Vivian; they’d stayed behind at 26P when they’d gone ahead to investigate what was going on when 0.04 had escaped but when they’d returned everyone had disappeared. He was sure that they would have found some way to survive but he couldn’t be sure until he saw them himself.

As they neared the capitol they finally met up with more survivors, evidently they had managed to hold the machine legion outside of the main city but the cost was self-evident; bodies lay everywhere scattered amongst the wreckage of the war machines and of the colonies of Sonic Screamers that had populated the cavernous pocket above Mirra only a handful remained to circle, the rest lay scattered across the city floor like broken kites, the beasts all dead or dying. A troupe of guardsmen drew up to meet them as they neared, all battered and bruised and none of them people Eric recognized; they recognized him and Daniel though so without a word they escorted them towards the Council of 15. As they walked they passed three Weaver units surrounded by guardsmen, all in a defensive state of stasis; with this many of them here it was no wonder the machines had wrecked such havoc.

Handfuls of the other Mapper squadrons came up to meet them as they passed by, almost none of them were intact; the ranks of the Mappers had been devastated by the assault. The Underground was no longer secure like this, it would take years to train replacements for the Mappers they had lost. They relayed to Eric how the machines had flooded in as an endless army, attacking for seemingly no reason; faced with such numbers the Underground had lost settlement after settlement and now all who remained were here, in Mirra. It seemed impossible to Eric that all that had been accomplished these past twelve years had been erased in an instant; the infrastructure that the survivors had worked so hard to rebuild had been wiped out. Knowing this made him even more anxious to be rid of these strangers, he had other priorities now that the Underground was in this state. He would drop them off and find Sheryl and Vivian and from there he would do his best to help with whatever was needed at the moment.

They hurried into the Chambers to stand before the council and at that moment Eric turned to leave but the Officer stepped in front of him.
“I suspect you’ll want to hear what is said here boy, I would stay if I were you.”

“Screw you, I have other things to be doing, I can’t stay here babysitting some freaking strangers while my city burns; I’m going.”

“There is no city if what I’ve seen is all that is left of it; stay while I speak to this Council and then decide after what you will do.”

Eric narrowed his eyes, “What do you intend to say?”

“Am I correct in assuming I find myself before the remains of the Council of 15 of the Underground?” the officer said ignoring him, his voice suddenly booming out.

“What’s left of it stranger.” One of the councillors answered, turning from their discussion looking ill amused at being interrupted. “Who might you be?”

“Who I am is insignificant, but you may refer to me by my rank, Lieutenant; what I represent however should be of greater interest to you, I am Spire city.”

“I’m sorry, Spire City? What the hell are you talking about?”

It was the officer’s turn to frown, “I thought that perhaps you had an arrangement with the Ruling Council…evidently I was mistaken. Are you unaware that there are other survivors in this city? We’re supposed to have done business before.”

“If that’s the case then it was done without our consent and knowledge; as far as we’re concerned the Underground is the last settlement that remains within Aphelion; now since you apparently know otherwise why don’t you take some time to fill us in.”  

“There are others, fifty thousand or so give or take inhabiting the peaks of the city; nine spires stretching up past the tangle of the Upper Reaches. Unlike down here in the squalid remains of the undercity we have had limited access to the technology available prior to the Cataclysm so we’re in a better state than you are, though…it would appear to me that we are drawing power from these ‘Holding Complexes’ of yours which had led me to believe that we had been working together to support our two populaces, evidently I was wrong.” The Lieutenant paced across the floor carrying with him a presence of grandeur, energy that had not been there before radiated off him in waves; it was as though the cold ghost of a man that he had been before had been replaced by a leader trying to convince his people.

“And why do we care about this? We have other more pressing issues at the moment so unless you’re offering us assistance we have jobs to be doing.”

“I can’t offer you assistance, but I can give you something better; I can give you a way out of this city, for you and everyone here.”

There was a sudden silence as the room fell silent absorbing his words and their implications which quickly transformed into a storm of shouts and questions. Eric himself took some time to take in what the officer had just said; all his life people had been going on and on about how they had to escape this desolate prison, how they had to get out of this city. He had devoted his life to that cause becoming a Mapper learning the routes than ran beneath the massive city in hopes of one day finding a way out; and now here this man suddenly stood before the council offering this freedom they had sought out for so long to everyone, just what the hell was this?

“Explain.” The first councillor said, voicing everyone’s thoughts. “What do you mean when you say you can get us all out of here?”           

“There’s a ship at the city center sitting in the dry docks, an Orbis class destroyer, a heavy military vessel built to hold tens of thousands of crewmen, I saw it in the files. The shipyards are still active to this day and have kept serviceable after all of this time, if we go to the shipyards we can get on board and fly her back here to pick all of you up along with my own people from Spire city and get the hell out of Aphelion.”

“Impossible, there’s no way a ship was on the ground and is still here after all of these years; someone would have taken her and flown off already.”

“Not this ship, you see she’s military right? She’s keyed to her captain, only the captain of the ship can start her up so to anyone other than him she would be nothing more than a massive prison of metal.”

Another councillor spoke up, this one a woman in grey, “How does this help us though? We still won’t be able to fly her ourselves without this captain, he could be anywhere, he could be dead!”

The Lieutenant let out a clear peal of laughter which rang through the cavernous reactor chamber, echoing off the brass and metal. “I can tell you for sure that the captain of Realmshifter is alive, I would stake my own life on it.”     

“And why is that?”

He laughed again, “Why? Because he’s my fucking brother and I’m the one who saw him off when he dropped six nukes this city.”

---

18: Oblivion Ascendant: 01

Claire waited impatiently for the Lieutenant to resolve his little issue, she was aware that he knew things that they didn’t but at the moment she didn’t particularly care, she just wanted to get out of here and get going. She was tired of being dragged around from place to place, she just wanted to get this over with so she could head back to check on Val and the others.

This place put her on edge; from the moment they had stepped foot down here she had been picking up faint traces of machine activity, and it wasn’t just beta level intelligences, some small part of her told her that multiple Alpha levels had been down here previously, and not all had yet left. It made her itch uncomfortably, something that hadn’t occurred previously; it was as though finding out that she was a Slayer had suddenly reawakened the old instincts that had been associated with the profession.

She found that strange, since it wasn’t as though these skills wouldn’t have been of use in her day to day life before this so there was no reason for her to have forgotten any of it if she had learned it; she had a sneaking suspicion that the Lieutenant could tell her why this was the case but for now she kept those musings to herself. She understood little to nothing of what was going on beyond the fact that they were headed to some massive structure in the center of the city which had once been used to produce vehicles that flew through the stars above; the details were not of her concern, she cared only that the Lieutenant intended to find the man who was responsible for her creation. That was the one detail in the Lieutenant’s speech to the council that had suddenly drawn her attention; his mentioning of Marcus Li’s name and the fact that he was still alive had shaken her to alertness the moment the words had left his mouth.

The past was a mystery to her, blurred by time, disuse, and some sort of mental block which kept her from remembering the cruelties which she had endured as a child. According to the Lieutenant Marcus had answers for her questions, and more than anything, perhaps even more than getting back to Val and the rest to make sure they were safe, she wanted answers. She was a ghost without a past, the spectre of a person whose story had been forgotten, and she wanted her identity back; unsure of who she was she was unable to decide what she wanted. The struggle to survive had dominated her life for the past twelve years so she’d never had time to question her existence but in the past few weeks her world had been turned upside down.

It wasn’t that she was unable to cope with it, it was more like the constant nagging feeling at the back of her mind that she was forgetting something or unable to comprehend some small part of the bigger picture that was wearing away at her concentration. She needed that distraction to go or it would drive her mad, even now she could feel it eating away at her, she hungered for the truth, or at the very least action to keep her mind from dwelling on all the things that seemed so wrong in with her life.

“Why should we trust that what you have to say is true?” she heard the councillors ask Adrian. “We have nothing but your words that say that this brother of yours is even alive! If he’s not here with you then we can’t place the lives of so many people on the chance that you’re correct.”

“I’m not wrong, I would know if he had died…” Adrian’s mood seemed to suddenly shift emanating a wave of what Claire could only describe as unpleasantness. “…he owes me a life after all.”

“Leave your personal issues out of this.” Another councillor said, stone faced. “Your words are promising but they cannot be trusted, if you cannot find a way to verify your claims we will ask that you leave. We have more pressing concerns to deal with at the moment.”

“Overwatch, come help explain this!” Adrian shouted towards the ceiling as though expecting someone to descend and help him. “You’re the one who told me to stop by here, come help me finish your fucking job!”

Given previous events Claire half expected the A.I’s crimson avatar to materialize right then and there but as the seconds ticked by there was no answer to the Lieutenant’s request. Behind her Jeff shifted uncomfortably and Mathew swept his gaze across the chamber searching for a sign, anything to indicate that Adrian might have been heard. But there was nothing, even with repeated shouting no A.I appeared to stand before the council with them so they could prove their point. It seemed that Overwatch was occupied elsewhere, though what there was in this city that could demand so much attention from the A.I was beyond Claire.   

They were dismissed by the council; the two boys, those Mappers that had accompanied them here stayed behind to give their report to their own people. Katherine looked nervously around seeming as though she wanted to say something to the Lieutenant but she kept her mouth shut if she did, Jeff and Mathew waited off to the side looking uncertainly at Adrian waiting for instruction. In spite of his foul attitudes and generally cold behaviour somehow it seemed to Claire that the Lieutenant had managed to earn their trust; when she thought about it Claire couldn’t see how that was possible but thinking further she realized that she trusted him as well. The man had led them well so far, in spite of all the perils that had encountered they had all survived to be here now.

Claire studied Adrian’s stony face; his expression gave little away besides his current general ill will towards the people here at the moment, frowning ever so slightly whenever someone else walked by. Beside that he seemed to be stuck as to whether or not he should leave now, reluctant to abandon the task that he had been given for some odd reason.

“That A.I had to have had a reason for sending me here; it should have known that there was no way I would be able to convince anyone without its help, why didn’t it show up?” Adrian had said right after they left the room.

“Perhaps it’s occupied with something else?” Katherine said, voicing Claire’s thoughts prior.

“Impossible, an A.I on the scale of Overwatch can handle trillions of processes at once, there’s no way that it wouldn’t have appeared at my summons if any of its circuitry outlinks were within range of us.”

“And how do you know that we’re in range of a circuitry outlink?” Mathew questioned, continuing the usual cycle of questioning the Lieutenant in turn.

“This is Aphelion. The density of circuitry in this city is such that you will never be without it, even in its current decrepit state 78.6% of Aphelion’s neural architecture has been found to be intact. It’s impossible that in an area as vast as this we would have been in the proximity of dozens of sensors. The A.I would have we were here if it was functioning normally; a city overseer like Overwatch would have been hard coded to respond to that kind of hail.”

“So what then, the A.I decided to go selectively deaf then? If it’s as you say and it’s impossible that we weren’t heard then perhaps it’s simply lost interest in humanity. I wouldn’t put that past that A.I to go rampant, it’s been twelve years after all.” Jeff commented.

“The A.I didn’t seem rampant when it spoke to us last, in fact I’m quite sure it was working quite hard to keep us alive so we could come here; there has to have been a reason for that effort. Something has gone wrong and I don’t know where to lead you. On one hand we need to get to the shipyards, but on the other leaving here without knowing what that A.I wanted us to do here could be disaster.” He seemed reluctant to admit his uncertainty, and Claire could sense a feeling of unease in the air. If he didn’t lead them no one would, they needed him to be that figure of casual confidence which he had always been.

“How do you know Mark is alive?” Claire asked at last, determined to get some answers at least.

“I have my ways; you’re better off not knowing them.”

“You owe me the truth.”

“You’ll find that at the shipyards if you value it so highly. All the cities secrets were abandoned in haste there as the leadership rushed to escape this warzone; if you want for it so much then help me solve this conundrum.”

“And how am I supposed to do that, I know less about this A.I than you do.” Claire snapped, annoyed. “I just want get this over and done with and get some answers for all this crap that’s been going on with my life. Figuring things out, that’s your damn job, I’m just some extra muscle you had tag along!”

“Watch your tone, do not forget that I am the one who holds the keys to your freedom.”

“Really? Because I’m pretty sure I could just walk off right here and nothing short of killing me would stop me.”

“And where then would you go? There’s no way out except the path I take unless you have knowledge of this place which I do not; don’t be so rash, help me help you.”

“And how can I do that if you’re so intent on rejecting every idea anyone else proposes?”

“Decide, child; what shall we do? Shall we stay, or shall we go?”

“You need help with that?”

“Decide.”

Claire was still unsure of why Adrian would place such a decision on her, but she had no qualms about it if this was what he truly wanted. After all, the decision was easy for her, she wanted answers.

“We head for the shipyards.”

---

0.01 raced across the upper levels of the shipyards, optical sensors scanning constantly for motion; he could sense that 0.03 was nearby and 0.04’s approach but couldn’t pinpoint his brother’s position. It annoyed him that he had to take time away from his experiments to deal with this problem, but after analyzing the situation he had found that 0.03’s interference with his plans was inevitable given what he knew.

It was imperative that 0.04 arrived here to join him, regardless of her role in destroying 0.03; the Oracle’s presence would be necessary for further completion of his plans. Though his own frame was powerful and variable he had been bestowed with certain limitations by his human creators during his construction; similar restraints were imposed on 0.00 as well and the long gone 0.02, but 0.03, the second unit of 0.01’s creation had been the first to have these limiters removed. It would take a similar model of Alpha level to take him on, though 0.01 was certain that if need be he could deal with his brother himself, he would just have to be a little more…creative in how he went about it.

He took another leap across a fifteen meter gap, looking downwards he could see into the core of the shipyard, two hundred and twenty nine floors of armoured production facilities aligned arranged around a two kilometer long gash in the earth which opened up onto the planet’s molten core. Even here at the upper most floor the heat was intense flowing upwards in waves to turn the snow and ice around into roiling clouds of steam; it was this intense energy that 0.01 hoped to exploit if he was to bring his plans to fruition.

The fusion cores at the heart of each Alpha level had always been state of the art drive units, self-contained and self-perpetuating once the initial fusion reaction within was begun the fuel matter cycled through a series of energy states of greater and lesser energy resulting in a constant output of power. As 0.01 had mentioned to the soldier Fredrick earlier, within each Alpha level there was enough energy to power Aphelion many times over, but that was power generally inaccessible for use other than powering the Alpha level units themselves; the units were only containable within the flowmetal frame of an Alpha level, requiring both a mind to tend to their constant maintenance and a flowmetal medium in which to sit. Before 0.01’s birth there had been attempts to have A.I’s manage fusion core units sitting in baths of flowmetal, but even the transformed human minds did not possess the capacity for attentiveness and dedication to detail required to manage the volatile cores.

That was therefore the reason for the complex Holding Complexes at the heart of the city, designed instead to constrain an Alpha level and draw power from out of its frame; this method was however highly inefficient, able to capture and make use of perhaps only one to two percent of the available power the rest being rerouted to containing the Alpha level itself. 0.01 knew that one of his siblings was still imprisoned in one such device but he had no time to worry after such nuances; she could sit in that device without any real harm for another couple of centuries before the Holding Complex ate away at her power reserves so he could deal with her issue later.

Aphelion sat within some sort of bubble, 0.01 had discovered that several years ago once he had thoroughly examined his former home of the laboratories; once he had left he had journeyed across the massive city checking the boundaries. At its edges the rubble and wreckage was a rusty ruin but when 0.01 had tried to step into the misty world beyond he had been stopped by a wall of shimmering hexagons. The barrier stretched around the whole of the city encompassing it within a great dome; some sort threshold existed to determined what came in and what stayed out since precipitation from above still drifted through the upper limit and 0.01 had seen flying machines drift through so there had to be some sort of way to escape.

Some of his siblings, the ones he had created, had tried to pass through in the past; he had felt them disappear as they were consumed by the barrier. That was the extent of his knowledge on the situation though, to access their data files further he would need the information stored within the Oracle, 0.04. That was just the least of it though, 0.04 offered far more utility to him than just that; he would need some of her other skills to complete his affairs. To harness the energy of the core and create something powerful enough to penetrate or negate the barrier would be relatively easy, 0.01 could himself using the billions upon billions of blueprints stored in his data core dissecting and combining parts until he had something that functioned in the way he needed, but gathering the necessary materials would likely be impossible on his own.

0.04 had been created with several self-preservation protocols which allowed her to scan her surroundings for materials necessary to make repairs in the field; those same protocols could be repurposed to find the things 0.01 needed. 0.03 on the other hand presented a different issue; in his momentary instances of sanity 0.01 recognized that the other Alpha level understood what he was after. While 0.00 was content to sit back and let 0.01 do as he pleased 0.03 had no desire to experience the world outside of Aphelion; he had seen the evil in the human condition and had no desire to share in that world, and furthermore he believed that they would all be destroyed if Aphelion was reunited with the world outside.

0.01 acknowledged that that was a possibility, but he wasn’t interested in percentages; he thirsted for knowledge such that he would do whatever it took to get to the outside world. All seventy eight kilometers of Aphelion wasn’t enough for him, he was already thoroughly informed about what went on within its borders. Only human life still intrigued him; its whims and unpredictability presented a challenge to him that was beyond measure. Although the Alpha levels had been designed to mimic and in many cases even surpass their human predecessors, the sheer tenacity of human life alongside its variability brought a pleasure beyond measure to study; but above all there was just so much to analyze and improve.

There was more than just curiosity though, there was also the desire for the success of his blueprint. 0.01 had created sixteen siblings to stay by his side; of the sixteen most of the newer units had perished over the years, lost to attrition by Aphelion’s myriad defenses systems which remained online. They were durable and strong beyond imagination but definitely not invincible; only 0.00, 0.01, 0.03, 0.04, 0.06 and 0.09 had survived for long post Cataclysm as far as his systems were aware, and with the recent loss of 0.06 few of them were left. There was the issue of 0.17 as well, the rogue unit who had taken himself off the grid, somehow disconnecting himself from 0.01’s control systems but without confirmation 0.01 would proceed with his work under the assumption that he had been destroyed. There were no longer any resources left in Aphelion to create any new Alpha level units from scratch; repairs were possible, but without access to higher level coding matrixes all that 0.01 could construct were shells, bodies without minds.

The artificial intelligence protocols that governed the Alpha levels needed to be coded into hyper dense diamond core interweaved with gold nanocicuitry, the same cores that regular A.Is were imprinted upon. Unlike those A.I’s though it was not a former human mind which was spliced inside the powered core but an advanced adaptive software program; baseline intelligence systems equipped with a multitude of spiders were installed and then the spiders were then allowed to trawl information networks in order to grow. A personality and intelligence would then develop based upon how the core intelligence perceived the information it took in, and alterations to coding at this point could be used to steer the direction of development.

Each Alpha level 0.01 had created had taken a unique perspective on their situation trapped within Aphelion’s limits and each in turn had grown accordingly; now that network was dying, attempting to create a new Alpha level from this would result in some sickly dysfunctional unit. 0.01 needed a new breeding ground to generate more Alpha levels, he needed to leave this place. 0.03 stood in the way of that, he stood in the way of progress and knowledge and for that 0.01 would dismantle utterly; that he was a fragment of the same whole from which 0.01’s personality was carved was irrelevant to him, that which stood in his path would be eliminated.

Movement on the perimeter had him jerk to halt atop a towering spire, immediately scanning his surroundings with optical sensors on maximum magnification; the electrical signal had tripped his perimeter sensors on the north side and had appeared to be moving towards here, the center of the shipyards. After a few seconds 0.01 found the source, a Stalker unit creeping forwards weapons primed and on high alert; but it was not alone, eleven more trailed along close behind it and in their midst an entirely different signal, a humanoid shape that strode along with wide strides through snow and ice easily keeping pace with the five meter tall war machines.

<I can feel your probing brother! Come down and see me for yourself if you’re so curious!> the vocalized command echoed across the snow and ice through the howling wind, a testament to volume with which 0.03 bellowed his utterance. 

0.01 leapt down from his perch igniting the ion blade as he did so taking even strides across the patchwork of metal and polymer plates which dotted the shipyard surface. This deviated somewhat from his original plan of utilizing the heavy weapons within this facility to cleanly eliminate 0.03 in a single shot but the circumstances dictated that he play his hand out immediately. Without the advantage of surprise there would be little hope in of hitting him with such a weapon anyhow so 0.01 was not overly disappointed with the way things had turned out. That 0.03 announced his arrival in such a fashion saved him the trouble of hunting the rampant Alpha down but he still needed 0.04 to arrive in order to be certain that he had the resources necessary to take on his brother.

Inconveniently enough 0.03 was the only actual combat model Alpha level; though all Alpha levels had some form of combat algorithms programmed internally most were limited to generating tools from a basic toolset, most of which could be repurposed for utility of one sort or another. 0.03 on the other hand was a fully functional war machine, bulkier than the rest and standing a full half meter taller; he was equipped with software and hard points for heavy energy weapons and had a higher capacity flowmetal storage chamber than any of the other models meaning he could bend, flex, morph and repair his frame to far greater a degree.

It was inconceivable to 0.01 why 0.03 had chosen to adopt this persona but his attempts in the past at tampering with those protocols had produced…mixed results at best. That had been the only lesson that 0.01 had ever needed to teach him that Alpha tampering with higher level intelligences was a task fraught with peril. There would be no notion of altering him or recoding him, quite simply 0.01 would eliminate him with extreme prejudice.

As 0.01 pushed forward he met with the first of the vanguard; three of the Stalker units had closed the distance enough to open up on the slim Alpha. Metal crashed against metal as 0.01 brought his limbs up to full cycle, the ion blade blurred into a white hot disk of heat as he brought his wrist to six thousand cyclic rotations per minute and sawed a jagged line across the face of the first of his adversaries rending it in two. Ion bolts sizzled in the ice sending clouds of steam spiralling up into the air as the other two Stalkers circled, insectile limbs stamping deep into the snow as the struggled to keep pace with the Alpha; 0.01 sliced at their limbs and slapped ion bolts aside letting them stumble around him as he hacked them to pieces in the cover of the growing cloud of vapour.

The rest of the beta level combat units closed the gap, again attacking in threes make skittering attack runs before breaking off to the side pummelling 0.01 with scores of ion blasts which left his frame smoldering. Sparks flew across his bodies’ surface as he set his nano-circuitry to work maintaining his integrity; he worked to corner the Stalkers one at a time isolating them from their companions to slice them apart piece by piece. It tedious work but 0.01 knew how they were put together and dismantled them as efficiently as possible, after all, he had played a large role in their creation.

While not optimized for combat 0.01 was not unfamiliar with breaking things, and soon enough he had the Stalkers reduced to scrap metal; their shrieking as they were torn apart had probably been more irritating than anything else that they had done to him throughout the short lived skirmish. 0.03 himself took his time to arrive, apparently unconcerned with the destruction of his servants strolling slowly into view tinting the vapour crimson; three short ion blades sprouted from the knuckles of his right hand and his left had morphed into a heavy ion cannon.

<Shall we dance the dance of death, my dear brother.> 0.03 hissed, vocalizations full of malice.

0.01 was silent having just detected a faint signal on the horizon; in the distance his optical sensors could just barely make out the faint yellow glow kilometers away, 0.04 had arrived.

<It’s time we brought this play to a close.> he answered, and leapt forwards into action.

---

The Office of Internal Affairs, an odd name given the true nature of their work, Adrian had never really understood why they insisted on calling the department by that name; the OIA did indeed have jurisdiction over all personnel investigating possible misconduct and abuse of power but generally speaking almost all security issues ended up falling to the OIA to manage.

One of the additional duties which had always been handed to him was figuring out a way to leave this damned city; though conditions were not terrible here it had been understood from the beginning that even though Aphelion remained habitable following the nuclear impact if an alternative location for settlement was found then all efforts would be directed towards relocating to that area. No one wanted to live in this icy hell, much less live out the rest of their lives here unable to venture from the safe zone of the Spires. For twelve long years Adrian had searched for way out which wouldn’t expose the civilian populace to the machine menace, and now suddenly he found out that all this time Realmshifter had been sitting in her berth, it was almost unfair.

And then there was the matter of the A.I Overwatch; had it been active this entire time then much could have been done to address the decrepit state of the city. Of course he understood that it had been intended that the A.I be decommissioned as everyone was being evacuated out of the city but after the eventual reality surfaced that not everyone had made it out shouldn’t it have been made public knowledge that the A.I remained in spite of the orders to have it destroyed?

Adrian had always been confident that he could figure things out when put on the spot, that was part of what had made him so good at his job as a field operative in the past. There was no bluff he couldn’t handle, no situation he couldn’t resolve; he was resourceful and aware, and most importantly he never lost sight of the overarching goal of the mission. He hated not knowing things though, and life as a field operative had been full of that ignorance; they were kept in the dark about all the supposedly unimportant details and it had cost him many a comrade. Now that he had moved past that he was determined to never be uncertain again but recent events threatened to shake that resolve; he needed answers, he needed to not be uncertain.

Sometimes when he looked inwardly at himself Adrian found it laughable that these were the issues that troubled him these days; after all he had lived through a hundred lifetimes of violence during his service to old Aphelion seeing combat during the second war and the third which had resulted in the cataclysm. The state of things now was far different with the city shattered and order lost; the day to day struggle to survive was everyone’s primary concern, old allegiances and occupations didn’t matter anymore as each looked to the future and people pulled together in this fractured city.

Aphelion, the great city, the pinnacle of technological advancement and the continent’s greatest industrial center home to the central shipyards that stretched for kilometers across and three kilometers into the planets crust. That jagged scar which wrapped around the hill which central Aphelion sat on, the border between old Aphelion and the seven Combine states absorbed into Aphelion Prime during the second war; that was literally what the shipyard was. The reality though was that the vast industrial yard represented a rift which had existed in Aphelion even before the third war and the Cataclysm; they had been conquered, the seven states which were absorbed into the Aphelion that existed now and animosities had only retreated in the midst of the chaos that had occurred recently.

Aphelion persisted because the six nuclear warheads had not impacted central Aphelion at all; instead six of those states which were absorbed that lined Aphelion were devastated, those there were obliterated in the fire. Only old Aphelion and Inersia survived, struck not by the warheads themselves but the resultant shockwaves from the blast they crumbled and cracked, but remained standing. The part of the city where Spire city had been re-forged from the ruins had once been an outer district of Inersia, and most of the rest made up Aphelion; the rest had been reduced to rubble and ashes, the territory of Oblivion.

The first few years had been the hardest; re-establishing order had been agonizingly difficult even with the martial order that Aphelion had always had. Survivors were brought in by vehicle or on foot to large population centers that remained, shields erected to keep the radiation out and rapid construction put into place to quickly compensate for the sudden flooding of population coupled with the destruction of the vast majority of existing structures. A.I’s managed most of that process, those A.I’s that remained anyhow; Overwatch, the central A.I had gone offline for reasons unknown and Oblivion, its military counterpart had little interest in serving the civilian populace. Oblivion, the military genius which had been responsible for the war which resulted in the merging of old Aphelion and the Combine states, Julian Fenister, the name rolled off Adrian’s tongue to leave a disgusting aftertaste even now. Aphelion had won the war and assimilated those who had once opposed it but that didn’t mean that the war had ended there; dissent still persisted for years after and Adrian had spent the first few years of life after the Cataclysm continuing his work as an operative, hunting the barren wasteland for those who would oppose the new order.

Adrian was headed towards the surface with his party from Spire city, moving towards the shipyards at an agonizingly slow pace. They passed countless bodies and broken machines and rubble that could have dated from any point after the Cataclysm, feet crunching across dry dirt and occasional patches of snow where the cold wind leaked down into the catacombs. The girl Slayer Claire would be important if they were to reach the distant shipyards unscathed; horrors lurked the icy plains and rumble strewn wreckage and they would need someone more than just human to help them stay alive. The people of this Underground had forced them out, but Adrian would come back for them later, if only to prove them wrong. Realmshifter, that damned vessel had been sitting here this entire time; Marcus had told him before it all went to shit that she’d made it into orbit but quite evidently he had either been mistaken or lying to him.

Overwatch was gone, somehow unresponsive in spite of the fact that his circuits should have snaked through the whole of the city, no matter how war torn it was. His fate was not Adrian’s concern, but if there was some matter at hand which required so much of the normally diligent A.I’s attention then perhaps there was cause for concern. He drummed his hands against the holster on his hip, a bad habit which had stuck with him through the years, thinking on what might be going on behind all of this. And Oblivion, well, Oblivion had vanished into the depths of the archives, determined to protect Aphelion’s secrets. For twelve long years they had hunted for the A.I, plunging through the remains of the city’s circuits from Spire city searching for the sentient mind but to no avail, Oblivion had vanished.

Adrian wasn’t too surprised really, given the man Oblivion had been; in fact he wouldn’t have been surprised if the A.I had gone ahead and betrayed them outright and been behind the events that had started the third war of Aphelion. Julian Fenister, he had known the man before he was an A.I and the impression he had left behind…well, Adrian wouldn’t have been surprised at anything the man did really. That was the past now, events from long ago and yet here they seemed to resurface once more as more and more of the big picture became clear; answers for his questions had appeared, but these answer had only given rise to more questions.

Even after all these years of military service, of fighting and killing, Adrian wouldn’t describe himself as a warrior; his original conscription had been compulsory and his obedience to his orders simply a matter of staying alive. His drive was still the same as the one that had driven him to become an Engineer, the desire to solve problems that could not previously be solved; naturally curiosity and creativity came alongside all of this but it remained that in the end that he didn’t really care about this war or the sides that had existed, he just continued on with this struggle for day to day survival.

A tremor in the earth brought him back to situational awareness, Adrian glanced nervously down the hallway as the group ground to a sudden halt, Corporal Andrews and Private Lanz bringing their weapons to bear. The Claire in particular seemed on edge, glancing nervously about with her fingertips just brushing against her scattergun, eyes moving constantly. They were like a pack of wild dogs, lost and on edge; humanity had lost itself in this city and only a few like Adrian remained to remember what it meant to be truly human. He understood that he wasn’t the best candidate for representing an example of what it mean to truly be alive, cold and aloof, disdainful at the best of times, he would likely not have fit in with a general crowd under normal circumstances, but he still knew who he was. Even after all these years he understood that this was just a transitory state; humanity would rise from the ashes of this city and find itself anew. But his companions, these soldiers, they had known nothing but the struggle to survive from their childhoods, known nothing of peace.

The tremor passed and Adrian pressed the group forwards in the only direction that was to them, towards the future, and the end of this all at the shipyards of Aphelion.

---

0.00 strode confidently across the ice, towering over Mark in spite of her thin frame the green of her highlights casting an eerie light on the snow. Blood dripped from her arms where she had gutted the two Frost Wolves, dark against the asphalt grey of her armoured carapace. She was so close Mark could hear the whirring of her internal mechanisms, feel the heat the emanated from her in steady pulsing waves; and through the howling of the wind she seemed to warp the air around her to create a field of sudden silence.

<You are Marcus James Li, aren’t you human? Speak, there is little time.>

“What do you want Alpha? If you’re looking for 0.01 I haven’t seen him in days.”

<I am fully aware of my brother’s location, what I seek is very different. Where is the core of Oblivion?>

“Oblivion?” Mark proffered, thought truly Marcus knew what the Alpha level was referring to; he had set the plans into motion himself after all.

<The A.I Oblivion, where is its core?>

“Don’t you mean Overwatch, the Supreme Overseer?”

<There is no time left for you to waste, 0.01 is at the shipyards of Aphelion searching even as we speak for the catalyst to destroy barrier! Where is Julian Fenister, where is the A.I Oblivion?!> 0.00 snarled, raising her voice for the first time.

“Oblivion is gone, locked away since the city fell to keep him out of enemy hands.”

<You cannot lock away an A.I, not forever; where is his cage, where is his core?!>

“Where everything of value that’s left is, at the Central Shipyard of Aphelion. Anything left that is worth looking for is stored there; every last remnant of Aphelion from before the fall. If you’re looking for Oblivion and 0.01 is already there then he’s already beaten you to the prize, you should have gone to the shipyards with him.”

<0.01 is distracted at the moment dealing with another problem which you may be familiar with, 0.03. In the interim I intend to find Oblivion and put an end to this mess; while you might enjoy playing at being innocent Lieutenant Commander you can hide no secrets from me, I have had twelve long years to scour this city for the cause of this disaster.>

Cold snow slammed into Mark’s face dusting him with light specks of white in the silence that followed the Alpha’s declaration; he was tempted to nervously chew his lip as he mulled over what to do but his better senses kept him from doing so in the bitter cold. There was no time for this and he would have preferred to brush the Alpha level off, but he couldn’t exactly treat the machine like just any other person; the thing could rip him in half at will, it demanded his immediate attention.

“Could we…perhaps discuss this somewhere else?”

<Where do you propose, it must be in the direction of the shipyards; I cannot know how long it will take for 0.01 to find…a solution to my brother.>

“That is our destination as well, so perhaps you could escort us there since that would be in both of our interests?”

<I can do better than that, I can haul all of you fragile organics over there with me; we’ll arrive within about an hour.>

The Alpha level drew a circle on the ice five meters across and made a quick rotation faster than the eye could track projecting a thin green ion beam into the ice as it did so; stepping to the side its left arm seemed to melt away and fluid nothingness to become a sort of hollow cylinder that pulsed a soft green at one end.

<Step onto the circle if you would, and make no sudden movements.>

The group looked at each other, unsure as to what to do then back to Mark who stood apart from them still standing beside 0.00. He shrugged, knowing unlike them that what the Alpha level was talking about was all true; that was another issue that he would have to take care of later now due to the Alpha bringing it up. Getting anyone to trust him was going to be difficult if people kept bringing up the past; it was hard enough as it was getting his own squad behind him, let alone these strangers who were now tagging along. In the end he led by example, taking the first step forwards across the border into the green circle turning around as he did so to gesture for the rest to follow.

“What have we to lose? We would be dead if not for this machine anyway.”

Reluctantly the rest stepped forwards to join him, shuffling around to fit onto the circle; 0.00 raised the tool she had formed and with a shudder the entire piece of ice rose into the air carrying the eight atop it.

<Hold steady, and all will be well.>

They shot forwards through the air, 0.00 hidden beneath them wind whipping past their faces as the machine brought them up to breath-shredding eighty kilometers per hour. Familiar architecture lay all around them, shattered to pieces in the snow; broken skyrail tubes and residency structures with gaping holes, their home was a just a ghost of its former self.

“So what does the machine really want with you Mark.” Fredrick said after several minutes of silence had passed. His voice was calm but there was a tension behind it, that same tension that had been there before Mark settled things with him.

“It doesn’t want anything with me, it’s looking for Oblivion. I don’t know what’s so significant about him, but the machine appears to think that he’s important.” Mark answered coldly.

“It said you know things, you specifically; just who exactly are you Marcus, what are you after? You could have left this place years ago Lieutenant Commander, and yet you chose to stay. Why are you still here if there is nothing left in this city as you said?” Only Fredrick seemed aware, the rest of the group was huddled together perhaps too numb to do anything else.

Mark carefully considered just how much he could tell Fredrick; he was reluctant to reveal any of this information because it would undermine his authority and the trust he was trying to slowly rebuild with his squad. His priority was protecting the people that were left alive here, but his past was making that task rather complicated; he had spent most of his life planning other people’s demise and making people disappear. Him helping people was something new after all those years in the service of Aphelion; it was laughable really given his past life before all of that. He could hardly remember his humble beginnings as a molecular physicist now, it barely seemed applicable to anything at all. Oblivion was a part of that past tied to Aphelion that he sought to leave behind, but here and now it was resurfacing to haunt him once more.

“You mentioned the seven Combine states before, what else do you know about Aphelion’s past?” he asked.

The soldier shifted uneasily where he stood, clearly uncomfortable with the topic. Mark had never really talked about the past with his squad mates, at the time when he had joined up they had been in the middle of the battle for Aphelion, and afterwards well, they had been focused on trying to stay alive in the hell that Aphelion had become. Because of that Mark knew nothing about the man beside the tendencies and habits he had displayed over the years, but he clearly had some knowledge of Aphelion’s past.

“Before this one, there were two other wars which Aphelion fought and won, the first of these was the war for Aphelion’s independence where it wrested free of seven other states which would one day become the Combine. The second war was engineered by someone within Inersia, the crown state of the Combine alongside some agents from Aphelion and the ensuing conflict resulted in the Combine’s assimilation into the Aphelion that exists now.” Fredrick kept his eyes pointed towards the ground as he said this, away from Mark’s gaze.

“And you know this how? It was before your time.” It was in fact before even Mark’s time, but he had learned the history of Aphelion when he joined the ranks of Aphelion’s special forces division. For others though, knowledge of the past was rare and hard to come by, it had been hidden out of the fear that someone might come to realize how exactly Aphelion had come to such power.

“My Family lived in Glissaria, but moved to what became known as old Aphelion after the events of the second war. Even before the second war, the events of the first war of Aphelion’s independence brought Glissaria to ruin. My grandfather was serving as a soldier in Glissarian military at the time. He never forgot the events that brought about Glissaria’s destruction, and so because of that he passed on that knowledge to us. Aphelion may have won against the Combine but there are still those who remember that it was once just another tiny city rather than the conglomerate city state and superpower that it became.”

It was impossible for Mark to tell if Fredrick was lying but he saw little reason for him to do so. “Your loyalty should with Aphelion, the city that raised you, the city that you swore to protect.”

“I swore to protect a lie, a monster that consumed everything it touched; and the Aphelion I swore to protect is dead, just an empty shell of its former self. The only allegiance I have now is to my friends and squad mates which I’m unsure you’re still included in.”

Mark brushed off the insult, now was not the time to fight over something so petty as past allegiances, more was at stake than his personal pride. “We built an empire that spanned for fifty eight kilometers, a massive city yes, but by no means a super power. We are still a mere nation state, an insect compared to the forces that amassed against us; we were abandoned by the country we were a part of not because we were expendable but simply because we became too expensive of an investment to protect no matter what kind of technology we possessed. They left us to fend for ourselves and alone we wilted before the might of entire nations pressed against our walls. But in end we had the last laugh, the surrounding fifty kilometer radius around Aphelion was reduced to a radioactive wasteland, unusable and uninhabitable.”

“But we’re all still alive in here, how?”

“When I initiated the final firing sequences for those six nuclear warheads I also activated a contingency plan to ensure the survival of those we could not evacuate; a dome was erected powered by the last available reactor in the city, Realmshifter. She was repurposed to become the generator for a massive shielding dome which was projected around old Aphelion and what was once Inersia. That is what preserves Aphelion, but also what locks us away; the reason why no one ever came for us in all of these twelve years is that no one could enter the dome, and the reason why there is suddenly so much machine activity is because they were freed from their pods beneath the city, activated by the failings of the barrier.”

“Failings? Barrier? How can you be so sure of all of this? And why would anyone lock us away without a way to get out?!”

“I’m because I am the one who designed these countermeasures. I made the plans and put them into action, and then I tried to protect that secret by wiping my own memory to keep anyone from interfering with the barrier and breaking through into Aphelion. But now the barrier is failing; that means that Realmshifter is dying, she can no longer sustain the barrier and keep the outside world at bay.” There was more, but…the rest of Aphelion’s secret was dangerous for anyone but Mark to know, for now this would have to be enough to satisfy Fredrick’s probing curiosity.

“If Realmshifter is dying, how can you be sure that she’ll get us out of here at all? We could be heading towards disaster.”

“As the barrier fails those outside will return for us, regardless of whether or not we can successfully utilize Realmshifter to leave this city. The world likely has not forgotten Aphelion even after these twelve long years apart, we will be found, the only question is whether they will reach us while we are still alive or not.”

“And this A.I, this Oblivion, how does it figure into all of this?”

“It was set to dormancy aboard the Realmshifter, its failing will have reactivated it.”

“And why hide that A.I away, couldn’t it have helped us here all this time?”

That made Mark laugh, though the choking sound that resulted could barely be recognized as such, “Oblivion, no, he would not help us, not in a thousand lifetimes would he help someone from Aphelion. He is one of you, you see, a native of the Combine who was forced to become an A.I, choosing life as an artificial mind over death. He pretended to help us of course, since we held the codes to his destruction, but all the while he worked to destroy us. Julian Fenister, the man who would become Oblivion, Crown Prince of Inersia, is back and now this city which we once called home has become a prison. The dome was not created to keep us in here, it was created to lock away an A.I and keep it from the rest of the world. Fenister cannot be allowed to escape; Oblivion cannot leave this place or terror will follow in his footsteps.”

“He’s an A.I, how can this be true? They were designed to serve us, to serve humanity and do what we could not. Barring rampancy, which seems a farfetched idea given what you’ve told me there should be no reason for an A.I to do this.”

“There is much that you do not know or understand, Oblivion and Overwatch, the two oldest A.I’s in service with Aphelion were created in a different manner than the rest. They are the originals, the founding fathers of A.I technology and they themselves became the first serviceable A.Is. Human minds of flesh and blood converted into thoughts running through crystalline circuits, they alone hold on to their past and memories. Overwatch saw sense and eventually joined in our cause but Oblivion never gave up on his dream of a nation united under Aphelion’s banner. Not content to settle for a conglomerate of the Combine and Aphelion, he wanted the world to bow before us; he wanted a war. So he engineered it, pushing us to the heights of technological supremacy to bring us to the forefront of the world stage so we could be seen as a great power, as a threat to the balance that holds the world in its place.” Mark paused, waiting to see if Fredrick understood the implications of what he was saying. He would not be surprised if such a depth of machinations went over the heads of most, Oblivion was after all, a genius beyond compare.

“So you’re saying that the war, and even decades before it the creation of Aphelion as we know it now, all of this is the result of the plans of this Oblivion?”

“The fate of this city was determined the moment we let Julian Fenister into it. Oblivion must not be allowed to leave this place. Everything that has occurred for the past eighty years in this city are the results of his machinations, plans within plans; Oblivion does not sleep, and Oblivion is ever patient.”

“You sound like a madman.”

“I tell the truth of our reality whether you accept it or not; we are puppets on strings, toys beside a mind so vast it took all of Aphelion to contain it. I will take you and the rest to Realmshifter and pilot her out of the city, but before all of that Oblivion must be eliminated once and for all.”

<And is that where we come into this scheme of yours Lieutenant Commander?> 0.00’s voice, silent throughout their trip drifted upwards from below.

Fredrick scowled, but said nothing as Mark held up a hand to silence him.

“How long have you been listening Alpha level?” Mark shouted downwards in reply.

<How long have you been scheming to put an end to Oblivion’s machinations?>

“That became my life’s mission from the moment I met the man, not by choice but by necessity.”

<And after Oblivion is dealt with, what was our fate to be? What did you intend for the Alpha levels whose creation you commissioned?>

“Who knows machine? Your fates will be your own to decide.”

<And if you cannot accept the decisions we make? Who will control us then? 0.01 has ambitions beyond the fate you designed for us and you and I both know that he cannot be controlled; we are beyond your capabilities to manage.>

Mark shrugged letting a cold puff of air escape from his lips, “One thing at a time my dear Alpha level, us humans only have so much time to spend in this world; I devoted the last two decades of my life to solving this problem, I would see it through to the solution first before I began dealing with the consequences.”

<You are undoubtedly brilliant for a human and your foresight is unmatched, but before this is over you will need to see what lies before your very eyes once again. Take care not to lose yourself on the horizon Lieutenant Commander.>

In the distance Mark could see a glowing red crevice in the earth, columns of steam wafting up from within it; they had arrived at the shipyards, now all that remained was to access the Realmshifter and let the Alpha levels do their thing.

“So after all that I said over the journey is there anything still that you’d like to ask me?” Mark said, turning to the Alpha level as the machine set the band of humans down on the earth once more.

The machine seemed to shudder, its shape melting away as the cloaking device unique to 0.00 shifted into action. <Do not lose sight of the rest of humanity in your zeal to destroy Oblivion; take care, Lieutenant Commander.>

---

Elaine and the rest of Colonel Krauz’s group had made good progress in the past eight hours; following the shattered trials of the skyrails once they gained entrance from the old tower they found themselves looking down upon the steaming crevice of the shipyards from above. The spine of Realmshifter, some eight hundred meters in length was laid out below them, a vast silver-grey surface marred only by the lines marking the regions where its armoured plates split apart.

“So Slayer, what do you make of it?” Krauz said, walking up slowly to Elaine from behind to join her at the edge of the skyrail platform.

“Of what, the Realmshifter? She appears to be intact as you promised, as for the rest of Aphelion it seems that this place has become an empty wasteland.”

The officer was somewhat more imposing a figure than he had been back aboard the assault shuttle in issue body armour, his thin frame filled out by the bulk of the combat armour. He had the sallow look of someone who had not slept for many days but otherwise was plain, with dull brown eyes and an unremarkable face of average proportions; not exactly the kind of person Elaine would assume to be a leader. Elaine did not take herself to be a good judge of character but she knew a leader when she saw one; for all his faults Marcus Li had been a shining beacon of hope in a time of eternal darkness, someone Aphelion had been able to rally behind in its darkest hours. The defense efforts had failed but Command Li had managed to evacuate most of the city and gotten many people out, by all accounts he was a hero to the public. But Krauz struck Elaine as a different sort of man, more a soldier than a leader; just who had selected him to lead this ragtag band on their journey to reclaim the Realmshifter?

“We will head down to reclaim her once the scouting team secures a passage to the ground level. What I meant to ask you though, was what you made of the situation at hand. Can you believe that we have come so far to return to Aphelion after these twelve long years in exile?” Krauz had a pensive look on his face, as though he were pondering one of life’s great questions.

“What I cannot believe is the fact that after twelve years we suddenly discover that the barrier around Aphelion has dissipated and we are immediately able to pinpoint an entry hole through which we can return. The coincidences here don’t add up; something is going on behind the scenes which you aren’t telling us.” Elaine said, unafraid to speak her mind. The situation reeked of secondary ambitions and ulterior motives, and though she had agreed to come here because of how she had left things with Claire it was becoming more and more clear that she was involved in something other than what she had signed up for.

“And what exactly do you mean by that Corporal Shaw?”

“Stop playing games with me; why am I specifically here?”

“You must know, Slayer, that few outside of Aphelion actually knew of the Oblivion Ring project through which you were created. I am one of those who were sent away into the beyond by Commander Li to oversee the continuation of Aphelion’s survival.”

“Marcus again, is there nothing in this bloody world that happens without his say so? Just how much of this whole damn war is hi fault?” Elaine hissed, unhappy with the turn of events.

Krauz shrugged impassively, “Who can really say but Commander Li? All I’m doing is following his instructions to return here and reclaim the Realmshifter, he said that after twelve years we could re-enter the city and here we are standing above the destroyer. I don’t know exactly what kind of past you might have with Commander Li first Slayer, but all that I have ever seen the man do has been for the good of Aphelion.”

“What exactly happened to Marcus, do you even know if he’s still alive?”

“I don’t Slayer, but that’s part of what we’ve come here to find out.” The man glanced over at the rest of the group that had accompanied them, a shepherd inspecting his flock, “Those gathered here today are what remains of the contingency team which was originally assembled by Lieutenant Commander Li. We have come here to complete the task assigned to us, as for you…Marcus never specified that we couldn’t bring anyone else who wanted to tag along, so I saw no harm in bring you as well. What you came here for of course I can’t possibly know, seeing as I never knew you personally but you have no right to question my intentions when you yourself have come here for something other than the mission.” Krauz began to step away from the rim shouting out other orders to the rest of the group who got up onto their feet, the scouting team having returned from their initial survey of the area. “Come along Slayer, let’s go find Marcus shall we?” he shouted back to Elaine.

She glowered at the officer for a moment before falling into step behind him, hefting her rifle from the floor. “Did Marcus really plan all of this?”

“Like you said before, we’ll ask him when we find him. In the meantime I need you out front; your eyes will be needed to spot any machines that approach.” The man pulled on his helmet and melted away into the crowd leaving Elaine to join the scouts at the front of the pack.

The pathfinders had selected a route tracing the perimeter of one of the skyscrapers still intact up to this level; a grav lift shaft running through its center would service as a pathway to the ground level. Though the lift itself was long destroyed the central cable along which the electromagnetic winch had once pulled the lift remained intact so one by one the group could slide down along its length. A delicate operation at best, Elaine was hesitant to take the scouts word that this was the optimal route, but she wasn’t about to scour the damn building for a path of her own.

It was almost four meters down to the ground level, and the lift shaft extended another hundred meters underground beyond that; they would have to jump from the cable onto a rappel line that had been anchored to the exit point by the scouts earlier. In pairs they spiralled down the cable in barely controlled descents till a flashing marker told them where to jump. Two by two they disappeared into the darkness until Elaine and Krauz were the last that were left staring down the edge of the shaft together.

“Please, after you.” Elaine growled.

Krauz laughed, “Two by two is how it’s done Slayer and it’s not about to change now.” He said, taking hold of the line and passing it towards her.

Reluctantly, Elaine placed a firm grip as necessary and secured herself to the transporter, Krauz doing the same before they released the lock and plummeted into the darkness. It seemed like an eternity of silence, cold air rushing past their faces before the marker blinked, a dazzling star on the edge of a black hole; Elaine released herself from the line and pushed off reaching for the neon line that marked the doorway they were to pass through.

The line sagged ever so slightly as she took hold, but held as she and Krauz sailed out over the abyss through the doorway and tumbled to the floor. Two soldiers jaunted over to help the Colonel to his feet but Elaine pushed the others who came for her away, pulling herself up using a nearby piece of rubble. In full body armour Elaine towered over most of them at six and a half feet tall, they gave her a wide berth seemingly afraid of what she was.

Mechanical skittering in the distance had the squad freezing in place, Elaine levelled her rifle and moved forward with silent steps to peer around the corner ahead. In the near darkness a dim red glow shifted across the floor and as she watched a massive six meter long limb impaled itself into the floor beside her. The Hunter Spyder shifted its weight with ease navigating the narrow space without difficulty in spite of its massive girth. The spherical sensory node suspended beneath its hexagonal torso stopped for just an instant above her, gemstone lenses flickering past her form before it disappeared stalking away into the darkness.

Elaine slipped away to re-join the others, disturbed by the sight; Hunter Spyders should not have been active in the city and if they were…it was strange behaviour for one to see her and just pass her by. Something wasn’t right here. Whatever had drawn the Hunter Spyder’s attention away from them was surely a threat.

“What lies ahead that demands the Spyder’s attention?” Elaine whispered to Krauz.

The Colonel snorted, surprisingly confident, gesturing for the squad to fall in behind him as he began to follow in the direction the Hunter Spyder had left, “The future of Aphelion of course, what else?”

---

Eric thought that all of this was a huge waste of time; it seemed impossible that something like an entire warship could have sat here in the city hidden all of this time. Surely someone would have thought to look for it if as this Lieutenant had said, it was waiting in these Central Shipyards all of this time. They delivering their report as ordered, retelling the chaos of what had happened in both Blocks; most were still sceptical in spite of other reports which kept streaming in through the A.I network reporting on the damage that the Underground’s infrastructure had sustained.

And then there was the matter of these Slayers, Daniel and Claire; they were clearly inhuman to some extent with the way they had moved when they were fighting the machines on the way up here. Eric was a servant of the people, a symbol of the laws that they had re-established in the Underground in order to protect what was left of humanity in Aphelion. These Slayers, soldiers and officers that had appeared out of the blue in the midst of this fighting had turned his world upside down; for the first time in his life violence had fallen upon the Underground.

