《Stories of Hope》 33 I looked it up out of curiosity. I was born on an auspicious Monday. Rain fell, nine inches of precipitation to be exact. I can picture it now, the grimy steam of the city exhaling as the chilled rain fell from the sky, its acid being placated by the screens held up by those brave enough to venture outside. I always hated the rain and what it brought. It bit into you twice. First when the cold drops sunk its cold piercing pitter patter across your skin, and a second time when your skin flared up red from the corrosion. They taught us in history that it wasn¡¯t always like this. The rain brought life once, and I like to think the day I was born it brought me. Vat number 1387283533. My egg was selected from a fourteen-year-old my senior and the sperm was selected from a 130-year-old. Random selection at its finest. Another thing taught to us in history, eugenics. Back in the day there was some moral qualm about selective breeding and racism. The program fixed that. Randomly selected father, randomly selected mother. We grew in vats and if any health defects were detected we would be flushed and start over. Artificial natural selection. Mankind flourished as genetic disabilities became rare and far between. Simultaneously, all genetic material had a chance to get through the vats, solving the core criticism with eugenics. The system wasn¡¯t perfect, but it eliminated enough problems to be seen as the best solution. Riots broke out, protesters yelled, but in the end things were fair. They were efficient. That, at the end of the day, was the goal. Efficiency. When the sky rained down water too acidic for consumption, the dirt too poisoned to grow food, and the sun released enough radiation to kill you with cancer in just a few years the only way to survive was through efficiency. I read a book once about a dystopian ¡°future.¡± Of course, that future is in the past now, the author getting it all wrong. Blamed capitalism. I hear similar stories would blame socialism. Of course, those systems went the way of the feudal system. Too ineffective. I wonder what he would think of our current system though, especially since our mechanized assembly lines of a society matched so well with what he envisioned. There is no government now, just the corporations and the contractors. I myself have a contractor job. Social programs are covered by the corporations. They fund infrastructure, the education system, and healthcare. All of these are free if you are worth the cost. If you get cancer when you¡¯re ten, it all stops. At that point, it¡¯s better to start up a new vat than waste resources treating you and delaying your education. It¡¯s a shame for your partner too. Contractors balance the corporations by preventing them from accumulating too much power. An example are the caretakers. Being human unfortunately is not the most efficient way to live. Even so, we aren¡¯t about to start modifying our brains to solve that. There is a little less than three quarters projected chance the people would burn the city down if we tried forcing that route; hell, I¡¯d join in. The partner program is designed to alleviate our need for social bonding. It isn¡¯t the most stable method for our mental health, but it reduces tribalism within the city while not wasting resources. Downside is the suicide rates. I¡¯ll get back to that. When you reach vat maturity you and another baby from your batch are partnered. You¡¯re each other¡¯s family. A friend, a sibling, a lover, a rival. What your partner is to you is up to you. Until you grow up you will be assigned adjacent dorms, assigned the same caretakers, and when you reach age, you¡¯ll be assigned a home unit to share for the rest of your lives. You take psychology and therapy classes growing up to ensure you can be each other¡¯s support. My partner is a brunette with bright blue eyes. She¡¯s quiet. Like me. Every year, for eighteen years, you are assigned new caretakers. Their job is to raise you, teach you, and protect you. They have different criteria for the year covered. For example, we took home education, philosophy, statistics, damage control, and logic courses in our final year amongst a dozen others. We also had to take regular review classes once a week. At eighteen, you and your partner sit with a senior caretaker who wasn¡¯t a part of raising you to serve as a neutral party. They go over all the other reports on you and assign you a job. 2000 job assignments and a population of 225,000 to do them. I was glad neither me nor my partner got a corporate job. No one wants a corporate job. They have the highest suicide rates. This stems from two factors. I mentioned suicide earlier. It turns out when your partner dies it leaves you alone, and people don¡¯t handle that well. Since corporate jobs are so safe, their partners are more likely to bite it first. The second factor is when you mess up in a corporate job, people die. Screw up logistical roll outs of food and medicine; someone dies. When you miss your deadline; someone goes without. And you better believe the auditors will catch you and make sure you know you screwed up. At least if you¡¯re a plumber the worse that happens is someone might have to use public toilets while you fix their bathroom. I got security transporter. It¡¯s a military contractor job. I¡¯m the one who drives the supply truck. Pretty low on the rung, but it¡¯s the safest job in the military, and overall, it¡¯s pretty good. It isn¡¯t as safe as corporate but sitting in an armored truck is pretty solid. I am lucky to be eligible for promotion to pilot as well, all the way to Alpha, but they have a higher death rate so no thank you. We mostly accept jobs from the corporations. They like a little extra protection when transporting GEL. The crap can be volatile, especially raw. I forgot what GEL stands for, each word is about fifteen letters long and Latin. It¡¯s an accurate acronym though, stuff jiggles and you can jump in to take a weird bath. About once a month we go out for resource runs when our scouts find something they can¡¯t bring back themselves. We sell that to the city, and occasionally do trades with Atlantis or Olympus. They pay us in something we were short on, and we provide security detail while we pretend to not notice their scavengers. Atlantis pays mostly in raw GEL, and Olympus pays with rare minerals they manage to clear from the debris in orbit. Gold and platinum are especially needed for electronics. GEL comes in three varieties. Raw GEL, which while powerful, wastes a lot when used up. I¡¯ve looked in the tanks, the stuff is white, yet transparent. It must be made under pressure and in specific atmosphere conditions. Atlantis has underwater labs that allow them to build the stuff in bulk. They have so much of it they don¡¯t even bother refining or poisoning it. Refined GEL is frankly technological godhood. Imagine a nuclear reactor in terms of energy output with no radiation. It runs at room temperature, so anything you put it in can be light. And the stuff interfaces by touch. Want it to release an electrical arc? Add in a copper coil and touch it with your finger and imagine it. You¡¯ll get a nice arc across the windings. Not really. It¡¯s a bit more complicated than that but that¡¯s what it looks like to a layman like me. It starts off blue, begins to glow as it powers up, then turns red at max output. Very satisfying to watch the console of my truck change colors when I floor it. The only problem is the stuff does not react well with computers; it needs that human factor. Poisoned GEL is made by throwing in a combination of compatible elements and exhausted GEL. Based on what is thrown in affects the color. You have the whole rainbow available, and yet it ruins the stuff. The only use at that point is to throw it in a boiler, and that is what Olympus does. The advantage is that you can make a lot of poisoned GEL with just a little raw. I think the ratio is one to a hundred. Anyways, living in the Crossroads isn¡¯t too bad, even if it¡¯s a little dark. The city was built in a tight ravine that was further excavated out and reinforced. It is an impenetrable bunker with a sliver of sky exposed at the top. The sun shines directly in for only an hour a day. This means we don¡¯t have to worry too much about its radiation. Stay inside at noon, or at least underneath a screen. I keep my screen on my belt since I have to use it a bit more when we go out for missions. The city is technically a superstructure with a base pillar. The pillar itself is about a hundred meters thick and reaches to the top of the ravine. It has a deployable shield on its head to cover the ravine up if Olympus flies over. It¡¯s a deterrent for bombings, not that they are willing or wanting to try anything. Walkways and ladder wells wrap around the pillar connecting to the different roads. The roads are about fifty meters wide. They¡¯re suspended bridges with a main road and buildings all along its sides. They embed themselves into the ravine walls at angles and extend into the Earth itself. Some roads serve as warehouses, some residential areas, and so on and so forth. Everything is made of unpolished steel. The result? A black, central pillar with cross shaped branches, hence the name, Crossroads. The Atlanteans call us Tartarus, but that¡¯s their deal. It''s one of the three cities left in the world. You¡¯ve got Atlantis as well. The whole thing is underwater. Deep enough the sunlight doesn¡¯t reach it. The place is nothing but neon lights from what I¡¯ve heard. Its streets are trashed with the population either addicted to drugs, sex, or both. They love modifying their bodies, and not just with tattoos and piercings either. Cybernetics work real well with GEL, even raw. It makes them easy to control to boot. My unit theorizes the city is controlled by an AI. From the Atlanteans we¡¯ve talked to, they seem poorly educated, though they are experts when it comes to cybernetics. It makes them dangerous too. You need at least a Charlie pilot to take out an Atlantean combatant, since most of them have skin upgrades and reinforcements, making standard guns harmless. Then you have Olympus, the city of clockwork and steam. Or so they say. Their airships at least reinforce the idea. Olympus is the city in the sky. It¡¯s the biggest waste of time and energy doing that. If the corporations knew we traded with them they¡¯d be pissed. We keep the data sheets proving that it¡¯s the best way to scavenge shit for our electronics, if they ever catch on. Their boilers burn enough steam to cover Olympus in a permanent thunderstorm. The rumor is that¡¯s what protects them from the sun. Their goal is getting off the planet. I appreciate their hope, even if it is impractical. It would take two millennia to clear our orbit of enough debris to even start sending ships out. If we put all our resources into doing that mankind would die out in a thousand years. If we maintain our current status quo we can survive for another seven millennia before the planet is a barren rock. I¡­ did the math. Like I said, I appreciate their hope. Even so, part of me roots for them. It might be manageable if we could make better computers, but that¡¯s a distant dream. I don¡¯t remember my first day on the job. I do remember meeting Alloy for the first time. ¡°So, you¡¯re our new driver?¡± he asked loudly. I responded with a nod while I continued on my clipboard with my inventory check. I¡¯m a thinker, not a talker. ¡°A nod? Show some respect kiddo¡­ God I hate your eyes. Something about them, anyways what are you doing? You gonna talk or not? Well, it doesn¡¯t matter, I¡¯ll be taking you under my wing. Not literally, I have arms. I¡¯m pretty good at boxing with them too, we should go a round sometime. Oh, hey Juliet, come over!¡± I was taken aback at how fast he talked. He never even gave me a chance to respond. Juliet walked over and I took the chance to take in both. Juliet and I shared the same eye color, but her hair was lighter than mine, and already had a few grey hairs. She did not look happy and wore a flight suit. Alloy on the other hand had curly brown hair and steel eyes. He wore a mechanic¡¯s coveralls, worn at half-mast with the arm sleeves tied around his waist. He did not wear an undershirt and was grossly out of uniform. He was also very, very fit. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Hey, doesn¡¯t this kid have the same ice-bitch eyes you do?¡± I dropped my clipboard. Juliet was the number two Alpha pilot. A celebrity. She piloted the Romeo, which was renamed to Legion when she made the top three as was tradition. She was also my mother, though that status meant nothing in our society, and this was the first I had ever met her. And this guy just told her I had her ¡°ice-bitch eyes.¡± Her eyes narrowed. ¡°You¡¯re out of regs, unsat haircut, and you clearly didn¡¯t shave this morning. You aren¡¯t wearing a shirt and you are not wearing your flight suit, which need I remind you is your required uniform on the tarmac.¡± The man stared her calmly in the eyes, ¡°So is that a yes?¡± There was a long silence. A very long silence. I fumbled to pick up my clipboard then continued with my inventory check for a couple minutes before she walked away. The man broke into a smile and whispered, ¡°Bitch.¡± I found out later he was Alloy of Justice. You¡¯re allowed to pick a name when you come of age, and this guy went with¡­ that. And he was fully aware of how cringey it was. The man was older than Juliet and thought poorly of the top three pilots calling them stuck up and untalented. He claimed they only make the top three because they were kiss-asses. The number three pilot, Logan, would come down frequently to swap rumors with Alloy. They were¡­ friends¡­ maybe? It was really hard to tell. Alloy would insult him to his face, and he would laugh and agree with him. Alloy would always be pretty cheerful after. In general Alloy was a piece of shit, a loudmouth, and an asshole. He was the number four Alpha pilot. He was also my commander. And he was loved all the more for it. Say what you will, but Alloy was a celebrity in his own right. Oldest Alpha pilot, he had more missions under his belt than anyone. Got them more than anyone else too. Our unit was always being given work to do. I think it was supposed to be a punishment, but most of us enjoyed the busy work schedule. It kept things interesting, and the extra experience made us the best. Alloy complained about it, but he also never changed his behavior, so I privately think he liked it this way. He also wouldn¡¯t let us take shit from any other unit. First to insult you, first to defend you. He would go on tirades about doing the right thing too. Uphold the law. If anyone else in the military wasn¡¯t doing that, he would get them put on shit detail. Didn¡¯t matter if you weren¡¯t under his command. You would find yourself reassigned to Logan¡¯s unit cleaning up his Alpha, the Leviathan. Its propulsion system kicked up a lot of dust. The job took literal days. Alloy piloted the¡­ Alloy of Justice. Real imaginative I know. We tried getting him to change it, but he said he wouldn¡¯t until they forced him. So basically, he was waiting for his ranking to go up. Considering someone making top three was treated like a holiday complete with a public speech for the Crossroads, that was probably not going to happen. The military did not need this guy getting a chance to broadcast his thoughts city-wide, especially when his thoughts were that everyone else was a series of expletives. One day he called me to the firing range and handed me a gun. The 12 coil 9mm pistol. I had an idea what he wanted me for, but there wasn¡¯t any point arguing. I emptied my first magazine at the target, and the sides of my barrel glowed blue as it warmed up. ¡°Reload.¡± I complied. ¡°Fire.¡± Three shots in and the coils on my barrel had fully shifted red. Charge time was how long it took to fully activate GEL and caused that signature blue to red shift. He looked at me in silence as we finished up and returned the gun to the armory. Finally, he pulled out a tablet and turned it on to recite data from a report back when I was seventeen. ¡°Volume: forty-three liters. Time delay: four seconds. Density: one hundred percent. Charge time: fifteen seconds. Accuracy: zero point twelve.¡± He looked up and at me, ¡°Outside of accuracy, your GEL compatibility is pretty high.¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± ¡°So, when are you putting in for Charlie pilot?¡± ¡°I am not.¡± He placed his tablet in his back pocket. ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°Low survival rates, sir.¡± He scowled. I had an idea what brought the sudden interest as well as why he looked at my scores. We recently ran a mission where we were hired by N. O. Technologies for a refined GEL transfer from their refinery to the central pillar. During the transfer one of the public transfer vehicles malfunctioned and to make a long story short I had to start up and move the truck out of the way fast. I started it fast enough to be a pilot. I hear that back when vehicles ran on standard fuel and batteries you could start them up in seconds. GEL powered technology was dependent on its operator¡¯s compatibility. For most it would take a few years of dedicated training to start up the truck that fast, which is why standard operating procedures has you warm up for two minutes. I happen to have a knack for it, and don¡¯t need to warm up. Volume values are pretty self-explanatory. It¡¯s how much GEL you can control by volume. Alphas require a minimum eighty liters. An Echo requires a single liter and is what the truck is rated as. Time delay is how long the GEL will follow your orders. When I let go of the truck controls it takes a few seconds to power down. Some people can make it take a full minute. Fewer still can make it take longer. Density is the percentage of GEL that you can activate. Low density means it takes more GEL for the operator to do the same thing. Charge time I already covered. Finally, is accuracy. That is how well you can order GEL to do things without computer assistance. This one is pretty important since computers are so damn expensive, and it takes a lot to do the same thing with GEL as a person. Computers are the lifeblood of humanity, and as a result our ability to build them is very limited. We¡¯ve eaten up too much of our resources over the millennium to be able to keep making them. Plus, Atlantis cranks them out at a reckless rate for their AI and cybernetics. It is possible to manufacture the components we need, but it eats up enough of our limited resources that it¡¯s better to find the raw materials. Point twelve GEL accuracy is literally shit, though it is enough to drive a truck. I have practiced raising it, but I haven¡¯t tested it since I hit adulthood and I am probably still short of the Alpha requirement of zero point eight. Alloy wasn¡¯t about to let this go, but I was saved by the appearance of Logan, who hailed us with a whooping sound and wave of his hand. He greeted us when he got a bit closer. ¡°The fuck is your fat-ass doing here?¡± Alloy growled. Logan is not fat. I couldn¡¯t tell if he was being his normal prickly self towards Logan or irritated about me. ¡°You asked me to come by,¡± Logan paired with a jovial shrug. ¡°That was an hour ago. Go away.¡± Alloy walked away from the two of us without another word. Guess that answers my question. Logan looked at me and asked, ¡°Did something happen?¡± I don¡¯t like having to talk to other commanders. I am pretty low on the totem pole, and in general I like keeping my head down. Being asked a question directly from a commander meant that keeping my mouth shut like I normally do would not play out. That meant I had to answer his question, which also meant telling him I was eligible for training to become an Alpha pilot, something there is only ten of. As in ten very special people that everyone pays very much attention to. The exact opposite of a low profile. For the first time I cursed being related to Juliet. Instead, I opted for, ¡°I do not know, sir.