Animus Boxed Set 1 (Books 1-4): Initiate, Co-Op, Death Match, Advance

by Joshua Anderle

  Was that why it was there? Was this some sort of secret objective for the map? She forced the questions to the back of her mind and looked quickly through the system for anything that would allow her to deactivate or take control of the robot. Nothing seemed even a remote possibility. Whatever was issuing commands to that thing, it wasn’t coming from there.

  She looked back and saw Kaiden with the large machine in pursuit. He dodged blasts from its powerful laser and tried to return fire. He aimed at the sides of the machine rather than the head or chest but seemed to be missing whatever he was trying to hit. Then she saw the propellers. He must have been going for those. She scanned the shape of the attacker through the monitor and brought up a description. An Asiton Lancer, it had rods on the tips of each wing to absorb electrical energy.

  Chiyo cursed under her breath. Unless Kaiden could get a direct shot, he wouldn’t be able to hit the propellers. The shot would simply be absorbed by the rods on the wings. She looked at the various monitors, trying to find something that would give her a clue or an idea she could use. Her gaze homed in on the central room where Kaiden had found the device and noticed a few other things around the room. She opened a file containing all the current projects, one of which caught her eye.

  “Kaitō, listen. I’m going to open a path to the guardian closest to the Tech development wing. I need you to take control of it and grab this device and take it outside,” she commanded quickly.

  “Certainly, madame. What will you be doing in the meantime?” Kaitō asked.

  “Giving Kaiden a chance to do whatever he’s trying to do. Also, Kaitō, just in case whatever I’m planning doesn’t work out, prepare to use the Hacker Suite.”

  Kaiden threw a shock grenade in the air close to the Lancer and blasted it with the arc pistol. The grenade exploded and filled the sky with electricity. Some of it coated and coursed around the body of the Lancer before disappearing into the dispersers.

  “Damn,” Kaiden growled, running back down the lot and towards the building again.

  “What was that?” Chief asked.

  “Something I picked up with the strategist’s talent. You can overload a shock grenade with more electrical power and create a surge of electricity. Thought it would be enough to cover that flying metallic bastard and shut him down. Those rods are annoyingly effective.”

  “Unfortunately so,” Chief agreed. “You heading back to the building?”

  Kaiden picked up the pace as the Lancer turned and began to follow him. “I’m going to have to rely on your theory that it won’t attack it, though it doesn’t seem to have a problem attacking the lot and all the vehicles. Still, it hasn’t shot at the building yet.”

  “To be fair, you weren’t in it,” Chief reminded him.

  “My point exactly, but I’m running out of cover here, and I need to regroup and figure out a way to deal with this. See if Chiyo’s found anything.”

  “It’s charging again,” Chief cried. Kaiden looked back to see the now familiar infernal glow of the Lancer’s eye.

  He braced to jump, now only less than a hundred yards away from the building. As he tensed in preparation, he saw laser fire and electricity pass overhead. The lancer banked out, firing the laser into the night sky as it was driven away by a volley from overhead.

  Kaiden looked over to see all the defense robots now in the parking lot, firing at the Lancer. As he watched, he heard a ringing in his head and saw a flash on his display. “Hey, Kaiden, that Kaitō guy is hailing you,” Chief stated.

  “Chiyo’s EI? Put him on,” Kaiden ordered.

  “Sir Kaiden, Miss Chiyo apologizes for not calling you over comms. She’s left the security console again and is headed this way and is controlling the robots you see before you using her visor and tablet. That means she’s had to stop non-essential programs and keep as much focus as possible, you understand?”

  “Yes, Kaitō, it’s fine. What do you need?” he demanded.

  “To inform you that the madame has come up with a plan to take out that flying menace,” Kaitō exclaimed.

  “I’m happy for any ideas at this point,” Kaiden said, putting the arc pistol away.

  “My idea is just fine. You are just not trying hard enough,” Chief nagged, looking away.

