Humboldt was staring at Spooky when I ca out. I could actually see his position, and point of view, through my new Augs. It was actually a little disorientating.
She turned as I entered, a look of delight on her face. Her hands twitched at her side, like she wanted to run up and give a hug. “Why is all your stuff so adorable?” she asked.
“What? I’m just fashionable. At least for the undercity,” I replied defensively. “The bears were Nyx’s idea.”
“It’s true,” a voice rang out from Spooky’s mouth, causing both of us to take a step away at the unexpected interruption. “You do have a little bit of a reputation, I just chose sothing that fit,” it announced.
“Nyx…” I said, poking the bear in the side of the head, its neck bent with the little bit of pressure I applied, then snapped back once I released it. “How are you doing that?”
“Previously I could only send commands and receive updates from the bots,” my AI reported. “Now that you’ve upgraded your Augs both you and I have far more control over your little squad.”
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Humboldt grinning like a maniac, she was loving this. “Fine, whatever, as long as it makes my life easier, do whatever you want,” I grumbled before grabbing my rifle. ”We should check on the people inside the Precinct.”
Humboldt stood up and started moving towards the door, out of the corner of my eye I could see Spooky saluting.
I couldn’t help but shake my head. “Let's go, smart ass,” I snapped before following her into the street.
When I stepped out into the plaza I was bombarded by a huge amount of information, surprisingly I didn’t have any problem processing it. The bears were sending targeting information, or at least they could, and the fox was sending sensor updates. The caras and broken turrets were highlighted in my vision with a light blue outline and the Antithesis bodies that had been cut apart by Humboldt’s lasers glowed faintly when I passed by.
I paused, but Humboldt just strode across the area like she was invincible. I guess, compared to , she was. I scrambled to follow her, my team behind . She strode up to the door, “Shall we knock,” she asked.
“Ummmmm…..” was all I managed before her heavy, exosuit enhanced, fist hamred into the security doors on the front of the precinct. The sound echoed loudly around the area.
Nothing happened. The door stayed closed, the intercom silent. Humboldt frowned, she pounded on the door again, then stepped back. “I’ll get Aeonys to check the system,” she said.
I didn’t reply, I was suddenly distracted by the flashing pips showing up on my overlay. Dozens of overlapping points, concentrated in two or three locations. I blinked, trying to clear the spots, turned my head, and looked down. The fox was there, standing still, staring at the approximate area where the points were. I saw it’s ears twitch, and then my brain finally put the pieces together.
“Noises? Gunshots, fuck!” I shouted. “We need to get in there.”
Humboldt’s eyes turned to , “You sure?” she asked. I just nodded. “Alright.”
She didn’t hesitate, the tentacles on her suit ca forward. Four lasers, working in concert, started cutting through the door and as soon as they were done the two lower tentacles ca forward and levered the cut portion out. Five inches of steel, still molten around the edges smashed onto the ground.
A Model Three stood in the entrance, staring at us. Faint gunfire could be heard in the background.
I sent a command out, more instinct than knowledge, ‘Sweep and clear’. In the next mont Spooky was stepping through the hole, firing a burst into the Model Three, then stepping over the body rushing further into the building. The other two were only a step behind, sweeping through the room, firing at sothing as they entered the next.
Humboldt and I were left standing outside, staring.
“I honestly forgot your teddy bears were Samurai level combat bots in disguise,” Humboldt admitted.
“I’ve made peace with the fact that they’re far more competent in combat than I am,” I told her as I stepped through the opening, and started following my bots. “Co on, they’ve already found sothing.”
As soon as I slipped around the corner my eyes widened, the inside was a complete disaster area. There was a makeshift barricade across the middle of the room, shattered in the middle by sothing big. The bodies of several police officers, in full combat gear, were scattered around the room, along with several dozen dead Antithesis. Spent cartridges littered the ground, the cops definitely didn’t go down without a fight. My little squad was busy going from one Antithesis body to the next, making sure they were dead.
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A voice echoed down from the stairs at the back of the room. “Who’s down there, identify yourselves!”
We quickly crossed the room, Humboldt moving boldly, while I followed shortly behind her, using her suit as cover, until we reached a narrow set of stairs. The top of stairs were plugged with junk, desks and dividers were piled up to create a makeshift barricade. Behind it crouched half a dozen police officers. One, an older man with salt and pepper black hair, square glasses perched on his nose, sweat pouring down his face, stood above the others. His eyes locked on Humboldt and went wide.
The girl waved, managing to make herself look less threatening despite the giant suit. “Howdy, just a couple friendly Samurai here to help,” she said.