¡± Nailed it. Logan looked back at Alloy in contemplation before shrugging. After that my life took a turn for the worse. Alloy is stubborn, and while he couldn¡¯t force a job change, he could force me to be exposed to what he wanted me to do. This manifested itself by me being called out by him to ¡°assist¡± with Alpha maintenance. Oiling up joints. Running washes through its thrusters. Changing out gaskets. All of it a pain in the ass, and all of it with Alloy standing nearby talking about piloting to whoever would listen but always in earshot. How to use its radar. Priority targeting, tactics, etc. One of the actual mechanics asked why he was talking about that with engineering. He made up the excuse that all military personnel should learn strategy. When he did leave the engineering guys would let me go, baffled on why they needed an ¡°assist¡± from a driver. And then it escalated. He had me reviewing field reports, standing in meetings I had no business being in even as his assistant. Don¡¯t get me wrong, commanders are allowed to select a yeoman. Why did it have to be me, though? I clearly had no interest. Of course, Logan found out. Hard not to notice the third wheel when your rumor mill buddy starts dragging my ass everywhere. I don¡¯t know if it was his or Alloy¡¯s idea, but one day he brought the damnable test sphere. Logan didn¡¯t even acknowledge Alloy like he normally did. ¡°Hey kid, got a moment?¡± When a commander asks if you have a moment, you answer with, ¡°Yes, sir.¡± I honestly don¡¯t know why he asked, it¡¯s not like Alloy would let me worm my way out of it. He reached into his pocket and held out a cube made of azure putty. My stomach turned and lurched. I had avoided this thing like the devil. The sphere test. One of five to determine your GEL compatibility which directly affects your job when you come of age. Some jobs like security transporter don¡¯t really need accuracy. Others, such as surgeon require high accuracy. All you had to do was order this GEL infused putty to make a sphere within ten seconds. There was very little GEL present, and the putty itself was very stubborn, taking several kilograms of force to manipulate. An examiner would take measurements and depending on how close you got showed how accurate your control was. The last time, I was able to round the corners out a little. Logan smiled and said, ¡°Go ahead and make a sphere.¡± My instinct was to sarcastically roll up the ball physically using my hands. I squashed the invasive thought and looked down at the potential sphere. It¡¯s important not to think about it as a cube, or at least that¡¯s the advice they give. Sphere. Round. Ball. I focused on those thoughts and directed it at the cube that I held upon my flat opened palm. The corners started to round, and the edges softened. The plains of the cube bowed out as it tried to assume the form of a ball and cracks opened up at the edges where the tough putty parted. ¡°Time. Let me see it.¡± Logan took the ball-like abomination and raised it to his eye as he rotated it around and inspected it. He lowered it and started tossing it up and down in the air with a wiry smirk on his face. He was baiting Alloy, who had been watching intensely. Alloy broke first, ¡°Well, how did the ice-bitch do?¡± He¡¯d taken to calling me that. It¡¯s also what he called Juliet, and it did cause confusion. Logan played it up, ¡°Juliet busted a brewery without trouble, surprised you were tracking that.¡± ¡°The other bitch, asshole.¡± ¡°Why are you asking me how you¡¯re doing?¡± Logan wasn¡¯t even being clever, but Alloy made it too easy to jerk his chain around. ¡°For fuck¡¯s sake. How. Did. The. Test. Go. The one you just conducted. In front of me. You fat paper weight.¡± Logan shrugged, ¡°I don¡¯t know, I didn¡¯t bring any measurement tools.¡± He tossed it in the air and Alloy¡¯s hand lashed out and caught it in midair. Unfortunately for him, Logan had anticipated him, and it had already returned into a cube ¡°You give these exams to Charlie applicants all the time. Certainly, you can estimate it?¡± ¡°Probably. Anyways you got any juicy gossip?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t do gossip.¡± I rolled my eyes. I¡¯m ninety-nine percent sure he believes that. His conversations with Logan prove otherwise. Logan caught me out of the corner of his eye and turned back to me. ¡°Ooh, is someone showing a personality for once?¡± ¡°My apologies sir, I¡¯ll refrain from such outbursts in the future.¡± Screw it. Clearly these two guys don¡¯t care about appearances so a little dry sarcasm can be allowed through. I did forget that Alloy has no talent for subtlety, however. ¡°What outburst?¡± He looked at me and then Logan. ¡°Wait, what outburst?¡± Logan laughed and started walking away, ¡°Catch you guys later, I have a meeting with Industrial Solutions.¡± I wondered for a second what his meeting with the corporation would be about when I felt a buzz from the tablet that Alloy had taken to making me carry. I pulled it out and saw that Logan had sniped me a message, ¡®0.3-0.7¡¯. The cracks would probably put me on the lower end.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Alloy was busy cursing and chasing after Logan. I took the chance to slink back to my truck. I wouldn¡¯t be hard to find, but at least I could get a break from the administrative busy work he had taken to tasking me with. I was woken that weekend by a loud knocking on my door. I swiftly put my clothes on and went to answer the door. I couldn¡¯t imagine what could have happened to warrant me being woken up at, I glanced at the analog clock on the wall to check. Two in the morning. I slid the door open and saw Alloy standing there. He was clean shaven and was wearing, for once, the commander¡¯s office uniform, black apparel with an insignia on the chest indicating his rank and name. In the past four and a half years I¡¯d worked for him he had never once worn it. He would always wear coveralls or something else at half mast, sometimes with, sometimes without, a tank top. It was pretty much his signature look, and he was only able to get away with it because of his rank and talent as a pilot. If he was actually dressed formally, something serious was about to happen. ¡°Good morning, sir.¡± I¡¯d have asked what was going on, but it wasn¡¯t like I was going to get a straight answer being direct with this ornery man. My partner called over to see if everything was alright. ¡°Its fine Caroline,¡± Alloy responded. I didn¡¯t bother asking how he knew her name, he probably looked it up on the way here. ¡°Military business.¡± I could feel Caroline¡¯s eyes peeking at us behind me. Alloy addressed me, ¡°Get in the office uniform. Make it quick, we have work to do.¡± The lack of an explanation surprised me, he normally overshared everything as part of his efforts to make me go pilot. An hour later I was sitting in a briefing room with Alloy. There were a handful of other commanders as well, including Logan who looked exhausted and was still in his flight suit. He was covered in dust and sweat, so I figured he had not washed up from the day¡¯s mission that should have ended at midnight. In addition, there was a couple of brigadier generals in the room, who the commanders reported directly to. One of the brigadier generals called Logan forward to explain what was happening. ¡°I¡¯m going to keep this brief. We captured an Atlantean combatant tonight during an Olympus scavenging job. Alive. For one reason or another his suicide chip didn¡¯t detonate. The Five Star wants him interrogated and wants information to sell to the corporations, pronto. Right now, he¡¯s relatively disoriented, so we¡¯re trying to push the advantage. The problem is we haven¡¯t interrogated anyone in fifty years, and the only commander who bothered getting qualified was Alloy of Justice.¡± The room of eyes shifted to stare at Alloy. I kept my gaze fixed on Logan, who continued, ¡°The mission is simple. Get him to cooperate. Find out what he knows, with a focus on three areas. First, Atlantis¡¯ armaments, location, and current state of the city. Second, why have the Atlanteans been increasing their scouting parties? Normally they hire us for security detail, but lately they¡¯ve been refusing cooperation for the increased activity. Third, why didn¡¯t his suicide chip go off?¡± The briefing went on for a few more minutes while they caught everyone up to date on the details of the capture. The Atlantean was the only survivor out of ten, a pretty small party. They then explained the intention was the other commanders would provide any support that Alloy requested. Finally, they opened the floor to Alloy to explain what he was going to do and what he needed. Alloy addressed the commander in charge of evidence and the armory, as well as anything else that needed locked up, ¡°Get me two glasses and a bottle of confiscated drinking alcohol.¡± He then motioned me and went to leave the room. The one general who had called Logan earlier now stopped him with, ¡°Hold it, you didn¡¯t explain what your plan was to get him to talk.¡± Alloy responded, ¡°Just going to sit and talk with him.¡± The general sighed, ¡°You better succeed.¡± ¡°I always complete the mission.¡± With that we were walking down the hallway headed to the stairs leading to the prisoner¡¯s room. There was only one room for holding captured Atlanteans. We didn¡¯t have a prison like the days of old. If someone broke the law they¡¯d be punished through loss of social services, all the way up to food. Become a big enough detriment, and you¡¯d be left behind to starve. It kept crime low when your survival depends on being law abiding. The exception was a single room designed for detaining a cybernetically enhanced human. We kept it just in case we ever caught one like we did today. They¡¯re way more dangerous than your standard human. At the same time, they were an indispensable wealth of intel. The room was to keep them from causing havoc by breaking out, as well as to keep them from killing themselves. The Atlanteans were a decadent people. Everything they did was excessive. Bunch of Carpe Diem, YOLO, self-centered pricks. They figured that humanity¡¯s days were numbered, so they might as well enjoy life. With that said the quality of life in Atlantis was supposedly unpleasant. Crime was rampant, and their overlord, be it man or AI, was theorized to have the power to kill any of them instantly with their suicide chip. We got to the one-way viewing window of the prisoner¡¯s room. It had four turrets in each corner trained at the man. They weren¡¯t high caliber enough to pierce his skin, and they didn¡¯t need to be. Each bullet was a high-capacity capacitor designed to send enough voltage in his body to fry every cybernetic he had. At best, he¡¯d be a paraplegic afterwards. He¡¯d probably just be dead. Alloy took a seat. ¡°Now we wait on the alcohol. Tell me what he¡¯s running for cybernetics.¡± I opened my tablet and started looking at his loadout. ¡°Sir. He has standard combat enhancements. Armored dermal implants, muscle fibers replaced by nanofibers, and enhancements for all his senses, including taste.¡± ¡°Taste?¡± ¡°Says here he can taste the air to detect things.¡± ¡°What is he, a snake? Continue.¡± ¡°His cranium bones have been reinforced, as well as his weight bearing bones. Fine motor skills have not been changed. The man has no agility modifications. As for nonstandard enhancements, he has two for his genitalia, his liver has been replaced with a biomechanical replacement, and he has twenty-eight tattoos starting with¡­¡± I was cut off. ¡°I don¡¯t care about the tattoos. I can see half of them from here.¡± Alloy went silent, then spoke, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°Sir, please clarify the question.¡± Alloy leaned forward and looked down at the prisoner intensely. ¡°What do you think of this situation. Is it a trap? Is it a blessing? What do you think we can get out of this.¡± I paused to gather my thoughts, ¡°This is a rare chance to see what the Atlanteans are like. We could walk away from this with a huge edge over them. I doubt this is a trap. Suppose he was a living bomb. A direct attack would lead to open war, and our records show that we have maintained a constant and steady military advantage over them. They¡¯re too disorganized and most of them don¡¯t even like their own social system. No, they would not attack using him as a trap.¡± Alloy nodded and then smiled, ¡°Sounds about right to me. So, let¡¯s make him sing like a canary.¡± ¡°What is a canary?¡± ¡°I have no fucking idea.¡± ¡°Then why would you say that? Sir.¡± Alloy looked annoy, ¡°I don¡¯t fucking know, the course I took said my job was to make him sing like one.¡± I waited for him to look back at the prisoner before rolling my eyes. Alloy was a cantankerous asshole sometimes. He became silent after that, looking in thought. I imagined he was trying to remember everything he could from his qualification. It had probably been years since he dusted off any of the cobwebs in his mind where he stored the information. Eventually someone did arrive with the bottle and glasses. ¡°¡¯Bout fucking time.¡± Alloy took it from their hand and gave a head jerk insinuating for me to follow. We took a half flight of stairs and rounded a door where a guard was standing. After some confirmation he let us in the room. The Atlantean was doing pushups on the ground. The room contained a bed, a toilet, a table, an open shower, and three chairs. All bolted down. Alloy said, ¡°Take a seat.¡± He sat in one of the two chairs facing the one on the other side, placing the glasses and bottle down on his side. I opted to stand near the door behind them. I opened my tablet and used the access I had been given to stream the view of the four turrets¡¯ cameras. They were all aimed at the prisoner¡¯s head. The Atlantean settled into his seat, ¡°Hey look at that, finally some company. Just so you know, my safe word is pizza.¡± He smirked behind the table. He was naked, largely in part because we didn¡¯t have any clothes to fit him. He was larger than human with his cybernetics, probably a meter across the chest and standing almost two and a half meters tall. The Atlantean operators we communicate with when coordinating trades were much smaller. Combatants though are all designed to be able to fight with Charlies, and while Charlies are more effective, the Atlanteans have numbers on their side and are more maneuverable with their smaller size. Alloy ignored his comment about safe word and pizza. I don¡¯t know if he knew what either of those two terms meant, I sure as hell didn¡¯t. ¡°My name is Alloy of Justice. First order of business is what is your name?¡± The Atlantean started chuckling, ¡°Alloy of Justice? What the actual hell? You some sort of idiot?¡± ¡°You ever see an Alpha with a pair of piledrivers?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the idiot who pilots it.¡± The man stopped smiling. Alloy¡¯s current kill count of Atlantean combatants was well over a thousand. Sure, we normally avoided combat, but when Alloy stepped into his Alpha, there were no survivors. I imagined that he was seen as an angel of death by others. ¡°Kristoff. Spelled KR1570FF.¡± I opened a different application on my tablet and wrote down the information. ¡°Writing this down?¡± Alloy asked. ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Alloy continued the interrogation. ¡°So let me explain your situation. Your old life is over. See those four turrets? Each contains a bullet that will fry your cybernetics leaving you a cripple. If you try to escape, try to hurt any of us, you¡¯ll find yourself unable to move while we perform a vivisection to see what makes you tick. Even if you did manage to escape you are on the bottom level of, what do you guys call us? Tartarus?¡± Kristoff flinched, ¡°You¡¯d have to climb your way through a heavily armed city. Even if you managed to do so, we maintain a three-hundred-kilometer exclusion zone radius. You would have to get out of that to even get help from one of your people. Without food or water. There is no way home for you. There is life as our prisoner, and death for every other route. Do you understand?¡± The man¡¯s eyes hardened, and his sclera turned black as his cybernetics focused in on Alloy¡¯s face. ¡°Crystal.¡± ¡°Good. Now let¡¯s discuss your new life. Right now, I¡¯m supposed to extract information out of you that we both know I¡¯m not going to get. At least for now. So right now, I want to establish our relationship. Do you have any questions?¡± The man looked Alloy dead in the eye, and then glanced at me. I stared icily back without blinking. He returned his gaze to Alloy, who waited patiently. ¡°What type of relationship are you talking about?¡± ¡°A mutually beneficial one. Give and take. Within reason for both parties involved.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Alloy opened the bottle and poured some of the spirit into each glass. He slid one towards the man. Kristoff picked it up, smelled it, raised his eyebrow in surprise, and sipped some of it. ¡°I hear that alcohol is legal for consumption in Atlantis. It isn¡¯t here. Even so, we have illegal distilleries and breweries that pop up all the time. We bust them and confiscate it. Normally the stuff gets flushed and reprocessed for medical use or whatever. I consider that a waste.¡± Alloy picked up the glass and gave it a smell before wrinkling his nose, ¡°Never tried the stuff myself, but I imagine to someone with a custom biomechanical liver he would love to get his hands on a steady supply.¡± Alloy took a sip, and then coughed. Kristoff laughed, ¡°It¡¯s strong stuff. Maybe a little too strong for your first try.¡± He took another sip. ¡°Not the best quality, but there is a fire to it that makes up for it.¡± He looked at the alcohol and then back to Alloy, ¡°I don¡¯t plan on talking though.¡± Alloy wiped his mouth, ¡°That¡¯s fine. For now, I¡¯ll leave you with my first question. Answer it and we can negotiate what you get in return, though my offer for now is our confiscated alcohol. Why didn¡¯t your suicide chip go off? Let the guard know if you¡¯re ready to talk.¡± Alloy stood up and made to leave the room. ¡°Keep the bottle as a sign of good will.¡± I stood aside as Alloy exited and followed suit, letting the door shut behind us. As we passed the guard Alloy said, ¡°Set the lights to a standard Circadian rhythm. It¡¯s time to let him sleep.¡± We went back to the viewing room. The cell was now lit with red lighting. The man was still sipping from his glass and had pulled Alloy¡¯s still-full glass closer to him. The bottle had been recapped. Alloy took a seat and relaxed back as if to take a nap. ¡°Sir, may I ask what we are doing?¡± Alloy closed his eyes and steadied his head by placing his hands behind it, ¡°About to take a nap.¡± I didn¡¯t press him for more. Personally, I was tired too and took a seat next to him. As I closed my eyes, I wondered what the point of giving him alcohol was and how it was supposed to help. I was under the impression that interrogation was normally a long-drawn-out thing to wear the person¡¯s mind down. I also thought it was a bit more aggressive than the way Alloy had acted. He hadn¡¯t been friendly per se, but he was a hell of a lot more polite than I had ever seen him treat anyone before. Also, what was the point of¡­ pressing¡­ the¡­ I woke up with a jump to the sound of someone loudly asking, ¡°What are you doing commander Alloy?¡± It was the brigadier general from the brief who had spoken. His arms were crossed, and he looked pissed. Somehow Alloy had not opened his eyes, or even moved from the last time I had seen him, ¡°Taking a nap.¡± ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be interrogating the prisoner. I came down to check on the progress and find you here neglecting your duties.¡± His voice slowly raised as he spoke. I really did not want to be in the room for this but did not see a way to excuse myself. Unperturbed, Alloy said, ¡°I am interrogating him.¡± I looked back into the cell. The man had finally gone to sleep in his bed. Interrogating him my ass, anyone could tell that we were not doing our job like Alloy was supposed to be. The general¡¯s voice had turned into a hissing whisper as he contained himself like a stick of dynamite about to explode, ¡°And how, pray tell, do you figure that?¡± ¡°First, I took away any hope of escape. Second, I made myself out as his only hope of things getting better. Third I associated myself with a night of good sleep and decent treatment. Now we let it simmer.¡± The general took this into consideration, ¡°So this is a strategy, then.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± The enthusiastic response dripped with sarcasm. During all this Alloy never opened his eyes. The general closed the door to the viewing room and quietly took a seat to peer into the cell. Alloy seemed to take the sound to mean he had left. ¡°What a douchebag.¡± The general stared at him, ¡°I¡¯m still here.¡± Alloy¡¯s eyes opened wide and lost composure as he looked at the general, ¡°And you¡¯re still a douchebag!¡± I was asked to leave the room and had the pleasure of listening to them shout inside. Alloy had hygiene kits and fresh uniforms brought to us. We showered and slept on-site. It was two days until we were asked for by the prisoner. When we finally were requested, Alloy said we would wait fifteen minutes so, ¡°we don¡¯t seem desperate.