by Kit Falbo
I’d increased the defense of this suit, but still, I’m blown back across the room. “Plan B” I wheeze with the air out of my lungs. Two sets of lab equipment transform into defensive weaponry. I still need to know more. Webs of anti-riot goo shoot out at the Arbiter, designed to restrict moment and electronic signals in case she tries to set off the self destruct on UIs. The goo splashes, but doesn’t touch her. It instead reveals the outline of an invisible mechanical suit. Lock’s not floating off the ground. She’s riding a much more dangerous machine than I'm wearing.
The goo starts to sizzle and melts off. Lock lets out a peel of laughter. “Arbiters have to deal with conflicts involving what you consider illegal tech and military grade weapons. You think a little slime will stop me.”
I push off and roll to the side as she takes another shot.”Why are you doing this?“ I ask starting to get a little worried and start activating more serious tech. I could really use Tess about now.
“Because it’s my mission.” She fires again.
This time defensive shields projected by other items in the room pop up blocking the shots. Mission? This person is crazy. I have a safety room like square I set up. If I can get her in it, I can shut her down.
Lock blasts the shield projectors. I need to get her to do more than stand in one spot and shoot stuff. “Plan A.” I mutter, and a cannon drops from underneath a table and fires a shot at her. It’s my lethal option, but I don’t think my other tricks will work.
A big orange blast hits her, and she steps back. Whatever invisibility she had on her mech is fried. I see the sizeable hardened metal structure now. Even her face is covered. The gun she is shooting with was only a projection, one small hole on an artillery gun that has more powerful options. As for actual damage, I see none. The artillery gun fires a stronger blast at the cannon turning it into coin-sized scrap and denting the wall enough for me to know my deposit is lost.
“Thank you for that. Now I will have an easier time justifying lethal force against you.”
Plan F, I think. It is ironically named for if I’m fucked. I jump to the side, and that same artillery blast catches me in my right shoulder. My right arm goes flying off and a spurt of gore with it. I crash to the ground, focusing on laying still and unmoving.
She takes a step towards me to make sure I’m dead, I think. My right arm transforms into Booker, and the now mottled fox jumps knocking her a few feet to the left. Since day one, Booker has been my secret weapon guiding and helping me. Lily ordered him to protect me like I’m having Eld protect her. A few feet might not seem like much, but now she's more than halfway into my safety area. “Revenge!” I yell activating it.
I watch as her electronics seize up and a portion of her armor starts to melt off. Soon half her face is showing. It’s that same old, yet not old, one she projected. Then the cannon that is half out of the area fires. The floor cracks and craters and whatever the adjacent damage is, it turns off my setup. “Snuck a UI in to help you. Cute.” She snarls through the hole in her suit.
‘UI destruct code detected.’ My computer informs me. We had set it up based off Eld’s experiences as one of the ways to find the target if they were actively using it.
I start to get up, that near miss did hurt. “Why won’t you die! I’ll have to do this the old fashioned way.” Lock states. I can see her armor already self-repairing some and she jerkily starts to lift her weapon.
I quickly go through my options in my head. I messed up. I wasn’t prepared for a human in a mech. “I’m sorry Lily.” I whisper while pulling up the options for a self destruct.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
The door slides open, and a black top hat flies into the room and lands hole side up. “What the…”
A girl jumps up out of it. She has light green skin, blue eyes, blond hair, and two floppy rabbit ears. Her short, white sleeveless dress glitters A Humedroid. “Ta-da!” and in one quick motion, she raises an old white tipped magician's wand at arbiter Lock. White-gold fire erupts from the end taking the top of the mech and the Arbiter’s head off.
‘Friendly.’ my computer warns me having received the proper code.
“Was I not supposed to do magic yet?” the bunny-eared humedroid asks as she picks up the hat and places it on her head.
I steady myself, feeling a little queasy and finally let my stiff right arm slide out. The suit wraps itself around it completing my form. “You killed her.”