  “She found a laser cannon in the tech development files and had me fetch it. I’ve been charging it using a guardian droid’s power core, and it’s nearly complete. She’s controlling the other droids remotely and will create a distraction while you take the shot and destroy that Asiton robot,” Kaitō explained

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” Kaiden looked around the group of defenders for a droid with a laser cannon. He saw Kaitō’s avatar fading in and out. “Kaitō? What’s wrong?”

  “I am split among several area…it is hard to retain the connection….” Kaitō said, his voice flickering in and out. “Please hurry and find me. I must disconnect and focus on my other duties.”

  “Of course, but where are you? Kaiden looked frantically at the group of robots again.

  “I’m in the loading bay… I couldn’t risk getting myself…and the laser cannon destroyed. Come and find me… I’ll be waiting near the edge…of the dock.” The fox EI disappeared from the display.

  Kaiden continued his sprint past the flaming carrier he had previously hidden under and leaped up to grab the edge of the dock. He pulled himself up and heard the Lancer fire from above. It had changed its target to the dozens of droids, buying him a brief respite.

  “Kaitō! Are you here?” Kaiden called, looking among the cargo crates and forklifts for the droid the EI was in.

  “Over here…Mister Kaiden…” a droning, muffled voice said. Kaiden turned as a guardian droid rolled into view. It held a large silver blaster with a wide, round barrel in its arms. “Here…is the cannon…it is nearly filled.”

  “What is wrong with your voice?” Kaiden asked as he looked up at the face of the droid.

  “Speaking…using Guardian droid’s…voice box…meant for function…not form…basic and garbled…speech…not helped by…power drain.”

  “Well, thanks for getting this to me,” Kaiden said appreciatively. Another blast was heard outside, and he placed his hand against the cannon. “How long until it is complete?”

  “It is…fiiiinnnnisshhed.” The last word faded into silence as the lights in the droid went dark.

  “Kaitō? You all right?” Kaiden asked, waving a hand in front of the droid.

  “Kaiden, are you there?” Chiyo called over the comms.

  “I’m here Chiyo. Is Kaitō all right? The droid he was in just turned off.”

  Kaiden could hear Chiyo breathing heavily as if she was running. “He’s fine, but I can’t say the same about most of the other droids I had control of. That laser is exceptionally powerful.”

  “No kidding. I reached the same conclusion when I was shot at,” he said sarcastically as he grabbed the cannon in both arms and hoisted it on his shoulder. “I’ve got the cannon. What’s the plan?”

  “I’ll distract the Lancer with the remaining droids under my command, while you take out the monster with that cannon.”

  “Does it have enough power to do that?” Kaiden looked the cannon over, doubt clamoring in his mind.

  “It’s stronger than the laser the Lancer itself is using,” she replied. “But you’ll only have one shot, so you need to— Oh, no.”

  Kaiden heard a lot of loud clangs from outside before they were followed quickly by many loud explosions.

  “What the hell was that?” he yelled, seeing dust and scrap metal flung through the air outside the loading bay.

  “The lancer carpet-bombed the remaining droids,” Chiyo said solemnly.

  “It has a compartment in its chest with about a dozen frag bombs. Good news is they’re probably spent now.”

  Kaiden ran up to the open bay doors and set the cannon down. He peeked out to see the Lancer circling the lot. “Well, now we have no more droids, I’ll have to pr
ay I can sneak up on the bastard or something. How long does it take for this thing to fire?”

  “Approximately seven seconds.” Chiyo sounded certain, so he accepted the assumption.

  He sighed, picked the cannon up, and aimed at the Lancer. “Hate to have to bet this on a prayer, but if we don’t have anything else—”

  “Kaiden, wait!” Chiyo yelled, catching Kaiden off-guard. He almost dropped the cannon.

  “What’s wrong?” he demanded belligerently, checking to make sure the Lancer hadn’t seen him.

  “The plan will continue. I’ll get the Lancer to hold still.”

  “How? All your bots are gone,” Kaiden pointed out with hesitation and disbelief.

  “I have a way, but I’ll need you to trust me. And we have to do this very, very quickly for it to work.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  “Chiyo, I’m in position. Whatever you’re planning, please do it quickly. I’m exposed down here,” Kaiden muttered over the comms.

