Calhoon failed spectacularly at that, killing himself by activating Amelia’s weapon, and nearly killing her as well.
After that mess Legion learned something valuable; he didn’t need to find a scientist to make weapons for him. He’d already found her.
While it took time and effort, he infiltrated the Spire, only to learn she’d ‘retired’ from being Arsenal, something his personality probability matrix declared highly unlikely. No, she was planning something. He just needed to push her to find out what it was.
He hadn’t planned on the undetectable worm wiping out every blueprint, every formula, every metallurgic matrix on every computer on Earth, including his. Even the backups were destroyed. Now she was the only source of her technology. He couldn’t even replicate the armor he already had without her kinetic field generators, and despite all his safeguards, it was all gone. Destroyed by her AI, Epic. Eventually he would need to deprive her of that advantage.
When the UN had seized all the Th’un ships, ARC had focused on stealing Amelia’s MK III armor. Ideally he could have had both, but it wasn’t an option at the time.
Now he had just to follow Lockheart, have her deliver the amazing alien metal to him, and his plans would be set for the next hundred years. Proliferate weapons, amass wealth, take control of the world’s private corporations, then the governments, then the world as a whole.
Once she made the trade, and he had both her and the alien metal, he would use his technology, while not as sophisticated or as advanced as hers, to copy her brain and remove everything of use. Unfortunately for her, it would leave her brain as crippled as her legs.
If he had a mouth, he would grin. As it was, his electrons hummed satisfactorily as he watched his empire grow.
Twenty-EIGHT
I watch the mixture form on the screen with glee. Despite the emotional roller coaster of the last few weeks, this is all coming together nicely.
“Aren’t you worried about the government seizing this as well?” Kate asks as she lounges in the corner, petting her overweight cat.
“Nope,” I say. “Not even a little.”
There are some adjustments I make on the fly as the liquid metal purifies. The last thing I need is any impurities in the mix. A complete vacuum makes sure that doesn’t happen. That sort of thing takes a lot of power.
“You want to share with the rest of the class?” she asks.
Now the critical part; inserting the brand new and upgraded polymolecular chips. After reviewing our previous design, I realized—well, Epic realized—I’d rushed it. By making the armor so I could reconfigure on the fly, I’d left it open to attack. Luckily, no one really took advantage of that, but the threats I faced were getting more savvy, not less.
While we would lose the advantage of creating weapons on the fly, that was okay. Mom, Dad, and Epic had spent the last several days coming up with every weapon they could think of to put in the armor—
“Hello, Amelia?” Kate asks.
“I’m sorry, lost in thought. What did you say?” I try to tear my eyes away from the readouts, I really do. Kate laughs at me. Not in a mean way. That finally makes me look at her. “Right, uh, how come the government hasn’t come for your arm?” I ask her in my roundabout way of answering.
She rolls her eyes at me before her furrowing her brow. “Well, they either don’t care because it’s such a small amount... or...”
I smile. She’s a smart cookie, my Kate!
“They don’t know about it?” she asks.
I smile and nod. “You got it. It’s not like they ever put me under oath and asked me if I had anymore. The only reason I stopped using it was that after my return I didn’t have enough left to repair the suit. Plenty to keep your arm working, but not enough for a full suit. My plan here is simple; this armor will look like my old stuff. I will keep the liquid aspect of it secret, using a variety of futuristic effects—like sliding panels and whatnot. If they ever do ask,” I shrug, “I’ll tell them I’m using nanites and show them my nanite suit as proof that I’m telling the truth.”
She smiles. “That’s pretty clever for an egghead.”
“You’re pretty smart for a model,” I retort and stick my tongue out at her. “Now, once it’s done, I’ll need Luke to strength test it—"
I stop what I’m doing, my mood instantly ruined. For some reason I was thinking I’d go a round or two with Luke to make sure the armor was working but...
“Oh, hon, it’s okay. We all miss him,” she says.
