E-Day

by Nicholas Sansbury Smith

  “All yours, my brother,” Tadhg said.

  Akira also wanted revenge, for what the doctor had done to his stallion, but Ghost deserved to get in a few punches first.

  “Death from the Shadows,” he said. “Together, we are one.”

  ***

  Chloe jerked awake in her hospital bed, sweating. Light streamed through the open drapes in the corner of the room.

  “It was just a dream,” said Keanu. He sat in a chair by her bedside and reached out with a gentle touch.

  Chloe looked around, still gripped in a realistic dream about the mad Dr. Cross and his wolves.

  Keanu put a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to flinch. “Chloe, it’s okay. You’re safe.”

  She slowly relaxed back on her pillow, blinking away the nightmare.

  “Relax, child. You have nothing to fear anymore,” Apeiron said over the chip implanted in the back of Chloe’s head.

  She took in a long, deep breath as Keanu wiped the sweat from her forehead.

  Chloe sighed and sat up. “It was him again. Doctor Cross came for me.”

  “He can’t hurt you here,” Keanu said. “I promise.”

  Chloe took a drink of water and then got out of bed, placing her naked feet on the cold floor. She went to the window to look out over the courtyard below, where patients sat on benches or walked slowly through the gardens. But beyond the beautiful blooming buds and bright colors, she could see the looming megacity walls on the horizon.

  She didn’t want to go back there again, ever.

  Keanu joined her at the window, folding his arms over his chest.

  “Where are we going to go after this?” she asked. “After I get out of here?”

  “To the refugee camp, and then I’m going to try and get us to South America, far away from the asteroid’s impact zone.”

  “Apeiron said the asteroid is going to be destroyed.”

  Keanu looked unconvinced. “We’ll figure things out. For now, we just need to get you healthy.”

  “Apeiron, how long until I get out of here?” she asked.

  “One moment, I am on my way,” the AI replied. A minute later, the door opened, and the Service Droid walked inside. “Good morning. How are you feeling?”

  Chloe faced the window, feeling the warmth of the sun even through the glass. “Better now. I just need to get out of here.”

  “You still have at least another month of PT,” Apeiron said. “We have another session this morning, and after that, I have a surprise for you.”

  Chloe went to get her clothes.

  “I’m going to head back to the camp for the rest of the day,” Keanu said. “I’ll come by for dinner tonight.”

  “Okay. Thank you for staying the night, try and get some sleep.”

  “I will.” Keanu hugged Chloe and then nodded at the droid before leaving.

  An hour later Chloe was sweating it out on the hover-track, walking as fast as she could manage. Today was the first time she had walked for more than a mile. She pushed to get to two miles, breathing heavily. The artificial lungs removed carbon dioxide from her blood, but her body was still getting used to them. She watched the news on a holo-screen as she walked.

  Refugees continued to leave Megacity Paris and Megacity Moscow, but the newscaster said millions would remain behind to rebuild the cities. Armies of Hummer Droids were already showing up to assist with the clean-up, including burying the dead.

  Chloe finished her walk feeling more alive than ever. She had survived the horror. Cyrus was right: they were the lucky ones, even if they did have mental and physical scars.

  “Well done,” Apeiron said. “Maybe we will get you out of here sooner than expected.”

  “That would be great,” Chloe said. The hover-track clicked off and lowered to the ground to let her off.

  “The real question, I believe, is what will you do when you get out of here?” Apeiron asked. “Have you thought about what you want to do?”

  “I’ve been focusing on getting healthy.”

  “That is good, but I hope you know there are lots of opportunities for people with your skillset.”

  “Skillset?”

  “Working on droids.”

  “I haven’t been in that business since my parents…” Her words trailed off as she remembered that wasn’t exactly true.

  “I thought there was something that might motivate you,” Apeiron said. “Come with me.”

  Chloe followed the droid down the hall and out to the courtyard. The sun had vanished behind a fort of swollen gray rain clouds.

  Most of the patients and visitors had cleared out of the gardens and gathered along the gates overlooking the road. People on the sidewalks had also stopped to look at a parked gray and blue Nova Alliance trailer.

