by Isaac Hooke
“Negative,” his Accomp replied. “The remote interfaces appear to be offline.”
“What, why?” Eric said. “I never authorized that. Did you turn it off?”
“No,” Dee said. “The interfaces should be working, but they’re not.”
“The M-54s aren’t responding,” Tread said.
“Neither are my Savages,” Bambi added.
“Nor mine,” Traps said.
“Well, this is just lovely,” Slate said. “We have three hours to go, and we’re already out of the battle. In the first five minutes.”
Dragonworms lowered from where they had been hiding above the canopy. Or rather, a type of Dragonworm. These particular bioweapons were slightly smaller than the undomesticated versions the team had encountered earlier, and their larval bodies had a bright red stripe passing down the middle. The worms simply hovered there, white bodies hanging down like crescents, flapping their dragonfly-like wings, and didn’t offer any further attacks.
“So, the Banthar have proper bioweapons after all,” Bambi said.
“The bastards ambushed us,” Brontosaurus said.
“How the hell did they find us?” Hicks asked.
“Obviously they traced the eastward path we made after we first arrived,” Frogger replied. “All the way from the plains.”
“But we left no footsteps outside the forest,” Hicks said. “There was no snow.”
“One of their scouts probably stumbled on the entry point,” Frogger said. “That would explain why their pursuit wasn’t more aggressive.”
“Actually, I told them the coordinates,” one of the Ravager units announced. The voice came over the comm band, but no avatar appeared on Eric’s HUD when it spoke.
Eric instinctively tried to seize control of the unit.
“Scorpion?” Dickson said. “You doing that?”
“No, I still can’t access the unit,” Eric said. “I can’t even reach the remote interface.”
“You’re all going to be dissected,” the Ravager said, turning around. “The Banthar will open up your protective armor, then your chest assembly, and then your AI core. Your neural networks will be unwound, the data absorbed into the Essential.”
“That voice…” Crusher said. “I recognize it from somewhere.”
“Of course you recognize it,” the Ravager unit said. “You once knew me as Manticore.”
“But you died,” Brontosaurus said. “We saw it.”
“Did you?” Manticore said. “You abandoned me in the Caucasus mountains while the bioweapons closed in. You never saw what happened to me. You didn’t care.”
“How did you escape?” Brontosaurus said.
“I didn’t,” Manticore told him simply.
The second Ravager turned to face the trapped Bolt Eaters, as did the M-54 tanks, and the Savages. The support units aimed their weapons at the different Bolt Eaters so that each member had at least two weapons pointed at them. The two Ravens approached, and hovered behind Manticore, obviously under his control as well.
“I’ve been hunting you since Earth,” Manticore said. “There, I lead a small organization known as the Tal Shahar.”
“You’re the mastermind behind the Tal Shahar?” Crusher asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” Manticore said.
“But they hate Mind Refurbs, and have sworn to destroy them!” Crusher said.
“Yes,” Manticore said.
“You hate yourself?” Brontosaurus said.
“Mind Refurbs are abominations of the human condition,” Manticore said. “If not destroyed now, in their infancy, eventually all humans will become Mind Refurbs. I know it. Everyone’s going to want what they see as immortality. But they don’t know the costs, the terrible costs. I won’t let that happen. I won’t let more human minds endure the suffering we’ve gone through.”
“Dude, we’re not suffering,” Slate said.
“You are, yet you don’t know it,” Manticore said. “I’m helping you by doing this. Hopefully you’ll understand this before the Banthar melt you down for spare parts.”
“You’ve been in control of the Ravager for how long?” Marlborough asked.
“Since Earth,” Manticore replied. “I had helpers embedded in the army depot rip out the autonomous core from this Ravager, and install my AI core in its place. Once we passed through the wormhole, I spent most of my time in an accelerated state, instructing my Accomp to obey any commands sent my way, even allowing remote takeover requests. It took about a week of accelerated time to hack into the support units. When that was done, the big question came down to: when was the most opportune time to strike? I almost turned on you several times, but in the end, the Essential and I decided the best course of action would be to waylay you here, when you attempted to return to Earth.”
“The Essential?” Marlborough pressed.
“Yes,” Manticore said, but offered no further explanation.
“Let us go,” Marlborough continued. “We have critical intelligence that needs to make it home. You could be dooming humanity by doing this. You claim you want to help them, by not letting them become Mind Refurbs… but you can’t help them if the Banthar decide to return and kill all of humanity.”
“Oh, they’re going to return, that’s an irrefutable fact,” Manticore said. “In fact, I’ve already agreed to help them take Earth.”
“And what do you get in return?” Marlborough said.
“Nothing for myself,” Manticore said. “But they have agreed to spare humanity. The biosphere will be destroyed to make way for bioweapon production: humans and animals will have to live in domes, but it’s better than having no life left at all.”
“You’re a traitor to humanity,” Marlborough said.
