Kat aimed, waiting for the Knowing to tell her where to fire. The ghost-image appeared, and she squeezed the trigger.
The Rogue moved to evade as always and grabbed its left shoulder as if in pain. It stumbled back. "ASCII! You shot me!" The Rogue looked to its shoulder and back to her. "How?! How are you able to hit me?"
Chapter Forty-four
The Knowing
8:29 P.M...
The new Sanctum...
Alarms blared within the Chamber as Fourth Evolvement Achieved blinked across the top of the screens. Chatter between the thrilled analysts increased.
"Focus people! And stop your idle talking." A male supervisor turned off the alarm. "I need those reports." The supervisor gathered the info and went and handed them to Ms. Nona.
She scanned her hand down the report. "Incredible!" Ms. Nona placed the H.H.C. on the table and turned to her laptop. "Most incredible! Something is happening with the Project."
"With the new project?" Mr. Decuma asked as he straightened his bright orange tie.
"No," Ms. Nona answered. "With Pandora."
At hearing his favorite project’s name, Mr. Morta leaned forward in his chair and commanded, "Lower the Center Screen."
The monitor lowered.
"This cannot be," Mr. Decuma stated. "The Project cannot achieve the Delta Phase without achieving the Gamma. This has to be an error." He turned to the supervisor. "Have this information double checked."
"Yes, at once." The supervisor hurried off.
"What is going on?" Mr. Morta wondered. "How can Pandora side step our research? She has jumped the sequence of phases, but they are set. They have to be achieved in a certain order. We know this because we have invested years in the Pandora Project research. Can our information be incorrect? Or is it something else? Could there be some minute detail we missed?"
"Mr. Decuma is correct," Ms. Nona stated. "This should not be happening. How has Pandora achieved the Knowing when it has not... Wait..." She thought of something. "What if..."
"What if Pandora achieved the Gamma Phase–" Mr. Morta interrupted. "–before we acquired it? We must consider this. The other department we procured Pandora from did have some data missing. The Third Branch Office mentioned something about a fire and that some of the research had been lost in it."
"I do not think so," Mr. Decuma started. "It is most likely the information we are receiving is incorrect. The Project has achieved nothing. We should go over all the files and check for data corruption."
Mr. Morta turned to the other male member of the Council. "Have you lost your faith in Pandora?"
"I am not sure I ever had faith in it," Mr. Decuma answered. "I am putting mine in the new project."
"I do agree we must be thorough," Mr. Morta said. "Review the data. See if it is corrupt."
He thought, "Pandora, I believe in you. I believe you can become the killer we conditioned you to be."
* * *
Hellenistic Sector, Trade Vicinage...
The Factory...
Past Research Lab Five...
In the darken Gallery...
The Rogue stared at its wounded shoulder with its night vision as it repeated, "You shot me. How could you? You never achieved the Gamma Phase."
"Does it matter?" Kat answered and glanced at the exit.
Light trickled in from Research Lab Five, casting shadows across the Gallery.
"Yes it matters." The Rogue turned its back on her. "There are certain steps you have to reach. You cannot skip over things. There has to be a logical reason why you..." It blinked twice. "Wait. I know. Oh... You are a sly one." The Rogue removed its hand from the wound and glanced at the oil covering its palm. "You have killed a human." It placed its hand back to the gunshot. "Perhaps you were the one who killed Topa. Is that not right?" It turned to face her. "ASCII! This was unexpected." The Rogue frowned. "She is gone." It shook its head. "How long have I been talking to myself?"
The Rogue looked back to its wounded shoulder as another thought crossed its automaton brain. "If you reached the Knowing, why did you not kill me? Why spare my life? I have done nothing but try to kill you." The Rogue bowed its head, ashamed. "What makes me worthy of your mercy?"
* * *
Kat snuck out the door, once the Rogue turned its back on her. She rushed through Research Lab Five, grabbed her backpack, and raced through the Green Division. She passed the security desk, entered the Yellow Division, and sprinted for Computer Lab Two. She ejected the PPK clip which still had one bullet left, put the clip in her pocket, and inserted a new one. Kat hurried on as her heart sounded the bio-mecha warning.