I nod, turning around to wipe my tears. “I know. I know. Kate I—”
The lift door opens and a grinning Carlos steps out. “That went well!” he says. As he walks to Kate his armor, shield, and spear vanish, leaving him in just his street clothes: Sketchers, a pair of jeans, and a light blue Under Armour work out shirt. He seriously needs to buy a size larger—there’s no way he put that shirt on and thought, “Oh this fits great”.
He takes Kate around the waist and plants a tender kiss on her lips.
“Well,” she purrs. “Hello to you too.”
“Get a room,” I mutter as I go back to work.
“I had a room,” she says. “Then your plan called for its destruction. Four years in the CIA and they never knew about my Paris residence... I’m really going to miss that place.”
I shrug. Without taking my eyes off my work I say over my shoulder, “Too bad you don’t know a really rich person who can buy you the whole building. Seriously, say the word, Epic will buy it, then rebuild it even taller so you can have a better view of the Eiffel.”
For Kate? Of course. I may, or may not, have already started.
“Ahh, Epic, you’re a sweetheart,” she says.
She and Carlos devolve into whispers as she sits on his lap with her arms around his big neck. I can’t be bothered to pay attention, there is too much to do.
“Amelia?” Teddy’s voice comes over the internal comms. While the lab is big, I have a medical suite built into the far end. I was expecting the first use to be me, with another broken something.
“Go ahead, Teddy.”
“I just thought you would like to know that Tia is doing well. She’s unconscious, but her vitals are strong, and I expect her to make a full recovery. Well done, my dear. Well done.”
That’s high praise from Teddy, and I can’t help but beam. I did it, Luke. I brought her back. I’m sorry I couldn’t do the same for you. I know you’re out there watching me, wherever ‘there’ is, and I promise you, I will make you proud of me.
The computer beeps completion, interrupting my internal thoughts; I check the readout. One hundred percent done!
“Epic, can you double check the readings?”
Done. While I would like to wait twenty-four hours to check on the stability of the matrix, I think it is reasonably safe to proceed. And it is not like I could ever stop you from trying out a new toy.
“Oh boy!” I grab both wheels and yank myself back then spin, putting all my weight into rolling toward the spout that the armor will come out of. I’m shaking with excitement. I grab the neuro link glasses next to the sink and put them on. This will program the armor to respond to my mental commands, and mine alone, by monitoring my brainwave while flashing a series of images. Only my brain will react to the images the way it reacts, acting as both a way to control the armor with my mind, and also as a security system.
“Epic? How did you fix the problem of your neural interface with her? If I recall, there was a brain heating issue...”
It is slightly more complicated than that, but yes, it is a problem.
“Epic!”
Amelia, hiding it from them is not a solution. However, to assuage your concerns Kate, I can assure you that we have software limiters in place to keep our neural connection under twelve terabytes per second. Under extreme situations we could conceivably overclock Amelia’s brain… like when we had to break the security around the Th’un quantum singularity machine. But I doubt that will be s
omething we have to do on a regular basis.
“Consider me assuaged,” she says with a dead pan expression.
Do I detect sarcasm?
“Yes.”
Carlos chuckles as I put the glasses on.
“It doesn’t matter because we are doing this. Epic... INITIATE!”
Twenty-NINE
The last of the two hypersonic J34 Drop Ships reaches its cruising altitude. While not as fast as the Emjets, they moved at a respectable Mach Six. Of course, they had the advantage of knowing where they were going hours before Lockheart.
While the androids had very little autonomy, the one Legion occupied with all his senses at the moment was the one in charge.
The first ship was nothing more than a troop ship: fifty android soldiers, in all black, with plasma rifles and pistols packed into a space meant for half as many humans... of which there were none on that ship.
Legion let his awareness briefly pass over the androids, making sure they had the proper programming and were ready for the coming conflict.
On the tail ship, where his prime body was located, there were humans. Several in fact. He rested his mind into the android body he preferred. The walls closed in on him as his awareness shrank. He dedicated processes to keeping everything running while he focused on one body at a time.
