MOAB � Mother Of All Boxsets

by George Saoulidis

  But Aura was angry. Very much.

  “Bremusa, please grab him,” she said through her teeth.

  The raging female didn’t skip a beat. She was grabbing onto Viko’s stupid red shirt in a fraction of a second. Viko, the teen idol who was adored and fawned over by millions of girls, cowered and protected his head.

  “Not the face! Please!” he said with a squeaky voice.

  Aura snorted. Loudly.

  This was the man she was drooling over for a year? She guessed, she couldn’t even call him a man yet, he was barely seventeen. But still, he wouldn’t change as the years passed, not really. She had seen the underbelly of the celebrities all too well.

  She sighed and waved away, turning her back. “Not worth it.”

  Bremusa let him go and followed her. Melousa leaned close to Viko, picked up his canapé with her delicate fingers and ate it.

  They walked the grounds, people were swaying to the music, drinking alcohol and showing off. They weren’t the same as Viko’s party, many were business type suits and many of the women were wearing serious gowns and business suits. There was significantly less flesh being paraded than the last time.

  Even still, they were sticking out.

  “Why didn’t we do the infiltration I planned?” Melousa whispered.

  “Amazons don’t do infiltration,” Aura blurted out. Her quip got a much more pained reaction from the duo than she expected. “Anyway, you said that Theseis knows everything and can see everything. Why bother? Let’s just blast our way in.”

  They waded through the crowd and the Moiragetis banners on the top level. Officially, it was a stock broker agency, so you got all the Athenian Avenue types you’d normally expect. Loud, raucous men trying to impress people with their money. Arm-candy in all flavours.

  “Why don’t you lead Bremusa?” Aura asked as they strolled to some elevators.

  “I’m not the leading type. You seem to be handling it so far,” Bremusa said, her eyes darting around. “Though I would prefer if you hadn’t disarmed us entirely,” she added.

  Aura stared at the woman’s tattooed arm and fumbled with words.

  “You’re trying to come up with an arm pun, aren’t you?” Bremusa asked while peeking out the elevator.

  “I have nothing, sorry. Epic fail,” Aura said in genuine apology and hopped out.

  The music from upstairs was coming in muffled, just the bass. Aura put on her SAR glasses and got the map Melousa had prepared for them.

  She led her team down corporate corridors until they reached the far side of the building.

  Then a patrol showed up around the corner. “Hey! You’re not allowed in here.”

  Playlist: Video 60/67

  Aura ducked behind the wall. She was surprised to see Melousa swiftly appearing beside her, but then she realised that the chubby Amazon had simply reacted quicker.

  They could hear Bremusa’s yell as she charged down the corridor. There were whacks and blows, and then two heavy thuds.

  Melousa relaxed and strolled to her.

  Aura looked around the corner, Bremusa breathing heavily, her arms clenched in fists. The two guards were unconscious on the floor.

  Melousa pricked them on the neck with a small plastic thing. “It’s sedative, should keep them sleepy until we leave,” she explained. Bremusa dragged them to a side door.

  “See? I knew you didn’t need any guns,” Aura said like a snob.

  Bremusa snorted and fell back leading point. Aura had her hand on her shoulder, nudging her around the maze-like floor. Melousa was following third and last.

  They got to a section and Aura said, “Stop.” She moved her head around and opened her arms to show the edges of non-existent door. Melousa marked them with a pen and brought out her gear, plugging the C4 together in small devices and in thin plastic half-tubing. Bremusa was looking around the bend, wary for more guards.

  The sweet voiced Amazon placed the explosives neatly and expertly, and then said, “Now we wait for the song.”

  Precious minutes passed, but no song came. Others were played, their bass throbbing through the materials of the building, but not the one they wanted.

  “Is it going to be much longer?” Bremusa asked. “We can’t stay here forever.”

  “He played it once already! That DJ always plays the top songs many times. I don’t know what happened,” Melousa said.

  “’Wreck The City’ may be not to the DJ’s tastes,” Aura sighed. “Fine. Let’s blow it anyway, this one is loud and bassy enough.”

  Melousa looked for Bremusa’s eyes for confirmation. She got a shrug.

  “Come on! It was a good idea to match the frequencies, but we can’t wait here. Let’s go already,” Aura said trying to push events along with her gestures.

  The trio took cover and blew up the wall.

  The explosion was minimal, but still in confined quarters the shock was immense. It was unlike anything Aura had ever felt. Before joining the Amazons, that was, because she had already been blown up a few days ago. She had read somewhere that nothing can prepare the human body for that kind of shock. Human beings, simply get stunned. An experienced soldier might recover more quickly, but that’s it.

  Even with them expecting it, they stayed still for a long moment to reorient themselves.

  Aura waved her hand and cut through the dust. She found a neat square entrance at the point they had rigged. “Bremusa please lead the way.”

  “My pleasure,” she said and stepped into the dark room.

  Playlist: Video 61/67

  Bremusa made sure she couldn’t hear anyone coming, then she clicked on her flashlight.

  Aura went through the blown-up wall and found herself in a different building. It was the one beside the main office-space that was hosting the opening party. This one was… Older. Whereas the first was sleek and modern, this had a heavy feeling of decades old concrete and mold.

