by Scott Baron
“I understand. It’s not like we have a bunch of extra––” Daisy’s gears started turning.
“We lost the last bit of that transmission,” Sid said. “What were you saying? Do you copy?”
“Yeah, I copy,” she replied. “I just had a crazy idea.”
“Par for the course, then,” Sarah quipped.
“You said the remote system needed work, but what about an onboard AI?”
“There are only three of us, Daisy,” Sid noted. “And both Mal and Bob are already installed in ships.”
“I know, but for simple flight––I’m talking super basic stuff––what about using a lower-tier AI with an upgraded task packet?”
“That is a novel idea, but I’m not sure,” Mal said, sounding a little uncomfortable at the idea.
“I agree,” Bob said. “Basic operations are one thing, but flying a ship is an entirely different prospect. I mean, I suppose it could be done, but––”
“Hang on," Chu interjected. “Are you seriously asking us to install toasters into spaceships?”
“Not toasters, Chu,” Daisy replied with a laugh.
“Thank God. That was just cra––”
“Toasters are far too basic. I was thinking food processing units. And maybe waste disposal systems,” she continued. “Something with a bit more processing power.”
“Daisy, first, I must remind you that has never been attempted,” Sid pointed out.
“But it could work.”
“Well, yes, I suppose it could. But even if we were able to upgrade the connections of lower-tier AI and provide them the most basic flight data package, there’s still one problem you’re missing.”
“What’s that?”
“We don’t have additional units to spare.”
“Not within Dark Side, no,” Daisy said. “But there are scores of them for the taking not far away at all. All you need to do is collect them.”
“Salvage AIs from the debris field? You’ve got to be kidding,” Donovan said. “You know those were all infected.”
“The ship AIs were infected. We don’t know if non-networked lower-tier AIs were, and I bet a good amount of them weren’t. All you need to do is run a basic virus scan––keeping Bob and Mal clear and firewalled, of course––and then bring the ones that can be salvaged back to Dark Side for repurposing.”
“I-I don’t know, Daisy,” Donovan said.
“It’s crazy, but the basic theory behind it is sound,” Chu replied. “I mean, they would be incredibly limited in what they could do. Those types of AI were never designed to be hot-swapped like the big boys were, but I think I might be able to make it work. At least somewhat.”
“Even if it were to be successful––and that’s a big if––any vessels put in working order would not be ready for you in time for this mission,” Sid said.
“Well, it was worth a try,” she said with a resigned sigh.
“You know what? I’ll see what we can do anyway,” Chu said. “Even if we can’t get one ready for you that fast, maybe this could be useful down the line.”
“Thanks, Chu. You’re a rock star,” Daisy replied. “Okay, looks like Tamara’s packed up, and the rest of the team is ready to roll, so I’d better sign off. Wish us luck.”
“We all wish you the best, Daisy,” Mal said.
“Yes, may luck be with you,” Sid added.
Thanks, guys. Something tells me we are sure as hell going to need it.
Chapter Three
For once, Murphy had not made an unplanned and destructive appearance, and the team managed to reach Billings, Montana in just under an hour with no hiccups. The loop tube was clear the whole way, and Daisy found herself beginning to enjoy a feeling of growing confidence in their mission.
She should have known better.
“Daze, this place is wrong.”
I see it, but what the hell happened here?
The smell hit them as soon as they exited the loop tube station to make the short cross-town trek to the regional subterranean monorail network. The shocking visuals accompanying the smells would make things clear moments later.
“Holy…” Tamara said, trailing off in a shocked gasp as she saw the heavy equipment and the carnage it had wrought. “We are so fucked.”
Even Sergeant Franklin was taken aback, and with good reason.
“Is there a clear path around the city?” Daisy asked him. “Some way to avoid this?”
“Negative. It’s a push through, or not at all,” the sturdy cyborg replied.
Daisy pulled the binoculars from her pack and scanned the area from the relative safety of the loop station doors. Once they exited into the open, things could get interesting, and fast at that.
The local AI had gone mad. That much was plain to see, and if anyone had been unsure, the destruction spread across the area would have quickly removed any lingering doubts.
What was unusual was that beyond the wrecked vehicles and long-defunct cyborgs, there were also Chithiid corpses, and far more than just a few. Most disturbing was how many were displayed like gruesome war trophies.
“Daisy, what kind of thing would do something like this?” Sarah asked in shock. “I mean, Alma was nuts, but at least she was functionally nuts. But this…”
I don’t know, Sarah. Whatever happened here, we’ve got one hell of a trek ahead of us, and if we do make it across town, we’re still going to have to cross back on the return.
“So, we’re running the gauntlet twice.”
Yup.
“Then you’d better eat up. I have a feeling we’ll need the energy.”
Daisy pulled a nutrient-dense energy bar from her pack and began grimly chewing as she scanned for the clearest path. The wreckage would be easy enough to navigate. It was the Chithiid bodies suspended in various states of dismemberment that gave her pause.
“The city is intact,” Sergeant Franklin said.
“And its AI is fucking crazy,” she replied. “And lucky us, we’re going to have to pass through it twice.”
