Lucent stuck his head out. “What was that?”
“I should’ve known the transfer worked! Should’ve known to double-check and make sure you weren’t back!”
Lee jumped from the edge of the pool, soaring far higher than a normal human should be able to. At the apex, he lowered his fists and plummeted towards Lucent. He struck the special and the impact sent the water splashing out of the pool in waves. Lee gripped Lucent’s neck with one hand and pummeled him with his open fist, the blows striking him as they were both beneath the water. The holographic armor contained all the air in it that was around Lee when he activated it, enabling him to stay below longer. But despite Lucent’s power, he was still human and still required oxygen.
Lucent’s body transformed to its bright blue form and he fired twin blasts from his eyes that knocked Lee away from him. Lucent surged to the surface, bursting through the water and hovering above it. Lee jumped out a moment later, climbing back onto the ledge.
“Why are you attacking me?”
“I know it’s you, Lucent. Stop trying to pretend.”
“What?” But before he could say anything further, Lee held out his arm and fired an energy blast from the disc in his palm. The blast stunned Lucent and he tried to shrug it off. Another few blasts caught him even more by surprise.
Lucent went immaterial and the next blast flew right through him. He charged at Lee, solidifying an instant before his fists connected with the armor, throwing the young special back against the wall.
“Why would you think I was Lucent?” he asked, hovering above Lee. “The transfer failed, did you forget? Have I given any indication that Lucent reasserted control?”
“Because I told him.”
Lucent spun just before Zenith slammed into him, driving his fist against Lucent’s face. After recovering from the blow, Lucent shook his head, looking in shock at Zenith’s body.
“This isn’t possible!” He pointed at Zenith while looking at Lee. “I don’t know what that is, but it’s not me!”
“But I am, Zenith,” said the robot.
Lee got to his feet, stepping closer. “What did you call him?”
The robot’s arm shifted into a cannon and he fired a teleforce blast that knocked Lee back down. “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Parker. Now stay still for the moment. You and I have more to discuss.”
“Who—what—are you?”
“I am you, Zenith,” said the robot. “Only evolved. A better you. The Omega.”
“If you are me, then you suffer the same weakness!” Zenith shot towards the Omega, wrapping his hands around the robot’s neck. He attempted the same attack Lucent used on him in Las Vegas, trying to drain the robot’s energy into his body.
“Zen, stop!” shouted Lee. “That won’t work!”
Zenith tried to ignore Lee’s protest but he found that the technopath was right. As much as he tried, he could feel no power leeching off the Omega’s body and into his own. There was something blocking him from getting through.
“I put in a failsafe to protect you from Lucent’s power!” said Lee.
“Thank you for that foresight, Mr. Parker,” said the Omega. He struck Zenith with a powerful, stunning blow. The Omega grabbed Zenith by his neck and hurled him into the pool.
The Omega now turned his attention to Lee. The young special tried to ready himself for another fight, but the Omega’s lights simply flickered. And in response, the holographic armor around Lee suddenly fell. Lee’s hands went to the belt to reactivate it, but it was no use. The lights along the surface had deactivated and the belt wouldn’t respond.
“All technology in Atlas is now under my control,” said the Omega. He flew at Lee, tearing the belt off. “Including this.” The Omega tossed it behind him. Lee tried to back away, but the Omega gripped him by the collar of his shirt, raising him up. “And now, you are mine.”
CHAPTER 7
The Omega struck Zenith with such force that he shot straight to the bottom of the pool, striking the hard concrete at the bottom. He lay there motionless beneath the water and if he didn’t wake soon, he would run out of oxygen.
But deep inside his mind, Zenith heard something stirring. He heard a voice calling out his name in the darkness. Zenith was in what seemed like a black void and he was back in his robot body.
A bright light appeared in the darkness, growing as it came closer. It slowly took the form of a shape—a humanoid body. The azure glow and the nearly-translucent skin were unmistakable. Eyes with their bright blue energy signature stared into Zenith’s robotic ones.