  Chloe ran toward the gate when she saw the dark brown hair of Kichiro.

  “Wait!” Apeiron called out.

  Two Pistons and Kichiro waited on the street outside the hospital.

  “Kichiro!” Chloe called out.

  The horse looked up from a bucket of food and snorted. Apeiron caught up to Chloe as she reached the horse. His helmet was off, and his dark eyes stared at her as he chewed. Leaning down, he nudged his head against Chloe’s hand.

  “I missed you,” she said.

  She patted his head and ran her hand over his armored neck, feeling the thick mane protruding through the central gap in the armor. Then she moved to his saddle, stopping when she remembered the canisters.

  “Doctor Otto Cross used your work to turn this beautiful animal into a weapon of war,” Apeiron said. “But now that war is over, there are countless animals that will be destroyed without the support of people like you, who can help restore these creatures to what they should be.”

  “What about the Iron Wolves?”

  “I am working with another AI to create a nature reserve for them, but many will be destroyed before they can be relocated.”

  Chloe felt a tug at her heart for the poor beasts. They were not evil and did not deserve such a fate. They were just tools of evil men. She worried what would have become of Kichiro if he hadn’t had her and Akira the Brave to protect him.

  “I could also find you work on Hummer Droids,” Apeiron said. “You have options.”

  The crowds that had come to see the famous war horse continued to gather. Chloe didn’t like being watched.

  “Want to go for a run?” she asked the horse.

  Kichiro lowered his head.

  “Is it okay?” Chloe asked Apeiron.

  “Yes, but be careful,” she replied.

  A deep voice came from the crowd. “Show us how it’s done!”

  Chloe turned, a smile on her face. Cyrus was right on time, coming to visit her again.

  Grabbing the reins, she put her foot in a stirrup and climbed up in the saddle. “Okay, boy. Go slow.”

  Traffic whipped by as she rode the horse down the sidewalk toward a grassy knoll.

  “Not too far!” yelled one of the Pistons.

  The stallion started faster up the hill. Chloe held on tight, feeling a thrill of excitement.

  At the crest of the slope, she sat up in the saddle, and Kichiro slowed to a trot. Chloe raised a wrist to shield her eyes from the sun.

  The vantage overlooked an exterior section of Megacity Paris where the Nova Alliance Strike Force had spent years in trenches. Now there were rows and rows of tents making up the refugee camp her uncle was living in. These were all survivors, people like her who were looking to rebuild their lives.

  “Run, Kichiro,” she said.

  “Be careful,” Apeiron warned.

  Chloe gave the stallion a slight kick to the flank. He broke out of the trot into a gallop. The wind blew through Chloe’s wild hair, and she took in a deep breath of air that actually tasted clean.

  For the first time in years, she felt alive.

  The feeling vanished at the sight of a pr
ojectile streaking away from traffic. She saw it for a single moment, her mind processing that it was a missile fired from a pickup truck.

  A realization hit her: Dr. Cross had come for her, like in the dream.

  Kichiro jumped up, bucking her off. Chloe fell backwards, reaching out and flailing as the horse vanished in an explosion of fire and metal.

  She landed on her back and brought up her arms to shield her face from a wave of fire that ripped across the field. It grazed her exposed flesh, burning her arms and neck.

  When she pushed herself up to look for Kichiro, she saw only a smoldering crater where the horse had been a moment earlier. A sting ripped up her back, and Chloe twisted to find her shirt on fire. She rolled in the dirt to suffocate the flames.

  A sad whinnying split the air close to her. She crawled toward the noise, seeing the stallion over the side of the hill. People were rushing toward them. Leading the group were Cyrus and Apeiron.

  Gunfire lanced across the road as a squad of Pistons closed in on the truck that had slammed into a barrier.

  Chloe crawled all the way to Kichiro. Three of his legs were gone, and his chest armor was ripped open, exposing burned and bleeding flesh.

  “No,” she whimpered.

  Cyrus slid next to her.