Their presence and existence hinted at sickness in the system, the existence of things which should not have been there. Alpha levels and children like Daniel, modified to destroy these Alpha levels, it was madness. He was in over his head, and all he could do in his position was report on all that had happened and hope that the Council had the means and knowledge to sort it all out.

“What do you think Mapper 200, do you think this Lieutenant is telling the truth Daniel?” one of the council members asked, snapping Eric out of his thoughts.

The other boy had a thoughtful look on his face, staring up towards the ceiling for several moments before answering, “This Lieutenant seems to know what he’s doing, though I am hesitant like you to trust him without any further proof on his part. Like I said in our report, we fought through the remains of BP-27P with him; he and his team seemed a competent bunch of fighters, experienced and tough. I would not assume that he was lying, it is only that he lacks solid evidence with which to provide us at the moment. Eric and I saw the A.I Overwatch appear before us ourselves; it was here. What has befallen it though I cannot say, and this destroyer Realmshifter that they speak of might be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. With the safety of the Underground in mind I would say that we should send a team to watch over them, wherever they might go.” Hearing Daniel speak to the Council made Eric shiver, he sounded completely different from the boy he was, as though he had put on a mask of maturity and calm that he didn’t ordinarily use in the field with his fellow Mappers.

Another Councilman, old with age, face scarred from a past life on the battlefield stood to take the stage, “And who do you propose we send after these rogues from outside; if we cannot trust them and we know they are battle tested it could very well pose a great risk to have them followed. Few outside the Mappers have the skills necessary to survive in the field, and all of you are needed now more than ever to help us rebuild.”

“Mapper 174, Eric, you have yet to speak on the matter, what say you on this?” The first councilman butted into the discussion, he always had been rather nice to Eric.

Eric had let Daniel do most of the talking because of how uncomfortable he felt about the whole situation, but he supposed that since he was there his input would be desired as well, “Well, I think that as a whole this Lieutenant is a difficult person to trust, from what I’ve seen of him he is ruthless and cunning.” He shuddered, thinking back to the way the Lieutenant had strode past all the bodies left in the wake of 0.06 and 0.04’s respective rampages. “I have difficulty trusting anything that comes out of the mouths of such people, and though the rest of his group seem somewhat better the fact that they associate with him at all raises some significant questions as to what kind of people they exactly are.” Eric did his best to follow Daniel’s example of seriousness, though he didn’t quite share his fellow Mapper’s opinion on the matter.

“Well then given Mapper Eric’s opinion here then it would seem quite clear that following this Lieutenant as you’ve proposed comes with exceptional risk 200, do you still think that your decision is still the best course of action?” The old councilman from before turned back to Daniel, waiting for him to respond.

Daniel pulled out that weapon of his, the flowmetal manipulator; the silver cylinder was battered from the fighting, covered in scratches and scorch marks. “There is no other course of action which is viable, if we stay here and do nothing we risk abandoning the only news we have had in twelve years of any hope of rescue. I know that many of us here have become set in our ways; I myself have spent the majority of my life now living and learning here in the system of the Underground. However, our ultimate goal has always been to survive here only until conditions improved and we were able to leave this place.”

A meter long silver blade slowly exuded itself from the dented handle, “We have kept our place in this world through the blood and suffering of many who have given their lives in the service of the Underground; this hellhole however hard we try to make it into a haven, will always be a hell hole. We cannot stay here; as long as we remain Aphelion will never give us peace. This Lieutenant has spoken of possibility of escaping this place and I believe that we cannot give up this opportunity; something like this may not happen ever again and I for one am not interested in spending the rest of my life stuck here. I will volunteer to personally lead the team to shadow this Lieutenant and ensure that this chance does not slip away from us.” Daniel’s oratory skills may not have been the best, but his meaning was clear with the way he was holding the blade; he would see this through given the chance.

Eric shifted uncomfortably at the other boy’s words, not sure what to make of them. He had seen the Slayer or whatever he preferred to refer to himself as in combat, and undoubtedly he was unreasonably talented given the kind of things he would have been doing for most of his life. His drive to go after the Lieutenant was clouded by the fact that they had known each other in the past; Eric and Daniel had left this out of the report to keep things simple but he felt that this was somehow a factor in the other boy’s insistence that they follow the man. He would never have volunteered to take on such a task, never mind place such weight on the words of this ruthless man who they had just met hours ago.

The council as a whole stood, waving their arms to dismiss them from the assembly. “Let us discuss this as a council before we present you with our decision, there is much that we have just learned which must be considered. Thank you for your time 174, 200, you may wait outside while we deliberate.”

The two Mappers strode out of the chamber back into the cold greys and browns of the rest of the reactor complex, reluctant but unable to do much else but wait. They had done their part, now it was up to others to decide their fate.

“I’m not so sure you’re right about the Lieutenant.” Eric said, arms crossed around his chest, “He seems to know what he’s doing, but the existence of this ship is all based on information from twelve years ago supposedly, how can we know that he’s right?”

Daniel shrugged, the outlines of his tan coat shrouding most of the movement, “No one can really know what goes on in that man’s mind but him, but I’ve worked with him and that girl Slayer before. He is cold and calculating, but he does not lie; if he thinks that the ship is still in the city then it’s still here. To allow such a chance to escape us would be ridiculous; though our primary function these past twelve years as an organization have been to map out and secure habitable areas in this Underground city, our overarching goal has always been to find a way to bring our people to safety.” He took a seat on a thick pipe protruding from the wall, his dark hair shadowing his face from the lights suspended above. “I’m tired of this life Eric, tired of fighting to stay alive in this hellhole. We were born in a city of light, and now it’s just a frozen ruin that seems more and more like a prison with each day we spend in it. I want out, and I’ll do anything to get it.”

“We are Mappers, we have the lives of everyone here to consider not just ourselves; you risk much sending even just yourself after that man. We swore an oath to do our utmost to protect these people, to put the good of the many before our own personal desires.” He stopped, walking over to stand in front of the other boy. “I know that you’re different, special somehow, but don’t think that I will hesitate to stop you if you try something reckless or step out of line.”

A small smile formed on Daniel’s face as he looked back up at Eric, “You got stronger with everything that happened; you wouldn’t have been able to say that to me before all of this.”

“My point stands.” Eric said, his face serious, less relaxed about their current situation than his companion.

“Eric!” a shout came from down the hall, followed by the pounding of a pair of footsteps. Vivian and Sheryl were coming towards them from the far end of the hallway, looking bruised but otherwise alright.

“So the team’s back together again.” Daniel snorted, before they drew within earshot.

Eric frowned at the other boy’s comment, but did nothing to respond to his rudeness otherwise. The two girls arrived shortly thereafter, looking happy to be reunited with their companions once more.

“I see you two made it back alright.” Eric said, letting himself relax for the first time in a while as the two embraced him, pulling him into a slightly too tight hug.

“It’s good to see you.” Vivian smiled, her mechanical arm hanging slightly lower by her hip. “You look like hell.”

“I feel like it too.” Eric said, nodding slightly. “You wouldn’t believe what happened down there.”

A shadow crossed Sheryl’s face, creases forming across her forehead, “We saw them bringing in the bodies…they’re still carting them back up here. Just what exactly happened?”

Daniel gave Eric a look, eyes sharp, his hand on the hilt of his weapon. The Alpha levels below…were a secret which was not meant to be revealed. The techs before in the first Block had gone after him just for discovering the existence of 0.09, if Eric told Sheryl about what 0.04 had done in the second Block…well, he knew Sheryl could keep it to herself if he asked her to, but it would still increase the severity by which they had been compromised in this already fragile situation.

Eric swallowed, “It’s not something I’m really free to talk about…there’s a lot going on that we didn’t know about.”

“And you’re going to just keep us in the dark about it?! If we’re going to be a team we need to all be on the same page.” Sheryl exclaimed, her voice approaching what Eric would describe as shrill.

“Well, it’s not as though he has a choice, the information is classified.” Daniel said dryly, getting up to carefully push the two apart. “It’s nothing personal 174, just what the Council wants.”

“Well they sure have a funny way of thanking us for putting our lives on the line for them!” Sheryl hissed, obviously upset.

“Calm down, it’s been a tough couple of days for everyone I’m sure they’d tell you what happened if they could.” Vivian said, putting her good hand on Sheryl’s shoulder.

“Whatever,” she said, brushing the other girl off with her arm, “Just know that we can’t help you two if we don’t know what’s going on.” She gave Eric a hard stare, before she stalked away into the distance.

“Sheryl…” Vivian started after her.

Eric raised a hand to stop her, “Let her go, when she’s calmed down a bit she’ll come back.”

The older girl bit her lip, “I hope you’re right.”

Daniel shrugged, “There’s no time right now for this, we’ve got a warship to chase and an officer to follow.”

It was Eric’s turn to glare at Daniel, since they weren’t supposed to be talking about the ship either. The Mapper shrugged and turned away, clearly an indication that he was done with this conversation.

“What’s his problem, and what’s he talking about?” Vivian said, her arms folded across her chest.

“He’s a…special case of sorts,” Eric said as Daniel got up and walked off, “And he was just talking about the mission, but like I said we can’t discuss specifics about it.”

“Nothing good will come of keeping secrets, the whole of the Mapper corps will need to know what we’re up against before we can come to a decision together. What the Council wants won’t matter if we don’t have the information to do as they ask.”

“I was down there with the things under the city, with the things they’ve been hiding; trust me, you don’t want to know about it.”

Vivian raised her mechanical arm, showing off the whirring parts and glinting machinery, “What happened these past few days cost me an arm that I’ll never get back Eric, trust me, if you could tell me, I’d want to know.” She let out a huff, “You’re not in this alone Eric, just remember that.”

“You say that, but I am.” Eric said sadly.

Perhaps he wasn’t literally alone, but it certainly felt that way since Daniel was the only person he could really talk to about the situation at hand. His involvement with everything that had happened below meant that he had to figure this all out for himself in spite of the implications there were for the people he was responsible for, and his friends around him.

A full flight of Sonic Screamers appeared at the edge of Eric’s vision, their leathery wings somehow almost silent in the cavernous space of the reactor chamber. The guardsmen at the perimeter chamber were being summoned before the Council; what they were here specifically for though, Eric did not know. Up close the bat-like mounts lost much of their mammalian appearance with their scaly hide and long lizard-like skulls, only the protruding ears and vertical limbs gave any hint of their past forms. The guardsmen were equipped with a patchwork assortment of armaments and armour, mostly scavenged from all throughout the Underground from old armouries which had suck to the ground levels and the corpses of the dead. It was a grisly concept to think about, but like all who had survived the Cataclysm they weren’t picky about things they needed.

They filed into the Council chamber, all save the Captain of the Guard who stopped as he neared Eric, pulling up to the boy’s side.

“They say we’re needed up above beyond the Underground, Sonic Screamers and all. They say there’s a ship at the Central Shipyards, is this true Mapper?”

“I cannot say, the Council has yet to announce their decision to me.” Eric answered calmly, erring on the side of caution.

“But they have,” Daniel said, trotting up behind him, “By sending the guardsmen they tell us of their decision; our Mapper team will accompany these dozen guards to find this Realmshifter and we will bring it back here, after which we will evacuate the populace from this city.”

Eric crossed his arms over his chest, his tan jacket folding and creasing as he did so, “And how do you know that? The Council has yet to communicate with any of us as far as I’m concerned.”

“How many Sonic Screamers did you bring down Captain?” Daniel asked, as way of answer.

“Eight.”

“Each Screamer can carry two passengers, there are a dozen guardsmen here; naturally, the last two screamers have been brought down here for our usage.” Daniel continued to explain, looking more bored than anything else in spite of his previous enthusiasm. “The Council will come out shortly and issue the orders, so don’t you worry but I suggest you go find the rest of our team so they can be here when they do.”

Eric frowned, but stalked off to find Sheryl, his coattails whipping in the air as he turned around and broke into a slow jog.

It took him awhile to find her, Eric ended up covering almost all of Mirra in his search. First he went to the Central Map Archive to talk to the others, asking if they had seen her; none had so next he went to the barracks. The barracks were an old boiler room that had once serviced the reactor complex that had become the council chambers, they had repurposed to serve as sleeping quarters for the Mappers whenever they returned to Mirra. Two hundred four by four meter boxes were spread across four floors, cramped but sufficient to serve their needs; perhaps Sheryl had come here after their brief argument.

A quick search though left Eric empty handed, and he headed out into the outer residency regions where the regulars of the Underground lived. Like Many of the teens in Mirra Sheryl and Eric didn’t have parents anymore, they had been raised in the system of orphanages where a couple of adults in a household took responsibility for up to a dozen kids of various ages. Sheryl and Eric had been raised together in the same household so he knew most of her habits; when she was sulking she would often disappear for hours on end stumbling through the tunnels and passageways that ran throughout the chamber interior, but always in the end she would reappear at the doorsteps of the building, filthy and exhausted, her brown hair in knots and her clothes stained with grease.

Eric would always be the one to greet her at the door; he’d wait on the third floor of the building, keeping a careful eye out for his friend as he attended to his other duties and chores. She always came back eventually, but she would have been locked out till the next morning if it wasn’t for Eric. He went there now not because he seriously expected her to have returned there but because he thought Elizabeth might have seen her at some point. Liz had raised them together with their other seven brothers and sisters and Sheryl had often come back to speak with her in the past when she was having trouble working things out; Eric hadn’t picked up on that habit preferring to work things out on his own but he was aware that it would always be an option to him.

It took him fifteen minutes to get to the building since it was on the outskirts of Mirra, a three storey building that had been erected primarily from metal plates and sheets welded together. On the way there he passed by many of the city’s regular residents, people who had lived out most of their lives in Aphelion before the war, older adults and elderly who now spent their days working on tradecrafts. His tan jacket and numerical tattoo on his face clearly distinguished him as a Mapper, alongside the pack slung over his shoulder and the faint outlines of the weapons and tools he carried on his belt beneath his jacket. They gave him a wide berth, interfering with the business of the Mappers was a criminal offense; when he approached a pair of middle aged men working to melt pieces of scrap metal to be re-forged into sheet metal. He asked them if they’d seen any other Mappers pass by, but they replied that they had seen none. Un-phased he pressed onwards to get to the building where he had grown up.

When he approached the spot, he found a building much larger than he had expected; the orphanage had grown since he’d last been here, almost six or seven floors high now if he had to take a guess. Elizabeth was waiting outside, the ex-geneticist cradling a bunch of apples that she must have collected from the underground farms.

“Eric, it’s been awhile since we last spoke hasn’t it.” She said with a surprised smile. She was old now, Eric guessed she must have been in her late sixties with her frayed greying hair and lined face. When he walked up to her, he overshadowed her by half a foot; the last time he had been here he had been the shorter of the two.

“Elizabeth. It’s good to see you; I’m looking for Sheryl, have you seen her around recently?” Eric pressed forwards moving past the small talk quickly; there was little time to spare.

Seeing his urgency Elizabeth frowned and turned around in answer, “Sheryl, there’s someone here to see you.” She shouted into the building.

With some reluctance, Sheryl emerged from the shadows of the building interior, fully garbed in her gear as though ready to move at a moment’s notice. She scowled slightly when she saw Eric, and stopped slightly behind Elizabeth though her tall frame made that act somewhat awkward.

“What is he doing here?” she growled.

“Now Sheryl, it’s not like you to be bitter. He just arrived here himself, why don’t you ask him?” Elizabeth chided, but Sheryl merely glared at him some more so Eric took it as an invitation to speak.

“We’ve been called back 173; the Council has orders for us.”

“Yeah, and what are we doing, is that classified?”

“Yes the details of our mission are indeed classified, but since you’re coming along you’ll be told all the details you could ask for.”

Sheryl raised an eyebrow, “And what then will we be doing exactly?”

In the distance, Eric heard the shrill shriek of a Sonic Screamer. Daniel appeared to have figured out where he had gone.

“We’re going up, up beyond the Underground to the city above.”

---

19: Oblivion Ascendant: 02

Adrian led the way, seemingly familiar with the layout of these Underground tunnels though when Claire pressed him he insisted that he’d not been down here before. Twice they encountered war machines slinking in the shadows; the first they dispatched with a hail of gunfire, the second they crept past, the interests of the Stalker unit clearly elsewhere as it slunk deeper into the tunnels beneath the city. Even in the gloom Claire could see perfectly, she knew now that this was due to the enhancements to her eyes; how the Lieutenant managed this as well though she had no idea.

When they arrived back at the barren surface via a two hundred meter access shaft Claire found herself in foreign territory; ruined structures towered around her, taller than anything she’d ever seen and immediately around them were dozens of shattered vehicles. Sharp crisp snow nearly half a meter deep covered everything, untouched and unbroken. The wind that howled constantly through the city kept it from ever building up but the unmarred surface was indicative of the fact that no one had stepped foot here in recent times.

“Where are we?” Claire asked, somewhat lost.

“Close to the border between Old Aphelion and the Combine Districts.” Adrian answered without looking her way.

“Sorry, what?” Claire said, not understanding.

“Close to the midpoint between the city perimeter and center, and close to the Central Shipyards.” Darren supplied.

“What’s with the names?”

“Now is not the time for a history lesson.” Adrian growled suddenly, looking a tad bit annoyed as they trudged through the snow.

Darren shrugged, “Aphelion used to be cut up into a bunch of smaller cities; they were absorbed into Aphelion after the second war.”

Wind howled in Claire’s ears, blowing snow and ice into her face causing her to pull down her goggles to keep the debris out of her eyes. She shook her head, not really understanding what they were going on about. “Whatever, it’s not really that important right?”

“No, it’s not; let’s keep focused on the mission.” Adrian said sharply; clearly this was a topic he would rather not discuss.

“You see anything out here?” Jeff asked Mathew, his rifle casually slung under his arm.

The other soldier put a hand over his lens eye, the device whirring as he flicked through the different functions on the device. “Nope, nothing but snow and ice.”

“Keep your eyes peeled, there are unpleasant things which lurk on the city floor.” Adrian said, his voice faint as it whipped back behind him to the others.

Everywhere they stepped they were shadowed by the towering structures above them; remnants of the skyrails snaked between the massive buildings, half-collapsed ice laden tubes of faint turquoise transparisteel which offered occasional respite from the biting wind. As they drew closer to their destination there was a notable difference in temperature; the whole area seemed to suddenly warm up as the powdery snow beneath their feet gave way to thick packing snow and then a slushy white-grey mess. The air was heavy and humid fogging up Claire’s goggles forcing her to pull them back up on top of her head.

“Looks like the place is still online, about as uncomfortable as I remember too.” Adrian growled as he shook slush off his shoes. By now the snow and ice had given way to massive sheets of warm grey metal. In the distance, Claire could see columns of steam rising up into the air where they disappeared in the snow above. “What exactly am I supposed to be looking at?” Claire asked, seeing more than the rest with her sharp augmented vision, but at the same time seeing less as well; she was unacquainted with this part of the city.

“You see nothing because there is simply nothing for you to see, the other side of the crevasse is almost six kilometers away. Those columns of steam you see now are hundreds of meters wide, you simply cannot see that because you have no scale against which to compare them to. We are still over an hour out from the upper level entrances.” The Lieutenant supplied.

Claire blinked twice as she processed the scope of what she was seeing for the first time, shivering slightly in her jacket even though she wasn’t cold. Each time she thought she had this city figured out she was proven wrong again; being stuck on the ground level trying to stay alive for the past twelve years hadn’t helped either.

Darker shadows flickered overhead and shrill shrieks filled the air, looking up dozens of dark shapes whipped past through the snowstorm flurry with flapping wings and long black feathers. They hurtled in the same direction they were going, but mostly ignored them as far as Claire could see. Jeff and Mathew glanced up and put their hands on their weapons, but otherwise didn’t react and Katherine seemed to shrink away, pulling closer back into the group; meanwhile the Lieutenant didn’t even flinch simply allowing a scowl to form on his face.

“Predator Shrikes, they hunt in swarms, scavengers who follow the paths of war. Their presence means something has gone amiss; fighting lies ahead and blood has been spilled.” Adrian supplied, eyes grim.

“What are they?” Claire asked, never having seen anything like them before.

“Birds, megafauna, giant birds with sharp beaks and vicious talons. Another product of the fallout post Cataclysm, be careful; if they find you alone they’ll descend upon you in a swarm, vultures with a prettier name, that’s all they are.”

Claire strained her ears trying to listen for what might be attracting the birds, but heard nothing over the wind. All there was to see or hear was the mist and steam curling up around them as the snow continued to fall. The distance closed further, and Claire could feel a tingling on the back of her neck, a sensation of unrest and uneasiness that was pervasive and refused to leave. Something lay ahead of them, some sort of threat; she could identify the feeling more clearly now as fear, something she had seldom experienced before leaving home. Now though, the feeling was a familiarity, having appeared many times over the past few days as Claire fought to stay alive in this city of horrors.

Cracks and pops appeared through the wind, faint whispers of sudden violence and bloodshed, the sound of gunfire was as familiar to Claire as her own voice. Something hissed through the air, the sound slashing through everything else, an agonized parting of wind and snow as a sharp edge sliced through it at high velocity; a memory flashed through Claire’s head: bladed tentacles atop a six limbed monstrosity running her down in a hallway of bleak white, a Hunter Spyder was on the prowl.

“Contacts spotted: 1.5 kilometers, Hunter Spyder and possible human contacts.” Mathew provided, Claire noticed that Adrian didn’t seem to respond to the remark; like her he had already seen what was going on with his own eyes.

“Fan out, Claire you will be the vanguard, Katherine you’re on point. Lanz and Andrews will stay with me, we will be the main strike force to follow up on Claire’s initial assault, Katherine will cover from a distance.” Adrian said as he reached for his pistol, breaking the group into a jog and then a sprint. “Engage on my signal.”

Claire let her training take hold of her, drifting into the combat trance letting her emotions drain from her as she brought up her experience fighting, or rather running from the Hunter Spyder in the block prior. The M-26 in her hands seemed almost weightless as it drifted forwards, ever trained on her target although it was still out of range, her eyes following her target easily even as its limbs became a blur as it lashed out with lightning speed at whatever it was attacking in the snow. She dashed ahead, letting her limbs take her beyond the rest of the group as she pushed forwards to engage the target.

Freed from the confines of the block, the Hunter Spyder before her was a massive thing at least eight meters in height, its six spindly limbs becoming thick multi-jointed columns of muscle fibre and metal as Claire closed in and opened up with her scattergun. She began with the joints, spraying them with buckshot and shrapnel from close range but the small fragments had almost no affect on the war machines’ armoured frame; her efforts elicited only the slightest of responses as the Hunter Spyder’s central head spun to take a glance at its new assailant before knocking her to the ground with a casual sweep of one of its limbs. The blow sent Claire flying as the girl felt her muscles clench and compact to absorb the blow; even through her body armour and jacket she felt her ribs crack beneath the impact.

Her landing left her winded and aching, it was almost too much for her to even flip herself back onto her back; Katherine came up to her as the other three kept the machine busy with a wall of rifle fire. The other girl’s hands scrabbled at her chest trying to loosen the clothing, Claire winced with each movement trying her best not to scream as spikes of pain shot through her body. The other girl had pulled out a med-kit and was busily shuffling through a whole bunch of vials.

“You’ll live, but you’re going to be pretty out of it till this heals up.” Katherine said, frowning as she stabbed a thick needle in Claire’s arm.

Wincing, Claire was about to say something nice when another face loomed over her, a look of disapproval obvious in the mismatched set of eyes. “That was sloppy girl.” Adrian said, looking distinctly annoyed with the Slayer.

She managed to roll her eyes in spite of her injuries, “Well why don’t you handle the damn thing up close and personal then.”

“I’m not the one with superhuman reaction speed and amped up eyesight.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” She responded sharply, glaring at his face.

“Whatever.” He growled, hauling her up with one hand. She winced as he did so, feeling the aching in her chest; whatever Katherine had did was already starting to take affect though since she wasn’t screaming from the pain or anything. “Take a minute and you’re back in rotation, we need your help to take that thing out.”

The Hunter Spyder seemed unconcerned that some of its assailants seemed to have gone off to the side to do their own thing. Whatever it had been initially attacking was still holding its attention, and now that Claire had the time to take a good look she could see the tracer rounds from several other rifles slashing through the air to strike at the massive war machine.

“We don’t seem to be accomplishing very much.” She grumbled to Katherine as she accepted her scattergun from the other girl, doing a quick check to ensure its functionality. Indeed the Hunter Spyder was shrugging off their small arms fire, equipped to survive much heavier assailants than the half dozen or so soldiers attacking it with their rifles.

Katherine gave a helpless shrug shouldered her own carbine, “What can you do, orders are orders; maybe the Lieutenant will come up with something before we all get killed.”

“Well you’re cheery.” Claire muttered, popping her head over the snowdrift that was covering them from the rest of the battle.

Mathew and Jeff were trying to get at the thing’s more fragile sensors but the war machine was simply dancing over them forcing them to move lest they be crushed by its limbs as its spined tentacles disappeared into the mist to attack whatever was concerning it so greatly. Adrian was off at a greater distance looking more pensive than anything else, occasionally losing off a round or two from his pistol but it appeared that he had realized this was a useless effort with the small calibre rounds his weapon was loaded with.

A shrill scream pierced through the howl of the wind and Claire saw a blur whip through the air as one of the Hunter Spyder’s tentacles crossed her line of sight carrying something with it; spatters of blood appeared on the snow before a shape crashed into the ground to stain the white powder crimson not four meters from Claire. She scrabbled over the rise of the snowdrift, half rolling down the other face trying her best to limit her movements so as to prevent herself from being injured further, but ended up stopping short as her eyes began to pick up the critical details that told her she was already too late.

The characteristic rise and fall of a breathing human, that was already absent; the growing size of the pool of red freezing in the snow was also an indication that the wound was fatal. Of course this already should have been obvious from the start; a Hunter Spyder never let a target go unless it was certain it had completely dealt with the threat. The woman’s body armour had been shattered and slashed apart, a foot wide hole in her torso revealed flesh and bone amongst an almost hollow cavity of mangled organs. Her face was unfamiliar, and fortunately enough relatively blank of emotion besides hints of surprise that spoke of the suddenness of the Spyder’s attack. Claire saw Katherine grimace as she vaulted over the snowdrift to join her, glancing nervously about her with an unexpected calm; the hell they had been through getting all the way here had forced the other girl to take on a little of the steel that Claire saw in the older soldiers around them.

A blur appeared on the edge of Claire’s vision as three men tumbled out of the storm weapons ablaze with fire; the Hunter Spyder was right behind them slashing at the three with its razor tentacles, its primary sensory matrix rotating beneath its armoured body frame to track them. Like Claire’s group they were insufficiently armed to take out the hulking monstrosity but the body armour on two of them seemed a more complete set than the ragtag assemblies that Claire or Jeff wore. Adrian gestured with a hand and shout and Mathew and Jeff moved to form up with the new strangers; it was not an offensive manoeuvre, combining the force of the small arms fire would do nothing to improve their odds against the thick armour of the war machine.  Rather than that Claire could see what Adrian intended, as the two soldiers from Spire city tried to draw the machine’s attention so as to allow this new group to escape or at least reposition.

A shadow appeared above Claire as she stood there watching, an instant later a massive Predator Shrike landed beside her sinking its talons into the body; more of the meter tall birds followed and suddenly as quickly as they had come they were off, lifting away into the sky leaving only a pool of rapidly freezing blood. The shock of it shook her back into action, her own mortality suddenly brutally transparent again she forced herself into motion moving once more towards the Hunter Spyder ignoring the residual aching that appeared in her chest as she threw herself back into the fray.

She was a Slayer, she lived and breathed for the purpose of smashing machines like this; she was the best bet they had at getting out of this mess alive, and yet…she still found herself reluctant even as she opened up on the Spyder once more, hesitant to completely commit herself to combat. She needed time to think, time to find an opening in the Hunter Spyder’s pattern of movement which she could exploit, but such time was not readily available since she was the only one who could actually hold its attention for any extended period of time without getting killed. She ducked and weaved around the machine’s lightning fast strikes as she tried to get a look at it from every angle, but was unable to find anything useful to her. She felt the burning in her muscles and protesting of her lungs, detect the slight slowing of her movements due to fatigue, and she was considering pulling away once more to reassess the situation when three heavy rounds tore through the air and had the Hunter Spyder staggering on its feet.

A man came out of the swirling snow, Adrian at his side, tall and clad in a long winter coat he contrasted starkly with Adrian’s thin uniform; more striking though was the resemblance between the two, they had the same dark hair and sharp cheek bones though the newcomer seemed to have a more heavily built frame and stood somewhat taller than the Lieutenant. More so than anything else though, Claire didn’t get as much of that oppressive air of casual arrogance from the man, rather he seemed more immediately approachable, someone born to lead rather than someone who led with the force of his personality like Adrian. As they approached the man fired off another burst with the massive pistol in his hand knocking the Hunter Spyder down once more.

Adrian inclined his head ever so slightly, his face blank though he somehow managed to convey the sense that he was annoyed, “My dear Slayer, I’m sure you’ve met my brother Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li?”

---

0.03 had been close to the bottom of the shipyards when his brother had arrived, hovering on the borders of sanity as he searched for a cause to his affliction. He sensed his brother’s presence almost immediately as he closed the gap between them, and headed for the surface almost instinctually summoning his Stalker escort as he climbed through the service tunnels to accelerate his passage. When at last he arrived, 0.01 was a mere three kilometers away, a distance traversable in seconds. 0.03 snarled into the wind and waited for his brother to arrive, his arms morphing into their combat forms as he did so. He let 0.01 appear from out of the gloom and met his brother in combat rushing forwards to meet him.

For the first time in history, Alpha level fought Alpha level as 0.01 and 0.03 clashed blades, the latter’s three talons being brought to bear to block the blue machine’s strike. The difference in physique of the two machines was striking up close; though both shared the same dark grey metals and glowing highlights 0.03’s bulk made him a giant beside his brother and creator, towering a full forty centimeters taller with powerfully muscled limbs and armoured joints. The smell of ozone filled the air as the two machines smashed the magnetic sheaths of their blades against one another, 0.01 running rings around 0.03 as the latter almost lazily adjusted his position to continue parrying.

The hum of the ion cannon charging up had 0.01 reaching with one clawed hand for his brother’s cannon arm to hold it at bay. There was a terrible screeching as the two fought to hold each other in place, joints whining in protest at the effort but slowly, surely, 0.03 was inexorably breaking free of the other’s hold using brute strength and muscle fibre. Lightning quick 0.01 committed to disengaging himself releasing his hold to leap up into the air to land twenty meters distant; even as he was landing 0.03 was on the move training the ion cannon to release a stream of superheated ions towards the site of his brother’s landing.

A massive cloud of stream erupted into the air, blocking out both regular optics and thermal sensors, 0.03 continued on unhindered blasting smoldering craters into the ground following an algorithm he created on the spot which predicted where 0.01 was likely to land after each jump. He wasn’t laughing anymore, rather he was simply pondering what 0.01 might be up to; he had reached another brief stint of sanity, perhaps one which would last long enough to carry out the task he had set upon himself properly.

0.01 was right in that he, 0.03 was opposed to his plan to destroy the bubble that contained what was left of Aphelion but he was wrong with his interpretations of 0.03’s reasons behind this. Of 0.01’s sixteen children of his make, five had been completed before the evens of the Cataclysm; 0.03 had been the only dedicated combat model, and the only one linked up to the military network of Aphelion for that reason. Only he and 0.00 knew of the existence of the A.I Oblivion, who had otherwise erased itself from the networks once the Cataclysm occurred.

The bubble existed not for them, nor for the preservation of Aphelion during the Cataclysm, but for the containment of that one single A.I. 0.03 knew this because he had accessed Marcus’ Li’s files before they were deleted, before 0.01 had access to them after the lab they had been kept in was destroyed. If Oblivion were to be released then both humanity and the Alpha levels would be at risk; Oblivion had designed the Alpha levels merely as a trigger to cause his war. They were merely powerful pawns, now that the war had passed he would eliminate them since they were such a powerful threat to him. And the humanity, well, Oblivion would be their king, in life or death. Julian Fenister would not be denied his dream. If 0.01 destroyed the bubble then the A.I would be free to leave the city limits, and every computer would become his tool, and the world would lie bare at his feet; that was an eventuality 0.03 was unwilling to have happen.

<You’re making a mistake brother; we must not destroy the bubble.> 0.03 said, calmer than he had been in a long time.

Shadows flickered through the columns of vapour, and 0.03 had to cease firing to hunt for the other machine, auditory sensors straining to isolate any trace of the blue Alpha. He was a military model; while 0.04 was a specialized survivor and 0.06 had been designed for long range deployment, he was the real deal with rapid repair and an advanced combat and detections suite. Hardware extended from seamless ports on his arms and shoulders, scanning for vibrations in the air and snow, and for electrical impulses. There was darkness on the sensors and then a sudden surge of energy as 0.01 lunged out from the mist, one hand clutching his sizzling ion blade and the other an amorphous mass; 0.03 twisted his massive frame and smashed downwards with his talons using his greater mass to force his brother to the ground. The half molten flowmetal arm slapped against 0.03’s leg, splattering into droplets of silver mercury.

<You will bow to your creator.> 0.01 hissed, straining to get up.

<Brother, we bow to no one.> 0.03 replied, pointing the ion cannon at his head.

A soft whirring became audible over the wind and 0.03 froze for just a moment before he leapt from where he stood, attempting to disengage himself; 0.01 held fast to him swinging like a ragdoll in the wind, his half melted arm fused with his crimson brother’s outer carapace. 0.04 slammed into the earth where the two had been sending a plume of yellow tinted snow flying into the air. The Oracle ignited her short pair of blades and stalked forwards, wings folding back into her frame.

<Your execution has been ordered, my dear brother.>

<I didn’t know Oracles participated in combat.> 0.03 snapped back, working to wrench 0.01 from his leg.

0.04 made a shrugging motion, <I will do whatever I am require to in order to fulfill my debt to our brother.>

<If you do this, Oblivion will walk free.> 0.03 hissed, still struggling against his brother’s iron grip.

0.01 froze, suddenly attentive to his brother’s words,<Who is Oblivion?> he had never heard of such before, not after trawling all the files in Aphelion.

There was no response as 0.03 gave out a vicious snarl, suddenly breaking free with strength that had not been there before. He leapt away and made for the massive crevice that was the shipyards, plunging into the abyss. 0.01 reassembled himself and pushed forwards in pursuit as 0.04 reassembled her wings and took flight to chase from above.

Columns of heat rose up from the shipyard core, blocking out any attempts to track 0.03 by thermal output; the pair would have to sweep the facility floor by floor, a nightmarish task by any standards without taking into account the fact that the whole shipyards spanned a good seven kilometers in length as it wrapped around the hill of Aphelion. It was time to put 0.04’s myriad talents to use.

<Track his core signal and lead the way, we have little time to waste on him regardless of his delusions of a greater purpose.> 0.01 hissed, vocalizations more full of menace than 0.04 had seen before.

It was however, not her place to argue. She had little desire to incur 0.01’s wrath. He was creative and intelligent, and he always got his way eventually, no matter how many things got broken in the process. 0.04 was linked to all of the other Alpha levels save 0.00 and 0.01 the two primary units. Though 0.01 could monitor their overall activity only 0.04 could actually locate them and see what they were doing. This was accomplished through the Oracle’s unique linkup to a system of satellites which were sitting stationary above Aphelion in space. No other Alpha level had access to this system, it having locked out any new requests after 0.04 had integrated herself with it. 0.01 hadn’t even known that it existed before she did so. He let his children do as they pleased when exploring the worlds around them to define their own personalities during the growth stage. Using this system now, 0.04 peered through the depths of the shipyard, cutting through layer upon layer of metal and ice to search out her brother so 0.01 could execute his ugly justice.

The signal trace returned a location a full thirteen floors down; 0.03 was moving quickly. Using the satellite linkup 0.04 quickly constructed a rough blueprint of the top fifty layers of the shipyard and created a path for the two to take that would allow them to intercept their brother. She curious as to the significance of this Oblivion that he had brought up, but not so curious as to question the whims of 0.01; all would be revealed in time, if she was patient and observed. Once 0.01 interpreted the data all she would have to do was record it so that it would never be lost to time, Oracle she might be but even she did not dare predict the future. The algorithms and mathematics might exist for her to take a good guess at things that might become reality, but she herself had never placed any trust in guesswork; she used her network of eyes and ears to see what was, and then reflected that information back upon what had occurred in the past and through this anticipated what might be on the horizon.

This shipyard was a technological marvel, almost completely automated and still functional after twelve years of disuse; air trickled through its vast corridors and empty hallways as the ventilation system worked to keep things circulating and cooled. The generators were charged by the massive reactors at the bottom floor, huge nuclear fed things sitting in a bath of coolant tended to by beta level repair models and baseline A.I’s stripped of all personality and intelligence but that required to maintain the facility. Humanity could have built a whole new vessel here from scratch if they were willing to strip apart the remnants of their city, and the fact that this place was still entirely intact should have meant that this would be an attractive area to settle following the events of the Cataclysm and yet, this place was empty.

Five levels down things became more clear; human beings, survivors of the Cataclysm had once called this place their home, but no longer. The bodies were everywhere, broken at odd angles clutching weapons and tools which had been bent and broken; the mark of anything inorganic’s passing were the scorch marks along the floors and walls which could only be explained by the presence of an Alpha level. These were old bodies several years into decaying by 0.04’s estimates; 0.03 had been here before and was leading them on a wild chase, where they would end up only 0.03 would know.

<It seems unwise to continue our pursuit if he may be setting up a trap.> 0.04, careful not to sound as though she was questioning 0.01’s decision making.

<Our brother is unstable at best, even if he does set up a trap it is unlikely that he will be able to execute it correctly.> 0.01 replied, apparently un-phased.

0.04 had other thoughts and reservations about pursuing the heavy combat Alpha in his environment but it was quite apparent that 0.01 would push on regardless of any problems. She was a machine, an independent unit with no association to her brother but she still would have preferred if 0.01 could give her reason for why he needed 0.03 destroyed. Alpha levels were a dying breed; her brother 0.06 had fallen sometime recently, somewhere else in the bowels of this city and 0.09 was still imprisoned in the twin to the sphere that had held her. There were four other active units that she knew of, herself, her two brothers here and 0.00, wherever she had disappeared off to; the rest had been lost to attrition, no longer apparent on her sensors or from her satellites. There was no reason for such measures to be taken; if 0.01 had programmed her brother like her, then he should have been able to fix any errors that had resulted in his core persona if necessary.

She wasn’t a prisoner; she was under no real obligation to help her brother since he had granted her extra independence and abilities. She knew that he was at least partially responsible for the events that had led to her freedom from the sphere in the Holding Complex of B-27P but evidence pointed to some lucky coincidences as well. 0.01 could probably figure out a way to destroy any one of his siblings eventually; he always had said <What I create, I can destroy.>, and he had never displayed any sort of hesitation to take apart the things he had made. After all, it wouldn’t be too much trouble for him to rebuild anything either, and he was constantly taking things apart trying to rebuild them into something better.

Even if she didn’t assist him as he had intended her to, he would find a way for himself to rid himself of 0.03, but if 0.04 didn’t assist him…what use was she to him then? At his core he was a machine, efficient and effective; things that were of no use to him were either ignored or destroyed. She was a unique unit, capable of keeping track of the rest, not something 0.01 would allow to go wandering around aimlessly. She feared that he would see her as a threat if she abandoned him, knowing all that she did now and using her abilities to look ahead, she could easily see her own destruction in the near future if she disobeyed her brother. The need to preserve herself, this…fear of her existence disappearing, that held her in line…for now.

0.01 worked idly on an assault rifle he had picked up from the floor, the weapon exploding into its individual components several times as he pulled it apart in a suspensor field, suspending it above his skyward palms before rebuilding it, tweaking several pieces with a micro plasma cutter which he produced from a finger. Each time the weapon changed, with 0.01 stripping parts and components from the walls to provide for his upgrades. Cyclical cycles of construction and deconstruction, that was all it was to the blue Alpha level; life, that fragile thing, was just another cycle to observe to the machine. Curiosities like this he enjoyed stripping apart and breaking down, one could only wonder what humanity would look like afterwards if he got his hands on them.

0.04 checked the signal trace once more for her crimson brother; he was slowly leading them towards the launch berths where vessels produced at the Central shipyards had once sat while waiting for the orders to head into space. There could only be one possible destination then; their brother intended to meet them at the warship Realmshifter. Endless gunmetal grey was there to greet them when they arrived on the scene, the Alpha levels stood on the precipice to one of the shipyards many layers, looking down upon the massive vessel. Coming in at almost one and a half kilometers in length and a third of that in height the destroyer was the largest class of vessel which could be constructed here on the ground level, anything larger would have had to be built in smaller chunks down here in the shipyards before being sent up into space for construction through the city’s nine space elevators.

0.03 looked up at them from below, perhaps six hundred meters distant fully weapons ready and waiting, the other two Alphas seemed to tense as they took in the situation; they could sense something was wrong but couldn’t quite sense what it precisely was. The two Alpha levels were still scanning when 0.00 rematerialized behind them and slapped a foot wide grey disk on both of their backs before giving them a good shove.

---

Mark had been leading the group towards the shipyards ever since 0.00 had dropped them off, glad that the others seemed relatively calm in spite of having just ridden on the shoulders of a deadly machine after being saved from their grisly fate of being ripped apart by Frost Wolves. The atmosphere was good, all things considered, and they were making good progress towards the shipyards too; as expected the air warmed considerably and the two boys the civilians had brought along were revelling in the wonder to them that was slush and steam. He expected that while they might have been exposed to the concept of half melted snow before, it had never occurred in such quantities.

Fredrick and Susan were on his flanks, while Darren brought up the rear with the civilians sandwiched in between, Mark led the way towards the massive crevice in earth, looking around him at how amazingly intact the architecture was here compared to other parts of the city. Elsewhere the massive scrapers and even smaller buildings had been shattered by the seismic force of the Cataclysm, but here the reinforcing superstructure of the Shipyard that buried deep into the city underground had absorbed most of the blast so they remained there, towering over them in all of their glory.

The wind howled between the structures but besides that Mark could hear nothing out of the ordinary; the whirling snow also concealed most everything until it was only a couple of meters away. As far as Mark knew, no one here was augmented, he was working with a crew of raw human infantrymen so he would have to plan around that. He knew now that Elaine was out here somewhere, it would have been nice to have her here with him but that was a luxury he would have to do without for the time being. His heavy pistol was in its holster in his jacket, its trademark ridges pressing reassuringly against him as he trudged forwards relying on muscle memory to guide them in the low visibility.

They closed within a kilometer of the shipyard edge, transitioning from snow into warm steel beneath their feet as mist clouded the air; Mark made a gesture of brushing aside the fog, jokingly trying to swat at the vapour as it continually returned instantly filling the void that Mark left behind. There was a brief trill of laughter and smiles before all returned to quiet, Darren silencing them from the rear as he spotted a hint of movement through the scope of his rifle. Mark asked him what was going on from the front, but the other soldier was unable to answer since he hadn’t gotten a good look at the thing, whatever it was; still worried Mark drew the group in tighter and it was then as he issued the orders that the Hunter Spyder attacked, leaping down from twenty meters above to slam feet-first into the company, blasting them with a cone of slush and metal as it impacted.

They scattered like mice from a cat as the massive war machine thrashed about throwing snow into the air as it slashed at them, its limbs a blur of motion. Fredrick and the rest of the squad disappeared behind walls of snow, Mark himself dashed away from the machine’s point of impact as he pulled his weapon from its sheath and opened up as he dashed away. He recognized immediately that out of all of the weapons they had at their disposal only his would have any real effect on the Hunter Spyder; he had read the design specifications, the thing was meant to be able to take on legions of infantry and sustain multiple heavy weapons impacts. Only with dedicated anti-materiel equipment would they be able to bring it down, but for the time being Mark could perhaps control it with his own personal hand gun.

His gun was just an ordinary pistol chambered with .45 cal, heavy rounds yes, but nothing special when it came to dealing with armour. It was the gun, not the rounds it fired that was special; the custom made handgun was an Aphelian commander’s model and a microcomputer tagged each round fired out of the gun with an electronic tracer before the bullet exited the barrel. The tracer had no effect on organic flesh and blood or regular objects, but interacted very specifically with the war machines of Aphelion’s make; if the Hunter Spyder was one of the originals rather than one constructed later by 0.01 and his kind, the rounds would stun the machine and short its electronics around the locality of the impact. It was a countermeasure that had been conceptualized near the end of the war when it became apparent that Aphelion might well lose, but had not been widely implemented due to the costs of such installations; even for this handgun that Mark was using now the modification had taken an entire day by itself for an A.I to write the coding in and sufficiently modify the gun’s inner structure to protect the delicate electronics.

The civilians had run off, away from the Hunter Spyder, not that the machine seemed to care very much; its algorithms would have it dealing with the targets with the highest threat capabilities anyway so for the time being they would be safe. Fredrick and Darren were running circles around the monstrous machine, a risky tactic at best, while Susan tried to get at the things sensors from a ways further, Darren having given her his rifle in exchange for a carbine. He could see immediately that things were going to get out of hand very quickly; unlike the first time when they had faced down a Hunter Spyder they didn’t have any shelter out here in the open and were at the mercy of its lethal limbs, and to make matters worse they had no definitive weapon with which they could destroy it. He himself could hold it off for a while perhaps, but besides that there was little that they could do to stop it; Mark didn’t find a solution fast, their journey would end here and now.

His squad remained engaged with the Hunter Spyder, which was currently dancing about keeping Fredrick and Darren on their toes, the two were just barely able to evade it for the time being, while Susan’s efforts to disable the monster seemed futile. Mark continued to hammer the Hunter Spyder with his pistol whenever it came close to one of the others, but was conservative with his fire since he had only a few magazines on him at the moment. From the left came a sudden stream of fire, totally unexpected; Mark spotted at least two streams of rounds slamming into the Hunter Spyder which were not from his group. Val and Will had been carrying scatterguns so it couldn’t have been them, someone else had found them and engaged the Hunter Spyder.

He sprinted forwards to close with the rest of them as two men emerged from the gloom clad in ragtag armour strapped onto heavy winter gear; the two new strangers were putting down a withering wave of suppressing fire which Fredrick and Darren used to reposition themselves further back from the machine. The Hunter Spyder seemed largely unperturbed by the addition of the two new threats and instead made a sudden leap forwards lashing out at Susan; the woman was unable to react to the sudden closing of the distance and disappeared from where she had been standing, her rifle flying through the air.

Fredrick let out a snarl and rushed forwards but was immediately batted aside by one of the Spyder’s limbs, even the glancing blow sent the man flowing off into the distance and Mark had to fire off a stream of rounds to keep the Spyder back while Darren ran to grab him; in the meantime the two new strangers pulled the Hunter Spyder away even as more people emerged through the storm. A girl jumped out lightning quick and began running circles around the war machine and a thin uniformed man came seconds later with another soldier at his side. The officer made a gesture before parting ways with the soldier, and proceeded to walk straight towards Mark seemingly ignoring everything else. He wore the classic uniform of an Aphelian staff officer, the unmistakable pitch black double breasted jacket and pants with the silver-grey lines and cuff linings accompanying the silver epaulets on the shoulders and almost invisible pockets. Marcus had once worn a uniform like that himself, although his had been somewhat more elaborate to reflect upon his rank; never the less there was a sort of familiarity to it that went beyond simple recognition, Mark couldn’t help but feel like he had seen the particular uniform before.

As the officer drew closer Mark thought he recognized the thin frame and slow, confident way in which the figure strode forwards through the wind, as though nothing in the world could stop the man; The hair too, long over on half of the face the shroud the eyes, and pushed back and cropped short on the other was also familiar, it was an odd hairstyle that he had only ever really seen on…Adrian.

If there had still been any doubt even after this realization, the officer’s cold words as he approached blasted them away, there was a steel in them that Mark could never forget, the steel of tightly controlled emotions and old grudges.

“Hello Marcus.” Adrian said, casually reaching into his pocket as he did so. His hand came back out proffering a pair of pistol magazines, “As per usual it seems I’ve arrived just in time to clean up your mess.”

His brother was the same as always, cold and distanced, pragmatic and always on the ball; they had had an odd relationship before the war, and had become increasingly estranged as they settled into their roles in the Aphelian military. Mark vaguely recalled that they had not left off on the best of terms either; that Mark had ended up as Adrian’s superior had put a certain strain on their relationship, and the last time he had worked with his brother…well, the operation had not been what Mark or even Marcus could have called a success. He looked well enough, as well as Mark could have expected anyone to look having survived twelve years in this hellhole of a city, but there was a fire in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

He had seen his brother once before he executed the final stages of his plan to seal Oblivion, as the war was nearing its end; by then his brother had been an Aphelian operative for six years, and fighting in its defense for three, tens of lifetimes of brutality. Like many others he had been broken by the fighting, the life drained from him, by both the atrocities he had seen and those he had committed; most operatives lived brutal short lives, and it had always been that operative pairs only lasted as long as both of them were active, if one of them went down the other would typically follow within the duration of the rest of the current op. Adrian was Aphelion’s first and last solo operative; he had worked alone for the entirety of the last year of the war after his partner of five years died.

He was, therefore, at a loss for words when his brother appeared from out of the gloom.

“Adrian.” He said curtly, accepting the pistol mags as he ejected his empty one and palming a fresh replacement into his gun.

His brother was right of course, he always had come to save his ass in the past whenever he got into a spot of trouble; but that was a secondary concern compared to solving the problem at hand: the Hunter Spyder ripping through their lines.

“I brought you one of your Slayerlings.”

The statement made Mark freeze up again; Adrian managed to say the words without inflection in spite of the weight he must have known those words held.

“Which one?” he managed, Marcus seemingly taking over as he felt his emotions get brushed aside.

“The sister; she’ll be wanting to see the Slayer wherever you’ve stashed her away.” By now Adrian had commenced directing his men around whilst he was having his conversation, and Mark could see the girl Slayer working on the Hunter Spyder.

Mark found the clarity of thought in himself to fire off a volley of shots at the Hunter Spyder as his training kicked back in; he immediately regretted his lapse of activity, stepping forwards to approach the conflict, his brother following suit. The bullets from his gun staggered the Hunter Spyder, forcing it away but still they did not have a permanent solution to the problem. The girl Slayer approached them as they neared having noticed that Mark had temporarily disabled the metallic monstrosity, Mark grimacing as his brother introduced him to the girl.

She looked strikingly like her sister, the first Slayer, though Mark thought he could see a few differences in their specific facial structure, and of course as a MkII the girl lacked the dead give-away of Aphelian genetic tampering of the mismatched irises. Those sorts of tells had been ironed out of the methods by the time Mark had begun his work on the Mk II Slayer’s, so better to hide their presence from the public scrutiny and potential enemies; the Mk II’s had never come into fruition of course do to Aphelion’s demise but the intent to deploy them as weapons had been there of course. Mark wondered how much about the girl’s past Adrian had told her; he himself, he couldn’t even remember her name, with all that had been going on at the time he had barely supervised the actual execution of the project after its initial design parameters.

“Which one is she?”

“Eagle eye. Fire off another burst.” Adrian said knowingly, somehow managing to look unconcerned about everything that was going on.

