Homeguard

by Jason Cordova

  “I hit your mom about that hard,” Andrew slurred, “but she liked it from behind. Kinky old bitch.”

  The guard reared back and punched him a second time, then a third. Again and again the fist violently connected with his face. Each blow was like a sledgehammer being driven into his head. Not that Andrew could really compare, since he was fairly certain he’d never been hit with anything larger than a chunk of wood before. The guard continued to punch him. The blows, however, seemed to be only on the left side. His eye swelled shut and blood began flowing freely down his lips.

  “Got anything more to say?” the guard asked, panting. The former agent muttered under his breath. The guard leaned closer. “I didn’t hear you.”

  “I said, is this how you tell your wife you love her?”

  The guard growled and stepped back. He motioned to the others as he began to flex his fingers. “This one gets supplemental pills and water only, no food. Keep him alive, but let him go hungry. Fucking rich boy can learn what it’s like not to be on top.”

  “I told your mom she could be on top,” Andrew muttered through split lips. “She declined.”

  “Keep it up, and I’ll kill you.”

  “Then Nunez kills you,” Andrew said as his chin dropped to his chest. It wasn’t his best material, but in fairness, his head really hurt. The comment did stop the beating, though.

  Instead of punching him some more, the guard grabbed Andrew by the jaw and lifted his head. Andrew was half-blind now but could see the piggish eyes of the guard staring at him. A large vein on his forehead was pulsing rapidly. Andrew wondered if he should comment on that before deciding against it. The guard was already angry and, judging by the beating he’d just dished out, was on the verge of snapping.

  “I’ll be seeing you soon,” the guard promised as he pushed Andrew’s face away. He stood up straight, glanced at his bloody knuckles, and nodded before walking behind Andrew’s chair. The other two guards, who’d moved to the door and hadn’t interfered, waited for their boss to exit before they followed him out. The door was sealed shut, and Andrew heard the faint click! of a lock.

  “That went well,” he managed to spit out before closing his eyes for some much-needed rest.

  * * * * *

  Chapter Four

  Aurelia

  A quiet child is typically up to no good. Even Wraiths knew this, for they, too, were children once. The majority of their youth spent in the hellish Holding Homes, Imperfect children still found ways to cause mischief. Before they knew better, before the realization of what they were came to them. The loss of innocence was perhaps the greatest danger to all Imperfect children raised in the system.

  Aurelia had grown bored within hours of everyone leaving. She understood the reasoning—why they had to leave—but it still irked her to no end. The precocious little girl wanted to spend time around people, even if their thoughts hurt her mind sometimes. Bonding with people was something she’d grown quite fond of, ever since she’d escaped from Ptolemy with her father.

  Knowing people’s thoughts was one thing. Understanding them, well, Aurelia was finding that far more difficult than she could ever have imagined. It was one of the reasons she loved Christine so much. The woman was layers and layers of conflicting emotions, but at the heart of it all, she was simply a good person, a role model Aurelia wanted to emulate. A protector and creator, a defender of life. Christine was close to how the little girl always pictured her mom.

  Aurelia remembered her mom well, but the ability to read people’s minds back then was still confusing and strange. She hadn’t really known her mother, nor had she been given the opportunity to get to know her better. That hurt her a little, but she knew it had happened for a reason. She just wished she knew what the reason was. No little girl should ever lose her mother at such a young age.

  There was no regret about the way it had worked out, however. Being raised by her grandparents had been a blessing, even if they’d considered her their daughter, and not what she truly was. She just wished she could have told them who she was, but her father had been adamant when they’d been on the Navy ship after leaving Ptolemy.

  “Your grandmother can’t handle this,” he’d told her so many years before, during the trip through the jump gate to Belleza Sutil. “As much as I love my mother, she’s…not ready for this. So just let them believe you’re an orphan refugee and adopt you. Sophie will always be your mom, and your grandmother will do her best to raise you as her own. She did pretty good with me and my brothers.”