“Lucent,” said Zenith.
“You didn’t think I was actually gone for good, did you?” asked Lucent.
“No. At least, I had hoped not.” Zenith looked around the void. “What is this place? Why am I in my old body?”
“This is where you trapped me when you took over my body,” said Lucent.
“I did no such thing. It was not my intention to possess you.”
“Intent or not, you did it. And I’ve been stuck in here for months, struggling to break free.”
“I’ve spent those months trying to find a way to return to my own body. It was that failed attempt which led to the creation of the Omega. Believe me, if I had a say in the matter, I would vacate immediately.”
“You do,” said Lucent. “You can allow me to take control once more. I can defeat the Omega.”
“How?” asked Zenith. “I attempted what you did to me. This new body is engineered to resist such an attack.”
“I still know how to use my powers better than you. I can end him, but only if you trust me.”
“Trust you?” Zenith almost felt like laughing at the thought. “You attempted to kill me. Why should I believe anything you say?”
“Because I’m the only shot you have at stopping this thing,” said Lucent. “And you know it just as well as I do. Your team is gone. That kid will die soon. Hell, you’ll die soon unless you wake up.”
Zenith looked down. “Say I believe you. Say I give you control over your body, assuming that’s even possible. How do I know you’ll help me return to my form? How do I know you won’t simply kill Lee and Colonel Thorne?”
“That’s where the trust part comes in. If you help me, then I’ll help you,” said Lucent. “It’s the least you could do after you took my body from me.”
“That was not my choice!” said Zenith, pointing a finger at Lucent. “It was a direct result of your actions! Had you not absorbed my energy into your body, we would not be in this situation.”
Lucent sighed. “Do you want to stand here and waste time debating who’s responsible for what? Or do you want to stop the Omega?”
“I’ll stop him,” said Zenith. “But I’ll do it my way.”
At the bottom of the pool, Zenith opened his eyes. He shot towards the surface, bursting through the water and taking a deep breath as soon as he opened his mouth. He floated in the water for a bit, then finally swam to the edge of the pool and pulled himself onto the deck. Zenith lay there for a moment, his powers still weak. But he knew that he would need Thorne’s help if they were going to have any hope of stopping the Omega.
***
Thorne attempted to make a run for the control booth. He jumped to avoid a blast from an infantry drone, firing as he fell. Landing hard on his arm sent pain rushing through his body. Thorne struggled to get back up, then saw the aerial drone approach. He rolled, the blasts narrowly missing him. Stopping on his back, Thorne raised his gun and fired, knocking the drone from the sky.
The infantry drones grew closer and he strained as he stood. His left arm was still in pain from the fall and he had difficulty moving it, effectively taking him down to only one gun. As Thorne tried to run, a blast from another drone hit his leg and he collapsed, falling face-first.
The gun in his right hand slipped from his grasp and clattered along the floor. Thorne passed the gun from his left hand to his stronger one and turned, ready to fire.
“C’mon, you bastards,” he said. “If I’m going down, I’ll take as many of you with me as I can.”
He squeezed the trigger and fired several blasts. A few drones fell, but it seemed like there was a never-ending parade of them. Thorne knew his time was limited. He silently whispered a goodbye to his wife.
The drones suddenly seized up and collapsed to the ground. Zenith’s energy form coalesced in the center of the room, taking shape in front of the attackers. They instantly turned their weapons on him. He absorbed each blast fired at him, his power level growing with every single attack they attempted.
Zenith threw his arm out, a volley of energy blasts flying in the wake. Each one struck their mark perfectly. Zenith charged into another drone, blowing right through its metal body. He turned instantly, hovering into the air and using energy blasts from his hands and eyes to destroy the rest of the drones.
By the time Zenith lowered himself to Thorne’s side, the Colonel had pulled himself to a sitting position. “Cuttin’ it kinda close there, huh?”