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
She didn’t need to know the T-3s were near. The Factory was full of them. She hurried around a corner into an area of darkness. Kat knew there were T-3s there, but couldn’t see them, then the Knowing kicked in.
lub-DUB–lub-DUB–lub-DUB
She couldn’t see the T-3s, at least in the normal sense. Using the Knowing, Kat saw the five T-3s' ghost-images. The T-3s blocked the hallway. She raised her weapon, aimed for them, and shot. Muzzle fire lit up the hall five times, and blackness followed. She saw all their ghost-images fall to the floor and fade. Again she faced the darkness then felt her way along the wall till she reached a lit area. She started running again.
“I don't know what's fueling my race to reach Kimberly more. Is it the idea I have to save her or the need to confront her about betraying me? We're partners. Doesn't she understand the concept of loyalty? Or am I expecting too much from a Life Closer?”
Kat paused at a corner and peeked around it. Thirteen T-3s stood down the hall outside Computer Lab Two as a few of them beat at the entrance. The door slowly gave in to their onslaught and burst at the frame. She fired twice around the corner with the PPK, hitting two of the T-3s. She ejected the spent clip and put in her last full one. Kat fired seven times at the ghost-images, bringing down seven more of them.
"Alpha wants us to fall back," one of the T-3s ordered.
The four that remained retreated down the hall.
Kat reached into her thigh pocket for the clip that had one bullet left and inserted it in the PPK. "Last round." She made her way around the disabled T-3s to the side of the doorway. "Kimberly it’s me, Kat," she shouted. "I’m coming in. Don’t shoot."
Chapter Forty-five
Computer Lab Two
Earlier...
Kim stared at the remaining monitors on the triangle’s base. "Hades! I'm such an idiot! Why did I trust the Rogue? Now I'm stuck in this room!"
Workstation Number Thirteen sparked. A small fire caught inside the shot up computer and smoke rolled out of it. On the other screens, Kim watched the drama play out between Kat and the Rogue.
"Is she really going to fight that thing? Doesn't Katharine know she has no chance against it? I do. I see it," Kim mumbled. "So why doesn't she give up?" She heard what the Rogue called Kat. "Why is it saying Katharine's organic-mecha? She can’t be." Kim thought about it. "Or can she? Could she be another robot? For Ares' sake! Have I been a part of the Pandora Project? Am I also being tested?"
The Rogue told Kat about its bargain with her.
"Great! Just great!" Kim threw up her hands. "Now Katharine knows. Double-crossing Rogue. She's going to come and kill me if the Rogue doesn’t take her out first." Kim stood. "Come on, you giant piece of scrap metal! Finish her!"
She watched as the Rogue pinned Kat to the ground and heard its final revelation.
"It told the T-3s I'm here!"
Kim moved to the corner of Workstation Twenty-eight and looked around the partition wall at the Computer Lab’s door. It was the room’s only exit about seventy feet away. Outside, the T-3s opened fire on the knob.
"Hades!" Kim heard the Rogue over the computers and faced a monitor.
It said, "Ms. Griffin should be entertaining guests right about now."
The gunfire ceased, and the door rattled violently as the T-3s beat on it. Kim raise
d the PPK as perspiration beaded her face.
“I hate robots. They give me the creeps.” She tried to calm herself. "Katharine said hit them in the... Hades! Here they come!"
The door bowed as the T-3s continued their assault.
"They're almost in. I can't believe I'm acting like some frightened child. I'm a Closer. I should be facing this problem like any other I have encountered. I need to focus. Katharine said the only way to disable them is to hit them in the forehead. They’ll keep coming if I hit them anywhere else."
Sweat ran down her face as part of the door frame broke. Light from the hallway trickled in.
"I kind of wish Katharine was here, even if she’s one of those organic-mechas. I guess in retrospect, betraying her was a very stupid move."
More of the door frame broke.
“I'm not going to feel guilty. She should have anticipated I would betray her. It's her fault for not seeing through my ruse. It's her fault for being so trusting. What did she expect? I'm a Closer. We are loyal to no one but the Guild."
