“What did you say?”
Maybe, just maybe, despite his hearing, he’d misheard.
“Fuck you,” she replied.
Will no longer spoke, but inched closer to Gabby, who took off down the corridor like a lightning bolt. Will followed after her at a deliberately slower speed.
***
Val noticed a group of ten getting away, heading for an elevator. She easily leaped right over them and landed directly in front of the lot. They raised their weapons but before any one of them could get a decent shot on her, they all lay dead in a heap atop one another. Val smiled to herself: two bullets to spare. Still, several rebels had escaped down the hallways and corridors they hadn't been able to block off. Their targets hadn't been as unaware as was predicted, and the headcount of the dead UNR soldiers was staggering, leaving the cyborg with a sense of defeat. There’d be time for more speculation as she rejoined the few survivors at the crates.
Hunks of wood laid everywhere, but the boxes had served their purpose. Lui, the one Luis had taken such interest in, was hanging on by a thread. Because of him, the operation had been sloppy. Here he comes now.
Luis slid down next to the group. As even further evidence of his insubordination, the one he'd refused to kill was on his back, still unconscious and handcuffed. He set him down...gently. In the now quiet room, they looked on at his peculiarity. Only Val dared to speak.
“The Chancellor will not like this at all.”
He remained quiet for a while.
“If Bia Lui dies, he dies,” he said plainly.
“And if she lives?”
Luis stood up to look at his fellow cyborg, “He still dies. Just quicker, I suppose.”
“Ay, where's Unit 21?” interrupted a soldier.
As they looked at one another in stupor, Mitch reported in over the intercom:
“Reinforcements have arrived. Hang tight for a few more minutes.”
“Understood. Over and out,” said Val.
Luis reloaded Bacalov and began to walk off.
“I’m going to find Will. He's probably trying to finish the mission on his own.”
Luis nabbed the sorry bastard, who would suffer regardless of Bia's fate. As for herself, he was confident she would make it back to base. She was a woman born to fight and he knew this wouldn't stop her. Much like Will, the greedy bastard. Trying to keep all the fun to himself.
Val strolled up to the beam blocking the doorway and with little effort threw it aside. It clattered into a row of machines in a mess.
***
Will had lost sight of the woman in the narrow hallways, but not for long. Every time he went down a pitch-black corridor, upon hitting the corner, she'd disappear down another. Only a fool would believe they had escaped. He was playing cat and mouse, and she would lead him to the remaining cowards.
Finally, Unit 21 came to a room with no hallways or doors, nothing but tables and one wall covered in microwaves. The room had apparently once been a break room. The room also housed a single elevator, which was appeared to head only downwards. I don't think so. The super solider slipped his fingers through the two doors and began to rip it open. Sure enough, the shaft cables descended into the darkness. He whipped out a grenade, preparing to drop it.
“Hey, shit head.”
The cyborg turned to see two soldiers. One of them was just another piece of trash, but the other was the woman from earlier. Will put the explosive away. He decided to let them play their best card. The man threw a capsule-sized device, which exploded in a bright flash of light, a flash-bang grenade. It could take over a few seconds to regain one's senses and in battle that meant death. Not to Will.
His eyes and ears recovered within a single second, and in the regained clarity, he saw the two soldiers taking cover at the doorway of the room. Equipped with protective visors, the man raised his weapon. Will would relive this moment for Luis and the others vividly. He hurled a hira-shuriken before there was the time to pull the trigger.
The troop felt something tear into his jugular and exit out of the back of his neck. In the dark room, not even a glimmer of the weapon could be seen as it flew through the air. Gabby could feel the breeze it created as it flew into the wall. She watched as the man crumpled to the floor. Sweat rolled down her body. The cyborg leisurely drew another hira-shuriken and Gabby rained fire on him briefly, to no avail. She stepped from the doorway’s edge to its center.
“I'll give you one last attempt. Try whatever you please.”
