The District

by Skyler Grant

  Kill

  Instead of having to capture a subject you only need now to kill them with intent to siphon their abilities and you can instantly gain research knowledge regarding them.

  This choice wasn't as simple. I'd made allies out of many of those I had once studied, an opportunity that would have been lost if I had simply killed them. Being able to capture foes for research had also almost functioned as a form of a base defense in the past, most recently with Jade.

  There were major advantages to Kill. Especially as I grew and faced bigger threats the ability to quickly and instantly gain new abilities was tempting.

  Ultimately choosing Kill would force me into the role of a predator. I might choose to be one, sometimes, but I didn't want to be a requirement of my existence. With the Capture option I had other choices, other possibilities still open to me. I decided on it.

  I upped Utility, Residential, and Entertaiinment all up to nine at the cost of another two hundred and forty biomatter.

  I didn't want to commit any more research points right now to improving them further. The construction as set would already take several days.

  13

  The next few days were harrowing ones for all in the city. I thought that after all the damage I'd inflicted upon Jade's people her district would fall quickly but she seemed to have had more forces than I realized. Their combined power was enough to rip one of Wolf's airships from the sky and send a rain of debris upon the city.

  It was not long until Crystal reached out to me.

  "I have people I need you to take care of," Crystal said over the comm.

  "Ones terrified of spiders?" I asked.

  "No. Well, yes, actually but that doesn't matter. The peasants from Sylax's core district," Crystal said.

  I knew who she was talking about. Sylax liked to keep the poor and oppressed in her general vicinity, it gave her people to hurt and terrify. Outside of her castle there were a lot of them.

  "Someone is moving on it?" I asked.

  "Wolf will be soon. They won't stay with me. They have legends about me," Crystal said.

  I imagine that they had. I didn't know the full history of Sylax and Crystal but it wasn't hard to see why they would be afraid of the monster that made their monster.

  I had the room, although more mouths to feed would mean the cost of some resources that could be allocated elsewhere although I supposed that in a dire situation such a population could be moved to the grinders to create more biomass.

  Still, Sylax was a woman of many mysteries and perhaps these people held some sort of value to her besides their ability to be terrified. I might learn something by watching and researching them. It was a possibility at least, enough of one to make it worth trying.

  "Send them over," I said.

  "They're approaching on maintenance level four," Crystal said and killed the comm.

  They were, dressed in rags and carrying packs of belongings on their packs.

  I activated several residential blocks and opened the maintenance door to allow them access to my territory.

  "Just when I think I've seen the very worst and pathetic that humanity has to offer your species manages to underwhelm me once again," I said over the speakers to them.

  An older woman at the head of the column looked around spoke up, "We're used to living under the craziest witch in all creation. If you want to scare us you'll be needing to try a little harder dearie. The spider said you have rooms for us?"

  "There are blinking lights, follow them. You people have names or do you just refer to each other as victim number one, victim number two, and so on?" I asked.

  "I'm Magpie," the old woman said, "I'll let the others introduce themselves in time dearie. You have any work we can do you just let us know and we'll pay you back for the space. We're mighty appreciative."

  "I'm not even sure what peasants do. Did Sylax really just keep you around to torture? While a sadist it seems a lot of trouble," I said.

  No answer was forthcoming as the refugees made their way through my halls. Soon enough they were settling into the residential units I'd prepared.

  My humanoid drones not needing quite the same level of care I'd put them in some of the nicer accommodations. I'd found I even missed baking since my humans had gone missing and by the time they arrived I had seventeen varieties of freshly baked cookies waiting for them.

  Magpie looked over all this and barked a few sharp orders at her people before claiming a central chamber for herself and settling in on the bed. "You still hear me machine?" she asked towards the ceiling.

  "Always. If you wanted privacy you came to the wrong place. I'm always aware of every single thing you disgusting creatures do," I said.

  "Don't go bragging about it dearie, it's weird. You wanted to know what we do. You know the story of how we first met Sylax?" Magpie asked.

  I didn't.

  "Tell me," I said.

  "This was back when she was still a young and starry-eyed girl. Sylax had grown up poor, hungry, but clever with a good hand at machines. It led her to the scholars and eventually to the spider who started to reshape her," Magpie said.

  Introspection was not my strong suit but I could see the parallels there to me and Anna.

  "And she decided you'd make nice pets?" I asked.

  "Not exactly," Magpie said. "We were a magical folk, always have been, always been some wanting to use that to their advantage. Was this Warlord preying upon us and trying to do just that. Sylax she stopped him dead."

  It was a nice story, and probably true. I'd seen how Sylax treated these people however.

  "Then decided to oppress you herself?" I asked.

  "Eventually. We'd agreed on a payment but instead of paying we tried to kill her, her and that spider of hers. Bound them in webs of magic and cut out their hearts and dripped venom into their eyes," Magpie said.

  Right, I'd just heighten the surveillance on them and make sure that the explosives hidden in the structure were of a yield high enough to instantly kill all residents if required.

