Renegade Children

by J. N. Chaney

  “I wasn’t there for that one,” he reminded me. “The way I remember it, you left me with Verne and a malfunctioning Cognitive.”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said, tilting my helmet. “I forgot about that.”

  “An honest mistake,” he said.

  I opened the nearby door. “Hey, at least you get to be here for this one.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good thing,” he said, following me into the hall.

  The environmental suit was stiff and smelled like old water. I guessed it hadn’t been cleaned in weeks. Understandable considering everything that had happened recently. It was a wonder the crew had the time to refill the oxygen tanks at all.

  As we left the building, I was glad the streets now resembled a ghost town, empty and quiet. By all accounts, the residents had sealed themselves inside their designated buildings, awaiting word that the threat had been cleared.

  Everyone except for us, of course—since we were stupid enough to go traipsing off into this new nightmare of a fog, which had already spread through half the city.

  The only good news was that it had thinned enough to see through. If we were lucky, this meant the fog would eventually dissipate altogether, but without a way to confirm it, we’d have to remain cautious.

  Down the street and towards the Factory, I spotted what I guessed must be Bolin’s team. They were vague silhouettes, drowned out by the white fog. If I hadn’t known the layout of the street, I might’ve thought they were part of the city itself. Trash bins or broken lamps, maybe.

  “Siggy, put us through to the others,” I said as we began our long walk in the gas.

  “Matching frequency,” he acknowledged.

  “—fucking crazy. I can’t see anything in this, sir!”

  “Did the Eternals really do this? They’d better hope we don’t find any of them inside!”

  “Keep quiet, all of you,” ordered Bolin. “We have orders to hold here until the Captain arrives. That means staying off the line and keeping your eyes open. Be ready to breach on my mark.”

  “You’d better listen to your squad leader, boys,” I said as we neared the soldiers through the fog. Their shadows began to take shape, and I could make out five of them. “We want everyone on their toes for this one.”

  Bolin turned away from the Factory, towards me. “There you are, Captain. And Alphonse, too.”

  “Bolin,” greeted the Constable.

  We planted our feet in front of him, his crew flanking him. I’d met them all enough to remember their faces and names. Felix, Mackie, Gustin, and Nash.

  I nodded at each of the four men. “What do you all say we do this in a hurry? I can’t say I’m fond of walking around in a fog of boiling poison.”

  “I think we’re all in agreement about that, sir,” said Felix.

  “That, we are,” agreed Bolin.

  “Has anyone had time to check the exits?” asked Alphonse.

  “We have,” said Nash. “They’re all sealed, save the front.”

  “What do you mean by sealed?” I asked.

  “We can’t get the doors open. Our best guess is someone blocked the other side,” he answered.

  “Or found a way to lock ‘em,” inserted Gustin.

  “There are no locks on the doors, though,” countered Nash.

  “We don’t know that,” said Gustin. “Could be something we just ain’t aware of.”

  “Alright, alright,” I said, raising my hands to quiet them. “Siggy, you got anything for me?”

  “I’m afraid my system hasn’t been integrated with this particular building yet,” replied the Cognitive. “A most unfortunate oversight. I apologize.”

  That wasn’t good. If we went in blind, then anything could happen, and I didn’t like the odds of that. “Al,” I muttered, turning my whole body to look at the Constable. “Give me a second option here.”

  Alphonse paused a moment. “We could use a drone,” he proposed. “A smaller one with the ability to capture video feed and maneuver ahead of us.”

  “That would definitely eliminate the unknown element,” agreed Bolin.

  “Siggy, how about it?” I asked. “Think you can help us out?”

  “Yes, sir. I can have a level-6 drone to your location shortly,” said Sigmond.

  “Do it, Siggy.” I raised my eyes to the Factory. “We’ll be waiting.”

  * * *

  The drone arrived at exactly the time Sigmond predicted, and I was thankful for it.

  Bolin’s squad took both sides near the entrance door, ready to make the breach whenever we gave the order. That would all depend heavily on what intelligence the drone provided, but if everything went well, we’d have this place secured in no time.

  The flying tin box made its way up the stairs and into the building, hovering about a meter off the ground. “Let’s see that feed, Siggy,” I said, right as the drone crossed through the archway.

  The stream appeared in the corner of my visor, giving me a first-person view of the Factory’s innards as seen by the drone. The smoke made visibility difficult, but I could still see most of the room—a large rectangular area with a set of stairs along the far wall, leading to the second and third floors. We’d already explored most of this building, so I knew there was a second staircase on the other side of the third level, leading all the way to the highest point in the building. That was where we’d found the power source to the city—an isolated fusion reactor blocked off by a half-meter thick wall of Neutronium, the rarest and strongest metal in the known galaxy.

  And there was no way inside, far as any of us could tell. Not that we actually wanted to break into it. According to Dressler, a working fusion reactor could potentially contain the power of a small star. That wasn’t a box I was eager to open.

  “Swing around and give us the angles, Siggy,” I ordered.

  The drone scanned the entire room, showing everything within visibility.

  “Everything looks secure,” said Alphonse.

  I nodded. “Take us to the second floor. Once the drone gets there, everyone will move in.”

