by Erinn Price
“Scarlet, we need your help.” Matthew thought to Scarlet, who was currently already in a difficult fight, but this one was online with her friends. She had set automatic alerts to contact her no matter what, if anyone in her family called for aid. Scarlet counted Matthew as family, even though she teased him mercilessly whenever she could. Without a word, Scarlet left the party and joined with the glasses Matthew had in his pocket. It was the glasses Morgan made for Matthew when they first met. Matthew felt the glasses move out of his pocket and watched as it transformed into a spider. The Dumont family seemed to have a fondness for using spiders. Matthew watched as Scarlet raced off to a metal statue. Two people were hiding behind it, but they did not notice the spider, as they huddled in fear. The statue began to change, and the people looked up in fear. The statue morphed into the holographic image of Scarlet, except this time she was very real. Scarlet looked down at the two and at the fact that she had removed their cover.
“Oops, sorry. Here, let me help you.” Scarlet said and without waiting, she grabbed both and ran with them, to gain cover behind a large memorial block. Matthew had not really paid much attention to the courtyard when he and Morgan had arrived earlier, but now he appreciated the fact that it was not just an open, flat park, but had statues, memorial stones and other structures which provided cover for people.
“Crouch down and lower your shields to the ground.” Scarlet demanded.
“Do it.” Matthew ordered the team surrounding them.
Without a word, the men kneeled and lowered their shields to the ground. As they did Scarlet touched the one closest to her and the shields all rapidly changed. They fused together and grew longer, their tips bending inwards, forming a canopy. Now, only if someone was directly above, would they be able to shoot anyone inside. Matthew also watched, as a ripple seemed to flash across the surface of the new shield.
“Your guns can point out of the shields and shoot; no bullets will get in though.” Scarlet said, before she took off.
“Was that our Scarlet, the one from ArcCorp?” One soldier asked.
“Yes. I did not know she could form in the real world like that.” Another replied.
Matthew carefully turned Morgan over, the bullet had exited out the front of her skull, leaving a messy wound. His nanos had filled the hole, but it was still obvious and looked terrible. He did not know how she was still alive or how long she would be. Matthew did not know it, but Morgan owed her life to her new upgraded internal nanos, as much as she did to the mistiming of a single second, by one individual. This individual had been in charge of activating the nullifier field, in the seconds before the bullet hit Morgan. The sample that they had gotten from Morgan, when the Hunter had shot her with the specialised bullet, had allowed them to build a nullifier field for Morgan’s nanos. The person with the nullifier, had been a second too slow. Morgan’s nanos had still been active and the bullet had hit the nano shield her system had instinctively formed. The shield was enough to change the trajectory of the bullet and its speed, so that it did not hit its target directly in the centre of her head and go in a downward trajectory, doing the most damage possible. Instead, that deflection had caused the bullet to head upwards and hit the right side of her skull exiting high up the front of her forehead. The planned trajectory would have given her no chance, now, thanks to that one-second lag, she had a slim chance. The new nanos had also made her body stronger.
Matthew did not know if they would be able to save Morgan, or repair her brain, but they had to try. He needed to get her to a medical pod. Matthew looked down and his eyes got wide. Morgan’s necklace was a solid piece, with the different metals and materials flowing together. What caught his attention was the fact that the three pearls had joined together and flattened out, forming a small round viewing circle. Matthew watched as he was shown the Great Sphinx and a doorway opening between its legs and leading downwards. He was then shown another console table and lastly, what looked like a sarcophagus, a blue light pulsing from it. The image kept repeating over and over. Matthew knew then, that his best chance to save Morgan lay in Egypt. Underneath the Sphinx, a mythological guardian of treasure. If the Sphinx did hide a device which could save and heal Morgan, to Matthew it would earn the title of true guardian. A device like that would be a treasure beyond price.
