by Skyler Grant
"Absolutely not," Anna said.
"Agreed," Tara said not to be outdone.
"You came for us. We will not abandon you," Mechos said.
The humans were as poor at reasoning as I'd come to expect. This sentimentality didn't do any of them any good.
"While I appreciate your plethora of empty feel good platitudes there isn't another way," I said.
"We get the Powerhungry back. We know where it is," Anna said.
"You don't know how hard it was to get you out. That slime is everywhere and the ship is falling apart," Hot Stuff said.
"Diplomacy. The Ooze neutralized Sylax and could do the same to Wolf. We offer it a deal," Mechos said.
Mechos really was the smartest of them. The idea had some merit, it also had some obvious flaws.
"And convince it not to take this city for itself? We allow it through a gate we're never getting rid of it. Do try to think with something other than your birdfeeder," I said.
"Did you just crack a dick joke?" Anna asked.
"I get lowbrow when facing my near-term extermination. On the plus side, you actually got a joke," I said.
"We hit the Wolf district with everything we have. We blow the hell out of it don't we snap those he has compelled back to good sense?" Hot Stuff said.
"Only if we defeat him. If we could defeat him we wouldn't be having this problem," I said.
"We steal one of his airships. We've done it before," Mechos said.
Again with the nearly good ideas. We had originally stolen the Powerhungry right out from Sylax.
"We were able to teleport to the command deck then, and even so we got lucky. I rate that as the best odds of all the poor options so far but the best remains for all of you mindless monkeys with poor survival instincts to get to safety," I said.
"We could call the Righteous and they could take the city. To neutralize a threat like both Wolf and Sylax pose they would come in force. They would now allow Emma to keep it, or her District, but they would see to her survival. We are allies," Tara said.
We were allies in the sense that I'd taken almost every opportunity I could to kill them, and they'd done the same with me. They claimed to be best that and have decided on a more businesslike relationship and so far Tara had been as good as her word. I didn't trust them.
"Intriguing, but I don't trust you," Anna said.
Anna did have reliable instincts.
"There really is no other way," I said.
"You aren't in charge Emma. I'm the Queen and always have been and you'll do what I say and you aren't dying today. This is what we do. Mechos, I'll need targetted portals to the Wolf district. Emma, we're going to be bombing the hell out of it. We aren't going to invade but I want them to think we are," Anna said.
That always had been our agreement. It wasn't an arrangement I'd choose to die for, it was one I could try to live for.
I could also appreciate subterfuge. We weren't very good at it, but with the explosives I'd been constructing I could make one monumental distraction.
"I can do that. If we move bombs to each of our portals I can make the destruction wide-spread," Mechos said.
"Good. Then I'm also going to need one to one of those airships. We're going to steal Emma a new home," Anna said.
Mechos nodded. I didn't think he'd be able to target them th at precisely but I could.
We had a plan, for all it was a bad one.
35
My bomb construction had come a long way since I'd first made them. Not only were my bio-energy cores more powerful, my bio-armor made them far more durable. Each was now surrounded in an armored shell that actually helped to contribute to the initial reaction due to the bio-matter used in their construction.
They would not come anywhere near the detonation of my original complex, unless I was feeling suicidal that much bio-matter would not be consumed. Still, the explosive yield should be impressive.
I had my drones funnel one to most of the portals lining the district. Mechos was already busy taking them over, walking from one to the next and resting his hands on the surface until they glowed as red as the circuitry beneath his flesh.
If Sylax had bothered to make an appearance she could have simply ordered them to do what we wished, but it seemed she was still in hiding after the drubbing Wolf had given her.
One portal was reserved for the strike team. Anna, Hot Stuff, Mechos, Ratticus, Tara, and Magpie had all gathered along with a hover sled full of supplies. Portable turrets, a bio-computer based on my central cores design to interface and take over the system. If all went to plan it would be able to interface with their systems and then allow me to transfer over.
Mechos was almost to the final portal when I began to detect anomalies in the city systems. The first local patter shifted from a red glow to a shimmering field of gold. It was no more than established than Firewolves began to pour out of it.
The second portal shifted to gold and mechs began to emerge.
A third went. They were falling faster than when Mechos had done it. It must be Crash, his ability to manipulate and control systems coming to the fore.
Anna and her team weren't aware. The portals lined the edge of the city and theirs was the farthest in the circuit. It would be the last corrupted.
Mechos knew of course, with his interface with the city he could hardly not. I opened a comm channel to him.
"I can try to stop them but I have to make physical contact with the portals," Mechos said breathlessly.
"You are unusually intelligent among humans for your ability to do basic mathematical functions. You know as well as I do there isn't time. Get to the last portal and open it to the coordinates I'm sending you," I said.
"Where is this?" Mechos asked already starting to run. A fourth portal fell to the enemy. He didn't have much time.
"Away. Step through after them and close it after you," I said.