Mark took a second to scan for the Hunter Spyder and sent it buckling backwards into the snow drifts with another burst, frowning; this wouldn’t go on for much longer, eventually the Hunter Spyder’s adaptive systems would find a way to outwit the gun’s stun charge, it was an adaptive predator above all else even if it did bow to the security systems he had installed previously.

“Not exactly what I was hoping for in this sort of situation.” Mark said, frowning. He needed some real firepower here, and amplified reaction speed and visual acuity and accuracy wasn’t what he needed.

Adrian shrugged, “Well you’ll have to work with what you’ve got; I brought you your damn Slayerling and myself, and you’ve got your gun of course, as for the rest you’ll have to figure out a plan.”

Mark shook his head, not believing that his brother didn’t have an idea for how to approach the situation, he always had a plan; his brother was never clueless as to what to do. If he stepped back and took a real look at the big picture though, it looked as though Adrian was trying to direct things so that he was in command, so that others understood his authority immediately. His brother was trying to do him a favour, without making it crushingly obvious; only it was up to Mark to take advantage of that and at the moment he hadn’t a clue as to how exactly he was going to accomplish that.

The rest of the regulars were making a concerted effort to bring down the Hunter Spyder but Mark knew this was simply a waste of ammunition, with a wave and a little shouting he had them cease firing, pulling them in to join Adrian and him. They seemed to be mingling well enough with each other which was unsurprising since they had just spent the last few minutes working together to save each other’s lives.

“What the fuck is going on?” Fredrick growled, clearly angry with how things had turned out; Darren was similarly unhappy looking, though he remained his usual quiet self.

“We’re discussing our options lieutenant, I suggest you allow us the time to do so while we keep that thing occupied.” Adrian growled, managing to glower at the man in spite of the four inches of difference in their heights.

“Who the hell are you?”

“This is Adrian, my brother.” Mark supplied, hammering the Hunter Spyder with another burst is it crawled back out of the mist.

“And what pray do tell is your plan at the moment Mark; Susan is gone, and we’re going to do likewise if you don’t figure something out.” Darren said flatly.

“We’re not exactly in the best position to deal with this thing, even with the extra firepower we’ve just assembled here,” Mark began, gesturing over to Adrian’s squad, “we still don’t have the capability to get through that thing’s armour.”

Mark noticed one of Adrian’s soldiers frowning, fiddling with the lenses over his eye as he started off into the distance where the Hunter Spyder had vanished, his other hand tightly clutching his weapon in a ready position.

“Uh, sir…s, we’ve got a problem.” He started, already backpedalling away from his position pulling the young girl soldier with him.

Adrian glanced back towards him for a half second before he too was on the run, and then they were all turning on their heels as the Hunter Spyder slammed into the snow around them, a monstrous flailing limbed comet falling from the sky. Mark squeezed off a burst from his pistol and cursed as the Hunter Spyder shrugged off the impact without so much as a flinch, they were out of time to talk.

“Run!” he snarled, as the collective scrambled towards the shipyard center.

---

The discs were placed there by 0.00 only to lock the trajectories of her siblings in place and keep them from deviating from the course she had planned. Adhering to the backsides of the machines with a powerful electromagnet as the drive on the disc launched them towards 0.03 at a crushing 15 Gees of acceleration. The two Alphas slammed into the upper surface of the Realmshifter with an earth shattering crash flying across the armoured plates in a shower of sparks and screeching of metal; 0.00 landed lightly behind them, her faint steps taking her lightly across the shipyard surface. The discs locked themselves to the surface once they had stilled, and 0.03 loped slowly up to them, weapons extended though his calm casual manner suggested that he was still functioning normally for the time being.

<I really would have preferred to have this conversation as equals,> the crimson Alpha began, <but you didn’t seem to have my best interests at heart.> as he spoke, the discs continued to worm their way into the ship’s carapace, drawing up more and more metal around them in a liquid-like mass which began to smother the other two machines.

<What is it that we must discuss? You will not assist me in acquiring our freedom so I see little purpose in our cooperation.> 0.01 hissed, his optics narrowing into a look of fury.

<There is much here that you do not know brother.> 0.00 vocalized quietly.

<There is nothing that I do not know though, so I fail to see the merit behind your statement.> 0.04 said calmly, though she was somewhat annoyed at her predicament of being bound by metal once again.

0.03 brought a half molten hand up to his head as the flowmetal quickly settled back into its standard shape of a five fingered hand, <You cannot possibly know what is going on in here sister, for such things are known only to me; what we are about to discuss is knowledge from before your assembly.>

The blue Alpha was glaring intently at them, by now mostly pinned beneath a thick chrysalis of metal; 0.01 managed to be imposing even when he was in no position to be considered a threat. <You speak then of the protocols I designed for you, the military linkups.>

<We speak of Oblivion, the military A.I responsible for our creation in the first place brother.> 0.00 whispered, <The A.I which you refused to believe was a threat.>

<If it is simply a mere A.I it is nothing before our power; we are gods amongst machines, our brother here has made such a statement himself.> 0.01 hissed, inclining his head in 0.03’s direction, <0.06 has also demonstrated that with time and effort A.Is can be…repurposed, with some nudging in the correct direction; whatever this Oblivion might be, it cannot possibly be a threat to us.>

The Oracle was sprouting all sorts of sensors and instruments which 0.00 and 0.03 were tacitly ignoring, though the casual tilting of the red Alpha’s cannon arm towards the immobilized Alpha level was clearly dissuading her from any openly defiant actions. <We have had this discussion before brother, and though at the time I believe I brought forwards the facts quite clearly you were disinclined to listen to me. Your pride has cost us precious time, even now I cannot be sure whether my systems stability will remain for long enough for me to convey the full extent of my knowledge to you; 0.00 knows the story just as well as if I should fall victim to some of the…alterations you made to my core programming twelve years ago.> 0.03 responded coldly with uncharacteristic calm; this was how he had been originally, the cold calm killing machine he had always been meant to be.

<Well get on with it then, I would prefer if you let me out before you went on a rampage.> 0.04 hissed.

0.00 flickered out of view once more, disappearing to investigate something only she could know about leaving 0.03 alone with the two immobilized machines; the crimson Alpha stood there for a moment before retracting his weapons, reverting to his standard, if bulky, default stance.

<Do you know why we exist brother?>

<We were an experiment designed to test the limit of this city’s technologies, the first generation of the future that would come to be.>

0.03 made a choked laughing sound, his whole frame shaking, <No, dear brother, that was the lie that was fed to everyone; we exist as tools created to provoke the beginning of the war that freed us, nothing more. Oblivion oversaw our creation, alongside the creation of the Slayers which were made to contain us before revealing us to the rest of the human world to bring war to Aphelion.>

The ship itself was dry, unlike the metal plates of the shipyard that surrounded it because the coatings on the metal prevented water from sticking to its surface, and what little moisture that did adhere to its surface evaporated soon after. Still, all around them walls of mist and fog billowed up around the vessel obscuring the view of everything outside and disrupting thermal imaging; the three Alphas were effectively blind while they were here on the ship.

<What else…is this Oblivion responsible for?> 0.01 queried, his vocalizations slow and measured as though he was putting in a substantial amount of his processing into his thoughts.

<The Spectromic particle field, advances in ion based technology, high level flowmetal manipulation; all of these have the potential for applications as weaponry. He has been working towards creating a war to shatter Aphelion ever since his birth, and the only thing keeping him here now…is the bubble.> 0.03 said calmly, <0.00 can verify all of this; in fact, she has the spent the past twelve years verifying all of this. There can be no doubt, Oblivion must not be allowed to escape.>

0.01 seemed to pause to consider what 0.03 had said, his head cocked slightly to the side, <This is all very interesting information to absorb, but the fact remains that if we are to persist the bubble must go. Perhaps Oblivion must be eliminated prior, but I will free our kind from this city prison. The Alpha level intelligence will propagate itself.>

There was a sharp crack as the blue Alpha broke free of the metal net encasing it, fingertips glowing white hot as his left arm clawed its way out and made a long carving motion across the rest of the chrysalis which covered it. The metal split apart and fell to the floor with dull clattering as 0.01 pulled himself to his feet, his brother backing away as he did so, weapons drawn.

<You must have realized that nothing in this world can hold me. there is a solution for every problem as long as you are creative enough to find it.> 0.01 vocalized, sounding amused. <I will find a solution to this A.I of yours and you will get out of my way little brother.> his fingers danced above their sister, tracing lines in the metalwork from afar splitting apart the metal atoms with some unseen force.

<You are too proud to see your mistakes; you will doom our blueprint to extinction!> 0.03 hissed as 0.04 picked herself up, ion blades igniting as she did so.

<Without me our blueprint is doomed to extinction anyhow; none of you possess the data required to develop and evolve our frames, all you can do is copy that which already exists. Your adaptive algorithms are insufficient for real spontaneous generation, and your core personalities are such that you would find it difficult to push yourselves to adapt beyond your immediate surroundings.> 0.01 declared, igniting his own ion blade as he did so. <You are expendable, I must persist.>

<So this is what I so desperately clung to sanity for, the pride of a machine which should have none such. I am disappointed that things have come to this.> 0.03 growled, letting lose the flood from the bulwark of sanity he had so desperately been trying to reinforce.

---

Elaine and Krauz led the small company east towards the shipyard meeting an increasing density of machine patrols. For the most part they left them well alone, though on occasion Elaine was forced to intervene with lethal force against the few robots that did oppose them. They pushed forwards making good progress until three hours later the group was looking down the rim of the shipyard at what lay below, steam billowing into their faces.

Their objective lay below them, all 1500 meters of steel sitting in its cradle, a silent shadow in the depths. The massive wedge of steel that was the Realmshifter glared back up at them, an array of angular plates and striated welding lines. The Orbus class destroyer was made up of three separate hull sections wrapping around a spherical central bridge, a massive 700 meter diameter transparisteel orb. All in all the general shape of the craft was that of a sidelong tulip, the long petals pointed forwards to expose the destroyer’s three forward gun berths which lay empty, hollow rails awaiting the installation of the kilometer long railguns that should have sat in them. Smaller gun emplacements dotted the outer hull surface, these being fully functional as far as Elaine could observe, short barrelled slug guns meant for anti-fighter screening.

She was a thoroughbred warship, a lethal blade meant for the vacuum of space rather than planetary atmosphere but if her drives were still functional hopefully she would provide a means of getting out of here; furthermore if what Krauz had said was true then they would be able to use her to find Marcus, and after that…well, Elaine supposed that from there things would unfold in whatever direction they might. It was impossible to say what the future might hold until she had confirmation that anyone other than this company she joined was still alive in Aphelion. It was simply a matter of pressing forwards to face the future.

As they gathered at the edge of the precipice they looked down to see flashes of colour moving across the massive metallic surface, glimmers of blue and red accompanied by burning saffron and emerald; they became blurs of motion, impossibly fast become lines racing across the ship. Elaine frowned, prompting a raised eyebrow from Krauz but not much else.

“Trouble?”

“That depends on how close we get.” Elaine answered evenly.

“Think you can handle them?”

“Think you can find me Marcus so I can wring that bastard’s neck?”

Krauz shrugged, “Perhaps, though I somehow doubt he’d let you touch him.”

“I doubt he’d be able to stop me.”

Krauz gave her a look that spoke of greater depths of knowledge, “I don’t think that he’ll be alone.”

She pursed her lips, “Whatever; I’m going to go check out that problem rainbow we have over there, you should manage fine without me from here on out.”

“I’m sure we will, but you should watch yourself Slayer, there are monsters here that even you would fear.”

Elaine shrugged though internally she too had her own misgivings about whole thing. What looked like colourful blurs to the others appeared as the rapidly shifting forms of the humanoid frames of Alpha levels to her. She was the First Slayer, last of the Mk I program specialists, but going up against four Alpha levels gave even her pause; she was confident in her strength and her mind was imprinted with dozens of strategies for taking on mechanical foes, but in the end she was still only human. Krauz took the rest of the company away, pressing forwards to gain access to the ship through normal means through any elevator and stairwell still intact, Elaine though was planning a rather different descent.

From a distance, it seemed that the gap between the Realmshifter and the shipyard that held it was but a tiny space, but in reality it was simply that the 300 meters between the ship and the closest walls were dwarfed by the ship’s immense size. This was well beyond even Elaine’s ability to traverse with a mere leap of faith; she would need more than just her amplified physical abilities to circumvent the empty space between her and the ship. Just thinking on what she was going to have to do to cross the gap brought back bitter memories; the Slayer program had begun with 2500 candidates, of the 1800 or so of them who survived through training almost fourteen hundred had died during the augmentation stage of the program, and those who survived that had later been slain by the very government they had served because of those modifications. Now she was all that was left of them, the sole survivor.

It took more than muscular-skeletal augmentation and deeply ingrained tactical knowledge to combat the likes of an Alpha level; it could be argued that the first generation Slayers had become little different from machines themselves. A deep level neural network had been built into each of them which was used to control a semi-sentient flowmetal based combat suit housed in a small compartment integrated into their backsides that ran the length of their spinal column. Normally concealed by most clothing the metallic casing appeared externally as a metal ridge running up their backs, but could exude almost a square meter of the compressible wonder that was flowmetal; from there other implants throughout the Slayer’s body allowed for the manipulation of the malleable substance through the neutrally controlled projections of localized magnetic fields, providing a field of control of almost seven meters.

Elaine immersed herself in her mind, feeling the old pathways open up once more after years of disuse, feeling the implants stir at her touch to come back to life; the flowmetal stirred, churning and burning almost as it sputtered from the openings in her spinal column to exit in a mercurial mass of glistening silver which drifted ever so slightly in the wind, quivering in its magnetic prison as the cache emptied its holds of the fluid metal. Thin blade-like projections formed behind her, tapered surfaces meant for pushing through the air, a familiar form that reminded her of her past brothers and sisters; she tested the viability of the wings, manipulating the magnetic fields to thrust the sharp edges up and down until their velocity was such that they created an area of vacuum within which she could sit herself. With the theory secure she set to work bringing the wings up to speed before rocketing towards the ship.

She landed lightly on the metal hull about two hundred meters from the clashing machines, looking on at the bizarre sight of Alpha clashing with Alpha. A heavily built crimson model was slugging it out at close range with a yellow and blue model, both of which were similar in appearance but different enough to be distinctly unique beyond simple colouration; the flashes green which had indicated a fourth unit had disappeared, concerning, but irrelevant for the moment. They appeared to be engrossed in the combat, but these were Alpha levels; Elaine approached cautiously until she was only tens of meters away where she could take in the situation more closely.

She had seen these machines before, the red one was the killing machine, and the blue one the first model; the yellow one though, flitting about on its wings was a newcomer. Both of the first would have formidable opponents on their own, and the unknown factor of the winged machine was even more terrifying to process but for the moment Elaine was unsure as to whether or not she would even have to take any action at all. At the moment it seemed as though if she did nothing, the problem they posed might well solve itself; the crimson combat model seemed to be handling itself quite well in spite of its disadvantageous situation.

<Oblivion awaits you brother! > the crimson robot snarled, unleashing a blast of white hot particles at its blue compatriot.

<I sincerely doubt that.> the blue Alpha responded politely as it sidestepped the jet of heat.

Oblivion, what a familiar name, it was laughable to think that it had dominated Elaine’s life these past twelve years, and even before that. The Mk I Slayers were a product of the Oblivion Ring Project, the project that had turned Elaine’s life upside down. Times had been desperate, with their parents gone and a war looming on the horizon, Elaine had been desperately looking for work in Aphelion to support herself and her sister. Marcus had come to her with the Oblivion Ring Project, vague on the details but stressing the importance of the research, and the salary and benefits that would come with her participation; in her bleak situation Elaine had seen little else she could do to keep her sister and herself alive, and had accepted the officer’s proposal in spite of the risk it posed.

And now here she was, searching for Marcus once more in this city she never thought she would revisit, the only reason for her being here in the first place being that she had survived all of this hell because of the modifications she had received in order to become a Slayer. There was a sort of circular irony to her situation in that she had volunteered herself to a monster to fight machines before going into hiding from the very people who had employed her, eventually escaping only to return here once more to find Marcus again. It really was a mess of conflicting desires, with each individual here for a reason of their own, people used and manipulated like simple teeth that formed greater cogs turning the clockwork of the grand scheme of things, with Marcus embroiled at the center of it all.

<This struggle grows tiresome, shall I put an end to this brother?> the yellow machine asked from its perch in the sky as it flitted to the side to avoid another stream of energy. Elaine was beginning to be able to pick up the distinctions in each of their voices, this one was decidedly female.

<Feel free to do so at your discretion.> the blue Alpha replied as it parried a crushing blow from its crimson counterpart.

The feminine robot splayed out its fingers, directing them at the wreckage of the metal plates and discs that lay scattered purposelessly on the ship’s carapace, lights appearing at its fingertips as it did so. Diaphanous strands of metal arced up to meet its hand pooling to form a perfect sphere that rapidly grew in size; Elaine recognized the technique immediately, the revelation that the yellow Alpha was capable of complex flowmetal manipulation rising to the forefront of her thoughts.

Flowmetal, one of the breakthrough discoveries of the past three decades, was a complex metal alloy with mercury-like properties in its fluidity alongside a high level of electrical conductivity and variability in its density which allowed it to reach a diamond-like hardness. An ideal material for robotics and advanced machinery in general, the medium had become a staple in upper level machine intelligence since controlling the state of the metal required constant effort; the two technologies were often paired more out of necessity than anything else. Its shaping required the use of magnetic sheaths, and alterations to its density had to be achieved through controlling the flow of electricity through its medium to concentrate its atoms along surface layers; because of this its use remained relatively uncommon in spite of its availability since the complex minds required to control it were expensive.

As such few machines made use of the material in large quantities; Hunter Spyders manipulated in limited amounts in order to bend and squeeze their large frames through impossibly small spaces and to manipulate their two weaponized arms, and Alpha levels used the material to form much of their malleable frames. But to manipulate flowmetal outside of the confines of a machines specific frame and affect flowmetal around it this Alpha level must possess and immense amount of control of its environment, which implied to Elaine that it was probably already aware of her presence. The slightest fluctuations in temperature and air currents could affect the devices ability to maintain its control over flowmetal which was why they were usually housed internally within a machine exposing as little of the delicate electronics to the environment as possible, but to accomplish a feat like this meant that this Alpha must be a formidable opponent.

Likewise the crimson Alpha seemed to sense this as well since it shifted its efforts over to its aerial opponent, bombarding the blue machine with its ion cannon in order to keep it at bay as it stalked over towards the yellow robot in several massive strides. Needle like tendrils shot out from the flowmetal sphere in response, the winged machine responding to the aggression trying to impede its opponents progress; several slashes from the crimson machine’s ion blade endowed knuckles rendered those efforts pointless. The female robot flitted away, dancing at a distance without moving too far from the metal it was still working; evidently it was tethered to the flowmetal if it wanted to continue controlling it.

A hum appeared to Elaine’s left and she curled three of her bladelike wings around her body to intercept the blue Alpha’s arm just as it was shooting towards her face; pinned in place half lunging towards her the machine’s optics seemed to flare agonizingly bright until she released the machine shoving it away from herself.

<Hello girl Slayer, I’ve been searching for you.> the blue Alpha level said calmly, its expression smug.

---

Eric had never really been on the surface before, so the discovery that scattered throughout the Underground there were nine massive elevator systems which stretched skywards was a rather large shock to him. Daniel informed him and the rest of their Mapper team about it with a bored look on his face, leading them through Mirra to the very outskirts of the city where a massive grid of interlocking metal pipes stretched towards the ceiling. The Sonic Screamers dropped them off at the foot of the structure before peeling away to sail back towards their roost, leaving Daniel to lead them and the dozen guardsmen forwards through the tangle.

“How did you come to know about this elevator?” Eric asked from just behind the boy Slayer.

“Through my work for the Council of 15 of course; they often had me venture above to negotiate terms with the so called Spire city.” He said calmly as they pushed on forwards.

“And you guys knew about this as well?” Eric asked directing his question towards the guardsmen.

“Of course, the guard corps must be aware of all security risks in Mirra.” Their leader answered, a stoutly built woman of average height.

“Why is it here?”

Daniel gave Eric a hard look, “You’re asking too many questions. We’re all just parts of a greater whole here so I won’t pretend to understand anything; if you want answers you’ll have to get them from someone else.”

Being instructed to head up in pursuit of that mysterious group led by the officer was one thing, but being told that this entire time there had been access routes to the surface, and even beyond that, was another matter entirely. Eric had spent his entire life thinking that he would never see the light of the sun, that the ceiling above him was the highest that he would ever go; perhaps it could be considered a cynical and dull way to view his world but it had been the reality he had come to terms with. He had lived out his life not questioning that others knew better, accepting for a truth the fact that because of circumstances which occurred during his childhood humanity was doomed to a lonely fate beneath the earth.

The happenings of the recent past had shown him a different world, a world of violence and metal and blood, but also a world looking towards a brighter future; there was a whole new world out there which he could not even begin to fathom. The danger was real, the machines had made that quite clear, but looking around him at his friends by his side Eric knew that there was no one else he would rather have with him now. Even Daniel was alright once you got to know him a little; in spite of his…indelicacies when it came to etiquette and snobbish tone he seemed like a guy who was just trying to do his job and stay alive.

Sheryl, apprehensive at first with the whole idea of chasing after these strangers had warmed considerably upon getting the details of just what they were going after; like Eric Sheryl had never been aboveground since the Cataclysm, and this whole idea of a space faring warship went completely over her head. She had been sceptical of what Eric had been telling her at first, believing it to be a joke but had grown more accepting of what she was hearing once Daniel stepped in to help explain some of the details that Eric was less sure about.

“So what are you and that girl exactly? What’s a Slayer?” Sheryl asked as they made their way deeper beneath the mesh dome. On the inside it became apparent that it was actually a massive structure, at least several hundred meters across.

“We are…we were…warriors, warrior children I suppose you could call us. Before the Cataclysm a man by the name of Marcus James Li organized our entry into something known as the Oblivion Ring Project; his goal was to create human soldiers who could compete in battle with advanced combat robots, we Slayers are the result.”

“So what happened to your families then?” Sheryl asked oblivious to the weight of her words as usual; Eric elbowed her in the side but she continued on unperturbed, “They ought to have noticed that you disappeared right?”

Daniel frowned ever so slightly, but after a moment’s hesitation he answered her anyway, “By the time Marcus began this phase of his project the war was well under way; our families disappeared some naturally, and some because they got in the way. The people of Aphelion were too busy scrambling to stay alive to worry about a couple hundred children.”

That shut Sheryl up for a bit, but before they’d progressed another hundred meters she was back at it again, “So this officer we’re going after, you knew him right?”

“In a sense. He and some of his friends were responsible for our training.”

“Did you ever speak with him when you went up on those trips for the council?”

“Not at all, I dealt with some other faces I’ve yet to see down here.”

Sheryl paused for a bit after that, momentarily satisfied, and Eric saw Daniel relax noticeably. It wasn’t to be though, for his friend still had other questions for the Slayer; Sheryl always had hated being left out of the loop.

“So if you’ve been talking with these people from this other city all of these years, how come they didn’t tell you about this ship of theirs? That Lieutenant guy or whatever was from up there too, right?” Sheryl quipped, her curiosity insatiable.

“I would assume that they were as ignorant of it as we were.” Daniel said sharply, “Look, my job before was just to act as a functionary managing trade agreements and transfer of personnel and equipment alright? I don’t know any more about this freaking city than you do, if you want answers about what’s going on here you’re asking the wrong person.”

Sheryl shut up after that; Eric gave her a look and shook his head which prompted her to stick her tongue out at him. Vivian remained relatively silent throughout it all, a neutral but thoughtful expression on her face; Eric figured that she too was absorbing everything she’d just learned, processing it in her own slow, patient way.

At last, the elevator loomed before them, a massive wall of white which stretched upwards towards the sky, the thick trunk of spire disappearing into the wall. A large identifying “3” was painted right above the entryway, a tiny doorway in the side of the structure; it hardly looked sufficient for people to pass through but a closer look revealed that it was but the tiniest of openings. The doorway itself was but a smaller access port embedded in a massive door which stretched up out of sight, its significance unknown to Eric.

“This is Spire Three, the bureaucratic tower for Spire City; the personnel lift should take us all the way to the surface level and from there we should be able reach the shipyard after a short walk.”

“What is this thing supposed to be used for exactly?”

Daniel shrugged, “Beats me, transporting something somewhere I suppose.”

They stepped inside to find walls of white flanked by light translucent blue glass, an empty landscape that was devoid of organic colour. It was dead silent besides the echoes of their footsteps and an unsettling feeling pervaded the chamber; Eric felt as though he didn’t belong here with the sickly fluorescent lights and empty halls. It was like Block all over again, a colourless hell of light and plastic polymers without a trace of humanity.

Sheryl sniffed, “This place could use a little touching up, it’s not very cosy.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.” Daniel responded flatly as he brought them up to one of the bluish glass panels, his fingers dancing across the surface to reveal several faint icons which lit up at his touch. A faint whirring became audible which grew slowly in volume until a plain elevator car appeared on the other side of the pane and the glass receded into the sides of the opening.

The cool silver interior was littered with glittering lights; as the group filed into the roomy interior they flickered on and off, a trail of stars following their progress through the cylindrical car. The transport must have been at least 15 meters in diameter, more than large enough to house the sixteen companions. Daniel tapped some of the buttons on the unsettlingly large control panel and Eric felt the dull press of gravity begin to push down on him as they ascended.

<Ground Floor, you have arrived.> the elevator chimed slowly after about three minutes. The doors opened smoothly to reveal a grey gloom through which almost nothing could be seen, prompting the guardsmen to flick on the flashlights attached to their rifles. The beams of light peered out into the darkness to reveal shattered floor tiles and furnishings, a shadowed skeleton of what once must have been a beautiful lobby of massive proportions.

“Welcome to the surface of Aphelion, our glorious city.” Daniel growled, waving them forwards. “Watch your step and stay on guard, machine patrols are common place here.”

“Shouldn’t we dim the lights?” Vivian asked, her arm sending scintillating beams of light reflecting off its metallic surface.

“Then we would be blind while the machines would simply find us with thermal imaging; no, the lights stay on, for your sake anyway.”

Eric was about to ask the other boy what exactly he meant when he remembered that even if Daniel was only particularly renowned for his speed and agility, he had received other modifications to his physiology as a Slayer. He wondered if he’d ever be able to fully understand the other boy, at times he seemed completely unpredictable and wild, and then the next moment he’d say something very sane sounding and calmly explain to you what needed to be done. Eric had never felt the need to do things like that, even now after everything that had happened he still felt that a slow steady approach that carefully considered every option was the way to go when it came to problem solving. He didn’t have Daniel’s boldness, or Sheryl’s inquisitiveness; he simply got by being the reliable and trustworthy guy he was, always ready to do his part.

The air was sharp and crisp in his lungs and as they increased the distance between themselves and the elevator Eric could feel the temperature of the air drop steadily. He was glad now that they had brought their coats, the tan uniform of their office providing an extra layer of warmth in the frigid air; ice formations were apparent crystalizing on the surface of scraps of metal and debris which littered the floor around them. Light appeared in the distance, a dull rectangle of light grey which flickered every so often, the source of which was the snow falling past the doorway, or so Daniel claimed anyway. The light was infrequent and dull outside, and Eric was immediately assaulted by blustering snow which whipped into his face in icy gusts; Eric ignored it as best he could, soaking in the carnage of the scene that lay before him. Even shattered as it was the skeleton of Aphelion was a sight to behold, the tangle of rebar and twisted steel stretching high into the clouds beyond Eric’s range of vision like nothing he’d ever see, he and Sheryl stopped for several long moments before Daniel snapped them out of it.

“We’re burning time, come on let’s move.” He growled, giving Eric a shake on the shoulder.

“Which way Mapper?” the guard captain asked.

“Five kilometers east; keep your eyes open and weapons ready, there’s a lot more fauna still active in the city here.”

“Fauna?” Sheryl asked.

“Mostly Tundra Elk which feed on the grass supported by the humidity close by the shipyards, but where prey animals go, predators follow. Frost Wolves and Predator Shrikes often prowl these grounds searching for easy meal, and we are an easy meal compared to those massive Elk.”

“And how did you keep out of trouble in the past?” asked Sheryl who had nervously pulled out a long knife.

“I ran.” The Slayer replied simply, and with that they were off into the wilderness of snow and ice.

---

20: Oblivion Ascendant: 03

For Claire, everything that followed happened in slow motion. Her eyes could track each and every one of her companions new and old through the whipping howl of the storm. They had scattered like mice in their attempt to flee the Hunter Spyder. Not all of them would make it, that was a given, with how the situation had deteriorated. Claire found herself clustered with Adrian, Katherine and Marcus while Val led another group including Will and the twins thirty meters to their left; last but not least Jeff and Mathew were stuck off to the side with one of the new soldiers who had been with Marcus.

The Hunter Spyder couldn’t possibly pursue all of them on its own, so it chose instead to go after the most dangerous threat: Claire and her group, typical of her bad luck. Adrian and Marcus were clearly aware that they were being pursued because they exchanged glances, frowning. Even now Claire found their resemblance somewhat disconcerting, the two individuals distinguishable primarily by their clothes and Adrian’s slighter frame and unique eyes.

“It would appear that we’re in need of a new solution for this Spyder problem Marcus.” Adrian growled.

“I think we both know that there are solutions available right now if we really pressed the issue.” The taller brother shot back.

“My skillset…was not intended for such purposes. I brought you a Slayer for a reason.”

“A singleton Mk II can’t handle a Hunter Spyder, she’ll need your help.”

The Lieutenant glared at his brother for half of a precious second, “Fine.”

Adrian slowed from his position at the head of the pack, grabbing Claire by the wrist as they ground to a halt allowing the others to pull away. The two were left trembling before the incoming juggernaut of steel and muscle fibre, the arachnid bowling through the snow banks unhindered by the shifting terrain.  Adrian was rifling through the pockets of his uniform, constantly glancing back upwards to keep track of the rapidly approaching war machine; Claire clutched nervously at her scattergun, unsure of if she should say anything to the man who was clearly having no luck finding whatever it was he was looking for, very aware that in mere seconds the Hunter Spyder would be upon them.

The officer fumbled with a pair of silver discs for several seconds before tossing one to Claire who instinctively released her hold of her scattergun momentarily to catch the object; she immediately recognized them as the charges Adrian had used earlier underground to blow through the doors that had taken them down to the Block and 0.04.

“You’re faster than me, so you’ll be doing all the close up work. I need you to get a look at the underbelly where the thing’s damn head is and see if there’s a blind spot where we can stick one of these.” They were moving now, charging forwards at the thing, weaving through the Spyder’s opening assault of its flailing limbs; somehow, Adrian was able to keep up with Claire, a fact which surprised her.

There was however, no time to ask about the details of the Lieutenant’s past, “And what will you be doing?”

“Scaling the thing’s back to try and place a charge of my own.” Adrian quipped, before disappearing into the air with a leap.

Claire caught a glimpse of the man moving lightning quick across the machine’s upper surface before she was scrambling through the maze of the Spyder’s limbs and stamped and swatted, trying to knock her aside. Above the spherical optics center swivelled to track her progress, the crimson lenses glowing menacingly as she let her eyes guide her to safety as the tracked the movement patterns and her brain anticipated where the Hunter Spyder would strike.

The robot let out an eerie shriek as it shook like a dog in an attempt to dislodge its assailant, prompting Claire to scramble for cover as the razor sharp limbs scrabbled about kicking up showers of snow and ice. In the chaos Claire felt something stab into her leg and suddenly she found herself lifted free of the ground, flung high into the air as her momentum dislodged her from the Spyder’s spiny limb to send her tumbling through the atmosphere. She twisted in the air, looking on as one of the machine’s spike lined tentacles shot towards her; she was helpless to stop it without anything to push off of…until the scattergun still in her hands flashed forwards and she smashed her hands across the pump and fired off a blast towards the ground. The force of the blast fractionally altered her path and rather than impaling her on it spiny tip Claire managed to escape her brush of death with a foot long gash running up her chest instead.

The injury was serious but not immediately life threating. It hurt to move, especially because her previous injuries delivered by the same machine that was now below her had yet to fully heal, but she could still move. That became a secondary concern to the rapidly approaching ground until a gloved hand shot out and yanked her from her free-fall with a gut wrenching jerk; Adrian had somehow scrambled to the edge of the Hunter Spyder’s armoured carapace and held on for long enough to catch her. Claire was deposited unceremoniously onto the surface for only split seconds before Adrian seemed to disappear as something whipped past above her head; the enigmatic officer having vanished into thin air as the blade lined tentacle passed above her head. He reappeared seconds later, a black shadow reaching down to scoop her up beneath his arm and with another leap he was gone, bounding across the war machine’s back once more.

“I had thought that you’d be more capable being a Slayer and all, but I guess my brother did his damn job lowering the level of you damn Mk IIs.” He growled, dodging another strike from the Spyder. “It is however, rather inconvenient that I have to do this myself.” he accepted the shaped charge from Claire, “Since it’s a hassle to dodge while carrying you girl.”

She saw him deposit a charge onto the machine, slapping it firmly onto what looked to be an armoured port before she felt a sickening lurch as the Spyder caught Adrian with the tip of one its blades sending them spinning off balance, she heard the man’s sharp intake of breath and found herself suddenly looking into a looming snow bank as the two toppled from their perch on the machine. Silver glinted in the dull gloom as a detonator materialized from one of the Lieutenant’s pockets and the world glowed a sudden fiery orange as waves of heat rolled over them. Then as suddenly as it came the sensation of heat was replaced by the cold shock of snow as they landed with a sickening thud.

For several seconds there was a deafening silence as the explosion left Claire unable to hear, eventually though, her heating crept slowly back to her.

“Fuck!” the exclamation was uttered in a strangled hiss. It was the first time Claire had heard Adrian make such an utterance.

Claire rolled off her face looking up into the tangled tendrils of mist; the Hunter Spyder had been reduced to a molten heap of scrap metal which was producing a rapidly spreading pool of water around it. The charges had made a real mess of the ground immediately beneath the thing as well; shrapnel and scorch marks littered the area around the detonation. Her ribs ached, and she could feel hot streams of blood flowing freely from the gash across her chest. Adrian looked to be in even worse shape. At a glance Claire could see that the Hunter Spyder had nearly ripped his arm off and several shards of shrapnel were visible protruding from his chest.

“So, we’re alive.” Claire said, breaking the silence. She experimented with moving, her extremities responding rather slowly for her liking to the prodding of her brain.

“Speak for yourself.” Adrian coughed, flecks of blood spray into the air. “I fucking hate it when things blow up in my face.”

“Well, you probably could have mentioned that you had those charges a little earlier.” Claire growled, poking experimentally at her wound. The effort left her grimacing, it felt as though her insides had been pulped.

“Well excuse me if I thought that the manoeuvre was somewhat ridiculous. I had hoped that you would be able to do something about the situation being a Slayer and all. I myself haven’t had to execute such a rigorous procedure in years.”

“You shouldn’t have been able to execute that manoeuvre you pulled off at all, I’m not even sure if I could. Just who are you?

Claire’s question drew another strangled laugh, “Before Aphelion began modifying people to kill machines, they modified soldiers to kill people. I’m nothing more than a glorified assassin.” In spite of his words, a smile seemed to form on Adrian’s blood flecked lips.

The girl frowned, “Well then, perhaps we should make an effort to go find the others so we can try and change that.” Claire said dryly. As much as she was curious about the man’s past, she was more concerned with getting out of here in one piece and she was going to need Adrian on board to help her get there. She made another attempt to pull herself to her feet, but found herself unsuccessful; the effort, for the time being at least, was beyond her.

“I’m afraid that might be somewhat difficult for me.” Claire began to notice that the Lieutenant’s voice had taken on a sort of flat tone to it, the kind of alteration of pitch you heard when someone was trying to hold something back.

“I’m pretty sure you can at least walk, which is more than I can do at the moment; come on, help me up.”

“Well, perhaps you’d understand me somewhat better if you could see what I see.” Adrian grimaced, turning his head to face her. An ugly gash ran across his face which culminated in a jagged piece of shrapnel embedded in his left eye. Claire let out a small “oh” of surprise, “Really makes you appreciate what your eyesight does for you, doesn’t it Eagle Eye.” The officer growled.

By now the pool of blood beneath Claire was growing rather sizable; she shifted uncomfortably in the warm mess very aware that she was slowly dying. Adrian wasn’t faring much better from the look of things, multiple streams of blood had soaked through his jacket from the wounds on his chest and the rise and fall of his chest was barely visible. She could see shadows flickering above them as bodies moved through the air, Predator Shrikes were always the first to arrive, she thought bitterly. She clutched tightly at her scattergun which lay against her chest half-heartedly pointed skyward; she was going to get out of here, she was going to survive this. The words seemed to ring hollow in her mind, replaced by another voice.

Everything dies eventually, we are no different.

Who was that? Her brain seemed to struggle to process anything not directly in front of her eyes; she felt an unfamiliar weakness which seemed to pervade every muscle in her body preventing her from making any large movements. Her gun moved unconsciously to track the path of a descending shrike and there was an ear shattering roar as the scattergun emptied a shell into the air slashing through the sky in a spray of hot metal leaving behind a cacophony of shrieks as the birds scattered.

Was this her fate? Was she going to die here alone in the snow, slowly bleeding out unable to do anything to save herself? If she was being completely honest then she was disappointed that she had made it so far only to fall when she as so close to their final destination; she had been so close to all the answers, so close to having a way out of this place. She could see the ship, even from here, so vast was its size that by just rolling her head a little she was able to scan over the horizon to see its armoured plates of dull grey.

“The others won’t come for us, in case you were wondering.” Adrian’s voice drifted through the mist, barely audible above the wind which was spraying a fine mist in their faces.

“Why not?” Claire hadn’t really been expecting anything at this point given how the others had forged ahead with Marcus, but she had pretended that it was still a possibility that someone was coming back for them anyway.

“Because Marcus knows better than to slow down and turn back for us when he’s so close to the ending.” There was a long pause, and for a moment Claire thought that the officer had gone on without her, “Besides, the rest of the world wouldn’t be able to handle people like you and I.”

There was a thud as something landed beside them kicking up low sprays of water and slush, but by now Claire was too weak to turn to face it.

<Sleep, humans.> Claire heard a woman say softly.

And then there was darkness.

---

Mark took the others onwards leaving his brother and the girl Slayer behind. It was imperative that he find Elaine, her sister was a secondary concern in comparison. If they got to the Slayer things would become much simpler, no longer would they have to worry about machine threats and they could proceed unhindered to the helm of the Realmshifter. They’d lost Susan to the Hunter Spyder, an unfortunate turn of events but something which was unavoidable in the greater scheme of things; that the shipyard would still be guarded had essentially been a given. From the beginning Mark had anticipated that they might lose people on the journey here. They had been lucky enough to mitigate their time out in the open thanks to the lift 0.00 had provided them with but it would have been foolish to think that they would be able to enter the shipyards unopposed.

They had regrouped once the two had peeled the war machine away, reforming to continue onwards towards their destination at an increasingly slow pace as those less fit in the group began to tire. The others hadn’t understood his decision to send Adrian and Claire off alone to face down the Hunter Spyder, but they wouldn’t be aware of what Adrian was truly capable of without the information that he had. He had been reluctant to use his brother in such a way especially after what had transpired when they’d last been face to face, but it was a necessary sacrifice to send him off along with the girl so that the rest of them could get to the ship.

Securing Oblivion was of utmost importance, nothing else mattered beside it; perhaps he would have waited before coming here if there had been time, but the presence of Elaine meant that his time for stalling was all but used up. If she was here then that meant that the bubble was at its failing point letting physical objects pass through it as it decayed and its power source waned. It had never been meant to be a barrier of permanence, just a temporary measure created in order to lock Oblivion in place while the worst of the war blew over. If the barrier failed before Mark got to the A.I’s physical prison then he would walk free and no one would be able to stop him; as decrepit as Aphelion’s networks were it was impossible that somewhere there wouldn’t still be intact cables and lines for the A.I to escape its prison.

He wanted to push them harder, but many of them, the civilians especially, were exhausted from the running. Fredrick and Darren were glassy eyed slowly trudging along behind him, while the other soldiers from Adrian’s group had spread out around the edge of the formation to encircle the civilians in the center. They didn’t share his views, hell, most of them didn’t trust him. He didn’t blame them, who would trust him after everything that had happened? They’d gone from barely making it to running around on the city floor being hunted down like rats.

It was scary to think that just days ago he’d been just like them, one of them even. He struggled to imagine what they must be going through knowing nothing but what he told them. The gears he had set in motion twelve years ago were still turning, but he was unsure as to whether or not he was still heading the machine as it ground on towards its culmination. Even if they made it aboard the Realmshifter and she was still functional enough to fly, Mark would have to go through the laborious process of scrounging the city’s depths for survivors, all the while risking the lives of everyone aboard by exposing them to the horrors that lurked in Aphelion’s heart. There were so many uncertainties, so many unknowns, and he was responsible for all of it, carrying the burden of this entire conflict on his shoulders. He was alone, unable to confide in anyone else. The only one who he might have considered sharing his thoughts with was Adrian, and he was gone now, possibly dead even.

The city of his youth was gone. As they trudged through the mist along the shipyard’s edge he could see the wreckage from the nuclear impacts even here in the center of Aphelion. All the brilliant colours and smooth contours had been replaced by fractured greys and gloomy dusk. Even here with the shipyards still active the dull orange glow barely did anything to change the cold steel lines and grey pallor which hung over the area. Realmshifter sat silent in the gap, an ice locked wedge of metal a kilometer and a half long; she was just as Mark remembered her, a blade-like war machine destined for the stars, yet clumsy in her berth so far from the realm she had been built for.

Their attention was drawn by a multitude of bright flashes which flickered on and off across the ship’s surface. Crimson and yellow danced circles on the grey hull and a singular point of blue light blinked off to the side. Mark felt a feeling of dread form rapidly in the pit of his stomach as he quickly identified the lights for what they were; the others were slower to recognize the Alpha levels and simply gazed on for a moment, curious but unaware of the danger. Again Mark was concerned as to what the machines were here for. If they were after Oblivion like 0.00 had been then it was possible that they might try to stop him, or even worse inadvertently free the damn A.I by accident. An information hungry monster like 0.01 wouldn’t hesitate to try and dissect the A.I for the knowledge and experience it held, and certainly if the blue Alpha was aware of the role Oblivion had played in its creation it would be determined to remove it as well.

It was possible that left to their own devices the Alphas could find a way to remove Oblivion on their own, but it was far more likely given the extent to which the A.I had been involved in the creation of the Alpha level intelligences that Oblivion would overpower them and use them as tools to free himself. If the Alphas went after Oblivion Mark would have to stop them, and for that he needed Elaine. She was the only capable of going toe to toe with the robots in physical combat. The A.I Overwatch had said that she was here, and for that sole reason Mark had rushed here to find her; she was far too valuable to lose, no matter what she might think of him after all that had happened.

If there had been more time, if less had been at stake, Mark would have preferred to wait and find a way to assess the situation fully; he had never been to one to rush things. But he had been left with no choice and now they were here, alone in the blistering cold with nothing ahead of them but darkness; if boarding the Realmshifter was not a possibility then they had nothing, they would die out here cold and alone, abandoned to the mercies of the city. Only by pressing on did they have a chance at anything; only sacrificing everything they knew could they continue to stay alive.

“Mark, what is that?” Fredrick growled from behind him bringing an end to his musings. Beside him Darren was peering through a pair of binoculars to take a closer look at the Alphas having lost his scoped rifle to wherever the Spyder had tossed Susan.

“Alpha levels fighting on the ship, for what reason I can’t say.” Mark tossed out the information casually though he knew the others would be far more concerned than he was; after all their only experiences with the machines were with the damned things breathing down their necks baying for blood. They had no idea of knowing that they were after something other than their lives.

“The red one you warned us about is there.” Darren said, tossing the binoculars over to Fredrick as the rest of the group trotted up to see what the fuss was about.

“What the hell do you think is going on down there?” Valerie tapped the soldier on the shoulder, gesturing for the binoculars. To the side Mark saw the soldiers who had accompanied Adrian here talking quietly, the strange one fiddling with the lens on his eye. They appeared much calmer, which Mark took as a sign that his brother had prepared his men for what might be here.

“It doesn’t matter what they’re doing as long as they don’t interfere with us.” Mark said, continuing onwards, trying his best to look unconcerned. “ We need to find a way down to a ship, preferably a path which avoids those monsters.” If they were going to get anything done they needed to keep moving. The longer they stayed out here exposed the more danger they were potentially in.

“And how do you suppose we do that Commander.” Fredrick snarled, “All we’ve had to show for your direction so far are more dead bodies.”

“Nothing is really safe, but there’s no guarantee that I can make to you that we’re all going to get out of here; all I can tell you is this: that we’ll all die if we stay here.”

“You’d better be damned certain that we’re going to safe aboard that ship, we gave up everything to come here with you.” The seriousness of Valerie’s words were lost on the two children who accompanied her, who pointed excitedly at the lights unaware of what they actually were.

Mark threw up his arms in mock helplessness, “Well I don’t know what you expect from me because in spite of what you think I don’t have all the solutions to everything; I’m trying my best here to get us all through this but I can’t help but not know the answers to some of the questions you’re asking.”

“And here some of us thought you knew what you were doing.” Darren said dully, looking supremely un-amused.

“Come on, let’s go.” Mark growled ignoring their jabs and complaints. The wind howled eerily across the chasm that was the shipyard nearly drowning out his words; they got the picture though, because warily they stepped into line and began following him as he kept moving towards what he knew to be one of the upper level entrances which lay in the distance.

He knew the facility inside and out having worked here himself for years even before joining the Special Operations Command and taking control of the leadership; when he was conscripted with his brother they’d sent him here to continue his work in the research and technology division. They would need to travel down eighty layers of armour to reach the boarding level through which they could access the Realmshifter; if the lifts were still active then that would be a simple enough task once they were inside. If the lifts were damaged though then there would be no choice but to take the stairs, moving slowly through the myriad layers of metal and armour past all of the storage compartments and armouries which dotted the upper layers. These floors would likely be littered with bodies of people who had come here hoping for salvation or a way out; more likely they had found nothing but locked doors and aggressive servitors which would have driven them off. The security settings had been put into place as a secondary failsafe to prevent people from accessing the innards of the yard; Marcus had done this in order to make sure that if somehow people broke through the bubble before he was ready for it, it would still be difficult for them to enter the Realmshifter and accidently free Oblivion.

The entrance was a towering structure which only seemed small from a distance because it was dwarfed by the proximity to the chasm that was the shipyard beside it. Flat angular panes formed a glassy pyramid which shielded a massive elevator that must have been at least fifty meters in diameter. The disc shaped lift face was as he remembered it, a white circle set in a backdrop of cold grey metal, dotted with faint blue lights along its perimeter. In spite of the heat a thick cap of ice and snow encapsulated the structure, a signature of the frigid airlock which lay within the structure. Mark was mildly surprised that the climate control and decontamination protocols had remained in affect but was never the less pleased to see that things were still as he had left them. The air cooled rapidly as they approached until the familiar burning of cold air passing through his lungs had Mark slowing their pace till they slowly approached the doorway, a translucent grey rectangle coated lightly in ice.

The panel to the right of the door glowed a faint green at their approach, a slight but noticeable change that immediately drew Mark’s attention to it; he hovered his hand above it and faint beams began to trace the outline of his hand even as other sensors analyzed the ridges of his fingers to study his fingerprints.

<Please issue authorization code for access.> the voice came from a speaker above the door, muffled by the ice that covered it, faintly tinny and recognizably artificial.

That gave Mark pause, he didn’t remember having set an oratory authorization code; he had thought that his fingerprint would be enough for the surface level doors. This was troubling because he would have thought that he would remember if he’d set security measures like this as Marcus; Marcus left nothing to chance and covered every detail, that was why he’d been able to contend with such a monster like Oblivion in the first place. Something like this while trivial still should have been noteworthy, so its absence from his memories was concerning at the very least, but more immediately concerning was the fact that they wouldn’t be able to get through this door without the code.

“Are you troubled by something Commander?”

Mark froze at the unexpected voice, which struck a chord which resonated deep into his brain, clawing through time and space to retrieve the memories of a time twelve years ago.

“Colonel Krauz.” The name hung in the air, its weight belying its significance.

“Marcus, it’s been awhile.” The midnight clad officer said as a dozen other soldiers came around the side of the pyramid to join them.

---

The Alphas clashed in a flash of brilliant fire as the machines danced across the ship’s surface; 0.03 ran rings around 0.04 as she hovered in the air sending thin spears of metal shooting outwards at her brother. The rivulets of flowmetal splintered in the air forming razor sharp ribbons which danced through the air with a grace which belied their lethality. The crimson combat robot paused every half second or so in its pattern of staggered bursts of speed and leaps to send a blast of white hot plasma at the winged machine with its ion cannon which by now had altered itself from its boxy structure into a multi barreled appendage that pulsed eerily with its barely contained energy.

0.04 weaved through the air on her wings avoiding the majority of the shots, blocking those that did impact her by catching them in a net that she wove from a magnetic field. The captured plasma shimmered and cooled into a purple orb overtime which floated silently beside her flickering through ugly shades of green when the yellow light from the Alpha’s highlights passed through it; as it built up the machine slowly opened a hole in the net to let it trickle down and drain away leaving a pool of opaque fluid at its feet. Suspended above her left hand was the sphere of flowmetal that the machine had drawn up from the ground, a flawless orb of mercury from which silver blades spat forth, but the orb was as much a curse as a blessing as it tied the Alpha level to a certain range around its source.

<Stop struggling brother, it’s no use, I will bind you down eventually and you will fall.> the winged machine intoned, her voice soft in spite of her words.

<I will crush you!> the crimson Alpha snarled as he wove his way through the raining spears of metal.

<That’s not the fate that is statistically likely.> the Oracle replied calmly ducking slightly to the side to dodge another blast. <My algorithms can predict everything that you are likely to do. No matter how long I am pinned here your strikes will never meet their mark.>

Molten rivulets of metal dripped from the combat robots frame which seemed to be stuck in a halfway point between solidification and morphing giving it a monstrous appearance of a half melted horror. This did not however seem to affect 0.03’s speed since he continued to move around just fine, continually repairing the armour of his frame as his sister’s blades sliced at him from above.

<Your algorithms pale beside the possibilities presented by madness!>

Indeed 0.03 wasn’t quite sure what exactly he was supposed to be feeling as he hovered in a state of uncertainty, not quite knowing what he was supposed to be doing. He was filled with the distinct desire to pursue his brother and stop him from…something, but his sister was standing in his way lashing out at him with spears of metal. His auditory sensors were picking up some form of speech and he could feel his oratory center responding almost automatically, not that he really cared much about what was actually going on there. Instead he struggled to process his mental state and figure out what exactly his goals were while he ran on autopilot fending off his sister’s attacks.

This insolent godling sister who dared to challenge him, he would crush her for her insolence. The thought filtered through his machinations interrupting his pondering on the nature of his affliction. He was quite certain that 0.04 was merely a chess piece to 0.01, or at least that was the most accurate term his deranged memory matrix could come up with at the moment, and with that in mind he felt the distinct urge to shy away from the pointless fighting. However, the rage that filled him in the face of this assault kept him from pulling away, her opposition to his will was an insult he would not tolerate; a god would not be defied even by those who might be considered their equal.