“You are back,” the man with the large logger’s beard said.
“I never left, Dave. Are your men ready?”
“I told you, call me Hand Cannon, and yeah, the Death Dealers are ready for some payback,” Hand Cannon said with a smug grin.
“I’m sure you are.” Legion examined the men he’d brought with him. Hand Cannon, Rocket, Blade, and Thrash, all of whom had a personal reason to hate Arsenal. Of course, they thought they were coming to kill her, and that was the last thing Legion wanted. They were no more than a distraction.
The other two passengers were Amelia’s parents, sitting calmly, holding hands and giving each other supporting nods. He really didn’t intend to kill them—unless Amelia forced his hand.
His algorithms suggested that wouldn’t be necessary. Amelia Lockheart was as predictable as any other human. The right push, and she would do anything he asked.
THIRTY
There’s nothing that will enrage me more than threatening my family and friends. After all, I grew up with neither. Sure, I had a drunk uncle who kept food in the fridge and left me alone to do my own thing, but I wouldn’t exactly call that family. Then I met Carlos, and then Kate and Luke... Then my parents. While it took time to really have them back, they were, eventually.
Threatening them isn’t a smart move for anyone coming for me. Lucky for me, I was pretty good at keeping my cool.
And the new suit didn’t hurt.
I scream, blasting through the air over the Arizona desert. I forgot what it was like to feel the wind blowing over me. The Animetal armor coats me like a second skin, flowing over me like silver chocolate syrup. This time, though, I’m using a lot more—to have it bulked up to look more like my MK VI. It would take some serious observation to know that it isn’t.
Of course, this is my MK IX, the most advanced armor I’ve ever made. It has dozens of weapons, including all my old favorites plus some new ones like the missile swarm.
I’m ready to kick butt and take names and I’m all out of paper. Not that anyone uses paper to make lists anymore.
Amelia, all systems are operating within expected parameters. Congratulations. We have done it!
“We did. Okay, time to land and make a call.” I’m currently in full stealth mode. The suit is the color of the sky. It isn’t perfect, but it is good enough to keep anyone from visually locking onto me. As long as they’re below me.
The kinetic shields are configured in a wedge to keep radar from touching me, and the Emdrives are set to low-heat mode. I’m as invisible as I can be without the superpower.
I hit the top of the Mesa Base with a crunch of shattered rock and in the lift a second later. The doors close behind me. I sit down in the waiting wheelchair.
The lift’s magnetic rails make a slight humming noise as electricity runs through them. It only takes ten seconds to arrive in my lab. In that time, my armor melts, like ice on the sidewalk, but instead of turning into water vapor it crawls inside my pores. I’ll keep the cans for emergencies and other uses, I can think of a lot of things portable, programmable nanites could be used for.
When the lift doors open, it’s just me and my chair.
“Well?” Kate asks.
“Works like a dream. I wish I had time to do a combat run, but Epic says it looks good,” I say with a big thumbs up.
My exact words were, “I detect no faults” that is not the same as “good.” Not by a long shot.
I shrug. “Same difference.” I swear he rolls his eyes at me when the monitors flicker.
Kate laughs. She’s holding Carlos’ hand and pulls him close to kiss. “Okay, big guy,” she says when they break apart. “You’re up.”
Carlos gives her one last hug, then kneels down next to me. “Don’t worry, Niña, we’ll get them back.”
I take his hand in mind and smile back. “Thanks for always being here for me.”
“Pshaw. I need to have someone to beat when the new Halo comes out.”
I screw up my face looking at him. “As if you’ve ever beaten me.”
“All right, Wheels McShooter, it’s on.” He smiles and hugs me before stepping into the lift. He waves and blows a kiss at Kate as the doors close.
“Wheels McShooter. I love that nickname, it really suits you,” Kate says.
“Ugh, don’t start. Just make the call, will you?”
Kate pulls out her glasses that are connected to Artemis and activates them, calling Tessa using the line we know is compromised.