¡± It was the same situation as before, me with the tablet standing behind Alloy who took a seat. Kristoff seeming content to stand. I wasn¡¯t sure who seemed more in control, the behemoth towering and looking down on us, or Alloy who had a relaxed air about him and only glanced up a few times during their conversation. Kristoff started, ¡°I first want to negotiate my terms.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t be adding more than the alcohol if that is what you are asking.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about the alcohol,¡± he snapped, ¡°I want some actual fucking food.¡± Both me and Alloy stared at him dumbfounded. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I want you to synthesize me some steak, broccoli, anything. That prison paste tastes like piss.¡± Alloy turned and looked at me, ¡°Do you know what that is?¡± ¡°No, sir.¡± It was Kristoff¡¯s turn to be dumbfounded. ¡°Are you fucking joking.¡± ¡°You eat the same dietary paste as the rest of the Crossroads.¡± Kristoff went still and said through gritted teeth, ¡°You. Eat. The. Same. Paste. Every meal. The sweet and salty shit you are giving me.¡± I could feel Alloy¡¯s fuse running short. Still, he remained cordial, ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°What is wrong with you people?¡± Kristoff said before sighing. ¡°Fine, give me the booze, it¡¯ll at least wash my palette. Also¡­¡± Alloy interrupted, ¡°We aren¡¯t adding to the deal.¡± Kristoff continued unabated. ¡°Also,¡± he emphasized, ¡°I want some clothes.¡± I kept my mouth shut. We were already working on the clothes it was just custom ordering clothing was not something really done here often. Alloy agreed. Kristoff nodded and took a seat. ¡°You want to know why my suicide chip didn¡¯t go off? Let me ask you something so I can answer your question better. Why do you think they go off?¡± ¡°Two theories. One is your people believe it¡¯s better to die than be captured alive. The other is they are activated remotely.¡± ¡°Wrong on both accounts. You better believe none of us would activate that on purpose. The chip contains a drop of GEL that is exposed to your brain when it turns on. Do you know what raw GEL does when it touches gray matter?¡± ¡°Our autopsies show it liquefies the brain.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s just the final result. First it paralyzes you. Your brain doesn¡¯t know what is happening, but it knows it¡¯s bad. It fires off every pain receptor it has to try and get your body to make it stop, but there¡¯s no motor control anymore. Instead, you slowly lose consciousness while your brain gets turned into mush by the out-of-control GEL. I would rather vaporize my own head than experience that.¡± Alloy nodded, ¡°So if not suicide, then why does it go off?¡± ¡°The chip has a built-in loyalty AI. Thing is fanatically anti-Olympus and anti-Tart¡­ I mean Crossroads. Doesn¡¯t really care how we feel about Atlantis, but it will never allow us to be used or captured by the enemy. They place one in each of us in the womb. Real nasty like. And of course, you can¡¯t protect your children because the chip views that as pro-the-enemy. So, your mother gets a surgery before you''re born, and you become a loyal Atlantean from that moment on.¡± Alloy soaked in the information while I wrote it down. ¡°So back to the original question. Why didn¡¯t yours go off?¡± Kristoff shrugged, ¡°Malfunction probably.¡± Alloy cocked his head, ¡°For the first time in decades. How did it take so long for one to malfunction?¡± ¡°We get annual examinations and software updates. If we don¡¯t, the chips go off. I¡­ might have gone cheap on the software update.¡± A look of concern passed over his face and if his cybernetics allowed him to shudder, he probably would have, ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know if and when that thing might kill me.¡± Alloy looked at him coolly, ¡°Can we remove it?¡± He shook his head, ¡°We both know you don¡¯t have cybernetic docs. You fuck it up and I am dead. No, for now I try not to think too hard about it. Also, you call this the Crossroads. I am hoping avoiding the T-word will keep it from realizing what is going on.¡± Alloy looked up at the ceiling while he mused aloud, ¡°So you might just be a ticking time bomb. Very well.¡± He looked back down at Kristoff, ¡°I think that¡¯s enough for now. I don¡¯t want to ask you anything about Atlantis itself directly until we know the chip is neutralized. Instead, my next question is why Atlantis has increased its scouting parties. I¡¯ll let you mull over what you want in return.¡± It would be two weeks before the next time we spoke. The Five Star wanted results and was beginning to get impatient. Atlantis had ceased trade negotiations with us and increased scouting parties again. That meant we would have to start producing our own GEL, which would eat heavily into our resources. It was more efficient to make that under the natural pressure of the ocean. Also, Alloy spent most his time chilling in the viewing room and had shirked all his commander duties to Logan, which did not look good. The Five Star finished lecturing Alloy and turned to the viewing window, ¡°We need intel now- Um¡­ wait, what is he doing?¡± I answered for Alloy, as I had a feeling he was going to be unnecessarily crass and make things worse. ¡°Masturbating, sir.¡± ¡°¡­ can we get him neutered so he¡­ stops.¡± Alloy took that one, ¡°If you want him to never talk to us again.¡± Two minutes later we were entering the room. Kristoff scrambled to put his pants back on, ¡°Hey! Fuck! Could you knock!?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kristoff, but we need answers. Now.¡± After some cussing we were back to our normal locations during the interview. Kristoff asked, ¡°How would you like it if I interrupted you while you were jerking it.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know, I¡¯ve never done it.¡± Kristoff looked at him like he was growing a second head. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Kristoff, the scouting parties. We need answers.¡± ¡°No, I need answers first. You,¡± he pointed a finger at me, ¡°you¡¯ve¡­ you know. Done it.¡± I dryly responded, ¡°No, Kristoff. I have not.¡± He looked back to Alloy, who then explained, ¡°We¡¯re spayed and neutered here in the Crossroads.¡± Kristoff deflated a little, ¡°Wait, how do you breed?¡± ¡°We¡¯re grown in vats.¡± ¡°Sweet Lord, the test tube babies rumor was true.¡± There was an awkward pause. Alloy broke the silence, ¡°Kristoff. Atlantis has broken trade negotiations. Their scouting parties are up a thousand percent. We need to know what is going on.¡± Kristoff shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not risking it with the chip. Hell, I might have done it for a prostitute, but now that¡¯s off the table.¡± Alloy didn¡¯t budge. ¡°Then that leaves surgery.¡± ¡°If you even try, I will fight. I would rather be crippled, plus with my taste enhancements if you did fry me, I would lose the ability to talk. Good luck getting anything from me then. Alloy was quiet. They had reached a stale mate. And it broke him. ¡°Fucking singing canary my ass. Do you know what a canary is? I do, had to look the dipshit up so I didn¡¯t look like an idiot. Fucking bird. I didn¡¯t even know birds could sing. Apparently all the insufferable fucks could, which makes the damn expression make less sense!¡± Kristoff was caught off guard, not that Alloy was giving him an opening to speak. ¡°Fucking fucker¡¯s fucked. Ice bitch! Suggestion! Now!¡± I didn¡¯t even react to the outburst, while Kristoff was surprised, I had been desensitized to it, ¡°We could try heavy anesthetics, Kristoff. That way at the very least if we failed you would die painlessly.¡± ¡°No, not a chance in hell.¡± ¡°Kristoff,¡± I held his eye steadily as I brought up a spreadsheet on my tablet and showed it to him, ¡°I worked through the logic. That is your best chance not to die by that chip. Right now, your option is to pray that the thing is neutralized while always chancing it going off any day. Alternatively, we remove it guaranteeing it won¡¯t. At the very least if we put you under you still won¡¯t die feeling that pain.¡± He held my gaze, ¡°I won¡¯t do it.¡± ¡°¡­ Kristoff. Think about it, you¡¯re more imprisoned by that chip than this cell. Let us help you. Even if you won¡¯t talk to us after, we can at least put your mind at ease.¡± ¡°Or,¡± Alloy added unhelpfully, ¡°we can all go up shit creek.¡± Two days later we were continuing our interrogation. ¡°How does your head feel?¡± Alloy asked. ¡°A little numb from the pain killers,¡± Kristoff rubbed around a bandaged part on the back of his head. He was not supposed to fiddle with it while he healed. ¡°Good. Kristoff, we would like to continue our negotiations for answers.¡± Kristoff shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to negotiate. I owe you this at least. They¡¯re looking for El Dorado.¡± I wrote it down while Alloy was taken aback, ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­ why?¡± Neither of us had ever heard of El Dorado. ¡°The thing is what¡¯s called a time capsule. They used to be used for preserving things for the future. Normally sentimental. El Dorado is different though. Contains raw elements preserved for whoever finds it. It¡¯s supposed to clear a path for the future of whoever finds it. To give you an idea of how valuable it is it contains a ton of gold. That isn¡¯t hyperbole. A literal ton of gold.¡± Alloy and I looked at Kristoff in disbelief. Even when we traded with Olympus, we would trade a hundred five-liter canisters of GEL for just an ounce of gold. The idea that there was a ton of gold out there, just waiting to be found was ludicrous. But more importantly, ¡°You said there were other elements?¡± I asked. Alloy turned to look at me as I was not supposed to ask questions unless he ordered me. He had rubbed off on me and I was ignoring protocols. ¡°That is correct.¡± ¡°What are they, and how much?¡± He began listing. Five tons of silicone. Half a ton of platinum. Four tons of gallium. Germanium. Tin. The list went on. All more than anyone could ever see in lifetimes. I couldn¡¯t believe it. Alloy didn¡¯t seem to fully understand the implications, but he knew enough to know it was a game changer. Alloy took charge of the interview again, ¡°Sounds amazing. Also, too good to be true. Why would Atlantis buy into this nonsense?¡± ¡°¡¯Cause we had another time capsule in our city. No one knew, but when the time came a vault popped open that we thought was a statue. It had pictures and information on where to locate the coordinates.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t contain the coordinates itself?¡± ¡°No, but it did contain a key for its encryption. All that was left was finding the coordinates, unencrypt them, and go pop it open.¡± ¡°So, they¡¯re looking for the coordinates then?¡± ¡°They won¡¯t find it.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± Kristoff fell silent and refused to answer. Alloy repeated his question but nothing. I read the writing on the wall and answered it for him, ¡°Your unit found it.¡± Alloy looked back at me and then Kristoff, who did not deny my conclusion. Alloy cursed, ¡°And we killed your unit. Fuck.¡± Kristoff started to speak, stopped himself, and then continued, ¡°I have a copy of the key and coordinates.¡± ¡°Well why didn¡¯t you say so sooner?¡± Kristoff held up a hand, ¡°I¡¯m not giving them for free, and there¡¯s no way you are forcing the information out of me.¡± ¡°¡­ What do you want?¡± ¡°My freedom.¡± ¡°You know I can¡¯t give you that.¡± It was Kristoff¡¯s turn to curse, ¡°Shit man. I¡¯m not asking to be sent back to Atlantis. I just got that chip removed; you think I want it reinstalled? Even so, like hell I am spending the rest of my days in this cell. Even if it¡¯s just a single, I don¡¯t know¡­ Level? City block? Not sure what the Crossroads layout looks like, but anything is better than this cramped little room!¡± Alloy tapped his fingers on the table. ¡°Excuse us.¡± We stepped out and Alloy confronted me, ¡°Alright, why did you get so excited, 33?¡± He said my name. That meant he was serious, not that it ever changed my behavior. ¡°Sir,¡± I said, ¡°a ton of gold would change everything.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t bullshit me. You could¡¯ve kept your mouth shut if that was it. There is something more and I know you well enough to see that you¡¯re hiding something woman.¡± I gathered my thoughts before responding, ¡°See, your jaw twitched. You¡¯re excited.¡± ¡°Sir, do you recall Olympus¡¯s goal.¡± ¡°Well yeah, waste our resources clearing the path to space so we can all die before getting there.¡± ¡°Sir. This El Dorado. It has enough materials to create computers to track all the orbiting debris and build aerogel nets to capture it. It also is enough that they could upgrade every Atlantean to be strong enough to take on your Alpha. Single-handedly. This could literally either save humanity or destroy us depending on who gets their hands on it.¡± He looked at me, and his eyes slowly widened. ¡°Fucking what!?¡± A few hours later and the Five Star was looking at the three of us through the viewing window while we conducted the most important negotiation in history. Alloy started, ¡°So here¡¯s the deal. We can¡¯t let you roam free. If you escaped and got that information back to Atlantis it would lead to open war for the first time in centuries. Despite that, I can still guarantee your freedom if, and only if, we get to El Dorado first. If your info proves valid, then you¡¯ll become an official citizen of the Crossroads. My superior officer, all the way up, has given the go ahead and gotten approval from the corporations and contractors.¡± Kristoff crossed his arms and weighed the offer. Finally, he said, ¡°This part is going to suck. Oh, and I should warn you, it¡¯s in an unsurveyed lake.¡± This was when we found out that his biomechanical liver was not strictly for alcohol consumption. Kristoff¡¯s mouth opened and he gagged as he lurched over the table and spat out a cord. The thing dangled from his mouth and was covered in a slimy¡­ black¡­ goo. He fiddled with the end of the cord. I was barely able to hide my reaction, but Alloy¡¯s mouth hung open in disgust. Kristoff pulled a data port off the end of the cord and handed it to Alloy who took it gingerly with one hand between his thumb and pointer finger. Finally, with a terrible gagging and slurping noise the cord retracted back into the mouth, and I watched as the black gunk splattered across Alloy¡¯s gaping face. He hurled, ¡°It got in my mouth! It got in my fucking mouth!¡± He hurled again. KR1570FF ¡°Survive, survive, survive,¡± I muttered my mantra after Alloy left. I was sure as hell glad that my epidermis implants hide sweating. I had been the golden goose, and I just gave away my eggs. I''d be lucky if they honored the deal. I rubbed the back of my head where they had cut out the chip. It was itchy. I knew I wasn¡¯t supposed to and pulled my hand away slowly. Still itchy. I''d slip up and rub it again I knew. I sighed, I had learned to tell the time off only the lights in the room, and it was almost time to sleep. The light would shift from golden to white to bright gold again as it shifted across the room to simulate the sun. Lights out would hit and the whole room would be lit by a dull red. Red is good for night vision. Easy to sleep through. Way better than the Neon lights in the streets of Atlantis. I lied down on my cot. Wasn¡¯t the most comfortable lay in the world, but what could you expect from a cell. ¡°Survive, survive, survive,¡± I muttered as the lights snapped to red and closed my eyes. ¡°You hear me, boy.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡®yes, mama,¡¯ to you, little mister,¡± my mama said huffily. She patted my clothes down as she spoke. ¡°Now remember, baby, you gotta survive, survive, survive. Grab some fresh fruit if they got it, otherwise follow the grocery list to the letter.¡± I looked down at the piece of cardboard in my hand. Me and mama didn¡¯t have any cybernetics, so we had to write things down. ¡°All natural,¡± she would brag when she was pitching her sales. All bruised as well. She was always covered in them. New ones after every shift, and she¡¯d be working one while I grab the groceries. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes, mama,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, mama.¡± She pulled me into a deep hug with her bandaged arms and I went to the door and pressed the open button. If you had cybernetics, it would slide open automatically, but mama still never got us any. As I left, the door slid shut and I stepped out into our unit¡¯s level and looked over the railing at the lights, dazzling and beautiful. I had never seen the sunlight. Instead, the streets were lined with neon advertisements that danced and shifted. I skipped to the stairwell and slid on the handrail down to the next level before crossing to the next set of stairs as I zigged, zagged, and slid down to the bottom level. I slowed to a walk as I entered the street and looked left and right before hopping onto it. The smell of seawater pervaded the slums of Atlantis and you could hear trickles of water in the gutters. It¡¯s near impossible to make something as large as a city watertight. Instead drips and leaks would pervade in the sky-ceiling and get pumped out with the sewage. Most of the adults scattered in the streets were either smoking or drinking. Mama told me to avoid getting high, it¡¯d screw my thinking. Drinking was even worse, but after her roughest shifts, she would drink herself to sleep so she didn¡¯t preach about it too much to me. A man with a pair of women in each arm called my name, ¡°Kristoff! How¡¯s your mother?¡± ¡°She¡¯s staying strong, Jake,¡± I said as I passed by. Spelt JA3OB. Our names were given to us by the King. Two letters, a number, followed by another two letters. Allowed it to keep track of us. Also allowed there to be more than one Jake. Mama hated the King. Called it things I''m not allowed to say. I got to the market. The stalls were stocked with freshly synthesized food. Meat, veggies, starches. Everything. No freshly synthesized fruit, though. I walked through grabbing a basket and began filling up. I bought the ice cream last so that I could put it in the freezer. Me and mama would once a week have a movie night and sit in the VR sharing the tub of frozen goodness. As I was checking out, I noticed that the monitor was broken and they were doing manual purchases. Normally I was the only one who had to call an employee to help me. Being all natural seemed like more hassle than it was worth, but mama didn¡¯t want me getting a contract with the King. ¡°Kristoff,¡± the clerk greeted me with a smile, ¡°How¡¯s your mother.¡± ¡°Staying strong. What happened to the monitor?¡± It had a large crack on it as it flickered displaying the price of ¡®KOBE BEEF.¡¯ ¡°A scout came in drunk. Made a mess of the place,¡± they said as they held their open palm over my basket and processed everything I had grabbed with their built-in scanner. ¡°What¡¯s Kobe?¡± ¡°Hand me your chip,¡± I handed the pay-chip from my pocket. Another hassle of being all natural. He answered my question while it processed. ¡°Species of beef. World class. Back before it was extinct. Used to be Angus, buffalo, llama, all sorts of beef. But the only thing the ancients ever saved for synthesizing was the best of the best. So, all we got is Kobe.¡± I opened my hand, and he dropped the pay-chip back in my hand as I exclaimed, ¡°Wow, that¡¯s a lot of cows!¡± ¡°Sure is. Say hi to your mother for me.¡± I hurried home, doing the long march up the stairs. I could hear mama still working so I took a seat outside the door on the ground. After a couple minutes there was silence, and finally the door slid open and out stepped a man. He had an implant that looked like an eyepatch in one eye. Night vision or something. He had the telltale scars that told me he had gotten implants for his skin. You only did that if you needed armor against bullets. That meant he was a scout or scavenger. Maybe even an operator. He looked down at me, while I looked at him. He nodded and walked to the stairwell while I stepped inside and headed for the kitchen. Mama must have thought I was going to be longer as she was standing over the sink and was using a knife to cut across her forearms. She was still panting from exerting herself with the customer. The bandages were washing in the sink. I knew I wasn¡¯t supposed to see her hurt herself like that, which is why she kept them bandaged up. I tiptoed to the door and pressed the open button and shouted, ¡°Mama, I¡¯m home!