  Aurelia shook the memory aside. She was on an important mission, and it wouldn’t do to fail because her mind was distracted.

  It had begun quite by accident. The personnel who were left behind on Solomon had been made up entirely of younger women, except for a few men who were closer to mandatory retirement than anything else. The poor women had been tasked with babysitting her, which had aggravated Aurelia to no end. Instead of causing problems for the Imperfects she’d been left in the care of, however, Aurelia had cautiously approached them. Loneliness wasn’t something the little girl was used to yet, so she sought out the Wraiths and asked them to play with her. Reluctant at first, due to their memories of living in Holding Homes and the lack of “playtime” being a positive, it had been the youngest Wraith who’d talked the others into it. Aurelia would be forever grateful to Collyn for this.

  Training, Collyn had called it. Aurelia remembered her words as she moved deeper into the dark hallways, keeping track of where she was by the numbers stenciled high up on the walls. This had helped convince the older members of the Wraith Corps on the base. Aurelia didn’t care what the Wraiths who were after her called it. It was playtime, which meant fun.

  “Target,” Aurelia heard from somewhere off to her left. She froze and listened, but couldn’t hear any footsteps. It was hard not to giggle in excitement as the Wraiths remained out of sight somewhere in the sprawling underground hallways. While their suits would have picked her up instantly, Collyn had determined that the suits were both too big and completely unfair while playing with the young girl. This had, of course, given all the advantage back to Aurelia. While she didn’t know the labyrinthian halls as well as the Wraiths of the Third Regiment, she was quickly figuring them out.

  No, she decided after a moment. They don’t know where I am yet. Now where to?

  Confirming this, she heard one of the others comment in a hushed voice further down a different hall. Unable to hear precisely what they were talking about, Aurelia resisted the urge to reach out with her mind and listen in on their thoughts. Collyn had told her this was cheating when they’d made up the rules for their game of hide-and-seek.

  Gabriel and Esau had warned the Imperfects left behind to watch over her about her abilities. The attack had the potential to be the greatest assault by Wraiths in their history, and they’d miss it. This didn’t sit well with the war-like mentality of the Wraith Corps in general, much less a group of young Imperfects looking to prove their worth. They hadn’t believed the little girl before them was a psychic at first, until Aurelia had spilled the beans about what they were all thinking, from being left behind to babysit and missing out on the fight, to some minor secrets that were mildly embarrassing. Those thoughts, as well as revealing a little about where they’d come from before becoming Wraiths, had quieted their doubts.

  Collyn counseled her that the other women wouldn’t play with her if she cheated, so Aurelia made a solemn promise not to use her abilities. So far, she’d lived up to that promise. Cheating, she knew at the core of her being, was bad. Even if the Wraiths thought cheating during a for-real fight was perfectly okay. That had been in the forefront of their thoughts when the rules of the game had been decided upon. That distinction still confused her. Eventually she’d ask Collyn why cheating during a fight was good, but cheating during this “training” was bad.

  Adults are weird, she thought as she darted down a new hallway. Two more quick turns, and she found a new se
ction that was bathed in near-darkness.

  It was obvious this hallway hadn’t been used in a long time. Dust was thick upon the tile flooring, and the paint was peeling off the walls. There were no additional exits or entrances to be seen, save for a large set of double doors at the very end. She’d seen doors like this before at the cafeteria, where the Wraiths made sure she ate regularly. These doors, however, didn’t have the glass pane in them. Curious, she drew closer.

  Aurelia spotted some sort of keypad to the right of the doors and guessed it was some sort of security device to access the room inside. She stopped in front of it and inspected it. It was a ten-digit-combo pad, similar to the one she’d found in the hangar a few weeks back. However, unlike the one in the hangar, this combo pad appeared to have been used only a few times. Underneath the fine layer of dust, she could see it was practically brand new. Which naturally made the young girl even more curious.