“Of course I did, silly! You weren’t going too, and she was about to kill you both. You’re too special to let that happen. We have to be quick to help Tess with the other before the station defenses come.”
“Other?” The bunny girl motions and I follow along with Booker, who is in an armored fox form. “And who are you?”
“Don’t you recognize me? Or Us? Well, now we. Now I’m Sonia-belle. Sorry, I didn’t follow protocol, the whole humedroid process takes like a week. They actually recommend I stay, as if I could after watching Lily’s last bout!” She answers at a rapid-fire pace.
Belle and that girl from the charter combined, that was not part of the plan. I suddenly feel very out of depth, while following as fast as I can.
The first bit of battle damage I see is a three foot long one-inch deep scar in the station's wall, with a golf ball sized signal jammer stuck nearby. That was to stop our greatest fear. The triggering of a cascade of UI self destructs killing millions or billions. The lab I had set up had them built into all the equipment. Tess, as part of her supply for this mission, has dozens of tiny ones she could throw for a mobile target.
“This way!” The bunny girl yells as she takes a corner. I suppose I should think of her as Sonia-belle now. Murderous bunny girl, not that I can say she’s wrong for taking that action.
I turn the corner and recognize where I’ve been led. The entrance to the Banana Club is caved in. The sign has been sheared through, so only Club remains attached to the building. The half sign hangs there, little bits of sparks flying out from it. I watch as Sonia-Belle enters and I follow.
The Banana club is trashed and almost abandoned. Tables and chairs torn to shreds. Tess back to her more spider looking form is pitted, dented, and singed. The tips of her arms straining with a containment field holding a mechanical octopus inside.
“Hey JT, boy-o, can you help me out here buddy? I’m in a wee bit o trouble.” Finn calls out from inside the containment.
Arbiter Lock had been a surprise. A UI being involved is less so. Due to the location, the amount of data and manipulation needed to produce and enact the traps we had figured that most likely our culprit was one. “Why are you targeting and killing Magic users Finn?” I ask.
“Nothin personal. Well, Maybe a little. Let me out, and I’ll tell you everything.”
“High chance of having a hardwired signal emitter to get past the jammer set up in here. Not sure how much longer I can hold him.” Tess states clearly under some strain.
Sonia-belle’s wand points at Finn, the humedroid has the same cheery smile she had when she killed the Arbiter. After what I saw it do to Lock, I don’t think anything will be left if she shoots the Finn. I start activating some planned sub-routines in the suit. “We need to keep him as intact as possible to see what information we can pull about all this from him.”
“I will not be made yer puppet!” Finn yells. One of his tentacles explodes blowing Tess back and breaking containment.
“Shit!” Sonia-belle barks and fires off her wand. Another column of white flame erupts hitting where Finn had just been making the ground metallic slag.
Booker fires off his a laser we had added to him and a spot on Finn sizzles but the damaged octopus doesn’t stop.
I clap my hands activating one of the subroutines I had queued up. A gravity disturbance forms spinning bits of debris and Finn now away from his targeted destination. “Magic!” Finn snarls.
Technically it is tech, but this one is a classic for the users who claim to wield magic. Inefficien
t, time-consuming and a spectacle more than anything. Finn tries to propel himself out of it, but I send a wedge of kinetic force stopping him and making him spin in place. “Anyone else working with you?”
“I work alone!” The Octopus cries, a blatant lie since I know about Lock.
“The distraction I paid for has run out, Arbiters incoming in ten.” Tess states.
Finn starts to laugh. I make sure he is selected then crack my knuckles. The next sub-routine actives and there is a whining crunch as Finn suddenly compresses into a tight ball. Most likely destroying him. Then the gravity field shuts off, and he falls to the ground with a thud. “Shock it and bag it.”
Tess jabs one of her appendages into the ball and I can see sparks arcing. Next, she takes the ball into her body.
Five arbiters rush in. I put my hands up. Sonia-belle drops her wand. “All pause!” They boom loudly at us as we stand there still.
“I have a conflict to resolve.” I state calmly.