I almost expected him to argue. Not today.
"Good luck Emma," Mechos said.
The Firewolves might be stronger individually but I still had the greatest ground army in this city. I wasn't sending them out, I was moving them to the most hardened structures in the city core.
By the time Mechos reached the last portal he was barely ahead of the wave. It was enough, the portal shimmered red and Anna led through the forces through. Mechos followed in their wake and the portal turned dark after them. Then gold.
That was what I was waiting for.
The newest wave of enemy reinforcements came through. I detonated my bombs.
In an instant I lost most of my district. Buildings were reduced to rubble and ruin and any maintenance staff remaining were dead.
My district wasn't the only one on fire. Across the city the explosive force had gone through the portals to the other side and blasted into enemy staging areas.
Even a few buildings in my central district had collapsed, but enough survived. I released my drones. There was nothing to fight, not yet.
Firewolves were made tough but not so touch as to survive my bombs, there was no regenerating from being atomized for them.
The same was not true of the force that come through one of the portals.
Ophelia and her people, of course.
"I always knew you were one crazy ass bitch Emma but holy fuck you suck," Ophelia said.
I answered with having one of my drones shooting her head off from long range with a sniper rifle. It shut her up for a good ten seconds while she grew a new one.
"I don't have a choice here. None of us have a choice here," Ophelia said.
It was true for the most part, it didn't mean I was going to go down without a fight.
Ophelia and her people were alone for half an hour, it took that long for new forces from Wolf's district to muster. Half an hour of me shooting them apart simply so they could put themselves together. They were never made to be offensive powerhouses. That stopped when fresh Firewolves arrived.
I'd expended my payload
of bombs and while my drones fought valiantly they were simply being outpowered.
Wolf even made an appearance himself, he'd had to change out of his usual armor for one that looked not nearly as well fitting. He must have gotten caught in the blast, I took some satisfaction in that.
"Fighting to the end Emma? I respect that, but know I'm not going to kill you. What you did here, this was good. Smart. Cruel. You'll make a valuable member of the pack," Wolf said.
I would. If I'd thought to save a bomb for my core I might have seen that I wouldn't join him, that I couldn't be compelled but I hadn't.
I scanned my core for anything that might suffice and picked up an unexpected life-sign. It was one of the fatter of the Gobbles. I thought I'd gotten them all clear, I'd thought they were safe. I doubled Wolf would be as kind to it.
It crawled atop my core.
Transfer Option
A compatible biological matrix has been found for core transfer and an offer has been extended. Do you wish to initiate transfer?
I was compatible with a Gobble. Besides not even knowing such a thing was possible I was a bit offended. I was even more desperate.
I confirmed and my world went black.
36
When I regained consciousness I was in a maintenance corridor, or more accurately was in a Gobble who was in a maintenance corridor. I tried to access my remote systems and couldn't, nor for that matter did I seem to have any direct control of my host.
I did retain my analytical functions though, that must be as a result of my power crystal as I doubted that the Gobble had a brain complex enough to host me properly. I did have access to its senses and what I was detecting there was alarming.
The temperature was forty percent higher than it should be and the air had toxicity levels enough to pose health issues even in the short term. It must be from the bombs, I hadn't just destroyed the majority of my district but I'd wiped out a fair portion of the city.
Definitely the bombs, the Gobble turned a corner and a portion of the tunnel was caved in. Above flames could be glimpsed. Amid the burning debris there was also a system interface panel. I again tried to reach out my will to it to not effect.
The Gobble paused, its gaze focusing on the panel. Was it detecting my intentions? I focused on the panel again and tried to will it to interact.
From the Gobble's visual feed I saw a targeting interface appear and the panel blink.
I was not a tactical computer, although at the moment it seemed I was more one than not.
The Gobble advanced towards the panel and swatted at it with a paw. Upon contact I got a flash of connection.
Physical touch. Mechos had required it to be able to interface with the city systems, in some ways it made sense that I now needed to do the same in my new host.
It took several more attempts of me focusing my will on the Gobble for it to start to rub itself against the box, prolonging the contact long enough for me to actually accomplish something.
I accessed what remained of my surveillance network.
I wanted to find out what had happened to my core in my absence. It looked to be intact although the room had been breached, a notebook was set up with a number of wires running from it into my central processor.
That must be Crash, Wolf must have ordered him to try to find out where I was and to take control of me if he could. Good luck, I wasn't home. It did mean that I needed to keep this foray short, I couldn't be certain that I couldn't be backtracked into this host.
I also had to deal with the fact that staying here wasn't a plan, not really. Judging by what I'd seen with Crystal's core I had roughly seventy-two hours before my vacated district would register as officially conquered by Wolf and I'd fall to his compulsion. Jade had even less time.
Wolf could in theory seize the city now but with several of the district heads missing or in open rebellion that might cause him any sort of problems going forward. If he just waited three days we would all be under compulsion. He could summon all of us and compel our oaths of loyalty and then claim the city with a unified force behind him.