Gabby's own human adrenaline pumped with stunning velocity. She switched the gun to its grenade mode, but hesitated to fire. She was more doubtful than she'd ever been about this mission.
“I’ll take your hand first, and afterward you’ll be lucky if I end it by snapping your neck.” Will said.
His opponent was afraid but not backing down.
“For some reason, I doubt that.”
His back to the open elevator shaft, Will seemed almost vulnerable. The cyborg could see her finger begin to budge and he hurled the hira-shuriken. The weapon flew through the air around the same time the grenade left the chamber. Will shut his eyes in preparation of the fire, however, the explosion brought no shattering wall of force.
Instead, Gabby’s grenade exploded into several much smaller warheads, the size of bottle caps. There were around twenty, maybe more, and they attached themselves all over his body. The little bastards were everywhere, even his face and neck. The cyborg was dumbfounded, his CPU working overtime to analyze the projectiles.
Will looked to see the woman had suffered a terrible cut to the right side of her face, and though blood trickled from the shearing flesh, she was still standing. He had missed. He had actually missed. Gabby was just as stunned as Will, but he did not remain still for long. The cyborg drew his sword and began to step toward her. Will ignored the little machines all over his body, and the mystery posed by the woman. Fuck the interrogation. End this now.
As he took his first step, he felt his body go into convulsions. He yelled in agony and felt something sweep through body like a tidal wave, his CPU unable to register what it was. Will hollered as he crumpled to his knees. The shocks were being generated from the tiny warheads. With that realization, he threw off his jacket, but there were far too many of the menacing devices for that to be effective.
Gabby backed away as he stumbled toward her, only just out of reach of the blade. She watched in amazement as he dropped his sword, almost immediately after raising it to his opponent. The weapon clanged to the floor and with a final groan, the seemingly invincible soldier crashed to the floor face first. Gabby had never seen a cyborg so still.
Will was sure his body was now useless, but his eyes and ears still functioned. He could see her boots in his face, although he could not raise his head to look up at her.
“I have him, I repeat, I have Unit 21. Rendezvous at point K-11. Evac now!!”
Will's vision scrambled before switching from night vision to regular, and he saw firsthand the constant struggle humans faced with the darkness. Humans must constantly struggle with this he thought. With no infrared vision, he could barely make out his sword lying beside him. When you start thinking you can never be put down, you start to get sloppy. I’m sorry, Commander. Finally, he gave out completely.
Chapter 14 - Darkness Descends
April 9, 2065 - Clinchco, Virginia
Kane quickly exited the UNR Humvee. Over a hundred soldiers arrived and completely surrounded the broken down warehouse, while choppers buzzed overhead. Even Major Johnson decided to show up. With a crutch under his right arm, he saluted Commander Kane. The two men watched somberly as a band of soldiers emerged from the target zone carrying corpses. Surprisingly, the UNR had lost this battle.
That was the way Chancellor Venloran would see things. Kane had been informed that the Defense Forces had to place several of their own men within those body bags. The operation had gone too far off course to be pleasant about it. A few had made it o
ut of the gun fight unharmed, but many others were badly wounded. Patients in critical condition were immediately sent off to headquarters. Strangely enough, Luis hadn't even bothered to check in when Kane arrived. He had seen him at a distance a short time ago at Bia's side, as she was transported onto a med chopper that left with the critically wounded.
For once Kane stood on a battlefield with no one to report to him for a solid five minutes. Finally, Unit 23, arrived, and with her the few untouched soldiers. Heading up behind Kane, escorted by heavy reinforcements, were Mitch and his men, along with the sniper crew. Together they formed a semi-circle around the Commander and the Major. First things first, they all saluted the two superior officers. Kane and Johnson returned the salutes, taking note of the shaken faces of the remaining few. The cyborg stood at attention normally, her posture straight and unruffled.
“Now,” Kane said, “someone elaborate.”
Val got ready to speak, but Mitch cut her off. He looked at her only after saying his share.