  They fell back into formation, Bremusa on point, Aura gently nudging her shoulder and Melousa following. They kept their flashlights as dim as possible, just so they wouldn’t stumble on things. Aura was getting a wire-frame guide in her field of vision so she could navigate with ease, even in the dark.

  But she wasn’t that experienced in sneaking in, despite her best efforts at teenage rebellion. So she made a noise, kicking a discarded metal can, making it bounce and echo all over the musty corridors.

  “Be. Careful,” Bremusa said.

  “Sorry! Sorry,” Aura mumbled.

  “Someone might have heard the explosion,” Bremusa whispered. “Be alert.”

  Aura led them to their first objective, which was an access panel. Melousa opened it and plugged her laptop with some cables.

  “No alarm, no silent alarm. Yet. Everything is going as planned my dears,” she said.

  “Let’s go to the second location then,” Aura said and led the way.

  The second objective was a large cavernous room, with smaller blocks of office-like rooms inside. They had windows, and they were illuminated. Many metal pipes led from those rooms to somewhere above, vanishing in the dark.

  They crouched under a window.

  Melousa whispered, “Point your glasses around the edge sweetie.”

  Aura did, and she saw the video feed from her glasses being fed to Melousa’s laptop. She could see two men inside, casual office people, working on their computers.

  Bremusa cracked her fingers at that and began to rise. Aura stopped her with a hand on the shoulder. “Watch this,” she whispered.

  Aura crouched low, moved military style across the narrow corridor and found an air vent. She put her mouth close, smelling the dust.

  Then she squeaked like a rat, tapping her fingers on the metal and making skittering noises.

  She got a glare from the senior Amazons, but then she finally got the reaction from inside she was expecting.

  “Oh damn, I thought they got them all last time,” the man inside said.

  “Screw this
, let’s find another terminal,” the other man said.

  Aura heard shuffling of papers and mouse clicks. She squeaked again.

  The men promptly picked up their stuff and abandoned their office, turning off the lights.

  Aura waited for them to go away and shuffled back to her team.

  “Nice one, Nightingale,” Bremusa said with a smile.

  “I figured this old place must be crawling with rats. The employees must have been pestered by them,” Aura explained.

  Melousa was looking at corners, disgusted.

  Aura put on her SAR glasses again and pointed the way.

  At the far end of the cavernous room, they found a computer installation and a heavy security door.

  “Yup, this looks like the one back at Parliament,” Bremusa said.

  Melousa waddled over to the walled computers and began typing and frowning at things.

  Aura was about to ask her stuff but Bremusa pulled her back. “Let her work.”

  Aura was grinning like an idiot. This mission, the new team, the gadgets. She loved the whole thing. It felt right. And if all went as planned, nobody would get hurt and they would be successful.

  As she turned her head to the other side she found herself face to face with an angry lady.

  Playlist: Video 62/67

  “Why are you entering my domain?” the angry lady said and pointed a finger at Aura.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Aura asked, leaning her head back.

  “This is the second time you intrude, citizen,” the angry lady said.

  She was wearing a white shirt and black skirt. She had an expression filled with bitterness and was staring at Aura through big glasses. Her hair was in a simple ponytail, and she looked mean and strict.

  “No, I’m not. It’s my first time in here, I’m pretty sure,” Aura said.

  “Who the hell are you talking to?” Bremusa said coming to her side.

  “You can’t see her?” Aura asked, pointing at the angry lady’s nose.

  Bremusa looked straight past her to the far wall. “See what?”

  “Citizen!” the angry lady spat out. “You are seeing my avatar through your SAR glasses. That is beside the point. Leave now or I will alert security.”

  Aura took off her glasses and the angry lady vanished from her view. She put them on again and she reappeared. “Don’t alert anyone. Don’t you know what is happening in here? How people’s lives are being predestined?”

  Bremusa cursed and threw her arms in the air.

  “Of course I know what is happening, citizen! I am Kallipolis, Government Resource Planning avatar, aide to the prime-Minister.”

  Aura began, “Kallipolis? You? Aren’t you just some political measure or-”

  Melousa turned her head around and her expression was terrified. “Kallipolis?” she said and began ripping out panels and rewiring connections. She was working furiously, her hands a blur over the keyboard. “She’s an AI, I can’t fight her for long. I’m opening the door, go NOW!” Melousa yelled, and that rattled Aura more than anything. She hadn’t imagined the sweet Amazon ever yelling like that.

  “Wait, can’t you stop her?” Bremusa asked.

  “No!” Melousa yelled and went back to hacking the system.

  The heavy security door groaned and moved to the side. Bremusa leapt at the opening and slid through as soon as it was wide enough.

  Aura followed her and stopped in her tracks as she saw what was inside.

  Two walker-drones stood in their nests. They were pointing their miniguns at the floor.

  Aura was suddenly soaked in cold sweat. These things had killed Orosa. And there they were, just a few meters away, slouching in the corner.

  “Melousa has them disabled, let’s go,” Bremusa said and sprinted across the room.