“So, what do you guys think?” Tamara asked. “Looks like a total shit-show.”
“You said it,” Daisy agreed. “The battle with the Chithiid must’ve been something else.”
“Yeah, but what’s with the Vlad the Impaler impersonation?” Tamara asked with a grim look in her eye. “We’re dealing with one fucked-up computer.”
“Tell me about it,” Daisy replied. “And here I was, getting my hopes up for a relatively easy time of it, but it looks like Murphy paid us a visit after all."
“Yep. Anything that can go wrong...” Tamara grimly agreed.
“The city’s AI, disturbed as it may be, actually employed sound tactics,” Sergeant Franklin noted. “Aside from defiling the corpses of the invaders, which likely would not be a deterrent to an unwilling conscript force, the use of heavy equipment and other lesser AIs as weapons was actually rather inspired. Though I do have to wonder how it managed to infect them without their lower-level processors simply melting down.”
“Maybe it didn’t infect them at all. Maybe it just found a way to run a manual override and take control,” Tamara suggested.
“Seems possible,” Daisy mused. “Hell, if I’d known that it was even possible for an AI to do that, I’d have packed gear to try and make a portable wireless jamming unit. Of course, that would have the drawback of getting the attention of any aliens scanning the area.”
“Still, by the look of it, fighting some Chithiid might have been easier than what we’ve got ahead of us,” Tamara mused.
“You may be right,” Daisy agreed. “Let’s gather the troops and pow-wow our route. The sooner we go, the sooner we get this over with,” she grumbled. “It’s gonna suck, but we’re not a massive invading force like the Chithiid were. If we’re fast and quiet, and really, really careful, we might just get lucky and slip through unnoticed.”
Ten minutes later, their route planned and team prepped, they cautiously stepped out into the h
ostile domain of a city's mad AI, moving as silently as possible, wary of the myriad dangers in their path.
They’d made it a good half mile into the city without incident when an AI-controlled window washing platform came crashing to the ground, narrowly missing the two young men at the rear of the group.
“Cover!” Sergeant Franklin shouted.
The team didn’t hesitate, quickly bolting for the relative protection of a building’s overhang while they scanned the sky for other hazards.
“Looks like it knows we’re here,” Tamara said. “Why just a single attack?”
“Maybe it has used up its resources in earlier fights,” the young man who had just narrowly avoided death posited.
The sound of a clanking rumble began filling the air. Far off, by the sound of it, but getting closer.
“Or maybe it was just getting started,” Daisy said with an exasperated groan. “Okay, people, time to move! Eyes open, and watch each other’s backs!” she called out, then set off at a quick pace.
The city had most definitely noticed them, and it did not seem like it had any intention of letting them pass unmolested.
Damaged vehicles and heavy equipment attempted to power on and engage them as they moved, but after slaughtering many Chithiid, the AI apparently hadn’t been expecting company for a while, and for the first few miles, they were able to easily avoid the slow-to-wake and minimally powered machines while keeping the pursuing noise at a distance.
They were pleased to find themselves making exceptionally good time, despite the hazards. Tamara easily dispatched a limping cyborg that made a shambling attack as it exited a nearby building, and Franklin and his men easily cleared a path through the myriad damaged machines littering the roadways.
It seemed as if the city had utilized everything it could seize control of when it fought the aliens. Even small waste disposal units and food delivery drones were smeared with Chithiid blood, but given their state of disrepair, the team had few issues avoiding them.
It was beginning to look like Daisy had been overly concerned.
That was not the case.
It wasn’t until they were in the center of the city just past the halfway point that they realized the AI was playing them.
“Hostiles!” Franklin called out in warning.
Fleshless cyborgs––undamaged, and moving at almost full speed despite their compromised processors––sprang from the cover of nearby buildings, charging right at the team.
Sergeant Franklin and his team took out the first six of them in short order. Daisy, however, was having hiccups with her wrist-worn power whip.
“Come on, stupid thing. Power up!”
The power whip managed a few feet of a weak beam, then sputtered out.
“Deal with that thing later,” Sarah cautioned. “No time to fiddle with it now.”
I know, Daisy grumbled as she switched weapons, quickly ending more than one cybernetic life at the end of her pulse rifle.
“More coming!” Sarah warned.
Daisy turned and saw the approaching mass of metal men.
“Looks like at least a dozen more. We need to move!” Tamara said.
The only clear path was a narrow side street that appeared to run directly to a parallel road. Once there, they should have a straight shot to the underground monorail terminus.
The team quickly moved for the escape route, when Daisy felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
“Wait!” she called out.
“Daisy, there’s no time!” Sergeant Franklin replied.
“No. This isn’t right. The AI could have attacked at any time, so why now? And why when there’s such a clear escape route?”
“Maybe it wasn’t ready for us.”
“Or maybe it’s a trap.”
Daisy looked at the charging cyborgs as they drew even nearer. The rumbling sound was louder as well, but it didn’t seem to be coming from the metal men. It echoed off the walls of the city’s buildings, the Doppler effect making its origin impossible to pinpoint. Daisy, however, had a pretty good theory on that point.