“If I may, sir,” he said respectfully.
Val let it go and waited patiently. She was eager to hear what someone who hadn't even been present in the theater of combat had to say.
“This is at least partially, if not entirely, the fault of Unit 21. His order for my squad to leave the combat area was purely for unspecified and personal reasons. It led to catastrophic miscalculations and we were unable to assist due to the entrance being blocked. Unit 21 is responsible for all of those wasted lives.”
Kane seemed to completely disregard Mitch's statement, “Where is Will?”
“That's what I wanted to say, Commander,” Val said, pulling out Will's sword. All those around her were startled to see the blade without its user, an oddity all on its own.
“Unit 21 is nowhere to be found, not a trace. Further investigation revealed tunnels beneath the factory, which the rebels most likely used to escape.”
“Has anyone seen where the tunnels lead?”
“No, sir. The tunnels were very unstable, rigged to collapse after anyone else went through. We nearly lost a man trying to dig him out.”
“So...” Johnson put together, “they have Will?”
“That's bullshit,” said Mitch. Although he hated glorifying the bastards, he couldn’t believe Will had been captured. “How would they take down a cyborg? And without a trace of his location to boot? Maybe he knew more than we did–”
“What are you getting at Carline?” Major Johnson said with ire.
“I'm just going on what I see, Major. Of course the situation does warrant some speculation.”
“Don't rush to conclusions. You’ll only end up looking stupid,” Kane scolded, “and not a goddamned word more of that kind of talk.”
“Yes, sir,” Mitch said reluctantly, “but how will it sound to the Chancellor?”
“None of your concern,” Kane pressed, “now head back.”
The soldiers left, only Kane and Johnson remaining behind. The ride back to headquarters would be a strenuous one at best. The Commander had dealt with deaths before, and even worse were the cases of soldiers deemed as missing-in-action. But how had Will become one of them, a victim? It made no sense.
“And nothing from his tracker back at HQ?” Avery asked blankly.
“His signal went dark, and we haven’t heard a peep since this shitstorm subsided,” Kane replied just as dryly.
“This is all kinds of bad, Kane,” Avery said. Kane didn’t even respond. He was mulling over a great deal. He turned away from the warehouse when he felt the Major staring him down.
“I know you lost one of your own. Bia’s hurt pretty fucking bad to boot,” Avery let the pain enter his voice for a moment,” but I still have to ask it because everyone’s thinking it: Why the hell is one of those scumbags on that chopper?!”
Kane crossed his arms across his chest.
“Like I said, it’s a shitstorm.”
***
April 9, 2065 - Cyborg Malfunction Area, UNR HQ
Krenzler and Myers were fully donned in their surgical attire for today’s business. The junior member walked over to Unit 18, who was strapped down and had his eyes shut while in standby mode.
“Evaluation, Myers?” Krenzler asked. His assistant finished writing a report on the operation parameters.
“This cyborg has several external damage points. Its head, arms, and hands all took a beating. Take a look, sir.”
Krenzler peered at the shirtless cyborg, looking down the forearm to the tip of the digits. Good God...one could see the neoartium in many places. Next to the chair was a medical tray, holding over thirty pieces of shrapnel about the size of apple seeds, that were extracted from the cyborg. The charred flesh suggested extreme heat, and the leftover metal indicated contact with a grenade.
“Just what the hell was it doing out there?” Myers commented, “Perhaps this one's losing its touch.”
Krenzler’s expression didn’t change.
“No, all of this damage tells me a story, Myers, and from what I’ve observed, all of this appears to have been unnecessary. Its systems would’ve easily predicted those combat situations. Rather, it appears Unit 18 was distracted.”
“A distraction? Did he take some time to tie his shoes?”
“Cut the crap,” Krenzler said, “There have been a few unsettling events today. Our job is to put this place back on schedule.”
Myers nodded in agreement, but didn’t want the silence to roam free. Today the air was full of tension, and he along with many others had heard the details. He’d never seen an cyborg in such a condition as Unit 18 was in now. He wondered if it felt pain, among other things.
