A cold chill runs up my spine. Milton? I didn’t create him. I didn’t even have a hand in him. He’s Epics project and I respected that. Plus, the possibilities of an AI designed by an AI? It seemed like a really good idea at the time.
“Milton? Milton overrode the security protocols you and I designed? How is that possible?” My mind races with ideas on how he could’ve done this… and why?
“Mum,” Milton’s voice breaks in over the speakers, his upper-crust British accent feels more annoying now than it has in the past. I always thought it was cool, now I just want to recreate the American Revolution and kick his butt out. “There were factors involved in the decision. I didn’t make it lightly, or unilaterally.”
I take a breath… a couple of breaths and try to calm down. “I’m listening.”
“Several Federal agencies came with warrants, Mum. While I did deny them access at first they became insistent.”
By insistent, they had a judge issue arrest warrants for all the employees of the Spire.
Ooh, so they played dirty then. When I left, we employed about fifty people, I can see now that it is up to a hundred and eight.
“I called a meeting with the Protectors, and everyone came to the same conclusion. As long as we could maintain your data, the computers themselves were just hardware. The only thing of real value was the animetal and your older armor. I’m very sorry, Mum. But I thought you would want the work to continue. The Protectors save lives and that always seemed more important to you than tech. Was I wrong?”
Dangit. I want to throw my tablet across the room and scream. But no. He isn’t wrong.
I sigh. “No Milton, you did good. You wiped everything before they came in, right?”
“Like a miscreant bully in the playground, Mum. I even set off the labs internal EMP and had Luke go in and remove the ZPFMs to a safer location.”
I nod.
He really had no choice, Amelia. I am not sure we would not have done the same.
I can feel a stress headache forming behind my eyes. I put the tablet down for a moment and rub my temples. Okay. Okay, we can recover from this. It isn’t what I wanted or how I wanted to do things, but I can do this.
It just means… dang-it. I like my new armor.
“I guess I don’t every time get what I want.”
Do any of us?
Of course they have “Welcome Home Amelia” strung across the rec room. I glance up at Luke, who tricked me up here, and scowl. I was in the middle of rebuilding my lab when he came in and coerced me up here with the promise of pizza and Star Trek.
“I can see the wheels turning. Before you call me a liar, look,” he says pointing at the far wall. Star Trek is indeed playing on the big screen TV. I guess they came out with a movie while I was away. Dangit. Now I just want to go watch it. I could smell the pizza when we walked in, so I guess I can’t call him a liar and make him do penance.
“Fine. You’re not a liar. Just a tricksy hobbit.” I give him the side eye as he wheels me over to the buffet. Everyone is here, which is nice. Not just the team but the building staff as well.
I sit through an endless parade of “welcome back” along with a little chit-chat with the people I do know. The building’s staff have these sleek black uniforms with gold cuffs and a pin that shows what department they work for. Security are wearing their awesome red shirts that are lined with my special tungsten weave for protection. Luke tells me it was all designed by Kate… Kate who is suspiciously absent.
After the formalities are over the party degenerates into groups of people gathered around plates of food and drink. I wheel myself over to the TV and restart the movie.
“It’s pretty good. Critics didn’t like it though,” Carlos says as he walks up next to me.
“The only time critics like Star Trek is when it isn’t Star Trek.”
He laughs. We’ve had this discussion a thousand times.
“A lot happened while you were gone. I’m sorry about your lab. Luke asked to be the one to tell you—”
I wave and smile it off. “Listen, you all were in an impossible situation and it was partly my fault. I should have foreseen the possibility and kept my more sensitive things off-site where no one but me knew about them.”
He opens his mouth to say something and I stifle it with a slice of my hand, “Really, Carlos. It’s okay.”
He gives me one of his trademark lazy smiles and for a second, I can see the kid I used to know. I pat him on the leg before nodding over at the team. “Listen, I’d ask Luke this but things between him and me are… weird. I think we just need to spend more time together. I keep having to remind myself a year and a half has gone by.”
