Mia sometimes feels a little like Drake’s big sister. She jumped at the chance of becoming a Beta HolinMech and is scheduled to replace a HolinMech Warrior called Joseph Yomak. Drake was forced to sign on with the Beta HolinMechs and being forced into such a thing is akin to a death sentence.
Mia sighs, “I know you’re probably tired of impatient soldiers hanging around but what do you think Caufmann wants with him?”
“William never wastes his own time so it’s probably important.”
“I can’t imagine anyone calling him by a first name.”
Roths smiles slightly, “He really can be a good friend.”
Mia looks at her incredulously for a moment. “Well if he gets Drake killed or experiments on him he’s dead.”
Roths laughs, “Yes… of course.”
“This blackout has left a lot of our contingents across the city vulnerable. How could the city’s entire power supply not have a back up?”
Roths grumbles, “It does. Two backups. The primary and ancillaries were all cut at exactly the same time.”
“I couldn’t help but notice you guys still have power at the lab. I assume you have your own generator?”
“Yes, not a quarter of what we require to run the whole lab, but our most precious projects can still be kept running. What are your weapons systems going to do with the grid down?”
Mia shrugs, “We have a limited supply of petrol to run our vehicles, but the gunships are not set to Raddocks Horizon’s power cluster so they’re still usable. Our ground vehicles are mostly useless. That said, all our tactical targeting equipment is stuffed without the satellite relays so we’re down to line of sight. All missile tracking and things like that are gone.”
“The satellites are down too?” asks Roths, genuinely surprised.
“No, but when the power went down they became erratic and began providing incorrect data. Apparently it’s some kind of virus uploaded from several places at once. Our handheld rocket launcher lock on systems still work and things on independent circuits but anything wired to the Defence Force system is out of action.”
Roths shakes her head. “We told the Defence Force to let William handle their firewalls.”
“We’ve had teams deployed in the sewer system for the last few days. There’s some seriously irregular readings from down there.”
“Yes, we’ve been trying to get a unit sent to find whatever it is. We’ve recorded odd readings there too for the last week or so.”
“Is it the progenitor-class?”
“Sometimes we think it is, but other times it reads as some sort of signal that’s just producing petabytes of data. Its location is always different, and varied in intensity. We had a clear reading once and a direct lock on but when we got to the location it was a domestic computer and certainly not capable of absorbing data from NASA. Even when their IT techs took the PC apart they couldn’t find any evidence of anything unusual,” says Roths.
Mia frowns, “I’ve heard something about a ghost in the machine in this city. Personally I figured it was just you guys prying into everyone’s business.”
Carla, Rennin and Wayne are still sitting in the tower drinking coffee. Carla looks at her phone from time to time, hoping for some kind of signal, but without city power and with inference affecting the satellites, all phones are inactive.
Wayne is reading half a torn newspaper and Rennin is reading the other half. The two ripped it while fighting over it earlier, not caring in the least that it was Carla’s paper to begin with.
“Hey,” Rennin starts, “it says here that brain cells are basically the same as fat cells.”
Carla prepares for the punch line. “Really…”
“Hard to believe that all this time, Bins of Skin here is really a genius,” he points at Wayne’s robust stomach.
“Oh ha-ha, Rennin,” says Wayne.
“I’m just trying to cheer you up.”
Carla snorts, “You’re an arsehole.”
Rennin grins, “He hasn’t said much all day.”
“I’m just feeling down,” says Wayne.
“I’ve got a spare bra,” Rennin says, receiving a prompt slap from Carla.
“I can’t get my family out of Raddocks Horizon,” he says, the comment causing an oppressive silence in the room.
Rennin’s head lowers a bit. “I’m sorry, Wayne.”
“Godyssey Security isn’t important enough, it seems, and I’m too heavy for the military. I don’t know what to do,” he says looking at his wedding band.
Rennin doesn’t feel remorse very often, and he can’t stand it when he does. “We’re leaving too, you could come with us.”
“Yes, absolutely, come with us. I’ll be back in just a tick,” says Carla stepping into the toilet cubicle near the door, fumbling with the latch Rennin broke previously.
When Rennin hears the door lock he continues. “I signed on with the Horizon Military this afternoon just so Carla gets out.”
“What about her family?”
“My parents and siblings are dead so I should be able to put hers in their place if I make enough of a scene.”
“How will that get my family out?”
“I have to stay behind with the Defence Force but I’ve got no intention of going through the meat grinder with those jarhead rejects. I’m deserting and I’m getting out of here if I have to burn the city down. We can go together.” He wants to break his own nose for making this offer, but his mouth just won’t stop, “Carla doesn’t know I’m not leaving with her, so please don’t say anything.”
“I do appreciate the offer but I can’t accept.”
Thank God! “Why?”
“What if the infected really do go hostile? What if they come after us? How will I know you won’t shoot one of us to use as bait?”
The toilet flushes in the background and Rennin’s eyes flicker. “Well—”
“Would you?” Wayne asks directly.
“It’s…” he takes a deep breath, “possible.”
The toilet door opens and Carla steps out. “You two look intense, did I miss something?”
“I professed my undying devotion to him,” Rennin says, leaning back.
“What the hell happened in the bathroom? It stinks of bleach and my eyes are burning.”
“I was sick and wanted to make sure it was clean,” Rennin says.
“What did you do? Hose it down?” asks Carla.
A cry for help at street level draws their attention to the tower window. The three of them stand and lean towards the glass to peer out.
It’s pitch black.
Rennin risks draining the generator a little more by increasing the power to the lights on the outer wall of the lab compound. They can now at least see the street. He gives them more power, illuminating the surrounding area.
A hundred metres down the road, a man is tripping over himself in a frantic run. Another man, hunched posture, is chasing him down the street. His unusual gait is setting Rennin’s teeth on edge.
The watchman grabs his rifle and trains its sights on the fleeing man, seeing that he’s been wounded in the abdomen. The hunching figure giving chase lets out an animalistic roar before performing a leap over an impossible distance for a human. It lands on the man’s back, bringing him to the ground and looks to be biting at his throat.
Rennin swears, while taking a shot more off reflex than anything. The biter is hit in the back of the head, killing it instantly.
Everyone in the tower is speechless and even more so when the man who was fleeing stands back up and calls for help again. Carla comments that Rennin must have saved him.
From what? What the hell was that?