  “Chloe,” he said. “Are you hurt?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” she said. “Kichiro…”

  Apeiron crouched and reached out with skeletal fingers to help the horse. Chloe pulled away from them both and stared into the dark eyes of the dying stallion, the companion that had helped get her through the darkest of times in the nightmarish catacombs.

  This was her fault. It would never have happened if she hadn’t asked to ride him.

  “Help him,” Chloe said to Apeiron. “Save Kichiro like you saved me.”

  — 22 —

  Shadow Squad trekked on the outskirts of Lake Baikal. They had three hours to capture Doctor Otto Cross before sunrise.

  Thanks to intel from Apeiron, Akira knew exactly where he was going. Okami guided Shadow Squad under towering pines while Blue Jay provided aerial footage over the wintery landscape.

  At the crest of a bluff, Akira balled his hand and scoped Listvyanka, a once thriving lakeshore village that had attracted tourists from around the world. It was still a stronghold, though most of the rundown buildings were dark. Candles burned in some of the windows, and smoke fingered away from chimneys.

  As part of the peace agreement, the Nova Alliance Council allowed the Coalition to keep thousands of villages across the globe, and this was one of them. The war had officially ended with the Coalition leaders agreeing to terms of peace, but that didn’t mean the locals wouldn’t try and kill Engines—especially if they were protecting the one leader who didn’t agree with the conditions—Dr. Cross.

  Akira brought his rifle scope up to his visor. He zoomed in on their target, an abandoned dam across the lake. According to intel, the doctor was holed up inside the dam. Blue Jay hovered over the sprawling structure, scanning the sector and then sending back an all-clear ping.

  Shadow Squad fanned out down the other side of the hill and back into the forest. Clanking and whistling echoed through the pines. Frost stopped to examine something ahead, and then motioned for Akira.

  The sound was coming from ribs, femurs, and animal skulls hanging from trees. The display of bones clacked like wind chimes.

  “The fuck is this?” Tadhg said quietly.

  “Tradition,” Perez said. “The women often decorate sacred places with bones.”

  “Oh man, I bet Coalition chicks are crazy in the…” Tadhg started to say.

  “Radio silence,” Akira said firmly. He shot Tadhg a glare and then pushed on with Okami.

  It didn’t take long to skirt around the village. Akira stopped one more time to scan the hills to ensure they didn’t have any tails, before starting up a steep ridgeline overlooking the dam. He ordered Frost to stay and cover them with Okami, Blue Jay to remain over the tree line, and Ghost and Perez to enter the dam from the west while Akira and Tadhg entered from the east.

  “Shadow Squad, remember, your orders are to capture Doctor Cross alive,” Apeiron said over their chips.

  “Copy that,” Akira said.

  Tadhg took point in front of Akira, walking sideways down the side of the steep snow-covered hill. Once down, he ran all the way to where an old gas-powered SUV sat up on blocks. Two cargo trucks were positioned along the wall of a brick building with a collapsed roof. Akira brought up the dam blueprints. They were more than one hundred years old, but it was all they had to work with.

  When they reached the side entrance, Akira crouched and tapped into the view from Frost’s rifle. Her cross-hairs were roving, no targets sighted. Ghost and Perez had entered the facility and were moving slowly inside.

  “Let’s go,” Akira said.

  Tadhg tested the door handle, nodded, and opened it. He swept his rifle over a dusty room with stacks of crates and bare shelves. Clearing it quickly, he moved to another door that was already opened to a stairwell.

  The door at the bottom was chained up and Tadhg stepped back as Akira pulled his katanas. With a click of the hilt, the energy blades warmed to life.

  Akira hacked off the chains, catching them before they could clank on the ground. Tadhg opened the door and strode inside, halting after two steps.

  “Holy Moby Dick shit,” he stammered.

  Akira squeezed into an operation center full of skeletal metal chairs with spider appendages just like back in Megacity Moscow.

  “Damn, bosu, check this out,” Tadhg said.