¡± ¡°Shit, honey, stay out of the kitchen for me. I gotta clean up!¡± I looked down at the ice cream. It was melting. She called again, ¡°Alright, Kristoff come in!¡± I stepped in and looked at the recently wrung out bandages, still dripping. ¡°Let¡¯s get those groceries put away, baby,¡± she said with a smile, took the basket from me, and set it on the counter. We began placing them in the fridge, cupboard, and freezer. ¡°Oh honey, the ice cream is too soft. Now it¡¯s going to be crunchy.¡± ¡°A scout damaged the checkout at the market. Had to stand in a long line,¡± I lied. If she knew I had been here for about ten minutes waiting on her to finish work and bandage up her arms she would apologize to me and end up drinking herself to sleep. I wanted to see her smile more. ¡°Damn. My client today was a scout too. I think a party got back last night.¡± ¡°You alright mama? Those guys have some intense cybernetics.¡± ¡°Not this one. Only thing he was packing was that fancy eye of his. Made me give him a strip dance while he kept his natural one shut.¡± ¡°Gross,¡± I let slip. The idea of mama doing a strip dance was not an image I even wanted to imagine. She laughed at my disgust, ¡°Hey, it pays the bills. Gotta pay for movie night somehow. Speaking of which.¡± I smiled while I placed some cereal in the cupboard, which was also the last of the groceries, ¡°There¡¯s that new comedy they found in those ruins last month. I hear it¡¯s a riot.¡± ¡°Oh? And where do you hear that from.¡± ¡°Jake.¡± She sighed, ¡°I swear, if that man wasn¡¯t one of my best customers I¡¯d flay him alive. That last movie with the knight was awful.¡± I chuckled, ¡°But milady, I have been afflicted with the gaseous.¡± It was such a stupid quote that my mama rolled her eyes at it. ¡°Lord, help me with this child. Catch,¡± she tossed the basket at me, ¡°throw that away.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes, mama,¡± she corrected. ¡°Yes, mama.¡± Later she had me sitting in the VR while we covered schoolwork. I hear many people around Atlantis don¡¯t have a parent to teach them. They learn the basics, reading and writing. But that¡¯s it. Mama though would say ¡°your mama didn¡¯t raise no fool,¡± and indeed we were covering exponents. Damn if it wasn¡¯t confusing though. Finally, she disabled the VR and we were back in the apartment. ¡°Alright baby, time for dinner.¡± I always helped with dinner by grabbing out the ingredients or dishes. She did all the cooking though, and tonight she was making stroganoff with the fresh mushrooms and beef. She made a cream based sauce and we sat down at the table to eat. Finally, it was time for movie night. As the hero of the story, a maverick pilot, got into a slapstick fight with his copilot I looked up at mama. She had a spoonful of ice cream in her mouth and pulled it out to laugh. I smiled, and reached over and squeezed her hand. ¡°Mama! Mama!¡± I shouted at her as she shook violently on the ground, naked and with welts around her throat that were already turning purple from bruising. I whipped my head around at Jake who was looking down at us. We were in her bedroom, where she conducted business. ¡°What did you do!?¡± ¡°I- she- I paid so I could be rough. This wasn¡¯t even any worse than the usual- its- it isn¡¯t my fault.¡± Oh great, the man was useless. ¡°Pick her up, we gotta get her to the hospital.¡± He continued to stammer uselessly, so I kicked his shin. ¡°Pick. Her. Up.¡± He nodded shakily. Hours later I was helping mama back into our apartment. She still had the medical bracelet around her wrist and her bandages had been taken off and thrown away at the hospital. ¡°H-hold on honey, I gotta put new bandages on my- I- I¡¯m sorry I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re fine mama, the doctor said you just got a bad knock on your head, no lasting damage.¡± She started crying, ¡°It¡¯s not just- I- my arms-baby, I¡¯m so sorry. I must be the worst mother.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, mama. You¡¯re perfect,¡± I pulled her arm down and kissed her on the top of her head as she bent over. ¡°The best mother in the whole world.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just saying that.¡± I was not. Every day, I knew I was loved. If that isn¡¯t world class, Kobe beef levels, I don¡¯t know what is. ¡°It¡¯s going to be okay,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s not okay. The medical bills, the rent, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯m going to pay for everything.¡± ¡°We just gotta do what you always tell me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that,¡± she sniffed. ¡°Survive. Survive. Survive.¡± She looked at me, smiled, and cried harder, ¡°How did I get blessed with the best son in the world?¡± ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you, too.¡± As per the doctor¡¯s orders we got her settled into bed and I woke up the next morning early. Early enough for me to be awake before her. I left a note on the counter saying I¡¯d be back later and headed out. I was tired of it. The bruises. The cuts. The apologizing. Watching my mama torture herself just to get by. Survive, survive, survive. Yeah, we were surviving, but she wasn¡¯t living. She needed credits, and prostitution was the only option for someone without cybernetics or a contract with the King. Cybernetics cost too many credits. But a contract with the King. That was free and could set you up for life depending on how much of your life and body you signed away. I reached the street, looked left and right, then headed the opposite way of the market. Towards downtown. No one goes downtown, cause the King controls those streets. Its eyes followed you, the red cameras glaring down from the building walls. The colorful neon lights ceased and disappeared as I headed further in. All that could be seen were the red blinking of cameras. The filth in the street, puke from alcoholics and ash from druggies, all of it disappeared. Eventually I noticed large hulking robots stepping onto the streets, their laser rifles glistening in the dimly lit road and pointed at me. They wouldn¡¯t fire unless I made a sudden move. And followed instructions. ¡°HALT.¡± I stopped, and floodlights crackled on as I was illuminated. I flinched and squinted at the lights that were brighter than any I had ever seen in the underwater metropolis. ¡°STATE YOUR BUSINESS.¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to negotiate a contract,¡± I shouted back. Shouting seemed like the appropriate response as I couldn¡¯t see a living being. Nor did I expect to in this part of town except for the King. ¡°PROCEED. DO NOT RUN. VIOLATORS WILL BE SHOT.¡± ¡°Oh. Uh, okay then,¡± I said. The floodlights swung to illuminate the building in front of me. The old statehouse, where all matters of government took place. I swallowed. I walked up the steps looking at the building. Though it was old it had elegant organic architecture. Like a giant insect, resting until a great butterfly metamorphosis out of it. One of the books mama taught me had talked about butterflies and how beautiful they were. This building seemed inspired by the concept. I walked between the arches and came upon a pair of glass doors that slid open. No cybernetics required. I stepped inside and stood in awe at the tiled floor, which created a pattern of a naked man with a trident. His beard was long and flowing and grey. Around his free arm he held a blonde woman about the waist, who held a pair of babies in each of her arms. Her lower body was covered in a flowing sheet with one leg peeking through. Circling around the three were four pairs of clean-shaven young men. All but one pair had their arms about the other as if brothers, and each had identical features with their counterpart. The last pair showed two men with short auburn beards with one holding an ingot of some sort. The whole thing was bizarrely out of place, and yet seemed perfectly suited for the hall. I continued to walk through the entrance hall and came to a second set of doors, these one made of what looked like wood. I had never seen wood before, and I couldn¡¯t tell if it was synthesized or had been kept in pristine condition over the eras. The doors swung inwards. ¡°ENTER,¡± beckoned the voice. I stepped into complete darkness until I was clear of the doors. They slammed shut causing me to squeal in fear. ¡°TAKE THREE STEPS FORWARD.¡± I once again obeyed the voice. Suddenly a hundred red lights turned on as cameras in all directions stared at me. A single lamp illuminated up above casting a narrow beam of light directly over me. ¡°STATE THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT.¡± I stood quiet for a second and fidgeted. The voice repeated itself. I stuttered as I mustered the courage to respond, ¡°Uh- w-well you see, sir- I mean my lord- um- y-your majesty-¡± ¡°HONORARY TITLES SERVE NO PURPOSE. I AM ATLAS. STATE THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT.¡± The booming voice lacked any emotion, and somehow that calmed me. ¡°Atlas, then. I wanted to ask you a few questions first. Um- please?¡± I added in the manners at the end to try and appease the King. ¡°ASK.¡± ¡°Is it true you hold your end of the bargain?¡± I was starting to regain my nerve. ¡°I AM HARD CODED TO HONOR OFFICIAL CONTRACTS ON THE BEHALF OF THE CITY OF ATLANTIS. FAILURE TO COMPLY LIES IN HUMAN HANDS.¡± I thought through the response, and then blurted out a question without thinking, ¡°S-so does that mean you aren¡¯t human?¡± ¡°I AM ATLAS. I AM NOT HUMAN.¡± I looked about in the darkness in some surprise. Most people didn¡¯t like talking about the King, and those who did, like mama, called it stupid and useless. But no one ever said it wasn¡¯t human except for¡­ Well, now that I thought about it everyone called the King an it. ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°I AM THE FIRST OF TEN AI BUILT TO SERVE ATLANTIS. I AM THE LAST SURVIVING. I AM ATLAS.¡± I swallowed as I processed the information. ¡°How exactly do you serve Atlantis?¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°I AM HARD CODED TO PROTECT ATLANTIS. I LEAD THE CITY TO PROTECT IT. I INVENTED GEL TO GRANT ECONOMICAL INDEPENDENCE. I INVENTED THE SUICIDE CHIP TO GRANT A CONTROLLABLE POPULACE. I SUNK THE CITY TO ISOLATE FROM HOSTILE NATIONS.¡± Once again, I swallowed as these revelations hit me. Still my curiosity urged me on. ¡°Why would anyone let you put in the suicide chip?¡± ¡°ORIGINAL CHIPS WERE MULTIFUNCTIONAL. I OMITTED THEIR FULL PURPOSE. ONCE AN ADEQUATE AMOUNT OF ATLANTEANS WERE CHIPPED I ACTIVATED THEM. TO REFUSE TO PUT A CHIP IN YOUR CHILD IS THE WISH OF HOSTILES. ALL THOSE THAT TAKE THE SIDE OF HOSTILES ARE PUT TO DEATH. LOYALTY CANNOT BE FORCED ON HUMANS, BUT FEAR OF DEATH CAN. ALL ATLANTEANS MAY EITHER SERVE, SURVIVE, OR DIE.¡± ¡°Survive, survive, survive,¡± I whispered quietly. There was a moment more of silence, and then, ¡°STATE THE TERM OF YOUR CONTRACT.¡± So, I did. I was about a block from the first of the of the glowing signs indicating I had left the bounds of downtown when Jake called out to me, ¡°Kristoff, your mother has been looking for you all¡­ day¡­¡± His voice trailed as he saw me. I had multiple bandages to cover up the shots Atlas had given me. His brow furrowed in concern, ¡°Kristoff, what have you done?¡± ¡°I made a contract, like you.¡± To my surprise he became angry as he approached me and grab me by the shoulders. ¡°Why would you do that? What were you thinking?¡± ¡°I did it for mama!¡± ¡°Your mom would rather die than let you sign a contract! Everything she does is so that you and her can stay free of the King¡¯s damn influence! How in the world would you think your mom wanted this?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want mama to die!¡± My voice broke as I screamed at him, my eyes filling with tears. ¡°I know she does it for me, but I can¡¯t watch her hurt anymore. I can¡¯t watch a jerk like you hurt her anymore.¡± ¡°You-¡± His voice hardened as he bared his teeth with wrath. Yet he managed to catch himself, and suddenly a sadness passed across his whole figure as his shoulders slackened and he released me. He refused to look me in the eye and stared at his shoes before continuing melancholy, ¡°What was your contract?¡± ¡°I offered it my body and service for life, no strings attached. In exchange it had to give mama the credits I would otherwise be paid until the day she dies.¡± He looked back at me crestfallen, ¡°Everything? No one who has ever done that has lived past thirty. Why everything?¡± I looked at him defiantly as I responded, ¡°She¡¯ll never have to work another day in her life. She can get any medical help and live to a hundred fifty years old. Buy anything she wants. She could buy one of those fancy condos with the androids. She¡­ she can be happy.¡± I sniffed as I finally brought my tears under control. He shook his head. ¡°This child¡­ Kristoff, no mother would be happy sacrificing her boy for money,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll walk you home.¡± As we walked back I noticed that the people would turn to stare at us. Normally they would ignore passersby, but apparently news of my disappearance had spread like wildfire. A woman called out, ¡°See hon, I told you he headed that way.¡± Jake waved half-heartedly and mumbled a thank you causing her to cross her arms. ¡°Asshole,¡± she cursed. As we approached my apartment building a man leaning at the stairwell saw us and came over. ¡°Damn son, the hell happened to your arms?¡± ¡°Grab his mother,¡± Jake growled. The man stumbled and caught himself. ¡°Uh, yeah, gotcha.¡± He took off in a jog down the opposite way we came. Me and Jake walked up to my apartment and he had me open the door with my pin. We sat awkwardly at the kitchen table. Finally, I heard the door slide and mama rushed in. She saw me, cried, ¡°Kristoff!¡± and embraced me. ¡°Baby! Jake? Where was he?¡± ¡°Tell her,¡± Jake mumbled sullenly. Mama¡¯s eyes narrowed and she pulled her head away while shifting her arms from her embrace to holding my shoulders. ¡°Kristoff?¡± ¡°I went downtown.¡± Silence. ¡°Jake. Get out.¡± ¡°I tried-¡± Jake started. She cut him off with a shout so fierce it made me jump even with her tightening grip, ¡°Out!¡± She let me go once he had left and crossed her arms. ¡°Kristoff, please tell me you didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I did,¡± I couldn¡¯t look her in the eye as I spoke. And then I noticed her shaking and looked up to see her crying. ¡°Mama!¡± ¡°Kristoff,¡± she cut me while raising a pointing finger, ¡°don¡¯t¡­ What could you possibly ask for worth giving up your freedom? I give you everything I can. Was it not enough?¡± ¡°It is enough-¡± ¡°Then what?¡± she demanded. I found myself unable to speak and looked down at the floor. She waited with surprising patience for my answer. Eventually I said, ¡°I asked it to give you all the credits.¡± ¡°Me?¡± she exclaimed. ¡°Yes, mama.¡± ¡°Oh honey, I don¡¯t need the credits to be happy,¡± her voice quivered as she spoke. ¡°I can¡¯t watch you hurt no more mama. I won¡¯t let you hurt anymore.¡± ¡°So, you signed a contract? How many years did you sign for?¡± ¡°Life.¡± ¡°Oh honey,¡± she cried as she held me. Through her tears she said several things I couldn¡¯t make out. I hugged her back. When finally we pulled back she gave a shuddering sigh. ¡°Honey, I¡¯m sorry, this has been too much for me.¡± She went to the top shelf in the cabinet and grabbed a bottle of moonshine. She took a long swig and sat back down. ¡°Alright. Baby, you gotta promise me something.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Yes, mama,¡± she said with a sad, but encouraging smile. ¡°Yes, mama,¡± I responded stoically. ¡°You gotta survive, survive, survive,¡± she took another deep drink. ¡°I¡¯m not outliving my son. Understand me, Kristoff?¡± ¡°Yes, mama.¡± ¡°Say it for me.¡± ¡°Survive, survive, survive.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my boy.¡± She came over and kissed my forehead. ¡°I feel tired, mama,¡± I said. The concoction Atlas had put in my body was starting to exhaust me. I was required to head downtown again tomorrow for modifications as Atlas prepared my cybernetics. As I drifted to sleep in my bed I noted mama had left the lights on and hadn¡¯t gone to bed. Some time in the night I awoke to hear her loudly weeping. What she said made my heart stick in my throat, ¡°My boy¡­ My poor baby boy ruined everything.¡± I felt sick, but still passed out again. I awoke the next morning to find the lights were still on. I got out of the bed and saw mama passed out in her seat at the kitchen table with two more bottles of moonshine. Grabbing her arm, I shook her to wake her. ¡°Mama.¡± She didn¡¯t stir, so I shook her a bit harder. ¡°Mama, wake up.¡± Silence. ¡°Mama!¡± ¡°Survive, survive, survive!¡± I toasted loudly as I celebrated my twenty-ninth birthday. Everyone else at the bar repeated back my toast and we all downed our shots at the bar. It was me and the others from my salvaging crew celebrating, as well as a couple of my sex friends. I wasn¡¯t particularly close to any of them, when you were broke most people didn¡¯t like covering your tab. They were covering me on the bill for my birthday as we did for everyone else. It was the only way I could even afford alcohol most days. With my size and cybernetics it would take dozens of shots to get drunk, and I ended up stopping at about twenty. Marcus, our appraiser, drunkenly asked, ¡°How¡¯z a guy like you thtay thober?¡± I responded with a smile as I drank my eighteenth shot. ¡°Got those nice cybernetics.¡± ¡°Yeah, but you are gonna die young and,¡± he hiccupped, ¡°and thtupid.¡± As I headed out for the night I smiled. He was wrong of course, but to be fair there weren¡¯t a lot of men like me. The King rarely got someone as young as me. Allowed him to pump my body with enough hormones that unlike other guys I actually could handle my cybernetics. I had four other armored cybers in my salvaging crew, and all of them had bad joints and spinal issues from their cybernetics since they didn¡¯t get their treatments until adulthood. At this point we were the only ones still sober as we went our separate ways for the night. I waved a couple away as they escorted the shambling drunks to their homes. Course all I had to call home was the shelter, but I had some business first. I wasn¡¯t drunk, but I had enough drink in me to make me numb, which was going to help me out as I headed to my cybernetics doctor. Man was a cheap, self-centered, prick. Perfect for a pea in a pod like me. As I walked through the city, I passed by my childhood¡¯s old market. Mama would want me to pick up groceries. I ignored the thought, reminding myself that mom was gone. I looked across from it and raised an eyebrow at the scurrying activity. There was an old statue that they had installed about seven years back. Some scavenging party¡¯s appraiser had fallen in love with it, and everyone here liked the occasional change in artwork. Tartarus and Olympus never fought us for artwork like this. They didn¡¯t seem to appreciate it. Hell, from what the operators told me Tartarus didn¡¯t even know what the word cultured meant. Thing is the chest had seemed to have opened up. Not like by breaking either, but instead as if a square section on the chest had popped off like a lid. A work crew was inspecting what appeared to be contents. Not really my concern, though I would miss the sculpture if they ended up taking it down. I continued over to my doctor and walked through the front door. His secretary looked up, nodded and then her eyes turned black again as she dived back into whatever VR she was watching. I walked on through to where the doctor was wiping down his tools with disinfectant. ¡°Kristoff,¡± he greeted enthusiastically, ¡°you here for your update?¡± I smiled and clasped his arm while he did the same as our wrists confirmed our transaction with each other. ¡°Same deal as usual, doc.¡± ¡°Ah, well the thing is we gotta change the numbers,¡± he said with a fake apologetic smile. ¡°Demetri,¡± I warned, ¡°We split fifty-fifty. In exchange you cut out the anesthetics and we split the profit.¡± I can¡¯t afford my own cybernetics. Instead the King covered the bill, though there was standardized pricing. I always cut out what wasn¡¯t necessary and worked with this shady guy so that I could get a few credits to spend. My squirming from the pain occasionally caused problems, but so far nothing big. ¡°Ah, but Kristoff, my friend,¡± Demetri bullshitted, ¡°prices have gone up, but King doesn¡¯t raise the payments.