Nightfall

by Christian Kallias

  “I don’t know what to say,” she says, her voice diminished.

  “Then don’t say anything, Tanya. Thank you for being there for me, always.”

  “It’s my pleasure to serve you, Cole.”

  “I need you to do something for me though.”

  “Anything. What can I do?”

  “That order I gave earlier; I would really like a shot at rescuing Eleanor if it’s at all an option. And when I gave you that order, I didn’t have all the cards in my hand. Now that I do, I’d really like it if we could undo this mistake.”

  “But, Cole, you made sure the priority one order isn’t cancelable. I’m bound to execute Ahmed even if it means killing Eleanor. You made me do this. I want to help you, but it’s locked into my matrix now.”

  “Any chance you could try to hack it out of your matrix?”

  “I don’t know. I never tried it before. Would you want me to?”

  “Yeah, please try. Oh, and good luck. We’re about to find out if my plan is going to work.”

  “Cole—I’m going to miss you if it doesn’t.”

  “Me too, dear, me too. But it’s going to work. We’re not done here. Ahmed still needs to die.”

  I’m about twenty meters from the device when the counter hits zero. The five drones’ shields are still superimposed on my position, each casting a smaller shield volume around me. The idea, which I hope works, is that it will only take a fraction of a second for the EMP wave to pass through the shields and me. I’m hoping the cascading failure of each of the five shields lasts longer than that amount of time. In bullet-time, I might actually be able to see it with my own eyes, even though I’m not sure what I’d rather do: look at it in slow motion or let it hit in real time and hope for the best.

  I’ve already pushed bullet-time past safe limits, and I must admit I feel a mental strain accompanied by a severe headache. But I don’t give a shit. I’m dead anyway. At least this body is dead. So why bother about little things like brain damage at this point? I only hope my brain doesn’t unravel before I can send Ahmed to the next world.

  I no longer know my enemy; that much I understand. But if Vassiliki says he has lost his way, that’s enough for me to get rid of him. If he is willing to help the mega corporations with their dirty work, killing innocents by the millions, he and his men need to stop breathing.

  I decide to let the blast hit me in bullet-time. The device hums, and the EMP is released. If my five-layer shield bubble holds, I’ll be the only one here with working weaponry. That should make the end of this mission a lot easier. On the other hand, if I can’t rely on my tech, if it’s disabled, well, it may be a lot harder. It’s a coin toss really.

  There’s also the fact that there are thousands of vehicles flying outside; their occupants will all plunge to their deaths, and the thought bugs me. I know they’re collateral damage to the bigger picture, but it won’t soothe my conscience. I will have to live with their deaths.

  “They would have died anyway either with this nuke or the next, Cole,” says Tanya. “Plus, many new generations of vehicles have been equipped with chutes should they lose power. It’s a mechanical switch, the moment the vehicle looses power, the chute is released.”

  “Right . . .”

  It’s not much of a comfort as I’m sure many will still die, but it helps a little.

  The approaching bluish EMP wave will be upon me shortly. I can see sparks and systems around the device already turning off. The lights in the room are flickering, and some equipment is flat-out shorting out upon the wave traversing their circuitry.

  I hold my breath even though I know it won’t make the slightest difference, but that’s good old human nature, I guess. The wave hits, and the first drone is taken offline almost instantly, its shield blinking quickly before dying. The wave has barely advanced ten percent, which doesn’t bode well with my plan. The second drone’s shield gives in as the first drone falls to the floor, soon joined by the next.

  I swallow hard. I might have been overly optimistic. The wave is nearly upon me when the third drone falls, and the fourth level of the shield blinks out of existence.

  “Jump!” Tanya says.

  “What?”

  “Jump or run now! You must be on the other side of the wave before the last shield collapses in less than zero point two seconds, so hurry!”

  Of course, zero point two seconds in bullet-time is long enough for me to start running. If I don’t make it, I should know immediately. If the EMP compromises my augments, I will exit bullet-time the hard way, and it may not be pretty.