  Instead of testing the passcodes by randomly punching in a bunch of numbers and potentially triggering a deadly security response, she simply reached out with her mind to find the locking mechanism within the doors. She found the thick junonium-reinforced deadbolt attached to a small hydraulic press in the wall. Backtracking from there, she was able to confirm that the keypad did indeed unlock it. Unfortunately, the locking mechanism was heavier than anything she’d managed to work before. It would take all her concentration.

  Closing her eyes, she focused on the solid chunk of metal that held the door shut. Breathing slowly, her mind saw the metal slide up and out of the way. The lock, sticking slightly due to a lack of activity, creaked within the doorframe as she pushed harder. A small headache began to form near the crown of her head as she struggled with the heavy weight.

  Just as the headache was beginning to grow intolerable, the locking mechanism lifted. An audible click! echoed down the hallway. Aurelia sighed and rubbed the top of her head. This was the first time she’d ever gotten a headache while using her abilities. Suddenly in dire need of a nap, it took what little energy she had remaining to push the doors open and walk into the strange room.

  It was dimly lit, she realized, rubbing her eyes tiredly. There was a large cloth of some sort hanging over a massive, bulky object in the rear corner, and the room was filled with inactive computers on tables. These hadn’t seen use in a long time, Aurelia judged, as she ran a finger across one of the keyboards. A thick film of dust clung to her fingertip. She blinked, looked around for a light switch, and found one after a few moments of searching.

  The overhead lighting flickered to life, and she gasped. Below the drop cloth, on the floor, she could see armored feet of some sort. They were white and shiny, but smaller than she’d expected. Inspecting the shape further, she realized, whatever it was, it was definitely too small to be a Wraith suit. Then what is it? she wondered, before a crazy idea popped into her head. There was only one way to find out, and that was by investigating.

  Aurelia hurried over to the corner and yanked the drop cloth off. She gasped. It was a Wraith suit, but it was unlike anything she’d seen before. For one, is was slenderer than the others she’d seen around the base. The Wraith suits were thick and well armored, while this one was not. The suit was closer to the Darksuit her father wore than anything else, she realized, yet there were some differences. For starters, it was even smaller than a Darksuit, almost the size of a full-grown man. The suit was also a different color. Where the Wraith suits were typically tan, and Darksuits were solid black, this suit was white, with a few other colors. She noticed between the armor plates it was a deep, dark blue with some sort of black mesh lines within.

  Gently, she reached out and touched the armor. It was cool, but not as cold as she’d expected. Smoother, too. Like plastic, but not. The material was unlike anything she’d ever seen. Aurelia leaned closer and saw a small inscription on the right hip. It was a single word, and featured a highly-stylized symbol beneath it.

  “Sfyri,” she whispered as she struggled to pronounce the strange word. Her gaze drifted back to the design below it. She’d seen a symbol like that before, on the Behemoth suits her dad and his friend had brought back with them. This design was different, though. It consisted of four lines with curved outward edges and a diamond in the center. It was then that she noticed the strange way the diamond seemed to sit. It was sticking out ever so slightly when compared to the other lines. She reached out and pushed on it to see what would happen.

  Aurelia heard a faint sound within the suit. The dark blue grooves began to glow softly as the power within the suit activated. After a few moments, multiple hatches near the chest area of the suit popped open and slid aside. There was just enough room for someone to climb inside, with some minor outside assistance. She wondered how the suit was being held upright, but then she saw the yellow mount behind it. Two large crossbeams were attached to the back of the suit.

  For the first time, she noticed the feet weren’t fully on the floor as she had originally believed. The mount actually kept the unpowered suit off the ground, allowing only the very tips of the feet to remain on the rubber pad. She wondered why, as she continued to look over the impressive suit, before she shifted her gaze to the mount. It almost looked solid enough to climb, so she gave it a shot.