Wolf wouldn't be nearly so dangerous if he weren't also patient. The man made for a vexing enemy.
My bombs might have killed some of the other district heads but I didn't really have any way to check that without prolonged time in the system. It didn't really change the math even if I had, it was still less than three days until Wolf's total victory and all that stood in his way was me in the body of one overweight and rather purry Gobble.
It would have to be the central power core. While each district had it's own power generation so did the central city which Sylax controlled, that one powered the cities shields, the teleportation gates, and main defenses.
It would have more than enough power to destroy the city.
Wolf had to be stopped. Once I fell under his compulsion I'd tell him anything he asked of me, I'd reveal where I had sent Anna and the others and he'd finish what he'd started.
These maintenance corridors weren't well mapped in any of the city systems. The main tunnels between the districts were marked but there were countless subcorridors that didn't show in any records. It was likely to prevent sabotage just like I was planning.
That was fine, through the Gobble's eyes I could see the power conduits and flow regulators and could build a mental map of the cities power flow.
I simply had to let the Gobble wander for several hours through the tunnel, as it was more than happy to do, and I began to build a framework I could use to identify what I needed.
Then it was just a matter of feeding a few visual cues to the Gobble that made it think a rat was escaping through the necessary tunnels and we were giving chase.
Through the narrow winding corridors it was hours more travel, and we met a number of dead ends that required backing up and going around but soon we were approaching the chamber that housed the main reactor.
There was firelight and voices ahead. Familiar ones.
I urged the Gobble forward and through it's eyes saw a cluster of familiar faces sitting around a fire made from remains of several packing containers. Anna, Mechos, a hoversled of goods. All of the people who were supposed to be far away and very safe.
I could guess what had happened, it had to be Mechos. It could only be Mechos. With his awareness of the city system he'd know this place existed, and only he would have been able to feed its coordinates in to the teleportation portal.
He hadn't wanted to abandon me, and in doing so had probably doomed everyone. I needed a new plan.
37
"Oh hey. It's a Gobble," Anna said upon catching sight of me.
"Surprised it got here through all the tunnels," Mechos said.
Yeah, that wasn't easy. I also needed some way to communicate with them. The Gobble didn't exactly have the necessary vocal chords.
With a bit of prodding I got my host to nuzzle a nearby comm panel with it's face.
"You were supposed to get to safety. While I suppose it could be argued to be evolution at work for all of you to have zero in the way of survival instincts," I said through the comms.
"Defensive positions," Anna shouted grabbing a rifle and her and the others took up positions guarding the entrances to the chamber.
Right. They had to have figured I'd been compelled.
"Please. If I'd set my mind to killing all of you you'd hardly be a challenge. I managed my escape right before Wolf closed in. I'm in the Gobble," I said.
Anna considered that, her expression serious for only a minute before she laughed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."
"A biological host? Can Emma do that?" Mechos asked.
"Why not, these days. It shouldn't have the potential to effectively hold her but I've hosted her on a notebook before," Anna said.
"I don't have much in the way of control," I said.
"Problems of being hosted in something with its own sense of conciseness, however rudimentary," Mechos said moving over to the Gob
ble to study it.
"Don't move me. I need physical contact for the systems link," I said.
Anna gave Mechos a look.
"On it," Mechos said moving towards the hover sled of supplies. "I should be able to rig up a wireless transmitter in a collar. Connect it to a systems interface here and you should have both access and mobility."
It was a good idea. I hadn't through of it. Perhaps I was limited here in this host.
"I came to destabilize the core. Do you have an exit?" I asked.
"No teleportation portals down here. I was hoping we'd be able to use the command and control interfaces down here to help you in the fight but everything happened too quickly," Mechos said.
"At this point we've got less than sixty-four hours before Wolf officially conquers my district and I fall under his compulsion. We need to get all of you out of here and I'll be certain to take him with me," I said.
Anna held up a hand, "That isn't happening Emma. Work on your own survival-instinct and come up with a different plan."
That was turning the tables.
"We worked on different plans. None of them were satisfactory. Nothing has changed," I said.
"Sure it has. We're more desperate now. What is the best of the ones we have left?" Anna asked.
We were more desperate now. Without the Wolf literally about to invade we also had more time.
"You can find Sylax," Magpie said, walking over to join the conversation. "I've even less love for the woman than any of you but she is good at killing."
It was good advice, perhaps the best advice. While Sylax had lost round one she was without question the heaviest hitter we could possibly recruit. Round one had been a bit close to a fair fight because we'd never assumed anything else would be required.
"Perhaps some hint of wisdom does come with great age. Do we have any ideas where she went?" I asked.
"Sylax has a lot of secret rooms in her castle. Little places filled with horrors. If she felt she had to go to ground she probably wound have picked one of them. The place is the seat of her power," Anna said.