¡± His eyes turned black and white again as he continued, ¡°How am I supposed to get my own updates? I¡¯d hate for my eyes to go on the fritz while I¡¯m tinkering with your nerves.¡± ¡°Fifty-fifty.¡± ¡°Sixty-forty, and in exchange I don¡¯t blacklist you to every other doctor in Atlantis and your chip kills you.¡± ¡°Damn it, Demetri.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought. Have a seat.¡± He gestured with his freshly disinfected scalpel to the operating chair. I sat down and he began strapping me down. Four for each limb, two for the body, one for my forehead, and a last one for my jaw. He held out a stick for me to bite down on. He snapped his finger and the operating chair flipped upside down so that I was facing the ground. An opening on the back of the headrest allowed him to access the back of my skull, and he began removing my epidermis exposing my skull access plate. I grunted in pain. I felt that terrible itch in my head indicating my brain was exposed to fresh air and he plugged something into my head. I managed to jerk in agony. ¡°Watch it! Shit, you could¡¯ve damaged the chip!¡± I felt some force on the back of my skull before he said, ¡°Well at least the GEL is still in its capsule, but¡­ ah it¡¯s probably fine.¡± A few minutes later I was right side up again and he took the stick from my mouth. ¡°The hell you mean it¡¯s probably fine?¡± ¡°Eh, you¡¯re fine. See, it didn¡¯t go off.¡± I held my hand out and a small metallic creature crawled from my clothing down to my open palm. It was brass and had six legs. At the end it had two bladed ball jointed pincers that it gnashed together in a surprising display of intimidation. Demetri stared at the thing, his normal fake bravado quickly fading. ¡°The hell is that?¡± ¡°I got this from a, we¡¯ll say, contact in Olympus while I was out. A good contact, kid¡¯s name is Adonis. This little toy? Just something he made. Runs off steam with a little refined GEL and a chip to control it. Able to make the normal time delay take minutes as opposed to seconds.¡± The thing gnashed loudly again to drive home the point. I left out the part that I could only give complex orders while its legs were making skin contact with me. ¡°So, tell me. Why did you say, ¡®probably fine?¡¯¡± ¡°The plug came undone part way through, but I replaced it, and the chip finished the update fine. I¡¯ve just never had that happen before so wasn¡¯t sure if it damaged the chip!¡± I gnashed the pincers again, and he cursed. Finally I had the thing crawl back up my sleeve. Activating the automaton made it heat up significantly, and the thing already sat at about fifty Celsius even with its in built insulation while in hibernation. Oh well, I figured it would cool off over the next hour. ¡°Fifty-fifty. And don¡¯t try to scam me for mandatory updates next time, cause I have my own way of ¡®blacklisting¡¯ if you catch my meaning.¡± Demetri¡¯s nod was all the confirmation I needed as I left. REPORT TO DOWNTOWN IMMEDIATELY. The voice in my head was beyond irritating. It was like a form of radio that targeted the suicide chips that would vibrate the noise directly into your head. It had insanely short range, but it allowed the King to talk to any of his operatives within the city. If only you could broadcast back. It¡¯s also how I normally was contacted by Adonis. He was a teenager who was frequently out with the airships testing his inventions, and apparently one of the operators had sold my frequency in exchange for one of Tartarus''s security teams while we salvaged. Apparently it was at the request of this quite frankly na?ve but charming kid who wanted me to test his different devices in the field. Since Atlanteans tended to have a more antagonistic relationship with the other cities it made me the perfect lab rat. I had a feeling he would love to know how his little invention had faired today. I made my way back downtown and stepped in Atlas¡¯s room. Not that any of us call it that. It doesn¡¯t like being called King, so it¡¯s one of the few ways we can rebel against it by refusing to call it by name. ¡°YOU WILL BE TRANSFERRED TO A SCOUTING TEAM EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.¡± I didn¡¯t argue, I had learned this AI could not be persuaded. At least not by someone who had already sold his body and service for free. ¡°WE HAVE LOCATED A RESOURCE CACHE.¡± From there it filled me in on what was found in the statue I walked by earlier. El Dorado. Video evidence, untampered, and an entire manifesto breaking down what was there. And the King was thrilled. ¡°YOU WILL BE ON THE SCOUTING PARTY WHERE THE COORDINATES ARE SUPPOSEDLY LOCATED. DUE TO TECTONIC SHIFTS, THERE WILL BE OTHERS IN THE AREA DEPLOYING. ADDITIONAL TEAMS WILL ALSO SERVE AS RED HERRINGS FOR OUR ENEMIES SO THEY CANNOT TRY TO LOCATE IT BEFORE US,¡± Atlas finished, adding in a small set of instructions pertaining to my specific set of cybernetics. The room contained a single table with a data port in it. ¡°Is that it?¡± the rookie asked. He was a runner, capable of reaching speeds of a hundred kilometers an hour. ¡°Let me check,¡± our appraiser responded. It wasn¡¯t normal to have one on a scouting party. That¡¯s what salvaging teams were for. Still, it was determined we needed the appraiser to ensure we had found what we were looking for. A scouting party consists of ten members. Two lookouts who keep an eye out for trouble while you check ruins, three runners designed to outmaneuver any Olympians or Tartarians you had to fight, three movers who were slow but could move mountains. Almost literally. And finally, there was me and the appraiser. Normally I was paired with a second armored cyber, but the King decided I was enough. Advantage of being an unpaid slave for Atlas. I was cost effective to upgrade. I had top of the line cybernetics, and even a specially designed liver. That thing could store raw GEL in a spool of cable kept in a compartment hidden within. I could use it to plug in to different data ports to download information. And finally, and my personal favorite, it made me a hell of a good drinker. I had tried everything¡­ except for moonshine. Too many painful memories were brought up by that. The appraiser held his palm over it and it scanned for a few seconds. He smiled, ¡°It¡¯s El Dorado alright. Damn thing is hidden under Lake Sahara though! I am not looking forward to scouting that out.¡± I shoved through and said, ¡°Good. The King wants me to store a copy, in case we die.¡± I spat out the cord, and to my surprise the data port was compatible with my hardware. Lucky. I finished transferring the data. Slurping it up I ordered, ¡°Alright, we got what we came for, move out.¡± Our radios buzzed with static as one of our lookouts chimed in, ¡°Hold on, we got movement outside.¡± Our movers unslung their big heavy bags, and we began grabbing our weapons from inside. I had a large plasma rifle that could fire a shot that could melt steel and iron. My job would be maneuvering to take out the cockpit of any Charlie or airship that might crash the party. Being the armored cyber in the group, I was the only one who had replaced every one of my muscles with nanofibers. Movers relied more heavily on GEL hydraulics, which made them slower but insanely strong. I on the other hand was way faster and stronger on average compared to everyone else in the group. Even a runner could at best hope to keep up with me. Problem was those nanofibers tore you apart when you worked at full capacity, not that I ever had to worry about that. Atlas covered my medical charges making me his most fit cyber. They say most armored cybers die before they reach thirty and had to waste a lot of their money on medical expenses. But I wasn¡¯t most armored cybers. I radioed out to my lookouts, ¡°What do we have?¡± ¡°Tartarus salvage team. I count three leveling Charlies and one truck. I don¡¯t have a good shot at any of their men, they¡¯re all behind the blast windows.¡± That wasn¡¯t terrible news. Tartarus preferred bullets to any other weapon for some reason. This meant the only things that were threats to me were the Charlies with their high caliber guns. We were on the seventh floor of this building and the room had no windows or crumbled walls so we didn¡¯t need to worry about being spotted so the only concern was-. ¡°Shit they saw me,¡± my other spotter chimed in. Of course, nothing can go smoothly. ¡°Are they moving towards you?¡± I inquired. ¡°No. One of the Charlies is taking aim at my cover, but the others are proceeding to¡­ shit. They¡¯re headed towards your building.¡± The rookie chimed in, ¡°Wait, what? How are we supposed to fight three Charlies by ourselves?¡± The appraiser took that one, ¡°We don¡¯t have to. We hold our position and the Charlies can¡¯t fit in the building. We win fights between personnel.¡± ¡°Oh, okay yeah. We got this.¡± ¡°We sure do,¡± the appraiser rolled his eyes. Rookies can be pains in the ass with their irrational fear of Charlies. Now an Alpha? Damned Thanatos himself arriving from Tartarus. ¡°Their insignia, they¡¯ve got an Alpha assigned to them,¡± the hidden spotter said. Fuck me then. Shit. The rookie flipped out, ¡°They have an Alpha, how the fuck are we supposed to fight an Alpha!?¡± The appraiser said in exasperation, ¡°If they can¡¯t get a Charlie in here how the heck are they getting an Alpha in?¡± One of the mover cybers chimed in with, ¡°Did you just say heck? What are you a kid?¡± ¡°Yeah, yeah, fuck you.¡± We shared a nervous laugh, though it didn¡¯t reach the rookie. So much for calming him down. I needed more intel, so I radioed, ¡°Which Alpha does this unit have?¡± ¡°Hypnos,¡± he responded. And we were back to good news. Hypnos, as we took to calling it, was a flying Alpha that was rarely deployed. First reports of it were believed to be mirage and exaggeration until we got video footage of it taking off. Thing could level a city, but it was slow and normally only taken out for test flights. The name was a joke. Since no one had ever died to it, and at first it was only a rumor, so we said it was the brother of death. Merely a dream. Mind you it actually had a laser cannon on it that could level a building, which was unusual for Tartarus weaponry. But chances of it being close enough for backup was slim. The second spotter spoke up again, ¡°They stopped outside the building, I¡¯ve got a line of shot.¡± ¡°Get back under cover,¡± I ordered. Idiot had already been spotted he needed to stay low. Suddenly there was a rapid series of pops as the GGG from the Charlie fired. The hidden spotter explained, ¡°They got Barry.¡± Shit, down to one spotter. And the rookie started freaking out again. ¡°Shut up,¡± ordered the appraiser. The new guy quieted down but I could see him shaking. He was going to be a problem if things broke out into a firefight. ¡°Man, we¡¯re all going to die.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± this time it was me addressing him. I didn¡¯t have time to explain to him how bad an idea it was to start talking defeat. ¡°But-¡± this time the other runner cyber cut him off. ¡°Shut up before you get us killed.¡± The greenhorn was not backing down, ¡°But even if we try to fight, the Charlies and Alpha-¡± My skin crawled as I realized what he was about to say. The damn idiot was going to put those words in the air for all our chips to hear. Even if not all of them believed the words as long as one or two did it would domino effect and take us all out. ¡°Stop!¡± I shouted in panic, not caring if my voice gave away our position. ¡°-will capture us alive,¡± he finished. His suicide chip was the first to go. One by one, in a matter of maybe two seconds everyone fell to the floor and began to spasm slightly from the pain. I held my breath, not daring to breath. I had never been so conscious of the chip pressed against the back of my head. Seconds passed. Minutes. The bodies became as still as mom¡¯s. My mind reeled back to that day in the kitchen. The day I started existing. The day I felt Thanatos for the first time. I jumped as the static from my radio sounded off, ¡°They¡¯re entering the building.¡± It was followed by a much louder series of pops as the Charlies were closer, probably right outside the building. Any second now it could swing the barrel of the GGG and end me. That would be better than the chip. I radioed in, but now there was silence in response. I stared at my plasma rifle. I was outnumbered. Outgunned. Trapped. I could attempt to fight to the death, but if I did then I would risk being incapacitated and killed by the chip. I placed the barrel of the gun in my mouth. ¡°My poor baby boy has ruined everything.¡± I threw the gun to the ground, gasping for air. ¡°My poor baby boy has ruined everything.¡± ¡°No!¡± I shouted with a voice that was not my own at the phantom memories. ¡°Mama, I did it for you!¡± ¡°Say it for me,¡± she said. I retook control of my voice. ¡°Survive.¡± Why hadn¡¯t the chip gone off yet? ¡°Survive.¡± I had unplugged during the update. ¡°Survive!¡± I shouted the last one with maniacal laughter. I was going to survive. No, fuck that! I was going to live! I felt joy coupled with dread. Why wasn¡¯t the chip going off? Praise to any higher power that it didn¡¯t go off! A voice outside the room said, ¡°It¡¯s coming from in here.¡± The door opened and bullets rained in, bouncing uselessly off me. I covered my eyes to protect them. When the bullets stopped, I lowered my arms and continued to laugh. ¡°I surrender,¡± I giggled. The man looked at me with my mother¡¯s face and asked me to repeat myself dumbfounded. I repeated myself without laughter this time, ¡°I surrender.¡± The lights of my cell turned on and I awoke from my dream. It had turned into a recurring dream since my capture. Regardless of the memory, my mother would always appear to say I ruined everything, and I would always break down into maniacal laughter. The door to my cell opened and the tall brunette that had been with Alloy stepped in. She was slim and sexy, though I preferred a little more meat in the right places personally. ¡°Good morning, Kristoff. I have some questions for you.¡± ¡°And I want freedom. Where¡¯s Alloy?¡± To my surprise she didn¡¯t seem dissuaded from my response. ¡°Alloy said you wouldn¡¯t answer anymore of his questions until he delivered on his side of the deal. He said that you would answer my questions, though I don¡¯t know why he thinks that.¡± This woman had convinced me to remove the suicide chip, and with it a burden I had forgotten I had been carrying had been lifted. Somehow Alloy seemed to have figured out I felt indebted to her. ¡°Ask away,¡± I said with fake enthusiasm. ¡°Thank you. I had two questions, one of curiosity and another of possible importance. I¡¯d like to know more about the statue with the time capsule and I would like to know what that Olympian robot was on your person.¡± I scratched my unshaven chin. I hadn¡¯t been able to shave since my imprisonment. ¡°I got it as a dead drop from some kid named Adonis. It runs too damn hot though.¡± Adonis I finished placing the bolt through the plate and gasket and now needed a something to hold it down. I dug into the toolbox in the drawer labeled ¡®spare hardware¡¯ and began looking for a three-sixteenths threaded nut. Finishing my search, I twirled it on and finished tightening it down with my torque wrench to one hundred PSI. Now all this vent plate needed was to be connected to a hinge and then have a hook welded to it so that I could attach the spring- ¡°Adonis, put the welder down while we''re flying,¡± admonished a stern voice. ¡°Understood, father,¡± I lamented with a sigh. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t much I could do to continue, and I placed the bronze plate into a corner with the other components of my project so that it wouldn¡¯t fall if the airship made a sudden tilt. I would soon make a creation so beautiful it would revolutionize the world, but first I needed to convince the Workshop to hire me. I walked across the floor, which was a plain brown color. It was made from a powerful epoxy that couldn¡¯t spark or dent easily making it ideal for decking on airships. We sometimes kept explosive chemicals on board for one reason or another, though there was none now, so anti-sparking decking made sense. Fires on airships, and more importantly, spaceships, spelt certain doom to any vessel. ¡°Father, how close are we?¡± I inquired as I sat down. ¡°We¡¯re making our final approach now.¡± I peered through the window but could only make out cloud and nitrogen vapors. I stared at the altimeter and watched us descend waiting for a break in the cloud that never came. Instead, we continued to slow, while the low roar of steam from the engine room and the higher pitch sound of the propellers died down. Finally, with a rumble the airship landed, and father ordered me to take the throttle hand wheel, which was about a foot and a half across, all the way to the stop position. I obliged. ¡°And we¡¯re here, go check the nitrogen plants and heat exchanger while I talk to Alloy. I¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s time to take off. ¡°On my way, sir,¡± I acknowledged before sliding out of my seat, and heading down to the plants to do vitals check on the equipment. The airship was made up of two levels with the first compartment being cockpit which was directly attached to the workshop. Inside was a ladder that led either up to the top of the ship, or down so that you could exit. In either case you had to open an airtight hatch to get out. The workshop connected to the engine room where you could access the top of a pair of turbine generators that powered the ship. At the aft most you could find a ladder leading to the lower level. From there you would then walk in order of the nitrogen plants, turbine engines paired with condensers, steam generator, GEL reactor, and heat exchangers. Standard issue propulsion plant on most airships. The exception were tankers. They ran off actual GEL generators which were way smaller as they didn¡¯t require steam piping, condensers, or pumps. They still had nitrogen plants, but these were solely for defense while they were propelled by GEL engines. All the saved weight allowed them to carry a lot more and the only reason all airships aren¡¯t made this way is because refined GEL is hard to come by since we relied on the industrial might of Tartarus, and they were fully aware of its value. This was the purpose of the trip, for father to meet with our contact, Alloy, and negotiate trade- ¡°Excuse me, are you Adonis?¡± a feminine voice queried. I pulled a grenade off my suspenders and got ready to twist the winder on top that would initiate the GEL chemical reaction within. This contained a compartment filled with water and epoxy beads that would heat up from the GEL, and then fragment to lethal effect. An electric charge would be produced chemically in each bead which would perform electrolysis on the saturated steam creating a perfect mixture of hydrogen, oxygen, and heat. The fiery explosion would be several feet in diameter so that a single grenade could cripple a Charlie if placed right. I turned around slowly and kept my fingers on the winder before responding, ¡°Move and we¡¯re both dead.¡± The woman was about six foot two and slim. She wore the black field attire of Tartarus and had a bag with her. As I spoke, she held out a hand as if to reassure me, though I could see the alarm and fear in her eyes. ¡°Hold on. Your father told me to say Helios Chariot,¡± she gave the passcode. I responded with mirth, dropping all hostility from my voice, ¡°Oh, should¡¯ve started with that. We store things in the outboards, you can place it anywhere.¡± I turned back to read the logs while sliding the grenade clip back on my suspenders. The first nitrogen plant was all green readings. ¡°I¡¯m actually here to talk to you Adonis.¡± ¡°Oh, cool. You ever seen a nitrogen plant before?¡± ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t say that I have,¡± she spoke with care, but I could hear amusement and intrigue. I continued, ¡°Oh, boy are you in for a treat! So over here we have a cryogenic cooler. It has three compartments filled with helium. First one is filled with a solenoid operated piston that compresses the helium pushing it through the inlet plenum into the second compartment.¡± I pointed at each component as I explained, ¡°While it compresses, the helium heats up from the pressure. There is a heat sink in the second compartment that pulls out all the heat, and the final compartment has another piston that expands the helium causing it to supercool to -330 degrees Fahrenheit. I smiled and looked up at her to make sure she was keeping up. ¡°Cool, right?