In the meantime, Scarlet was in her element. She first went to the injured and got them to cover. Those that needed it, she healed. Her healing began as a solid ball of green, which she would press against the injured party. The ball would then be absorbed into that person’s body.
“Awesome.” Was heard, just before a green mist flew from Scarlet’s hand. She could cast the mist from a distance and from both hands.
“Damn, I don’t have laser eyes.” Scarlet muttered to herself.
“Here, take this.” A gentleman, whose wife she had just saved said, placing a gun in Scarlet’s hand.
“Cool. I haven’t used one of these before. This will be great, I can’t wait to tell Toby that I used a gun.” She did not notice the man’s eyes widen at her words.
With the people as safe as she could make them and all those critically injured, healing, Scarlet had turned her attention to the attackers. It was a blessing to all that she did not have laser eyes, else who knows what damage and havoc she would have caused. Like a typical teenager, she did get distracted easily.
Choosing her target, Scarlet began shooting, but she soon realised the one gun was not very efficient. “Give me guns!” She shouted, as she ran to one of the ArcCorps’ groups in the courtyard.
There were five ArcCorp teams spread around the courtyard and seeing them, she said, “Oops.” She then gave them the same type of shields, that she had given the group protecting Morgan. An order must have gone around, because Scarlet was offered guns at each team. Choosing the ones, she liked, Scarlet ended up with six guns, as well as lots of magazines. She had formed holsters and a belt for her guns and magazines. She grew two more sets of arms and hands, so that she ended up with six arms. People seeing her, for some inexplicable reason began to relax slightly and a feeling of safety filled them. Only the ones against her, still held any fear of the weird female, with spiderlike features and a light blue sheen to her skin. She was dressed in black pants, with a black corset over a blood red short-sleeved shirt. Thigh high black boots completed her ensemble. Her outfit had a distinctive look, reminiscent of the steampunk look, favoured by the Gnomes in the ArcOn online game. It was the look she used online and she had automatically moulded herself to look the same, when she had absorbed the material of the statue, to form her body. Her hair was midnight black and had purple streaks in it, like her online avatar. Even her eyes were the same, the only difference was her skin had a blue shimmer to it, instead of being white. She was also much taller than her game avatar.
With the six guns and cover fire from everyone else, even the civilians, Scarlet smoothly began to take out the enemy. At one point she came across some more injured people and two guns were holstered. Her lower two hands, then sprayed her green healing mist over the injured as she continued to shoot with the four other guns. She did take hits, but she continued going. Her brain was the only crucial part, if she took too hard a hit there and it damaged her processing core, she would die.
Scarlet looked to the direction where some of the shots were coming from. From the angle she calculated that this was the person who shot Morgan. To get to him, she would need to expose herself too much and she would never hit him from here. He was in an elevated position and she had no angle on him to shoot him. Then she laughed in delight, “Sis, you are a genius.” With that Scarlet disappeared. If one looked at the right place at the right time, you might catch a glimpse of a woman’s outline as she ran. The glimpse would be possible in places of light transition, like from light to shadow to light.
Scarlet reached the wall of the building the shooter was in and transformed into her pure spider form, pitch black with flashes of red at places. She d
id not need to change but she wanted to, she wanted the enemy who saw her, to fear her. She dropped her invisibility and ran up the wall. The shooter had no chance, he had not been expecting her and she was through the window and on top of him before he could fire his weapon. It was a sniper rifle and took time to reload. Scarlet bit him, paralysing him and then poisoned him. All abilities she had in the game, they came naturally to her. The poison was a horrible way to go, but Scarlet was angry, this was the person who had hurt her sister. She revelled in his terror and pain, no one was allowed to hurt her family and live.
Pleased with herself, Scarlet exited the window and climbed down the wall in her spider form. She became invisible to move through open areas and changed to her human-like form to shoot with her guns when she could, healing any people she passed. When she got close to a target, she would change to her spider form and kill them. These she did quickly, she did not poison them like she had the sniper that shot Morgan. The people watched her do all this without fear or disgust, instead they were filled with gratitude and awe. Scarlet was impressive, and she was saving, helping and protecting them all. To those in the courtyard, she became their hero.