There was a series of gasps and excited whispers from beyond the barricade. The older man frowned, turned his head and yelled, “Shut up back there, we’re not out of this yet. Let talk,” the man snapped. The murmurs stopped. He turned back, rubbing his head with one hand.
“I’m Captain Porter, and I’m in charge around here. At least I was. As you can see things kinda went to shit.” he explained before letting out a long breath. “My boys did their best, but we couldn’t stop those bastards from overtaking the office, but we did manage to evacuate most of the civilians up here and close off the stairs.”
I popped my head out from behind Humboldt, “How did they get in?” I asked.
He stared at for a long mont. “You’re a Samurai?” he scoffed.
I scowled back at the man. “I’m the one that ‘heard’ your gunfire, and sent in the team to clean up the Antithesis down here,” I said. “I may not look like much, but yes, I am a Samurai.”
The Captain’s face twitched, a half smirk forming. “Alright tiny, if you insist,” he said, before pointing at the far side of the office. “They ca up from the basent,” he explained. “Fuck knows how they got down there. I’d appreciate it if you could figure out how. It’d make protecting these civies easier.”
I frowned, but Humboldt just put one hand on my back, the other on my shoulder, and pulled away. “Ignore the asshole,” she said to , in a stage whisper. “Our job is to save people and kill Antithesis, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks about you.”.
She released when we were about half the way to the basent, a bright smile on her face “Shall we go prove him wrong?” she asked.
I giggled, in spite of myself, and sent a command to my bots ‘Follow and cover’, causing them to sprint back across the office and form up around . “Lets,” I replied.
The stairs creaked under Humboldt’s weight. The basent was gloomy, not oppressively dark as I expected. There were several Model Threes milling about, pacing between the shelving units, but that’s not what drew my eyes. An enormous worm sat at the back of the basent, slowly devouring a small pile of corpses sitting in front of it. Behind it, there was a hole, light from outside shining through.
“Sonova bitch,” I growled. My bots rushed forward, hopping over the railing before efficiently clearing the area.
Well, I think we found out what the Sixteens were doing here.
“The Sixteens did this?” I asked in surprise.
Model Eights, like the one in the corner, are used as diggers, and to collect loose biological matter. Most Antithesis act on instinct, only a few command units can plan. It looks like the Sixteens found out there were people inside and ordered this Model Eight to dig in.
Humboldt raised her cannon, zeroing in on the worm. “Guess it’s ti for us to clean up,” she said lightly.
The cannon let out a low thump, there was a whistling noise, then a huge gaping wound appeared in the front of the worm’s body. Its front slumped, the rest of it writhed, trying to pull away. “Tough fucker,” she growled. The cannon fired another half dozen tis blasting holes into each section until the worm stopped moving.
While she cleaned up the worm I checked out the hole. Five feet across, and coated in thick mucus, it probably slled disgusting. “Must have taken that thing awhile to eat through all that,” I mumbled. I wasn’t willing to touch the residue with my bare hand, so I picked up a nearby bit of tal and shoved it deep into the mucus. When I pulled it back out the mucus slowly dripped down like a thick syrup, or pus. It must have slled disgusting, thank god for I had my bandana. “I don’t think I have anything that could seal this,” I shouted over my shoulder.
“Don’t worry about that,” Humboldt replied. I snapped my head to the side, and to my surprise, I found Humboldt was standing there, only a couple feet away. I must have really been concentrating on the mucus. “One of my primary catalogs is the ‘Class I Deep Dweller Catalog’; it contains a lot of mining gear. That’s where I got my suit,” she explained.
Sothing that looked like a fire-extinguisher appeared in her hand. She leaned deep into the hole and started spraying sothing that looked like a combination of expanding foam and concrete into the breach.
“What the hell is the ‘Deep Dweller’ catalog,” I asked as I watched her slowly plug the hole. “All the catalogs Nyx introduced to had a far more conventional naming convention.”
She stopped for a mont, glancing my way, a massive smile on her face. “Aeonys told the deep dwellers are an alien race, the catalog is a selection of their technology,” she said.
“Really?” I asked.
“Apparently they did a lot of underwater mining, hence my suit. My cannon uses supercavitation, so it’s just as effective underwater,” she said, slowly pulling back out of the hole as it filled with the foam. “Not that it matters much, I just needed sothing with a punch.”
My eyes ran over her suit again, it certainly was unique. “That’s cool,” I finally said.
“Eh, if you think about it all the shit we buy is supplied by aliens, mine’s just a little more specialized,” she said, swinging the foam back and forth a couple more tis before it ran out, leaving an uneven gray mass behind. The hole was sealed. She threw the empty container away and turned my way, a small smile on her face. “Co on, let’s report back to the Captain.”
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