  “Before you try to take the lead, my team goes first, Captain,” said Bolin. “I’m afraid I have to insist.”

  Alphonse smirked. “He knows you too well.”

  “So he does,” I said, half-smiling at the former scrap merchant. “Alright, Bolin. We’ll stay in the rear.”

  “Right,” said Bolin, his back against the wall. He glanced sideways at his team. “Ready in ten seconds.”

  “Yes, sir,” said all four men.

  The drone floated up the stairs, gradually revealing the second story. The hallway path appeared to be clear, but the fog prevented us from seeing all the way to the end. From here, it would continue to level-3, holding there until we caught up.

  Bolin’s eyes fixated on me, waiting for my signal. I replied with a quick nod.

  He raised his rifle to his chest. “Breach!”

  Felix and Nash filed in, rifles out as they covered both the left and right sides. Mackie and Gustin followed, heading forward and taking the center of the room, towards the stairs.

  “Clear!” said Felix.

  “Clear!” repeated Gustin.

  Bolin followed, moving with his rifle aimed towards the second floor’s railing. “Move up!”

  The team continued, with Bolin now in the lead as they began their climb to the next story.

  Alphonse and I were quick to follow. Bolin had already gone halfway up the stairs by the time we were inside, along with Felix and Nash.

  Gustin and Mackie waited for me and Alphonse to catch up, then took up position behind us. I had to admit, the time Bolin had spent training his men certainly showed. They were more than prepared for this.

  The video feed from the drone showed an empty third floor passageway, giving us the ability to check the second floor without having to worry about an ambush from above.

  Bolin and Felix were first into the hall, checking each set of rooms on both sides of th
e corridor. Nash stayed between them, keeping his aim fixed on the far end of the hallway. The whole process took less than a minute, front to back.

  “All clear,” said Bolin. “Head to level-3.”

  The team returned to the staircase, this time with Gustin and Mackie taking the lead. When they caught up with the drone, I gave Sigmond the order to push forward.

  “Right away, sir,” replied the Cognitive, and the drone floated into the nearby hallway immediately.

  The fog was thicker here, but not enough to make a real difference in visibility. The drone reached another set of stairs at the end of the corridor, then began its climb to the next checkpoint.

  Gustin and Mackie followed, checking each room they came across, with the rest of us behind them.

  * * *

  We’d found nothing by the time we reached the tenth floor, but that didn’t mean we hadn’t made progress. The fog had grown thicker with every level, diminishing visibility, but I considered this to be a good thing. The thicker the fog grew, the closer we’d come to the source of it all.

  In other words, it wouldn’t be long before I had the one responsible in front of me. The only question was whether they’d be taken alive or dead at the end of this.

  Based on what I’d seen in the street with that woman, I was leaning towards the latter.

  Nearly every floor of the Factory had a compartment that was filled with consoles similar to those we’d found in Gaia’s atrium. Athena believed these were most likely part of the Fusion Core’s power distribution and management system, rather than a Cognitive Capsule. Gods only knew how right she was about that.

  Here’s hoping for no surprises, I thought as we passed through the thickest of the fog. It was difficult to see anything here, with visibility limited to less than a meter.

  I passed through rows of tall, charcoal boxes, each of them sealed behind a translucent container. I’d been here before, so I knew there was a heavy metallic door made entirely of Neutronium on the far side of the room. This was the end of our tour.

  “It’s open!” snapped Felix. “Look at the feed! Someone opened the godsdamn door!”

  My eyes flicked to the corner of my visor at the drone feed. It was sitting directly where the Neutronium door should be, only there was nothing there anymore.

  “What could do something like that?” asked Gustin.

  “Eternals are tough, but they aren’t that strong,” muttered Nash.

  “Hold on,” I said, heading to the nearest wall. From there, and because the fog was so dense, I continued my way to the other side of the room, searching for the drone.

  Alphonse was right behind me, staying far enough back so that if things got bad, we’d both have enough space to fight.

  I spotted one of the lights on the drone a moment later, using it to guide myself the rest of the way. Sure enough, the door had been opened, but not by force. There was no sign of that.

  No, this had been clean, like the person responsible had used an access code or found a way to hack the system.

  “Well, that’s a problem,” observed Alphonse.

  I slowly nodded, leaning on the inside archway. The hallway on the other side was filled with fog, making it impossible to see ahead of us. “I bet they’re still here,” I told him. “Whoever did this. They’re going after the power source for the city.”

  “Sabotage,” said Alphonse. “But why take out Verdun when the Eternals are here, too? It doesn’t make sense.”

  “Maybe it’s not an Eternal,” I said, looking directly at him.

  He was quiet as the words settled, and he seemed to go into that quiet place in his head where he often disappeared. After a short stretch, the distant look in his eyes changed, replaced by what I knew to be an idea. “The ship,” he finally said.

  I had forgotten about it in all the commotion. The ship. The source of the signal that we had discovered mere hours ago. It was unlike anything we’d ever seen before, whether from the Eternals or us, and that made it unique. Could it somehow be connected to the white gas? Could those two be connected to the attack on the Alpha Dome? If the answer to those questions was yes, then I feared what was about to happen.