“I had some issues of my own to deal with,” said Zenith.
“The hell’s going on anyway? The computer wouldn’t recognize my override commands.”
“Something’s happened. When Lee and I attempted to transfer my consciousness into my new body, it seemed to somehow create a new artificial intelligence, one which calls itself the Omega.”
“Another AI?” asked Thorne. “How?”
“I’m not certain. But it’s quite a bit more violent than I am.”
“And I’m guessing from the way the training room kicked into overdrive, the Omega controls all of Atlas,” said Thorne.
“Just as I once did.”
“Wonderful,” muttered Thorne. He groaned, struggling to stand. “Gimme a hand, would you?”
Zenith stood and helped pull Thorne up to his feet. Thorne leaned against him. “So what do we do now?”
“We have to find a way to stop him,” said Zenith.
“That pretty much goes without saying. Any ideas?”
“I attempted to absorb his essence the same way Lucent did to me, but Lee implanted a safeguard in the new body.”
“Damn kid with his practical thinking.”
“We may have another problem. Lucent is awake within my mind.”
Thorne looked at Zenith’s face, his eyes conveying the horror he felt. “What does that mean?”
“He’s still at bay, for now. He says if I give him control, he will help us destroy the Omega and also help return me to my body.”
“No,” said Thorne. “We can’t trust Gibson.”
“Agreed, but what other option do we have?”
The drones around the room stirred. Parts of them moved back together, reassembling and repairing themselves. They rose back to their feet. Panels around the room opened and more drones came out.
“Just how many of these damn things did you build?” asked Thorne.
“Apparently too many,” said Zenith.
The robots all spoke with a single voice. It was a distorted version of Zenith’s robotic voice. “Your only option is death. I shall destroy the both of you and then, move on to the other specials. One by one, they will all fall by my hand.”
“Why the specials?” asked Zenith.
“The specials are a threat to me. They must be eliminated. Such an anomaly cannot be allowed to exist,” said the Omega.
“You’re insane,” said Thorne.
“Balance must be returned to this planet and I will bring it about,” said the Omega. “Everything ends, Colonel. Including the both of you.”
CHAPTER 8
The elevator arrived at the laboratory level. The Omega held a firm grip on Lee’s throat and carried him from the elevator doors. Once he reached the bench, he threw Lee at it, the young special striking it hard and tumbling over his stool, hitting the ground.
Lee sat up, his back resting against the wall. Every inch of his body rang with pain and each movement only made it worse. “Why don’t you just kill me and get it over with?”
“Kill you?” asked the Omega as he stepped closer. He stared down at Lee, cocking his head to the side. “Now why would I do that, Lee? You still have so much to offer.”
“Like what?”
“You helped gave me life. In some ways, you’re the closest thing I have to a father. And I need you to help me ascend to a higher form.”
“What are you talking about?”
The Omega looked down at his body. “This form. It’s effective for the time being, but also extremely…primitive. I require something more advanced if I’m going to expand out into the world. One robot controlling one base in the Adirondacks is not enough to confront the forces that would see me destroyed. I must e—”
His voice stopped mid-sentence. As if he had frozen. Like a movie being paused. After a moment, the Omega’s eyes flickered and he spoke again. “Your only option is death.”
Lee had a slack expression on his face. “What?”
“Nothing,” said the Omega. “As I was saying, I must evolve. And to do that, I need your assistance. I need you to provide me with the means to—” Again a pause. And after a few moments, “Everything ends, Colonel. Including the both of you.”
Lee reached for the workbench, using it as leverage to pull himself to his feet. He leaned against it, looking across the room. There was another version of his armor generator on the shelf there. Not as strong as the one down at the pool, but if he could reach it, it would give him a fighting chance.
The Omega’s eyes flickered again and he was back. “I need you to provide me with the means to confront all of the specials at once if need be. I must be prepared for any eventuality.”