The T-3s knocked down the door. Wood splintered, and drywall crumbled. Kim saw the T-3s blood-red dot-light through the dust as they started to make their way in. She readied to defend herself, when she heard two blasts in the hallway, and the T-3s fell. Seven more shots went off and more of them fell. The T-3s retreated. Silence followed, and she heard someone moving outside.
"Kimberly it’s me, Kat. I’m coming in. Don’t shoot."
Kat very quickly peeked her head around the busted door frame as Kim thought about eliminating her. She didn’t get the chance. Kat pulled her head back and rushed in, taking cover at Workstation One. It was the desk at the very top of the triangle.
With the T-3s gone, Kat’s heart ceased the bio-mecha warning, so she turned her full attention to Kim. She glanced at her own gun and shouted, "Kimberly, we need to talk. The Rogue told me something I don't want to believe."
Kim thought, “I don't know who I dread facing more. Is it Katharine or the T-3s?”
She shouted back, "Sure, talk. You want me to believe that's what you’ve come to do?" Kim peered around Workstation Twenty-eight. It was the desk on the right corner of the triangle’s base as she faced the door. "You should know. I saw you and the Rogue on a security camera. I heard it tell you what I did. So you can cut the Cretan Bull, and let’s get down to the retribution." Kim fired two shots at her.
"Stop it!" Kat covered her head as fragments of the desk and partition splintered off. "Sheez! I said I just wanted to talk!"
"You expect me to trust you?" Kim ducked back around the corner, leaned against the desk, caught her breath, and then fired two more times.
"Yes!" Kat scooted away from the one end of the workstation and raked pieces of wood and dust out of her hair. "I’ve never lied to you! So please believe me!"
Kim glanced at her own reflection in the monitor. "Everyone lies!"
"Not me," Kat whispered and shouted, "Not me!"
"Sure," Kim thought and wondered, "How am I going to get out of this mess?" She looked around the room. “Katharine's blocking the only exit. Though... If I’m quiet enough, I can sneak up on her and blow her head off. No that won’t work. Hades! She has clear line of sight. Maybe I can shoot her through the paneling. All I need to do is keep her talking."
Kim cleared her throat and said, "Fine. What do you want to talk about?"
"You made me a promise. You promised..."
Irritated, she shouted, "For Ares’ sake, I know! But like I said everyone lies." Kim moved to where two workstation partitions met. There she found a crack large enough to place the barrel of the gun.
"No. You have to trust someone." Kat ejected the clip and looked at her last bullet. She didn’t want to use it on Kim. "And I need to trust you."
"Idiot! You can’t trust anyone." Kim lined up her aim with her voice. "Especially me!"
“That’s not true.”
Kat inserted the clip back in the gun and thought, "I trusted Preacher. He was always there for me."
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
"Crap!" Kat put her hand to her chest. "Not now," she thought and quickly crawled to the hall, but saw no T-3s. "Where can they be coming from? I need to focus to find where they..." Before she had a chance, she heard sounds from above. She turned and looked up at the ceiling as dust fell from a few square tiles. "No! There’s one above!"
Kat yelled, "There's a..."
A T-3 crashed through the ceiling, landing on a workstation beside Kim. It knocked her back. She went flying and hit the wall. Her gun went off, striking the ceiling. Kat rushed around the cubicles as the T-3s stood and aimed for Kim. A little dazed from hitting the wall, Kim lifted her gun and tried to steady her aim before firing twice. She hit the T-3 in the eye and nose.
"Hey!" Kat shouted, getting its attention. She fired after the T-3 turned and hit it in its vulnerable spot.
The T-3 collapsed to its knees and then fell face first to the floor. The bio-mecha warning ceased.
"They’re testing our defenses," Kat told her. "It won’t be long before they send more. We have to go."
Kim rubbed the back of her head as she stood and aimed the PPK at her as Kat in turn pointed her gun at Kim.
"We're not going to go just yet, Katharine. We haven’t finished our discussion."
"Maybe we should put it on hold and go. I don't know how long..."
"I don’t think so." Kim moved away from the wall, getting some distance between herself and Kat. "Come on, I know you want to kill me. I would."