  Chiyo crouched down, looking at the Lancer through shattered windows as she waited for Kaitō to open the path.

  She only needed one.

  Grimly, she hoped that once the Lancer focused on Kaiden again, that would cause enough of a distraction for Kaitō to create a small opening. Then they could be rid of this monstrosity.

  “Kaiden, you need to get its attention,” she requested.

  “Oh, joy, because we had such a laugh a few minutes ago,” he complained.

  “I know it’s asking a lot, but the Lancer can only run so many internal tasks at once. If it spots you and begins to prepare an attack, that will mean it’s focusing less on internal security, and Kaitō can create an opening for us.”

  “You do know that if I die we fail? I love a good practical joke, but to get this far and lose doesn’t seem worth it.”

  “I am not joking, Kaiden,” Chiyo asserted, her tone tense and a little breathy.

  “Not to mention that I can’t really move quickly or dodge while carrying this big bastard cannon. If I get blasted, I gotta imagine the pain of getting fricasseed by a laser has got to suck, even if it is reduced in the Animus,” he lamented.

  “Please, Kaiden, we will get out of this,” she promised, allowing herself a small smile. “Besides, didn’t you say that you prefer explosions?”

  Kaiden snorted over the mic. “Using my own words against me? You are learning pretty quick.” A few moments of silence stretched before she heard him sigh. “All right, get ready.”

  Chiyo saw an eruption of electrical energy. Kaiden had thrown a shock grenade into the air. The Lancer noticed it too, looking first at the blast and then down at Kaiden. It descended, its eye immediately beginning to glow.

  “Madame, I’ve created an opening. Activate the suite when you’re ready,” Kaitō advised calmly.

  “Aim the cannon, Kaiden, and get ready to fire. We only have one shot,” Chiyo ordered. She activated her visor and looked directly at the Lancer. “Activate Hacker Suite.”

  For a moment, the world swirled together as Chiyo’s vision blurred and morphed. When it cleared, she was looking at Kaiden from above and could hear the command to kill repeating over and over. She mentally silenced the command and held herself aloft. She heard a loud hum and felt a powerful heat above her which she cooled. The heat dissipated and the humming silenced.

  “Go on, Kaiden, finish this…” she muttered to herself as she watched the cannon lock onto the target. He aimed directly at the Lancer’s head. She had to remain within as long as she could. If she let go too early, the Lancer could act quickly enough to escape the blast. But if she was too late… It definitely would not be a pleasant experience.

  She saw the cannon reach an apex. Kaiden released the trigger, and all the energy gathering fell into the chamber and exploded out of the cannon.

  “Release!” she commanded, her vision distorting again but quickly reforming. She was back in the building and watched as the laser evaporated the Lancer’s head and melted the top of its chest for good measure. It fell from the sky, crashing into the lot and smashing anything beneath it.

  “You all right, Kaiden?” Chiyo asked.

  “Yeah… Yeah, I’m good. That cannon has got a hell of a kick.” He chuckled. He was silent for a moment, and his tone held a mixture of surprise and curiosity when he finally asked, “What did you do? It just hovered there, stopped charging the laser, and looked at me. Like it was begging me to kill it.”

  Chiyo smiled. “I’ll tell you later. For now, let me go and get the device and let’s finish this run. We’re probably almost out of time now.”

  “Ah, kin Jaxon,” Genos greeted the Tsuna ace as he walked up to the engineer’s pod. “How may I be of assistance? Did you want me to look over one of your weapons? Or perhaps give some pointers on how best to battle a synthetic opponent?”

  “No, thank you, Genos. I am not here for any of that.” Jaxon waved a hand dismissively.

  “Perhaps a game of Xakchet, then? I have all the pieces here in this bag in my pod compartment.” Genos turned to open the compartment when Jaxon laid a hand on his shoulder.

  “As much as that sounds enjoyable, I have come on a more serious matter.”

  Genos stood. “What is wrong? Have you heard some bad news from Abisalo?”

  “No.” Jaxon shook his head. “It’s not about our people. It’s specifically about you, Genos.”