“Right, sir,” he searched for the right words, “I heard about our losses. This unit’s actions must have affected–”
At this, Krenzler actually looked up at him.
“If you keep talking, I’ll have you replaced.”
Myers finally shut up, and Krenzler focused on the cyborg.
“Now, anything else I should know about?”
Myers re-checked the clipboard accordingly.
“Yes, damage to the exterior of the head. I’m afraid we’ll have to replace one of the ears. Also bullet wounds along the neck.”
Krenzler nodded in silence.
“This is your first full-on recovery operation for a cyborg, correct?”
“I’ve dealt with minor burns before but nothing quite like this, sir.”
“I’m a tad rusty myself, but we’ll take it together. The scans show the skull did its job protecting his brain, and the skeletal structure is unscathed. All we need to worry ourselves with is the skin and muscle regeneration. A lot simpler than heart surgery, right?”
Myers allowed himself a laugh.
“Right, sir. The mesenchymal stem cell samples are ready. They’ve been programmed for accelerated growth. At most, this should take twelve hours.”
“Good, we’ll need this unit up and ready to go ASAP.”
As they prepared to begin the procedure, Myers just had one last thing to ask.
“Sir?”
“Yes, Myers?”
“The muscles, the skin, they don’t really need any of it, do they? It’s all just a psychological comfort for them.”
He expected to be scolded again, but Krenzler was far from scornful.
“The process is more about maintaining an illusion than any real healing. But the cyborgs deserve to feel like their former selves.”
***
“Procedure completed,” said Krenzler as he removed his gloves and disposed of them. Myers wiped the sweat off his forehead. Krenzler allowed him to give the order.
”S.S.C. Unit 18, activate.”
Myers watched in fear-empowered awe as the weapon suddenly sat up. It felt its hair before peering at its fingers. Unit 18 then rotated on his seat so his legs were dangling off the edge, before letting his boots touch the floor. He bowed to them both.
“Thank you. I am grateful for your work.”<
br />
“You’re welcome, 18. I’m just astonished it came to that.”
Luis laughed it off.
“Yeah, but it didn’t really save the rebels in the end. I bet it was amusing though.”
“From what I hear a prisoner was brought back. What kind of motive could be behind that you think?”
Now the cyborg seemed thrown off a bit, but his CPU soon had him back on track. He had no time to deal with this.
“I wouldn’t know, Doctor. Now if you excuse me, I must be on my way.”
“Oh yes. Kane is waiting on you. You’ll find your armor re-furbished next to the doorway. A new jacket has been ordered.”
Unit 18 nodded, “Thank you once again, sir.”
***
Luis headed down the hall with only one destination in mind. Will’s absence was shocking, and he could not wrap his head around why his tracker wasn’t doing its job. As a fellow cyborg, Luis’ systems should have picked up his partner’s location. So what the hell is this? All he’d received on his heads-up display was the notification that Unit 21 was missing-in-action. What happened to you, Will? The very idea of a cyborg being captured was an anomaly every fiber of his being was born to resist.
At a time like this, Luis should’ve been checking in with his Commander and the Major. He was overdue by several hours now. Still, he had some business to attend to first and foremost. His recent system updates revealed the Chancellor had approved his shenanigans involving the prisoner. The super soldier was definitely surprised by this decision, but it was a positive result. Venloran had been sympathetic and he was grateful for the vote of confidence. After he saw Bia, he would go about his duties immediately. When he got to the door of room 127, he could hear people talking.
Inside was the Commander and Chancellor Venloran, both standing over Bia, who lay still in the stark hospital bed. She didn’t look up as he let the door slide shut behind him. He took a step closer, and his blood ran cold. Each step toward her seemed to get him nowhere. He checked the monitor for her vital signs, but only saw a black screen. Luis’ scanners only recognized two other life signs in the room.
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