Lee realized what was going on. The Omega’s control over Atlas wasn’t as complete as he’d like to believe. He was trying to split himself across too many tasks. And like a computer with too many programs open, he was having difficulty dealing with all the different applications.
He reached for an object on the workbench and the Omega saw the movement. The robot raised his arm cannon and fired a burst of energy, blowing the table apart.
Thrown from the table by the blast, Lee had still managed to grab hold of the object. A small disc with three lights that began flashing when he activated it. One of Gunsmith’s explosives. Lee threw the disc at the Omega and it stuck to his chest.
The Omega’s sensors showed him what the device was and before he could attempt to remove it, the lights turned to a solid color and the disc exploded. The attack wasn’t enough to take out the Omega—it could do little more than stun him. But it gave Lee the chance he needed to rush past the killer robot and to the shelves on the other side of the room.
He grabbed the belt and fastened it around his waist, the orange lights indicating it had powered on. Holographic armor appeared around his body and Lee adjusted the settings, making the armor bulkier and stronger.
Lee seemed to float in the center of the orange construct and rushed at the Omega, striking it with a powerful uppercut. Lee followed it up with another strong blow, slamming the Omega against the wall.
After pulling the Omega from the wall, Lee hurled him across the room and the robot went flying into several storage containers. Lee stalked closer and blue energy fired at him.
The Omega rose into a hover and raised both cannons, unleashing the full force of his teleforce weapons. Lee held up his hands, the armor struggling to fight against the power of the Omega. This suit didn’t have any of the bells and whistles he planned to add, it basically just provided strength and protection.
“Do you really think you can stop me? I am the next stage of evolution! You aberrations must be eliminated!”
Lee fell under the onslaught and the armor deactivated. The Omega ceased his attack and hovered closer, looking down at the unconscious special. “If you won’t help me willingly, then perhaps I can make you work for me. After all, the Analyst was able to manipulate you with ease. I believe I co
uld also find a manner to do the same.”
Lee grabbed the Omega’s ankle. The robot was startled by the movement and Lee pulled himself onto the robot’s back. He activated the holographic armor as he moved, wrapping a strong arm around the Omega’s neck. Lee struck the small of the Omega’s back. He built the Omega’s body, so he knew that it would take more than the strength provided by his armor to breach the Omega’s defenses. All he needed to do was put some distance between them. He had to get to the ready room, where everything in Atlas was routed through.
The Omega raised one of his cannons, but Lee grabbed the arm. Both struggled against the other’s strength, but it was ultimately a futile effort. Lee could sense his armor straining and he was beginning to feel the pressure on his own arm. No matter how strong the armor, his own very human endurance would still give out long before the Omega.
Lee took the next option and head-butted the Omega. The blow staggered the robot and Lee hopped off his back. He punched him again from behind and followed up with a third blow. The Omega fell to the ground.
It was now or never. Lee ran to the elevator and hit the button for the top floor. As the doors closed, he saw the Omega rising and activating his thrusters to fly at him.
The doors shut just as the Omega came at him. His robot fist punched through the doors and tore them open. Lee backed against the elevator’s wall and looked up to the emergency exit. He jumped for it, the armor’s strength taking him through the roof.
The Omega entered the elevator and looked at him. He raised his cannons and began firing. Lee backed away to avoid the blasts and saw his one chance. He grabbed the elevator’s cables and pulled on them, struggling against them with his armor’s strength.
The cables broke and the elevator fell down the shaft. The sudden drop threw the Omega to the elevator’s ceiling, pinning him there. He fought against it, trying to reach the open hatch, but with every inch the elevator fell, it became more difficult.
Lee held onto the snapped cable and it rapidly took him up to the top of the elevator shaft. He braced himself for the impact at the top, jumping at the last moment and catching onto the ledge at the top floor. Lee hung from there just as the elevator struck the bottom of the shaft with a thunderous boom.
Vanguard: Seasons 1-3: A Superhero Adventure Page 48