  “What have I done?” he asked, placing a webbed hand in the center of his chest.

  “This issue is something you haven’t done—or have yet to do, perhaps.” Jaxon handed the engineer a tablet showing Genos’ profile. “I am one of the five overseers among the group of Tsuna here and am responsible for ensuring that all the Tsuna under my care are advancing their studies and following the rules of the Academy. That includes you as well.”

  “Am I not?” Genos asked, scrolling down to his scores and showing them to Jaxon. “I have compared my scores with many others. I am not only the top Tsuna engineer but one of the top engineers in the entire first year.”

  “And that deserves recognition and congratulations,” Jaxon remarked. “I should probably be clear—I’m not here to reprimand you. Rather, I am here looking for an answer.”

  “To what question?”

  “You know about the cooperative test coming up?”

  “Yes, of course. I have taken an extra hour to study every night in preparation for the last few weeks.”

  “Certainly a positive step, but I bring it up because I noticed you have not partnered with anyone to take it.” Jaxon blinked a few times in rapid succession, a quirk that indicated that the Tsuna wanted an explanation.

  Genos placed the tips of all of his fingers together, separating and connecting them over and over in a rhythmic way. “Ah, of course. It is not a problem. I will be assigned a partner tomorrow evening. I am confident in my skills and will be happy to support and advise whomever I am partnered with.”

  “Do the skills you are confident in include your social and interactive skills?” Jaxon asked.

  “I know many human customs and traditions, and I can interact with many devices of dozens of origins,” Genos responded, continuing to tap his fingers together.

  Jaxon reached up with one hand and held the fingers immobile, staring Genos down. “We may have only seen each other during celebrations and clan revelries, but I am quite aware of your nervous habit, kin Genos.”

  He let go and Genos separated his hands, holding them behind his back. “You always did seem to have the sharpest senses among our kin.”

  “Why are you so nervous to answer this question?”

  Genos took a long drag from his infuser, shutting his eyes for a moment. “I thought that I was past my insecurities and confusion,” he began, his voice low and tentative. “When I was one of the chosen to come here, I was excited. To explore a new planet and meet a new culture—so much to learn and discover about both them and myself. But once I got here, all I could think of
was our planet and our people.”

  “You grew homesick, as the humans define it,” Jaxon surmised.

  Genos nodded. “It would come in bouts, sometimes long, sometimes brief, but the more I could feel myself developing and my mind expanding, the more I leaned on the teachings and traditions of the Tsuna.”

  “You are a truly studied Tsuna of both heart and mind, kin.” Jaxon laid a hand on Genos’ shoulder. “There is no shame in that, certainly.”

  “You do not understand, kin Jaxon. I wanted, for so many of my years, to break away from all of the bindings of our people. I may not have been a sinner, but I did things the way I felt best served me and what I wished to accomplish with the life I had. I wanted to immerse myself in something new, be open and more than merely what I was instructed to be.” He gave his companion a wary look. “Be more like you, I suppose.”

  “Like me? How so?” Jaxon’s expression remained unchanged.

  “I thought my assignment here would allow me to act on every impulse I had. But once I did…I was a bit of an outcast. I suppose we all were. But I gained new friends, both in our group and among the humans, like Chiyo and Kaiden.”

  “You seem to get along well with those two particularly.”

  Genos nodded. “He is an honorable human. Quick to violence and has odd words and odder thoughts, but a good companion and friend. He and Chiyo both helped me through my crisis of class.”

  “I feel I might be missing something, Genos. You said that you have been in a state of conflict since you got here, but besides the homesickness, I do not hear anything negative about your time here. What am I missing?” Jaxon asked.

  “I am…jumping around, as Chiyo calls it. I’ll focus,” Genos promised, placing a hand on his chest again and lifting two fingers in the air. “I have been riddled with doubts about my place. Back home, I did not want to be trapped by my designation. I love our people and Abisalo, but I do not want my life directed for me according to hierarchy and traditions.”

  “I understand.” Jaxon nodded. “I had a similar bout of uncertainty. It was probably what led me to volunteer to come here as well.”