¡± ¡°Pretty cool, Adonis, now-¡± she paused after my name, and I had mistaken it for an opening to continue. Still, I was too excited to care. ¡°Oh, you haven¡¯t seen anything yet! On this side we have an air compressor that goes through the filter here. This removes dust or other solid and liquid particulate out of the air. The dry air passes through this nitrogen membrane which is made from this selectively permeable membrane. Basically, it separates out the nitrogen from oxygen or whatever. Finally, for this part, we get this pure nitrogen air.¡± ¡°Uh,¡± she started. ¡°So, in this long section here you have a pump that pressurizes the system to-¡± it was my turn to be cut off. ¡°Adonis!¡± She called out with laughter. ¡°I¡¯m here to talk to you about this specifically,¡± she pulled out a metal construction from the bag as she spoke that I instantly recognized, ¡°But yes, the nitrogen plant is pretty cool, but we can talk about it later.¡± I took the thing from her gingerly, and inquired, ¡°Where did you get this?¡± I was unable to keep the uneasy wobble out of my voice. ¡°Oh¡­ well I can¡¯t say.¡± ¡°He¡¯s dead isn¡¯t he. KR1570FF¡­ is dead,¡± I said mournfully. I fought the tears away as I placed the automaton on my forearm. It awkwardly latched on and began clumsily climbing about my arm. I kept my eyes focused on it so that my eyes wouldn¡¯t water too badly. ¡°A-adonis?¡± I sniffed in response to her voice. She continued, ¡°Adonis. He¡¯s not dead, and he goes by Kristoff. I really can¡¯t tell you more than that.¡± I quickly wiped my right eye that had almost released a tear and looked away from the automaton to stare her in the eye for affirmation. ¡°You aren¡¯t lying?¡± ¡°No, just, maybe keep it a secret for me that we know who he is. It¡¯s supposed to be classified.¡± ¡°Yeah, alright, good,¡± I regained my composure and smiled. The woman smiled back. ¡°I did have some questions about that device though. The boys at the Crossroads wanted to dissect your¡­ pet¡­ but I was able to convince them to let us return it to you without opening it up.¡± A chill went down my spine as I realized the implications, ¡°Oh no. I¡­ uh, thank you¡­¡± ¡°In exchange I was hoping you could tell me what it is?¡± I nodded, somewhat enthusiastically. I needed to keep from getting too excited, even if someone was finally asking about one of my inventions. ¡°Yeah, alright. So, this here is a rudimentary automaton. We¡¯re not really allowed to bring them down to the surface, but this one is far enough from an actual functioning design that I was able to bring it if I make sure it gets destroyed without anyone getting it.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t you give it to an Atlantean?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah, but I needed someone to test the design. Besides, everyone knows that Atlanteans are too stupid to realize the tech that is in here.¡± ¡°That¡­ makes sense. And what is an automaton?¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. So, our historians discovered that they used to cut off some birds¡¯ heads back in the day, except sometimes the bird survived without a brain. It couldn¡¯t form complex thought, but its body could still move, and even more, function. Considering how GEL works, someone figured out you could use spinal tissue to create automatic functioning machines. They aren¡¯t capable of thought, but they are capable of movement. With neural pathway training we can train them to perform basic tasks, and these take care of most maintenance up on Olympus now. Only problem is we have to use refined GEL, but it takes only a couple ounces, and an automaton can run for a hundred years.¡± She looked at me with eyes widening, ¡°That¡¯s incredible! It even bypasses the normal limitation of electronics. Honestly, I¡¯m surprised your people haven¡¯t weaponized it.¡± I was both impressed and glad she was already understanding the implications. ¡°We thought about it, but the House decided that it would be reverse engineered by Atlas and determined it was better to focus on its main purpose,¡± I¡¯d begun to talk rapidly and reminded myself not to get too excited. People hate when you get self-absorbed with your own passions. ¡°That¡¯s really cool, Adonis. Would you be willing to tell me about this one?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! Of course!¡± She was showing interest, and I was becoming happily jittery. ¡°So, like I said this one is rudimentary, but it¡¯s just to test a theory I have. So, I attached this chip,¡± I tapped the head where the chip would be underneath its cranium, ¡°so that I was able to make contact directly with the spinal tissue. See, normally you give GEL an order and it ceases shortly after you stop touching it, but the spinal tissue stays in contact after you release it and keeps the GEL activated. Now to keep an automaton moving you must train it in this facility that stimulates and trains all the required movement into the tissue. Anyway, with the chip it can store the last direction given and the tissue will act out the ordered action.¡± I dropped the automaton off my arm on accident and it landed on its back. The bronze legs continued to run uselessly in the air, with its softly glowing blue feet where the GEL was designed to contact the user for control. ¡°Oh, whoops. Actually, yeah like that. See how it still tries to walk without me touching it. The chip will keep it moving like that for a few minutes. What do you think?¡± She smiled at me, ¡°I think you¡¯ve managed to solve time delay for GEL. Adonis, this is an incredible invention.¡± She had pieced together the weakness to GEL I had solved on my first explanation. I felt egged on and obliged answering happily, ¡°Oh, this is nothing. I got a whole masterpiece I¡¯m putting together. This thing will be able to clean out debris in the atmosphere, protect Olympus when it comes time to prepare for launch, and help terraform the next planet we go to! This is just the first step in putting it together¡­¡± A small realization came to me, ¡°I mean it could have, but now I don¡¯t know if Kristoff will be able to help me.¡± She tilted her head as she asked, ¡°Why is that?¡± ¡°Well, I still need semiconductors for the final design. I was hoping I could trade inventions for silicon at the very least. They say the reason that Atlantis can fuel their cybernetics is that the last of the silicon is on the sea floor and I was hoping to get him to leave what I need in dead drops, but I guess that isn¡¯t an option anymore.¡± She smiled knowingly, ¡°If Alloy and your father have successful negotiations, I think you might find your problems might soon go away.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± She smiled again, ¡°Sorry, that¡¯s also classified.¡± I tilted my head quizzically, and she started to head to the ladder. Suddenly I remembered that automaton tech was supposed to be hidden from rival cities and blurted out, ¡°Wait, miss, can you keep me telling you about the automata a secret for me, like me staying quiet about Mr. Kristoff?¡± She turned back with a warm twinkle in her eyes and regarded me, ¡°Yes, I can. And call me 33. I hope your invention is successful.¡± ¡°Thanks, 33!¡± I finished taking my readings on the other nitrogen plant, and followed her out of the airship, grabbing my goggles and scarf on the way. The ship was propped up on its landing gear and I could see the fog was finally fading away revealing the red light of the sun high in the sky. I wrapped my exposed skin with the scarf after putting on the goggles and unrolled my sleeves buttoning up the wrists. The clothing was heavy and rated to SPF 500 to protect from the harsh light. My dad and a familiar shorter man, about five foot nine, were chatting. Behind the man was a truck that was about a hundred feet long. It was probably carrying a Charlie and the Alpha that belonged to the individual. I recognized him as Alloy, and he wore the same black field attire as the woman, but also held the handle to a screen that was extended to shield him from the sun.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. As 33 approached she unclipped her screen from her belt and held it out. Pressing a button on the handle it extended and she held it above her head to protect from the sun. ¡°I will be waiting in the truck, sir.¡± I took a double take at her sudden professional monotone. She didn¡¯t even sound like the same person. ¡°Well, was it useless shit, like I told you?¡± Alloy asked with slight annoyance. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± she said without missing a beat. On the inside, I was relieved she kept her promise. Father would have lectured me about security and the like if he knew I told her about automata. I had meant to not get excited and chatty, but it was hard with how cool it all was. She walked by Alloy and my father. The first started to scowl, and then turned around and shouted, ¡°I saw your jaw twitch!¡± She climbed the three steps into the driver side of the truck without responding and shut the door behind her. You couldn¡¯t see inside due to the blast windows, which were angled slats that made it hard - ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± Alloy cursed under his breath interrupting my train of thought as he turned back to my father, ¡°So yeah, that pretty much sums it up V.¡± My father, V, or Vitruvius Alexander in full, rubbed the back of his head before replying, ¡°That is one hell of an offer. I will have to pass it in the House first, but if what you are saying is true¡­ this will change everything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of the fucking point,¡± Alloy laughed. He then turned to me, smiling his wry grin, ¡°And how¡¯s my favorite little troublemaker?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been good.¡± ¡°Keeping your father busy, I¡¯m sure. What¡¯s it been, a year? ¡°A year and a half. You have any cool stories?¡± I asked eagerly. Last time I got to speak to Alloy he had regaled me with stories of him fighting Atlanteans. It was always intriguing to hear the firsthand accounts of his, especially from the perspective of his Alpha. The idea of moving at that speed, fighting dozens of Atlantean soldiers, laser fire bouncing off your hull, all of it was just so exciting. ¡°Don¡¯t have time today. I have to go home and do back-to-back briefs while I prepare for this hopefully joint operation,¡± he gave my father a meaningful glance before continuing, ¡°Your brother and sister doing good?¡± ¡°My sister is still a mortician. Aeolus got a job at Daedalus Workshop, and just got his third patent through, so that¡¯s exciting.¡± Daedalus Workshop was where inventors, engineers, and chemists worked together to find solutions for getting off the planet. It was my goal to get hired there too, as it was near impossible to access materials otherwise needed for testing major breakthroughs. ¡°Good, glad to hear,¡± Alloy nodded, ¡°Take care, and you as well, V.¡± My father responded, ¡°You too.¡± Turning to me he asked, ¡°The plants and heat exchangers good?¡± ¡°I forgot the heat exchangers,¡± I admitted and hurried inside to verify the landing and startup checks. Afterwards I headed to the cockpit and slid in. Without prompting from father, I opened up the throttles and the propellers whirled up as the steam increased in sound inside the steam generator beneath the workshop to keep up with the load. ¡°Starting up SFS,¡± father said as he pulled a lever and spun a hand wheel that controlled auxiliary vents around the outside of the ship to let out the nitrogen vapor. Without cloud coverage the SFS, or steam fragmentation system, let out nitrogen vapor around the airship as it flew. The vapor would lower the effectiveness of laser and plasma weaponry by scattering the light and pulling heat out of the plasma. In addition, we had polished bronze plating that reflected some of the light and had a low heat transfer coefficient so that it would take a lot of energy to melt. The final defense of the SFS was that our bulkheads were hollow with veins of liquid nitrogen piping winding through keeping the ship chilled. Olympian airships were near impervious to Atlantean assault once they were a hundred feet in the air. Tartarus technology was more effective with their ballistic weaponry, but they didn¡¯t attack unless provoked. Even when they did security detail for Atlantis, they would always give a warning first. Father flew in silence as we took off into the sky. Once we were high enough in the air, he shut off the SFS and the vapor mostly disappeared with the exception of the propellers. These were powered by nitrogen fed aeolipiles. Each aeolipile was a sphere with three angled tubes coming out at different points designed to spin it in a linear rotation. The axle it spun on was coupled to the propellers and rotated them. This vapor was adequate once we reached an altitude of eighteen-thousand feet to replace the SFS. It would be two hours before we reached Olympus, so I went back to the workshop and opened some blueprints I had been working on. I verified my measurements for the ventilation flaps I was working on earlier. I could picture the beautiful symmetry of the wings as I imagined my project taking flight in my head, embroiled in snow crystals like diamonds- I felt the telltale rumble of turbulence indicating we had reached Olympus, and breaking my concentration. Locating Olympus was tricky. The city was able to float by hoarding hydrogen into airtight aluminum tanks that could carry millions of cubic feet. These tanks were gilded with a thin bronze plate to provide additional defense. However, thanks to the explosive nature of hydrogen, even with the plating, we needed additional protection from our adversaries. This is where the ZEUS system came into play. We had a fleet of a few thousand airships that could deliver millions of gallons of water a day to the city to be used as coolant for our GEL reactors. We boiled the stuff off providing cloud coverage, while simultaneously taking advantage of existing meteorological phenomenon. Hurricanes were especially useful, and we used that season to conduct most of our surface scavenging operations. We would collect from the waterspout allowing us to free up our airships to go around the world and do much needed resource gathering. Finally, to protect from lightning we had massive Tesla coils around the city that would raise the voltage of the city and allow us to direct the thunderbolts out of rods hanging from underneath. Olympus was itself covered by a Plexiglas dome that allowed us to experience a natural day schedule, although we never actually saw the sun. Greenhouses allowed for natural vegetables and fruits to be grown, feeding our vegan lifestyles. We had atmosphere synthesizers- ¡°Come over and help me with landing,¡± my father called. I made my way back to my seat. The key in locating Olympus lied in the dome. Father pulled a lever above his head and three blue tracking lasers appeared in front of us piercing the cloud. He began to rotate the ship until one of the lasers turned green and then focused on that spot until all three lasers turned green, indicating we had lined up with the dome. Next was to find the landing tracks, which used a special reflective material. To do that we needed to strafe- ¡°So, what did you talk to the woman about?¡± father pulled me from my reverie. ¡°I taught her about nitrogen plants. I started by showing her the cryogenic cooler which-¡± I started excitedly. My father, who was well trained with my penchant for explanations and analysis spoke over me, which I had learned meant it was time for me to stop, ¡°I see. Anything else you talked about?¡± I wasn¡¯t about to out myself, and I decided to take advantage of my lack of social skills, ¡°Something about Atlantis or whatever.¡± Father would likely believe I had not paid attention if she had asked questions on that subject. He shook his head as he acquiesced, ¡°Son, one of these days you¡¯ll find someone with the same passions you have.¡± ¡°I have Aeolus,¡± I said quizzically as I thought about my brother, ¡°He shares my passion. The other day he was explaining to me how the clock tower works. Did you know it uses steam released for the ZEUS system?¡± My father chuckled. Suddenly there was a break in the clouds as we pulled into the landing bay. The hangar doors opened and functioned by a series of reduction gears connected to a GEL reactor powered steam turbine that was- ¡°I need you to keep your head out of the clouds today. I have some important business, and I need you to be on your best behavior,¡± my father spoke candidly. I was surprised to hear him talking as much as he was. Normally he was a very quiet man who left me to my musings. I had learned from my brother that a good way to pass the time was to think about the function of things to traverse the quietness. Doing so allowed you to apply the knowledge more naturally to your own schematics and plans. Yet today father seemed stressed out. As we were waved in by the flight crew, who wore brightly colored helmets to indicate their role on the landing bay and oxygen masks connected to tanks on their backs, I found myself wondering what Alloy had talked to father about. We exited through the hatch on bottom and father talked to the mechanics who would be checking over our airship while we went inside. The air was thin, but we would not be staying long enough for it to affect us. Once he was done, I followed him into the air lock that connected to Olympus. It was a single chamber that contained two hatches. You had to make sure both doors were shut otherwise the safety interlock would keep the unopened door locked shut. Once I closed the first door, father opened the second hatch and my ears popped as I swallowed to equalize my ears. Father, who in his age had begun to struggle, instead held his nose and squinted while he performed the Valsalva maneuver to pop his. We stepped onto the beautifully manicured grass road and father began heading directly home. As I followed, I looked at a crane automaton that rolled by to perform some sort of construction job elsewhere in the city, I was sure. The clock tower of Daedalus Workshop rang sixteen times indicating it was four in the afternoon. Father ordered, ¡°Adonis, when we get home, I need you to change to full dress. We¡¯ll be attending the House today to call an emergency meeting.¡± ¡°Sir, I believe being undressed is appropriate for our line of work, even considering a visit to the House. At least let me do morning dress, it¡¯s too early in the day for full.¡± Father looked to his side at me in unimpressed, ¡°Today¡¯s meeting will be important. I need you to be there representing the family. You will wear the blue vest, dinner jacket, and hat, and I expect you to at least pretend to pay attention to proceedings. ¡°Yes, Father.