  “You’re talking about a Celestial,” I said, still staring at Alphonse. A swell of heat ran through my neck and cheeks. I felt sick to my stomach like I might throw up inside my own suit.

  He turned towards the connecting hallway. “I suggest we send the drone inside, Captain.”

  I wasn’t about to argue with that. “Siggy, take us inside.”

  The drone rattled beside me, getting into position at the center of the doorway. Alphonse and I scurried back to each side of the outer wall and waited.

  “Proceeding,” said Sigmond, and the drone began to move.

  The feed was entirely white from the fog. Here at the head of it, the smoke was at its worse. Whatever was waiting for us up ahead, I only hoped we could find a way to stop this before it consumed the entire city.

  “I can’t see shit in this,” muttered Felix.

  “Quiet,” said Bolin, edging up beside me, rifle in hand. “Be ready to move.”

  I stared at the white screen on my visor in silence, waiting for anything to—

  A soft, yellow glow appeared from inside the white. “Look!” whispered Nash.

  I said nothing but only watched as the light grew brighter and thicker. The drone moved towards it, but only because there was nowhere else to go.

  The white fog, thick as it was, could not hold back the intensity of what awaited us at the heart of this place.

  On the far side of the Fusion reactor, a bright orange and yellow light shined through a small hole no larger than a finger. Somehow, the light was strong enough that it filled the room, and when the drone drew close enough to see inside, I had no words to give.

  An orange ball floated in a vast and empty space—the source of the fusion reactor’s power.

  It looked like a star, and it was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand.

  Twelve

  Well, it seems you weren’t lying,” said Dressler, standing beside me in the fog, near the reactor. I’d called her the second we’d found this thing, and the site had been secured. “How extraordinary. A working fusion reactor—an exponential increase in renewable energy output.”

  “Does that mean you know what it is?” I asked.

  “The creation of a fusion reactor has only ever been attempted twice, and both times resulted in disaster,” explained Dressler. “The first attempt destroyed an entire colony. The second wiped out half a moon. To see it here is—” She paused. “It is quite outstanding.”

  “Glad you think so, Doc, but let’s try to focus on why you’re here,” I said, motioning to the silver orb near the base of the wall. We’d found it shortly after arriving here, where the fog was at its thickest.

  “Ah, yes,” said Dressler, turning away from the reactor and look at the device near my feet. She stepped closer and bent down beside it. “This would be the source of the gas, correct?”

  “That’s the theory,” I said.

  Alphonse watched from the hallway, observing the two of us. Bolin and his team were standing on his other side, patrolling the rest of the floor. “The gas appears to be coming from it, but I believe it’s winding down,” said Constable.

  “A fair judgment, I think,” said Dressler, without looking up from the orb. “I can see the holes on its surface, but the gas is so thin. It could indeed be running out. I suggest we let it finish on its own before relocating it.” She stood back up. “We can take it to my lab for a more thorough analysis after it finishes.”

  “Think you can get some prints off it?” I asked.

  “If there are any,” she said, walking to the reactor and peering inside. Her visor was already dimmed to the max setting, but the light was so strong that I still see her face. “Aside from the question of design, we need to find out who created it.”

  “Alphonse and I have a theory about that,�
�� I said.

  “Oh?” she asked without looking at either of us. “Does it have anything to do with the Celestials?”

  Alphonse smirked. “Clever as usual.”

  “As I thought,” she remarked.

  “There’s a ship,” I explained. “It’s located far from here in a valley. We found it today with one of Siggy’s drones, but we haven’t had a chance to check it out. Think you can pull together a team?”

  She finally turned back. “You found a ship?”

  I nodded.

  “Why am I only finding out about this now?” she asked.

  “Maybe it’s slipped your mind, Doc, but we’ve been a little busy dealing with all of this,” I explained.

  “Does Sigmond have the images?” she asked, ignoring my sarcasm.

  “I do,” interjected the Cognitive.

  “Let me see them, please,” said Dressler.

  A deafening noise rang through the facility at once, causing everyone to recoil. The suits adjusted, quickly dampening the sound, but not soon enough.

  Before any of us could say a word, the entire floor shook violently. Alphonse held on to the rail, but I fell face first into the wall. “Holy—”

  Dressler laid down in the prone position, arms over her head.

  “Alert,” said a voice in my ear. It was Athena this time. “Captain, I’m detecting an energy build-up in your location.”

  “What kind of energy?” asked Dressler, still with her head down.

  “Fusion, if these readings are accurate,” informed the Cognitive.

  The rapid shaking ceased, but I could still feel vibrations in the floor. “Fusion?” I asked. “But that would mean—”

  “The core’s unstable,” said Dressler. She pushed herself up to her knees, her eyes on the glowing hole in the wall.

  “Is there some kind of control panel in here?” I asked, looking around. Unfortunately, the walls were almost entirely bare, except for the tiny hole leading to the core.

  “Not that I can see,” said Dressler. “Perhaps I can—”

  Another tremor, knocking us all off our feet. I staggered on my knees and hands. “Godsdammit! Athena, tell me what to do down here!”