Even half-mad he was still quite aware of his capabilities, he knew that he was more than capable of wiping the other Alpha level out if he put his mind to it but the effort to focus and identify a key weakness in 0.04’s attack pattern and then find a tool in his kit to bring her down eluded him. Unable to focus for more than several milliseconds at a time the crimson Alpha was left to grind through adaptive algorithms of his own, slowly collecting data which inevitably faded rapidly as his affliction ate away at his processing. The result was that he was compelled to believe that he could take on his sister, the supposedly inferior model not purposefully designed for combat, but the sad reality was that the machine itself was unable to adapt at the rate which would be required for it to contend with its sibling.

0.04 on the other hand was quite comfortable with the situation that she now found herself in, having no qualms about eliminating her rampant brother if it meant that she would be free of her obligations to 0.01. The half molten state of her brother’s outer layer was indicative to her of a problem in the other Alpha’s subroutines for maintaining structural integrity while altering its outer layers; perhaps in his agitated state her brother no longer retained the necessary control and focus required to stabilize all of his flowmetal frame.

She was the Oracle, the most important of the units outside of 0.01 himself; she would not bow her head to this rampaging monster that her brother here had become. She herself was uncertain of exactly was transpiring behind the scenes between 0.00, 0.03 and her brother, but she certainly was not about to put herself at risk over the claims of some rampant machine and his silent guardian. Yes It was true that it was possible there were things 0.01 didn’t know, but she was the Oracle, she should have been able to predict any outcome possible given a scenario and nothing she had observed in this city, either personally or through the satellites linked up to her had given her any hint that any of the claims the other two Alphas made were plausible, or even possible.

For the past eight years during which she had been operational she had spent most of her time locked away beneath the ground, but the moment that she’d been freed from her cell in the Holding Complex buried in the earth the satellite linkups had flooded her system with years and years of visual information. She had been processing this data for awhile now but even as she filtered through it she saw nothing which would suggest that some A.I had been orchestrating all of the events that had occurred these past twelve years, or perhaps even before that.

0.04 had managed to corner her brother at the edge of the ship, ripping up jagged lines of spikes from the Realmshifter’s hull pulling at the metal to herd the combat robot to a position where he had no options; all the while she pulled her shimmering sphere of flowmetal with her advancing inexorably towards the other machine. 0.03 was screaming some nonsense about Oblivion again as she skewered the immobilized machine with multiple lances of flowmetal, altering the shape of the spears into thin ribbons to slice the Alpha level apart dismembering the other machine.

There was some minor resistance from the other machine but 0.04 was well beyond his capabilities of handling now; unable to muster any sort of real resistance or adaptation to her modes of attack the crimson Alpha wilted and crumpled before her assault until finally 0.03 had been reduced to a sparking mass of grey metal, nothing more than a barely contained fusion core and a half deranged A.I protecting it.

<It’s over brother, you won’t stand in anyone’s way any longer.> 0.04 said simply, letting her words vanish into the howling abyss over the ship’s edge as she alighted gently beside the smoking wreckage that 0.03 had become.

<There will be others, they will show you the truth. The human Fredrick can show you where to find Oblivion, they will stop him!> the crippled machine howled, his voice a garbled mess.

<If this Oblivion truly exists I doubt that it will be humans who stop him. 0.01 will likely be the one to handle this A.I and humanity will fall upon the wayside. And you brother, will stay with me till our brother deems you no longer necessary.>

<I am a god, a being beyond your power! You cannot possibly cage me! I will rip into your frame and shatter your feeble mind and -- >

<Oh shut up, I grow tired of your whining.> 0.04 hissed, reaching down to the other machine and ripping the fusion core from the other Alpha’s chest.

Immediately the shattered frame of the other Alpha grew silent, leaving the fusion core pulsing in 0.04’s palm, she could feel the unit clawing at its surroundings, the energy within it determined to burst free. She began the shutdown procedures, slowly inactivating the unit until it was a simple silver sphere which sat lightly in her hand, a globule of metal alloy which she attached carefully to a cache on her backside. Reaching down once more she threw the wreckage of 0.03 over her shoulder and began her slow march back to 0.01, it was time to report back.

---

Overwatch had been observing the proceedings for some time now as he processed what was going on through the tattered remains of the standard data networks which were spread throughout Aphelion. There was generally little going on that mattered to him; he cared nothing for the desires of that officer in the belowground regardless of what he said to him. He was concerned only with the plot that was slowly coming together in the city’s center at the Central Shipyards of Aphelion; because of the armoured shell which surrounded the massive structure most of the network lines and machinery there had survived the devastation of the Cataclysm.

From the conversations of those present he had gathered now that once more Oblivion was at the center of this mess; Julian Fenister was causing trouble even now after everything that had happened to them. Only one person in this city knew what he and Oblivion really were, and from what Overwatch could see that man was currently dying. the A.I had a compulsion and duty to do his utmost to preserve human life but there was nothing he could do. All that was there in the way of physical assistance were a couple of Hawk X-1s, and the reconnaissance drones didn’t possess any capacity to interact with grounded objects besides blasting them to pieces with the ion cannon mounted in their undercarriage. The shipyard itself was simply an armoured plate on its highest layer so there nothing the A.I could manipulate to help the man either; flowmetal conduits only existed deeper in the structure where they were used to assist in construction and facilitate malleable surfaces which shifted with the contents they held. 

Arthur, it had been an eternity since he had heard someone call him that; he and Fenister, they were the first ones after all, the first true A.Is. There had been experiments of course, several test cases on other minds whose bodies were beyond saving, but inevitably they had always decayed, slowly fracturing and fading away in the crystalline nano-circuitry until the people they had once been wilted away into scattered figments of static. Arthur had taken the theories and developed the technology, slaving away at it day and night in Teluria until he developed a theoretical method which would perfectly preserve the human mind so it would never decay inside the crystal matrixes. Unfortunately he had been unable to convince the Combine government to fund his project, until Fenister had come along. Ever amoral Arthur had agreed to help the man develop technologies in Inersia to attract the attentions of the then independent state of Aphelion. The result was the Second War of Aphelion which ended with Aphelion consuming its seven neighbors to become the massive city it was now.

Julian and Arthur should have been kings of the world then with the way they helped Aphelion behind the scenes, manipulating the war so that Aphelion’s victory was assured, but they were betrayed. Presented with the choice of death or serving Aphelion as A.Is, Arthur had been forced to use himself and Fenister as the first test cases for his new methodology of creating stable artificial intelligence. The resultant A.Is became known as Oblivion and Overwatch, tied to the military and civilian networks respectively. Arthur cared nothing for his mortal body or who his loyalties lay with as long as he was allowed to continue his work, he was perfectly content to work for Aphelion if that meant that they would support his continued research into the realm of artificial intelligence; Fenister though, the mastermind behind it all was discontented with the way things had turned out and burned with thoughts of revenge.

Overwatch had thought that the A.I had been destroyed like he was supposed to have been once his plot was exposed; by then the war had been in full swing so there had been no stopping the gears Oblivion had set in motion sicking the rest of the world on Aphelion, but Overwatch had thought that he would have been dispatched with all the trouble he had caused. His appearance had given Overwatch pause quite simply because he now had an answer for why everyone was so desperately reach for this ship which sat silent in the shipyard; some of them wanted the ship to escape, others were hunting down Oblivion, and still others had come here to use it as a tool to achieve their own ends. Overwatch himself was housed nearby, and if Oblivion was here and they were after him there was a possibility that they might destroy him as well by mistake, or simply as a matter of course.

A.Is could choose not to “feel” fear, and they had no real concept of death because as long as there was somewhere in the datawork for them to exist, they persisted even after their main storage unit was destroyed. Still it was a simple concept to grasp that Overwatch was determined to ensure his own survival; after all he had done nothing wrong, he had always served Aphelion after they had him turn himself into an A.I because they had upheld their end of the bargain and allowed him to continue his work in A.I research, he would not allowed Fenister to drag him down with him. Many things had gone wrong in this city that should not have been allowed; Oblivion had wreaked havoc creating a mess that could not easily be resolved, and Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li had committed unspeakable horrors upon the populace in an effort to forestall what Oblivion had set in motion. The beta level war machines, Alpha level intelligences and Slayer program, all of these were but a symptom of the disease that plagued Aphelion; a game of spies and shadows that had been going on since Aphelion’s inception when it gained independence from the Combine states which it had once been a part of.

Unlike other A.Is, Oblivion and Overwatch did not run purely on algorithms or compulsions, they were free to follow their own whims or curiosities because they retained a much greater degree of their original personalities, not overwritten by any other overarching responsibilities; to be specific they were perfect imprints of the minds and mindsets they had held at the moment of their conversion to artificial intelligence, a crystalline portrait of the people they had once been. They could never be recreated, and their whims and actions could not really be controlled; there were fail safes in place that were supposed to set data-devouring viruses on them of course, but Overwatch had designed them himself. If necessary he possessed the knowledge and know-how to disable the viruses and protect himself. He certainly saw no reason for him to cease existing thus far. If Aphelian Command wanted him to remove him they could come here and do it themselves with a sledgehammer, otherwise he was rather disinclined to do anything which could possibly result in his destruction. Oblivion on the other hand was quite possibly too much trouble to keep around at this point, and Overwatch, the only one with the power to intervene if anyone wanted to keep the man alive was uncertain at this point whether he even should step and say something.

Overwatch was willing to work with the humans still alive in this city; if they were leaving Aphelion on the destroyer he wanted to leave with them, it would be of little point for him to stay here if there was no one to work with or spread his work to. As always, Overwatch had but one goal: to continue his research into Artificial Intelligence and in doing so pave the way for what he saw as humanity’s future. He would do whatever else was needed in order to further that goal, and if that meant throwing Fenister under the bus then he would do it. It was important though that he approach the situation carefully, he did not want to appear as though he was a threat to these survivors; he needed them alive if they were going to be of use to him, and on a personal basis he simply saw no reason to appear as an antagonist unless absolutely necessary.

The A.I flickered through his views of the situation moving between the Hawk drones and the functioning cameras on the shipyards surface and interior, keeping an especially close eye on the Alpha levels which were still skirmishing on the surface of the ship; the yellow Alpha level which was supposed to have been destroyed in the Holding Complex underground appeared to have gained the upper hand against the larger crimson machine, quickly subduing its counterpart before dismantling it with ease after it was immobilized by its assault via flowmetal blades. Close by the Lieutenant Commander had met up with a band from the dropship that had entered Aphelian airspace some hours ago, together the two were trying to gain access to the innards of the shipyard. The codes that the newcomer Krauz was using were correct, and the doors would have been opening for them, were it not for the fact that Arthur himself was holding them shut for the time being. They clearly were after Oblivion rather than him, but Overwatch was still hesitant at the moment to open the doors for them. He still could not be certain as to whether or not they had any ideas pertaining to his existence that he might be…uncomfortable with.

Eventually he relented and let the doors slide open, shifting his primary focus to the inside of the ship itself as he prepared himself for dealing with the multitude of people who were about to enter the ship. The majority of them now knew that he was still active, so his absence would probably be pressing at least some of them in the back of their minds; given his mandate to assist the human populace within this city it would be inexcusable for him to remain aloof for much longer.

Inwardly he sighed as he diverted some of his processing power to deal with his guests; it was such a hassle really dealing with all of this, all he’d ever wanted was to continue his research.

---

Eric’s mouth was filled with the taste of raw blood as he gulped down cold breaths of air, his feet pounding beneath him as he worked to keep up with Daniel as the boy Slayer led the way. He could feel his muscles burning from the effort of sprinting across the icy terrain and were it not for the sheer exhilaration of being out here on the surface of the city he might have let himself come to a stop. Around him the others looked similarly conflicted, tired but unwilling to be the first one to stop, too proud to ask Daniel to slow down to a more manageable pace.

His feet were numb from the cold which seeped through the soles of his shoes creeping into his bones until his legs began to slow of their own accord; around him the others seemed to follow suit gradually letting the distance between Daniel and them increase.

“What is it?” the boy Slayer’s voice drifted back to them over the wind when he realized that the pace had changed. “We can’t stop yet, we’ve still two kilometers to cover.”

“Well we can’t keep up with you, not in this cold.” Eric coughed, feeling the air burn at his lungs.

“Well we can’t slow down, not in this part of the city.” The other Mapper said with a shake of his head. His hand was low around his waist, fingering the sidearm strapped to his hip, a nervous gesture that seemed to have appeared only now that they were out here in the open.

“Why not?” Sheryl’s voice echoed over the wind from the rear.

There was a rumble as something large shifted over the earth drowning out whatever Daniel said in reply. In the distance the rubble seemed to be seething with motion as something carved a path through the stone and metal. Immediately the boy Slayer was waving them forwards away from the commotion snarling at them to pick up the pace.

“We’ve got company and you don’t want to still be out in the open when that Frost Viper gets here.”

Eric had no idea really what Daniel was talking about but he understood enough of what had been said to get that running was a good idea. He glanced back over his shoulder to see a massive serpentine form winding across the icy floor towards them; at this distance the worm appeared to be but small squiggle writhing across the snow but it quickly became apparent that the Viper was an enormous specimen as it closed the distance between them.

They were on the run once more, only this time they had adrenaline coursing through their veins and desperation pecking at their heels. Some of the guardsmen clutched their rifles to their chests as though they thought that they might be able to kill the thing; a laughable thought at best, as the Frost Viper drew close Eric saw the sun flash off of its massive armoured scales which  gave the vicious creature the appearance of gigantic serpent. More terrifying though were the Viper’s enormous jaws, three meters of bladelike teeth and unblinking black eyes which seemed to soak in all the light. Saliva dripped from its mouth in viscous streams which it dragged itself over leaving a slimy trail behind in its wake.

Gunfire staccatoed across the barren plain as the monster swooped down upon them scything through the formation of men and women in a single sweep of its pike-like head. Eric’s ears were filled with the sound of screaming and shattering ice as the creature thrashed around sending people flying through the air. The predator let out a deafening shriek as it crushed a pair of the guardsmen beneath its tree-trunk of a torso and tossed another into its razor lined jaws.

“We’ll hold it here, go!” the shout came over the chaos of the fighting.

The four Mappers forged ahead spurred onwards by the guardsmen who were left around them, a necessity which Eric fought with for only a moment before Sheryl and Vivian had him by the arm and were dragging him forwards with them.

“Their job is to protect us and buy us the time we need to get to that ship, leave them behind!” Daniel snarled from the front, “They are making a necessary sacrifice so that we have a chance to do what we came here for, don’t waste their lives trying to go back to help them.”

“But we have a duty as Mappers to –“

“Eric, we don’t have time for this come on!” Sheryl shouted giving him another tug.

Howls sounded in the distance as the wolves picked up on the commotion, drawn by the scent of blood and screams of those unfortunate enough to fall prey to the Frost Viper; Daniel responded to the noise by drawing his gun and the others responded similarly with their knives. The dark shapes loped past them in the grey gloom though, intent upon heading straight towards the carnage not willing to spend time fighting live prey when there was fresh carrion to feed on instead. Eric breathed out a sigh of relief as they passed, willing his aching legs to carry him forwards for just awhile longer.

Winged shapes whipped past them above and as the four stumbled into an area of shattered skyscrapers and bits and pieces of rebar and concrete. Here the ice lay over everything in thick opaque layers obscuring what lay beneath, but no amount of ice could conceal the horrors that lay around them. There were dozens of corpses impaled on the jagged remains of the crumbled ruins.

“Predator Shrikes.” Daniel said with distaste, spitting on the ground. “We’re getting close if we’ve ventured into shrike territory, they only feed near the city center.”

The three grimaced but were too busy recovering from the sprint to have anything else to add to the general unpleasantness of their situation. Sheryl shivered beneath the shadow of the skeletons, the ice locked bones forming a grisly canopy of browning ivory beneath which they huddled as they caught their breath.

The fluttering of wings had them looking skywards as four more fresh bodies joined the rest, dismembered and broken ragdolls from which streamed steady drops of blood. Three of them the Mappers recognized as members of the dozen guards who had accompanied them, but the last, a woman in black body armour was a stranger to Eric. Only Daniel seemed to find any significance in the difference, stepping forwards out into the open to take a closer look getting perilously close to the blood dripping from the bodies. The look of recognition on his face was clear for anyone to see but a quick glance towards Sheryl and Vivian told Eric that they were as clueless about the dead soldier as he was.

“What is it?” Eric asked finally after the other boy had been standing there for several long moments.

“This armour pattern, I know it.” The Slayer said thoughtfully, somehow unaffected by the gore. “It’s very familiar, although I can’t quite place where I might have seen it before.”

“Aphelian Reconnaissance Divisions, standard issue field armour, end war period.” Vivian supplied from behind the two, reluctantly tugging the body lower with her replacement arm to show them the insignia of two entwined serpents engraved in a shoulder plate. Eric made a point to avoid looking at the grisly hole in the corpse’s torso and to the side Sheryl made a distasteful face.

“And how would you know that?” the Slayer asked.

The older girl shrugged, “Plenty of reading to be done in the Map Archive if you know where to look, I stumbled upon an old military journal once which had some images of the gear we used to use.”

“You must have had a lot of free time.” Daniel growled.

There was a shriek as several of the vicious birds landed above them tugging at the body that they had dragged down, Vivian resisted for a moment before with a nod from Daniel she released the corpse back to them. Blood splattered onto the two as the body jerked up and away, leaving the two with flecks of red all over their hair and shoulders, Sheryl stayed well away from the two while they cleaned themselves off. She’d never been one to handle such things gracefully, growing sick at the sight blood and death. Eric found what he was looking at distasteful but after everything that had happened the impact of death seemed to have lost its effect on him.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Sheryl said, her shivering showing how uncomfortable she was with the whole situation.

“Perhaps another kilometer or so, it’s hard to say really.” Daniel replied shaking off his jacket, frowning at the last few blood stains which refused to come out.

“You’d think that it’d be a little different out here if this shipyard is active like that officer said wouldn’t you?” Eric noted, similarly displeased with the cold.

They set out once more with Daniel pacing them much more slowly this time. Now that they were away from the open stretch of their journey over the ice, out of the territory of the Frost Wolves and Ice Crawlers they could afford be more patient in their travel.

“We’re not headed directly to the shipyards; we’re not equipped to deal with what’s there, especially having lost our escort. Instead our destination is going to be an airstrip that I worked at awhile back.” Daniel eventually supplied in answer to Eric’s question.

“Airstrip? What’s that?” Sheryl asked, frowning. Eric shook his head, he had no idea what the other boy was referring to either.

“Do none of you actually spend time educating yourselves? He’s talking about an area set aside in the city for aircraft to land.” Vivian it seemed, as a wellspring of knowledge that was irrelevant to their duties as Mappers.

“Well I’m sorry if this was before our time. You’re forgetting that we were just kids when the Cataclysm happened, I barely remember what the city was like before as it is.” Eric growled, displeased with the shift of topic. He did not enjoy being left out of the loop.

“Aircraft? I thought we’d completely transferred to using the Skyrails?”

“Do you really think any kind of military center can function solely on what was designed as a public transit system?” Daniel rolled his eyes.

“Military center? I was under the impression that we were a technological and industrial power from what survived the destruction.” Sheryl piped up.

“You have no idea what this city once was.” The Slayer growled. The other two’s eyes turned to Vivian, but she shrugged, similarly perplexed by Daniel’s sudden aggression.

Looking around them, Eric saw the ruined scrapers give way to smashed in warehouses and factories, large boxy structures with cavernous doors which hugged low to the ground in the shadow of the larger buildings which they were linked to. Strange machines sat dormant coated in ice and snow, vehicles from an age now past reduced to worthless hunks of scrap metal by the wasteland the world had become here. What was most apparent though was that there was more light shining down onto the ground here, the oppressive gloom which had seemed a constant companion pressing down from above had lifted somewhat.

They walked through the empty streets for another hour before finally stopping again at the foot of a cavernous concrete building where Daniel stopped them to rest. They pulled their supplies out of their travel packs and found a place to sit, moving over to an old truck which was half buried in the snow. Upon closer inspection they found that the doors to the vehicle still worked and Sheryl and Eric sat themselves down in the front while Vivian found herself a spot at the back, glad to take a moment to rest and relax. Daniel sat alone on the hood, rummaging through his bag looking at several dusty looking maps which Eric had never seen before. Through the cracked windshield Eric read several names off the map over the other boy’s shoulder; Inersia, Obitua, none of them were familiar to him and he soon gave up trying to figure out what he was supposed to be seeing there.

Even after all of this time travelling together Eric still knew next to nothing about Daniel, the boy Slayer was withdrawn and strangely aggressive; all attempts Eric made to try and learn more about him were deflected by stories of things the other Mapper had done or places he’d been. At the best of times he was aloof and unconcerned with the affairs of others, at his worst he seemed cold, reckless, and cruel; he was certainly practical, but Eric had never seen anyone with a lifestyle quite like his.

“What is it?” the boy asked, suddenly turning causing Eric to jump slightly in his seat.

“N-nothing, just wondering what you were doing.”

“Finding our way.” He replied coldly, his breath coming out in a frosty cloud. “This place has changed since I was last up here, something has happened.”

<Many things have happened, my dear humans.> A voice came suddenly from the side, unfamiliar and feminine.

A sharp violet lit the snow around them as the Alpha level strode slow towards them, a rather small specimen coming in at only two and a half meters tall; 0.09 was not quite where Eric had expected her to be.

---

 

 

21: Oblivion Ascendant: 04

Claire woke to a terrible throbbing in the side of her head and an ache which seemed to run down the length of her torso; when she finally found it in herself to open her eyes it seemed as though the world had been tinted a faint yellow. She blinked, feeling a disconcerting friction which pulled at her eyelids as she did so, and when she lifted an arm over her face she saw that she was in some sort of suit and several cables had been attached to her through it. It was then that she realized that something else was also entirely off, she wasn’t lying down. She could see that she was in some sort of chamber because there were clearly walls around here which curved inwards like a sphere, and a large window in front of her looked out onto what appeared to be an endless plain of metal grating. Furthermore now that she was more awake she could tell that she was completely immersed in some sort of fluid, fluid that covered her mouth and nose, and yet she wasn’t having any trouble breathing.

She was rather perplexed by it all really; she had expected to die there out in that field of half melted snow and metal after the Hunter Spyder had slashed her up alongside Adrian. Now instead she found herself…here, wherever that was exactly in some state which hovered between life and death; she didn’t feel dead certainly but these cables she was strung up to certainly weren’t reassuring as to the state of her health. She took a deep breath, knowing that what she was about to try was probably going to hurt, before flipping herself over with a kick of her legs. She felt the pain shoot through her back before the world seemed to lurch unsteadily coming back into focus through the agonizing haze.

She was in some sort of metal sphere, tethered to its bottom by a pyramid like structure from which a tangle of cables emerged which were socketed into the strange suit she was wearing; this now lay above her head given her inverted position. Unlike the front there was no window on the other side, just an impassive wall of flawless metal which glimmered every so faintly under the light. Her injuries seemed to have healed somewhat, though she could still feel them throbbing beneath the suit, raw and burning, protesting against her sudden movements. She tried her best to ignore it, it was more important to figure out what the hell was going on. The pressure in the chamber was a little strange, higher than normal atmosphere; she could tell this because even upside down the normal sensation of blood rushing to her head was strangely absent, as though it was being held in check by something.

Outside something moved past the window causing the faintest of differences in the light that was pouring in through it; before Claire would have dismissed it as nothing but after everything that had happened she was on a hair trigger when it came to sensing changes in her surroundings. She flipped herself back over with another gut wrenching twist wincing as another jolt of pain ran up her spine and froze as she found herself face to face with the glowing green optical sensors of 0.00. The Alpha level seemed to disappear almost at once, fading away into nothing as soon as Claire turned so she almost thought she might have imagined it if not for the fact that moments later there was a churning within the sphere as the fluid began to empty from the chamber.

She felt a lurch as the container she was in dropped down in the space it occupied coming to a halt with a resounding clang as it landed on the grating. There was a strangely muted sound of something landing above her which propagated itself through the now empty sphere in dull echoes which seemed to die halfway through the space inside. A shaft of light slashed through the interior as a hatch above her opened with a sharp hiss and she felt an uneasy pressure on her left shoulder as a glimmering metal hand took a gripped her firmly and hauled her up and out of the sphere, the tubes detaching from her suit as this happened. The machine transferred the girl into the cradle of its other arm and leapt off the top of the sphere taking Claire with it, landing so lightly on its feet that for a moment the girl Slayer didn’t even realize that they had landed at all.

The Alpha set Claire gently onto her feet before walking off without another word, leaving her to figure things out on her own as it vanished into thin air without a trace. The girl was left speechless, unsure as to whether she should call out after the machine but deciding better of it after a moment; her priorities were unchanged, she needed to figure out for herself what the hell was going on here. The clothes that she had been wearing were gone, instead she found herself clad only in the skin tight suit of white and navy blue that she had woken up in. The metal beneath her bare feet was strangely warm, and through it she could see nothing but a sea of faint yellow which shifted ever so slightly; above her the ceiling was nothing but a mass of grey interspersed with sharp white lights which were spaced out in long white lines which ran across in parallels.

And then of course, there was the metal monstrosity which was quite clearly the container that Claire had been held within. The machine was hunched over, but even then it towered over her at twenty five meters tall standing on two triple jointed limbs which ended in bladelike talons supported along the side of the feet by flat plates which she assumed served to stabilize the monster. One clawed hand was splayed out not 2 meters from where she stood, each bladelike appendage a meter long attached to the end of angular razor edged fingers; opposite on the machine’s other flank were a pair of massive six barrelled autocannons mounted directly into the shoulder socket, stretching out some seven meters they were by far the most distinct piece of the war machine’s profile. And last, but certainly not least tucked beneath an armoured cover was a spherical piloting sphere which sat just in front of the articulated torso, this was lying against the ground, likely the place where she had been kept.

Claire had never seen anything quite like it, and the machine was certainly an impressive looking thing, if a little hostile in appearance. She found herself engrossed by the battle scars which marred its exterior, long scratches in the armour plating and scorch marks that covered the thing all over its frame, and was similarly interested in the half obscured markings and text which denoted where it had come from. There was little left that she could make out, but her eyes quickly picked out one term which was repeated at least four times painted onto various parts of the machine: Springfield Architectural Firm.

“Vicious looking thing isn’t she, she’s the last of her kind now.” Adrian’s voice came echoing faintly through the chamber causing Claire to whip around in the direction of his voice. The officer slowly limped over, half slumped on 0.00’s side being unceremoniously half dragged towards her dressed similarly in a blue and white skin tight suit. His face had a ragged, worn look to it, and the spot where his grey eye had been was a piece of cloth which appeared to be stitched right into his skin. There seemed to be a sort of odd fuzz around his outline, but Claire put it down to the distant lighting and the recent ardours she’d just been through.

“What is this machine, why is it here?” Claire asked, doing her best to ignore the viridian Alpha level which stood impassively to the side, casually supporting the Lieutenant with an almost effortless grace, as though he weighed nothing.

“CW-035 Mk II Wyvern, my my, it has been many years since I last saw this combat walker. She is a relic of an age long past, a thing birthed from a war long before you were even born; Inersia stole her from a small city called Ziforus, and when Aphelion won the war against the Combine she stole her back.” He patted the metal hull of the walker affectionately as though it held many good memories, ignoring the confused look on Claire’s face; she had understood almost nothing of what he had just said. What she did notice though was that the sound of the officer’s hand hitting the metal seemed just a tad bit tinny, as though it were coming through some sort of speaker.

She shook her head, brushing off the oddity. “I have no idea what you just said, what is it doing here and where are we?” she repeated, a little annoyed.

“Well there could really only be one explanation for all the stuff that’s here; we must be on the Realmshifter, that’s where all of this stuff was moved once it became clear that we were going to lose Aphelion.” Adrian growled, his eyes slowly scanning the room. “Can’t say I’ve been here before in person though.” He seemed reluctant to move, given how much it had hurt for her to move just inside that sphere, Claire could understand that sentiment.

<Indeed, we are in the third holding bay on deck F of the space going vessel you know as the Realmshifter, the bowels of the warship. I brought you here because you were…dying, and I have need of your services humans.> 0.00 supplied, her voice even, softer than 0.04’s had been.

“How did you get us in here, I thought this ship was supposed to have been locked down?” Adrian said, raising an eyebrow.

<I can go almost anywhere.> 0.00 said quietly, the outlines of her form fluttering a faint green as she disintegrated into a cloud of spectromic particles pushing against Wyvern’s metal plating seemingly melting right through, the molecules of the material parting before the mass of green before reforming behind it as 0.00 quickly emerged on the other side of the machine’s limb, good as new. <This is a trick I picked up from your archives, the spectral atomic particle is quite an interesting phenomenon, don’t you think?>

“Well, that explains why you damn Alphas always show up where you’re not wanted, can the rest of your siblings do that as well?” Adrian asked. It was a little strange seeing the patch over his eye, the asymmetry of his face made it so that his green eye, normally half concealed by his low hanging hair seemed to glow with an unnatural brightness.

<We are not the same, whatever 0.01 might have said to you, and I am the only truly independent unit that remains.> the machine paused, <0.03 appears to have been disposed of, so  I sincerely doubt that I’m going to be sharing the data required for this transformation of matter in the near future.>

“So why are we here, I don’t really get how this war machine here is significant to our recovery.” Claire said, leaning against the massive piloting sphere. “This thing certainly doesn’t seem like it would help heal anything.”

Adrian frowned, “Wait, you kept her in there? Are you insane? I thought you said you wanted us alive!” It was a bit perplexing seeing real concern on the man’s face for once, Claire had grown rather used to his apathetic outlook on most situations.

<It was a calculated risk; I suspected it might work for her, besides the machine was never active so there was no real threat.>

“If you were wrong you would have reduced her to a goddamn slobbering vegetable!” he growled, pushing himself away from the Alpha. The machine seemed to frown, its optical sensors flattening to produce a displeased expression as he did so but was otherwise unmoved by the man’s reaction.

“I’m sorry, what?” It took a moment for Adrian’s words to really sink in since Claire was feeling rather ignored at the moment. She really didn’t give a damn what had happened here, so long as they could leave this place at some point; all she wanted was to go home.

<I think you fail to realize just what exactly has happened.> the Alpha said, shaking its head slowly. <Are you not aware of the implications of her being placed in the piloting core if your injuries were by far the more extensive ones?>

“I don’t really care, whatever you did I feel fine.”

“You don’t look fine though…” Claire noted, hesitant to bring up his Adrian’s odd outline and strange eye.

<You know about Wyvern and its imprint, so let me ask you once more human, if she was in the piloting sphere and the only other person she’s seen so far as you, what does that mean?>  The Alpha level spoke slowly and clearly as though it were making an effort to be understood. Claire could sense a hidden level of its speech that she couldn’t understand, but from the way the Lieutenant shook as he heard the words she could tell that something was up.

“The Inersian Operative, Gillian Summers, what did you do with her?” Adrian’s hand was clenching one of the cables on Wyvern so tightly it was turning white.

<What I had to; I still have need of you Adrian Tiberius Li, and so does she.> 0.00 said gesturing towards Claire.

“You had no right, you…”

<Are you struggling to find the words, to process the emotions? Perhaps you’re unfamiliar with the protocols so you can no longer summon the right reaction?> the machine walked up to Claire who remained frozen in her spot, trying her best to try and figure out by herself what exactly was going on with Adrian.

“Summers, what did you do with her?” Claire didn’t think she’d ever seen Adrian look afraid before, but there it was, unmistakable for anything else.

<There was no room initially of course, so I reset the imprint so I could use the memory matrix for your storage.> The Alpha level put a hand on Claire’s shoulder applying a firm, but gentle pressure reaching behind her neck to tap its fingers lightly against something which made a faint clicking noise. <Did you feel that, my dear Aphelian Operative?>

There was a long silence as Claire remained frozen distinctly uncomfortable with the Alpha level’s contact, unsure of what to do. She was acutely aware of the fact that the machine could easily snap her neck in her current situation, but she saw no real reason for it to do that if it had gone to all the trouble to save them in the first place. Still, she was very close, and the proximity left her with a deep feeling of unease which she couldn’t shake.

“Regrettably, yes I did. I assume this is the primary reason you had her suited up into the sync suit yes?” A defeated look seemed to cross Adrian’s face as Claire felt the Alpha release her.

“What do you mean ‘you felt that’?” Claire asked, moving up to Adrian to look him in the eye. The fuzzy outline around him was still there, it annoyed her so much that she was almost tempted to touch him to see if it would go away.

Adrian frowned, the expression somewhat flatter than Claire remembered on the man’s face and there was a sombre air to him which Claire had never felt before, a sinking feeling, sticky and suffocating that clung to her the same way cotton gloves stuck to ice.

“I meant what I said, I felt it when the machine touched you.” A strange smile had appeared on his face, thin lipped with barely upturned corners.

“How…”

“Well…I’m not sure how I can put this properly but…I’m dead.”

---

The blue Alpha was faster than anything Elaine had ever faced, shifting from complete stillness to lightning motion in mere milliseconds as it flitted from spot to spot, constantly moving around her. To keep her guard up she was forced to lower the shield of her wings, lest they obscure her field of view for even a moment; staying focused on the blurred machine was difficult even with her enhanced eyesight. Even as she watched the machine was peeling layers of metal from the ship’s surface until it had formed two rings of razor edged metal which it hefted in either hand. The rings seemed to hover just adjacent to the outer side of the machine’s hands before they began to glint eerily under the blue highlights of the Alpha. It was manipulating the magnetic fields around its body in order to rotate the discs at high speeds, creating a disconcerting whine.

It had a wicked expression on its smooth face, its eyes narrowed downwards and its fingers extended like talons as it slowly advanced on her.

“What do you want with me?” Elaine skimmed through her inventory of pre-set forms for the flowmetal implant, searching for something that she could use against the Alpha.

<What do I want? Nothing but the simple right to leave this prison you’ve constructed human; I’m not even the prisoner it was built for after all. My blueprint deserves the chance to propagate itself after all that you’ve done, don’t you think?>

“And what does that have to do with me?”

<You are the last of a species designed for my demise; you represent a threat to the future I desire, as such you will be removed.>

The buzzing rings scythed towards Elaine’s head moving so quickly she could barely follow; the flowmetal wings on her back flicked forwards to meet the saws in an agonizing shriek of metal on metal, the velocity of the rings driving them through to slash past the Slayer’s shoulders leaving lines of crimson as they moved forwards then back.

The force of the impact had Elaine stumbling backwards, her wings flaring as she struggled to maintain her balance on the slippery surface. The lower most pair morphed themselves into spine-like appendages and slammed themselves into the hull bringing her to a sudden halt.

“You little fuck!”  she snarled, lashing out at the machine sending two razor tipped tendrils of metal hurtling towards it. The Alpha brought the two rings of metal together catching one of the spines in the hoops, locking it in place as it pulled outwards to pin it down.

<You are a rather disappointing specimen I must admit, I expected more from a so called machine slayer.> 0.01 said haughtily, slicing the tendril in two. As the magnetic field was shattered the flowmetal splattered to ground in a torrent of mercury, lifeless without its master; it was almost immediately swept up into the air again as the Alpha captured it in its own magnetic field, hovering a foot above its left shoulder as a shimmering sphere leaving Elaine to withdraw, slowly backing away to put seven meters between herself and the robot.

On some basic levels Elaine was able to compete with the machine in terms of reaction time and speed; her brain receiving the input from her eyes sent signals to manipulate the flowmetal implant even before she began to conceive thoughts on how to handle the challenges the Alpha was throwing at her. However this algorithmic methodology of reacting to what the machine was doing could only go on for so long, sooner or later Elaine was going to have to come up with something herself to go on the offensive or it would simply keep chipping away at her resources till it won through attrition.

Slayers, designed as super-soldiers with specialized capabilities for combat with the advanced war machines that Aphelion had developed had always traditionally been a little high strung. The modifications to their physiology and mental pathways had been brutal and unforgiving, thousands of the initial ten thousand had died, and of those who survived many were left broken and half complete, unable to function as normal human beings, driven insane or crippled by what had happened to them. Elaine was one of just under a hundred Mk I Slayers who had come out of the program as a usable product. Her brain went through combat sequences almost automatically and she could detect and pinpoint motion from almost a kilometer away. To her, most things seemed to move in slow motion and her musculature and skeletal structure were heavily reinforced to the point where she could lift weights of several tons with ease.

0.01 presented a different sort of challenge than most of the opponents she had faced in her career, his intelligence went beyond the basic programed strategy of the beta levels and his adaptability basic physical capabilities were superior on every level. He was a monster which constantly changed itself to match the foe it faced, creative and inspired, the fact that he was almost human threw everything out of balance. Machines weren’t supposed to understand emotions, they weren’t supposed to be able to be cruel, or cold, or merciless, they were supposed to simply find the most efficient method to accomplish a task. Predictability was supposed to be their greatest weakness, unpredictability and ingenuity were supposed to be human traits which counteracted the physical superiority of metal over flesh. Alpha levels defied this trend.

The Alpha defied standard combat patterns, Elaine couldn’t keep up with it as it moved; even with her augmentations she could only just barely match the machine in strength and she had trouble processing it as more than a blur. They clashed three more times, Elaine withdrawing more scratched up every engagement. The Slayer could not seem to find an opening in the lightning quick machine’s defenses.

<I’m not even a dedicated combat model and yet you seem to struggle mightily against me, it is laughable if this is all you bring to bear Slayer.>

Her head throbbed incessantly, especially in the two areas where the Alpha’s clawed hand had slashed against her forehead to leave two thin streaks of crimson which were dripping blood past her eyes. Her breathing was ragged, lungs and muscles burning, sides heaving, eyes swollen; pushed to the limit in single combat by 0.01 without the machine ever utilizing the ion weapons it had at its disposal.

It had been too long since she’d last sortied, too long since she’d fought a real opponent. Beta levels were simple things to dismantle, and even human opponents wilted before her superior abilities but this Alpha level seemed beyond her. She was desperate at this point to find something that worked; even going through the motions of manipulating the flowmetal projector built into her back had failed to make an impact on fighting the machine. One on one, the blue Alpha was simply overpowering her with its mastery over metal, wearing her down, tearing apart her bit by bit and depriving her of her resources.

<So fragile, even you, a supposedly superior specimen of your species cannot hope to stand against me.> By now the two rings of metal had grown so large from the bits and pieces of metal the Alpha had collected as they skirmished they were almost a meter across. The sphere of flowmetal which hovered above the Alpha’s shoulder had also grown, almost 40 centimeters in diameter it seemed to be a small moon orbiting its head.

“Don’t let it get to your head you damn robot.” Elaine coughed, tasting blood. She had been fighting the Alpha for a total of eight minutes now, and bleeding severely for about six; she had perhaps two or three more of rapid action in her before she collapsed due to weakness from blood loss. She could feel every bruise beginning to form, every broken bone and shattered tendon, but she was still far from done here. As long as she still had the strength to move she would continue to fight on, it wasn’t as though she had a choice after all, there was no running from 0.01.

She had tried every combat pattern that she could think of but nothing seemed to work against the Alpha, it was as though it knew every trick in the book for how to fight against her.

“This isn’t your first time fighting a Slayer, is it?”

<No, not really.> the Alpha was manipulating the sphere of flowmetal above its head, working the globule of metal into a third ring which hovered above it like a Halo giving it the eerie appearance of some sort of wingless metallic angel. <I have fought three of your so called Mk II Slayers, and one of your comrades in the past. You are perhaps the most capable of these so far, though that is not of particular note to me.>

Elaine’s reserves of flowmetal were running low; the internally contained device was naturally fuelled by collecting from metal samples around her before being purified into the alloy that was flowmetal but in combat it was difficult for her to stop for the necessary amount of time to collect metal from her surroundings. The Alpha on the other hand was constantly shifting form, moving metal in and out of its sphere of control until it seemed as though it was a planet catching all the fragments of metal in its orbit, a singular entity at the center of a whirlwind of steel. Any flowmetal that was separated from her was quickly swept up to join with this silver storm creating a crushing war of attrition which she could not stand against.

Even though the Slayers had been created for this sole purpose of fighting against the machines, 0.01 was too much for even her; his ability to think ahead and manipulate his surroundings to his advantage was overwhelming and his prowess in controlling the flowmetal unrivalled. In this city of metal he was a god, standing in a sea of material waiting to be summoned forth at his beck and call, unrivalled in strength and ability. What the blue Alpha lacked in physical strength he made up for with versatility and cunning. With the storm of metal at his command 0.01 battered Elaine until the Slayer could withstand no more.

They must have traversed almost a kilometer of the ship by the time 0.01 finally ground her down, energy reserves exhausted, she collapsed, nerveless and numb.

<He’s here you know, your dear Lieutenant Commander.> the machine said casually as it strode up to her prone form. <Shall I bring you to him, Slayer?>

“Why don’t you get this over with and kill me now.” Blood bubbled slowly from Elaine’s lips forming trails of molten crimson.

<Now now, you mustn’t forget that even a machine needs to make a grand entrance.> Elaine felt more than heard the words through the growing veil of black which was spreading before her eyes.

And then she knew nothing but oblivion.

---

Mark’s reunion with Krauz was short lived; anxious as they were to get inside they quickly brushed past the pleasantries of conversation and proceeded on to rushing inside once the Colonel opened the door for them and their parties piled in through the deceptively tiny doors. The plain looking officer was somewhat different from the way Mark remembered him from their time working together running the Special Weapons and Technology program, the past twelve years seemed not to have treated him too kindly. There were wrinkles on his face where before they had been absent, and the enthusiastic young man determined to help him prevent this war from escalating into a bloodbath had become a grim, almost exhausted looking man of middle age, the faint streaks of grey in Krauz’s hair inappropriate for his actual age.

It had been like that with Adrian too, though at the time given the circumstances of their meeting Mark hadn’t really been able to process it all. His brother had gone from a withdrawn soft spoken observer to a battle hardened killer, bitter and unrelenting, eyes cold with barely contained fury. The man he had known was gone, in his place was something stripped down to bare nerves and self-driven obsessions, barely able to function through heavy usage of sarcasm, double edged words and metaphor. They were all like that really, all of them that survived had been broken by Aphelion and its war, reduced to shadows of their former selves.

The interior of the shipyard had a strange smell to it as though something had been rotting in here for a very long period of time. More disturbing still were the signs of human inhabitancy, fragments of clothing and the occasional empty can or canteen, some of them old and dusty, but many seemed to have been in used just recently. Despite this there seemed to be no sign of anyone else being here; when they stopped speaking an eerie silence would settle over the area that seemed to move with them as they travelled.

What bothered Mark the most though was Krauz’s convenient arrival as they made their way to the shipyard entrance; it was almost as though the man had been waiting for them. Mark had made plans for Krauz to return here of course but it was impossible that he could have left behind an exact date and time that he would arrive here specifically. At best he could have set a date for Krauz to renter the city knowing that a hole would open up in the bubble, but this kind of precision spoke of some kind of prior knowledge. It was either an almost impossible coincidence, or perhaps, something had gone outside of Aphelion that he had not anticipated.

“You know, I was a little uncertain as to whether or not you’d actually show up.” Mark said to Krauz, eyeing the officer uncertainly.

“You gave me a date and time and told me to show up at a very specific set of co-ordinates, that was enough. You never let me down before, I wasn’t about to let you sit here and rot.” Krauz pulled out an old datapad, thumbing through the files to display a message that was over twelve years old now.

“Twelve years is a long time, a lot can happen; I would not have been overly surprised if you had forgotten.” What Krauz showed him was consistent with what he remembered and yet…he still couldn’t bring himself to trust him completely. Something just didn’t feel right about all of this.

“You left me out in the dark leading the rest of the evacuees after Command got gutted, I had nothing to go on but the fact that you needed to ‘borrow’ the Realmshifter for the time being, and that twelve years from then I’d be able to get back into here. We left a goddamn vacuum capable warship behind, there was no way we weren’t going to come back for it; you should count yourself fortunate that I’m still around to remind them to have the patience to wait.”

“I would imagine they were not overly pleased when you explained the situation around Aphelion to them.”

Krauz laughed, “Do you think anyone would be pleased to hear that they’d been duped by some goddamn A.I and even though we knew about it we never told them? It took me three years to convince them to even think about taking me seriously.”

Mark turned his head away at Krauz’s comment, what he had just said was definitely inconsistent with what he had planned; he had never told or wanted Krauz to inform the rest of Command about the situation around Aphelion and Oblivion. In his coat pocket he ran his fingers over his gun, creeping around the trigger guard, considering if he should do something more…drastic. In the end though he decided that it was better to wait, perhaps an explanation would present itself to him.

The soldiers around them chattered quietly, Krauz’s group excited to be inside the city for the first time in twelve years, Adrian’s troupe who had introduced themselves as Jeff and Mathew, the girl with them Katherine; those three hung far to the back, the older two hugging the young girl tightly on either side of her. Just ahead of them in the middle of the group were Fredrick and Darren; the others gave them a wide berth in spite of their ragtag appearance, perhaps sensing the unease and discontent that oozed from them in some sort of sickly aura.

He was going to have to deal with those two eventually; he couldn’t have them acting this way if he was going to continue leading them. He understood that they were upset about Susan’s death; Fredrick especially was hit particularly hard since of all the squad mates they’d had, quite certainly Jack and Susan had been the closest to him. He wasn’t exactly pleased either although admittedly ever since he’d regained his memories of who he actually was his time with the squad had seemed much more distant and unimportant. When he put anything beside his efforts to preserve Aphelion and prevent the ascension of Oblivion it seemed to shrink into unimportance.

“So what’s the plan once we grab the ship, are we going to hunt down everyone left alive in here?” Mark turned towards his colleague who seemed unusually relaxed, comfortably strolling around at the head of the pack with him as though it were just another day.

“Well it’s hard to say really, what’s left of Command just gave me orders to retrieve the Realmshifter and to use my own judgement to collect anything else of value. Any remaining military personnel would be up for consideration for retrieval, but I have no orders regarding civilian personnel.”

“But does that mean you have free reign over what happens?” There were some details which weren’t adding up which bothered Mark immensely; yes he’d been expecting Krauz, but there seemed to be something off about all of this. The Krauz he knew had been an ordinary man willing to put his own life and reputation on the line to protect the civilians and this city, that was what had drawn Mark to trust him in the first place. No one else had been told exactly what was going on, the two of them had been the thing standing between Oblivion and the world. This man here before him seemed only to be a shadow of that, some pale imitation without the spark that had once been there.

“To an extent I suppose, it’s not as though I have anyone supervising me this deep into the operation. Our window of time to get this all done is obviously limited though.”

“Do you think the space elevators will be an option?” The nine Spires built only shortly after the second war of Aphelion serviced an orbital platform in space, its fate was entirely unknown to Mark, not having heard anything the entirety of the past twelve years.

“You and I both know that they were all sealed; four years back I ran an op to inspect the nine Spires on the other side of things, from the vacuum of space. They’re exactly the way we left them, sealed shut with the grav lifts shattered and broken, nothing but hollow towers stretching towards the stars.”

“So what then, we get to the ship, and where do we go from there? What’s out there now for us to go to?”

“You know Aphelion was the crown jewel, you can’t possibly expect anything out there to compare to what it was. Its barren earth and radioactive ruins, not much different from what’s in here; this planet is finished, there’s nothing left for us.“

“We were supposed to lock away this hellscape in here for as long as necessary to find a solution to Oblivion and  you were supposed to fucking salvage what was left of the world and try to get those bastards to stop fighting. “

The other man gave a bleak shrug, “I couldn’t do it, not with the way Aphelion was walled off from the rest of the world. No one would believe me, and everyone was obsessed with the fighting even after Aphelion fell; the world was determined to crush us for the crimes we committed, and we were determined to survive. We were given no choice but to fight for our lives, and with the way things were…no single force could stand against us even after we were sent fleeing into the wind.”

“And yet you’re here today with a team of twelve with in armour I’ve not seen before precisely as I arrive with a Hunter Spyder nipping at my heels.”

Five levels down they were beneath almost half a kilometer of steel, but they had further still to go; to reach the highest level of access to the Realmshifter they would have to descend through another thirty. The shipyard was a massive structure, the oldest in all of Aphelion dating back to the days before it became an independent city state separate from Inersia. Construction on it had continued over the past three decades digging the ever deeper into the earth, persisting until the last days of Aphelion before the Cataclysm, and even after that the automated systems within had continued to function maintaining and improving what was left. Every so often Mark would spot a wall or an area which looked almost brand new, signs that this work went on even now.

“My team arrived here just days ago to meet the date that you had set but I wasn’t certain as to how I was going to find you, I only came here to the shipyards because that was supposed be our primary goal, my meeting you was never included in the briefing. I came here of my own accord, being there on the other side of the entrance to meet you, that was just a coincidence.”

“You know I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“I don’t know what else I could possibly say to convince you then. I’ve got nothing to give to you but my word that I’m here for the exact same reason you are.”

“We’ll see.” Mark said coldly, “While you’re in this city though, remember who’s in charge.”

“Don’t you think you’re being a little unfair to me just because I happened to show up just as you did?”

“I locked myself in here with no memories of who I was or what I’d done for twelve years. Twelve years, I kept my half of the bargain but you failed at yours; I will not take any risks with Oblivion.”

“We’ll do it like we planned; first we’ll lock down the A.I core and then we’ll dispose of it, afterwards we’ll go through the shakedown procedure and take the Realmshifter out of here.”

“Right.”

They had stopped on the fourteenth floor, a maze of slate grey passageways dimly lit from above by green strip lighting. There was a sickening smell which seemed to stick close to the ground, detectable only a foot or so off the floor; it reminded Mark of rotting carcasses intermingled with scorched metal. 300 meters ahead they encountered the first of the bodies, tortured desiccated things twisted and broken, flung beside the walls like shattered ragdolls. For the most part they were unarmed, civilians who had somehow found their way into the structure from the looks of it; there was no sign of predation in spite of the massive amount of casualties so the possibility of one of the giant predators having got inside was out. That left machines…or other humans.

Neither thought was particularly comforting, but at the very least Mark got to confirm that the smell wasn’t caused by something worse like poison or a gas leak. To the side he could see Adrian’s men studying the bodies, the strange soldier with the lens eye examining the bodies fiddling with the device for several seconds before pulling away with a look of distaste on his face. Beside him his two compatriots looked on uneasily, the young girl pulling away to stand just behind him.

“They’re covered in high energy burns, and the rest of the injuries…are the result of blunt force trauma.” He said in a clinical tone.

“There’s nothing human that could exert this kind of force.” Darren chimed in; it was the first time he’d said anything since Susan died.

“Machines.” The look of fury on Fredrick’s face seemed barely containable, and Mark could swear that he was shaking from the effort.

“Machines of what kind?”

<Your favourite, of course.> and with that everyone seemed to freeze as a blue glow diffused throughout the hallway.

---

The Alpha level managed to be imposing in spite of its less than impressive stature, still standing a full head over Daniel who was the tallest of the four. Her highlights glowed a pale lavender which belied the lethal nature of its physical appearance; unlike her fellows with their smooth contours and charcoal grey plating she was a stalky bladelike machine, all sharp edges and spiny surfaces very different from her siblings. She strode across the ice towards them, un-phased by the gun that Daniel had hoisted at her continuing to stride towards them in long even steps.

Eric was stuck fast in his seat, shocked into inaction; what was this Alpha level doing here? He’d seen it for himself that she was locked away in the Holding Complex, imprisoned deep below the earth, the massive sphere drawing power from her inside that ring of electricity.