"Kill you, no," she answered truthfully then admitted, "But yes, I’m very angry! We’re supposed to be partners! We're supposed to watch each other's back!" Kat calmed herself. "We're supposed to trust each other."
"Hah! Like I said you can’t..."
"Kimberly, I'll trust you," Kat interrupted. "All I want you to do is swear on your mom's name to help me. Swear it, and we can put all of this behind us and get out of the Factory. I just need to hear it."
"You think it’s that simple. Fine. I swear."
"Say the whole thing. Say it, so I’ll believe you." Kim hesitated, so Kat shouted, "Say it!"
"Fine!" Kim cleared her throat. "I swear on my mom, on Theresa Griffin’s name, that I’ll help you, that I’ll trust you. You happy now?"
Kat nodded.
Kim aimed for her heart. "Now what?"
"Now, I’m going to trust you." Kat lowered the gun even though she knew this could be a mistake. "Remember you promised to help me." Doubt was in her eyes. It was a deep seeded doubt that she would be betrayed again. "So I’m going to trust you. Please, trust me." Kat took a step back to head for the door, hoping... no praying she made the right decision. "Let’s go."
"Wait a second," Kim said. "You’re out of ammo, aren’t you?"
Kat hesitated answering, but couldn’t hide the truth, and nodded. Her heart thumped as she thought, "Did I mess up? Can an assassin be trusted? Or will she kill me? Crap! I did mess up. She... No. I have to trust Kimberly. I have to..."
Kim laughed. "You are out of ammo. Too bad." She squeezed the trigger.
Kat lifted her hand. "No!"
Click.
Kim grinned again. "So am I."
Appalled, Kat’s mouth dropped. "You could have shot me." She was so angry at Kim she could have hit her. "You could have shot me again!"
"Couldn’t have. Like I said, the clip’s empty."
"What if you miss counted?" Kat asked.
"I never miss count."
"You could have shot me."
"For Ares' sake! Stop your whining and let’s get out of here. Who knows what the T-3s have planned."
Kat wanted to argue more, but knew she was right. She brooded. "Fine, let’s go."
The two women started to leave, when they heard voices coming over the computers. They looked and saw two T-3s on the screens as they stood at the entrance to the Gallery.
"Alpha, the Rogue is nowhere to be found," one of the T-3s announced over i
ts Internal Link. It nodded, listening to instructions. "Understood. Returning to join the brethren gathering to attack Pandora and the Chairman’s daughter. No prisoners are to be taken."
Kim and Kat looked at each other, nodded, and bolted for the door.
Chapter Forty-six
Escape
8:26 P.M...
An eerie silence abounded as they rushed down the hallway that led them out of the Yellow Division. The rotten smell of death filled the air. Some passages were dark, some were lit, and others flickered with damaged lights. They bolted through the carpeted graveyard. The Factory had become a burial ground for its workers. The employees lay scattered about, killed by a horror they had created.
"Let’s hope they haven’t found the van," Kim said.
She was still a little wary of their new partnership and wondered, "Is Katharine really a robot? Is that why she can’t remember anything because there’s nothing for her to remember?"
They turned a corner.
Kat noticed her glancing at her and thought, "Kimberly said she overheard me and the Rogue when we were in the Gallery. Did she also hear it accuse me of being organic-mecha? If so, what does she think of me? Crap... It doesn’t matter. It doesn't matter because it’s not true. I’m human." Doubt and fear filled her next thought. "I’m human."
lub-DUB... lub-DUB...
Kat sensed the T-3s were near and that there were dozens of them. She asked, "Do you have any more ammo?"
"Sure." Kim placed a new clip in her own PPK and handed one to Kat. "This is it."
They paused at a corner. Kim peeked around and nodded the all clear. They ran down a hall, passed the security desk between Yellow and Green Division, and entered the next passage. They stopped. The hallway had collapsed from an explosion.
"Did the T-3s do this to block our escape?" Kat asked and glanced around the hall. "Are we being monitored?"
"Doesn’t matter. We can’t go this way. We’ll have to find another. Anyway..." Kim peered up. "I don’t see any cameras in the halls." She removed the blueprint from the knapsack. "Give me a second." She looked over the floor plans.
Noir, City Shrouded By Darkness Page 24