  Akira joined him in a storage room filled with corpses. Limbs were stacked like firewood. Movement on the mini-map of his HUD distracted Akira from the grisly view. Frost had switched positions and zoomed in on movement.

  Lights flashed and torches burned in the forest to the north of her position. The glow captured soldiers carrying energy blades. But it wasn’t just soldiers descending on Frost. There were civilians, too.

  This wasn’t an army. It was a mob.

  “Multiple hostiles heading toward Frost,” Akira whispered.

  “I guess more people want to die,” Tadhg muttered.

  Akira pinged Frost. “Hold your position, and don’t fire unless you’re fired upon. Make sure Okami doesn’t do anything stupid.”

  She acknowledged with a click over the comm.

  Akira moved to a door marked with a rusted engineering sign. Tadhg opened it and lumbered onto a platform overlooking a vast space with ten generators, all active and humming.

  I thought this dam was offline, he thought.

  At the other end of the room, Perez and Ghost were advancing across a balcony, weapons sweeping for targets.

  Akira held up his hand, indicating that it was clear, when suddenly his hand vanished in an explosion of blood. He let out a roar of pain and dove down as bolts lanced all around the room.

  “Ambush!” Perez shouted.

  Through the agony, Akira saw the generators disgorging metal-and-flesh warriors with ribbed hoses coming from their helmets. Ten augmented monsters leapt up to the platforms and bolted for cover as Shadow Squad opened fire.

  Akira managed to use his good hand to fire a burst of bolts into the mask of a Dread that had leapt on top of a generator. Four bolts tunneled through bone and flesh, and the creature slumped over.

  Tadhg swung his energy blade through another Dread, the saw-toothed heated blades cutting deep into the abomination. He pushed it through the rest of the armor, flesh, and bone. The upper half slid off, arms still reaching up to strike Tadhg.

  Akira finished it with a flurry of bolts to the head.

  Across the room, Ghost and Perez had drawn swords. Two Dreads already lay dead on the platform, blood gushing from their wounds. A third slammed into Perez, knocking him down, only to have its neck snapped by Ghost.

  A warm sensation pricked Akira a
s his armor finished clotting the wrist where his hand had been moments earlier. He felt no pain now and fired off another burst, and then drew one of his swords while retreating back to Tadhg. As he moved, he checked on Frost. She was still prone, but the mob was closing in, right toward her position.

  Perez was back on his feet, firing his rifle as Ghost spun and thrust his sword into the face of a Dread that mounted the platform, and let out a raucous shriek.

  Akira turned toward heavy footsteps behind him, cutting the air with his katana and burying it into the neck of a Dread. The ribbed lines severed, and arterial blood sprayed out.

  A muffled roar came from another Dread that climbed over a railing. Akira whirled and thrust his blade deep into its chest. The monstrosity fell on him, pinning him to the ground.

  Tadhg dragged the limp beast off and helped Akira to his feet.

  Only one Dread remained in the chamber. It leapt to a generator and reared its head back to release a screech. Blood gushed from multiple wounds that would have killed a normal man.

  “Sayonara, as you might say,” Tadhg said.

  He aimed his WMD and unleashed a burst. The Dread turned into the bolts, everything above the torso exploding. Armor, flesh and bone slopped over the generator.

  Tadhg lowered the hissing weapon. “You okay, bosu?”

  Akira raised his wrist and nodded as he checked on Frost and Okami. The mob was closing in, about a half mile out, the flames burning through the night.

  The Engines crossed the platform to continue their search for Dr. Cross when unseen speakers crackled. Someone began clapping, the sound echoing in the space.

  “Well done, Shadow Squad,” a muffled voice said. “I figured they would send the best if they could find me.”

  On a balcony above, the doors swung open in front of a man wearing a silver suit that matched his slicked back hair and Dread mask.

  All four of the Engines pointed their rifles at the man.

  “That is Doctor Cross,” Apeiron said through their chips. “We need to take him alive.”

  “Hold your fire!” Akira shouted.

  Akira motioned with his stump to Ghost who leapt onto a ladder and climbed up.

  Dr. Cross held up both hands. “I surrender.”