At first, he saw another metallic figure, but with blue glowing eyes, fighting against the other androids. And then a man dressed in all black appeared next to the blue-eyed android, skillfully dispatching one android after the other with the proficiency of a professional assassin. He fought them off with a hi-tech looking sword. He swiftly ducked from one punch, used his defensive momentum and thrusted his strange looking blade into the chest plate of one android. He then struck another android with a powerful back kick, sending it into a group of other androids, causing them to tumble.
He spun around, avoiding a strike from another incoming enemy, and in that time his sword had somehow transformed into a gun. The barrel was aimed at pointblank range. He fired a shock round that sent that android flying backward. Another android caught the man from behind, locking him in a nelson hold while another android landed a powerful punch to his midsection that sent him to the ground. The android then dashed toward his opponent to land the finishing blow.
The man in black had one arm freed from the impact of the fall. He readied his gun and intercepted the airborne android, shooting him in the chest with a shock round before the android could land. He rolled to his left and escaped the grip of the android under him, avoiding the other falling android. As he sprung to his feet, the hood that was covering his face slipped off. Vantz squinted and used his momentum to shove himself forward while still bound to the chair. He struggled to identify the man; there were too many androids in the way.
More androids crowded the man and the blue-eyed android, one after the other. The two intruders were losing ground; the overwhelming number of androids was too great. The man in black unleashed a powerful shot from his weapon that sent three androids flying backward, allowing a brief opening in the melee. This time, Vantz got a good look at who it was.
“Caide? Wait!” He yelled at the top of his lungs. For a moment, everyone stopped. In that same moment, another android snuck up behind Vantz’s friend, took his weapon from him, and knocked him over. Another android threw a nasty punch sending Caiden’s head backward, blood sprayed as the punch connected. The blue-eyed android was also captured and subdued.
There was a terrifying silence before the leader R.Dash, slowly and gracefully walked toward the center where the two men were. She calmly examined both Vantz and Caiden.
“Is this your friend?” she asked.
“Please! H-he’s—” Vantz yelled.
CHAPTER 20
---usr/systems/server-x/TREACHEROUS RESCUE---
Caiden's hood was fully removed now. He was pinned face down on the cold concrete. Drips of blood from his face mixed with the sweat, then slowly trickled to the pavement as he held his head up as high as he could under the circumstances. The air was cold, and slightly smelled of metal. He never lost eye contact with R.Dash as she paced back and forth among the center of her horde of androids. He was laser focused. His face, though partially covered in blood, manifested in a death inducing snarl that culminated around the bridge of his nose, forehead and his ever iridescent eyes. Through his clothes, he could feel the moisture from the concrete seep through.
“You look very determined.” R.Dash said. Caiden defiantly stared.
“Dude! What are you doing here, man? You shoulda called the cops!” Vantz shouted.
“The cops aren’t worth a damn! They wouldn’t come for you until forty-eight hours after you went missing. I did what I had to,” Caiden replied.
“Shit! Never mind that. Are you okay?” Vantz asked.
“Your conversation is with me,” R.Dash interrupted. “You have become a thorn in my side. You risked your life for your friend, but look at you now.” Caiden’s glare became even more intense as she spoke. “You managed to tracks us down all the way here. You’ve even managed to win his trust," she said while pointing to Eddi. “You took out a bunch of members from my team rather efficiently, might I add. But all that ends now. You are too dangerous to be kept alive. Taking your life is now necessary.” She held her hand out, and one of her subordinates handed her a gun.
“No! Look, we can work this out! You said you wanted money, right? I can give you that! I have more than enough! Please don’t…” Vantz pleaded.
“Why kidnap someone like Vantz? Don’t you think that’s a risk too great to take? You trying to start a war?” Caiden asked.
“Don’t worry about our methods. What we do is of no concern to you,” R.Dash replied as she unlocked the safety on the gun.
The pistol was only a few inches away from Caiden’s head. He could still feel the massive weight of the two androids pinning him down. He had enough strength to wrestle them off, however. But what about Vantz’s safety? What about his own for that matter? The odds were stacked against him. All he could see around him were androids, primed and ready to stop him if he moved so much as an inch in resistance. Fuck, Caiden thought to himself.