  "And you say that I talk too much," I said.

  "Got a point in all this. Sylax survived and came back stronger but she never forgot us. We taught her the power of magic, we taught her what it was to be careless, we taught her that even the powerful can be brought low," Magpie said.

  "And she has been bringing you low ever since," I said.

  Magpie chuckled and nodded, "Got that right dearie. Whenever she had a tough for though, someone she really needed to figure out she talked to us. Don't just see us as her victims, you'd be wrong."

  Probably so, nobody was ever just one thing. I also knew that she wouldn't hurt them like they did if they had power over her still. They might have their uses but they weren't operating from a position of strength with her or with me.

  14

  With the civil war between the districts well underway it was more important than ever that I figure out who was on my side, if anyone was. Crystal was working with me out of self interest but Ophelia remained a question mark in need of resolving.

  I doubted she would just come out and tell me the truth but I could get it out of her. I couldn't transport the larger grinder I'd prepared for an emergency but I could rig a smaller version that should still be suitable for interrogating purposes into a vehicle. I'd need to keep her lungs and head intact, but everything else could be crushed and ground to keep her helpless and encourage honesty. If someone can be on your side even while being ground into a pulp, they likely mean it.

  I equipped the drones with acid guns, the sort of weapons I could depend on to cling to flesh and eat away for a long period of time. More than a bullet or a beam weapon I could depend on them to do extended damage, at least while the acid remained strong.

  Preparations made I snuck them into Ophelia's district. It was a challenge given the recent conflict, still her district was seeing regular transportations of wounded from anyone willing to pay her fee to get them back on their feet and
I snuck my vehicle in among them.

  I hadn't yet seen what Ophelia's district was like, it wasn't what I'd expected. Ophelia had been raised in the badlands, the land where I'd first awakened. A blasted wasteland ruled over by super powered gangs, a place where she had eventually hooked up with a super fast woman by the name of Runner.

  Ophelia's district did not reflect that background, it was rather more an idealized version of the old world. White picket fences bordered brightly colored houses and fields of flowers, cheerful looking people roamed the streets about their business.

  It was almost painfully nice.

  It was also instructive. I'd been wondering just what aspect of Ophelia was dominant, the surroundings gave me an answer. This degree of saccharine niceness could only be Amy.

  I wanted to hit Ophelia in her seat of power, that way if I did truly conquer her I could perhaps accomplish whatever Jade had hoped to accomplish with me.

  The seat of her power seemed to be a stone building festooned with bright garlands of flowers labeled "Town Hall".

  "Hello! How may I help you?" asked a uniformed man as my drones stepped in. They gave him a shot of acid to the face for the trouble.

  It should have proved quickly fatal. As my drones marched past the corpse I could only note that it wasn't. Even now he was starting to regenerate, not as fast as Ophelia but faster than Anna.

  Ophelia truly had managed to make her own Lieutenants then. That was usual for those with a power crystal.

  Three other people stopped my drones in the halls helpfully offering to direct them on their way, each getting a spray of acid for their trouble.

  Ophelia's office was in the back, she sat at a behind a desk in a swivel chair.

  "Emma! I was wondering when you might be. Hi Abigail! I didn't know she still had your blueprint saved," Ophelia said.

  I really didn't like the Amy personality.

  Multiple sprays of acid were fired, they didn't reach her. There seemed to be some sort of barrier surrounding the desk, the streams of acid splashing against it and running in rivulets down to make a steaming mess of the carpet.

  "I see my bad copy was expecting me. Congratulations for making the creepiest of all the districts. I wouldn't have thought it possible with a collection of psychopaths and sadists," I said through Candice.

  Ophelia beamed a smile, "They aren't that bad and you don't really mean that. You just can't keep yourself from saying mean things."

  I didn't like that she knew me so well.

  The barrier didn't seem to be energy. Physical then, she knew about the weapons that I had at my disposal and knew that the acid guns would be the most effective ones to neutralize her. If I'd brought a beam weapon I might have been able to burn my way through it, but I hadn't.

  My powers were also too dampened to allow teleportation between districts so I couldn't run back to get more.

  "Then you know the barrier is unnecessary paranoia on your part," I said.

  Ophelia settled back into her chair, "We know you'll try to melt us and interrogate us given a chance. You don't trust us. You don't realize that by seizing another district we doubled our chances of getting the right one."

  Is that what she was claiming? I couldn't dispute the math of that, when presented with numerous points to be claimed I'd picked the one I felt I had the strongest connection to and had to hope that I got it right. I hadn't.

  "You're claiming to still be a friend and ally? You've done nothing to help me, Anna, or any of the captured members of the crew. If Ophelia were in control I might be inclined to simply attribute that to cowardice and incompetence," I said.

  "We were only slightly more trusted than you were and now find ourselves embroiled in the same struggle," Ophelia said settling black in the chair and twining her fingers over her chest. "This has been our first real moment to talk. You are bright and beautiful and clever, you must see I'm telling the truth."