Chapter Thirty-Six
The good news is after two hours of questioning, no UIs have exploded. No news of random attacks in the universe is coming in. No emergency messages about something happening to Lily. “Who are you really and why did you ask arbiter Lock why she tried to kill you?”
I sigh. “Look, I may have been gracious and given you my records of Arbiter Lock attacking me and stating she was going to frame me for the recording blackout. Additional information is not free. Two million stations for full information on my identity and five million more stations if you want why I asked that question.” Lawyerish of me using the rules of Freedom Station to avoid too much prodding. I studied up because well everyone insisted on that. Any incident on the station and I would wind up here. It may seem like I’m asking for outrageous sums, but there are reasons why it is that amount.
“What is to stop us from paying and then contesting the amount?” The Arbiter interviewing me asks. Contesting in this context means that they will argue that the value of my information isn’t worth that amount. My privacy has a value close to my net worth. As for the question that would make me reveal I was Wizard Joontal, well, the massive penalties from the AMU would make that amount valid.
“You can. But I’ll give you one more bit of information for free. If you do pay me and try to contest it, you will lose.” I say with certainty.
The man pauses, and his eyes flick about like he’s reading information and then he’s silent like conferring with others. “Conflict resolution is this. You will pay two hundred and fifty thousand stations for damages during this incident as the primary responsible party. You will leave Freedom Station and never return under any guise.”
I have no interest in contesting the amount or coming back here. “Conflict resolved.”
Not ten minutes later I find myself at the docks after having been forcefully escorted there. Tess and Booker are off to the side waiting for me. Tess looks as good as new, the dings, dents, and scorch marks all repaired. She has a secure case just big enough to hold one crumpled cephalopod UI next to her. Booker looks more like a silver corgi after a few modifications. If he chose to look like Lily’s fox, more than a few questions might be asked. “I have your luggage.” Tess states patting the case with one of her appendages.
“You coming home too?” Nervous fear wells up in me as I ask. Tess stuck to the plan. Well, they all did in their own ways. Seven years old, I remember uncle Ubb telling me he had a present and bringing out this slightly lumpish silver blob nearly half my size at that point. I’ve always had her nearby, even when she annoyed me.
“My primary goal was to raise you. Now you’re all grown up. I’ve found some kids who need help with that here.” At least she can’t see me crying in the infiltration suit. “Anyway, someone needs to stay and make sure this mess is all cleaned up.”
“Booker?” If I had to place bets, it would have been Booker and Belle staying, though the smart man would wager I’d be going home alone. I don’t see Sonia-belle anywhere, the ease and eager cheer she had while killing Arbiter Lock still unnerves me.
“Kept my promise to keep you safe, need to make sure she is safe too.” I worry about Lily too. I nod, not wanting to give away more on the station where everything is recorded.
“Can’t believe I was almost late. Can’t have you leave without your other UI! Now that I’m a humedroid it doesn’t really work that way anymore does it? Humedroid leagalish stuff is strange. I am supposed to educate and diversify you, but can I do that as a student.” In a rapid fire of words, Sonia-belle steps into the group. Instead of the top hat and showgirl dress, she has on a flight-suit and three big bags of luggage she seems to carry around effortlessly. One rabbit ear stood up, while another one half flopped down.
“Your flight is next.” Interrupts an Arbiter who is shepherding me, in case i tried to get back onto the central area of Freedom Station.
I look around to say goodbye, but Tess is already gone. Picking up the case I trudge my way forward toward the shuttle waiting to take me back to Apaxis, Booker, and Sonia-belle by my side. “You’ll need to bond or vouch for that unbonded UI.” States a crewmember as we enter. I vouch for him. The exhaustion of the last few hours hits me as I slide into my seat. All the answered and unanswered questions race through my head. We won, right? My computer notifies me we’ve left Freedom Station. I close my eyes and think of home.
-end-
About the Author
Kit Falbo has loved science fiction and fantasy since he learned to read. He spends his time in the Pacific North West taking care of his wife and two children. And now wishes to including writing as a new chapter in his life.
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