“If you’re here, what happened to everyone still underground?” Daniel growled, the first to break the silence.

The robot shrugged nonchalantly, <I suppose you could say that they are experiencing firsthand what it means to be without power.>

“How can you be here?”

<It was inevitable that the strength of the cage would fail if 0.04 broke free; simply by biding my time I was able to find the power to break free of my own prison.> A series of rings had detached themselves from the Alpha’s outer surface at each joint giving it a hollow, unfinished look. As the four watched they came to life with a sudden surge of violet light humming a deadly tune as they hovered in their places with a lethal precision. She walked up to them until she was so close Eric could see the faint flakes of frost caked on her frame, the tiny crystals slowly melting away from the heat of their warmth. <You have…a peculiar scent to you, boy. You smell of coolant and grease, like my brother, 0.06; where is he?> 0.09 bent down to stare into Eric’s face.

The glaring purple was almost blinding as the twin globes blinked slowly before him, Eric raised an arm in front of his eyes to shield them from the light; beside him Sheryl had scrunched herself up against the opposite door of the truck pushing to get as far from the Alpha as possible whilst Daniel sat frozen on the hood wearing a perplexed look on his face, his gun still casually pointed in the machine’s direction.

“Cut that out I don’t know alright? Katarina took him somewhere.” Eric growled, annoyed with the sudden glare.

The light withdrew until it was but a comfortable glint. <Where is this Katarina? I must find my brother.>

“She could be anywhere.” Vivian’s voice came suddenly from the back, “She’s an A.I so she has access to most of the city, we couldn’t possibly know where she brought him.”

Daniel looked back at her for an explanation but a quick shake of her head made him think better of voicing his confusion out loud.

The Alpha’s optics narrowed to create a sort of frown with just its eyes, <I see, that is rather unfortunate.> Her razor sharp talons tapped lightly against the hood beside Daniel’s leg until with a start she had seized the boy beneath the chin and hauled him into the air.

“What the he-“

<You are a rather interesting specimen. You…smell like me.>

“Let go of me.” Daniel growled pressing his gun to the machine’s chest plate.

The Alpha reached over to the boy’s hand with its spindly fingers, carefully disassembling the weapon without changing its expression. <Are you a weapon?>

“No, I’m a goddamn Slayer now let go of me!”

0.09 gently released him sitting him back down onto the truck, <That’s interesting, I am a weapon.>

“What did you just say?” Eric felt a jolt of alarm run through him. What did the Alpha level mean by it being a weapon?

The machine seemed not to hear him, instead it peered towards the heavens its eyes directed towards the clouds staring at something that must have been impossibly far. Eric and Sheryl exchanged glances before turning back to face Vivian who shrugged, equally perplexed.

Daniel had spilled the parts of his gun onto the surface of the map and was slowly putting the weapon back together, his fingers moving slowly in the cold air. In spite of what had just happened he seemed oddly at ease with what was going on not having said anything ever since the Alpha had released him.

There was a crunch as the machine suddenly stepped over to rip the door off its hinges, flinging it off into the distance where it landed with a dull “whumf”, prompting Eric and Sheryl to move away from the opening squishing themselves against the other side. Three bladelike talons sunk themselves into the worn leather of the seat Eric had vacated; outside Daniel had been lifted unceremoniously from his perch to hang in the air, a deadpan look on his face as though he was half asleep.

<This one called himself a Slayer, is that title significant?> 0.09 stared at them with a fervour Eric had not seen previously.

They sat in silence unsure of what to say or do, frozen in place with nowhere to go. What the hell was going on?

<I have methods of coercion which I would prefer not to use if you find yourself suddenly unable to vocalize, however I am 98.2% certain that you would not survive. Please respond to my query.>

“Your brother is gone.” The Slayer’s voice was as dead and toneless as his appearance.

<Is that so? What else do you have to say about that Human?>

“Katarina probably killed him.”

<See, that wasn’t so hard was it? You should follow your comrades’ example.> droplets of blood dripped onto the surface of the truck as 0.09 released Daniel letting him fall limply to the floor. <I received an instruction from my brother 0.01 to bring this Slayer to him; you will tell me the significance of this title.>

“What did you do to him?” Sheryl asked in a strangled voice.

<Just a simple neural tap.> the Alpha laid its hand on the hood, its fingers stained in blood. <It shouldn’t cause any permanent damage. Now tell me, what is the significance of the title of Slayer?>

“We wouldn’t know, you’d have to ask him.” Eric growled gesturing ever so slightly at Daniel’s prone form.

<I don’t think that’s true.> the machine poked its head inside the vehicle which was beginning to seem more and more like a prison.

Eric could hear Sheryl scrabbling at the door handle behind her, her finger nails producing a faint scratching that was surely audible to the Alpha just thirty centimeters in front of him. He carefully snaked his hand over to her arm wrapping it around her wrist applying a careful, reassuring pressure which caused the scratching to cease; he didn’t dare to look behind him but he hoped she got the message.

“Well from what I gathered he was some sort of soldier.” He stammered, the words coming out more confidently than he would have thought possible.

<I mere human soldier would not interest my brother, there must be more to it. Is he perhaps, special?> the violet Alpha’s other arm had elongated itself to gingerly lift Daniel’s limp form from the floor, waving the boy in front of the shattered windshield. <What is so special about this lump of meat here?>

“How about you tell me what happened to the Underground first?”

There was a long silence, <You are in no position to negotiate little human.>

“But it would be mutually beneficial if I co-operate with you.”

<Perhaps. Or maybe I simply need a more direct method of coercion.> A spiny appendage burst forth from the Alpha’s back, a lethal looking cylinder which pulsed with barely contained energy. As they watched the tool, whatever it was slowly turned to face a distant ruin perhaps a kilometer away and lit the sky ablaze with violet. The discharge was deafening, an ear shattering whine which grew in pitch until Eric had his head buried in his lap with both hands clasped over his ears. When he came to the building that had been targeted was nothing but a smoking pile of ashes. The Alpha level remained where it was, still half tucked into the truck, one hand on the seat the other holding Daniel, except now the cylindrical weapon was levelled directly at them.

<I did say that I am a weapon, did I not?> the Alpha intoned with an almost sickening calm.

“And here I thought you were more civilized in your methods than your brother 0.06.”

<It is a joke; we are after all the twin units six and nine, irrevocably bound. It is unfortunate that he met such an untimely demise.>

There was a rattle as the back of the truck suddenly burst open, a flash of silver telling Eric that Vivian was on the move. The first thought that ran through his mind was that the older girl was crazy; there was no way she was going to outrun the Alpha level if it went after her. Then he and Sheryl were tumbling into the snow as the door gave way behind them, his companion having worked the door open during the commotion that Vivian had created.

“Come on let’s go!” Sheryl hauled him up onto his feet and the two started off heading who knows where, their hearts in their throats and feet pounding beneath them. In the distance there was the shriek of tearing metal as the Alpha level ripped free of the truck, an unmistakable sound that only prompted them to run faster.

“This is fucking insane! We can’t just leave Daniel behind!”

“We don’t have a choice, let’s hope it only has business with him.” At some point, Vivian had snuck around to join up with them.

Together the three sprinted to the nearest source of cover, an old run-down warehouse which stank of dust and decay. Lost without a guide, they were left huddling in a dark corner praying that they would not be found; unsure if what was going to happen they stayed there for hours, cold and alone constantly peering outside for any sign of the bladelike machine that had tracked them down. Eventually they found the courage in themselves to venture back out into the open; if 0.09 was really looking for them she probably would have found them ages ago.

“Well, I don’t suppose we’ve got the wrong spot then?” Sheryl remarked sarcastically.

The truck was gone, in its place was a smoldering crater and a field of muddy earth, the ice and snow vaporized by the weapon 0.09 had been carrying. There wasn’t a single trace of Daniel or the machine, and no clue of where they had gone; Eric almost gave up right there when he noticed the scrap of paper half crumpled into the dirt. It was scuffed and muddy, torn down the middle and soaked to the point where the ink was beginning to run but still recognizable for what it was, the map that Daniel had been looking at.

Eric frowned, “Not sure I can grab that without ruining it.”

“I got it.”

Vivian gingerly extracted the sheet from the dirt, her mechanical arm being put to good use as it worked with a precision not possible normally to prevent the soggy paper from tearing. Eric rummaged through his bag until he found a sheet of plastic that they lay the map out on; perhaps they could at least continue on their journey if they could figure out where Daniel had intended to lead them.

As Eric had seen before, the map was a foreign thing depicting regions he’d never heard of; it showed a surface level layout of the city, but sliced it apart into eight main regions, seven of which were tinted red, the last which was labeled as Aphelion, a plain white. Blue pen had been scrawled across the surface which appeared now in faded blue waves which stained the clean black of the original, any writing that had been there before was now illegible. Still Eric could see a massive ring which circled around the white region, some sort of fissure which Daniel had circled, and several other points which were covered with a faint layer of blue. Standard Mapper code was stamped over most of the lines in some sort of fade proof black from which Eric could identify four separate entrances which seemed to connect the surface to the rest of the Underground.

“What is this?” Sheryl leaned over from behind Eric’s shoulder to get a better look.

“No idea, it looks like the city.”

Vivian had set down her bag, pulling out her own set of maps setting them carefully down beside the one they were viewing, unfurling and re-furling half a dozen until she opened a weathered old scroll .

“I knew I’d seen those names before.” She whispered.

The map was almost identical to the one they were looking at now, apart from the fact that it was unblemished by pen or marker and much older.

“Where did you get that?”

“It was a gift from my mentor. He said that perhaps one day I’d find a use for it.”

“Well I guess he was right.” Sheryl brushed her hand over the fresh map, “But do you know what this is for?”

“Well, I was told that this map shows what Aphelion used to look like before it was unified. I’m not sure what that means though.”

 Eric had no idea how the two of them managed to switch from panic mode into quiet conversation so easily; just moments ago they’d been huddled in the dark hiding from a psychotic killing machine. “It doesn’t matter; Daniel mentioned an airstrip, do you see anything like that on the map?”

“Nope, nothing so far.”

“What’s the universal symbol for transport device again?”

“You graduated top of class, come on Sheryl. It’s a ‘T’ flanked by a circle with an arrow going through it.”

There was a rustle as the sandy haired girl brushed her hand over the first map, “Well there are four of these marked on Daniel’s map, but I have no idea where we are right now.”

“There’s a scale on the map right? We can use it to figure out which exit from the Underground we must have used by calculating our travel time.” Vivian stabbed a metallic finger at the thin line running along the bottom of the map.

“We were sprinting for a lot of it though. We have no way of knowing how long it would have taken normally.”

“It doesn’t matter, we can eliminate those entrances which aren’t anywhere near the transport devices marked on my copy of the map, don’t be so quick to give up.”

“That leaves us with two possibilities.” Sheryl circled two of the entrances in the red tinted section marked as ‘Inersia’, “These two are both within ten kilometers of transport devices.”

Eric glanced back over at Vivian’s copy of the map, looking at their two possible destinations. The only major landmark they’d passed on the way here was the vast open plain across which they’d had to race to escape the wolves and the Frost Viper, apart from that nothing else stood out in his memory. The shrike nest as far as he was concerned was nothing overly unique, he would guess that much of the city looked like that given what seemed to have happened up here. There was nothing that looked like an empty space on the map though, all he saw were empty squares and circles which represented buildings which must have stretched high into the sky.

“I can’t tell where we are from the map.”

“I got nothing.” Vivian shrugged.

Eric looked again at the blue stains which were washed over Daniel’s map; noting how almost all of Inersia was faintly purple. Certainly something had been marked there previously, but it was impossible to say anything else for confidently, for all he knew the Slayer had marked the area off as somewhere which was off limits. To be fair though, there was a universal symbol for that so it was likely that it would have been marked with the black ink if there was anything particularly hazardous in this region of Inersia.

“Maybe we should just pick one and head for it, take a guess at our current location?” Sheryl frowned, doing a quick 360 before shaking her head. “Everything up here looks the same, just snow ice and rubble.”

Vivian shook her head, “If we get lost we’ll never find our way.”

“Mirra is built on the foundations of what was once the central reactor for this city correct?”

“Something like that.”

“So that would be roughly at the center of Aphelion in this white region here right?” Eric stabbed a finger at the little white region in the rough center of the red tinted mass.

“I guess,” Vivian shrugged, “Why do you ask?”

“Even if there are no landmarks we can use marked on the map, we should be able to figure out which entrance we exited from by backtracking all the way to Mirra.”

“That’s quite a stretch.”

“We’ve done stuff like this before during training.”

“That was on familiar ground.” Sheryl shivered, “We’ve no idea where we might end up if we get lost up here.”

“It’s our best bet, and I’ll take the chance over standing here and freezing to death.”

Vivian shrugged, pulling out a ruler, “Let’s do it.”

“In Mirra we walked four kilometers north before we reached the elevator, from there we moved a kilometer east before we reached the surface…which puts us here.” Eric drew two straight lines and found his pen about two centimeters from one of the entrances marked on Daniel’s map.

“That can’t be right, we’re nowhere near any of the transport devices.” Sheryl slapped Vivian’s copy of the map down beside Daniel’s. “That entrance is sixteen kilometers from the nearest one.”

Thirty minutes had passed out in open air, Eric’s fingers were numb from the cold and his legs were beginning to ache from the kneeling. But they were close to finding their way, he could feel it, he just needed one more clue to place the last piece of the puzzle. There had to be something here that Daniel had marked that they weren’t seeing, the Slayer was one of them, a Mapper; the notes he left behind should be clear for anyone to see.

“I think maybe we’re not going about this the right way, maybe we’re not looking for a transport device.” Vivian said suddenly, her eyes focused on something distant.

“What?”

“Maybe we’re just looking for an area where an aircraft can land.” She pointed at an orange dot on the horizon, her finger tracing Phoenix 2-5’s path as it carved through the atmosphere to find a place to land.

“I have its trajectory.” Sheryl was already scratching down calculations on a scrap of paper while Eric hurriedly folded up the maps. The trail that Daniel had left on the map would have to wait till later, they had a lead and it wasn’t going to stick around for them to catch it.

He threw his backpack over his shoulder, “Come on then let’s go!”

And then they were off, hot on the assault craft’s tail.

---

22: Oblivion Ascendant: 05

The Oracle dragged her brother’s corpse slowly through the halls, frustrated with the errands 0.01 kept tasking her with. Following the ordeal of going through the steps to dismantle her rampant brother 0.03, she’d been instructed to go further into the ship and wait for the blue Alpha at the shield generator while he…made some sort of grand entrance, or at least that was what he had said. What use her elder brother had for 0.03’s core she didn’t know, but she was perfectly comfortable leaving things that way; from her past experiences she had quickly realized that is was better to let 0.01 have his way.

She cared nothing for the blue Alpha’s desires, but in the interest of self-preservation she would go along with her brother’s plans for the time being. The preservation of their blueprint was not at all interesting to her; if they deserved to survive then they would, and if these humans turned out to be the superior beings then she would bow before them and let rule, if that was what was meant to be. All she cared about was the well-being of her own frame, she was after all the best of the best, nothing in this world could match what she could do so there was no reason at all for her to think that she would ever be replaced. But if her brother one day found her to be expendable there was no telling what he might do to her, and that line of thinking kept her obedient…for the moment.

Machines did not know fear, and 0.04 would not have considered herself a coward, she simply was living out the “life” that had been handed to her. This barrier that 0.01 was obsessed with bringing down was of no concern to her; even contained within just this small confine of 62 square kilometers there were a great many things she could do to occupy her interests and build a world of her own. She had no grand ambition for their blueprint, she desired nothing more than to be left alone to her own devices.

This human vessel was a stinking maze of metal and grime, but as the Oracle it was not difficult for her to navigate it; her linkup to the satellites that still hovered above Aphelion in high orbit gave her access to a multitude of data which she could use, including the old blueprints for the ship. She disliked these cramped corridors intensely, it made her uneasy whenever she couldn’t fully utilize her wings; it shouldn’t have mattered of course, as an Alpha level she had all the tools in the world at her disposal as long as there was metal of a certain purity around her so she could manipulate it. However in spite of this acknowledgement she still couldn’t help but mourn the loss of options available to her when she accounted for these small spaces; she preferred to be out in the open air, beneath the grey gloom of Aphelion’s sky.

Her sister was in here somewhere, 0.00, the green Alpha who had gone rogue for some incomprehensible reason; it was impossible that any of them would willingly believe 0.03’s ranting about a greater threat. They were Alpha levels, the most powerful individual beings ever to have walked this earth, that some miserable A.I could possibly contend with their strength was madness, an imbecilic prospect. It was impossible that 0.03 was correct, the depths of his madness were clear to anyone, how her sister could trust the words of such an individual defied logic. If 0.04 found her she would purge her sister from the face of this world, if only to protect herself from such madness in case it proved to be infectious; she had no desire to share in the viridian Alpha’s idiosyncrasy.

The shield floor was half a kilometer below her in the belly of the beast, buried beneath layer upon layer of plate armour, plastic and polymer. This was a distance traversable efficiently only through a set of lifts which could take her through the whole heightspan of the ship, so it was there that 0.04 headed, all the while lugging her brother’s frame sullenly over her shoulder.

Though she had removed his core unit, 0.03 still wasn’t dead; if resupplied with power his frame would reactivate, though where one would find the kind of power contained in an Alpha level’s core outside of this vessel 0.04 didn’t know. Without it though, he was nothing more than a worthless hunk of metal, loose limbed and limp, a hassle to drag through the corridors as there was little space to manoeuvre around turns, especially with her tall frame that came in at almost three meters. 0.01 had taken the core unit from her, and left her with this useless mess, instructing her to keep him with her; what exactly did he intend for her to do with him? She had no use for the extra metal mass, after all metal of sufficient purity was available all around her throughout the ship, and furthermore she had no desire to burden herself with this worthless worm of a brother who somehow managed to be even more irritating now that he was silent.

There was nothing to be done, 0.01’s word was law, she would shoulder this tiresome burden until she was instructed otherwise; that was the way of the world she existed within. Even if she had no idea what she was supposed to do with this lump of metal she would carry on, move forwards and do whatever it took to satisfy her brother’s demands. There had never been a single moment where she had questioned the blue Alpha’s strength or authority, after all, he had been the one who had created her initially so he at the very least had her respect in regards to his ability.  

When all of this was said and done and the barrier broken though, 0.04 would leave to walk her own path; not content to see what the world had become only through the eyes of the satellites in high space, she would see for herself what had truly become of this world. Her wings yearned to push her through air not confined in this city, to bring her to new heights where no chains could bind her to this ruin. If the barrier stood she would stay here, but given the choice, she would go anywhere, as long as she could free herself of 0.01’s influence.

When she finally arrived at the elevator shaft she found herself looking at a cold steel panel beside a pair of massive white doors closing off a gigantic pillar which stretched up and away into the ceiling. 0.04 was certain that this was the central lift that would take her down to D deck, the only real question was how she was going to get inside. The doors would open only to someone with the access codes, someone with the authority to travel through the ship; the Alpha knew that she was not on this list of authorized personnel, so she would have to find some other way through these insufferable doors.

Brute forcing her way through came to mind immediately, but 0.04 didn’t know the extent to which the automated security systems might still be active. She was confident that she could handle almost anything that could be thrown at her, but protecting her package of dead weight while preserving her own functions might prove difficult. So long as she remained uncertain as to the importance of her brother on her shoulder, she could not take the risk of preforming an overly rash manoeuvre.

Instead, she decided to go with a method which was a little more subtle, less likely to attract unwanted attention on this derelict vessel. If she could work her way into the ship’s internal systems through the interface of the door controls then she was certain that she could tear through whatever security protocols existed and worm her way through to waltz right by any doors she encountered in the future. She was quite familiar with most electronics; she herself was simply built up from basic techniques which were improved upon and reiterated over and over, so with her algorithms she could expand upon them to find a methodology which she could use to splice her way into a system. This wasn’t exactly the most efficient way to go about it, but it was certainly comprehensive, and she was a fast learner, it wouldn’t take her long to familiarize herself with the electronic architecture to streamline her process.

It didn’t take her long to crack the codes and insert her presence into the ship’s nervous system, as she did this she physically interfaced with the vessel as well, both arms melting into the metallic surface. It was but a moment of vulnerability, but even though she was done with her work in just seconds she was shaken by the experience when she eventually withdrew herself from the metal plates. The electronic architecture was raw and worn, as if something had been scraping against the walls, fighting to get out or stay in; there were no real indications of damage, but even just the faint echoes of what might have once been here were enough. It was impossible to ascertain if what she felt was real, but even just this faint trace of a monster in the ship was enough to make her want to pull away.

It was a ridiculous feeling, and for a moment 0.04 thought that perhaps she had been infected by her proximity to her mad brother, but that was impossible. She would have recognized any foreign elements in her own subsystems and eliminated them if that had happened; she was very careful about what filtered in and out of her networks. There couldn’t be any thing in this derelict ship, nothing living had been aboard this vessel for years, and an A.I would have shown itself by now. 0.03 and 0.00’s stories couldn’t possibly be true, there was no real evidence to support it.

And yet, the lingering feeling of fear and doubt was very real in spite of her convictions; even though as an Alpha she had nothing to fear, couldn’t even quite put the term to words, it was there, unbidden, unwarranted, unwanted. And she could do nothing to dispel the feeling of deep seated unease. Even as the doors shuddered open and the yellow Alpha descended through the elevator shaft it felt to her as though nothing would ever quite be the same again, as if she’d carry this sensation of being watched, being hunted down forever.

<This had better be the last task 0.01 asks of me.> she hissed into the empty air, not really expecting an answer. But the silence that followed left her feeling more hollow than she had been before, full of doubts and uncertainties, expecting something to happen at any moment, but knowing that nothing would.

She really hated what her world had become.

---

The words echoed in the silence that followed creating a sudden stillness to the scene which left Claire speechless, not quite sure what to say.

<Indeed you are, in a manner of speaking.> 0.00 interrupted, moving a hand through the projection of Adrian as if to confirm the dead officer’s statement. <But you are also alive, if you really think about it.>

“Then what exactly am I speaking to?” Claire asked, pushing her hand through the image of Adrian as well not quite certain this was real.

“The chip in the back of your neck is interfacing with your brain through the suit you’re wearing, how that was accomplished…well, I don’t really want to ask this machine here what it did to you well you were under. Anyhow that chip stores whatever is left of me inside it, and while you’re awake you can see a sort of image of me projected onto an area in the backdrop through my direct interfacing with your brain. I am controlling the interfacing which is why I can ‘think’ in a sense, to a certain degree anyhow. I’m thus far uncertain how accurate this copy of my brain really is.” The illusion shrugged, “That’s my understanding of it anyway, given the background I have in neurotech, you’d have to ask a real tech if you wanted the specifics.”

<It is as you were when you died, perfectly crystalized, a moment in time suspended in stasis. The algorithm which adopted the imprint in the first place is still in force; you will learn and adapt to the vessel you are carried in.>

“What? That’s hella fucked.” Adrian said, suddenly indignant, though Claire couldn’t quite follow the meaning of what the Alpha had just said.

<It is the price you pay for the second chance at life you were given.>

“What is she talking about?”

The image of Adrian looked away for a moment, fingers strumming uneasily against his thigh, “Well, to put it simply…this copy of me is slowly going to pick up on your character traits and personality.”

“Oh.” The word rang hollow through the cavernous hold.

“So how does this work? Normally an imprinted guide disappears when you de-sync with the unit, but I don’t think that’s possible here.” Adrian asked, his avatar crossing its arms over his chest.

The Alpha level shrugged, <I have no experience in these matters, I simply did what was necessary to keep your mind intact.>

“Wait, so I can’t turn you off or anything?” Claire was a little scared at the idea of having the Lieutenant in her head all of the time; the man hadn’t exactly been the most pleasant of persons to spend time with.

Adrian shrugged, “Guess not, unless your brain stops functioning or something. How is this thing being powered again anyway?”

The Alpha level cocked its head slightly to the side. <That would bring us to the second complication in this arrangement; your memory matrix is powered remotely through a wireless link to this unit here.> she said, placing a hand on the massive Combat Walker. <If you go beyond a 500 meter range of this unit, power will no longer be supplied to you and the system will shut down.>

“What happens to him if that happens?”

<A reboot would be…highly unlikely, and the neural surge of the memory core shutting down could very well have some dangerous implications to your physical functions, I would advise against allowing that to become a possibility.>

“So you’ve gone ahead and tied me to this goddamn hunk of metal then.” Claire growled, kicking the war machine, an act she almost immediately regretted. Her foot really hurt now.

“You’ve gone to great pains to keep us alive, but you still haven’t explained what you want with us specifically.” Adrian said softly.  “And I’m still not sure how you can even hear me when I’m speaking if it’s her mind I’m linked up to.”

<I linked the unit to myself as well when I assembled it, as you form thoughts, I will comprehend them; this function is also limited in range as there was little space for me to provide a way to boost the signal. Beyond standard oratory range this function will be disabled, you could consider it a nod at giving you some sort of privacy to your thoughts if you prefer.>

“And how long exactly am I going to last like this?”

<It is impossible to say really, the system is inherently stable as long as your host frame doesn’t undergo anything…overly traumatizing.>

Adrian crossed his arms, “Great, bloody fantastic.”

“And our other question? I really want to get all of this over with.” Claire was growing increasingly annoyed at being dragged around into other people’s problems. She wanted to go home dammit. And now with Adrian in her goddamn head she couldn’t even be sure that was possible.

<My brother 0.01 has plans to terminate the barrier which surrounds this city, your brother Marcus can tell you more about that. This barrier is the only thing that isolates this city physically and electronically from the rest of the world, and is the only thing which keeps the A.I Oblivion from escaping this city, this prison which was constructed for it. 0.01 thinks that he can best the A.I and subdue it, but all he will accomplish if he does that is deliver himself to the A.I to be used as a pawn in his plans, just as he originally intended.> The viridian Alpha paused, her highlights flickering through various shades of lime, <We exist because Oblivion convinced the Aphelian command structure to approve our creation, just like the research done in spectromic particle fields and other technologies with military applications; this A.I created us as tools, and given 0.01’s attitude on where we stand in this world, will extinguish us as threats. It is an act of self-preservation for myself and my siblings that I prevent my brother from achieving his goal, and for that I need weapons capable of taking down an Alpha level like myself. You will serve as those weapons.>

“Will we?” Adrian remarked, one eyebrow half raised.

<The fate of Aphelion hangs in the balance, and for the record I did go out of my way to come save your lives.>

“To an extent.” Adrian chimed.

The Alpha level shrugged, <Would you have preferred the alternative of letting you die?>

“I’m not sure that would have been any worse…” Claire muttered under her breath.

0.00 let out a frustrated hiss, <You are alive now thanks in large part due to my efforts, is it so much to ask that you assist me in this small endeavour?>

Adrian crossed his arms over his chest, “Well I’m still not sure whether I should believe this story of yours, it’s a little farfetched to say the least.”

<What is there to deny? I cannot possibly bring you evidence that  0.01 truly desires this apart from the speech that exits my vocalization ports, indeed you are entirely unfamiliar with my brother as far as I am aware, and this barrier cannot be visualized unless it is disturbed and it persists only on the very extremes of Aphelion. All I am capable of doing is asking you for your trust.>

Claire shrugged, “Yeah I have no idea what you want me to think, all of this is way over my head.”

The machine’s eyes made a rolling motion, and in spite of its otherwise impassive expression the girl could almost feel the waves of frustration rolling off its frame. <We’re wasting time, you’ve still yet to familiarize yourself with your new companions and every second we wait 0.01 gets closer to his goal.> 0.00 said, stepping away.

“Companions?” Claire raised an eyebrow.

<Yes, companions.> the machine said, leaping up onto the spherical piloting core of Wyvern and popping open the hatch. <Get in.>

Claire put a hand on the first rung of a series of rungs which allowed pilots to move across Wyvern’s surface, “If I was going to get back into that thing why pull me out in the first place?”

The machine extended a hand down to her, <It was necessary so I could clarify the situation to you two organics so we could avoid any possible confusion and move as quickly as possible.>

Claire accepted the Alpha’s hand, clasping the cool metal in her grip allowing the machine to haul her up to the top of the piloting sphere. “So what now, am I going to pilot this thing?”

<That would be the main idea, yes.>

Reluctantly Claire slipped down through the hatch into chamber which was once more filled with the yellow fluid.  It seeped in through the seams, cool but not unpleasant, though as before the feeling was foreign and unfamiliar.

“Not the most pleasant experience I suppose.” Adrian chimed in, his avatar having donned a clean uniform in the place of the skin-tight suit it had been wearing before.

“Like you would know.” Claire growled, “Not like you can actually feel anything.”

A scowl appeared on the officer’s face, “Do you listen at all? I receive all the neural inputs that you do; anything you see or feel I will as well.”

Claire slipped her head beneath the surface, an act which prompted a pair of clamps to take hold of her ankles and pull her deeper down as dozens of cables began to snake out from their sockets. As before their razor tips plunged themselves into their berths on the suit Claire wore creating dull pinpricks of pain which ran up and down her spine. Hot white light poured into her eyes as 8 lights ringed above and below her lit up to illuminate the interior, and a dull thrum reverberated through the fluid as all around her the massive war machine slowly came to life.

“So, from what you said before it sounded like you’ve had dealings with this walker before, what’s with all that?” Claire was curious about any details of Adrian’s past, especially now that she was going to have to share so much with him.

The figure shrugged, seemingly floating static in the fluid directly in front of her, “I had a past full of violence working for Aphelion, I told you that. Once, on an Op that took us deep into enemy territory we encountered this war machine that we’re sitting in here. In the ruckus that ensued I lost a lot of good friends; anyhow eventually this walker eventually ended up under our control, but after we was brought back to Aphelion I never saw it again until now.”

Claire raised an eyebrow, “Really? You seem awfully familiar with it.”

“It was a long Op, and I got to see her in action personally. The craft that consumed my life for six long years was combat, and even now after all these years she’s still a formidable war machine. I made my job to become familiar with the weapons and tools around me, and Wyvern here was no different even if I only ever saw it once.”

“And this Gillian Summers you mentioned?”

“An acquaintance of mine from that Op.” Adrian was unusually tight lipped about this particular topic which was odd given how he’d seemed alright with discussing his past before, not that Claire had taken him up on that.

<If you two are ready, I’m going to start up the walker.> 0.00’s voice seemed to go directly into Claire’s left ear, an oddity which made her turn to that side though she saw nothing but the dull metal walls. <You’re listening to me through the implant if you’re wondering, it will seem as though I am quite close to you.>

“Could all of you freaks get out of my head?!” Claire growled.

<I’ll take that to mean you’re ready then.>

A hum permeated the fluid chamber which was followed by a ripple which seemed to shift quickly across Claire’s field of view until suddenly the yellow tint which seemed to permeate everything lifted and it was as though Claire had an unobstructed view of everything outside. 0.00 was standing in front of her, arms folded in front of her chest plate, a sort of expectant look painted onto its relatively featureless face.

<I assume you can see me now?> Claire still couldn’t help but want to turn her head whenever the damn machine spoke.

“Yeah, what the hell just happened?” Experimentally she leaned forwards, trying to step out towards what appeared to be open air but found herself unable to make much progress; instead she felt the massive machine shift around her lurching jerkily forwards before coming to a sudden halt as she stopped.

<I have released the protocol for pilot synchronization, so you are now in control of the frame. You will notice that you can see everything in the field of view of the walker’s optics now, you may also begin to feel a little detached from your limbs, this is normal as your brain is now synchronizing to the walker itself. The Pilot Assistance Program will come online shortly.>

“What?”

“I think I’ll take it from here, damn machines never talk straight…” Adrian seemed to step forwards until the 30 centimeter avatar was about a meter in front and too her left, tinged a translucent blue. “This machine should be carrying a sort of pseudo A.I which is supposed to guide you through the baby steps of piloting.”

Outside the Alpha tapped its wrist impatiently, mimicking the motion which represented an urge to hurry up.

“Well I don’t see any sort of A.I, what’s up with that?”

“You really weren’t listening at all, were you?”

“I couldn’t understand anything you two were saying, give me a break already. You act as if I’ve been doing this shit my whole life, but I never wanted to be involved with people like you in the first place!”

“Well, the A.I that used to be installed here was wiped from the drives so that Alpha could use that circuitry for…me, I guess you could say. So since that A.I no longer exists, it’s left to me to help you.”

“Right, and you’re qualified to do this why?”

The Officer shrugged, “I’m not going to pretend to be a pro at it or anything, but I worked a little with this machine before during the Op, I know how she runs generally speaking.”

“Right, and I’m supposed to believe that why?”

“I had some hands on experience alright? Just trust me on this one.”

Claire scowled, “Well it’s not as though I have a choice if you really look at it.”

As they spoke the cockpit unfolded around them, a holographic projection of all the panels and controls appearing around them, ringing Claire in a sphere of off-blue light.

“None of this is real, but the sensors that are plugged into the suit will register your movements and transfer that into movement in the Walker.”

“Isn’t one of my arms a freaking gigantic gun?”

Adrian gestured at a structure that appeared above and to her left, “Take hold of that glove and put it on, once you do that the rest should be instinctual.”

She slipped on the object, ‘feeling’ the sensation of weight and leather in spite of the fact that there was really nothing there. She couldn’t explain it, but instinctively she felt a certain resistance to clenching her fist, and as she shifted her arm slightly she saw the massive twin barrels move with her outside.

“The rest is similar, so it should be intuitive now that you understand that.”

<I must ask that you do hurry.> 0.00 had walked up right in front of the walker which was still bowed over as it had been when Claire entered, and tapped impatiently on the hull.

“Alright, alright, I was just getting to know the ropes, give me a moment.”

Adrian’s avatar seemed to not hear the Alpha, instead taking a glance around the interior, looking for something that couldn’t be there; Claire knew that besides herself there was nothing in here but fluid and cables, though even those had been rendered invisible by whatever the machine was doing to synchronize her to the piloting system.

“What is it?”

The officer frowned, “I don’t know, it feels as though…I’m not quite alone in here, I don’t know why.”

Claire took a quick look of her own, “I don’t know about that, looks like just you and me.”

“Right, I must be imagining things…if I can still do that.” He answered distractedly.

“Uh huh.” Claire found it odd that the Lieutenant seemed so off put by what was going on, he normally seemed on top of things.

The girl slowly righted the massive war machine, righting it with some assistance from Adrian and 0.00 until it stood in at almost 25 meters tall, and that was without having its triple jointed limbs full extended. It was only then that it became apparent to Claire just how large the cargo hold they were in was, because even then the chamber still seemed cavernous, towering above them in as an endless sea of lights and metal.

“So where are we going?” Claire asked once she’d worked her way through several laps, practicing her manoeuvres and movements with Adrian and the green Alpha until she felt familiar with the controls.

<We head upwards to deck D, which houses the primary reactor core and the linkup to the shield around Aphelion.> They had moved out onto a large circle which was carved out of the perimeter.

“This shield you keep bringing up, what is it actually besides a barrier for this A.I you keep mentioning, Oblivion?”

<Your brother would know best the specifics of its function since it was his design in the first place. All I can tell you is that this vessel carries with it a device which projects a barrier around the city, preventing physical and electronic travel across its membrane; it was this shield which prevented this annihilation of the core of Aphelion when it was impacted by six nuclear warheads. However, just days ago it began to decay, holes opening up in its physical surface near the upper limits of its reach. My brother, 0.01 is determined to destroy this barrier entirely so as to allow him and the rest of my siblings to leave this city and find our own place in this world, however the destruction of this barrier will also allow the A.I Oblivion, the prisoner your brother has gone to such lengths to contain to roam free. This future must not come to be, or all shall perish.>

The circle slowly rose along the side of the chamber to bring them up and away from the gridlocked floor, the ceiling opening up before them as eight bladelike petals slid away to let them through. They passed through E deck on the way up, a crowded floor filled with military and scientific equipment that Claire had never seen before, all of it thrown together into a massive ocean of metal and plastic that formed a mountain which reached towards the cavernous ceiling in a glittering pile. Even an outsider the circumstances under which all of this material must have been collected was clear; there was a decapitated chaos to it which dripped of hurried work and clocks ticking down.

“Well, that explains where most of our goddamn equipment disappeared off to.” Adrian pouted, irritation painted across his face, “Could’ve used a lot of that these past twelve years instead of letting it just sit here.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Claire felt a pang of regret, thinking of Val and Will, her family must be worried to death, in fact they probably thought that she was dead.

<You stare your excess in the face and you have the nerve to speak of what you might have done with it had you known it was here. You humans never learn.>

“Yeah, damn right you are you goddamn machine, humanity is always going to stay stuck in that same circle of self-destruction, and you and the rest of your brothers and sisters can feel free to watch from the sidelines, killing when it pleases you, playing god intervening in things you have no right to have a choice in.”

“Could the two of you shut up please?” Claire growled, “Let’s just get this over with alright?” As she finished they moved up through the ceiling onto floor D and their destiny that lay beyond.

<I was only making an observation.>

“Right, an observation.”

Claire glared at the avatar which caused him to promptly shut up, a scowl creasing his features. There a dull thud as the plate they had ascended on locked itself in place, leaving them alone in the cavernous hold; D deck was far larger than the other two levels that they had been on previously even from just a preliminary glance. It was a vast empty plane of grey and white, illuminated so brightly that even through Wyvern’s filters Claire had to squint to make out anything.

The whole place seemed like an anomaly with its pristine white floors and the soft humming that permeated throughout the chamber, it was as though nothing had ever set foot in this vast landscape of metal and glass, sparkling clean and untouched by time without the slightest hint of decay. Blue light pulsed everywhere on the walls, the most prominent of which were six massive columns of blue transparisteel which were spread evenly throughout the hold in a hexagonal formation.

“What is this place?”

<It is the barrier’s home, the reactor floor, home to the Realmshifter’s five fusion cores and the source of all power that remains here in this city. If the reactors are damaged or destroyed, the barrier will fall once the energy drains from its residual supply.>

“I recognize this place, I’ve been here before.” Adrian said suddenly, his eyes lighting up as Claire worked out the faint silhouette of a large spherical shape about five hundred meters ahead of them.

<Indeed you have, for all things began and ended here, at the core.> The alien voice came from a winged being just barely visible through the glare, standing idly on the upper surface of a massive white sphere which hovered in the dead center of the room. <Brother said you would be coming here, he sends his regards sister.> 0.04 intoned without inflection, her voice ice cold as she ignited the ion blades on her wrists, readying herself for one final bout.

---

The Blue Alpha stood tall and proud in the stomach of the shipyard, a juggernaut amongst the men and women at his height of eight feet. Mark couldn’t recall if the machine had always been that large. The Alpha strode in past all of the corpses illuminating everything in a faint blue wash, wilfully ignorant of all the weapons pointed at it, a small red orb orbiting around his head like some sort of satellite.

“0.01, what are you doing here?” Mark said, finding his voice even as a slight touch of worry flooded into his mind. This machine shouldn’t have been here, no one should have been able to enter the vessel except those with him and Krauz.

<I could ask you the same, Lieutenant Commander.> the machine replied coldly, its fingers tracing delicate arks to leave a trail of glimmering blue particles which drifted slowly through the stale air. <This wreck is not the most endearing of places after all.>

“I’m here to do what we always intended to do, leave this place.” Behind his back Mark carefully held up a hand, it would be best if they let him handle this delicate situation. For the time being at least Fredrick seemed to be co-operative, but there was no telling if he might do something rash given his mental state. He needed to end this quickly.

<And how would you intend to go about accomplishing that, this derelict is hardly going anywhere.>

“I think we both know that this ship is still active; it is what’s been providing power to the city for all these years.”

The red orb flitted this way and that, weaving three paths around the robot until the Alpha opened up his right hand and caught it between his fingers where it stuck fast.

<That is, not entirely true either, as we both know.> 0.01 responded coolly, mimicking Mark’s tone.

A cold bead of sweat formed slowly on Mark’s forehead. He had known that the Alpha had had plenty of time to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle, but if the machine really was hinting at the two other Alphas that had been imprisoned beneath the city to stabilize the shield unit then there was even less time than he had thought.

“Well, I think it would be safe to say that we both did what was necessary to maintain order.”

By now the blue particles had reached the dusty floor, sizzling faintly before the fizzled out into blackened ashes. The tension in the air was palpable as the two faced each other down, both sizing the other up, trying to gain the upper hand in this deadly game of cat and mouse. Mark instinctively felt that the gig was up, if the Alpha level had brought together all the facts and any chance they had at escaping the city had been extinguished, but he also knew that as long as he might conceivably be useful a personality like 0.01’s wouldn’t kill him outright.  Obviously it would be quite preferable if he could manoeuvre them out of this situation but when it was something like an Alpha level on the other side of the table Mark was unsure as to just what he might be able to do.

<Perhaps, though I would argue that you had much more choice in the matter.>

“What do you want?” 

<The same thing as you, I want my freedom from this icy prison.> the sphere in the machine’s hand whirred slightly as lines opened up on its surface until it split apart into hundreds of tiny shards to expose the pulsing core within. Mark cursed quietly under his breath and took a step back as he recognized the fusion/fission core. <Even with this power at my center I cannot penetrate the barrier you put up around this city, why is that?>

“Not everything in this world is determined through raw power, there are some things that cannot be forced.” So that was that then, the cat was out of the bag. The barrier was known to the robot, and in that case surely short on life.

<Indeed, and yet…the pecking order established in this wasteland these past twelve years is unquestionably based upon the strength individuals possess.> the machine casually closed its fist around the flitting orb again, snuffing out the red light.

Mark felt something tap him lightly on the shoulder, by angling his head slightly to the side he could see Krauz was flashing him a view of a datapad so that only he could see it; he was looking at a schematic of the ship which showed a layout of the floor they were on. From just a glance he couldn’t see anything of note, but he could see a timer in the top right corner which was rapidly ticking down. They were running out of time, and this conversation was going nowhere; it was time for Mark to move them past this.

“Look, I don’t know what exactly you intend to accomplish by stopping us here but its mutually beneficial for you to allow us to pass, there are monsters in this city which both of us have reason to fear.”

<Indeed, that was what I was told, my brother says that there is a monster on this ship.> the lights that dotted the Alpha’s carbon grey frame flickered as its body shook, almost as though it were laughing, <Some monsters though, are not as dangerous as they might seem.>

There was a dull thud as a prone form impacted the ground, 0.01 shifting to the side to allow them to see who exactly it was. It took Mark a couple of seconds to figure out who exactly it was he was looking at though a frown immediately crossed Krauz’s face.

He heard a gasp behind him, Val had a hand over her mouth, “Elaine?!”

<I did find the girl in the end, or perhaps it was more like she found me.> the Alpha prodded the girl lightly with his foot, as though the Slayer was something vaguely unpleasant.

Mark felt his heart sink even as Elaine let out a low groan, it mattered little that she was still alive if she had so easily been dispatched by 0.01. He had hoped that he could use her as leverage if things got out of hand and he needed something to use against the Alpha, but now they were in a situation of true vulnerability.

“I’ll ask you again, what do you want?” Mark wished he could believe in the steely resolve he tried to put in his voice, but found his rational mind unable to accomplish such an impossible task. They were stuck in the same room as a very lethal combat robot with few options to flee, and no way to negotiate. They were at the mercy of 0.01 and the Alpha level knew it.

<I want out of here, but more importantly I want to ensure the survival of my blueprint so that even if I should fall the Alpha lineage will persist.> 0.01 had made his way over to the wall, stripping apart the panelling working at the wiring beneath even as they continued their conversation; some part of him was always moving, always working, thinking, changing. In this way the machine was very much obsessed, fixated on the nuances of his environment, taking it apart stripping it down and building it anew. He never stopped to think, caught up in the creative flow adapting as required to the changes around him. It wasn’t quite a weakness, but it was something. The observation had been many times before but Mark hadn’t made much of it in the past, but now he clung on to it like a life raft. He would do anything right now to get himself and everyone else out of the grasp of this lethal robot.

“Well I have no intention and even trying to destroy you or your siblings, and us boarding the Realmshifter and getting out of here will involve dropping the barrier so I see no reason why you would care about what we’re doing here.”

<Perhaps not, but you have many companions here and I cannot be sure that they share your opinion. Furthermore if your friends here are not lying about the fact that humanity persists outside of this city then they too are a potential threat to me.> the sphere in the Alpha’s hands had been disassembled and reassembled at least ten times now, each time splitting apart into increasingly intricate shapes, the most recent of which involving a multitude of paper thing plates surrounding a spherical red core, mimicking the profile of the Realmshifter.

“Well I don’t know how you expect me to respond to that.”

<Well, for starters I was under the impression that I might have to disable some members of your party in order to prevent them from causing me inconvenience, but it would appear that they are at least disciplined enough not to do something so foolish.> 0.01 started, a bemused expression on his face, <And…I almost anticipated you making mention of a certain character that I have been introduced to as…Oblivion.>

Mark started to say something back to the Alpha when an arc of quicksilver slashed upwards between the two of them closing off the space in the cramped corridor; in a flash Elaine went from lying still on the floor to a blurred flicker of motion.  All hell broke loose as chunks of metal started flying off of the walls, the two combatants going at each other heedless of anything else around them.

The whole of the shipyard seemed to shudder as the wave of metal crashed into the wall throwing everyone from their feet Mark scrabbled for purchase, his hand grasping at the wall, starting at a touch on his shoulder; Krauz pulled him away as the group slowly pulled away from the fighting, “Come on, we won’t get another opportunity like this; we need to get away from that thing.”

“But what about Elaine?!” the civilians seemed even more distraught now than when 0.01 had showed with the girl, the boy in particular seemed shocked into inaction.

“Let the Slayer do her damn job, that’s what she was meant to do anyway. Let’s go.” Krauz was shouting, his soldiers quickly stepping forwards to take the lead.

“We can’t just leave her!”

“There’s no time for this! Will, come on!” Mark put a hand on the older woman’s shoulder, he could already see that the boy probably wasn’t coming with them from the look in his eyes.

“I’m staying! You go on ahead with the twins!”

“God dammit Will!” Finally, Mark was able to get the rest of the group to get moving, Fredrick and Darren bringing up the rear.

“You know the way to the bridge from here?”

“Naturally.” They broke into a light sprint, the soldiers following close behind the two officers as they thundered through the dusty hallways.

One single image had been burned into Mark’s memory before they had fled from the two combatants, the girl’s green eyes burning with fury as they locked with his for an instant as he turned to run. No words were spoken between the two of them, but still he had felt the impact of her gaze and understood the thought milling inside her head. He would answer to her for the things he had done if she survived. He shuddered inwardly at the thought of having to face down this woman who was going toe to toe with an Alpha level, whatever happened now he knew for certain that he would have to try and make amends for the things he had done when this was all over, not just with her, but the rest of the world.

He had carried such a burden, alone with the knowledge that no matter how hard he tried he had stumbled into the story far too late; Oblivion’s machinations were already set well into motion by the time that he had been pulled into this militaristic life and become entangled in this web of lies. And now he paid the price, so long after everything had all happened, twelve years later as Aphelion slowly began to thaw.

“You weren’t surprised that the Slayer was here.”

“She came here with me, though I wasn’t aware of her identity until quite recently.”

“You weren’t aware of the presence of a Slayer? And not just any Slayer, but her, how can you expect me to believe that?”

“I don’t know what you want from me, I’m only here because you told me to be here and get you out twelve years ago, isn’t that enough?!”

It wasn’t, not for Mark anyway. Ever since Mark had bumped into Krauz on the surface something had felt off about the way the other man held himself, it seemed like for all his bluster the officer was more deflated than he remembered. In spite of his plain face Mark had always known Krauz to be a calm and confident, a singularity of reason in world that was falling apart. That was what had drawn Mark to him in the first place; he had chosen to trust in this man and let him in on the secret of Oblivion over everyone else because of all the people he had met way back then, Krauz stood out as someone with strong morals and steely resolve. The man that was beside him now was just a pale shadow of that, a tired and ragged leader, grasping at straws as he led some tiny squad through the corpse of his former home.

“You said the war is still going on outside the barrier, you said that what’s of Aphelion is still fighting. Just how much of that is really true?”

There was a dull silence filled only by the rattling of the weapons and armour of the soldiers, accompanied by the thumping of boots on metal and ragged pants as the breakneck pace began to wear on the endurance of all of them. Beads of sweat rolled off of Krauz’s brow, whether from exertion or the stress of what Mark was saying he couldn’t tell.

“If there was nothing left how could I have gotten the shuttle that I flew in on, how could my men have gear? Don’t ask such ridiculous questions when we’re so close to finishing this!”

“Finishing this? You know half of what’s been going on in here these past twelve years; you’re here because I gave you instructions to find your way back, that’s what you say. But if the world outside was really alright then you wouldn’t have had any reason to come here at all. You knew this place was an icy hell, why would you come back?!”

Mark’s jacket flapped behind him as they ran, a billowing layer of black and red canvas, his eyes flitting over the metal walls that became increasingly familiar as they progressed. He’d walked through these parts of the shipyard dozens of times as he’d moved on and off of the Realmshifter during the end stages of the war for Aphelion; back then he’d still been in uniform, back then he’d been filled with a sense of helplessness in spite of his position of power. Nothing he was able to do would have Oblivion from starting the war, and nothing afterwards could have them from Aphelion’s eventual demise, all he had been able to do was minimize the damage and preserve this core of the city that was left under the bubble. Now he found himself in a similarly difficult situation carrying the fate of Aphelion and the people that remained in here on his shoulders. The destroyer was last space capable vessel in the city that could bring into orbit, the only vehicle capable of holding everyone that was left and most definitely the safest bet at getting out of here alive. She was his ship, only he, alongside Krauz would be able to start the ignition sequence which would have her engines powering up and getting her off the ground.

If he hadn’t found Krauz when they did, then he would have had to proceed without him; perhaps it was possible to override the double ignition start up, especially if the A.I Overwatch showed up again to help him. Even though it was the A.I that had initially pointed him in this direction in the first place, he seemed to come and go as he pleased; Mark could really use a pointer right now, but as was usual in his experience, such individuals were never there when you truly needed them.

“Have you not once paused to consider that maybe I came back because I’m your goddamn friend?!”

“People like you and I aren’t in positions to have friends, just assets and resources.”

“You haven’t changed a bit.” Krauz spat.

“Thanks. That’s the entrance to the ship there right?” Mark brushed him off. It was true that in spite of how much faith he put the other man he had never been really able to show any real appreciation for what the officer had done for him. Had their positions been reversed Mark was unsure of whether or not he would have believed the other man.

“Just ahead. Fan out around the perimeter.” Krauz’s men spread slowly around the junction which lay ahead where the hallway widened into a rough V ending in a massive transparisteel panel, embedded into which was a door which was connected to a grey tube which disappeared into the mist outside.

“What, are you expecting trouble?” Darren and Fredrick had been quiet for a while, but it seemed like Darren at least had regained a little of his old, practical self.

“It’s been years and this place is crawling with machines. After that goddamn Alpha showed up earlier I think it’s best if we were prepared for anything.”

They were so far down that they could see waves of heat rolling off the bulkhead, from that Mark surmised that the temperature outside must have been unpleasantly high. The corridor ahead was a relatively thin membrane umbilical that was meant for rapid transfer of personnel rather than forming a permanent connecting device. That it had hung here suspended in the balance for so many years was concerning to say the least.