  I take a step forward and jump using super speed and super strength. Not sure the drone can follow me at that rate, but the idea is to get outside of the shield before it fails. On this side of things, the wave has already passed through anyway, so it doesn’t matter if I outrun the drone. I can see the blinking of the final layer of shield from the last flying drone fade out of existence. I retract my legs into the rest of my body.

  It’s the moment of truth as the shields give in. I think I’m away from the range of the wave, but I can’t really be sure. It might be effective beyond its visible part. When I start to feel like my head is being microwaved, I realize I already have the answer to my question. I feel dizzy and disoriented. I’m getting kicked out of bullet-time, and I crash on the ground unceremoniously. I try to reach Tanya.

  “Please tell me you’re still here? Tanya! Please respond?”

  I see the lights in the distance going out as the EMP progresses all around. Soon, the entire city is in the dark. A moment later, multiple explosions cause every flying vehicle to plummet toward the ground. A flying car crashes against some windows a few levels below. I see soaring flames and feel the heat wave of the explosion. I hear distant cries and people shouting in panic. As much as I want to devote time to think about what just happened and how it will affect so many lives, the truth of the matter is I need to finish my mission. I try my best not to let any emotion take root in my heart at this moment.

  My body aches, and I feel tingly all over. My HUD is still here, which is a good sign, but it’s somewhat jittery, which makes me think that some of my systems have been affected. The fact that Tanya doesn’t answer is not a good sign either.

  “Can you hear me?” I insist.

  Characters appear on my HUD. “Yes. My vocal systems have been damaged. I’m trying to redirect power.”

  “That’s a shame. I’ll miss that sexy voice of yours.”

  A winking smiley appears on my HUD.

  I get back up, and I can tell that not everything is right with me. I feel heavier and slower. I test my repulsors, and they come to life. At least this system seems to work. I test stealth, but I can tell by the noise and static it’s not working, which is okay as I don’t really need it anymore.

  Next, I test my super strength, jumping to the upper floor through the hole my explosives had created earlier. I make the jump but barely, though I should have had plenty of margin if my augments were working at nominal efficiency. I must have fried a sizable amount of my nanites too. Still, I repeat the jump just in time, emerging on the roof, and see my own ship coming toward me.

  “Oops,” I say out loud before jumping out of the way at the last second. I had sent the ship on a mission to rid the roof of soldiers, which it seems to have done at least partially until the EMP took it out of the sky. The ship crashes, leaving a trail of fire. It is the only source of light in my vicinity now that the city’s power grid is down.

  I’m surprised there aren’t many people firing at me. But then I realize, their weapons are disabled, and the thought makes me grin. I turn around and scan the area.

  I guess I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way, using mostly visual contact. That’s when a soldier runs at me with a machete in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs. He could have sneaked up on me, but, well, I’m glad he decided to shout and broadcast his position in the process. That makes my job a lot easier. He’s nearly on t
op of me at the end of his jump, about to slash my skull in two, when I decide to react.

  In a situation like this, I have many options and decide to go for the standard response, assuming I can’t count on my tech. I jump toward him and grab his slashing hand midair, then plant my knee firmly in his stomach with as much strength as I can muster, for good measure. His facial reaction tells me it must have hurt like a bitch. That’s good. That’s what I was going for: maximum pain. I end up with his machete in my hand as he falls to the concrete.

  I flip the blade in the air as I hear him panting and wheezing nearby, trying to catch his breath.

  “I think this belongs to you,” I say as I throw the blade full force toward his torso. It passes through his upper body and nails him to the concrete ground. I guess some of my super strength still works at acceptable levels.

  He’s dead a few seconds later. I crack my neck. I’m pumped up, and I have a lot of frustration and anger to dissipate, so it’s with great pleasure that I see another pair of soldiers run toward me, one with a knife and the other with a crowbar. They stay in proximity to one another. Big mistake.