“Let’s move.” The team leader with Matthew said. “We have a convoy tank incoming. The enemy is low on numbers and there are just a few left.”
They thought they would need to turtle walk out of there, due to the fused shield, but as soon as they began to move, the shields separated. “Move, move, move. Cover Matthew.” Came the order as Matthew stood up and cradling Morgan in his arms, began running towards the approaching tank.”
Scarlet was torn between finishing the fight and joining Morgan. One of the civilians still firing, noticed her glance towards the group moving and said, “Go, we have this.”
Scarlet looked to the group with the man and saw them all nod. “We can take care of them, lady. You were awesome.” A young boy said, he had a look of determination with a trace of residual fear in his eyes and was holding a gun. Scarlet smiled at him and said, “Scarlet, my name is Scarlet.” The eyes watching Scarlet, as she made her way to Morgan, were filled with gratitude and awe again. No one here, would ever forget this extraordinary woman and what she had done. A few had even managed to get video of her, with their phones, knowing that people would not believe them otherwise.
Scarlet climbed into the tank, right behind Matthew and sat next to him, Morgan still held tightly in his arms. She scanned Morgan and noticed the extent of her wound for the first time. She had known it was bad, but not this bad. She had been too focused on the enemy before, to do a full scan. The wound was terrible, and Morgan would have brain damage, even their best technology could not replace damaged brains. Anything stored in those damaged parts, would be lost forever, as those parts were gone, not just damaged. She noticed Matthew’s nanos, stopping the bleeding and stabilising her organs. They were no longer shutting down, but Matthew was controlling them, keeping them functioning.
“We need to get to Egypt, the Great Sphinx.” Matthew said, but his concentration was on Morgan. If he stopped, her body would start to shut down again.
“Thank you.” Scarlet said to Matthew. “I am sorry I called you dumb.”
A chuckle escaped Matthew, he could not help it. The tank moved to the airstrip without encountering any opposition. They all quickly transferred to the jet waiting and took off immediately. Richard and the other members of the ArcCorp board were not with them, they had other things to take care of. A worldwide call went out for families working at ArcCorp to move into ArcCorp compounds. This was the beginning of open conflict. The Shadow Organisation had exposed themselves. They might disappear for a few months, but they would attack. The Organisation knew that with this attack on Morgan, ArcCorp would now actively hunt them down. Richard prayed that Morgan would survive.
No one spoke on the jet, everyone thinking about what had occurred. A few gave Scarlet speculative glances, they had all seen what she had done. They were all thankful she was on their side. Matthew spent the flight keeping Morgan alive. He had to concentrate on keeping her organs functioning. If not for the nanos he had received in Amarna, he would not have been able to do this.
An army met them when they landed in Cairo, to ensure their safety and to take care of any opposition they met.
They reached the Sphinx without any problems. The Egyptian Guard had been ordered to aid them in anyway, so when they approached the Sphinx it was to see it swarming with guards. The guards stood aside, as the ArcCorp group containing Scarlet, Matthew, Morgan and the team which had shielded them, walked towards the Sphinx. Gasps of surprise, accompanied by the sound of many guns being cocked, were heard as a passage way appeared between the legs of the Sphinx.
Scarlet took point and then the group surrounding Matthew and Morgan entered the passageway. “Six people ahead, armed. I will take care of them.” Scarlet said, before she took off down the passage. The group followed slowly, noting writing on the walls of the passage, but none of them had time to pay much attention. The passage opened up into a huge room, decorated with statues and items. The most startling thing about the room, was that it held row upon row of books, parchments, stone tablets and scrolls, written in many different languages. Six bodies were slumped around the room, as Scarlet re-joined the group.
“The Library of Alexandria, but what is it doing here?” Someone asked softly.