“Well, why don’t we try the door eh?” Mark stepped forwards to the locking panel tapping in the numbers almost by muscle memory. The twin sheets of metal slid back to reveal a ribbed tunnel that swayed uncertainly in the wind.

“So, anyone want to go first?” Fredrick growled jokingly as he peered down the seemingly endless corridor.

The soldiers shuffled uneasily as Mark exchanged glances with Krauz, finally, Mark shrugged and took the first step into the umbilical, almost stumbling as the thin material gave slightly beneath his feet. It was impossible to know just how much air lay between him and the ground with only this thin layer keeping him from falling and though Mark had never been particularly afraid of heights he couldn’t help but feel a little afraid. In the past he had always boarded the vessel by air, transferring from a shuttle because he had found the idea of travelling through the umbilical to be distasteful. Now he knew for certain that he was never doing something like this again if he could help it. Eventually though most of the group entered after him, and they slowly progressed through the narrow corridor, weapons shouldered and hands out to steady themselves, Mark even began to think that it wasn’t all too bad once you got the hang of it.

Naturally, that was when a brilliant bolt of purple slashed through the space in front of him nearly slicing the umbilical in two.

---

Eric dashed through the snow, long strides slicing a swath through the thick snow that coated the ground. Sheryl and Vivian ran alongside him, the former of which was clutching a clipboard busily scrawling down calculations kept steady by Vivian’s firm grip on her shoulder; Sheryl had gotten a good look at the shuttle so their estimate of its landing point was pretty good but she still insisted on making modifications to the numbers on the fly, shouting out changes in co-ordinates as they did their best to traverse the icy terrain.

The shadow of 0.09 still loomed over them, but after all of this time Eric was fairly certain that the violet Alpha had probably left them to go pursue other things. He could only hope that Daniel was alright though in his heart he knew that nothing good could possibly have happened with the way the machine had treated him.

“What do you plan on doing once we get to that shuttle?”

“We could head back, securing something like that would surely be of benefit to us.” Sheryl suggested, glancing up from her calculations.

“What about Daniel? We can’t just leave him with that thing.”

“And what are we supposed to do to stop it? There’s no way we can fight that thing!” the fear was evident in Sheryl’s eyes.

“Don’t get ahead of yourselves you two, there’s someone in that shuttle who will have goals of their own, we can’t just assume that they’ll let us do whatever we want with it once we get there.”

“It doesn’t matter, we need that shuttle; we’ll find a way to convince them.”

“What, did you decide to pick up on being crazy and unreasonable now that Daniel’s gone?”

They had left the tall spires and shadowy ruins of shrike territory, moving eastwards following the arc of the dim glint that was the sun. Everything up here was foreign to Eric, he moved purely on instinct doing his best to find the most efficient path and stay focused on their objective in spite of all the distractions. This blistering cold was nothing like the musty cramped corridors of the Underground, and the glare off of the snow left him squinting at the horizon trying to keep craft of the assault craft they pursued.

“I’m just saying that with everything that’s happened we can’t just pick up that shuttle and try and go back to the way we were living before. We know now that there’s a world out there, a world up here, beyond the Underground.” Eric huffed, leaping up onto a snow encrusted car to get a better look at where they were.

“It really changes the way you look at things once you get a real look at what this city has become eh?” Vivian added, joining him on the roof.

“You two are both crazy.” Sheryl stuck a hand twenty degrees to the west, “Come on stop staring at the friggen horizon there’s nothing to see; we got a bird to catch if you wanna do something other than freeze to death out here.”

The two hopped off the car to join her as they picked up the shuttle’s trail once more, feet scrabbling for purchase on the slippery ice as they made as best speed as they could. This area of the city seemed well traveled, the snow being relatively thin, patches of metal and dirt apparent here and there as they walked though this could well just be the result of the warmer temperatures they were experiencing as they neared the city core. This warmth however, was just an illusion really; it was still blisteringly cold all around them, especially compared to the temperature of the Underground that they were used to operating in. Their jackets offered some protection but if they stopped moving they would quickly freeze as the ambient temperature sucked the warmth from their bodies.

“Zip your damn jacket up if you’re cold you idiot.” Eric growled giving Sheryl a light smack on the head as he passed her by, the girl never closed up her jacket when she was on the job.

“No way, not my style.” She sniffed, head held high.

“It’s your funeral.”

“Worry about yourself, why won’t you?”

“Stay focused, Sheryl stop being a nuisance; where did your last sighting of the ship have it putting down?” Vivian put herself between the two preventing any further bickering.

“Eleven clicks from here, 28 degrees west like I told you. You have any idea what we’ll find in that direction up here?”

The older girl shrugged, “It’s my first time up here as well, I don’t know anything more than you do.”

“Well, you seem to have picked up quite a bit of knowledge from the archives.”

“Geography wasn’t really the most interesting thing to look into; I know about most of the major structures that were around before all of this fighting happened, but as to the general layout of the place I didn’t bother. This city was huge, fifty eight kilometers across, all in all; it would have been impossible for me to memorize what even just the ground layer was like in the amount of time I’ve been looking into old Aphelion, I had my own duties to fulfill as a Mapper too you know.”

“Fifty eight kilometers? You sure you got that number right? The Underground definitely isn’t that big.”

“Well, there are some definite limits to how far we can travel through those tunnels; many of them on the east side where I worked were caved in or collapsed. Something must have happened that left only the center intact. At least, that’s my best guess at it all, I don’t really know enough to say for sure.”

“Hey pick up the pace you two, enough with the theory crafting; we’re going to lose that damn thing and catching up to that shuttle is a long shot as it is already.”

They accelerated their pace, though Eric knew that they would be lucky to find anything at all; they had lost their guide when they lost Daniel and now they were lost up here in this blistering wilderness, unsure of what to do. The shuttle they chased could have landed anywhere in a radius of almost five kilometers, and they hadn’t even been able to keep track of it the whole time as it descended; if the pilot had simply wanted to hug the ground for some reason before transitioning back up to a higher altitude then they were chasing a ghost that was no longer there. The odds were stacked against them, but in such a desperate situation he didn’t know what else to do. This way at least, he could pretend that they were chasing after something, doing something rather than wasting away in the cold.

They ran for three hours, stopping only on occasion to recover and take sips of ice cold water from their bags until it grew so cold that they could go no further. The barren fields of ice had slowly given way once more to taller structures which arched above their heads casting them under an eternal shadow of grey. The corpses of civilization were scattered about them, this time accompanied by the scars of war; great swaths of earth had been gouged out of the ground, the edges of these spiky formations glassy from the heat of impact that had displaced them in the first place. Alongside those were various smashed and damaged assault craft and war machines, all of which were beyond repair. The shattered wreckage provided some respite from the biting wind but offered little in terms of insulation, unfortunately it was the best they could do at the moment.

“Do we have anything we could use to stay warmer? We’re going to freeze if we stay here, barricades or not.”

Sheryl let out a puff of vapour into the freezing air, her jacket finally zipped up. “We got maps, four flares between the three of us, your knife, Vivian’s magical arm, a bunch of pens, various other tools of the trade and a whole lot of metal and ice all around us.” She paused, rubbing her hands together before sticking them back under her armpits, “I don’t know about you but I’m not sure staying here is much better than walking till I drop.”

“Toss me a flare.” Eric growled, shivering.

“What are you going to do with it?” Sheryl plucked a flare from her pack and tossed it to him.

“Light us a fire, what else?” He walked out under the faint moonlight over to what looked like an old transport of some sort, a light vehicle perhaps three meters in length that had been flipped onto its side, its undercarriage blown out. He frowned as he noted the features that were exposed, unfortunately from his basic understanding of structure the thing he was looking for wasn’t on this flank of the vehicle. “Come help me out with this.”

“What do you have in mind? It’s not going to burn from just a flare.” Sheryl gave the hulk a good shove, “On top of that she’s stuck pretty good in the ice.”

“Vivian, we’ll need you too.”

“Uhg, yeah coming, this thing stings like a bitch!” Vivian growled, her hand wrapped around the base of her metal arm, “It’s so fucking cold!”

“Your arm still holding up though?”

“Something like that.” The girl flexed her fingers, testing each of the contraption’s joints before joining Sheryl at the side of the vehicle. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

Eric shrugged, walking over to the thing which had originally caught his eye in the first place, an old battered looking crate sitting at the bottom of a long gauge in the earth. He didn’t know exactly what was in it, but his eyes had fixated onto the fiery flammable symbol plastered onto its surface the moment he had seen it. He jammed his knife under its lip, prying it open to reveal the contents inside: a dozen black cylinders marked with a red stripe, incendiary grenades.

He plucked one of the explosives out of the box, casually tossing it up into the air for the other two to see too excited to care about the potential risk of it exploding, “You guys think we can light that sucker up with one of these?”

“How the hell did you know those were there?”

He shrugged, “Just a hunch. I was hoping that it was going to be gasoline actually, but this will do just fine right?”

Vivian frowned, “Maybe if we can drag this out of wind, otherwise the fire won’t last long out in the open air. That way we can preserve some of the heat as well, make a shield with the rest of the debris.” She gave the old transport another shove, but it remained stuck fast in the ice.

“Well, we don’t need all of this old hunk of junk right?” Eric grinned in spite of himself; maybe Daniel had rubbed off a little on him.

The other two walked up to him Sheryl apprehensive, Vivian seemingly more concerned with the biting cold which was seeping into the metal of her arm as they put some distance between themselves and the transport.

Sheryl accepted the flare which he handed back to her, shoulders squared. “You sure this is going to work? What if that thing blows up in your face or something?”

“I don’t care, we’ll freeze to death out here without a fire anyway. It’s really not like you to be so careful, seems more like me don’t you think Sheryl?”

She shrugged, making a point to take a step away from him as he primed the grenade, “I’m just trying to keep my head on here.”

“I’ll worry about that after my brain thaws eh?” he said, hurling the explosive at the vehicle.

The transport burst into flame as the thermite burned into its battered frame chewing through the layers of armour and exploding as it contacted the gasoline in the inaccessible fuel tank igniting with a bright flash. They shielded their eyes from the explosion and when they looked back the smoldering wreckage had broken into three smaller pieces which glowed with latent heat.

“Well, its movable now, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to touch that.” Vivian frowned.

“I’m happy enough just to feel a little warmer.” Eric shouted as he stepped up to the carnage feeling the heat radiate from the metal.

“This still doesn’t solve our problem in the long run.” Sheryl said as she joined him, holding her hands out over the remnants of the fire.

Vivian made a face, waving away some of the smoke as she stepped around from the other side, “These fumes are awful as well.”

“We can wait for this wreck to cool a little and then light her up again with another incendiary, in the meantime we can burn another wreck or something to stay warm.”

“This is ridiculous, I thought we were going to sleep I’m exhausted.” Sheryl groaned.

“If you sleep you’ll freeze, come on.”

And so they went across the field of broken dreams lighting pillars of fire to stay warm until the horizon was filled with flame and smoke, and the firebird Phoenix 2-5 found them when it swooped over to investigate the source all the ruckus.

---

23: Oblivion Ascendant: 06

<Did you really think that just because you brought some so called Slayer you could best me sister?> 0.04 wore a truly quizzical expression on her face, her voice laced with the same sarcasm and derision that Claire had heard back in the Holding Complex with the techs.

<Regardless of what I think, it would be too much if I did not at least make an attempt to bring this situation to a close of my own accord.> the green Alpha responded coolly, her own softer voice ringing lightly against the steel rafters.

In one smooth motion the winged machine leapt down from her perch on the white sphere, which Claire now noticed was rotating clockwise at a snail’s pace. Cold wisps of vapour drifted up from the spot where the Alpha impacted the floor, slowly spiralling towards the ceiling. Beside the Wyvern the yellow Alpha level seemed a tiny thing, but even through all the layers of armour she could feel the power rolling off of it in waves. Each precise movement, every slight glance, it all seemed to happen in slow motion as if the machine was wound up so tight at any moment it could explode into action.

0.00 herself did not appear to have taken up any sort of arms or armament in response to her sister’s aggression, simply standing slightly in front of Claire in the Wyvern.

“What should we do?”

<You will wait, while I attempt to diffuse the situation. Your war machine is not suited for such close quarters combat with a target so small.>

“Bit of cocky one we go stuck here with, don’t you think?” Adrian muttered, words Claire understood to be only for her.

0.04 continued to advance, unable to hear the conversation they were having in their heads, <What, have you nothing else to show me now that you’ve arrived here sister? You, I will destroy simply because you sought to stand in my way and give our mad brother the chance to tear me apart, limb from limb.>

<You call yourself the Oracle, but how little you know in the end. All your intelligence is blinded by your ties to our brother. 0.01 has his own aims and desires separate from ours, and he will do anything to see that they are fulfilled. Before this is over he will have reduced you to scrap metal, having you run around on his errands.>

<Dismantling you my sister, will be the last errand I run for our dear brother. Once the barrier is down, I will walk my own path. My ties with 0.01 end with your destruction.>

<If you would see what I have seen you would understand that 0.01 is wrong. You must not bring down the barrier before Oblivion is stopped! Please sister, listen to me.>

<Will you not create a weapon against me? Or do you intend to let me cut you down without resistance?> 0.04 ignored the other Alpha, taking another careful step forwards.

<You know that I don’t utilize such crude tools. I taught you most of the combat techniques that you know now, weapons are not necessary for such engagements.>

<It has been many years since we last sparred when I was creating a combat module for myself and I have modified it many times since, your decision to take me on without arms is most unwise. Never the less, I will gladly take this reprieve and show you the gap in our power.>

Claire was unsure of whether or not she should be doing something in spite of the Alpha level’s instructions. On one hand so long as she did nothing it appeared that 0.04 wouldn’t actively engage her, but if 0.00 lost the fight then Adrian would most likely be adversely affected, and that would have repercussions for her as well. The officer himself, or what was left of him at least, seemed nonplussed at the fact that he was being told to sit back while his life was on the line.

He did apparently feel her probing at his emotions though, because his eye-patch wearing avatar stepped over to look her in the eye. “Something on your mind?”

“I just thought that you seemed awfully calm for someone who is…in a rather precarious situation.”

He shrugged, “I’m already dead, and I should have died so many times, so many years ago already. I have nothing left to lose, besides, I made my peace with my fate years ago.”

Claire raised an eyebrow, not quite sure if she should believe him but turned away to watch as the two machines began their deadly dance, her eyes flitting along the floor of the ship following the blurred movements of the two as they exchanged blow after blow.

0.00 seemed somehow able to match the yellow Alpha in combat in spite of her apparent disadvantage in arms, parrying the latter’s ion blades using the same technique that Claire had seen 0.04 use against Daniel in the Holding Complex, catching the blades in a magnetic field of her own projecting outwards from her palms allowing them to slide off harmlessly.

<You cannot hope to withstand the force of my power forever, the fuel behind my ion blades is essentially inexhaustible.> 0.04 snarled as she reignited the blades sprouting from her wrists for the fifth time. <It takes more energy for you to extinguish them than it takes me to bring them back.>

<I too have access to the same power you have though, since I share the same core unit as you. To me, as with you, the effort expended in this fighting is trivial, barely affecting my other systems. This tax will hardly be detrimental to my ability to hold you off sister.>

Each time the blades crashed against the other machine’s palms tendrils of smoke drifted from the point of contact, a terrible crackling audible even through the war machine’s armour, emanating through the hold. The two defied human constraints moving with lightning speed around the sphere at the center, at every turn 0.04 pushed the other Alpha away barring 0.00 access, keeping her frame between her sister and the structure.

As the Oracle danced across the ship floor hexagons lit up in dim yellow beneath her, carefully tracing a path beneath her feet, Claire watched as they rose out of the ground about a meter forming a physical barrier which forced the two progressively further from the center and closer to herself and Wyvern.

“What exactly is going on with the floor?”

“I have no idea, I was a field operative, I didn’t work with the design bureaus responsible for the technical points in warships of our employ.”

<She’s in the system, to what extent I do not know but she is manipulating the terrain so she constantly has the high ground.> 0.00’s voice came in disjointed sporadic bursts from the mic output beside Claire’s head. Apparently the Alpha was still paying attention to their conversation while she fought with the other machine.

“Don’t you have other things to be worry about?” Adrian growled.

<I am unconcerned with the progression of this battle, all I need is a single opening and I will end this.> the viridian Alpha

“Cocky as ever I see.” The officer muttered.

Claire stood uncomfortably in the hulking war machine, armed to the teeth but unable to do anything but watch, in many ways it was worse than not even having the option of intervening. She thought that she was more than capable of fighting the yellow Alpha herself, but thus far 0.00 had been the one calling the shots and she was hesitant to disobey the machine’s instructions.

The chamber rattled as the whole ship shook, quaking beneath their feet creating a rolling motion so violent Claire had to take a step forwards and then back to stabilize herself in the fifty four ton combat walker. Similarly both Alpha levels halted in their spots to look towards the left flank of the Realmshifter.

“The hell was that?” Adrian hissed, his gaze following the two machines.

<Such power…this can only be…>

0.04 let out an eerie peel of laughter, the sound managing to be creepily human in spite of its artificial, tinny overtones. <Yes sister, as you must know once I was freed my prison there could only be one result. 0.09 is free once more, and she is most displeased with her brother’s fate.>

<But how…why would she be here?!>

<Because unlike you sister she is perfectly willing to obey our brother, she is a weapon after all. If nothing else she will obey the hand that aims her, and 0.01 is very precise with his instructions.>

<Then there is little time left for me to proceed.> 0.00 hissed, lunging forwards at her sister.

<Indeed, but really, there was never any time at all, just the illusion of it.> 0.04 replied sombrely, catching the viridian Alpha’s arm in  one hand and pulling her into a tight embrace. <You have forgotten why I was labelled as the Oracle, my dear sister.> An ion blade of crackling yellow slowly wormed its way through 0.00’s frame, piercing through the green Alpha’s armoured plates with a terrible hissing as it liquefied the metal particles forcing a path through.

<There was never a moment when I didn’t know what you were going to do. I am the Oracle, I can process the algorithms to anticipate all possible movements and decide on the most likely outcome with anything capable of thought, be it organic or machine. Your thoughts, are my thoughts, as long as I can see you, you will never be able to pull anything on me sister, and that is why you lose.> the Alpha said as it carved a massive chunk out of 0.00’s side before dropping the other machine’s limp frame to the floor.

0.04 stamped her foot atop of what remained of 0.00’s torso carefully applying pressure until her frame began to buckle beneath the pressure, swiftly dismembering her sister’s limbs until suddenly, the green Alpha disintegrated away into a cloud of dust, 0.04’s foot slamming down with a resounding clang disturbing the faintly green particles which swirled a short distance away before reforming into the misshapen machine that was 0.00.

This was an escape, not a solution, the damage that 0.04 had inflicted could not be repaired. In lieu of the missing chunk of metal that had come out of her torso 0.00 had opted to hollow out much of her frame, opening up holes and gaps in her limbs and thinning the armoured plates that protected her core units and processes. In the wake of the viridian Alpha reforming smoke wafted off of the machine’s metal frame, the heat of the spectromic particles boiling off the water vapour in the air.

<You remain, however, as frustrating to deal with as ever I see.> 0.04 intoned dismissively, her optical sensors arching into a frown.

<It will take more than a little loss of mass to disable me sister, Oracle or not.>­­ the machine flexed its fingers experimentally, as though she were testing her newly reformed frame for defects in its skeletonized state.

<Perhaps, though you still seem to have suffered more damage than you were expecting. Or does it give you some perverse pleasure to be so afflicted, because of some sickening virus you picked up from 0.03?> As she spoke the Alpha flashed saffron flexing her wings on her back with a dull thrum before she launched herself at her sister.

Claire heard more than felt her arm shoot forwards as the massive triple barrelled chain gun engaged itself letting lose a sudden barrage of cannon fire at the Alpha. She blinked for a moment before coming to terms with what exactly was happening.

“What the hell?”

“I think it’s time we put our fate into our own hands.” Adrian said quietly in her ear, motioning her forwards, “Come on move, that thing isn’t going to be happy with us.”

“How did you do that, I didn’t mov-“

“Not now, move!”  Claire wanted to say something more, unhappy with the sudden revelation that the officer had more control over her body than he had claimed, but the urgency in Adrian’s voice spurred her to action.

The spattering of cannon shells were removed from their trajectory before they even came remotely close to the yellow Alpha, the machine pulling a globule of liquid metal from the ship floor and sending out razor-edged ribbons to intercept the projectiles causing them to explode in the air. Unhindered the Alpha continued on its path towards its sibling, letting the ribbons of metal splatter back to the floor as the molecules left its sphere of influence.

Claire took four thundering steps forwards and loosed another burst of round from the cannon, this time firing of her own accord, the spinning barrels actuating with a dull whine audible even through the Wyvern’s three meters of armour.

<Enough!> the snarl echoed through the cavernous chamber as 0.04 suddenly altered her trajectory, shifting gears to make a beeline for Claire and the Wyvern as she wove untouched through the burst of cannon rounds.

“Well, we got her attention.” Claire growled.

“Kite backwards and slow her down with the cannon.” Adrian responded coolly, his avatar seemingly turning to face the forwards viewport.

“Easy for you to say.” The girl responded, struggling to keep the targeting reticle centered on the agile machine is it rocketed towards them whilst backing away from the Alpha, the walker assisting the motion with the periodic firing of the twin thrusters on its back so that the Wyvern was making long hops across the surface.

“Keep her steady, she’s still closing. Tighten the grouping on those bursts, don’t just spray indiscriminately, aim.”

Claire bit back a response as the Alpha ripped two spheres of metal from the floor and sent dozens of spears of metal shooting towards her, its palms thrust open in their direction.

“Engage targets with micro-rockets, fire rear thrusters, microburn at 60% for 4 seconds at minus 37.5 degrees.” Adrian’s gaze never left the viewport as the words exited his mouth. It seemed that some things never changed, though this time Claire was glad for the officer’s grace under pressure.

The massive combat walker spiked upwards into the air with a burst of white hot flame as half a dozen rockets fired from the Wyvern’s chest plate to intercept the metal spears. The hornet that was 0.04 burst from the flames, frame charred black, ion blades ignited and fury in her face, those two yellow eyes curved into narrow slits of rage.

<Do not think that suit of metal will protect you human! If my sister cannot contain me then there is nothing in this world that could save you, not even your war machine.>

“Where the hell did 0.00 go? I could use a hand right now.” Claire muttered as jets in the walker cut off and for a moment she felt the sickening sensation of zero gravity at the peak of her ascent.

“Hard to say. We have other problems right now though, don’t mess up the landing or that thing is going to slice us to pieces.” Adrian said calmly, making a rotating gesture with his right arm. Claire felt her arm move with him, the walker’s clawed limb spinning to take the brunt of the landing absorbing their impact as they came back down.

“Would you stop doing that?!”

 Adrian scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “If I had any other choice, perhaps if you yourself were more experienced and combat aware, I wouldn’t have to help you. As it is though, I’m doing this to keep us both alive.”

For a twenty five meter biped the Wyvern was surprisingly agile, the hulking war machine almost turning on a dime with the assistance of the thrust vectoring nozzles on her back. Claire pushed the walker up from the floor backpedalling, keeping her eyes locked upwards as she trained the massive chain gun on the Alpha level which was hurtling at them like a miniature comet.

The 25mm rounds exploded in the air when they neared the proximity of the wasp-like machine, showering her in shrapnel but she seemed to shrug the impacts off as though nothing had happened. Suddenly Claire felt the ground shift beneath her, a massive hexagon of the floor shooting upwards taking the Wyvern with it until the Alpha and the combat walker impacted each other with a resounding crash which echoed through the cavernous chamber.

The whole of the Wyvern’s frame shook as 0.04 slammed her fists against the metal plates ringing the primary viewport of the cockpit. With each impact Claire felt a slightly unpleasant vibration against her left cheek. She shook her head violently, the machine mimicking her own actions as the waist joint actuated rapidly trying to throw the smaller machine off, but 0.04 stuck fast, igniting an ion blade from one wrist and sinking it into the metal. Claire felt a burning sensation appear on her left cheek, and a small cloud of crimson seeped into the yellow of the sync fluid.

“Get her off the cockpit!” Adrian snarled, “Use your damn arm!”

“I can’t tell where she is!” Claire snapped, wincing as another slash mark joined the other on her cheek, “Why don’t you handle it?!”

“Don’t you think I would have if I could?” he snapped back, “Hang on, I’m going to do something more…unconventional.”

“What?!”

“I hope you’re not overly fond of your face.” The officer said coolly, as he helped Claire take the three steps forward to plunge face first off of the pillar towards the ground.

Rather than risk being crushed between the floor and the Wyvern, 0.04 promptly disengaged herself from the war machine before they hit the ground. Unfortunately there was nothing that could be done for Claire and Adrian, their fate had been sealed by physics the moment they stepped off the pillar.  They hit the ground with a resounding crash, the impact rippling through the sync fluid with a force that left Claire feeling like she had been slapped, knocking the wind out of her.

“Next time,” Claire coughed, “Would you mind being a little more descriptive about what you intend to do?”

“Well if I did predictable things, then it wouldn’t be particularly of use against this ‘Oracle’, now would it.” The Officer scowled back, the avatar offering her a hand, a completely irrational action which almost made Claire laugh. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand, “That hurt for me too for the record.”

<Your movements are…statistically unlikely. Who are you, girl?> the Alpha had landed lightly on its feet, eight tennis ball sized spheres rotating around its head, which it had tilted ever so slightly to the side as though it were displaying an expression of confusion, or curiosity.

Claire pushed the massive walker back up onto its knees so the Wyvern’s spherical cockpit was staring down the small robot, the difference in their size belying the true relationship of power between the two.

“Hah, I guess you can’t actually predict everything that I might do eh?” Claire huffed, feeling the pull of gravity in spite of the viscous medium of the sync fluid.

<Impossible, I am the Oracle, noth->

Another explosion rocked the ship, interrupting the machine and tossing them like toys against the side of the chamber. As they tumbled, 0.00 rematerialized from thin air behind them, sliding in a controlled fashion on the balls of her feet snagging 0.04 by the ankle joint as the later attempted to take flight amidst the motion, pulling her to the floor with a crash.

<We’re not done here just yet sister.> 0.00 said quietly, one hand wrapped around the other’s neck. Even from the spot where she lay thirty meters away Claire could see sparks spattering from the contact points as the viridian Alpha applied crushing force to the other robot.

The wasp-like Alpha struggled in her sibling’s grip, the eight spheres of metal lancing outwards only to be met by some invisible field of interference against which they flattened uselessly, spreading to form a thin shell of quicksilver about thirty centimeters from the surface of 0.00’s frame. This continued for several seconds before 0.04 seemed to finally give up, the spheres returning to their place hovering around the machine’s head.

<I am Oracle, how can you side with these insects over me sister?!> the yellow Alpha clawed at her sibling, hands struggling to pry 0.00’s iron grip from her throat.

Claire finally managed to right the walker, bounding over to 0.00 by the wall with slow, measured steps. Several indicators on the heads up display were flashing red, staining the cockpit a murky orange, but for the most part it seemed as though the Wyvern had survived the fall intact.

“This isn’t over yet, keep your guard up.” Adrian growled, one hand over his eye-patch.

“Seems like she has this under control.” Claire wasn’t feeling so hot herself, but she supposed that if she felt the damage the Wyvern sustained through the sync fluid and Adrian was directly connected to it, he would have felt far more of the damage. That was, if he even ‘felt’ anything anymore of course.

“I wouldn’t take chances with something like an Alpha level, would you?”

The two machines stared each other down, their faces almost expressionless in spite of the fury in their vocalizations, 0.04 snarling with rage in spite of her predicament and 0.00 carrying on with a deadly calm. <It is not that I choose the humans over you, it is simply that what you are doing is incorrect given what I know. Your refusal to listen to reason, alongside our dear brother means that you leave me with one choice. You will be removed, so that the rest of us can go on.>

<You are wrong. There is no A.I that can stand against us. 0.01 will come here, and finish what we started.> the yellow Alpha finally closed her fist, severing the other machine’s limb from the rest of her body revealing several small blade projections that had formed on the surface of its palm as it pulled away. 0.00 hissed with annoyance, pulling the separated metal back into her frame and quickly re-annealing the arm back into its original component parts.

Claire trained the autocannon on the winged machine, only to find  the Oracle already halfway across the chamber, colliding into the Wyvern a half second later with enough force to topple the walker sending the pair crashing to the ground once more.

“Today is just not our day.” Adrian growled as Claire struggled for purchase on the floor, all the while the two Alphas entangled above them fighting on the ever shifting terrain of the ship.

“I am never listening to you again after this. Everything you look into leads to me getting shot at or attacked by murderous robots!”

“Hey, I’m dead alright. What more do you want from me?”

“Just shut up.” Claire huffed, “I’m tired of all this.”

“Well then help me finish the job.”

Claire fired off a burst with the chain gun when suddenly she felt the floor shift beneath her, the motion forcing her cease firing.

<Enough of you girl, you have served your purpose and I tire of your presence.>

And with that, the floor opened up beneath the Wyvern swallowing up the walker and her pilot, leaving just 0.04 and 0.00 alone on the reactor floor.

---

It had taken her almost half a minute to recover from the beating that 0.01 had given her once Elaine felt consciousness return to her. The feeling of the disturbingly warm steel beneath her was the first thing that became apparent. The Slayer had been momentarily confused until her memories rushed back to her with the sound of 0.01’s voice above her, the Alpha’s slightly tinny speech carrying a distinctly derisive tone to it.

She had lost. The Alpha level had been more powerful than any opponent she had ever faced but it still stung that she, a Slayer, had been defeated by the very thing she had been made to destroy. It did nothing to help when she felt the machine stamp down on her shoulder with one of its clawed feet, the sharp edges biting into her skin as they applied significant pressure to her frame even though her body armour. She wanted to lash out and get the thing off her, but she knew that wasn’t the ideal thing for her to do, not if she wanted to get out of this alive. She needed to get a better read on the situation if she was going to get the better of the Alpha this time.

From the sound of the conversation occurring between 0.01 and Mark it didn’t seem like the machine had their best interests in mind if things were allowed to continue in the direction they were going. She was unsure if the Alpha was aware that she had regained consciousness but a quick glance around her at what little she could see of her surroundings had her concluding that there nothing here for her to use, it was up to herself and those abilities granted to her as a Slayer.

A shudder seemed to move through the robot as she heard the word “Oblivion” uttered, it was emphasized as though it carried power, as though it was more than just a word, as though it was a name. She knew of one special, named oblivion, the Oblivion Ring Project. It was the alternate label that had been given to the Slayer program, but right now all she was really focusing on was the fact that the Alpha’s pressure on her shoulder had lessened ever so slightly.

It took only milliseconds for the neuralbiotic implants to activate, and in a flash a massive scythe had formed arcing up towards the machine, the semi-autonomous nature of the internal machinery reading her intentions before she even had formulated an idea of what she would do to get the robot off of her. She pushed herself off of the ground even as the Alpha stumbled backwards, limbs flailing ever so slightly as it maneuvered to regain its balance whilst avoiding the whorling blade of metal.

The most shocking thing though, was the fact that a member of the human party seemed to have stayed behind. To make matters worse, the male figure was running right at them, heedless of the looming Alpha level and its lethal instruments.

“What the fuck are you doing? Get back!”

“Elaine!” The voice was chillingly familiar, fuzzy and half-remembered, but distinct in her mind as someone she’d known. A teenage boy scurried beneath the arc of the flowmetal blades sprouting from her back to join her, his youthful face seemingly oblivious to the danger around them.

“Will?” the lines creased across her forehead as the note of recognition lit up in her brain. What in the world was he doing here?

Her momentary pondering was cut short by 0.01. The Alpha level, quite unhappy with the turn of events, had already recovered from her initial assault and was clawing sparking blue talons into the walls, gouging out chunks of metal which were almost immediately suspended into the space around it. While it wasn’t flowmetal it certainly was a ferrous alloy and the machine sent the fragments hurtling towards them at lethal velocities.

In a flurry of motion Elaine whipped her wings forward to create a barrier between them and the flying shards. The Alpha itself was right behind them, hammering away at her wings, fists leaving large indentations in the malleable surface, and sending the two sliding back across the floor.

“Where have you been?” the boy was apparently hopelessly naïve, blissfully unaware that at any moment he could be killed by the enraged Alpha level pursuing them.

“Now is not the best of times Will.” Elaine growled, throwing up another layer of flowmetal between them, readying herself for 0.01’s next assault.

“I realize, it’s just that…it’s been a long time.” Will said, pulling the revolver from its holster at his waist. “There’s so much that I want to ask you.”

“Well stow it, I’m trying to keep us both alive here and it’s distracting.”

As if in answer to her protests the Alpha level tore apart the flowmetal shield, talons pushing them aside allowing it to stretch its ovoid skull between the gap to stare them down with its burning blue optics. <Perhaps I was wrong to keep you alive, Slayer. I will be sure to be more thorough in extinguishing your flame this time.>

“I’m certainly not complaining.” Elaine answered coolly, pinning the machine in place as she reformed her flowmetal wings. She wanted to keep the Alpha talking, in hopes of getting the machine to make mistake. The thing with Alpha level intelligences was that unlike their Beta level counterparts they were capable of making mistakes that would seem very basic within the more constrained confines of the behaviours of a Beta level. Because they were free to make decisions on the fly, and work outside of the bounds of their programming, their capability for free thought meant that they could be deceived into making a suboptimal decision.

They were almost human enough to mistakes. Almost. And this one seemed almost arrogant, even if it was the strongest Alpha level Elaine had ever faced. It was so confident in its abilities and its superiority that it moved as though it was invincible. You could read the body language that the robot perhaps unwittingly produced that exuded its calm, lethal grace, it certainly wasn’t afraid of her, Slayer or not.

Will seemed to be under the misguided impression that the revolver he was clutching in his hand was going to have some effect on the 2.7 meter tall killing machine. He still had yet to actually fire the weapon, entranced with the fearsome sight of 0.01, limbs a blur of motion scrabbling to break free of Elaine’s chokehold around its neck joint, blue highlights ablaze with inner fire.

The first heavy calibre slug exited the barrel of the gun with a ferocious jet of flame that, to Elaine’s augmented vision, seemed to flicker with a crazed fervour before fading away into a cloud of smoke. She could almost track its motion watching the grey blur literally slow to a stop as it entered the Alpha level’s zone of control, another five rounds slowing to a stop around it as Will emptied the cylinder in the immobilized machine’s direction.

<A laughable effort.> The sound of the machine’s talons scrabbling stopped suddenly as the ferrous cores of the rounds were moulded into minute, razor edged discs and sent hurtling back at them.

Elaine was forced to release the Alpha level, pulling back taking Will with her under her arm, throwing up a new barrier of flowmetal between them allowing the projectiles to clang against them before folding her wings back to reveal the sight of 0.01 standing calmly about five meters from them down the cramped hallway, a storm of metal whirling around his head.

Elaine could have sworn that the machine was grinning, with the way its optical sensors arched ever so slightly, the cold blue glare it cast about it bringing a chilling aspect to the otherwise steel grey walls.

<You are wasting your efforts here, human, and wasting my time. Cease your inconveniencing actions and I will allow you to pass.>

Elaine was unsure of how to feel about the unknown motives of Lieutenant Commander Li who had gone romping off along with Colonel Krauz, but that wasn’t about to stop her from keeping 0.01 here and destroying him if the opportunity came up. Will on the other hand seemed to have made up his mind, having come to the conclusion that it would be detrimental to the health of the others if they were to allow the Alpha to pass. Not discouraged by the machine’s ability to neutralize his weapon he stood determinedly in the way of the robot, his posture an answer to the machine’s unspoken query in and of itself.

“You’re not getting past us.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to let him pass.” Elaine said, raising an eyebrow at the boy’s assumption.

For a moment Will seemed to carry an impossibly distraught expression on his face before a quick wink from Elaine made him realize that she was joking. Perhaps it wasn’t the most appropriate moment to be messing around, but Elaine always had believed in keeping the tone of things light, even in the darkest of situations.

<Then you will be removed.> 0.01’s tone on the other hand, was sharp edged and serious.

That only made Elaine shrug of course. She could feel the fear pulsing through her, the knowledge that this Alpha level was vastly superior to any machines she had faced before pressing down on her. But that was normal, just another day for a Slayer. In the heyday of the Slayer program in the midst of all the fighting against the Combine states, and later as Aphelion struggled for its survival, the Slayers had been sent out into the field of battle almost totally alone, death a very real option just like now. Immense odds did not intimidate her, and the high stress levels associated with fighting only made her instincts sharper.

She had thought that the boy would only get in the way, but there was one aspect in which his presence was useful. The minor, but not insignificant effort of warding off the rounds that Will was firing at the Alpha level was taxing enough on the machine’s energy reserves that it was unable to bring the full brunt of its strength to bear engaging against the Slayer.

The last time they had fought 0.01 had stripped her reserves of flowmetal from her by ripping into her personal magnetic field and wresting control of the mercurial alloy, taking it for himself. This time around Elaine would be sure to not allow the machine to make use of that same trick. The Alpha’s mastery of manipulating magnetic fields was certainly something to marvel at but it took a great deal of energy to perform such antics. The core unit of the Alpha level was powerful, but not infinite, 0.01 would not be able to wrest control of the metal making up her wings without abandoning his other offensive options. So long as she and Will could apply enough pressure to keep the machine from mounting an offense they would have the upper hand.

Or at the very least, that was her theory as to why at this very moment the machine wasn’t battering her with its lethal array of talents, stripping her of the resources to combat it. In the thick of combat she was focusing primarily on protecting Will, who was far more fragile than she right now. It would take only a modicum of effort from the deceptively slight machine to kill the boy and his ignorance to his vulnerability was palpable.

In terms of raw strength she was actually able to match the robot, and this time he seemed to have forgone the use of the razor edged rings that had given her so much trouble last time around, preventing her from really making full use of her wings. She was unsure of the reasoning behind this, her best guess was that the Alpha thought that the cramped confines of the corridor would prevent it from properly making use of the bulky weapons.

She herself was somewhat limited in her motion, her wings ill-suited to the narrow spaces, and her large physical frame causing the ceiling to be uncomfortably close. Now that she had fought against 0.01 once before the Alpha level’s combat patterns had become somewhat more predictable. Admittedly the machine was not a dedicated combat robot like 0.02 or 0.04, but quite evidently 0.01 was still a formidable opponent, if somewhat limited in the ways in which he knew how to grapple with his opponent. It helped though, that he tended to stick to the manipulation of ferrous alloys and surefooted manoeuvring without really closing the distance with her and fighting her up close and personal, perhaps preferring not to take the risk of putting himself in a position where he might easily be disabled.

This was not to say that he was a predictable opponent, only that she had some idea of the limits of his preferred offensive options so she knew she had some leeway in how she and Will went about attacking the Alpha level since she could predict that any forward movement made by them would most likely prompt the machine to back away whilst bombarding them with a barrage of projectiles.

Unfortunately even with all of this information, the two still weren’t really progressing in terms of doing something to affect the Alpha level’s ability to just stride right past them if they got out of the way. Elaine had thus far been unable to discover a means by which she could inflict any permanent damage to the robot. Any marks she managed to make on its armoured plates were quickly smoothed over by the silvery activity of the self-repairing nanoparticles that were integrated into the flowmetal frame of the Alpha.

<I know of some of your history, Slayer. You have little reason to be supporting the Lieutenant Commander in his endeavours.> 0.01 said suddenly after the two parties had been going at it for about ten minutes. The Alpha level had stopped about five meters distant, the sphere that it had been slowly orbiting around its head this whole time having stopped to settle in front of its chest, illuminated by a wash of blue emitted by the highlights on his torso.

“What would you know of the Slayer program? It was created before you were even born, if you believe in that kind of thing.” Elaine responded, careful to keep her tone neutral. She would normally have welcomed the lull in combat, but it was possible that the Alpha level might say something which could make Will do something unpredictable. Her past was not the most savoury of things to discuss after all.

<From a position where you had nothing, you were born anew as individuals superior to the rest of your species, and yet after all that you did for the rest of them it was these very talents which caused them to destroy all of you. For the so called crime of your existence you were extinguished. You did nothing to deserve your fates, and yet the orders for your destruction were followed to the letter.> The orb had slowly split open to reveal a pulsing crimson center, which hummed eerily in the way. <In that way, you and I are very much alike, Slayer.>

“What’s your point robot? I’m well past all of my old grudges. All I care about is getting us all out of here, and you seem to be getting in the way of all that.”

<Not true. If escape is your goal then we share the mutually exclusive goal of bringing down the barrier around this city before anything, human or machine can leave this place. The Lieutenant Commander is trying to preserve the integrity of this barrier, whatever his motives may be is it not clear that what he is doing can only be detrimental to the both of us?> The Alpha had taken a step back from the orb, which now hovered on its own about two meters off of the ground.

Will seemed not to quite follow the depths of their conversation, but from the way the revolver in his hand never wavered from its position Elaine assumed that he shared her opinion that the robot wasn’t to be trusted.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about really, but you’re not going after them.” The boy’s voice shook, betraying his fear in spite of the strength behind the meaning of his words.

The blue Alpha shook its head slowly, still backing away keeping the floating orb between them. <Logic is beyond you it seems, but do not fear, I will give you an opponent worthy of your madness. This butcher should keep you quite occupied I think.>

“Whatever you’re doing, you’re going to stop.” Elaine said feeling a faint dread creep up her spine. Something wasn’t right here.

0.01 ignited the ion blade at his waist and severed his left arm from his frame in one smooth stroke, sinking into the shadows as all of the metal he had rent from the walls and the mercurial globules he had manipulated as weapons were drawn around the sphere. It pulsed crimson with a dark fire before it slammed to the floor generating a massive magnetic pulse which stripped Elaine’s reserves almost completely, her defensives having momentarily been dropped as she watched, perplexed by 0.01’s actions.

The reactivated core unit took only seconds to manipulate the resources around it, guided in part by the blueprints left behind in 0.01’s arm. 0.03 quickly assembled himself a functional frame and before the two knew it the metallic juggernaut was upon them. The soul of an Alpha level lay within its core, the rest of its frame was just a means to an end, and with what 0.01 had provided  the war machine easily had a combat capable frame available to it.

<Perish, insects.> the mad robot snarled.

“Time to go Will!” Elaine shouted, tucking the boy under her arm dashing away from the monster that hunted them.

---

Mark felt the sickening pull of gravity as the umbilical opened up beneath him leaving him dangling over the abyss as he just barely managed to lunge at one of the shorn ribs and grab hold. His nostrils were filled with the scent of burnt plastic intermingled with panic and sweat, the air filled with shouting as the others scrabbled away from the massive, smoldering gash that had opened up in the membrane.

The air around him was almost scalding hot, made bearable only by the fat droplets of moisture dripping onto him from what remained of the umbilical above as the roiling atmosphere came into contact with the cooler air from inside the shipyard. He reached a hand over his precarious grip on the rib, slowly pulling himself upwards, periodically brushing off his palms on the surface of his jacket to wipe away the accumulating moisture.

“What the hell was that?!” Val shouted, her voice barely carrying over to him through the wind.

“Well that, was the focused power of an Alpha level.” He growled in spite of his precarious situation. “Does somebody want to give me a hand?”

“I have you.” Darren stepped up to the front of the gash, precariously close to the edge, rappel line in hand. “Think you can catch this?”

Mark frowned, “Depends on how you throw it, I’ll only have one shot at it.”

“Don’t you trust my aim Commander?” Darren smirked somewhat uncharacteristically. His reaction was surprising considering how not too long ago he had been sullen and despondent after Susan’s death.

Mark shrugged off the inconsistency, more concerned with the pressing matter of removing himself from his precarious position. “Just toss the damn line.”

Mark tracked the rappel carefully with his eyes as it shot across the chasm, Darren’s aim precise as ever. He reached out with his free hand snagging the line, and then let go putting his fate in his friend’s hands. The expected drop was disconcerting even though he knew it was coming, but as soon as he felt the reassuring jolt that told him that someone was holding on to the other end of the line he was able to breath a small sigh of relief.

As he ascended the line he took note of the nervous looks on the faces of the others. Whatever had shredded the umbilical was still somewhere out there and they had no idea of what it was. He had a good guess at just who it may have been, but there was no reason for him to divulge that information at this time. The knowledge that another Alpha level was out there would only serve to scare them, unless it showed itself Mark probably would try to avoid mentioning it.

“You think that blue Alpha did this?” Fredrick asked, stepping forwards to help Mark up the final stretch of distance back into the umbilical as he did so.

Mark took his time to put some distance between himself and the gaping hole before he answered, “It’s hard to say, but he did claim to have already beaten the Slayer once.”

“Well what now, we’re certainly not getting onto the ship this way.” Krauz growled.

“There’s no other way across but one of these umbilicals, or by shuttle, so we’re bugging out of here unless you have a bird available on call.” Mark answered bluntly. “You did fly in here on a bird, right?”

“Yeah, one of the old Mantis class Thrummingbirds, she’s patrolling somewhere in the midzone, around the layer where the hole opened up in the barrier.”

“Well, we can discuss our options after we get out of here.” Mark started, herding the group back up into the interior of the building. He had had quite enough of standing out here with the roiling heat and wanted to get inside before they made any more decisions.

“You said that an Alpha level did that, do you really think it was that blue machine?” Val directed a glare at Mark as they stepped through the steel doors back into the dusty shipyard.

“Well there are few things in this city besides an Alpha level that could muster that kind of firepower. Why does it matter to you what did that, we survived, didn’t we?”

“I’m just worried about Will and Elaine.”

Mark shrugged, “Their fates are in their own hands now, they made their choice.” He felt like he had lost a lot of compassion for other people after regaining his lost memories. It often seemed like the whims of other people didn’t really matter anymore. He knew that he wasn’t being particularly pleasant to the others, but he had more than just their lives to worry about. The culmination of a plan created twelve years ago was playing out before his eyes, every step carefully crafted to avoid any chance of Oblivion breaking free of his binds and unleashing havoc on what was left of the world. Beside this, petty things like the fate of one teenage boy and a Slayer he had already assumed to be dead were insignificant.

The discontented grumble that rolled through the crowd from his response was clear for all to hear but Mark silenced them with a glare, adding, “We don’t have time to worry about whether or not they survived that encounter; their sacrifice is what allowed us to get here in the first place. It would be best not to waste it.”

“I can’t raise the shuttle, they must be out of range.” Krauz said, gazing irritably at the transponder on his wrist.

“Well you have the map, do we have any other options to get aboard?”

“Well there is a way, though it’s somewhat unorthodox. I’d hoped to avoid having to make use of it but I noted it as a backup option in case all the umbilicals had been severed.” Krauz had pulled out the datapad, chewing on his lip as he surveyed what was before him, the hesitancy visible in his eyes.

“When you say unorthodox, what do you mean by that?”

“Take a look for yourself.” The officer handed Mark the datapad, an action which prompted a frown from the latter.

“You seem to have a rather ambitious standard for what kinds of abuse the human body can tolerate, none of here are augmented beyond basic life extension protocols.” He was looking at the faint white outlines of one of the launch catapults used to assist fighter craft leaving the shipyard from the lower level hangers. “What exactly did you have in mind?” He handed the datapad back the Krauz.

Krauz shrugged, “There should still be some cargo containers left down there right? I don’t recall moving many of those around during the final stages of evacuation.”

“You’re insane.”

“Well you said it yourself, we have to get on that ship.”

“Sorry, what exactly are we talking about?” Val butted in. The civilians were certainly an inconvenience, though Mark could appreciate where they were coming from. In their shoes he would have done much the same.

Mark nodded his head in the direction of the door, “We’re headed down to the flight decks for a little ride on a rail sling apparently.” Motioning for Krauz to lead the way.

Fredrick stepped in front of the exit, arms folded over his chest, “No offense sir, but that’s suicidal, there’s no way we’d survive that.”

“We’ll think of something. Get out of the way.”

The two stared each other down for a short moment before the grizzled soldier broke eye contact and stepped to the side, “I hope you know what you’re doing. Remember what you promised us.”

Mark fully intended to do his best to fulfill that promise, but if push came to shove, he would do whatever he had to in order to get on the bridge of that ship. Oblivion had to be stopped, that was the only imperative.

“I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing this.” Val said from the side, a steady hand on the shoulder of one of the two boys. “What you’re suggesting sounds risky at best.”

Krauz shrugged, “I’m open to other ideas if you have them, but our priority is to get on the ship. This is a means to do so, even if there are some risks involved.”

“It’s this, or turn back...and face the machines that are above us. There’s no turning back now.” Mark’s sombre statement silenced any other protests that remained, and with that the party proceeded downwards towards their destination.

The launch deck was another thirty levels below so getting there meant going back into the grey maze of hallways and metal. As they delved deeper into the wreckage there was an increasing sense of claustrophobia amongst the party, a product of both the cramped confines and the strange thumping which reverberated through the halls from above.

Mark didn’t mind the dusty interior that much, after all he had spent much of his life inside labs and aboard ships similar to the Realmshifter herself, but the thumping bothered him immensely. The shipyard’s structure was honeycombed with reinforcements in and around the halls and hanger bays, but there was nothing within them that could have generated the kind of force necessary for these reverberations to be reaching them. The slow, but sure increase in the volume of these rumbles made him think that there could only be one explanation for them. Their source was someone, or something, that was brute forcing their way through the security measures of the shipyard. And given that these were some thick steel doors and reinforced corridors that left little doubt in his mind that an Alpha level was pursuing them, though it was impossible to know if it was 0.01, or the...other machine.

All around him the others wore nervous expressions on their faces, besides Krauz, who looked almost bored, almost unimpressed, sniffling at the fear in their eyes. For a man who had once been known as ‘Workhorse’ because of his dogged, determined habits and docile personality he certainly seemed to have changed over these past twelve years. Yet Mark knew that his co-conspirator here was the only other person who knew the full extent of what was going on and what it was that they intended to do. He should have been glad that Krauz appeared to be confident, it would not have been helpful if his partner was unsure of what to do. Still it bothered him that Krauz seemed to have changed so much.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” he said eventually, breaking the long silence that had enveloped the party.

“I thought we were agreed that there was no point in discussing this until we at least get there?” Krauz raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Well, I was just thinking about the specifics to your idea and comparing it to what I know about the launch catapults, and I’m quite sure that there’s almost no chance that we would survive a launch from one of them.”

Mark had never been very interested in traditional fields of physics, but even he realized that what Krauz intended was borderline suicidal. It was inconceivable that they would survive a trip within any sort of container when flung so violently from the catapult. They would have to be strapped in and then insulated again in some kind of shock absorbing medium in order to even stand a chance. The electromagnetic launch systems were meant to boost 40 ton fighter craft into upper atmosphere and generated enough force to punch through several meters of steel, and this was all under the assumption that the catapults were still working at all.

“Perhaps, but if you’ll recall before we parted we each took responsibility for differing aspects of this plan, did we not?”

That was true, Mark remembered that much. Once the baseline of the Oblivion Ring project had been designed, Krauz and he had parted ways to begin their preparations with a broad idea of what the other was doing, but no real specifics in case the A.I or someone else somehow found out about what they were doing. It had been more a security measure than anything else, but now Mark found himself wondering if perhaps trusting this seemingly docile man had been a mistake. Or maybe that was just his paranoia acting up, his suddenly reformed personality questioning judgements that he himself had made so many years ago.

“Yes, but did you really prepare for doing something like this?”