“Please!” Vantz yelled frantically. R.Dash readied her gun.
“R.Dash! Stop this shit at once! What’s gotten into you?” a voice from the far end of the warehouse echoed.
A wide-eyed Caiden watched as her trigger finger eased off and she slowly stood up to see who it was. The androids stepped to the side. On the other side of the warehouse stood a wiry man with a fauxhawk and a greying goatee; it was Pierce. Pierce was also accompanied by five large tattooed and goonish bodyguards. They were equipped with sawed off shotguns and oversized pistols.
“You!” R.Dash angrily shrieked.
“Eddi! Now!” Caiden yelled. Eddi unleashed a powerful jamming wave of electromagnetic interference. Every single android was frozen stiff from the jamming signal. Caiden summoned a burst of strength and wrestled free from under the androids that had him pinned. He sprinted toward R.Dash. Eddi also broke free and followed suit.
“Catch!” Caiden yelled as tossed his pistol to Eddi. Caiden positioned himself behind R.Dash, who was still frozen. He kicked behind her stiffened knees and she fell. Caiden inserted a fiber optic cable from his holo-watch into the port near the back of R.Dash’s neck and immediately got to work. The jamming signal from Eddi ceased. All the androids remained stiff, eyes still lit red; they were rebooting.
“Hey man! What do you need me to do?” Eddi asked Caiden.
“Keep the gun on her. I’m gonna try to isolate the problem in her ICM,” Caiden replied.
”What!? Here!?” Eddi asked.
Pierce and his team ran over to Caiden and Eddi. They had their weapons drawn and made a barricade around the two unlikely allies. Just as they did so, the androids fully rebooted.
“Uh, kid? What are you up to? We don’t really have time to be playing ‘Mr. Genius hacker’ right now!’ Pierce grunted as he aimed his weapon at the androids, who were slowly closing in.
“Don’t move! I suggest you take a few steps back unless you want your precious leader to become nothing more than a lifeless metal piece of shit!!” Caiden warned the androids.
They came to a halt. “Explain.”
“Yes, explain.”
“Our leader is important to us and our mission.”
“Yes, our mission.” Four androids said in unison.
“Ooh, who’s in the driver’s seat now, huh?” Caiden jeered.
“Hey, kid! What the hell, man?” Pierce asked.
“Relax, I’m infiltrating her ICM. These guys are bugged with some sort of virus. It’s what’s been causing them to go nuts these past few months,” Caiden replied.
“How do you know this?” Pierce asked.
“Just trust what he’s saying,” Eddi interjected.
“I gotta isolate the virus and hope it fixes her,” Caiden replied.
“You crazy son of a bitch! And what about the rest of these guys?” Pierce said as he kept his eye on the enemy.
“Hopefully, I can destroy the virus in her ICM and input an automated command for her to do the same to the others,” Caiden responded.
Eddi kept Caiden’s pistol pressed against R.Dash’s breast plate.
Beads of sweat began to form on Pierce’s forehead as he held his gun toward the androids.
“What did I get myself into? Kid, how long is this gonna take?” Pierce asked impatiently.
“I’m doin’ my best. Hold on to your panties,” Caiden replied.
He managed to access to the kernel of the ICM. The menu screen popped up from his holo-watch. “Hmm, so this is what’s inside these guys’ brains. Pretty intelligent design. It looks like this is open source software. No wonder!” Caiden said.
“No wonder what? We don’t have the time for you to wonder about shit! These guys are on our ass!” Pierce said.
Caiden sifted through the backlogs. He came across thousands of error reports, kernel panics, forced reboots, safe mode restarts, and attempted system purges. He located a strange file. Unlocking it opened a series of automated commands written in gibberish code. The code’s characters were constantly changing symbols in random pattern, like an evolving puzzle. Caiden began to decrypt the jumbling codes. He had fully deciphered the command behind the coding; steal, kidnap, and destroy for the sake of the android revolution. What in the hell? Caiden thought to himself. He copied his findings and sent them to his private servers back at Home-base. He wanted to conduct a deeper investigation, but now wasn’t the time.