At the same time, I pull the duffel bag we used to recover the Animetal and place it on my lap. Inside are several blocks of faithful nanite recreations that look like the alien metal, but aren’t. At least not molecularly. I can’t duplicate an element that doesn’t exist on earth.
“Tessa?” Kate says suddenly. “Good news. Amelia’s back from the South China Sea.” Once the line is active, the glasses pick up a video feed and show ARC what Kate sees, which is me holding a bag of fake Animetal.
She nods her head while Tessa asks her a question I don’t hear.
“No, sadly she only got five pounds—” I put on my sad angry face when she says this “I know, right! Sea King showed up before she could finish, and we had to bug out,” Kate says.
I turn around, tossing the bag on the floor like I’m angry over the results, and wheel out of her sight. She turns to pick up Tigress and sits down in the white plush chair she favors.
“We’ll be back at the Spire later. Hopefully she can make something of it there, at least until ARC calls us and tells us what they want. Ciao.” She hangs up the call, takes the glasses off, and shuts them down. With our communications being monitored it shouldn’t take long for—my cell phone rings.
“Hello?” I ask with just the right amount of trepidation. After all, I’m not supposed to know who it is.
“Ms. Lockheart, I will dispense with the pleasantries. Your parents are alive and safe... for now. If you wish them to remain that way you will hand over the Th’un metal and copies of all your tech.”
I don’t want to overplay this. After all, I know he knows I know he has them, so I can’t act too surprised or too angry. I go for cold menace.
“If you hurt them, I will destroy you,” I say in a low voice.
“Please, if you could, you would. You can do nothing because are powerless. You understand the flaws of nanites as weapons. I need your metal to fix it. I have your parents; you have my metal. A trade seems... equitable for both parties. Agreed?”
I sigh in defeat. “Agreed.”
“Excellent. You have two remaining Emjets. Bring one, by yourself, and a copy of all your tech, and get airborne. You have thirty minut
es to do so. If you are not in the air in thirty minutes—and I will know—I will execute your mother.”
“Thirty minutes! That’s not enough—”
“Don’t play games with me!” he says angrily. “I will not be tested. Come alone. And don’t even think of having either of your friends crashing the party. For one, Ms. Petrenelli won’t be able to. And if I so much as feel a spear falling from the sky, I’ll kill your parents. Understood?”
I stay silent for a moment before answering. “Yes. Where am I going?”
“Further instructions will follow once you are in the air and headed east.” The line clicks dead and I toss the phone into the bag and nod to Kate. She gives me a quick hug before vanishing.
“Epic? Get that jet here asap.”
Affirmative. Kicking the tires and lighting the fires as we speak. Amelia, did you notice anything strange about your conversation?
“Other than he doesn’t know we know he’s spying on us?”
No. His responses were instant and predictable. As if he was speaking from a script. It was also the same voice as the android we discovered in the Spire.
“I guess he doesn’t have access to another voice box.”
Maybe. I will continue to think on it. Are you ready?
“Epic... I was born ready.”
Thirty-ONE
At fifty thousand feet over Utah, with just a few seconds to spare from my original thirty-minute deadline, my phone buzzes with a text. A set of coordinates appear... along with a message, “You have forty-five minutes to arrive.”
“Son of a...”
Do you think they know about her or is it just a coincidence?
“It can’t be a coincidence” It just can’t. “I need a second. Set the course, Epic. Delphi, full speed,” I tell Epic.
Course laid in. We are going loud and sub-orbital. At our max power we will be there just in time. He clearly knows the capabilities of our Emjets.
The Emjet’s engines are barely audible in the cabin, but at the speed we need to go, the whine leaks in. I make sure my harness is in place. If the kinetic shields fail at this speed, I’m dead. However, there are other dangers than just shield failure; I also don’t want to take the chance that a bump will kill me or a hole in the hull will suck me out into space.
Arsenal Reloaded (Full Metal Superhero Book 8) Page 15