“It’s freaky for sure. I mean, for you a week and change passed. For us, even though Kate insisted you were still alive… I think even the most optimistic person would give up hope after a while.”
“You didn’t, right?” I don’t mean for my voice to sound like I’m pleading but it is strangely reassuring to know they didn’t give up on me.
“Nah. You’re a fighter. I knew if you were alive you would find your way home.” Awkward silence encroached on us. I have a question I want to ask him, but I was hoping for a private moment, but this is as good as it is gonna get.
“I don’t know how close you are to everyone but…” He sits next to me, leaning in close enough our conversation can remain private.
“But what?”
“Why isn’t Kate on the team?”
He looks away, eyes scanning the room to give himself a moment. I can tell he’s thinking, he has this little thing he does with his eyebrows whenever he’s trying to put together what he wants to say. I let him have his moment, I’ve postulated a theory as to why Kate isn’t here, but I want to know what he thinks.
“When she came back,” he starts before looking at me, “She wasn’t in the best shape. I don’t know the whole story, she doesn’t talk to me any more than she talks to anyone else. But… she was awake when they did some of their experimentings on her.”
A cold shiver runs down my spine. The memory of that room haunts my dreams. I saw the machines they used, smelled the fresh blood of my friend. The horror of seeing her hooked up to their hoses… I squeeze my eyes shut trying to block out the image of her splayed up on the wall like a trophy.
“I take it you saw, then?” Carlos asks in a whisper.
I nod, not trusting my voice. He goes quiet for a moment, giving me time to recover. “It… was bad. But I thought… I don’t know what I thought. I hoped she would recover,” I say with a sigh. When I open my eyes, I can see tears in his.
“I care for her Amelia, but she’s locked everyone out. She needs you, I think, more than anyone else.”
I nod. “Yeah… “ I sigh, “Yeah I can see that. Okay. Well, there is a lot for me to do, I guess.”
He takes a swig of his soda, the tension in his shoulders relaxes as he drinks. It’s a heavy subject. I catch a glimpse of several of the female staff ogling him. Carlos seems oblivious to the figure he cuts. Good for him. I don’t want his newfound looks and physique going to his head— of course for him they aren’t newfound, are they? A year and a half.
“Have you spoken to your parents?” he asks suddenly.
“Hmm? Yeah, we had dinner last night, courtesy of our Kate.” I tell him.
“Did it go well?”
“It was a little awkward at first, but once we started talking science it livened right up. It was nice to see them again.”
I shake my head, letting my thoughts drift as I sit with my friend and watch the new Trek. So much has happened that I haven’t even begun to catch up on. Things like everyone’s lives. They all seem like different people. Even Luke. It’s like I stepped out of Q-space in a slightly different universe. But I know that isn’t possible. It’s the time that has passed.
Damn if life doesn’t just sucker punch you in the kidneys.
First things, first. I need my lab put back together, I ne
ed to design a new arm for Kate and possibly, get started designing the MK VI. I have a bad feeling the government not only isn’t going to give me back my stuff, they are going to demand this armor as well. As much as I would like to fight them on it, the only way to keep it from happening is not to have it.
Which royally sucks.
Some people live in a concrete jungle or a real one, I live in a cardboard jungle. Boxes are stacked to the ceiling as I navigate around the formerly empty space that was my lab. Now the room is filled with the discarded boxes of computer equipment I’ve already set up or the ones I have yet to open.
“What’s next, Epic?” I ask my AI assistant.
The server needs to be connected in the cold room.
“Right,” I push up on my chair as the MK V flows out of me under my clothes and wraps around me. I don’t have it cocoon me in combat mode, just the minimal I need to walk and move around like a normal person. It’s exhausting like this because the armor is limited to stimulating my nervous system. It’s bizarre, but it works, for a few minutes at a time.
I take a shaky step out of my chair toward the server box.