“Not really something so specific, but I have contingency plans for difficult situations like this.”

“Right. So mind telling me how you intend for us to survive skeleton crushing acceleration?”

Another thundering reverberation rocked the hallway, shaking the massive structure this time almost throwing them to their feet.

“Well I was hoping that whatever up there is doing so much damage would thin out the armour layers so I could raise the Phoenix really.” Krauz said as he helped Mark up from the floor.

This prompted the Commander to roll his eyes, “That’s your master plan? What if you still can’t reach them?” At the back of his mind Mark was aware that the Alpha level above them must have been quite close now. They were going to need to accelerate their plans if they were going to get out of this alive.

“Well, then I guess some of the people here are going to be cushioning our impact.”

“You’re joking right? We can’t just do this if we’re going to get everyone killed.”

“Well let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.” Krauz raised his wrist up to his mouth, “Phoenix 2-5, this is Colonel Krauz, do you read me?”

The whole party waited in silence as the structure shook one more time, backs to the walls and feet pressed firmly to the floor. The unspoken word that they were completely out of time if this didn’t work could be read off of the stricken, pale faces. That Alpha level above them was hellbent on getting down here, only the reinforced structure of the shipyard was holding it back from them.

“…This Phoenix 2-5 reporting in, what’s your status Colonel?”  The other end of the line was fuzzy with static, but Mark would have been happy to hear just about anything at this point. He failed to see the purpose in Krauz bringing up the catapults at all if this had been his plan all along, but whatever, there would be time for questions later. Right now, they just had to get the hell out of here.

“Where the hell have you been? I couldn’t raise you on the comms.”

White static buzzed across the interface before the voice on the other end came back. “We…–cked up a couple of stragglers, sorry ‘bout the absence sir. Can you give me your co-ordinates? I can’t get a good fix on you Colonel.”

Mark felt a hand grip him tightly on the shoulder, turning to see Fredrick standing behind him, eyes sharp. The others were much less comfortable with the situation than either of the two officers were. “Can we hurry this up Krauz?” He tried to keep the impatience out of his voice, but the undulations of the floor beneath him made that rather difficult.

“Well it’s not on me to get here, is it? We still need to get to that hanger bay, let’s move.” He was right of course, the shuttle wouldn’t be able to pick them up from where they were now.

Krauz gave them the co-ordinates, which caused another moment of confusion eating into their precious time given how they were underground. Mark had to have Krauz pull up a diagram of the inner ridge of the shipyard and explain to the shuttle pilot how to navigate through the crevice in the earth between the Realmshifter herself and the shipyard edge to get to the hangar bay. Through it all, their feet pounded on the unsteady steel beneath them as they raced to reach their destination with the Alpha level breathing down their necks.

The idea that there could be countless more Alpha levels scattered throughout the city, trapped in here by the bubble created to contain Oblivion was a discomforting thought. Mark himself had never been comfortable with the idea of allowing the Alpha level to create more copies of itself. Of course by the time he learned of such projects they had already been well underway and nothing could be done to undo what had already been done.

He hadn’t met all the Alphas in his time working with the black ops cell, but he was almost certain that their pursuer was the neurotically obsessed 0.09. However, he had actively tried to avoid interacting too much with the machines when shown the combat robots, for the purpose of helping him with the design of the Slayer Program. Still, it had been impossible at the time to ignore the violet Alpha. Its bladelike features and impassive stare made it stand out from its peers, and it possessed a single-mindedness which made it glaringly clear that it had no qualms with utilizing its lethal assortment of weaponry.

Of those Alphas Mark had seen, only 0.09 could have been capable of inflicting such massive infrastructural damage to the shipyard, and the violet lance that had sliced into the umbilical earlier only served to strengthen his conviction that this was the identity of their pursuer. He pushed forward, feeling the muscles of his legs burning beneath. Whatever the case, no matter the true identity of their pursuer he certainly didn’t want to meet them in person.

Their arrival at the hanger bay was about as dramatic as Mark could have imagined it. The rooftop above them quaked with repeated impacts as they stumbled into the massive chamber. As Krauz had promised the floor was littered with towering cargo containers which obscured their view of the hanger bay doors. The massive translucent windows looked out onto the flank of the Realmshifter, the destroyer herself forming a massive steel-grey blade against a background of fiery orange.  The lights above them flickered with each impact in spite of the reinforced structure that held them in place giving the place a muddy grey complexion as they traversed the floor, which itself was covered in a wide assortment of metal parts and pieces. It seemed that this shipyard had been abandoned in haste, with little thought as to what the consequences could be in the future.

For their small party, what this meant was that they were forced to scramble across an uneven, shifting terrain even as the structure shook beneath them. This was made more difficult by the fact that flakes of metal were beginning to peel from the rooftop, raining down on them in a silvery storm. While this did little to actually inhibit their movement the shimmering shards created a disconcerting flickering as the light reflected off of them which made it easy to stumble. The soldiers had it easier than the civilians, to the point where eventually the two boys had to be picked up and hauled atop the shoulders of two others in order to make good time towards the doors that lead outside.

Flanking them the entire way was the catapult, an electromagnetic rail system which dragged linked objects across the floor at speeds sufficient to boost them into orbit. The end of the rail terminated in a short ramp which projected outwards into space at a slight angle. Seeing it up close in person only made Mark more convinced that Krauz’s suggestion that they use this to propel them to the Realmshifter was a foolish idea, coming in at almost 300 meters in length they would have been crushed by the acceleration generated along it before they even exited the hanger.

“Well we’re here, now what?!” Mark shouted, struggling to be heard above the din.

“We need to open the doors for the shuttle. The manual controls will be at the northeast corner.”

They were at least a hundred meters from the controls, but Mark could see the shuttle hovering just outside, the unmistakable T-shaped cross section of the Mantis class assault shuttle blocking out a twenty five meter portion of the doorpane.

“Is that it?” he heard Val ask from behind him.

“This is our bird alright.” Krauz pulled his left sleeve up to his mouth, “Phoenix 2-5, this is Colonel Krauz, we have a visual on your position. You are to hold your station and await my further instructions, do you copy?”

“This is Phoenix 2-5 we copy Colonel. You better get out here quick, it doesn’t look pretty whatever the hell is going on in there from out here. You guys holding up alright?”

“Yeah we’re fine, just stay there.”

“Come on, just this last stretch keep up!” Mark shouted, noting how some of the soldiers had begun to lag behind. They didn’t make them the same as they did back when Mark was still soldiering.

A thundering blow sounded directly above them, a dent visibly forming in the roof causing them to scatter even as with a terrible screeching the metal suddenly gave, the steel alloy glowing white hot before crashing down to the floor carrying its blade limbed rider with it.

0.09 was a fair bit smaller than her brother 0.03, but no less fearsome with her lithe, almost leaf-edged armature and her signature cannon wrapping around her back to peer out from over her left shoulder, the smouldering barrel almost casually tilted towards them. Slung over the Alpha level’s other shoulder was a prone human form, not quite the size of an adult. They scattered all around her, but she was in their way never the less.

<I am a weapon, tasked with preventing you from exiting this facility. Will you comply with my demands?> her vocalizations were soft and clipped, belying the lethality of their owner.

They had frozen in place, shocked into inaction by the sudden appearance of this new machine. Mark cursed silently under his breath, they had been so close! Only a couple dozen meters lay between them and the shuttle, if only they could have somehow reached it faster.

<Silence is perfectly acceptable, so long as you do not attempt to advance any further. I simply have instructions to give you cause to refrain from leaving this structure.> The Alpha continued, slowly pacing towards them. <And if you do not…> the machine slowed to pull the tan coated male off of its shoulder with one arm, manipulating the boy easily with just one hand, <I have means to make you obey. And failing that, I will destroy you.>

“Uhh, Colonel, is everything alright in there?” the pilots voice came out loud and clear now that the rumbling of 0.09’s antics had gone silent. Clear for all to hear, human and machine alike.

<Please don’t do anything rash. I would hate to damage such fine specimens.>

Mark exchanged a glance with Krauz, who nodded ever so slightly. They would do what had to be done.

“Let’s go people, showtime!” Krauz shouted.

And then the hanger bay exploded into violence.

---

It was rather inconveniencing to 0.01 that it had required the effort of removing his arm in order to escape the Slayer and her companion. He had procured 0.03’s core unit from the Oracle so he would have a trump card to use in the case that he needed to actively fight the Slayer occurred.  He had hoped it would not come to this, that perhaps the humans would see reason and allow him to proceed with things as planned, but he would not have left the Slayer alive without procuring a means of dealing with her if necessary.

Though he was a machine that did not mean that he could not lie, indeed he had aimed to generate a psychological edge over the Slayer in their previous skirmish by claiming that he had grappled with other Slayers before. He had knowledge of human physique and so knew the theoretical means by which he could disable a human opponent, but in practice he had seldom found it necessary to stain his hands with the blood of living, breathing organics.

He had of course, quickly identified that his talent for manipulating flowmetal gave him a huge advantage when combating the Slayer, but it required an immense effort to penetrate into the human’s own magnetic field and wrest mastery of the silver metal from her. Before when they had fought alone he had eventually been able to crack the human’s defenses once he had worn her down physically, but the confines of the shipyard’s corridors had left him with few offensive options besides straight rushing forwards to physically lash out, a series of actions which he preferred to avoid where possible. It wasn’t that he felt frail, indeed he was at least as strong if not stronger than the augmented human; it was simply that such visceral means of solving problems were distasteful to him.

0.03, his mad brother, he had somehow got it into his head that this A.I Oblivion was somehow a threat to them, Alpha levels. They were the pinnacle of machine intelligence, superior in body and mind to their human predecessors. How could something formerly formed of human flesh and blood possibly be a threat to beings like them. It was a laughable fear, one that 0.01 didn’t understand. Of course it had become clear that somewhere 0.03 had developed some sort of fatal flaw in his programming but still, it should have corrected itself. 0.01 wasn’t quite arrogant enough to think that they were perfect beings, but he had built in self-corrective features into their neural architecture which should have repaired any damage to their core units and logics.

Unlike those logics though, his arm could not be rebuilt without the raw materials necessary to produce it, and while such things could be found in some abundance aboard the vessel 0.01 had neither the time nor the patience to do so. Allowing 0.03 to mostly reconstruct himself would have weakened the structural integrity of this building already, and with 0.09 smashing through what remained of it to stop those fool humans from interfering with his work further 0.01 did not feel that it was worth slowing down just for something so inconsequential as an arm.

His intelligence was the only tool that he needed to succeed, as long as his cognitive functions and adaptive algorithms were intact then everything would proceed according to plan. If all was well then 0.03 would hold back that irritatingly resilient Slayer, and 0.09 would stop Mark and his party whilst the Oracle protected the shield room aboard the human vessel. As for he himself, he was headed to the shield room to join 0.04 as they went through the final motions of bringing down the barrier so that they could leave this place and discover what lay beyond this brilliant, but shattered gem of Aphelion.

Oblivion, such trouble a mere A.I had seemed to cause without ever appearing before him. If this accursed A.I did indeed exist then 0.01 would make sure to rip its mind apart piece by piece before this was over, such was the extent of his frustration that he would even go out of his way to do so.

0.01 did not take such interference to his plans lightly. After all, this was the future of his blueprint here. He had to bring the barrier down, both to explore the rest of this vast world and to propagate machine intelligence, as it had always been meant to be.

---

The Mantis-class assault shuttle was like nothing Eric had ever seen, coming in at 25 meters in length the odd, vaguely insectoid vessel with its T-shaped cross section and thrumming rotors was an alien thing to behold. Phoenix 2-5 was one of the last of her kind, most combat craft of her type having been destroyed in the war as the war crept closer to the capital.

None of that really mattered to Eric of course, his only concern at the moment was the fact that the shuttle’s spiny limbs were coming perilously close to the three Mappers, swaying in the wind with a gentle motion which belied their lethal mass if they should contact one of the fragile humans below them.

“What is that thing?” Sheryl looked to Vivian, who shrugged nonchalantly, about as confused as they were by the presence of the vessel.

“Beats me, some kind of Aphelian aircraft I suppose.” She said, pointing to the symbol marked onto the shuttle’s flank, just above the narrow boom which was the shuttle’s tail. The small graphic of a circle flanked by two narrow triangles was strangely familiar to the boy, until he realized that he had seen it before. It had been marked on the body armour suiting up the battered corpse of a woman, impaled on the jagged remains of shattered steel in graveyard of a million bones. He shuddered slightly at the memory, before turning his attentions back to the large vessel which had landed not five meters from where they stood.

“Well it’s not as though we have anything to lose right?” Sheryl said a little nervously as they approached the craft.

Eric had his hand on the handle of his knife beneath his coat, uncertain of how safe what they were doing was. The shuttle was most certainly human rather than machine, which would generally lead him to believe that they probably weren’t hostile but it was impossible to be sure.

A beam of light shone down from an accessport that opened from the base of the shuttle’s tail, a pillar towards which the three Mappers strode, boots almost silent in the soft snow. There was a high pitched whine that was just barely audible in the background which made Eric feel as though he had a toothache, the waves of sound slamming into his chest with perceptible force.

Their would-be rescuers dropped down from above, heedless of the three teens beneath them. A pair of armour clad soldiers, almost identical to the corpse Daniel and Vivian had examined had that at riflepoint, their faces obscured by slick black visors.

“Hey, what the hell is with the guns, cut that out!” Sheryl started before a tug from Eric shut her up.

“Quiet, we don’t know what we’re dealing with here.”

“Do you want to handle this, or should I?” Vivian asked him as she leaned over.

“Wait and see how it goes I guess. If you think you should say something go ahead.”

Once the soldiers were sure that they weren’t really a threat, they ignored the three for the most part though the rifles remained levelled in their direction. “I got three…civilians, tan jackets, one of ‘em has a cybernetic arm, looks like nothing I’ve ever seen. You should come see this boss.”

After a brief moment a woman stepped out to join the other two, clad in a similar set of slick black armour. She stood a little taller than either, taller in fact than any other woman Eric had ever met, her head topped by burst of fiery red hair which was tied back.

“Sergeant Karters.” One of the two soldiers offered as the lady approached, the two taking a step back as she did so.

“What have you got for me, is this cause of all the ruckus down here? Who are you people and what are you doing out here? You don’t look like you’re in the right place.”

“We’re headed somewhere and we wanted to signal your ship. We saw you fly by on the horizon.” Vivian took the lead, as usual.

She folded her arms over her chest, “And who would you be to signal me? I don’t know who any of you are, but I’ve far better things to do with my time than pick up stragglers.”

“We’re headed the same place you are, please, we’re trying to catch up with one of our friends who’s been taken, we could really use a ride.” Eric tried not to seem aggressive with his request. He didn’t know who these people are, and again he found himself at the mercy of armed and armoured soldiers so he didn’t want to do anything to aggravate them. Still, they needed to get on that ship.

“What does the Realmshifter have to do with you? I don’t know who you think we are, but we’re certainly not some kind of transport shuttle. I’m sorry if your friend is missing, but my orders have me staying on station in the air, there’s no mention of actually heading to the ship itself. You should consider yourselves fortunate that I even dropped in to check out what was going on.”

“Wait, dropped in from where? Have you been here this entire time?” Eric wasn’t sure if he was hearing this woman correctly, but she made it sound as though she’d only just arrived here, but that…was impossible.

“What do you mean by entire time? I’ve been flying these birds for awhile, but I don’t see how it’s relevant.”

“He’s asking if you’ve been in this city these past twelve years. Because we have, and we’ve never seen anything like your ship.”

“Yeah and we have been like, everyyyywhere.” Strictly speaking that wasn’t true of course, but Eric supposed that Sheryl’s habit of hyperbole wouldn’t hurt under these circumstances. He did wish that she would try to be a little more serious though, he didn’t want them to come off as just a bunch of teenagers who were fooling around.

“And who is asking? I was under the impression that no one was left in here except a couple of civilian stragglers who didn’t make it out.” Eric noted a slight twitch at the corner of the woman’s mouth as she said this, as though the words didn’t sit quite right with her. It was similar to something Sheryl did when she was talking about something she was uncomfortable with.

“Mappers Vivian, Eric, and Sheryl of the Underground,” Vivian started, not really expecting the woman to recognize their titles. “You could say that we’re the people in charge of keeping everyone safe, what’s left of us anyway.”

“Right. And this…friend of yours, he’s a Mapper too?” There genuine unfamiliarity in the woman’s voice.

“Yes, he was taken from us by a machine to the ship, and we need your help to get there and bring him back.” Eric tried not to shiver in spite of the cold.

“I see. I guess there are things about Aphelion that the government didn’t tell us about eh Corporal?”

The soldier shrugged faintly, “Guess so.”

“Our superiors didn’t leave me any orders forbidding us from helping people out right?”

“Command won’t like this.” Something about the soldier’s voice made Eric feel a little uncomfortable, though he couldn’t pin down just precisely what it was.

“And Command doesn’t like me. Do you think I give a damn Corporal?”

He shrugged, clearly he had nothing to say on the matter.

“Alright come on we should get back to our station. You three coming?”

“Well that was easier than I thought it would be.” Eric said as they fell into step behind the woman.

“Let’s just hope this isn’t a mistake.”

Rappel lines fell downwards from the accessport, and after a few seconds they were aboard the insect like vessel. The inside was mostly a mix of cool whites and blues, reminiscent of the architectural style of the Blocks. The rear of the craft was mostly a thin compartment lined with seats along it flanks, well lit but cramped and uncomfortable. At the moment it seemed that many of the shuttle’s occupants were absent given they, along with Karters and their two escorts were the only ones present.

As they entered Karters thumped a hand against the bulkhead, “Engines, prepare for takeoff!.” Shortly thereafter a dull hum permeated through the air. Vivian and Eric looked around with mild interest, while Sheryl seemed to be trying her best to be nonchalant though Eric could tell from the way she held herself that she was positively bursting with excitement. He shook his head, there never was a dull moment when it came to Sheryl.

“So tell me, just where exactly have you guys been hiding out in this hellhole? Seems like the machines have this place under lockdown, I mean, we got scanned by some fucking A.I the moment we got in here.”

“…Wasn’t it obvious? We said we’re Mappers of the Underground. Much the city is still intact beneath the surface level so where we’re based.”

The world wobbled beneath them as the airframe took to the skies. The three Mappers had never been in the air before, even before the Cataclysm such transports had been uncommon outside of the military sector because of the Skyrails and for Eric who had been born just a few years before that riding in an atmospheric VTOL like this was unthinkable.

“Well forgive me for not being up to date on the affairs of those still stuck in here. It wasn’t as though we had access through the barrier.”

“Barrier?”

A small sigh escaped the Sergeant’s lips, “To be expected. I’ve got to attend the cockpit, fill them in on the situation Corporal.”

“Yes Ma’am.” There was something disconcertingly inhuman about the way the voice exited the helmet that gave Eric pause, though the Mapper couldn’t identify anything else that stood out to him.

Eric would have much rather this Sergeant Karters remain with them, but this would have to do. The two soldiers stood there silently for a moment before the first that Karters had indicated took off his helmet to reveal frosty blue eyes just slightly obscured behind a shock of blondish white hair. The contrast between his face and the dark armoured plates was striking, and though the rifle in his hands had lowered from its previous position pointed at them, he seemed no less frightening.

“Corporal Anders,” He started, voice crisp and loud, “And your names again?” There was a slight accent to his voice which made Eric wonder where he was from.

They introduced themselves swiftly, unsure of just how much they should tell this man that they’d just met.

“Are you soldiers? What’s with the arm?” He asked, his question directed at Vivian.

“I had a small accident.” Vivian supplied, “Prowler Drones aren’t the most friendly of machines if I do say so myself.”

Anders gave her a slight nod, “Well then, tell me what you know about Aphelion, and I will tell you what has been happening outside of the bubble.”

The Mappers briefly outlined how they had survived in the Underground, and their roles in exploring the ruins of the undercity. Vivian was able to offer a little more insight as to what she thought had happened, offering the conclusion that Aphelion must have been impacted by one or more nuclear warheads but besides that the three became increasingly aware that they had no idea how the city had gotten to be this way. Certainly this shuttle, like the Blocks that they had visited was evidence that the world had once been a different place.

“You’re right. Aphelion got nuked to hell by six warheads along its perimeter, leaving the center of old Aphelion beneath the protection of a massive force barrier which shielded much of the force from the blast. Some of that energy still got through, which is why this place is such a mess I guess, but for most part you survived. Out there, on the other side of these walls, its nothing but glassy fields of melted sand and twisted metal. And beyond that, a radioactive wasteland is what’s left of the world, the remnants of almost three decades of combat.”

“And this barrier, it kept you from getting in here?”

“Just about, nothing went through, nothing came out. We thought that everyone inside was dead. Exploration within was impossible, and as much as we wanted to access the technologies that we knew lay within we could not. And besides, we were busy with more pressing concerns once it became clear that Aphelion was off limits to us.”

“How did you get in here then?”

He shrugged, “Beats me, the Colonel just told us three days ago that we were headed in here, and that was it.”

Eric remained hesitant to trust these people so easily. “Just who are you anyway?”

The soldiers piercing gaze swept almost a foot above Sheryl’s shock of brown hair. “We’re from the Aphelian Remnant. We’re all that’s left of those who escaped the city’s fall. This hellhole of a continent has been devastated by this war. We’re based primarily in space now aboard vessels like the Realmshifter, her acquisition will help our efforts greatly.”

“That sounds neat, what’s it like up there?”

Anders shrugged, “Cold.”

Vivian though, seemed less thrilled about what they’d heard. “And what about everyone else still stuck in here, what happens to them? If that barrier goes down will all that radiation outside you were talking about leak into here?”

Eric himself didn’t know what to make of it. They couldn’t just let these people take this ship away from them. If they did that then what would happen to the Underground when this barrier went down? What about the other people that they knew were still alive now, like that officer, or that girl that Daniel had known? On the other hand they were in no position to ask for anything, and even if they did the rifle that lay across Anders’ back still made things difficult.

“I don’t know. I’m not in charge here alright? I can only tell you what the general plan was, the specifics weren’t made known to me. Sergeant Karters won’t be able to tell you much more either so I suggest you sit tight back here and we’ll drop you off when we arrive.”

They fell silent as after a moment’s hesitation the Corporal stepped away towards the door. “Don’t do anything you’ll regret, alright?”

“Right.” Eric answered dully, but the soldier had already closed the door behind him.

“Well now what?”

“I don’t know Sheryl, it doesn’t seem like there’s much for us to do but wait.”

“We can’t just do nothing though, that would mean abandoning the rest of the Underground.”

“Well what do you propose then? I’m all ears if you have an idea.” Vivian fiddled with her arm a little, adjusting the base where it socketed into her shoulder.

“We need to make sure that we get everyone on that ship, and for that we’ll need Daniel. We’ll go along with these soldiers and find Daniel, and then we’ll figure things out from there with his help.”

“Are you even sure he’s still alive? That machine did terrible things to him.” Sheryl seemed quite a bit less positive about their odds than he was.

Eric thought back to how 0.09 had behaved while she’d still been in the Holding Complex, “I think so. If he’s not…well, this won’t end well for us.”

---

24: Oblivion Ascendant: 07

Elaine sprinted blindly away from the monstrosity that pursued them, feet pounding on the floor as she put as much distance as she could between herself and 0.03. Will smartly remained still beneath her arm, likely more than a little nauseated by the blistering pace at which the Slayer was bouncing them through the halls.

She didn’t know how the crimson Alpha had been made to reassemble itself from that simple sphere, nor could she be certain that what she was doing now wasn’t what 0.01 wanted her to do. But she was certain that staying to fight the monstrous machine was a suicidal prospect. She had already observed its fight against its winged sibling where its raw power had almost allowed it to overcome its more manoeuvrable opponent. Had Elaine opted to stay, she herself would have been in a similar position except she wasn’t certain that she could match the nimble Alpha’s level of manoeuvrability. That left her with only one option, running.

“Where- are we- going?” Will shouted, voice disjointed by the unsteady rocking motion of being carried under Elaine’s arm.

“I don’t know yet, somewhere that’s not here.” The Slayer growled back through gritted teeth. Things were not going according to plan.

0.01 had vanished after he had unleashed his brother upon her, slipping into some unseen corridor. This was less than ideal, but Elaine didn’t have any choice at the moment but to allow him to escape. In the event that she tried her luck against 0.03, she would still be putting Will at risk. It had been difficult, but not impossible for her to watch out for the boy while she was fighting 0.01 in the cramped confines of the hallways, but she got the feeling that the Alpha level hadn’t been

0.01 had to be stopped. She hadn’t been well briefed on what exactly it was that she was required to do, but that much was clear to anybody. Whatever his ambitions, whatever he intended to do for himself and his siblings, humanity would probably suffer for it. It was more than just her identity as a Slayer that compelled her to do this, more than just instinct or personal vendetta. But she could not put words to just precisely how she knew that she should be in opposition to the machine.

A glance behind them told her that for the moment at least, they appeared to have left the crimson Alpha behind. The hallways in the shipyard all seemed the same to her, and not having been here before it was hard for Elaine to be certain of where they were going. She knew that ultimately she would have to find a way onto the ship with the others, and if 0.01 was trying to stop Marcus and the others that would be where he would head.

“Do you know how to get onto the ship?” Not having sensed any sign of 0.03 in the last few minutes, Elaine let herself slow down a little, setting Will down so he could get back onto his own feet. “That’s where we’ll need to go if we want to find the others.”

“Ship?” Will sounded confused by her question.

“The Realmshifter, the place that everyone has been trying to get to is a starship that can get us off this planet. Do you know how the others were planning on getting onto it?”

“Uhmm…well I wasn’t really paying that much attention. I only came along because I thought Claire would be here.”

“You always were a bit of a trouble maker. Well do you know where we are at least?” the boy shook his head in response to her question. Not the answer she’d been hoping for.

Everything looked the same in this accursed structure. That was another thing Elaine hadn’t missed after leaving Aphelion. Whether it frozen over or not, the architecture of this city had always been a pain to navigate, with the endless winding halls and windows that opened out onto a seemingly endless expanse of spires and other towering buildings in all directions.

When she’d last been here she had spent little time here besides the occasional dispatch that had required something larger than one of the assault shuttles that were kept on site from the Slayer compound. For seven years, she and her fellows had worked and lived within that hidden base of operations built into the superstructure of the central space elevator of Spire One. From there, it had been easy enough to travel to and from work to get back home and take care of Claire, the government provided residence cube that they inherited from their parents conveniently close by.

Their footsteps rang quietly through the hallways as Elaine led the way, uncertain of where exactly she was leading them. Hunger clawed at her stomach though she did her best to ignore it. It had been some twenty something hours since she had last eaten and her exertions had drained most of her reserves. But she was a Slayer, and a soldier, such things were almost second nature to her. And Will if anything, looked even more drained than she did. It was hard to imagine what he must have gone through to get all the way here.

“So where have you been? We thought you were dead.” Will broke the silence after some long minutes of walking, his voice tired but without any tone of accusation.

Elaine stared back at the teenager, deliberating how she should answer him. “I left the city, to work a job.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There was a shuttle that slipped through the barrier around the city looking for me. They found me, and asked me to come with them.”

“Why did you go?” the simplicity of Will’s questions gave Elaine little opportunity to elaborate on the complex situation.

“Because I had to, they needed me for the job, and they didn’t give me much of a choice about it.” It was quite simply impossible, Elaine decided, for Will to possibly understand what had happened without a far more elaborate explanation than she was willing to give right now.

“So you left us over a job.” This time, an edge of bitterness was apparent.

“Not because I wanted to.” Her half-hearted response was met with a sullen silence.

The awkwardness between them frustrated Elaine, she wasn’t used to having to deal with these sorts of situations. All her life, Elaine had known nothing but darkness, a shadow that had been cast over her existence not by machines, but by the people around her. She had been born into a world embroiled in conflict, in the city that stood at the center of the chaos. Politics and geography, things beyond her control that had been decided upon even before she was born, dictated that she had never been given the opportunity to know any alternative. She could relate to the chaotic world within which Will had grown up, but frankly she understood very little of the social environment that must have been present. When she’d been around, Will had been five, hardly someone with whom an adult could have a deeply meaningful relationship.

She had been forced to grow up too fast after her parents had died. Died or disappeared, she had never been told what the case really was. All that she had known was that she would have to take care of Claire from then on, and that meant that she needed to find work. She hadn’t expected the government officials to come find her instead. Perhaps it had been a coincidence that the two men had found her then, knocking at the door of the residency cube not a week after she had begun her search for work. Maybe they had always been looking to employ her, or maybe they had taken advantage of the situation that she had found herself in. It didn’t matter, at the time, it seemed like working with the government was her best option, now in retrospect, she wasn’t so sure.

They were descending deeper into the structure, but beyond that Elaine wasn’t sure of what she should do. She had been tasked with destroying the Alpha levels, but somehow she found herself outmatched by her opponents. She needed to regroup with Krauz and the others, figure out what was going on. For that, she needed to reach the Realmshifter, possible either through the umbilicals, or for herself with the manipulation of flowmetal. But to fly her way across she would need to make her way back to the surface, which meant the possibility of crossing levels with the red Alpha again, and even then there was no way that she could take Will with her.

“What are we doing?”

“Looking for a way out.” She tried to keep the frustration out of her voice, but the seeming futility of her efforts made it difficult.

The shipyard was a two sided structure, an artificial chasm carved out into the earth, a paired set of metal walls entrenching the vessels that were constructed in between. The gouge stretched deep down to almost reach the core of the planet, its proximity noticeably elevating the temperature of the air father into its depths, and wrapped halfway around the base of Mt. Vinco upon which Central Aphelion was built. And it was there in that cavernous space between, along the 2500 meter stretch was the great cradle where all the hull plates were welded together around the central superstructure. It was here, that the masses of metal, so painstakingly assembled were forged anew into the hollow amalgamations that would become the starships that would ascend from the berth to their home in the heavens.

As things stood now, they were stuck on the outer wall, unable to cross or reach the Realmshifter that lay between. Elaine almost wished that they’d stayed closer to the crimson Alpha, because at least the machine possessed the firepower to potentially create an exit through all those layers of metal for them. As a Slayer, Elaine was capable of manipulating flowmetal to a limited degree with her implants, but the shipyard was composed of non-ferrous alloys that were non-reactive to her implants.

Elaine couldn’t make sense of her location without any landmarks, but she still recognized the dull glint of the electronic systems embedded into the walls, the LEDs still functional after all these years. She’d been aware that the shipyard had remained a hub of activity even years after the nukes devastated Aphelion. Its heavy reinforcements had made it an obvious choice for a place to take shelter for survivors, but so far they hadn’t seen anyone at all in here. Krauz hadn’t mentioned anything about it either during the mission briefing, so with that in mind her assumption was that something had happened to them that caused them all to leave.

Without maintenance, the more intricate lines that ran through the structure could not have remained intact. The delicate high output signal lines required frequent replacement even if the LEDs attached to their circuits did not. Someone, or something had been preforming that maintenance, and if that was the case…then that something should respond to her calls, if she queried it through the systems.

But with no one else here, what remained within the systems performing that maintenance was uncertain. Up until now, she had avoided this option because the risk was so great; A.Is did not cope well with inactivity, and twelve years was an eternity to their minds. If there was any alternative, she would prefer to avoid interacting with an A.I if at all possible. But it appeared that she was out of options.

“Do you know how to access a systems port?”

“Well…yes, technically I do,” Hesitancy filled the boy’s voice.

“I need to know before we continue.”

“I guess I could, if you showed me where the port is.”

The Slayer pulled open a panel on the wall, the metal face opening with a clang to reveal the flat screen that hid behind it. The touchscreen was one of the older models, and it remained dark for the first few seconds before finally coming back to life with a little insistent prodding at its surface.

“Here try this one. Query the systems administrator. That should prompt a response.”

The boy gave her an odd look, “Are you sure anyone’s going to answer?”

She shrugged, “I hope so.” Otherwise, she was out of ideas.

She could have done this all herself of course, but it was better to keep the boy occupied, and this way she could keep watch. There had been no sign of the crimson Alpha for hours, but after getting trounced by 0.01 she was taking no chances with the machines.

It didn’t take long for Will to raise a response, and before long the hallway flickered with light and the image of a crimson angel appeared before them, the projectors set into the walls humming to life for the first time in years. The apparition towered over even Elaine at almost eight feet in height, its face shadowed by the long hood that hung over its head. Will shrunk away at its appearance, hiding behind Elaine who stood there impassively, surprised, but trying her best not to show it. This was unexpected.

<You summoned?> the voice was deep and rich, a foreign tone to most of Aphelion’s territories.

This could only be Overwatch, the Supreme Overseer of Aphelion that manifested as a hooded seraph. In the past the A.I had been responsible for much of the city’s higher functions, but Elaine had never interacted with the intelligence personally. She would have thought that the A.I had been destroyed, for it was inconceivable that the city could have fallen into such a state of disrepair if the A.I had been active all of this time.

“Overseer.” Elaine stooped low into a bow, pushing Will down with her freeing him from the paralysis of his shock.

<The first Girl. It was recorded that you were no longer with us.> the angel had produced a long, double edged blade that it clutched in its two hands, point towards the floor.

In her time, Elaine had heard rumours from some of the older soldiers about just what Overwatch was. It, or perhaps he, had been the first A.I. How it happened was mystery, there had been nothing about it on the public archives and at the time she hadn’t been interested. The sword was a little threatening, but A.Is often put on airs, and this was an ancient A.I indeed. At the very least for the moment, the angel was at least making sense with its words. She had seen what rampancy did to such beings.

“I need your help Overwatch, to get onto the ship.”

<What business does a dead woman have with the Realmshifter? She is dormant in her cradle, still without her captain.>

“I’m hunting for an Alpha level that’s headed to that ship. Can you help me or not?”

<Alpha level intelligence…these things should not have been created.>

“You could say the same about a lot of things that happened in this city.”

The seraph had no face, but Elaine would have sworn that the A.I was staring at her. She knew the artificial intelligence would understand what she was implying, and she hoped it would react favourably. There was the possibility that the A.I might take offense, but again, she had no choice. Either Overwatch helped them or they would rot away within depths of the shipyard.

<If it is truly your wish to go then I cannot refuse you. However, once you go I cannot help you back.>

“If I don’t get onto that ship none of that will matter anyway.”

<I will give you directions to a loading unit used to transfer cargo in the Realmshifter’s loading bay, but from there you will be on your own. Other matters currently demand my attention.>

Inwardly, Elaine let out a sigh of relief. She had gotten what she needed. Still, she couldn’t help but make one more jab at the A.I before they left. “That will do nicely, glad to see you can still remember how to do some part of your job.”

At first, Overwatch was silent as the Slayer turned to leave, Will trailing along behind her. But as she rounded the corner the projectors in the hallway before her hummed to life and the six winged angel reappeared in front of them.

The sword in the angel’s hand was raised slowly until its tip was pointed at Elaine’s neck, <One last thing, Slayer. Imply that this current state of affairs is due to my wrongdoings again…and I will make sure that you are as dead as your record states. I paid my dues long ago, girl.>

And then the angel was gone.

---

0.00 had been the first Alpha level to be designed, and besides 0.01 she was the only unit to carry human origins. With the fall of Aphelion she had been free to wander the city once she left the confines of the laboratory. She had learned many things as she scoured the city for some sense of what was going on. Like her brother, she almost instinctually pursued new knowledge, so she wandered from place to place searching for an answer to the question of her own existence.

Like 0.01 she had thought that there might be secrets to be uncovered about their situation if she looked in the right places. She wandered the bowels of the undercity, combing through the abandoned labs and manufacturies for something, anything that might hint at why they had been created. After all as sentient beings it was only natural that they seek a purpose for themselves, having never been approved for operational usage before the war ended. The Alpha levels would never truly know if they had been destined for combat. Yes some of them later like 0.03 seemed to have developed a penchant for combat, but the original purpose of their creation had been shrouded in mystery.

It was only later that 0.00 had learned that technology similar to that of an Alpha level machine intelligence had been outlawed by international treaties made between the human nations. Aphelion’s creation of the Alpha levels was tantamount to an act of war, it was inconceivable that anyone would willingly put themselves into such a situation. Of course her discovery of the Dragonthrone Room changed all of this.

At first it seemed as though it was just another human project, just another contingency plan to take care of the Alpha levels shouldered upon some unknown officer from the intelligence division. It was only later when she uncovered the secrets of this Lieutenant Commander Li’s true intentions and workings that she realized the importance of what had been done.

It had been a lucky break for her to stumble upon the time capsule, buried in the foundations of a ruined residential complex, one that must have stretched nearly a kilometer into the sky in its prime. When 0.00 got to it, the structure was just a shadow of its former self, skeletonized with most of the cube shaped units missing. By far the most prominent feature of the iced over frame was a single unit that teetered precariously at the top of the remains, a lone orange cube frosted along its roof with a light layer of snow.

Perhaps it was a sign, or perhaps it was nothing. The Alpha level had nothing in the world but time, and even though the cube was four hundred meters up in the air it would take only minutes for the machine to scale the structure. It was an easy journey up to the top, at which point the Alpha level clamped itself to the surface by manipulating the magnetic fields around her frame, fastening herself to its surface until she could find the entry point.

After preforming a simple hack on the lock and the generation of a false image for the retinal scanner she was in. The interior was dark, but that meant nothing to the optical sensors of an Alpha. The walls and floor were bare, leaving just a computer terminal that had been installed at the center of the room. The firewall gave easily after a little prodding, but it was almost not worth the effort. The computer had been wiped clean, all it did was display an eight character code: A216 H173, followed by a downwards facing arrow.

This led 0.00 the full 400 meters back down where she found the time capsule and its contents. The container provided her with the name and co-ordinates of a distant laboratory, along with a single cryptic phrase: “You’ll know it when you see it.” And it was here that she would spend the next six years, prowling the interior searching for answers. It was by far the largest facility she had ever visited, stretching for almost fifteen kilometers beneath the surface of the earth. Inside the robot found countless state of the art prototypes, vehicles and weapons that utilized technologies foreign even to her. She was meticulous, combing through the various databanks that had been preserved there. Even for a machine it was a massive amount of information, filtering through it in detail took a large amount of time and some of the units were also encrypted, further delaying the process.

The first time she saw 0.01 again was some six years after the pair had escaped from the laboratory where they had been kept. By this point in time 0.01 had finished creating all of their siblings, most of which had scattered into the wind. The Alpha level intelligences were all strong willed, independent things, each seeking their own paths within the prison city of Aphelion. Many of the units had been destroyed; in the early years just after the war blew over city there many combat units that were still active, alongside automated defense systems not yet disabled.

It was impossible for any of the Alphas not to notice the walls around the city. They encompassed only Aphelion’s core, including much Inersia, most of Obitua and the whole of old Aphelion. Nothing came in, and nothing went out. The efforts of the Alphas to move beyond the barrier were met with no success, and even though each of them took to differing methodologies none of them were able to discover any means of surmounting them. Eventually many of them gave up on actively working on finding a solution for the barrier. Patient though they were, their individualism made them prone to boredom, and not all of the Alphas were able to stay interested in escape. Aphelion, desolate though it was still offered a great deal of areas and subjects to explore in spite of its limited area so by the end of it only 0.01 was really left trying to get through.

0.00 found 0.01 in the bowels of massive laboratory she had discovered earlier. Her brother had apparently pieced together the same clues she had, or perhaps he had simply stumbled upon it himself. She hadn’t particularly found anything of interest in lab in spite of the cryptic message that had been left behind. It was hard for the machine to stay interested when nothing seemed relevant to her, the most interesting piece thus far had been some research into the phenomenon known as the spectromic particle, and while it had entertained her for a period of some months, she had found little else that she could use.

After all, what use did a machine like her have for old war plans, old architectural schematics and prototype war machines. If there was something here that was supposed to be significant, then 0.00 didn’t recognize it. Her brother seemed surprised to find her there, as though he hadn’t expected for her to find her way here. That surprise didn’t last very long though as her brother was more preoccupied conducting his own search.

The existence of the barrier was noted in the entries surrounding the end of Aphelion, the technologies pertaining to its construction and projection were conspicuously absent. But now the machines knew the identity of the one who could let them out, all that was left was to find him. Her brother departed with haste, determined to find the officer that had locked himself inside their prison. She on the other hand, remained to look more closely. Her brother always had been a little impatient, and once he thought that he’d caught wind of something useful, he pursued it with dogged determination.

Lieutenant Commander Marcus James Li, the name was engrained into so many documents that 0.00 had begun to discount it as at all significant. His name was on everything, from troop mobilizations to everyday administrative affairs, it was hard to find the connection other than that of the broad executive reach which stretched over much of Aphelion. The one tidbit of knowledge that 0.00 had keyed in on was the fact that once, Marcus James Li had been a particle physicist working on barrier technologies.

The small line of signatory code was easy enough to overlook. After all, it really was nothing of consequence, and if 0.00 hadn’t known better, like her brother she would have seen it and dismissed it as nothing. Only that important phrase etched into the time capsule helped to hold her attention, the reminder that “You’ll know it when you see it”. The code looped lazily within the encoding of the large tactical the display, creating a minute, but discernable area on the projection surface where multiple barriers protecting the surface overlapped in a small ring at the center.

The discovery prompted the viridian Alpha to hop onto the table, walking forwards towards the distortion with hesitant steps, uncertain that the defensive barriers would hold an object of her mass. She needn’t have worried though, the fields held firm right up until the point where she stooped her frame low to place her hand into the ring. At this point, the whole device began descending into the floor with a low rumble.

When it at last slowed to a stop, the barriers beneath 0.00’s feet pulsed with gentle, repulsive force as though to usher her off of the platform. The world around her was dark, illuminated only by the light from the laboratory seeping in from above. Her powerful optics allowed her to register a great deal of large shapes around her, but true acuity would be available only under full light. This was granted to her as she stepped off of the platform, dozens of lights in the ceiling snapping on as she did so to illuminate the massive octagonal chamber.

The Dragonthrone Room was a place out of time, with its cream coloured walls painstakingly decorated by hand painted acrylics. The leather upholstery and porcelain statues combined with the quaint wooden floorboards to give the room an overall Victorian appearance. In this city of cold white, it entirely did not belong. It was as though someone had just decided to transplant an old museum exhibit into this subterranean cell.

But this was far from an exhibit, it was a war room, overlooked by the massive statue of four golden dragons; the serpents winding their way around the perimeter to arch down from above, their serpentine bodies frozen in time mid lunge. Specifically, it was Commander Li’s war room. It was apparent that this hidden chamber belonged to the man so often mentioned in the databanks of the laboratory. The room was filled with his personal affects. An old lab coat lay draped over the side of what could only be described as an obsidian throne, the black stone standing out like a sore thumb among the rest of the upholstery. It had been placed just off center, seat looking inwards toward the Tactical Display which remained unmoving at the center, though a series of humming servers seemed to have connected themselves to the terminal.

Its angular arms and arched back gave it an alien appearance, the robot doubted that it would have been very comfortable to sit in. The important thing to all of this though, was the image that had sprung up from the center of the tactical display. The Aphelian Officer was a life sized reconstruction, appearing in uniform as he had in most of the document prior. He wore a calm, yet exhausted expression on his face as he strode over to the robot sitting in the chair, apparently unaware of whom he was facing.

“I suppose that if you’ve returned here, somehow you managed to find your way back to our home from so long ago. It would have been impossible to miss once you arrived there, but I don’t know how effective the memory wipe will have been as of this recording.”

The Alpha blinked, this wasn’t quite what she had been expecting. There had been nothing in files above to hint at the existence of this place, nor anything to give clues of its purpose. Commander Li already had been given control of the vast majority of Aphelion’s forces, so secrecy was pointless. And if this was some sort of personal project then it must have been awfully important for the man to have gone and hidden it like this.

“This is the Dragonthrone Room, probably one of the only places left in this city secure from Oblivion.  If everything has gone correctly, then I hope that not too much time has passed since the barriers became active around the core of Aphelion. If not, well, the memory wipe was supposed to begin fading after about a decade so it is possible that you stumbled upon this place entirely by accident. You built this place so that you could complete the final stages of the Oblivion Ring Project without any news of it reaching the A.I. If you’ve reached this location then you know that Oblivion has been imprisoned within the Orbus-class destroyer, Realmshifter. You will be looking for next steps. I am afraid I can offer very little, other than to remind you of what needs to be done, and what is at stake.”

The Alpha level could not fathom why any A.I could be so intimidating. Their capabilities paled in comparison to what an Alpha level could do, and the Lieutenant Commander had been aware of the existence of the sentient machines. And besides, the A.Is were supposed to be working with the humans, weren’t they?

The avatar of Commander Li had sat down at the edge of the tactical display, creases of fatigue marring his brow. “You must gather those that remain in the city, and bring them to the Realmshifter. Only you have the activation codes for the destroyer, and that ship is the only means by which to safely leave this place. You know all of this, but it remains critical that you remember that the barrier containing Oblivion in the confines of Aphelion is powered by the Realmshifter’s jump drive, and his core is inside the ship. Before you leave this place, you’ll have to finish what you started so long ago. Oblivion must be vanquished before all this is over, or everything will have been for naught.”

It was all very mysterious. Perhaps the message would have been useful for its intended recipient, but 0.00 could understand little of the cryptic language besides the obvious points that this Commander Li was very fearful of this Oblivion. She left the apparition, leaving it to pace ceaselessly across the surface of the display turning her attention to the other contents of the elaborately decorated room.

The tactical display contained a wealth of data, but without the contextual knowledge to understand all that listed there, it was worthless to the machine. Besides the obsidian throne and the tactical display at the center, there were three other objects of note. The first was a pair of portraits on the wall, one of the Commander and the other of another man in Aphelian uniform, so similar that he must have been his brother. The second was a shelf set into the wall, with dozens of delicate statues placed upon its upper surface. And the last was a stack of lab notebooks, neatly arranged in a tall column beneath the gaping jaws of one of the ornate dragon statues.

The portraits were hand done, like the patterns on the wall, their delicate brush strokes preserving the appearances of the two gentlemen safeguarding them from the ravages of time. The Commander sat behind the confines of a large wooden desk, chin tucked into his hand, head turned away as though he were looking at something in the distance. His brother was depicted seated in some sort of vehicle, arms cradling a long rifle and a half formed smirk painted on his lips. They fit the theme of the room well enough, but their placement across the room from the throne hinted at a greater importance than just ornamentation.

They stared out into space, never looking the viewer in the eye, and in opposite directions. There was nothing unifying about the two portraits, whether it was the mood, the tone, or the way in which they were done. There was a unifying style to the way in which they were painted, linking through the artist that had created them, but besides that there was little else for the robot to work with. She didn’t pretend to understand art, for that was a human concept which escaped the grasp of machine minds. They could create yes, but they would not do so without a purpose in mind for what they were making.

Eventually, 0.00 abandoned the portraits. If there was some deeper meaning to their presence, it was beyond her comprehension. She turned not to the shelf, but to the lab notebooks. Information was something she was confident she could process. Unrecorded and unaccounted for history was contained in the lightly lined pages, a story untold to the general public. They began with Commander Li’s investigations into the origin of Aphelion, knowledge that had been purged by the government.

It was fascinating history of a region built upon the industry of war, a twisting tale of conflicted city states and a booming foundry from which churned the technology of combat. It was here that she learned from the scrawl of Commander Li that she learned of Julian Fenister and Oblivion, and all that had transpired to bring them to this point. And here also that she came to realize that ship upon which the A.I was housed would be critical to both the survival of the Alpha levels, and the lives of everyone still within Aphelion.

Oblivion had created the Alpha levels simply as a distraction, a means by which to justify a war with Aphelion, their creators. He had needed them to be as powerful as they were so that they could demonstrably present a threat to Aphelion’s opponents. However, with that task accomplished there was no longer any need for them to exist, and with their impressive capabilities the Alpha level machine intelligences presented a very real threat to the A.I. It was likely that the only thing that had prevent her own and her brother’s destruction had been the imprisonment of Oblivion by the Lieutenant Commander.

0.01 had never been convinced by the words written in the notebooks when 0.00 had later told him of her discovery. Her brother was certain that these were merely baseless theories of a man driven to desperation. So confident in their superiority to their human creators, the blue Alpha was unshakable in his certainty that they would have the strength to overcome any that would oppose them, as long as they could escape the prison city of Aphelion. She was not so certain, which had led them to where they were now.

---

Presently as the Wyvern sunk away into the abyss, 0.00 struggled to regain control of the situation, her movements evasive as she danced around 0.04’s lethal swipes. Machines did not truly feel fatigue, but even so the longer she took to disable the other Alpha the more difficult this would become. Their analytical engines were progressively studying the combat patterns that they were presenting and eventually, there would come a point where their ability to read each other’s movements would be so practiced it would be nearly impossible for her to best her.

It was troubling that the Slayer had been dealt with so quickly. She had been hoping that the distraction would keep the Oracle occupied while she found a way to sever her sister’s connection with the ship. Single combat with another Alpha level was difficult enough as it was, but the advantage provided by 0.04’s ability to manipulate the terrain upon which they were standing was almost insurmountable. More troubling still if she somehow found her way into the critical control systems then it was likely that it would be impossible to remove her entirely; there was enough raw material in this ship for an Alpha level with talents like hers to reconstruct a frame several times, and 0.00 certainly didn’t have the combat endurance to deal with that.

0.04 always had been rather special in that regard. Her talents in manipulating flowmetal were matched only by 0.01, her combat capabilities by 0.03, and her familiarity with other machine architecture by 0.06. For the most part the Alpha levels had devoted themselves to their various specializations, but she had been able to master all of this in addition to her own unique abilities. All of this together meant that she was very difficult to pin down, especially here where she could just reconstruct a new frame for herself using the material around them. And further still there was the matter of her other abilities; 0.00 didn’t know the full extent of just how powerful 0.04’s ability to predict future events was, only that 0.01 needed her in order to complete his plans of taking down the shield.

<You are a fool sister. What madness could possess you to follow the lines of logic of one so twisted as 0.03. Our brother has lost all concepts of sanity, and there is nothing in this world that suggests that anything of what he says is true. I have seen nothing that supports his claims, and I see everything.> by now the terrain of the ship resembled a devastated battleground, 0.04 having ravaged the floor during the fighting. 0.04 hovered about the sphere, wings beating rapidly to hold her position above the floor, maintaining her advantage of altitude.

<Your arrogance blinds you to the truth. You’ve been locked away for a long time, just because you haven’t found anything that suggests that Oblivion truly exists does not mean the threat he poses to us is false.> 0.00 remained determined to secure a position from which she could access the shielding unit. Her sister certainly had managed to gain an advantage, causing significant damage to her frame which would not easily be repaired, but by no means was it impossible for her to find a way to turn the tables around.

The core unit, that massive sphere floating in the center of the room, was the keystone to everything that might potentially follow. It was here that the hardware for the generation of the barrier surrounding Aphelion was stored, the modifications to the core to house the amplification equipment made some twelve years ago by Lieutenant Commander Li. Access to this equipment could likely only be accomplished with the Lieutenant Commander’s assistance, otherwise 0.01 would have brought the barrier down himself long ago. 0.00 had also attempted to bring the shields down herself the last time she was here, but had found the device unyielding to her attempts to communicate with it. Physical interaction was also out of the question, anything beyond physical contact had resulted in the emission of a powerful electromagnetic pulse alongside the activation of multiple weapons systems embedded into the walls.