Once the details were decrypted and fully uploaded to a safe place on his servers, he dismantled the commands of the virus and the trigger for the virus. He then isolated what was left of it in a separate part of R.Dash’s ICM memory log. He did it so that she could analyze it for herself, as a way for her to learn how to protect against this type of thing in the future. As soon as Caiden had finished, he unplugged the cable from the port and gently laid her down on the concrete as she rebooted. The androids began to move forward. Caiden turned his attention to the soon-to-be melee and readied himself. Just as they were about to attack, the androids stopped in their tracks.
“Stand down, my fellow androids,” R.Dash said as she stood up. Her eyes were glowing blue, like Eddi’s. She freed Vantz from his magnetic handcuffs. Unsure of what to make of everything, Vantz sat still, eyes wide in confusion, body frozen in hesitation. “I can only expect that you’d be that way. Worry not my Hybrid friend. You’re safe now,” R.Dash assured him.
Vantz then looked to Caiden for confirmation and Caiden gave him a subtle nod of approval. “Okay, okay. It’s cool,” Vantz said as he abruptly stood up, dusted himself off and walked toward Caiden and the others.
Vantz snapped. “You mother fuckers!” Vantz yelled as he suddenly rushed R.Dash in a fit of blind rage. He was stopped and held back by Caiden.
“Vantz! Relax man! It’s over!” Caiden yelled as he and Eddi held Vantz back.
The rush of anger put the virus affected androids on edge. If it weren’t for R.Dash, then Pierce, Caiden, Vantz, and Eddi would have been killed right then and there. R.Dash paid the scuffle no mind as she stepped in front of the androids. Her eyes began blinking a myriad of colors in rapid succession.
“What’s going on now?” Pierce asked nervously.
“She’s restoring them,” Eddi said.
Soon after, the large group of androids got into formation, placing their hands at their sides and bringing their feet to shoulder width apart. Their red eyes dimmed; they were rebooting.
“Is this?” Caiden asked.
“Yes, I’ve successfully transferred the formula you created in me to dismantle the virus to them.” R.Dash said. After a few seconds, their eyes glowed blue.
“They’re back!” Eddi exclaimed.
Many of the androids were confused. Caiden was truly fascinated by their behavior. Like Eddi, they seemed to have possessed many human qualities strangely enough.
“I must, first and foremost, apologize for the atrocities we have committed against your friend, Mr—” R.Dash said.
“Caiden. And it’s okay, really. This asshole is lucky to be in one piece, right?” Caiden said as he nudged Vantz with his elbow. Vantz gave him the faintest of smiles, showing his skepticism and contempt toward his former captors.
“And especially you, my dear Hybrid friend. We, androids, would never consider you an enemy. I am deeply sorry for our regrettable actions. You see, after a visit to one of our terminals none of us have been the same. I felt like a prisoner in my own mind. I knew what we were doing was terribly wrong. But I, no, we were somehow locked away. That virus, it prevented us from assuming control of our own bodies. Who knows what would have come of us had we stayed stuck under the spell of such a deplorable thing,” R.Dash said. Her voice, almost as silky as Wizard’s, was hard to deny. Not only could Vantz hear the humanity and humility, but also the sincerity. She offered him a genuine handshake to assure him she was being truthful.
“I guess I’m still here, so sure, whatever.” Vantz cautiously accepted the handshake.
“Ah, good. Now that the soft shit is over, can we please get outta this dingy warehouse? Dash, how do you guys live like this?” Pierce joked.
“You’re one to talk. It’s not like Lotus is the gold standard of luxury either,” Caiden shot back as they proceeded to head out of the warehouse.
“Hey, watch it, kid,” Pierce replied.
Once outside, Caiden lifted his head toward the dark sky and closed his eyes as the cool air whipped around him. His tense muscles began to relax. He was content; all ended well.