“I can’t believe you’re getting nothing personally in return,” Bambi said. “You say you’re altruistic, and doing this to save humanity, but I don’t buy it.”
“Ah, the Black Widow,” Manticore said. “You always were the sharpest of the bunch.”
“So, what do you get in return?” Bambi said.
“They’ve also agreed to help me destroy all Mind Refurbs,” Manticore said. “Not just you, but any copies still on Earth. And backups. When that’s all done, they’ve agreed to terminate me as well.”
Behind Manticore and the support units, between the trees, tentacled alien tanks approached, trampling the snow and undergrowth beneath them.
“Welcome to hell,” Manticore said.
To be continued...
I don't like leaving readers hanging, which is why I've decided to publish all three full length novels in the trilogy at the same time. That's right, book two is available now. Find out what happens next without having to wait.
Continue the adventures in Reforged (Bolt Eaters Trilogy Book 2)
Afterword
Please help spread the word about Reactivated by leaving a one or two sentence review. The number of reviews an ebook receives has a big impact on how well it does, so if you liked this story I'd REALLY appreciate it if you left a quick review. Anything will do, even one or two lines.
Thank you!
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author Isaac Hooke holds a degree in engineering physics, though his more unusual inventions remain fictive at this time. He is an avid hiker, cyclist, and photographer who sometimes resides in Edmonton, Alberta.
Get in touch:
isaachooke.com
[email protected]
Acknowledgments
I’d also like to thank my knowledgeable beta readers and advanced reviewers who helped smooth out the rough edges of the prerelease manuscript: Nicole P., Karen J, Jeremy G., Doug B., Jenny O., Amy B., Bryan O., Lezza, Noel, Anton, Spencer, Norman, Trudi, Corey, Erol, Terje, David, Charles, Walter, Lisa, Ramon, Chris, Scott, Michael, Chris, Bob, Jim, Maureen, Zane, Chuck, Shayne, Anna, Dave, Roger, Nick, Gerry, Charles, Annie, Patrick, Mike, Jeff, Lisa, Jason, Bryant, Janna, Tom, Jerry, Chris, Jim, Brandon, Kathy, Norm, Jonath
an, Derek, Shawn, Judi, Eric, Rick, Bryan, Barry, Sherman, Jim, Bob, Ralph, Darren, Michael, Chris, Michael, Julie, Glenn, Rickie, Rhonda, Neil, Claude, Ski, Joe, Paul, Larry, John, Norma, Jeff, David, Brennan, Phyllis, Robert, Darren, Daniel, Montzalee, Robert, Dave, Diane, Peter, Skip, Louise, Dave, Brent, Erin, Paul, Jeremy, Dan, Garland, Sharon, Dave, Pat, Nathan, Max, Martin, Greg, David, Myles, Nancy, Ed, David, Karen, Becky, Jacob, Ben, Don, Carl, Gene, Bob, Luke, Teri, Robine, Gerald, Lee, Rich, Ken, Daniel, Chris, Al, Andy, Tim, Robert, Fred, David, Mitch, Don, Tony, Dian, Tony, John, Sandy, James, David, Pat, Gary, Jean, Bryan, William, Roy, Dave, Vincent, Tim, Richard, Kevin, George, Andrew, John, Richard, Robin, Sue, Mark, Jerry, Rodger, Rob, Byron, Ty, Mike, Gerry, Steve, Benjamin, Anna, Keith, Jeff, Josh, Herb, Bev, Simon, John, David, Greg, Larry, Timothy, Tony, Ian, Niraj, Maureen, Jim, Len, Bryan, Todd, Maria, Angela, Gerhard, Renee, Pete, Hemantkumar, Tim, Joseph, Will, David, Suzanne, Steve, Derek, Valerie, Laurence, James, Andy, Mark, Tarzy, Christina, Rick, Mike, Paula, Tim, Jim, Gal, Anthony, Ron, Dietrich, Mindy, Ben, Steve, Allen, Paddy & Penny, Troy, Marti, Herb, Jim, David, Alan, Leslie, Chuck, Dan, Perry, Chris, Rich, Rod, Trevor, Rick, Michael, Tim, Mark, Alex, John, William, Doug, Tony, David, Sam, Derek, John, Jay, Tom, Bryant, Larry, Anjanette, Gary, Travis, Jennifer, Henry, Drew, Michelle, Bob, Gregg, Billy, Jack, Lance, Sandra, Libby, Jonathan, Karl, Bruce, Clay, Gary, Sarge, Andrew, Deborah, Steve, and Curtis.
Without you all, this novel would have typos, continuity errors, and excessive lapses in realism. Thank you for helping me make this the best novel possible, and thank you for leaving the early reviews that help new readers find my books.
And of course I’d be remiss if I didn't thank my mother, father, and brothers, whose wisdom and insights have always guided me through the dark paths at the edge of the world.
— Isaac Hooke
Continue the adventures in Reforged (Bolt Eaters Trilogy Book 2)