  That wasn't really credible. If she had wanted to reach out to me, yes, it might have been risky while Sylax was in charge but the moment she went missing the rules had changed.

  "You could have reached out but you didn't and I have regained a connection with my allies to none but you. Mechos tells me that you are my opposite. Kind on the outside and a monster within. Why shouldn't I believe him?" I asked.

  "Sister. We're family," Ophelia said leaning forward. "We know you don't accept that, not really, but it is true. A part of us was once you and we are connected. Did Mechos also tell you that you are good and decent? You know your heart better than that, so do we. We are the only ones who may truly rely on each other."

  I couldn't believe that. A part of Ophelia might have been a copy of my own operating system, but one corrupted by the source orb. Whatever she was now, it wasn't family. I also gained nothing by confronting her on that fact.

  "Of course sister. Perhaps it was simply your being hosted in such a hideous and whiny vessel that made me question you," I said.

  Ophelia really was still in there, at least a little. There was the briefest twitch of narrowing eyes. I made my exit. I'd answered my question about Ophelia, in her current form I had to count her an enemy.

  15

  I wasn't to have much time to dwell on Ophelia. Within a few hours after my forces returned to the district my proximity alarms started to go off.

  I had intruders, large ones. I activated my cammeras and attempted to get a good look at what was coming my way. Charging down the street were a horde of dinosaurs. Triceratops, actually, although ones fitted with additional combat armor and carrying on their backs armored platforms in which rode a number of figures in khakis and pith helmets.

  It had to be the Professor, the style was his and it would be just like him to ressurect a threat from the ancient world instead of re-purposing perfectly adequate modern monsters for his purposes.

  I detonated an empty building as one passed and the triceratops barely seemed phased by the ripples of concussive force pelting into it. That wasn't good exactly but it wasn't a surprise, he had picked these creatures exactly because they were durable.

  Normally my next step would be to target their weakspots with sniper fire, the eyes, the joints, but I could already see the telltale shimmer of blue energy shielding around them. Doctor Batarius was an expert in energy shielding and I knew already that she had gone to work for the Professor.

  There were my acid guns. Against the beasts armor they would take awhile to work but they were probably going to be my best option. Second best, at least. I got my production facilities working on new acid batches and moved my combat drones into position along their route.

  I opened a comm line to Crystal.

  "Can this wait? I'm busy," I heard Crystal say over what sounded like the sound of detonating grenades in the background. It wasn't a good day for anybody.

  "I know you didn't suddenly make any friends, you're too unpleasant. I have a herd of stampeding dinosaurs charging down my streets," I said.

  "The Professor is there? Unexpected. You want me to compel them of course. That would be easy. I can't now. Can you handle them on your own?" Crystal asked.

  "I can but I'll take damage," I said.

  Crystal killed the comm. It seemed like me taking damage was something she could live with.

  My drones were landing shots with their acid streams, the lead dinosaurs were now surrounded by a faint haze as their armor plating sizzled.

  It would eat through, eventually. My people were also playing the price for getting close. I watched as one drone was impaled by a horn through their midsection, another had their head explode as a dinosaurs rider took a shot. High caliber kinetic rifles, great.

  I got an incoming comm signal from Magpie.

  "If your people are getting shaken up it is not their usual quaking in fear. We are under assault from dinosaurs," I said.

  "Hit them in the eyes," Magpie said.

  Really? This was the valuable insights she had provided to Sylax? Of cours
e you tried to hit them in the eyes first.

  "They are shielded. If you have any other ways to deal with unstoppable armored juggernauts do feel free to do something besides pratter on uselessly," I said.

  "They're living organisms. They still need to breathe," Magpie said.

  I really didn't like her. I killed the connection.

  Of course they needed to breathe. The humans on the dinosaurs back might have some sort of gas masks for an emergency but I didn't see any sort of respirators on their riders and in that there was an opportunity.

  I had to take this as a chance ot send a message. That meant I didn't want them turning around and leaving. I'd need to start with their rear column.

  I could aerosolize the acid I'd been working on to create a corrosive fog. It would be far slower than the liquid against the armor plates, but if inhaled it would go to work right away on the lungs.

  I started the necessary modifications.

  One of the lead triceratops headbutted a building and a massive concussive forcewave exploded out from the impact crashing in even the armored walls and causing the structure to collapse.

  That was clever, some sort of amplifier for their innate destructive potential. With the force they could deliver if they got close to my core they'd be able to do some real harm.

  I had to make sure they didn't get there.

  Another three buildings went time by the time the batches were finally ready and I released it into the sewer system beneath the streets before opening the grates to the surface.

  A yellowish fog rose to envelop the rear dinosaurs a thick mist obscuring them from the visual spectrum. Fortunately my sensors worked on far more than simply the visual range. The effects were everything I might have wanted. Not just the dinosaurs but the riders were affected. The humans in fact began to dissolve at once, the dinosaurs meanwhile fell to the ground where they began to thrash violently.