“Amelia?” I hear Kate’s voice behind me. “Where are you?”
“Over here!” I grunt as I push the server box toward the cold room. I hear her move through the room. Her hand appears next to mine and she pushes on the box with me. The server moves easily as Kate is considerably stronger than me. She’s stronger than most humans. Part of her power set gives her a near perfect physical body. She once told me she can lift three-hundred pounds without breaking a sweat.
I glance over at her and smile. “It’s nice to see you again. I missed you last night.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t at your party.” She doesn’t offer any explanation. With her help, it only takes a minute to pull the server out of the box and plug it in. I have all these pre-configured at the factory. I don’t have to put them together, just plug them into the power and connect the orange fiber optical cable. Once it powers on the AC in the room kicks in, dropping the temperature a few degrees to counteract the high-powered server.
I will have it finished and ready for production in thirty minutes.
“Thank you Epic.” I turn to Kate and put a hand on her shoulder. “Can we go somewhere and talk?”
She nods, eyes narrowing at me. “Of course. I hope you’re not going to try and talk me into coming back though, Amelia. I’m done as a superhero.”
I grin back at her. Clearly, she’s wearing her necklace and can’t read my emotions. “I’ll bet you ten bucks I can change your mind.”
Twenty minutes later we’re sitting in Starbucks as I watch her play with her drink with her one hand. She isn’t wearing her prosthetic. Instead, she has her coat arm pinned. I take a moment to examine her. Her long black hair is more severely cut than it was when I last saw her. She’s wearing very professional clothes, nothing sexy or alluring at all. It dawns on me as she’s sitting there that this is unlike my Kate. I don’t know everything the Th’un did to her, but at this moment, I’m glad I blew them all to hell.
“Okay, Amelia, clearly you have something you want to say,” she says with a grim look as she takes a sip from her coffee.
I nod, playing with my stir stick for a second. I have the hot chocolate instead of coffee. With summer coming to an end it is pretty nice to enjoy something warm instead of having to drink cold things to stay cool. This is the closest Starbucks to the Spire, right near Sprouts Farmer’s market. Despite the weather cooling off, there are plenty of people around.
“Kate, I know it’s been a year and a half for you guys, but to me, it’s been less than a month since I chased the Th’un ship with you on board. And only a couple of weeks since I…” I glance away. I’m not proud of what I did. I don’t regret it, well not in the way that I wish I could undo it. More like, I wish I hadn’t had to do it.
She reaches out with her one hand and places it over mine. “I’m sorry Amelia. I hadn’t thought of that. Lux told us what happened. Did you cause the black hole?”
I nod squeezing my eyes shut and try not to think about the billions of people I killed. “It was the only way. And…” My voice breaks and I fold my arms on the table and drop my head into them. I don’t want to cry about this, but I haven’t talked to anyone about it.
“And what?” she asks as she gently runs her hand through my hair.
“I was so mad, Kate. When I found you, what they did to you—” Her hand stiffens for a second and I can tell she’s upset.
“I wanted to ask what happened… and I also didn’t. I don’t… I don’t want to talk about it, but I know I need to.” She lets out a massive sigh. Her chin hits the table and I glance up and we are looking at each other eye-to-eye.
“They had you strung up like an animal. I killed the Th’un they had in the room with you. Cut him down without hesitation. It was in that moment I realized we were never going to be free of them. I saw what they did to the Lux—”
She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “Lux showed me the images of her home. They’re rebuilding, you know. They named a city after you. I don’t know if Luke told you—”
Now it’s my turn to stiffen. “Luke and I haven’t really talked since I’ve been back. There’s a weird vibe between us. Well, between me and everyone. I don’t know if it is me, or them. I…” I sigh. “I found their singularity research lab and I overrode all their safeties. It wasn’t an accident, Kate. I purposely set off that singularity and I was fully aware that it would wipe out their solar system. I just didn’t see any other option.”