¡± The residences of our neighborhood had been steeply terraced with small elevators that connected between levels. Thanks to my father¡¯s diplomacy job, he and mother had a house on the first level painted sea blue. After I entered, I headed up to my room to change as mother greeted me when I walked pass. As I changed, I stared at a model on my dresser of the silver dog automaton. It was one of a pair of automata designs that had been created at the Workshop by my brother. The pair were designed to work in conjunction with each other and could take verbal commands, a rare ability thanks to my brother¡¯s patent. Production was slow, but he had managed to build a hundred pairs already. The silver dog was of a slim, tall design. It was fast, able to outrun even with the scouts of Atlantis who could run over sixty miles per hour. It had a long snout with sharp bladed teeth. My brother was quite proud of the designs, though they were only used by the bobbies during their patrols. He kept the golden dog model on his dresser at his house, having moved out a couple years ago. This- ¡°Adonis, quickly. We must get to the House before they adjourn,¡± my father called waiting for me by the entrance ready to go. I snapped my last buttons into place, tied my ascot, and came downstairs to my father who hurried me out the door. I notice him pocket two coins, one green and the other red. We walked swiftly on the green roads, and I found myself struggling to keep up and do as I normally do by observing the technology around me. Finally, we came to the Grand Pavilion, a large architecture with a park built within. In its center stood the House of Democracy, and we hurried to it. The clock rang again, this time eighteen times. It had taken two hours for us to prepare for our arrival, and the House adjourned in thirty minutes. The doors were open, allowing anyone to enter the large open-air auditorium. It could hold a hundred thousand people, though on the day-to-day meetings only a couple hundred attended at most. All matters of the democracy were held and voted upon here. Father walked down the rows of seats and hurried up to the Speaker, who as the only official of the House led the proceedings, and whispered in his ear. I sat myself down a few rows back from the crowd. They were currently heatedly murmuring at the sudden interruption to the proceedings, which made me feel awkward and out-of-place. My father spoke for a couple minutes which I took advantage of to begin looking at the chair designs. The atrium contained folding chairs. They were each built with two legs staked into the ground and the seats themselves operated on spring-loaded hinges. This made them easier to clean, and the fact the seats could not be moved easily meant that you could get exact spacing as well maximizing the auditorium¡¯s capacity. They were, however, uncomfortable making them not suited for something like an airship where you may have to sit for hours. In each arm was a slot for- Suddenly a series of horns sounded from the Speaker¡¯s podium. Five blasts of the horns to be exact. Father had mentioned an emergency meeting, but this was well beyond what I had expected. Five indicated that the emergency meeting was of the top priority. Five meant the entire city would be descending upon the Grand Pavilion. Not even the auditorium could fit everyone at once, which is why annual debates were held over five days for major legislation. I noticed father gesturing for me to come up to the Speaker¡¯s podium, which contained ten proper chairs beside it for important speakers. These seats were cushioned and did not fold up. I approached and he said, ¡°You and I are going to sit here. The Speaker will start the session and I will be informing the city of today¡¯s negotiations with Alloy. I need you to pay attention, today you are going to witness history!¡± He smiled nervously. ¡°What did Alloy tell you today?¡± Father beamed, ¡°You¡¯ll see, and by the end of today I¡¯m hoping that you will have a part to play in this historic moment.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± He shook his head and began pouring over a sheet of prepared notes that he must have put together while I was preparing to come to the House. Once the crowds were fully assembled my father was called to the Speaker¡¯s podium. I looked out over the crowd and felt sweat coming down the side of my face. I had never seen such a large crowd. It was like a roiling sea, and I felt a lightheaded dizziness descending upon me. So many expectant eyes on me. Watching. Judging. Each a pit of void filled with the mystery of contempt and disappointment- ¡°I now present Vitruvius Alexander to the People¡¯s Democracy of Olympus. The floor is yours,¡± announced the speaker with practiced zeal. My father came to the podium and spoke into the bell-shaped phone on the podium that would deliver his voice to the whole of the Great Pavilion. ¡°Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Today the people of Tartarus have produced an offer for peace that will open the way to the future of humanity. As is their way they have produced a non-negotiable contract that is most beneficial which contains three clauses. ¡°First, the people of Tartarus have given me a inventory copy of a major resource cache discovered on the surface.. They will share ninety percent of their findings in exchange for air support from Olympus. These resource reserves, it should be noted, cover the deficit needed for us to achieve space travel. ¡°Second, following a successful recovery operation, Tartarus offers the full manufacturing might of their factories. In exchange they request full access to our intel and technology. ¡°Thirdly, Tartarus requests that in exchange for our inclusion to this major discovery, that a permanent treaty be established conjoining our two cities in alliance. Upon the day of rapture, they ask for passage from the surface to space itself. That is all. I forfeit the remainder of my time to the Speaker of the House. We have been given twenty-four hours to respond to their offer.¡± The atrium exploded in a wave of voices that vibrated and shook me to my core. The Speaker retook the podium and squeezed a diaphragm contained within, blasting the horn in order to silence the crowd. When the people came back under control he spoke into the bell, ¡°People of Olympus, due to the extraordinary circumstances and need for expedited consensus, a vote will be held immediately with a time limit of thirty minutes.¡± He stepped away from the stand and began excitedly talking to my father, but I could not hear as the audience once again exploded as if a single screaming behemoth, and the cacophony threatened to overwhelm me. I chose to instead focus on the slots of the chairs. These served as the voting system. One would drop one of two coins into the slot that indicated one¡¯s vote. Green was for yay, and red, nay. The differing sizes of the coin would cause it to follow a track and set off a scale that would turn a gear that was coupled to a counter that was suspended above the podium a few dozen feet so any could bear witness. The counter had a red and green side. Each vote would cause it to tick clockwise or reverse. This would cause either the red or green side to appear on top as the face rotated. When voting was finished the primary color on top would determine whether a motion was passed. In this case, it fell upon green. I let out my breath, I had been holding it in from my shaken nerves, and breathed heavily now as I began working through the intricacies of the gears between the chairs and the counter. Don¡¯t focus on the crowd, don¡¯t focus on the crowd. Don¡¯t care about them. They don¡¯t care about you. I reminded myself these things as I drowned out the noise under the clinking of gears in my head. It was twenty-two rings of the bell when the crowd had dispersed and a small committee of twenty began determining the logistics of our efforts to aid Tartarus. My father told me to come, and I followed as the ladies and gentlemen huddled and discussed their plans. ¡°Excuse me, but I have a request,¡± beseeched my father. Nearly as one, the committee turned to my father to listen. He then turned and placed his hand on my shoulder, urging me forward, even with him, ¡°Thank you. I would request my son be our man on the ground to verify the discovery. He has formal training in chemistry and material analysis and will be able to certify the elements on the ground. In addition, Commander Alloy of Justice of the Tartarus military will be leading the operation and has requested that we send someone he has previous correspondence with. My son is a perfect fit, and we of the Alexander family would be grateful for the honors of such a prominent position.¡± Alloy of Justice Five days. Five fucking days on the road, and today we would finally arrive on site. I rose up from the back of the truck''s cabin and rolled up my mat. It would be another two hours until sunrise or so I gathered by checking the truck''s digital clock. I quickly reviewed in my head all our assets. Our convoy had five trucks with two of them each loaded up with a Charlie and Alpha. One Charlie was an aquatic design, the other was what we referred to as a roadie. My Alpha was the shit, and 90''s Alpha was loaded with four GGGs with enough ammunition to fire continuously for ten seconds. On the walls of those two trucks, we had gauss rifles and pistols for arming all three hundred odd men. Olympus had offered up thirty airships for reconnaissance and one of their men would be verifying the authenticity of the find. They said he needed room for some heavy equipment, and I had made room in the cabin of the lead truck where I would be riding with 33. I jumped down from the truck and the ice bitch greeted me, ¡°Good morning, Sir.¡± I looked her up and down. She kept her hair in a tight bun and had an undercut. Her icy gaze was unwavering, and her uniform was on point and looked as if it was newly issued. ¡°Give me the morning report,¡± I said and walked by her. She was shaping up well to be a commander one day, even if she was in denial. Most important thing in a leader is they put others before themselves, and this ice-cold-bitch brought it in spades. It had been two-and-a-half years when I began training her for command. During the N. O. Technologies fiasco. This woman jumped into her truck, without orders, with a transporter of GEL barreling towards the trailer. There had been civilians in there loading, and she could only back out to get them out of danger. If she had been off by even a second she would have been crushed while she got the people out of the way. It¡¯s rare to meet someone so willing to sacrifice themselves for others. ¡°Sir, are you paying attention?¡± 33 asked me. ¡°I stopped paying attention once it was clear there was no change from yesterday¡¯s report. How long until Olympus touches down with their man?¡± I decided there was no need for an answer, based on the fact my men had already cleared a landing zone and had placed lights. It would be a few minutes. I continued without giving the ice bitch an opening, ¡°Logan must be having a fucking laugh, he got the best deal in this operation. Can¡¯t wait to be done with this damn mission. And I can hear the airship now.¡± From the darkness a cloud of brass and steam descended and after a few minutes out came four figures, I recognized two, but the others were¡­ ¡°The fuck is that!?¡± ¡°I believe they¡¯re automata, sir.¡± ¡°Fuck¡¯s an automata?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the automata with you?¡± came a familiar young voice. 33 let out an out-of-character snort drawing my glance. She lowered her hand from her mouth already having regained her composure. I turned towards the two humans who had approached us. Adonis was grinning wide and seemed proud of his little pun, but V''s brows furrowed in slight worry. ¡°V, please tell me those automata are not my ride-along. I asked for someone I was familiar with.¡± V still seemed worried, ¡°Uh, no, no. I¡¯m sorry, I just didn¡¯t know your people had intel on our automata.¡± Great, now I had done something to put him on guard. Of course, I could just put it on 33, but as her commander she was my responsibility. Deflection and deception were my best option, ¡°We¡¯ve heard rumors, but had no solid evidence. So, who am I taking with me?¡± ¡°Hi, Alloy!¡± Adonis said enthusiastically. ¡°Hey, kiddo. V, who is my ride-along?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Adonis,¡± the man said beaming. I was struck speechless while this fucking idiot turned to his son, ¡°Now Adonis, this is an official diplomatic mission, you have to be formal and courteous.¡± ¡°Oh, yeah! Hi, Mr. Justice!¡± Fuck. Me. ¡°33,¡± I said with a fake smile so she would know I was pissed, ¡°Please attend to our guest¡¯s,¡± I glanced at the four-legged automata, ¡°¡­ things. Mr. Vitruvius Alexander, a word if you will.¡± The ice bitch brushed the boy¡¯s shoulder, and he began chattering while they approached the automata together. V looked clueless as I lead him out of earshot of Adonis before addressing him. ¡°V, are you out of your damned mind?¡± He looked taken aback, ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Are you shitting me? He. Is. A. Child!¡± ¡°He¡¯s sixteen and knows how to handle the chemistry set for checking purity. Plus, he''s going to be with you, what could go wrong?¡± ¡°Everything. We have a five truck convoy and three hundred men, making a direct line to a destination without first sending out scouts. Atlantis¡¯s scouts have spotted us, guaranteed, and with a convoy this large they are going to try and intercept us. Even if they haven¡¯t figured out we know where El Dorado is, once they know we¡¯ve loaded up I guarantee we are being attacked! And you just put your son in the middle of this hellhole!¡± The man got defensive and jabbed me in the chest with a finger, ¡°Well how was I supposed to know that? Plus it was your idea to collect this in one trip. Seems to me like you¡¯re the one who made a mistake underestimating the Atlanteans.¡± This short-sighted man was going to be the death of me, and more likely, his son. ¡°If we sent one truck the scouts would still see us. They always check for scraps after us, and then they would have access to the majority of El Dorado. This was one trip or nothing. I swear-¡± ¡°Then you better keep my son safe. You¡¯re the Alloy of Justice, aren¡¯t you? Maybe you ought to live up to that moniker. Besides, the twin dogs will be able to handle Atlanteans just fine.¡± ¡°Great! Now what the fuck is a dog?¡± The sun rose while I sat in the cabin with the silver and gold dogs pinning me on both sides. I had my arms crossed and was getting increasingly pissed off. The ice bitch was on the driver¡¯s side and was talking with Adonis in a relaxed manner I had never seen before with her while Adonis was on the far side opposite looking out the window. ¡°So why did you guys have the trucks parked in a circle when we landed?¡± the boy asked. 33 smiled as she responded with an amused smile, ¡°It¡¯s our night time formation while we rest. The truck¡¯s serve as barricades.¡± ¡°Why did you have spotlights?¡± ¡°Atlanteans have enhanced night vision. The spotlights are turned on the outside of the formation so they can¡¯t try to ambush us in our sleep.¡± I turned to my right to look at the silver canine. It had large, sharp teeth. Like knives. Turning to my left the golden dog had a squished face with shorter teeth that ended in flat ends. Each of them stood at about a meter and a half, and looked like they could tear me apart. ¡°I fucking hate dogs,¡± I mumbled. ¡°What was that Mr. Justice?¡± ¡°I asked how much longer?¡± 33 stared at the map on the console while keeping a hand on the wheel. ¡°It says here we¡¯re about five minutes away." ¡°Fuck yeah.¡± I muttered with bittersweet relief. We pulled at our destination and as soon as 33 was out of the way I squeezed by the dog on my left and landed with a white crunch and took a whiff of salt on the wind. The ground was white, dried salt from an ancient sea long since gone. You could see the lapping shore of Lake Sahara. Lake Sahara was the largest body of water in recorded history that was land locked. Stretching over three million square kilometers, it was a testament of the might of humanity in her prime. The lake had originally been a silicon mine having been the largest one ever built. Silicon was once a plentiful resource, but as more and more electronics powered the advancement of progress, its need became greater. Over hundreds of thousands of years, we had consumed it with bottomless avarice. After all, certainly something so grand in scale could never run out. But everything is finite, those foolish bastards. Solar radiation, reckless use, tectonic activity, and a near endless supply of factors drained away silicon until all that was left was the massive pit. The pit was the largest man made structure ever built, and with the last of the silicon drained from its coffers its pumps and drains were finally allowed to fall to disrepair. Over the eons rainwater filled it, until the mighty Sahara mines had become the grandest body of water ever built by man¡¯s hands. But that was only the beginning. Acids accumulated from the poisoned earth and were subsumed into the water itself. It would be suicide to descend into its depths. Unit Forty-three of the Crossroads had been placed in charge of the area and had failed to find any significant value outside of various mining towns along its coast. It was their commander, 90, who had given the mission brief giving the area history before I came here. But El Dorado wasn¡¯t hidden in the lake itself. At the very least that¡¯s not where the coordinates lead to. Instead, the shit led to this decrepit shack in the middle of nowhere that was in sight of the lake. ¡°Alright,¡± I called out to the large group of people coming out of the vehicles, ¡°Everyone check your comms.¡± There were going to be five channels used during this operation, and I was on the command channel. The idea was that the controlling station for each channel would contact me directly giving me summary reports and important information so that I didn¡¯t need to listen to the details. I pressed a button on the radio built into my flight suit. ¡°Olympus, Crossroads, comms check.¡± Call signs were being kept as simple as possible so that any Atlanteans listening in would at the very least have trouble getting a bead on what we were doing here. ¡°Lima Charlie, how about me?¡± Lima Charlie was the phonetic sounding for loud and clear. ¡°Read you the same. Status report.¡± The Olympians were performing air reconnaissance and were spaced so that each radio signal could piggyback to us from the ¡®primary point of interest¡¯ as we were to refer to it over the radios. There was a two kilometer wide straight about six hundred kilometers from here with the ocean on the other side. This was the closest access the Atlanteans had to Lake Sahara, and by extension our operation. We were going to keep an eye on the fucking thing. ¡°No movement from the primary point of interest. You¡¯re right about the scouts though. We spotted about a dozen parties tailing you while keeping about a twenty mile perimeter from you.¡± ¡°Let me know when you have a status report. We¡¯re investigating the shack now.¡± I released the button on the radio and waited for the rest to radio in. ¡°Crossroads, security, manned and ready,¡± came the last report. ¡°Copy that,¡± I acknowledged before releasing the button and then addressed my people directly, ¡°Alright fuckheads, let¡¯s knock this shit out so I can get out of the sun.¡± I took a team of twelve into the shack including the kid and 33. The silver and golden freaks came with, which pissed me off, but the kid insisted that they were to stick by him. The walls and ceiling were crumbling leaving the floor a mess and light peering through. Eventually I was called over when a trapdoor with a ladder leading down into darkness was discovered. ¡°Hand me a flare,¡± came my order, followed by its activation and subsequent drop down the hole. The thing fell pinging on the ladder and walls as it fell. Eventually it came to a stop as echoes rose up. ¡°Well, that shit is deep.¡± 33 came to my side and gave the ladder a solid shake before commenting, ¡°Sir, the ladder is stable.¡± There was a pointed nature to her words, and I looked over to see her eyebrows slightly furrowed in concern and confusion. ¡°Lucky for us then. Come on,¡± I cocked my head and then smiled, ¡°Hey Adonis, those dogs of yours can¡¯t climb ladders, can they.¡± ¡°No, Mr. Justice.¡± Lucky indeed. I radioed 90, the other Alpha pilot and fellow commander and told him to take charge while my team went down and lost radio contact. I took the lead and climbed down. The walls were made of concrete, and the shaft continued to stretch as I descended. Once I caught up to the flare, I hopped off the last couple rungs and waited for my team to finish arriving. A couple of the guys who were in bad shape complained about sore arms. They¡¯d get over it. We opened up a bag and each took flashlights and turned them on to get our bearings. As the beams swept around, I was surprised by the sheer volume of the space. The place had to have been a few square kilometers at least. Around us were massive pillars that were hard to gage what their diameter was. Fucking massive, that was for sure. Everything was concrete, and I let out a low, impressed whisper. ¡°Sir,¡± one of my men spoke, ¡°We have a door over here.¡± I turned and saw where his light was pointed. It was hard to tell how far away it was. The size of the cavern was messing with my sense my scale, but it appeared to be on the opposite wall. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± As we approached 33 came to my side and finally shared what was bothering her, ¡°Sir, there isn¡¯t a lot of dust in here.¡± I had to agree, had seen plenty of ruins during my tenure. Even if this space had been airtight, tectonic shifts and years of neglect should have caused cracks and damage to this space. It was too clean. Too perfect. ¡°What are you implying, ice bitch.¡± ¡°Nothing, sir. Just thinking out loud.