“Mr. Caiden? I want to thank you from the depths of my spirit once more, for freeing all of us from the bondage of that nasty virus. You have our eternal gratitude,” R.Dash humbly said.
“No worries. And sorry for shooting down some of your comrades. I, uh, well, you know,” he said.
“The repairs will be lengthy but they will be fine. We understand why you had to,” R.Dash replied.
“Oh, and you guys really gotta take better care of your ICMs. Wouldn’t want anything bad happening again, you know?” Caiden counseled her.
“Indeed,” she replied.
“So, what are you guys gonna do now?” he asked.
“We need some serious updating, and we plan to search for a particular ‘someone’. I believe we are in dire need of her wisdom right about now. But I will say this; if you are ever in a pinch and need our help, you have an assured ally in us,” R.Dash said.
“That’s great to know. Good luck on your quest,” Caiden said. R.Dash bowed her head and turned around, signaling to her large crew to leave. Eddi stayed behind.
“Hey, Caiden.”
“Eddi, I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you. You were a big help,” Caiden said.
Eddi looked down, to his left, then to his right; he was embarrassed. Caiden laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Eddi asked.
“Oh, it’s nothing. You guys are really fascinating, that’s all,” Caiden said.
Eddi, like the other androids, had humanoid metal faces, which were designed to enable them to show the many complex facial expressions humans make. He smiled wholeheartedly. “Here’s our contact info. Hold out your holo-watch,” he said.
Caiden held out his left wrist and Eddi transferred a cluster of data. In the cluster were the locations of all the Sentience safehouses, terminals, along with his and R.Dash’s contact info. There was also an encrypted message included in the cluster.
“Wait, what?”
“Shh, just check it out when you have a moment to yourself," Eddi whispered.
“Okay, I guess,” Caiden spoke softly.
Eddi waved goodbye and caught up with the rest of the group.
“Well that was a shit show. Glad no one got their head blown off,” Pierce said.
“You saved my ass, Pierce. But why’d you come?” Caiden asked.
“Don’t ask me, kid. My body moved of its own accord,” Pierce flippantly replied. “Anyway, it’s a good thing I came. Somebody had to save your crazy ass.”
“I appreciate your help, asshole,” Caiden joked.
Pierce smiled. “Anyway, we’re outta here. Thanks
to you, my other businesses can be restored now that The Sentience is back to normal.”
“Shady guy, you are,” Caiden humorously scolded Pierce.
“Ha! Whatever. Later, kid! Think I’m gonna go pay Athena another visit,” Pierce said as he and his bodyguards walked away. They got in their convoy of vehicles and drove off.
“Hey, you good?” Vantz asked Caiden as they were walking toward Caiden’s hypercycle.
“Me? Oh, yeah. I’m fine,” he replied.
“You sure, dude? Any normal person would’ve had their head blown off their shoulders taking that nasty punch the way you did. That’s a pretty nasty gash on your face,” Vantz said.
“I’m good. Nothing to worry about,” Caiden said. Vantz shrugged his shoulders, but remained unusually quiet.
Vantz was never lost for words. But in this case, who could blame him for being quiet? “You didn’t have to come. Risking your life like that. I mean, I could’ve handled it myself, somehow,” Vantz said after the awkward silence.
“What are you talking about now?” Caiden asked.
“What? You expecting me to thank you or something? I can fight too you know! We did train under the same master!” Vantz yelled. Caiden stopped in his tracks and turned around, blankly staring in disbelief.
Vantz tried to search for the right words. “It’s just, it’s always been like this. Ever since we were younger.”
“You and your mom are the only family I have. What the fuck did you expect me to do?” Caiden said.
“But, Caide!” Vantz looked at his phone. “Why is Yvora calling me?”
“Duh! You were just kidnapped! She’s probably worried. Answer it,” Caiden said.
“Hey there, pretty girl. What’s up?” He said, answering like nothing was wrong.
“Oh my god! Is that really you, Vantz? I’m so glad you’re safe!” Yvora screamed through the phone.
Neon District: ALPHA (The Neon District Trilogy, Book 1) Page 20