“Staying safe and undestroyed.” Another said. A faint blue glow could be seen surrounding the shelves and the books. They seemed to be protected by a force field, which would help explain, why they had not been moved.
The group continued moving and entered a passage. The sides of the passage held what looked like weapons and armour, but these also were protected by a force field. The passage opened up into another room. There was a raised platform with a stone table on it, towards the back of the room. The team leader glanced at Scarlet, as he saw eight more bodies in the room.
Shrugging, Scarlet said, “They shot first.” Scarlet must have finished the first six then rushed down to finish off these eight before re-joining us. We were so far behind, that we had not heard the shots. Scarlet was making sure that nobody else got hurt.
Matthew walked to the platform, and after handing Morgan to Scarlet, placed his hand on the stone console. It began to light up, “System Activating. Security Protocol acknowledged. Transport of two individuals acknowledged.” Matthew reached for Morgan and Scarlet handed her to him. He indicated a small device on the console. “Keep that, it will allow us to communicate.”
“Save my sister.” Was all Scarlet said, as Matthew and Morgan disappeared.
Chapter 18
Due to his upgrade, he had been able to link with the console directly and been able to add the ArcCorp teams to its security list, as well as Scarlet. Confident that the Security Protocol would not hurt any of his people, Mathew had requested transport for him and Morgan. He found himself in a circular room, containing four sarcophaguses in the centre, with plain beds and chairs surrounding them. The sarcophaguses were made from what looked like black stone and had patterns carved into them. They were extremely large, much bigger than what a human would need. The patterns flashed with a bright blue light. Matthew moved to one and breathed a sigh of relief when the lid slid open. He placed Morgan inside and stepped back as the lid closed. He hoped that he was doing the right thing and that the alien technology would be advanced enough to save Morgan without her suffering any brain damage.
He activated his communication network and said, “She is inside, now we have to wait.”
Back in the Sphinx, Scarlet also gave a sigh of relief as she heard Matthew’s words. The last two hours had been very tense and if she had not been aware of the time difference, she would have been much more worried. Scarlet had spoken to Richard during the flight to Cairo, and he had filled her in on everything.
Matthew moved to the console in the room, it was not activated. He placed his hand on it and it began to light up. “Sys
tem not linked with main system, do you wish to link?”
Wanting to find out what he could and to see if there was any diagnostic system which could give him an update on Morgan, Matthew selected yes.
“Establishing link.”
It was about ten minutes later that a voice said, “You have succeeded in relinking my lost system to the main one. Thank you, Matthew.”
“Who is this?” Matthew asked warily.
“XRA47721772” came the response, it was then that Matthew recognised it as the same voice from the Amarna compound.
“I think I will call you XRA, if that is okay? What lost system?” Matthew queried
“XRA is acceptable. Thousands of years ago, the system was disconnected from my system, I had no way to get to it and could not re-establish a link. I knew it was still there, as it was still drawing power, but I could not interact with it, or transport to it.” XRA said.
“Can you interact with it now and tell me what the diagnosis of Morgan is?” Matthew asked, he was not interested in figuring out what had happened to disconnect the medical and library rooms. He was just interested in finding out how Morgan was.
“Subject in the medical pod, will make a full recovery. Estimated time of treatment is two hours.” XRA said and Matthew felt his shoulders relax. Morgan was going to be alright.
“Scarlet, I have been informed that Morgan will recover fully. It will take about two hours here, so a few days for you. We can keep in contact this way.” Matthew said.
“Thank you, Matthew.” Scarlet replied, and Matthew could hear the relief in her voice, Scarlet sounded on the verge of tears. “ArcCorp has secured the Sphinx with the help of the Egyptian Guard and people. Experts are already on their way to examine the parts of the books that they can see. Though the forcefield prevents them from being able to handle them.”
“Understood. I will update you as I can. Be careful Scarlet.” Mathew said.