  It wobbled a little, but held. However, she remembered Collyn’s words of caution about touching unusual things around the base and hopped back down to the floor. While she didn’t want to annoy Collyn, her innate curiosity was getting the better of her.

  “Oh, wow,” Aurelia breathed as she inspected the inside of the suit as best as she could from the floor. The interior was more than large enough for her to fit, though she doubted someone as big as her dad could. No, she realized quickly, this suit was designed for a smaller person. It was for sneaking around, but where? Recalling what she’d seen while in Commander Esau’s office, there weren’t any worlds in the Dominion where this suit could blend it at. Unless the white can change color? That would be cool.

  She stood as high as she could on the tips of her toes and looked inside. Just like the suit she’d fallen asleep in last month, there was a small input port for the implant nodule all Wraiths had in the back of their skulls. However, unlike the Wraith suits, this one was small by comparison. Everything about the suit was smaller than a Wraith suit. It was as if someone had designed it for a woman.

  Or a girl, she thought as she hoisted herself up once more, her inquisitiveness winning out at long last. Twisting her body, she was able to slide inside the suit. From there, it was easy to get her arms and legs into their proper places. Satisfied, she felt her body being squeezed as the interior of the suit compressed around her. It took everything in her power not to panic as the pressure grew stronger. Just as she was about to scream for help, it stopped, apparently satisfied the occupant was secured. A small red light began to blink by her neck.

  Armor began to grow from the area of the light, and Aurelia watched, fascinated, as it covered her head. It was apparent that this armor’s helmet was an integral part of the suit, not merely an attachment like all the others she’d seen. An orange-tinted screen suddenly appeared before her.

  Booting…system reboot complete. Patching…patch update complete. Power levels at 97%.

  “Booting?”

  “Welcome,” a deep voice said. She jerked her head, confused. The voice continued. “Imprinting now. Please stand by.”

  “What does that mean? Hello?”

  “Voice recognition now imprinted. Welcome to the Dolos prototype of the Mechanized Infantry Combat Suit, Version 6.2.1,” the voice continued, seemingly oblivious to her question. “You are currently in operator mode. Would you like to switch to administrator mode?”

  “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Wait, is that bad?”

  “Administrative mode activated,” the voice stated. “You now have full access to all pertinent data files of the cortex. Warning: implant module not detected. Does the individual inside this suit have their implant damaged or r
emoved?”

  “I don’t have one,” she admitted as four square boxes appeared on her screen. “What’s your name?”

  “I am operating system Sfyri,” the suit replied. “Are you in need of surgery to attach an implant device?”

  “No,” Aurelia said in as firm a voice as she could manage. “I don’t need one. Sfyri…what does that mean?”

  “Hammerfall.”

  “And what does that mean?”

  “Unknown at this time,” the suit responded. To Aurelia, it almost sounded…unhappy about this. “There might be a meaning known only to the suit’s designer. Why do you not have an implant nodule for the Leviathan cortex?”

  “Uh…I don’t need one?” she tried again. After a moment of consideration, the suit accepted her answer.

  “Very well,” the suit stated.

  “Can I drive you?” Aurelia asked, curious. “You know, without the implant thing?”

  “Yes,” the suit replied. “The pressure pads that surround you also react to any movement they sense. The suit will need to be calibrated in anticipation of your movements, however.”

  “Why?”

  “In order to fine tune the motor skills of this suit, it must learn when you want to crush a grape versus picking one up,” the suit replied. “Motor skills in such a machine require great concentration until one is skilled in its use.”

  “Uhh…okay.” Aurelia thought that was a good idea. “What’s a grape? Wait…aren’t you the suit?”

  “No,” came the reply. “I am merely the artificial intelligence in the computer of said suit. As time goes on, I will learn more about you and anticipate your commands. I am designed to make communicating among suits more efficient and quicker. A Leviathan cortex implant would make communicating more efficient. Shall I schedule you for an implant nodule surgery?”