  I fire my repulsor, but I need to blow some steam, so instead of hitting them with the blast, I shoot on their path. The shockwave of the blast sends them spinning in the air. I jump toward the nearest one and break his back with my knee. I can’t be sure how many vertebrae break, but from the cascade-type noise, I can infer the tally is high. The second one crashes on the ground about the same time I land. Both my fist and knee hit the concrete, which cracks upon my forceful landing.

  I get up and start a reverse roundhouse kick toward the soldier trying to get back up. I activate my shin blade and sever through his neck.

  “Don’t lose your head,” I say right before the soldier’s cranium hits and rolls across the ground, bouncing and falling through one of the large holes made earlier by the explosives.

  An “LOL” displays on my HUD. It’s good Tanya is still here, even though I can’t hear her.

  I look around and see three more people standing. One grabs my attention immediately. It’s Eleanor. She is being used as a human shield by none other than Ahmed himself. For now, he seems content to let his last goon try to take me out.

  The guy is mountain tall, and he equips himself with knuckle-dusters. This should be fun. He’s nearly upon me when he starts doing some sort of martial art kata in front of me. I open my right palm, aim it at his chest, and incinerate him with the thruster mode of my repulsor weapon. When I turn the blast off, he has a basketball-sized hole in his chest and a look of surprise on his dying face.

  He’s still smoking from his wound when I decide to blow some air toward him. I don’t know if that has any effect at all, but he falls backward and hits the concrete ground like a plank of dead wood. His head cracks upon impact, but he’s already dead anyway.

  Another text message. “You’re back!”

  I crack my neck once more. Now for the pièce de résistance. I shoot Ahmed a lightning gaze.

  “Let her go.”

  My voice is as cold as steel.

  “Not a chance, Cole.”

  “I didn’t realize we are on a first name basis now. What happened to ‘Agent Seeker?’”

  “Stop moving, or I’ll slit her throat.”

  I humor him and stop advancing toward them. I look into Eleanor’s eyes. I know that look. She is frightened, but her eyes also screaming at me to take the shot.

  “Now, let’s see if we can come to an arrangement,” says Ahmed. “You let me go, and I let your friend live. How does that sound?”

  A memory shoots past my conscious mind. The time in a previous mission in New Paris where she’d carried me away after most of my leg was blown apart. She carried me for more than ten klicks, and we took three patrols out before our Exfil came to get us out of the hot zone. That’s not the only time she saved my hide, but that’s the one I vividly remember the most. Vassiliki was still alive back then, and all I could think about the entire time was how much I wanted to gaze into her eyes, hold her, and kiss her again.

  I start to feel my hand twitch and move slightly on its own.

  “I thought we agreed you’d cancel that order, Tanya.”

  “Still trying to hack my own security protocols but without success.” Tanya’s words appear on my jittery HUD.

  Great, that’s just great. Then I get an idea.

  “Tanya, reboot, now.”

  “Good thinking, Cole. Initiating reboot.”

  Tanya will be offline for at least sixty seconds, which hopefully will be all I need to defuse the situation here.

  “So? Do we have a deal?” Ahmed pushes on.

  “What guarantees do I have that you’ll let her go unharmed?”

  “I give you my word.”

  “We both know that’s not worth a monkey’s ass.”

  He spits on the ground and presses the knife against Eleanor’s throat deeply enough that it makes a small incision. Blood runs down her bruised neck.

  Shooting Ahmed shouldn’t be too difficult. Even if he’s using Eleanor as a shield, I’ve taken more difficult shots than this one before. My only worry is whether or not the blast has disabled his augments. Logic would dictate that they have been, but he’s always had the edge over me tech-wise.

  I have to make a decision; soon Tanya will reboot, and she might decide for me. I’d rather be the one responsible for whatever the result of this standoff may be.

  I can see Eleanor staring at me, imploring me with her eyes to take the shot. But if I do and Ahmed is shielded, she’s dead, and there’s nothing I can do.