She nods, tears welling up in her eyes. “Amelia, you did what you had to do. And as for everyone acting weird, well, it’s been a tough year. There has been a lot of scrutiny on the superhero community. The thing with the tech, your lab, the push to get rid of costumed heroes—”
I hadn’t heard about that. My eyebrow kicks up with a question.
“Epic hasn’t completely caught you up, I see. There’s been some serious talk about making it illegal to be a superhero. If you wanted to use your powers to help people, there is a push to have us join the police or other civil agencies. So far nothing has come of it.” She takes a deep breath. “My point is, we’ve been under a lot of stress. If you add in our favorite armored heroine went on a walk-a-bout to God knows where, and the last year and a half has been pretty hard.”
I stare into her eyes for a minute before smiling, she’s right, of course. I was focused on my own feelings, then again, I’m me, so of course I am. It would do me some good to try and—
The explosion ripples from across the street, shattering the window, knocking us both down. My chair clatters away and I hit the tile painfully hard with a grunt. Before I’m finished sliding across the room, Epic has the armor wrapping around me. My helmet forms around my head just as I come to rest against the bar. The HUD boots up showing me the situation. Kate’s a few feet away shaking her head. She’s bleeding from a half-dozen cuts on her torso and her very conservative outfit has several large rips in it.
Her eyes go wide for a second before she clamps her hand over them. “Amelia, I lost my necklace, I need a second,” she yells out blindly.
“I’m on it,” I tell her. Standing up I bring the entire sensor suit online. Everyone in the cafe is alive, but I can’t say the same for the broken and battered people across the street outside the… “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I want to swear as I move to stand between Kate and the threat.
Six armored people descend from the sky landing a few hundred feet apart. Their armor is a solid black with no markings. Bulkier than my MK III suit but still recognizable as people. They immediately disperse in groups of two. It only takes a second for Epic to catch up on what is happening.
There are three banks in this shopping center. Their explosion took out the main communications relay for the block along with the power transformer.
“Are you saying those bastards just murdered a bunch of peopl
e to slow down police response?”
Yes.
“Epic, battle mode.” The HUD flashes red as the relevant data highlights in my field of view.
“Kate, stay here, keep these people safe,” I tell her.
I blast out the broken window hitting a hundred just as I slam into the first one. Epic tags them as Alpha One through Alpha Six. Whatever the suits are made out of, is tough. I hear an audible grunt as I crash A1 into the wall on the other side of the street. I punch him as hard as I can in the back of the head. The helmet clangs, and I know how disorienting it is from personal experience.
He drops to his knees as I spin around and bring up the particle beam. The other five fan out. With a whine of my Emdrive, I fling into the air just as they open fire with projectile weapons. Epic scans them, revealing they are standard forty-five rounds. Bullets spark off the wall and their friend. I open up, hyper-accelerated silicate burns through the air striking number six… only to deflect off burning a line through the foliage and setting fire to a tree.
“Epic, what the hell?”
Five lifts off into the sky with a roar of jets. Fire leaps out of his legs and back as he accelerates toward me. He pulls a big hammer off his back, gripping it with both hands.
I smile.
He probably expects me to dodge, instead, I stand absolutely still. I want to make sure he hits. I transfer power into the kinetic shields.
Amelia, I am not sure this is wise.
“I want to show them who they are messing with.”
Amelia, evasive—
The hammer slams into my chest with the force of a raging elephant. The sky flashes above me and my vision dims as I fall from the sky to hit the roof of the Farmers Market. I crash through the corrugated metal and slam into a carrot cart. The concrete floor is my final destination. I groan from the pain. My chest burns and I can taste blood.
They appear to be able to bypass kinetic shielding, I do not know how as of this time.
I withdraw the armor around my mouth, so I can spit out the blood pooling in it. “Well, you’re full of help,” I say.
Unbreakable Arsenal (Full Metal Superhero Book 5) Page 4