“Fuuu––” she blurted. “Weapons ready! We go through them and regroup. Backtrack, quickly!” she shouted, charging headlong toward the oncoming attackers.
“What is she doing?” a panicked member of Cal’s human entourage asked.
“You heard her,” Tamara said. “Let’s go!”
“But the other way––” he said, his fear barely contained.
“One thing I’ve learned is that Daisy has a kind of sixth sense about these things. Now move!” Tamara replied as she shouldered her rifle and took aim at the nearest cyborg.
The rumbling grew louder still, and Daisy allowed herself one quick glance down the narrow side street. A glance was enough. The road at the far end was overrun with speeding construction vehicles, their mass creating a brutal death trap.
The AI had indeed been setting them up.
Work, you sonofabitch! Daisy cursed at the power whip on her wrist as it shot out a noodle-limp beam, which hit a cyborg, then fell to the ground in a loose pile. Dammit!
The attackers only paused the briefest of moments for the obstacle before charging right over it.
Oh, come on! HARD! She forced the feeling rather than the words to connect with the device, while calming her mind to let the impulse flow without forcing it. The power whip, at long last, seemed to get the message.
The sprawling, limp coils snapped rigid, attempting to create a solid beam. Unfortunately for several of the cyborgs, their legs were caught up in the loops in the process. Daisy’s lips curled into a wicked little smile.
Finally.
Using the weight-canceling nature of the device, she flung the trapped assailants with as much force as she could manage. Their impact with the nearby building didn’t destroy them outright, but they would no longer be party to this particular attack.
In the meantime, Franklin and the others were battling their way through the remaining cyborgs with surprising ease.
“These were decoys, Daze. Look how easily they go down.”
It was using weak and damaged units as a tool to drive us into the grinder of high-functioning machines down that street. That’s where the real attack was waiting for us.
“Good thing we didn’t fall for it.”
Big time. Now keep your eyes peeled and help me find us a safe way out of this mess.
The AI apparently didn’t have as great an amount of disposable resources as they’d originally feared, as the next quickly run mile was almost incident free. Nearing the boulevard across which they would have a relatively straight shot out of the city center toward the regional transit hub, things got a bit more interesting.
If you consider massive automatic weapons fire interesting.
“Automated defense cannons,” Sergeant Franklin noted. “Two of them.”
“You sure?” a scared man asked.
“Trust me. They make a very distinct sound when shooting at you,” he replied.
Daisy cracked a little grin at his battlefield humor.
“How are our odds?”
“Well, I’m unfamiliar with this city’s defensive systems, but if it is anything like most major hubs, there should be a series of fixed guns, along with a handful of mobile armaments. Given the relatively small size of this city, I’d gather the mobile ones were all deployed during the Chithiid attack.”
“So, we can get around these?”
“Undoubtedly. However, the question then becomes one of whether we can entirely circumvent all of the AI’s toys, or just these guns. It might be more expeditious to rig a mobile shield and make a run through the line of fire.”
“What if they’re armor-piercing rounds, Sarge?” Tamara asked.
“Oh, I’m sure they are. The goal is to distract them to fire at a decoy, then have our main unit cross when the observation systems are focused the wrong direction.”
“No sewer systems to drop into?” Daisy aske
d.
“Too risky,” the metal man replied. “If it managed to overcome the waste-management AI, then it’s entirely possible it already flooded the tunnels with methane gas.”
“Which is highly explosive,” Daisy noted.
“Exactly. Also a great deterrent for subterranean attacks. My guess is this city doesn’t possess a pocket nuke, so blowing things up from underneath would be its next best deterrent if its surface defenses all failed.”
“All right, then, Sergeant. What do you propose we do?”
He laid out a rough plan. There wasn’t a great deal of time, so they’d have to do the quick and dirty variety of a diversion.
Three older wheeled vehicles were selected. The solid plasti-rubber tires, though cracked with age, were still sound, and with a little shove, the vehicles could be made to roll.
There was no desire to use up one of their precious power cells if they could avoid it, but for the main decoy, the sacrifice would have to be made. Pieces of metal were haphazardly strapped to the side of the main vehicle, as well as the other two. It wouldn’t stop every round, but if things went as planned, the vehicle actually shielding their team wouldn’t come under much fire at all.
“Is everyone ready?” Daisy asked, once the vehicles were staggered on the side street just out of sight of the active weapons systems.
“Affirmative,” Sergeant Franklin confirmed. “My men will push the middle unit to get it moving, then we’ll duck in behind the last one and get it to speed.”
“We can push too,” the oldest of the human support team offered.
“It’s appreciated, son, but my men and I are heavily reinforced, and our hydraulics will get it underway much faster than your meat legs––no offense. Save your energy to run. You’ll need it.”
“Okay, then. Let’s do this. Everyone stay close, and don’t go until the first two have made it mostly across and are drawing all the fire,” Daisy said.
She activated the drive system and triggered the brakes as the others took their places.
“On three. One. Two. Three!”
She released the brake, and the metal-plated vehicle lumbered forward, gathering speed as it went, until it reached a steady twenty miles per hour. Franklin and his men began pushing the others.