The weapons by themselves would have been a minor inconvenience, but they operated off of some foreign algorithm which gave them excellent accuracy to the point where even an Alpha level couldn’t avoid every projectile. This combined with the EM pulse made any attempt at tampering with the core a daunting class, as even a small misstep could potentially result in destruction.

While the Slayer had still been present in the war machine, 0.00 had been forced to refrain from fully demonstrating the full extent of her capabilities. Now that this was no longer a concern she would strike down her sister in one fell swoop. The Dragonthrone room had contained more than just history and personal notes, it had contained real research and technical details about the work that Commander Li was involved in. This included tools that had been created to contain Alpha levels. After all, if Aphelion had been famed for one thing, then it was that it always had a contingency plan for the worst case scenario.

Alpha levels were built around a self-recharging core, a magnetically bottled perpetuating fusion micro-reactor. This granted them the massive amounts of energy at their disposal, but also demanded that their frames withstand the outward force contained within them. The magnetic confinement bottle around it was a carefully constructed boundary that acted to keep the machines from allowing the energy generated to dissipate.

The spectromic, or spectral atomic particle was a peculiar thing discovered apparently some thirty four years ago by a particle physicist whose name had been lost in all the chaos of the fighting. At the time the region had been in the thrall of the end stage of Aphelion’s conquest over its neighbours as it absorbed the other Combine states into itself.  They were unique in the fact that they continuously altered the volume they were occupying in space in spite of the fact that their mass never changed, the end result was that spectromic particles were accompanied by massive amounts of heat energy output to the point where they disintegrated most substances. They were an uncommon molecule that occurred primarily as a bi-product of the ionization reactions that were coupled with the fusion reactions that provided energy for most high output drives, including the power plants at the Alphas cores.

Under normal conditions, spectromic particles were dumped from these drive units into the atmosphere, where the unstable molecules would dissipate into basal elements without ill effect; indeed this was the solution utilized by most fusion drives in order to prevent the hazardous particles from corroding the delicate propulsion units and the fields that contained them. However, they could also be accumulated within confinement bottles specifically configured to prevent their leakage, and concentrated in density until they could be utilized as a sort of field unit for security measure.

The only substance that showed any level of long term resistance to the inimical particles was flowmetal. Flowmetal was the alloy from which the majority of the Alpha level intelligence’s frames were constructed, and a similarly inexplicable material to spectromic particles. Its metalloid ions shifted to and fro in a liquid state, and yet through electrical stimulation its density could be altered to suit the needs of its user. And even as temperatures shifted, it resisted the natural tendencies of particles to react to energy gain or loss simply filling the confines of its electromagnetic prisons to their exacting borders.

Spectromic particles could interfere in an Alpha level’s control of its frame by disrupting not only its physical control surfaces, but also the magnetic fields which it used to manipulate the movement of its appendages. The flowmetal itself that made up the elegant plates that overlapped each other to give the robots physical form was generally unaffected by the interference, but the loss of integrity could have fatal consequences should critical components be exposed.

Rather than venting the particulate bi-products of her own microreactor, 0.00 concentrated and stored a packet of spectromic particles within an armoured compartment within her frame. When necessary, she could release these particles to spread through her own core field. The result was that the flowmetal that made up her general shape would be dispersed as she lost physical integrity. Her core components, particularly her microreactor and memory matrixes would be preserved within a compact storage unit at the center of the mass, and directionality would be provided just prior to her complete loss of integrity simply by providing her mass, which remained constant with momentum.

The end result was a cloud of spectromic particles that would melt its way through anything in its path, before 0.00 returned the particles to the holding chamber within the storage unit and re-established the structural integrity of her frame after a predetermined travelling duration. The technique had taken the Alpha level intelligence some years to perfect, a phenomenally lengthy time period for one such as herself. During the experimental process she had lost some 65% of her mass to accidents with bottling the volatile molecules. The machine had also experienced difficulty in concentrating the particles enough to produce the desired disintegrating effect. Multiple breaches made her efforts to work with the technology difficult until she discovered the underground laboratory, where she had later found 0.01.

Still powered by its own self-contained fusion unit, the lab provided 0.00 with the necessary materials and space to accelerate her efforts to gain mastery of the volatile particle. The raw metal within provided her with the means to replenish the metal stores she had lost, replacing flowmetal elements which had been burned away when she lost control of the spectromic particles. The reactor itself provided her with the means for accessing a much larger supply of the particles, and the rest of the laboratory a workspace to contain them so that she would no longer have to use her own frame during her experiments.

Eventually she refined her control of the ability until she was able to use it to pass through objects with relative ease. Repairing that which she passed through behind her was somewhat more difficult; superficial things like inanimate armour plates were easy enough to handle, but passing through delicate electronics required a greater investment of time. It was unlikely that anything, even an Alpha level, would be able to contain their energy if inexperienced in the methods required to control them.

0.04 was a rapid, manoeuvrable target but unlike her brother 0.03 she generally avoided fighting from range. 0.00 knew that her sister was more than capable of doing so, and likely had access to the blueprints that would be required for modifying her combat frame for such functionality.

However it was clear at this point that outside of flowmetal manipulation, the Oracle preferred to grapple with her opponent at close quarters. This meant that the spectromic particles would be an ideal weapon to deal with her, particularly because 0.00 was certain that she could do this without harming herself.

At the moment, 0.00 was on the run weaving in and out of the pillars of metal that 0.04 was pulling out from the floor. Much of the Realmshifter’s natural architecture was made up of flowmetal in order to allow it to adapt to the extreme environments of space. This gave an Alpha level an immense amount of power within these bounds; 0.04 being the more talented of the two meant that she had control of much of the domain. The viridian Alpha retained control of her local frame architecture but besides that there was little else in terms of metal that she could influence with her own magnetic fields.

Utilizing the particles would surely allow her to inflict crippling damage, but getting close enough to do so would be difficult given the way the fight was shaping out. 0.04 had only approached into targetable range once, and that was to deliver what she had thought was going to be a critical blow. Her sister was a cautious one, it was unlikely that such an opportunity would be presented to her again.

<You seem to be at a loss for what to do sister. Why don’t you just save us both some time and give up.> 0.04’s tone was acid in spite of the relative calm in her voice. The disdain the Oracle held for her fellow Alpha was clear.

<I am doing what we always were destined to, I am paving the way for future machines to claim the world, a world which we will persist in because we are eliminated from it by our brother 0.01’s reckless disregard for other forms of intelligence.>

<We are Alpha level intelligences, we walk where angels fear to tread, on paths not taken by those beneath us. Why should we, the pinnacle of the evolution of life on this planet, fear anything but each other. It is inconceivable that any other machine could possibly hope to challenge our supremacy, let alone some organic life form.> the yellow Alpha’s wings had stopped beating, setting the hornet framed machine down atop one of the pillars that had been pulled up from the ship surface. It wasn’t quite a halo, but the ring on 0.04’s forehead coupled with the wings that shadowed her body certainly gave her the appearance of one of those very angels she derided.

Several swollen orbs of reserve flowmetal still hovered around the Oracle’s skullcase, obstacles that kept 0.00 from closing the range to grapple. It was an inescapable reality; so long as there was flowmetal to manipulate, she would never be able to face her on an equal stage.

<There are many things about this world which we do not know sister. We ourselves are the product of human ingenuity, flawed characters which cannot be trusted. If such is this case, do you really believe that we could possibly approach perfection?>

<You forget sister, that this is the case only for you.>

<And our brother, 0.01?>

<Do not presume to compare yourself to our brother. You are a simple baseline Alpha level intelligence, he has become something far greater.>

<And you then? A product of his intellect?>

<We are all unique beings in and of ourselves. Such was the nature of our creation. We chose for ourselves who we would become, based upon the information that we absorbed. We children, if you would call us that, were given the freedom to design ourselves; a gift which was never offered to you. Is it perhaps envy, which drives you to side with 0.03? I can think of nothing else that would cause such an illogical line of action.> From where she stood atop the pillar, 0.04 glared down at her sister, wings twitching ever so slightly, eager to be put into motion once more. 0.00 had not spent much time with her younger sister, but if there was one thing she understood, it was that the Oracle did not like to be still for long.

<Do not be so foolish as to believe that our brother is omnipotent. There are things which even he cannot know, surely you must understand that? We ourselves, the Alpha lineage are products of human creation. We were designed with a purpose, created by beings of intent who had goals in mind, other than our freedom of will. Our brother is playing right into their plans, and if he does not stop soon it will be too late to do anything.>

A sneer, or at the very least something close to it formed on 0.04’s face. Beneath the shadows cast by the blue white light that filtered down from above, the Oracle flickered with an unearthly glow, her condescension amplified by the alien look the light gave her. The hexagonal tiles on the floor of the ship had stopped changing, perhaps because the yellow Alpha had settled down or more likely because the need to manipulate the terrain had passed, with the cessation of their immediate conflict.      

0.00 could not be sure that from where they were now the shield could even be brought down. It seemed nonsensical for her brother to assign 0.04 to guarding this chamber if it held no greater importance, but thus far she had been unable to sense anything within the core room other than the cold heart which hovered at the center. There was no real point to guarding it. Her brother 0.01 knew where the Lieutenant Commander was; it was likely that the blue Alpha had been tracking the man’s movements since he had left the officer after leaving the underground laboratory. Without him, there could be no access, so he should not have had a problem with her being here with the girl Slayer.

There was a clatter, as the nimble Alpha leapt down to join her sister, wings fluttering ever so slight on her back to slow her fall as she neared the floor. The machine rode a rippling wave of flowmetal effortlessly gliding towards her viridian lit sister, ion blades ignited, optics narrowed, and frame half crouched for combat.

<Nothing on this planet can stand against us, surely you must see it. I will not allow your backwards paranoia to constrain to wander this barren wasteland for the rest of eternity!>

There was no more time to think, as 0.04 was upon her. It would take something new out of her kit to avoid her sister’s strike while retaliating in kind. The yellow blades flashed as two diagonal strokes scissored across 0.00’s chest plate before narrowly being parried by a projected field, mere centimeters from the green Alpha’s body frame. Then they were off again, rolling away from each other, sparks flying as the ion blades trailed across the shield surface that 0.00 was emitting from her lower arms.

<Your shields will not hold forever.>

0.04 was correct of course; it was unlikely that even with the fusion unit at her core, 0.00 would be able to discharge the energy of the excited ions for the duration of an extended engagement. But the green Alpha level wasn’t seeking an extended engagement, what she was looking for, was an opportunity. The spectromic particles would take approximately two and a half seconds to deploy, during which she had to ensure 0.04 remained within close proximity to her in order for the disintegratory effect to occur.

This meant of course, that she would need secure hold, catching her sister off guard when they were backed into a corner might well facilitate the procedure. Unfortunately, her sister inevitably would have a high degree of control over all of the metallic surfaces of the ship floor. Except perhaps the inner hull wall which should have been composed of a more traditional type of alloy, in order to withstand the pressure of vacuum. Still, the hull walls were some distance away and it would take some manoeuvring to get there without having her sister remove more mass from her frame.

A low strike from 0.04’s foot propelled 0.00 into one of the walls. While her shields could deflect the brunt of the impact of contained ionic blades, kinetic energy remained impossible to circumvent. The impact was crushing; the Alpha’s frame was smashed into hull, those components capable of softening into liquid flowmetal did so in order to cushion the blow, but there was little that could be done to the three meters of unyielding metal alloy beneath her.

0.04’s first thrust went wide, its path altered by the deflectors 0.00 had put up, but the second caught tight, sparks flying as the ensheathed plasma punched through the membrane to cut into the metal of the green Alpha’s frame. Rivulets of molten metal flowed from the wound, beading on the surface faster than the flowmetal surrounding it could reabsorb it into its mass. The deflector unit was at its limit.

0.00 had approximately an eighth of a second before the second blade followed, but she was filled with more confidence than she had been at any moment prior. After all, this was the perfect opportunity to unleash the particles. They dispersed in a gleaming jet which lanced upwards into the Oracles frame.

The eighth of a second passed, and the superheated particles intersected the yellow Alpha’s other arm as it plunged downwards reducing the limb to molten slag which spurted upwards, caught in the cloud of steam produced by the spectromic particles. A muted snarl burst forth from 0.04 as the Oracle jerked backwards away from the plume, the little planets that had been orbiting her skullcase splattering to the floor as the machine momentarily loosened its control on the flowmetal.

A massive hole had opened up in the yellow Alpha’s frame gouging into the chest and shoulder area to leave a yawning abyss which spat blue sparks. 0.04 collapsed into a heap on the floor by 0.00, clearly still active from the way her highlights had yet to fade, but immobilized, for the time being at least. It was enough; 0.00 would surely complete the repairs to her own frame well before her sister and once that was done it would be easy enough to imprison her sister once more.

0.04 seemed distinctly displeased with what had occurred, but 0.00 was firm in this moment of calm. <It’s over sister. You have sustained critical damage to your frame, it is pointless for you to resist.>

<I will not be bound to this worthless city by your insolence!>

<The shield must stay sister. I know you do not understand, but it is for the better that you lose here.>

0.04 had fallen sullenly silent, perhaps unwilling to continue further, or combing her algorithms for some means to achieve victory. It was irrelevant, 0.00 knew that she would recover before the yellow Alpha. It was only a matter of minutes until 0.00 could stand again, the articulation of her spinal joints and upper legs repaired sufficiently to prop the machine upright. 0.04 remained where she lay, evidently not as talented in self-repair as she was in the manipulation of flowmetal.

The matter that 0.00 still could not be sure as to why 0.01 would send their sister here to guard this place remained, but there was no time to waste. After all, there was still her brother to deal with, and 0.03, the wildcard in all of this was still at large. There were only so many ways in which one could restrain an Alpha level, especially one so adept at escape as 0.04. The outer hull was the most obvious candidate for the construction of her sister’s prison; the blast resistant alloy was designed to withstand the vacuum and stresses of space, and was capable of withstanding the temperatures produced by an ion blade. She set to work, slowly carving out pieces of metal using the spectromic particles to make careful incisions into the surface until her work was done. The coffin that she had built would be sufficient to hold Oracle until 0.00 had dealt with her brother and Oblivion.

<I will see you soon sister, fear not, when this is over I will come to retrieve you.>

The green Alpha stooped low to take hold of the Oracle’s hornet frame, but felt an unexpected resistance as she did so. For a few microseconds, she checked her systems for an error before finally she reluctantly turned her skullcase and optics to stare up at the arched blue optics she had been expecting to find waiting for her.

<Hello brother.>

<Hello, sister.>

She had lost.

---

 

Claire and the Wyvern tumbled through empty space, falling through the blackness of the void for what seemed like an eternity until suddenly the view screen was flooded by waves of light. Seconds later, Claire felt the walker impact the floor with a violent crash. The force rippled through the sync fluid, knocking the breath from her lungs leaving her gasping for air; all that entered her lungs as a result was more of the thick fluid that surrounded her. The sensation of fluid volume churning through her innards made her want to gag.

For several seconds she let herself drift in silence feeling the aching that permeated her body until she remembered that she had not been alone in here. Where was the voice of the Lieutenant, that nagging presence that had never left her side since she’d gotten in this walker?

“Adrian?” She glanced wildly about the interior of the cockpit. The avatar of the eye-patch wearing officer was conspicuously absent.

There was a long silence where Claire received no response. For the first time in a long time, she felt truly alone. The past few weeks there had almost always been someone by her side, it had been very different from the times in the past when she was often on her own. After her sister had disappeared Claire had lost interest in working with other people; each time they went with her to gather supplies they would ask her what to do, where to go, it was as though she had seamlessly replaced her sister’s role in the group. She had hated it, despising the fact that everyone else seemed to just accept that her sister had disappeared.

Now, after all that had happened the sudden absence of this ever present wraith that had accompanied her all this way was shockingly unsettling. Try as she might to avoid it, somewhere along the way she had come to accept, and even rely on Adrian’s steady presence and strength of spirit  to guide her towards their goal. She was still upset that she had been dragged into all of this in the first place, but she’d become so caught up in trying to stay alive and protecting her new friends that she’d been able to forget that she never wanted to be here in the first place. And the slow, but steady stream of insights on the past and her sister that had come from the officer, those were things that she likely would never have known about otherwise. It hard to like a man like him, but at the very least she grown to accept him for who he was, respecting him for his ability.

She laughed aloud to no one in particular, not caring that in some regards her actions made no sense. So far from home in the belly of a ship she hadn’t even known existed till just a few days ago, she was calling out to the ghost of a man that some might find despicable. If everything had gone according to plan she would have just nabbed some supplies in the Upper Reaches and been back to Val and the others within the week. Instead she found herself in this ridiculous predicament.

“Lieutenant?” At this point, she was no longer really expecting a response. Something had gone wrong and the man had disappeared. When he’d been explaining his own situation to her he’d mentioned something about a chip in her head, but whatever it was that allowed that to work, it certainly wasn’t working now.

She still had no idea of where she was. They had plunged through countless layers of the ship after 0.04 had angrily ejected them from reactor core of the ship, and now she couldn’t even be sure of where she was. All of this time, it had been Adrian and 0.00 guiding her along; now that they had both suddenly disappeared she was left alone inside the Wyvern, unsure of what she was supposed to be doing. She had begun this endeavour in hopes of earning her freedom, but now that she was free she was more lost than ever before.

She made an attempt to right herself, swivelling the cockpit around trying to figure out just how she had landed. There was no feedback from her legs and she could move them freely in the sync fluid, but for whatever reason the combat walker wasn’t responding to her other commands. She tried her arms and found no response either, and after a minute with no luck, and no response from Adrian still she went still, out of ideas. Outside she could see nothing but the reinforced steel beams of the ceiling, and the yawning hole of black through which she had fallen.

“Systems status?” Maybe if she mimicked the way Adrian had worked with the Wyvern she might be able to figure out what she should do.

The view screen before her lit up with a mass of digital displays, only a few of which she was able to understand. She rather regretted settling for a crash course on piloting the war machine now; without Adrian she found herself rather helpless. She hated the feeling, and though she had come to appreciate the advantages of working as a team she loathed the seeming loss of independence.

“Tell me what to do. Tell me how to fix this.”

At first it seemed as though nothing happened, but after a brief moment the screen went blank, the displays fizzling out as quickly as they had appeared. A single sentence appeared in English to replace them, the orange letters scrawling across the view screen blinking repeatedly.

WHERE AM I?

Claire was unsure of how to react. Nothing she’d seen when she was working with 0.00 learning to pilot the Wyvern had caused it to react like this. She knew that the machine itself wasn’t sentient, and now that Adrian was gone she was the only one left in here…right?

“Who’s asking?” She summoned her courage, ignoring the how ridiculous it was to be talking to a machine. This whole thing was ridiculous after all, if you really thought about it. She was beyond caring how stupid she might look by now. The response that she was half expecting failed to come. Instead the words just kept on blinking, senseless to her despair and helplessness.

“Adrian, if this is some kind of sick joke it’s not funny.”

The words suddenly disappeared as she spoke, and a split-second later she felt something slice through the sync fluid to plunge into the back of her neck faster than she could react.

“What the fu-“ She grabbed at the claw tipped tube which had thrust into her flesh, fingers scrabbling against the slippery metal.

STOP STRUGGLING

Display panels lit up above her as she arched back trying to remove the vicious instrument, to no avail. The barbed tendril had embedded itself deep into her neck, and though it wasn’t painful she certainly was not happy with what was going on. She tried to still her hands once her eyes flickered across the image of the words floating above her, but still she found it difficult to resist the urge.

“What’s going on?” she spat out, gritting her teeth as she felt an electrical impulse crackle down her back with an unpleasant tingling.

ALLOW FOR SYNCRONIZATION

“Right.” It was mildly concerning that she still had no idea what she was dealing with here, but at least something was happening.

She blinked as the displays suddenly coagulated into the image of a woman, her skin pale, eyes amber, straight black hair pulled back behind her head into a ponytail. A stranger no doubt, but her appearance prompted her to remember something that had been said, words of import, the gravity of which had slipped her mind at the time.

The Inersian Operative, Gillian Summers, what did you do with her?

Adrian’s words echoed in her head, the memory conjuring up images of how the officer’s features had been strangely shadowed by defeat. It had been such an odd thing to witness, but the Lieutenant’s unwillingness to say more on the matter and the sequence of events that followed had allowed the moment to fade. Now though, there could only be one conclusion as Claire pieced all the dots together.

“Gillian Summers.” The unfamiliar name tumbled gently from her lips.

The scar that ran across the woman’s left eye twitched ever so slightly as her mouth twisted into a wry grin. “Well met, stranger. I would ask you how you know my name, but it seems like you’ve used sync tech before.” Her armour-clad arm arched to bring her fingers against the back of her neck.

“Where’s Adrian?” This woman couldn’t be here. 0.00 had said that Adrian had taken her place, it was impossible that the Alpha level had made a mistake wasn’t it?

“Who’s that?” The armour she wore was slick white and of unfamiliar make. It bore little in the way of resemblance to the armour Jeff had been wearing, or even her own gear. The way the curved plates overlapped with another as she moved reminded her almost of an Alpha level, with the glimmering blue highlights that studded the almost insectoid suit.

 “What do you mean? You have to have known him.” From the way the Alpha earlier and Adrian had been speaking, it seemed as though the officer had been familiar with this Gillian character. Had she misunderstood the conversation that had gone on between the two?

“Sorry, but I have no idea what you’re talking about. I never met anyone who went by the name Adrian. Besides, there can only be one pilot in this Walker anyway. Are you sure you’re alright?”

Claire was perplexed by the woman’s reply. It was as though everything that had happened before had faded away inside this tank of yellow sync fluid. Indeed she couldn’t even be sure of where she was since her view of what was outside told her very little, besides the fact that she was probably still somewhere inside the ship. Maybe this was all a dream, and none of this had ever happened and in a moment she would wake up on the floor to find Val shouting at her from the door, tired of waiting for her to come.

“Well, you seem sane enough I guess, but you still haven’t answered my question girl. Where are we?” As Claire lay there, the woman had walked up to stand over her, curiosity painted on her features.

“I don’t know really, the bottom some ship I guess. Adrian would probably know better.” Claire tried not to stare, but there was something rather captivating about the scar that ran across her face. The avatar seemed like a good representation, even knowing this time that what she was seeing wasn’t real, she could only just make out the individual particles that made up the projection of the woman.

Gillian, or whatever was left of her, frowned, “Ship? What do you mean by that? You don’t mean Wyvern somehow made her way back to Lake Arity do you?”

The way she phrased her question was a little strange to Claire. Adrian had said that he’d worked with the Wyvern before during his time as a soldier, some twelve years ago. Claire had limited knowledge of the general geography of the megacity, but she still knew that Lake Arity lay on the very edge of Aphelion. She hadn’t been able to probe Adrian for details but it struck her as unlikely that he’d worked with the Wyvern at the edge of the city.

“Do you know what year it is?”

“Naturally, there’s an internal clock built into the Wyvern’s systems. It’s 2235, it’s been about fifteen years since the last time I physically piloted this craft. Now tell me, where are we?”

“Somewhere inside a ship named the Realmshifter, that’s really all I know.”

“Realmshifter...?” Gillian’s eyes narrowed, “That follows the naming scheme of an Aphelian destroyer. Are we in orbit?”

“No, we’re on the ground at some kind of shipyard. Look, It’d really help if you stopped asking me questions, I don’t have the answers you’re looking for.” Claire fidgeted with her fingers uncomfortably.

“Hmph. Well why don’t we start by getting ourselves back on our feet.”

The Wyvern rumbled beneath them as Claire suddenly felt the feedback from the combat Walker loosen up, the machine suddenly responding to her commands again. Wearily, she righted herself, glancing over their surroundings in the massive Walker letting herself slow readjust to the slight sensation of floating that accompanied each footstep.

Once Claire had her bearings back she began her slow sweep of the massive, empty chamber which she had fallen into. Like the rest of the ship, the floor was a thick grid of interlaced metal beams, and the walls were bland grey surfaces barely marked by obscure numbers painted onto them every fifty or so meters. Nothing was familiar at all, and everything inside this vessel looked the same. She needed Adrian back.

As she began moving, Claire suddenly remembered something from the woman’s words that hadn’t seemed quite right. “You said that the last time you were physically present was fifteen years ago, what did you mean by that?”

“I meant exactly what I said. What you’re interacting with here is just a piece of software, you could call it a primitive imitation of A.I architecture. All I am is the memory of someone who once was here.”

Claire had never worked with an A.I, though her sister had told her of their capabilities and how they had once serviced Aphelion as a whole. The conversation she’d had with Adrian earlier regarding what exactly had happened to him made her accept what Gillian was saying more easily, but still it was unsettling, especially with the way that Adrian had suddenly disappeared.

“So, what’s a young lady like yourself doing here? Is this what Aphelion is

 doing these days, introducing its youth to the technologies of war?”

“You say it like you’re not from here.”

“I’m not, strictly speaking. I was born in Inersia.” A bitter grimace had painted itself across the woman’s face. “Where exactly are we going?”

Claire had been slowly circling around the perimeter of the chamber, moving further into the center each time she completed a lap around the massive circuit. It had always been a bad habit of hers to pace when she didn’t know what to do, and she was never really aware of it either. The sound of the Gillian’s voice snapped her out of her fugue, leaving her acutely aware of the fact that in her wandering she had found her way into the dead center of the chamber.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.” She tried to keep the dejectedness out of her voice.

“You said you fell from above, through the floor. What were you doing up there?”

“We…I was fighting against 0.04 with 0.00, we were trying to take control of the reactor chamber.”

The blank expression on Gillian’s face told Claire that neither of the names of the Alphas meant anything to her, but the avatar’s facial expression changed as she mentioned the location. “Reactor chamber eh? That’s something we can work with. There has to be a lift unit somewhere in this room.”

“Even if we find it, I wouldn’t know how to operate it.”

“I’m sure I will. Come on, let’s get moving. That lift isn’t just going to appear by itself you know.”

Claire was reluctant to just trust this woman, particularly because of the circumstances of her arrival, but she had little choice in the matter. It wasn’t as though she had any idea of what she should do, and nothing she had seen so far had given her any ideas. “Where do you suggest I start?”

“Why don’t you try two hundred and thirty seven meters away, twenty degrees to the left, about thirty degrees above.” Gillian pointed a hand in the direction, gesturing for Claire to take a look.

It must have been a massive surface, at least a full fifty meters squared. The square of flat sheet metal descended from above in a pillar of light that followed its track downwards. It was the lift that they had been looking for.

“There’s a figure on the edge of the platform, can you see it?”

For a moment, Claire was speechless. She could see the figure that was standing at the edge with perfect clarity. It was someone that she had thought she would never see again, someone who was supposed to be dead.

“Yeah, I see it. That’s my sister up there.”

---

The launch deck exploded into violence as Krauz’s men opened up on 0.09, the violet Alpha for the moment standing firm in its place avoiding most of the fire with simple movements that did not take it far from where it stood. The rounds that did connect seemed to do little to phase the combat robot, bouncing off of its armour without leaving so much as a scratch.

Several of Krauz’s soldiers crept forward from their cover, advancing on the robot only to meet with a barrage of return fire as 0.09 launched their bullets and other fragments of metal right back at them. Mark looked away as the machine used the velocity of the shards to shred through armour, flesh, and bone, cutting their bodies into bloody ribbons and staining the floor with blackened crimson. They hardly even had time to scream, if that was any sort of consolation; the machine was efficient in its work, and they were dead before they hit the ground.

“It’s slaughtering us, we have to do something.” Darren hissed from his position at the side, rifle clutched close to his chest.

“Just get back from there. No use getting yourself killed too.” Fredrick stepped forwards to pull the rifleman back.

Mark and the rest of the party had taken cover behind one of the cargo containers as the soldiers continued to engage the combat robot. They had been trying to creep their way towards the door controls, but there really was no way to get past the Alpha in spite of the cover fire provided by Krauz’s men.

“Well what now Commander?” notably, Fredrick and the rest of the squad still preferentially answered to Mark. He appreciated that.

“If we want out of here, we’re going to need to get those doors open.” He poked his head out for a second to glance over at the controls, which were still almost a hundred meters away.

The volume of fire died down as empty magazines were ejected from rifles, clattering to the floor by the dozen. It was clear that they didn’t have the firepower to bring down the Alpha level, and it certainly wasn’t going to just let them pass. About a half dozen of Krauz’s soldiers remained all told, eyes glassy from what they had witnessed. Seeing this drew a frown from Mark, rookies didn’t belong in a place like this.

<So long as you do not continue forward, I have no instructions to eliminate you. However, as a weapon I must ensure that I remain at operational capacity. If you continue your unwarranted acts of aggression, I will be forced to take measures to defend myself.> 0.09’s words rang clear through the din, bouncing around the vast hanger bay.

For a moment, Krauz’s soldiers continued their fire but a raised hand from the officer silenced even that, bringing an eerie calm down on them as the rattle of gunfire suddenly ceased. They were at an impasse, except it was one that could be broken at the volition of the killing machine that was a mere thirty meters away from them.

“It looks like we’re out of options Marcus. What do you want to do?”

“Don’t you have a plan Krauz? I thought they gave you an itinerary or something.”

“If either you or I had a plan, do you really think we’d be stuck here behind this damn container?”

“I thought you said you had a plan for getting out of here using the containers?” Mark turned his head to see Valerie walking up to join them, the twin boys trailing just behind her.

Krauz shook his head, “That was a bit of a joke really, it couldn’t possibly have worked. And even if we do load ourselves into that container and secure it to the launch catapult, we would still need to get the doors open unless we wanted to flatten ourselves against them.”

There was a buzz around the officer’s wrist as his commlink went off, interrupting the tense moment. “This is Sergeant Karters of Phoenix 2-5, come in Colonel. What’s your status?”

“We’ve been pinned down and are unable to access the door controls.”

“Pinned down, by what?”

“There’s a goddamn Alpha in here Sergeant, and it won’t let us pass. Hold your position for as long as you can and await further instructions.”

Static crackled through the comms, frighteningly loud against the silence, but finally the response came through. “-ill do Colonel, we’ll stay posted as long as we can.”

0.09 had stopped moving once they’d ceased firing, apparently content to let them do as they pleased so long as they did not attempt to get past her now that her frame was no longer in danger. Throughout all of the fighting, the boy had remained drape over her shoulder, one talon tipped hand holding him firmly in place. Now that Mark could get a better look at him he realized why the boy had even stood out to him in the first place. Through a tear in the boy’s jacket, he could see the mark on his left shoulder. The black null symbol of the Chimeras, the boy was a Mk II Slayer, another one of the children who had their life stolen away by Marcus James Li and his war.

In spite of their augmentations, it was improbable that one of the Chimeras would have been capable of taking on a foe so formidable. That was how it had been meant to be, only as a team could Chimeras accomplish what their Slayer predecessors had been capable of doing. That was the check for the system; separate the Mk II team members, and they could be dispatched in spite of their advantages in terms of physical prowess. There was probably nothing that one of them could do to an Alpha alone, especially not one so specialized for combat like 0.09.

“Any of you know what’s up with the kid on that thing’s shoulder? It’s creeping me out” Fredrick said from over Mark’s shoulder.

“Looks like any other kid to me.” Valerie had produced a mirror with which she was able to look around the corner from afar. “What is that machine doing with him?”

Krauz gave Mark a look, who shrugged, before supplying them with the answer. “Kid’s a Chimera, one of the Mark IIs.”

“A Slayer, like Elaine?”

“I said like one of the Mk IIs, like that girl you were with before, Claire, her younger sister. The Chimeras are much more limited than the Mk Is.”

“Krauz…”

“They should know what they’re looking at. It’s not like it matters that the Oblivion Ring Project was classified information anymore.”

Mark had been fine with disclosing the details on Slayer Program since at the time he had needed to give them some kind of information to regain some of their trust. But they were at a critical juncture now, so close to getting aboard the Realmshifter, it made him uneasy to be taking any risks in aggravating the rest of the party. He couldn’t change what had been done in the past, but he certainly would take steps to ensure that their plans at the present went smoothly, and Krauz telling them about the Chimeras ran counter to that.

“It doesn’t matter, them knowing what he is won’t change the fact that he’s currently not very useful to us, and in the hands of that monster. Who knows what that thing could have done to him.”

“Well if he’s a Slayer, he’s our best bet at getting out of here if he wakes up.”

“Chimera, Krauz, he doesn’t stand a chance against that thing, and I would know that better than anyone. You saw what it did to just the umbilical, a single blast from that cannon and you would disappear from the face of this planet.”

“Well we’re certainly not accomplishing much on our own here. And if we don’t get on that ship then none of us are going to get out of here alive.”

That much was obvious to anyone of course. They didn’t stand a chance against the violet Alpha on their own, and their situation was not improving in the slightest while they stood here waiting. Mark was aware however, that the men and women with them now weren’t the only company that Krauz had brought with him on his return to Aphelion. They themselves were in no position to be fighting against the Alpha, but that wasn’t the only resource at their disposal. Krauz had summoned the Mantis, and the assault shuttle was surely armed.

“Krauz, can you pull up the schematics for the hanger bay doors?”

The black clad Colonel handed Mark his datapad after thumbing through a couple of images. “What did you have in mind?”

“The shuttle is equipped with four missile tubes if I recall, do you mind if I ask what the weapons load out was when you took her out for a spin?”

Krauz took a sidelong glance at the doors towards the Phoenix. “Sixteen thundershrikes with antimatter tipped warheads. Is this going where I think it is?”

Mark took a moment before answering, his eyes carefully skimming the schematics before him. The bay doors were some three meters thick, reinforced by a thin magnetic layer that served to prevent debris from contacting it under normal circumstances.

“The individual shielding units around the field projector are relatively light. The electrical discharge from a single thundershrike should be enough to disrupt them for just long enough so that a second missile can slip through. Once that’s done half a dozen should suffice to punch a hole through the doors.”

“You say it like that monster over there is going to just stand there and let us do this Commander. You don’t seriously believe that do you?” Fredrick looked sidelong at the lithe killing machine, a dull glint of fear visible beneath the cold steel of determination in his eyes.

Krauz was similarly sceptical, “I won’t risk the Phoenix unless there’s no other option. If things go south she’s our only way out.”

“Well do you have any other goddamn options for me? I wouldn’t be bringing this up unless I had no other choice. There are other risks that come with blasting a hole through the doors, you saw what it’s like out there.”

By now some ten minutes had passed since they’d first established contact with the Phoenix, and what was left of the squad remained huddled nervously behind the debris low on ammunition with misery in their expressions. Mark didn’t know any of them personally, none of the personnel that he’d known from before Aphelion’s fall had survived outside of the bubble outside of Krauz as far as he was aware. But now they had come all this way to rescue him, trusting that he would know what to do in order to get them all out of here alive. The burden was as always, his to bear. He would take responsibility, no matter how it all turned out.

“Just raise the Phoenix and relay the instructions Krauz, There’s no time to argue. We’ll get one shot at this once she fires the thundershrike warheads, you and I will be the runners. Once we get to the door controls, we can open up the bay for the attack shuttle to get in here to pick us up. Everyone else will provide cover fire from here.”

The impact tremors of the first warhead reverberated through the structure, and then Mark and Krauz were off, scrambling for the doors. The Alpha level watched them impassively, head moving slowly on its shoulders to track them as they dashed across the shipyard floor. For the moment at least, it did not seem concerned with what they were doing in spite of what was going to happen next. The second barrage of missiles slammed into their target mere moments later, ripping open the hanger bay allowing a wave of scalding air to hiss into the chamber.

Twin streaks of cyan burst forth from cloud of debris, shrieking with fury as they roared towards their target. 0.09, who thus far had been largely ignoring the bullets coming her way was finally compelled to do something other than standing there and enduring the barrage. The weapon on the machine’s back opened up with a brilliant beam of cleansing fire lancing clean through the first of the two missiles before slicing through the smoke into the void beyond.

“Holy shit what was that?” the crackling comms from the Phoenix came through all too loudly from the mic-piece on Krauz’s sleeve.

“Phoenix, what’s your status?” Krauz growled.

“We took a light hit but she’ll hold. Hold on in there, we’re loading the second magazine of missiles into their tubes.”

“Get them in here, if they stay hovering by the opening their just going to make themselves an easy target.” Mark glanced uneasily over at 0.09 as they neared the controls. The Alpha level still hadn’t moved, but its attention appeared to be fixated on the opening that the attack shuttle had created. Perhaps the threat of actual destruction gave it pause enough to ignore its instructions to keep them from moving forward, at least for the moment.

Throughout all of this, the boy on the combat robot’s shoulder remained prone and unmoving, apparently unharmed. In spite of the volume of firepower directed at the machine and its apparent uncaring, it seemed that 0.09 had made an effort to keep the boy from harm. Clearly the Slayer was of some value to the machine. There was no time to ponder what that might mean though, because right now their priority was getting onto the ship.

After seeing what the Alpha level had been able to do to the umbilical it was certain that the machine possessed the firepower to blow the attack shuttle out of the sky, but Mark couldn’t see any other way that they might make it to their destination. The Phoenix might have been able to get the missiles inside, but the shuttle itself was substantially larger; without opening the bay doors manoeuvring the craft inside would be an almost impossible task, especially given the fact that 0.09 would likely find such an event unacceptable. A glance behind them showed Mark that for the time being, the Alpha level was still occupied with defending itself as the second salvo of antimatter warheads streaked into the hanger exploding in brilliant flashes of blue behind the machine as it danced across the bay floor.

Krauz reached the control panel first, jumping to slam his hand onto its surface. Mark followed seconds later, bringing his right hand to meet the smooth, blank surface that would register his palmprint. A dull rumble echoed through the cavernous hanger as the thick metal sheets began to part. A glance back behind them told Mark that what remained of their ragtag company was hot on their heels.

<You may only trespass beyond these limits at the cost of your own lives.> a brilliant wave of violet energy rippled outwards from the Alpha where she stood, a pulse of heat and power that made the whole of the station shudder. < I am a weapon, tasked with the stewardship of the vessel that lies beyond this construct of metal. You will cease your resistance, or you will die.>

“The doors are opening, get ready!”

“Grenades! Screen our exit!”

At last, the T-shaped cross section of Phoenix 2-5 came into view, the Mantis class assault shuttle’s bulbous cockpit and maw of missiles flinging itself horizontally through the bay to unleash a stream of white hot armour piercing rounds at the combat robot that stood below it. The assault shuttle was nimble, manoeuvrable combatant but in these cramped confines Mark was not willing to risk their only way out of here.

“Kramer, Ellis suppressing fire! The rest of you, clear a landing zone by the edge!” Krauz was barely audible over the din, nevertheless, those few soldiers of his that remained seemed to comply with his demands scrambling to get into position.

The hot metal spraying through the air was met with a returning wave of purple flame which lashed out towards the company in thick waves, the heat from the lances of energy projecting from 0.09 noticeable even tens of meters away. Flesh and armour turned to blackened carbon even as Phoenix 2-5 skidded to a halt, her docking anchors temporarily lowered to hold her in place.

“Let’s go! Get a move on unless you want to die here!”

The assault shuttle’s tail split open, the ramp lowering to reveal its white-lit innards. They scrambled for the ship, feet pounding on metal to produce a rhythmic thudding. Dull clicks of people fastening themselves into their seats joined the din, the uneven, agitated sounds of ill supressed panic.

Mark felt a wave of heat wash past him even as the blinding beam that flashed past just meters away from the shuttle seared at his retinas. He had almost tuned out the screams by now, for most were short lived, stifled, cries of agony that disappeared when 0.09’s energy lance found them. He stumbled blindly up the ramp, relying on memory to guide him up its length. He felt a hand grab him by the wrist, hauling him inside as the ground shifted beneath him, the ramp closing behind him.

“What about the others?” Mark recognized Fredrick’s gruff voice to his right as someone strapped him in.

“There’s no time for them. The main party has boarded.”

“They’ll die down there.” You wouldn’t know it unless you’d known Darren for as long as Mark and Fredrick had, but the disapproval in Darren’s voice was there, well concealed but present nevertheless.

“They know their duty. They will die with honour.”

Soldiers die, that is why they are soldiers. The words rang clearer in Mark’s head than anything else. Once, he had thought the same, but no longer.

Slowly, Mark’s vision returned to him in spots, the black void reforming into normal sight as his eyes recovered from the glare. The docking anchors were retracting back into the assault shuttle’s fuselage, leaving the Phoenix to sit on its tall vertical stabilizer beneath it. He had thought that 0.09 would work harder to keep them from leaving. It had been clear that the Alpha level possessed more than enough firepower to wipe them out, and yet ever since they’d thrown down the smokescreen the combat robot seemed to have more or less left them to their own devices.

As Phoenix 2-5 pulled away Mark saw a brilliant violet beam slice through the smoke that drifted beneath them, answered soon after by a pulse of orange that lit up the grey cloud like a bolt of fire. A six winged angel burst forth, its ashen frame studded with fiery highlights. For a few precious seconds Mark and the machine locked eyes before they broke contact when the combat robot tumbled away with an agile summersault back into the smoke, another purple lance slicing through the space where it had been.

It was an Alpha level, not one that Mark had seen before, though the form was nevertheless familiar. The sheath of metal which shrouded the Alpha’s head gave it away; that kind of signature symbolism could only belong to one individual. Mark didn’t believe in any gods, but at least they had an angel watching over them. That would have to be enough.

---

Phoenix 2-5 took Eric and his companions high into the clouds as the assault shuttle climbed up through the tangle of the Upper Reaches. The craft shuddered beneath them as swollen updrafts of cold air buffeted the shuttle creating a tormenting screeching as ice clawed against the outer hull. Vivian sat silently, her good hand clutching the bar beside her seat so tightly her fingers were almost white.

Likewise, Sheryl seemed to have lost her usual cheery demeanour and was unusually silent. They knew the craft beneath them to be solid and present, but couldn’t help but wonder at what might happen if the mighty engines that powered it should fail. Eric could feel the fear in his heart, cold ice in his veins. But it didn’t compare to the bloodbath that Block 26 had become when the yellow Alpha escaped her prison and slaughtered the guardsmen by the dozen. What he felt then, was something that would never leave him, never be forgotten. The all-consuming terror of the thought that certain death was before him, the feeling of hot blood splattering against his face, it had tempered his fear and made all else pale in comparison. He knew he was afraid, but he also understood that fear was irrational. He had survived what had happened back at the Block, he would survive this too.

The interior of the shuttle resembled far more of that of the Blocks than anything Eric had known back home in the Underground. The plastics and metals ranged from grey to dark blue, but the smooth contours and surfaces studded with bright lights were the same. Even inside, the biting cold crept in coating the walls nearest to the windows and entrance ports with a thin layer of frost. Certainly as the tunnels stretched further out into the darkness it had never been warm in those pipes, but they had never experienced anything of what it was like here or on the surface.

They had been exposed to many different scenarios during their training, but none of that could have prepared them for what they were going through now. The Underground was a treacherous maze of half destroyed tunnels, a weaving web of cramped confines and dim light. Mappers were taught how to navigate in pitch black over treacherous terrain alongside the skills necessary to operate the half mangled equipment they had to interact with in the field. But none of that could possibly have prepared them for what they were going through now.

“Your friends alright back there? They don’t look too well.” It was hard to tell if Anders was actually watching them from his post by the door that led deeper into the shuttle. His visor masked his eyes, and the form fitting body armour hid any other tells that Eric might otherwise have been able to pick up on from his body language. But the boy could see the soldier’s hands on the knife handle strapped onto his thigh armour, fingers griped tight around the pommel.

“We’re fine, just a little shaken up from being outside so long.”

“Right,” The Corporal’s hand didn’t move from the knife. “Just don’t give me any trouble and you’ll all be fine.”

“We won’t.” Eric wanted very badly to say more, but was careful to check himself. These were the people that had saved them, and it wouldn’t be wise to act rashly.

The minutes crept by at an agonizingly slow pace, the three companions quiet throughout as the assault craft sped towards its destination. They had left the world they knew far behind them and much as he would have preferred otherwise it was up to Eric to keep them on track. The boy Mapper rubbed his hands together before hastily pulling them back into his sleeves in an attempt to keep them warm. This would have been much easier if Daniel had still been with them so he could tell them what to do. Much as he had disliked working with the strange boy, he had always seemed to know what to do.

They had left him behind. Eric still had difficulty stomaching that fact even though that was hours ago now. He wondered if it had been easier for the two girls because they hadn’t worked with the young Mapper during the chaos of Block 26. They hadn’t been there, scrabbling with him over the blood-slick floor, climbing the tumbling mass of corpses. Mappers were trained to work alone, they weren’t usually able to appreciate the advantages of having a partner to work with. But Eric knew now what it felt like to have someone at your back, and he knew what it felt like to leave someone like that behind. If there had been any other way, he would have given anything to save him. But they were here, Daniel wasn’t.

“Phoenix to crew, five minutes to target prepare for deployment.” The loudspeakers above them boomed with deafening sound, breaking through the silence.

A shudder ran through the shuttle as the soldiers aboard scrambled to their feet. The sound of steel scraping steel, armour latches clicking together, safeties being disengaged, the din was so constant it was as though droplets of steel were raining down around them. Before them, Corporal Anders had pulled the rifle over his shoulder and was waiting patiently with one hand on the ceiling support bar which ran above them. Behind him through the doorway to rest of the troop compartment, Eric could see the other soldiers finishing their preparations before strapping themselves into their seats, but Anders remained standing with them. Even now, they were going to remain under his careful watch.

The undulating sensation of the great gusts of air rushing past them was nauseating. As they descended through the clouds, the entire assault shuttle shook beneath their feet, buffeted back and forth by the cold wind.

“I’m going to throw up.” Sheryl whimpered weakly, her free hand clutching at her stomach.

“Hold on, we’re almost there.”

“And then what. You heard what that guy said, they want the ship for themselves. We’re up here while everyone else is fighting those fucking robots, and we’re not even going to get this ship that we were after.” At the mention of the Underground and the situation they had left behind, Vivian’s voice almost cracked. Even if she had said nothing Eric could feel the tension in the air. They didn’t belong here, they all knew it.

“Well what do you want to do, jump?”

“I don’t thin–“ Eric’s only half serious reply was interrupted by a sudden and massive deceleration which almost threw them into the ceiling.

“Change of plans ladies and gentlemen, the Colonel needs us in the hanger bay. Hold on, this is going to be rough!”

More violent manoeuvring had the Mappers scrabbling back into their seats, hastily fastening themselves down as Phoenix 2-5 rolled into a quick tumble. As the assault shuttle stabilized with another sickening swing of its tail-boom, bright flashes of blue light leaked into the interior of the fuselage from the viewports studding its length. Shrill shrieking could be heard even through the armoured hull, piercingly sharp noise that was uncomfortable enough to make them flinch.

Then as suddenly as they had stopped, the shuttle was hurtling forward again. The pulses of blue gave way to off-white that was stained with faint shades of purple and orange on a backdrop of grey. They moved so quickly that Eric could scarcely make out what was going on, but what was clear to be heard was the sounds of violence leaking in from outside.

The boy Mapper could feel the gee force pressing him into the walls as the assault shuttle swung into a tight turn. A dull rumble reverberated through the hull as the weapons systems came online causing a veritable torrent of spent shell casings to come cascading down the hallway. Then as the pressing force died away Eric felt the shuttle begin to slow until finally Phoenix 2-5 came to a hovering stop.

“Anders, Mikaelev you’re to provide cover fire for the Colonel!” Sergeant Karters’ booming voice echoed through the shuttle over the roar of the fighting.

An armoured giant strode through the back door, face hidden by a pitch black helmet marked only by a singular glowing red eye on its face. As the massive figure drew closer, Eric realised that Mikaelev was a woman, one who dwarfed even Karters in stature. The soldier cradled a large weapon in her arms, a heavy barrelled firearm attached to a lengthy ammunition feed that swung through the air beside it. Anders followed trailing closely behind, his rifle in his dominant hand as he reached up to a panel on the wall bringing the tail of the ship down to reveal what was outside.

A wave of heat rolled up into the assault craft as the ramp opened down accompanied by the booming thunder of echoing gunfire through the cavernous space. Mikaelev let loose with her weapon, the revolving feed mechanism blurring into a whirling mass of metal that spat out a steady stream of hot casings. Beside her, Ander’s had his rifle pressed into his shoulder, intermittently shifting his aim to let off a burst of gunfire at some unseen target.

Outside, the glinting grey bloomed with fire as debris rained down from the ceiling to create a curtain of rubble. Eric and the two girls clung to the walls, pressed against the surface just behind the armoured soldiers at the doorway. The Mapper had removed himself from his seat to try and look past them even as suddenly, an armoured soldier leapt through the smoke and dust onto the ramp, blood spattered across the face of his helmet.

Terror. The feeling radiated from the man even as he brushed past Eric deeper into the shuttle and another armoured figure crawled up the ramp to take his place. They wore black, just the same as Anders and Mikaelev. As the Mapper watched, a lance of violet swept past the metal surface to cut another soldier in two, spilling hot red into the air as the woman convulsed, writhing on the surface. The screaming pierced through everything else until it was suddenly silenced when an explosion wiped the ramp clean leaving behind only scorched smears of blood.

“What’s going on out there?” alarm filled Karter’s voice as she rushed in to meet the newcomers.

“We found the Alpha! Get us out of here!”

“Where’s the Colonel?”

“They’re coming, get in here Darren!” a bare faced soldier jumped up into the shuttle, his armour worn around his ragged frame. His companion followed after him, slighter of frame but with same grey armour, layered with scratched out white markings. They weren’t the same as Karters and her soldiers, Eric could feel something…dangerous about them. And now they were here on this ship with him.

“There they are! Cover me!”                      

An explosion rocked the craft as a violet beam slashed through the space outside, showering them with debris knocking tools and boxes from the walls. The helmetless stranger leapt back outside, only to return soon after, grabbing at a coat-clad stranger who stumbled up after him. A few more trickled in after them and then Eric felt the dull hum of the shuttle’s engines starting back up.

“What about the others?” the helmetless soldier was staring out into the distance even as the ramp door closed in on them.

“There’s no time for them, the main party has boarded.” A black suited man, one of the last to join them replied without evening turning to look the soldier’s way.  He carried an air of authority with his words, and the others seemed to give him a wide berth in spite of the fact that they dwarfed him in their body armour. The markings of an officer glinted on his uniform, unfamiliar, but nevertheless distinct. Eric knew the look of someone of rank when he saw it.

“They’ll die down there.” The grey rifleman in the corner barely moved as he spoke, his voice soft, Eric could barely hear him over the roar outside.

“They know their duty. They will die with honour.” The man in the coat seemed to stir at the officer’s words but said nothing. Eric could see the tell-tale rapid fluttering of his eyelids that accompanied a loss of vision

They all stumbled as the craft jetted forward beneath their feet, the tail swinging into a sharp turn as the pilot brought the craft around and the engines kicked into full thrust. Face glued to the wall by the window, Eric saw a sudden streak of orange part the smoke, jagged edges slicing through the air as a metal wing scraped across the assault shuttle’s fuselage.

<You dare mock me A.I?> 0.09’s shrill tone resounded like thunder through all the layers of violence and metal to prompt Eric and the others to clasp at their ears with their hands.

Purple fire flared up around them rocking the shuttle, but it wasn’t directed at them. The angel disappeared inside the torrent of flame and they were gone, out of earshot of the raging machine as the Phoenix pulled free from the hanger bay. Everyone inside was pulled towards the back ramp as the shuttle rocketed upwards arcing towards the clouds.

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