  I could try to use my liquid metal augments, and I’m tempted to do so. But I have no idea how they will react with my systems being partially compromised. I may end up killing her myself by accident.

  “Okay, Ahmed,” I say to buy some time.

  Eleanor’s look is loaded with disappointment.

  I have to do something, and I have to do it now. I remember an old duress code we had devised on previous missions together. I hope she remembers it. I slide my hand on the left side of my face, pretending to feel my day-old stubble. That’s our code prompting her to make her move before I open fire.

  I see a twinkle in her eyes. I’m hoping that means she remembers. But I prepare myself. I engage the shockwave blast-firing mode of my repulsors. It’s the only weapon at my disposal that has a chance to make this work if Ahmed’s systems are still up.

  She flings into action and throws her head back into Ahmed’s face. That’s my cue. I aim at his shoulder and fire my repulsor. It sparks.

  Feck!

  Ahmed recovers from the shock of Eleanor’s strike and moves to cut her throat. I react instinctively. I shoot my other repulsor at Eleanor’s stomach. It fires without incident, and the shockwave throws her away from Ahmed’s reach even though he manages to slice part of her neck. Still, the wound doesn’t look too deep.

  Eleanor tumbles to the ground and rolls a few times before hitting a concrete wall nearby. I hope she’s not badly hurt, but I can’t think about that right now. I have to finish off Ahmed. I change my firing method to plasma and fire from both repulsors. They fire, and Ahmed is hit, but his personal shield ignites and absorbs the blasts.

  I knew it! This asshole is shielded against EMPs. That’s not good.

  “That’s not very nice, Cole. I give you a way out of this situation, and this is how you repay me?”

  “It’s Agent Seeker to you, asshole.”

  I can tell he’s mad from the way he grinds his teeth at my remark. Good, he’s more likely to make a mistake if he’s pissed off. Time to give him a taste of his own medicine.

  His reaction is almost immediate though, and he fires with his own repulsor weapons toward me. I erect my forearm and activate my shield. It absorbs the three shots, but it flickers madly. I’m relieved it works at all but don’t think it can take much more than that in its current state.

  If I was hoping for a fair fight
, I now know it won’t happen. My augments are more compromised than I initially thought, but his seem to work like clockwork. Knowing I’m going to die for sure makes my options more open. Without hesitation, I start running toward Ahmed with a single burning thought: Now he dies!

  Six

  Mission time elapsed

  Primary objective completed.

  Time to death of agent’s body: approx. 255 min.

  Ahmed greets me with three shots from his repulsors. Two of them graze my shoulder and neck and the third one lands on my lower left side. My armor takes the brunt of the blast.

  I’m upon him and clock him in the face with my elbow. He stumbles backward but doesn’t lose his balance. I don’t wait for him to recover. I grab my last sonic grenade and plant it on his chest. He looks down at it, clearly not expecting that move from me. I activate it, knowing full well I’m going to feel the brunt of the blast more than him, but I have to do something to bring his shields down. Right before activating the detonator, I open my palm and use the shockwave-firing mode of my repulsor.

  The grenade explodes, and I get catapulted backward. The shock of the explosion cracks my armor in multiple places, and I feel two of my ribs snap on my right side. I crash onto the concrete meters away.

  The frustration of my hellish day mushrooms within me. I feel like I’m not the same man I was when I woke up this morning. I ache pretty much everywhere, not that I care about the pain.

  Something deep inside me has changed; a major shift of perspective toward the world and the illusion of freedom that I once perceived.

  I only have a little over three hours to live, but I am determined to right some wrongs during that limited window of time. Once I’m done here, I’ll need to get back to Rewind to save my consciousness and make sure no one there ever plays me like a puppet again. Rewind is shielded and deep underground, so I’m sure the EMP hasn’t affected it. This won’t be a cakewalk though. I’m sure they know everything I’ve done up till the EMP blast. They’ll be on their toes, but I’m determined to make them pay for manipulating me.