  Aura closed her eyes and gulped. This is what you wanted, she thought. Eat shit and go, then.

  Aura crossed the room. It was metal, reinforced. The whole area was a buffer, a safe gap between the outside world and the server room. Where the Fates were.

  The final door slid open and white light came in, back-lighting the edges of Bremusa’s powerful figure.

  “Hello, my student,” a thick female voice said. “I’ve been expecting you.”

  Playlist: Video 63/67

  Aura peeked inside and saw a weird image. The room was white, similar to the Fate’s room she had seen on the video before. There were thick bundles of cables coming in from a large server installation. The three Fates were there, on their pedestals, and turned their heads towards them but Aura was certain they were blind. What was really weird, was the data-trails floating in the air. Aura squinted and realised it was her SAR glasses, showing her the digital world superimposed on the real one.

  The three wispy and frail women were moving their hands in deliberate gestures. The first, Klotho, was weaving strands of bluish lights. Personal data, Aura assumed. Life’s little details. The strands were woven and led to the second Fate, Lachesis. She pulled the data, spinning them in a floating yarn. She was pulling the strand, measuring and studying it. Then she let it lead to Atropos, the final Fate. She simply gestured with her hand, mimicking a pair of scissors. She cut the ribbon of light and the data fell heavier, somehow becoming cohesive.

  The room was in various shades of white, and the tall woman’s white cloak matched it. She was sitting in a wooden chair, completely out of place and apparently brought in so she wouldn’t tire as she waited. Her whole image carried power, a woman who ordered stuff and things simply happened. Her skin was marked, tattooed like Bremusa’s arm.

  Bremusa’s reaction was instantaneous. She simply turned into a predator, slouched into a ready pose and arched her fingers as if she was extending claws.

  Theseis paused and stood up. “I see you haven’t learnt your lesson yet, my student.” Another pause. “Let me rephrase it then.”

  “Don’t call me that,” Bremusa snarled.

  “What did you teach her, horseback riding and spear throwing? Get on with the times, relic!” Aura blurted out without thinking.

  “I see you have replaced your mouthy infant with a literal one,” Theseis said raising an eyebrow and acknowledging Aura for the first time.

  Aura shuddered at the attention. It wasn’t every day a tall ex-Amazon with a spear was opposing you.

  “Aura, get back and take cover dear,” Melousa said over the comms but her voice was very anxious.

  Aura decided to listen to the experienced ones, so she ran back to the room with the killer walker-drones and took cover behind one of them.

  Bremusa unbuckled her belt and kept it in a loop on her blackened arm.

  “I thought I could convince you to join me. I personally asked Zeus to gift the aegis to you. I thought once you had seen its power, you would have changed your mind,” Theseis said, frowning.

  “You actually thought I would join you, especially after murdering my friend? And don’t you dare say it was her fate!” Bremusa yelled.

  “I told you, my student. You can’t change someone’s fate. I, am here to make sure of that.” Theseis pointed her spear forward, and it flashed with electric arcs.

  “Oh, you’re about to learn otherwise, Daskala,” Bremusa said.

  Bremusa charged at her former mentor, but it was a weird, slouchy charge. She kept her body close to the floor. As she got near, Theseis made a lighting storm appear on her position. Her cloak billowed, her brown hair waved and arcs licked the floor and the ceiling. Her body was touched by the arcs but wasn’t burned. The scalding miniature lightning bolts caressed Theseis’ body and burned her clothes, but she was unflinching, steadying for the oncoming charge.

  Aura realised what the trick was. She saw Bremusa letting go of one end from her belt, leaving it touch the floor. She extended her blackened arm and with a faint, stepped sideways and grabbed the spear that was spewing out deadly voltage.

  The fight was blinding and deafening. Aura covered her eyes, trying to see th
rough tiny gaps. She saw Theseis face, she was surprised. Bremusa had the belt tied around her wrist, and the leather was woven in with more cables along its length. The electric arcs were licking Bremusa’s blackened arm and were carried down to the floor, grounded. Her jacket was burned but she could otherwise brawl as normal.

  Bremusa spun the spear with perfect leverage and snatched it off Theseis’ powerful grip. She tossed it to the floor and the lightning storm calmed down, just a few sparks coming from its tip.

  Bremusa wrestled with her former mentor. Theseis had allowed only a moment of surprise, she now had the upper hand. She punched and kicked Bremusa expertly on the solar plexus, leaving her gasping for breath.

  “And now, for the final lesson,” Theseis said, pulling back dramatically and twisting her cloak in the air.

  Bremusa was on her knees, blood dripping down her mouth. She was breathing shallow and quick. She must have been dazed, not responding.

  “You fucking drama-queen!” Aura yelled behind her cover. It wasn’t like she could do anything to help. She couldn’t fight like them. A mere slap from those heavy hands would surely floor her instantly. “Bremusa!” she said finally. “I saw you carrying Antioche. I saw you carrying your friend that day. She would be so mad at you giving up now.”

  “Was that an attempt at an inspiring speech? You need a few lessons on that front,” Theseis said. She brought down a powerful punch and floored Bremusa, spreading her blood on the charred white floor.

  Playlist: Video 64/67