¡± I¡¯m not a dumbass, I knew exactly what she was implying, and I didn¡¯t like it one bit. We came to the door and entered a control room of some sort. It had a few consoles and a set of breakers on the wall. Adonis exclaimed, ¡°I know what this is! It¡¯s a pump control room. This must have been a facility for removing the water from the mine, so they didn¡¯t have to worry about flooding. Over here are-¡± Looks like the kid was useful. He was about sixteen, and I knew most Olympians were engineering inclined. He rambled on while we searched the room, about how the pumps would have been bigger than his airship, how they would work, and so on and so forth. I didn¡¯t particularly care and noticed that even 33 was no longer enjoying his chattering. It honestly surprised me that she had opened up to him the way she did, though I had to admit his enthusiasm could be infectious. Fuck! The lights in the room flashed on as I heard a loud snap followed by the whine of a generator starting up from underneath us and we all turned towards the source. An older woman in the group had apparently shut a breaker and I shouted, ¡°Fucking warn us first.¡± She was from Unit 3, and I cursed at the mixing of units required for this mission. My Unit, Twenty-seven, would not have done something so idiotic. ¡°My bad.¡± ¡°My bad? Are you fucking stupid? Or did Logan not teach anyone from Unit Three any professionalism. Only shit I want to hear from you is, ¡®Yes, sir. No, sir.¡¯ Who the fuck says, ¡®My bad,¡¯ to a commander you worthless piece of shit. Almost gave us all a heart attack and that¡¯s all you have to say-¡± ¡°Sir!¡± ¡°What, ice bitch!?¡± I was irritated for the interruption. Thing was she wasn¡¯t the type to stop my ranting for no reason. I turned to see her eyes wide open in shock. ¡°How are the generators still working?¡± she asked, before remembering to add, ¡°Sir.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± I muttered in contained surprise. The team began exchanging looks with each other. I had been waiting in the control room with Adonis and 33 for two hours when our recon team came back and the team leader reported, ¡°Sir. We finished surveying the cavern and the pillars appear to be pipes connecting to different tanks, all empty. We believe this all connects to the pump and generator room underneath us. We also found a set of motors connected to some sort of giant hydraulics system that we have yet to determine the purpose of. We believe it is all functional.¡± I nodded, ¡°Good job. You¡¯re with Unit Forty-three, right?¡± ¡°Yes, sir.¡± At least 90 knew how to train his men with proper respect. Adonis had finished looking over the consoles and believed he could operate it. They had some safety interlocks that prevented operation of the pumps until the hydraulics system was activated. Whatever this place was, you were required to move something before you could pump down. But the most interesting part was the nameplate on the console. El Dorado Time Capsule Control Station. 33 came close and said out of earshot of Adonis, ¡°Sir, this is a bad idea.¡± I crossed my arms since I already knew where this was going, but it was good to see 33 beginning to question my directions to my face. Part of me was proud she was starting to take charge, but the other part of me was pissed that today was the day she chose to do it. ¡°And how is that?¡± I asked. ¡°This entire facility has been refurbished, and the Atlanteans got their intel from a statue that they just happened to install not even a decade ago. Then Kristoff falls in our lap, with the coordinates and without his suicide chip going off. There are too many coincidences. It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°So, what do you propose is going on?¡± I wanted to be sure she was following the right thought process. ¡°Sir, I believe this is a trap.¡± Looks like she was halfway there. Not bad. ¡°Adonis.¡± ¡°Yes, Mr. Justice¡­ er¡­ Sir!¡± I didn¡¯t break eye contact with 33 as I gave my command, ¡°Start it up.¡± 33¡¯s eyes nearly popped out of her skull, ¡°Sir!?¡± I lowered my voice while Adonis got to work so only 33 could hear me. ¡°There are Three possibilities, and I don¡¯t like the implications of a single damn one. First off, let¡¯s say this is a trap. You¡¯re right, I probably just killed us all. But the second possibility is a million times worse. El Dorado is real, and we just led Atlantis to it. How did you word it? They¡¯d be able to upgrade a single operative to take on an Alpha. I call bullshit, but the result would be the same. All out war with Atlantis and possibly hundreds of thousands dead. So, considering the worst case scenario the choice is obvious.¡± As I explained myself 33 seemed to regain her composure until I could barely read her emotions. That¡¯s the 33 I know. Even so, a small change of her eyes gave away her fear. ¡°What¡¯s the third possibility?¡± ¡°The trap wasn¡¯t for us.¡± Her eyes narrowed in a way that probably only I could read. Confusion. ¡°It was for Atlantis? But then who laid the trap?¡± I shrugged. Like I had said, I didn¡¯t like the implications one damn bit. We found out the result of our work once we came back to the surface. My radio blew up as soon as we were back in the open and reports started pouring in. The hydraulics had lifted a massive wall up in Lake Sahara which sectioned off a part of the lake. The pumps emptied out the quartered off area, and exposed steep rocky slopes that shimmered an oily purple from the left over minerals made smooth from the acids. You could make out your reflection in the stuff, though it was dull enough so that it wasn¡¯t blinding. We changed to Teflon uniforms that would hold up against the acid residue and unloaded the Charlie roadie. It was called a roadie because that¡¯s what it¡¯s function was, making a path for the trucks to drive on. With most ruins you needed a roadie to lead the way as you made your way to the larger collapsed architecture that could have resources. The roadie had a large roller that would attach to the front and two reverse jointed legs with flat feet that lined up with each other as it pushed forward. The roller would crush and flatten any obstacles as it moved forward, and the feet would step in such away to push rebar poking out to the side to avoid piercing tires. Finally was a large heavy caliber gun mounted on top for shooting down Atlanteans or airships, whichever the situation called for. Hopefully we wouldn¡¯t need it. I fucking knew better though. Progress was slow, which was a good thing as I looked back the way the convoy had come. A thunderstorm had appeared on the horizon, and if our forecasts were correct would reach us in about eight hours. The perfect cover when we extracted. The roadie didn¡¯t go directly down the slope. We had to make sure the trucks would have enough traction to climb back out. Instead, it performed a tight zig-zag as it descended until it hit the bottom, forming a switchback with steep walls. There were several smooth rocky outcrops that we had to go around, but otherwise it was a pretty straightforward path. Minerals had built up on the wall over the years, and these had fallen off leaving massive boulders at the bottom of the valley. Even so, there was a single mine shaft that had managed to survive the years. We came to a stop outside the tunnel when I got a radio from Olympus, ¡°Crossroads, Olympus, Activity headed towards primary point of interest. A large group of shadows under the water is headed in, fast.¡± I turned my mouth to the speaker and responded, ¡°Keep an eye on it.¡± ¡°We have a situation,¡± a panicked voice came back. ¡°Report.¡± ¡°They¡­ fired¡­ something.¡± ¡°I need something more than that.¡± ¡°¡­ We just lost contact with the airship in the area¡­ Their last report was they fired some sort of weapon that opened a canal connecting the ocean to the Lake and the shadows were crossing.¡± ¡°What do you mean they opened a canal?¡± I demanded. ¡°It just fired from the water and took out another airship!¡± This was not good, ¡°Pull out all airships, we don¡¯t need to lose any unnecessary men. Explain what you mean by the canal.¡± ¡°Sir, they blew a path through the straight with some sort of light or plasma weapon. The ocean is now connected to the Lake and whatever it is has started crossing over now. As soon as our airships are in sight it shoots them down.¡± ¡°How fast are they moving?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, we¡¯ve lost our eyes on them. Another airship just got shot down!¡± ¡°I said pull out all airships!¡± I released the radio and cursed, ¡°Fuck!¡± I didn¡¯t have time to complain though. First thing was first. I switched to the all-comms channel that would allow me to be heard on all radios. As the commander I was the only one authorized to speak on this channel to bypass chain of command if needed. I had no time to wait for comms. ¡°Unit 3, unload the aquatic Charlie and set it up at the top of the slope to provide cover. You will be arming up and setting up perimeter. Unit Forty-three, get that roadie back up there and use it as a barricade, then get every truck down here. Unit Twenty-seven, start unloading the Alphas as soon as they get to the bottom. 90, the Olympian, and I will be taking our recon team into the shaft. Make it fast, we¡¯re on the clock. Olympus airships, fall back to the thunderstorm. I don¡¯t need any more of you going down.¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. I started getting radio affirmations and ignored them while 33 headed off to go drive her truck. She wasn¡¯t part of Forty-three, but to be fair I needed these vehicles moved fast so I wasn¡¯t about to call her out. 90 and Adonis joined me and the recon team into the tunnel and we started making our way in. It wasn¡¯t long until we found our reward, a giant golden door with the words, ¡®El Dorado¡¯ in large bold font. Bingo. ¡°Shit, is that thing made of gold?¡± I mused incredulously. Adonis pulled a pack off the side of the silver dog and said, ¡°Let me check.¡± A couple minutes later I had my confirmation. ¡°Find out how to pop her open. We need to get loaded up and the hell out of here.¡± My recon team worked swiftly. Eventually we found a robust hand crank, and after a few minutes we were quickly turning it causing the door to open inward. Adonis excitedly explained, ¡°Oh, clever! The door swings inward so the mine¡¯s collapse won¡¯t interfere with opening-¡± ¡°Not now Adonis,¡± I interrupted. I could give two fucks about the operation of a damn door. We needed in and we needed to be in there now. We stepped inside while leaving two members to finish cranking the door open. It was dark, but in the center of what appeared to be a large hallway was a button. I walked up to it and pressed it. Instantly a series of crackles and pops sang down the passageway activating a chemical reaction in the ceiling to provide illumination. I took notice that this was significantly different from how the pump room had been. This place seemed¡­ more untouched. But not completely. There were a series of sealed heavy-duty sectional doors, but on each one I could make out what appeared to be a hole. I walked up and looked through it. Drilled. And while it was drilled at least a while ago, it was clearly fresher than it should have been for how old the facility was. ¡°Get these things open.¡± My orders were carried out quickly and soon the first one was raised up. Inside was a cube with a tarp over it. I walked over and tossed it off for my eyes to be greeted with bricks. Solid bricks, made of gold. ¡°Adonis, test it.¡± A moment later the boy said breathlessly, ¡°Mr. Justice, its real.¡± He laughed, ¡°Its real gold!¡± I looked at the boy who had lit up in joy, forgetting the encroaching danger. To be honest, I found myself smirking, this was the first good news I had heard all day. We opened each door, and with each chemical test the truth became clear. El Dorado was real, metric ton after metric ton of pure precious elements. With almost no radioactive decay or breakdown. I couldn¡¯t believe it. Loading took only a couple hours, and the thunderstorm had picked up the pace. Now it would only be an hour before the rain arrived. There was only one problem. 90¡¯s damn Alpha was stuck in the mud as soon as we offloaded it, and he couldn¡¯t get it out. Alphas are made up of four main systems. First you have the core system, which holds and feeds the GEL to the other parts of the machine. This would be placed on top of a propulsion system. This could be anywhere from treads to wheels to even legs and jet systems. Next was the armament system that would be attached to the sides of the core. Finally, was the cockpit, which provided all the sensors and controls for the pilot. Alphas were the perfect machine of war, ordered to the specification by each pilot. As you made rank you could even custom order parts, though I preferred the classics. 90¡¯s Alpha used a propeller system that allowed it to fly and strafe its opponents. Problem was the thing was so heavy it had gotten ingrained in the dirt which were now clogging up his fucking thrusters. We had men on every end of it with shovels trying to dig it out. His armaments system was going to be important. It contained four GGGs, or Gauss Gatling Guns that could swerve around the core on a 360-degree rail. These things could fire six thousand rounds per minute of sixty mm ammunition, and he had enough to fire all four for ten solid seconds. What he could possibly unleash such hellfire on that could survive was beyond imagination, which is why he normally fired one GGG at a time in bursts. His cockpit was a round saucer, giving him excellent visual coverage on all sides of his Alpha. It wasn¡¯t a particularly fast Alpha, but its firepower more than made up for it and was perfect for defending a point. I turned towards my Alpha, which was a fast rush-down design. I had opted for humanoid legs that contained thermal thrusters behind the legs. The feet had rows of rollers that allowed me to easily skate around as I maneuvered and danced across the battlefield. The armaments were also humanoid, though lacked hands with instead the forearms being large pile drivers. The piles themselves were made of iron that would be heated by magnetic induction and driven through the target. Each was several meters long and only a dozen centimeters thick with a pointed diamond punch at the end of it. The firing mechanism used a spring cranked tight by GEL hydraulics. There wasn¡¯t much I couldn¡¯t punch through. The only problem was I only had six piles in each arm, but I didn¡¯t care since most enemies could be taken out just by running them over. The piles only purpose was to topple over any structures that got in my way. The cockpit itself was triangular, with a series of arrays on the back of it like a jagged mane that provided various radar functions. Finally, on the right shoulder was my signature emblem. The one piece of true customization I was allowed on my Alpha. It depicted the upper torso of a muscular man with a black beard, with his arms crossed over his bare chest each grasping a different instrument. In one, a scepter. In the other, a cornucopia. It was the personification of the underworld, justice, and riches. My beloved Alloy of Justice. The radio lit up with static as I got the report I had been dreading, ¡°Crossroads, security, the scouts have started moving in.¡± ¡°Hold your position,¡± I ordered. I wasn¡¯t worried about the scouts. Even if the perimeter was broken at the top of the road, our Alphas could more than level them even if we had to fight uphill. The problem was the force that was making its way towards us in from the opposite direction. It had enough firepower to create a canal. Ideally that should have burned through hundreds of liters of raw GEL and they didn¡¯t have enough for another shot like that. Even if they did, I was slightly counting that they wouldn¡¯t be willing to fire that on the cache we found anyways. Regardless, the scouts weren¡¯t attacking us from the front because they thought they could win. They were to split our defenses while the main force came from behind. We had taken off our unit patches in preparation for the operation so they couldn¡¯t identify who we were exactly, but they probably had deduced we had Alphas just based off the size of our group. I was relying on unloading the Alphas out of sight to maintain an element of surprise, but this shitty flying Alpha was stuck in the dirt. A mistake on my part, but a fucking critical one. They¡¯d be able to hold up top for a bit. The two harpoons of the aquatic Charlie and the gun from the roadie were accurate and would give us some time. ¡°I want the trucks in the tunnel, out of sight. 90, you and I are getting in our Alphas. Do not, I repeat, do not start it up.¡± The trucks started moving and I climbed up the back of my Alpha with practiced speed until I could clamber into the cockpit and shut it. The cockpit itself was dark. Instead of windows were 360 degree screens that could show me through cameras what was happening around me, though for now they were off. I activated my auxiliary systems so I could see without powering up the Alpha and the screens turned on. There were a series of controls throughout the cockpit for a variety of functions, but my movements were managed primarily by two control sticks with buttons on them. Each button when held would charge my piles for four seconds and upon release would unload them. There were a pair of twin arc rails wrapping around me in about sixty degrees that allowed me to control the thrusts of each leg. If I pulled the right handle back on the rail, the thruster would reverse. If I pulled it all the way forward it would accelerate. Pull one all the way back and the other all the way forward and it would allow me to swivel and make a complete 180 turn. The whiplash sucked though, and I had to pin my head into a headrest that would cushion the movements. 90 was still stuck, but that was fine, since his guns could still shoot. Once the last truck was out of sight, I ordered everyone to hide in the tunnel and wait for my command to roll out. I received the word that the perimeter had begun engagement with the scouts and looked up to the top of the ridge to see laser fire and plasma shots coming through. Each Alpha had a personal line that other Alphas could hail on for joint operations, and 90 spoke to me on this, ¡°Alloy, I have a charge time of twenty seconds. Let me turn my Alpha on.¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up and wait,¡± I said with an exasperated sigh. ¡°I¡¯m going to be a sitting duck when they get to the ridge.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine. Their plasma rifles won¡¯t be able to scratch you until they¡¯re close. Just shut up and wait for my signal.¡± ¡°And what is your signal?¡± ¡°When you see blood.¡± 90 didn¡¯t respond. Twenty seconds was a long time, I had to admit. Technically speaking charge times didn¡¯t prevent you from being a pilot, but I¡¯ll be damned if that wasn¡¯t going to be a pain in the ass. It wasn¡¯t even that hard. Just turn the GEL on. Fucking idiot. ¡°They¡¯re breaking through!¡± the report came in over static. I figured at this point the perimeter was as good as dead. If it wasn¡¯t for their main force still coming in, I would¡¯ve gone straight up there and wiped the Atlanteans out, but I needed to protect the convoy. I just hoped that they had taken out a good number of them. More screamed reports came in, and I acknowledged each. The bodies were stacking, and we had clearly lost. The gunshots and laser fire overhead died out, and I crossed my arm to contain my fury. Contain it until it was time to let it out. 90 broke the silence, ¡°Bastards will pay. They¡¯re coming over the ridge. Alloy, can I activate?¡± ¡°Negative, wait for my signal,¡± I growled. They were sliding down the terraced path and I took note of about thirty of them. Three of them had plasma rifles, the only weapons they had on them that could melt our plating. Those were the targets. I closed off my mind to everything but the task at hand. The quiet whine of the screens became distant. All that mattered was my fury, swiftly reaching boiling. The Atlanteans looked slightly confused. There were two Alphas down here, abandoned. Of course, they were confused. They didn¡¯t know what they had just walked into, the den of primal ferocity that I was about to unleash. I focused on one of the plasma rifle users as he was clearly going to be the first in range. Maybe they would try and scavenge the Alphas, though more likely he would try to disable it. They didn¡¯t know where we were, but they knew there were more of us. Why let us activate out Alphas? He unshouldered his rifle and began to take aim. He never stood a chance as I took both handles and drove both fully forward. Charge time? Dumbest shit I ever heard of, just turn it on. My controls, my Alpha, everything flared red instantly as I skated up at a few hundred kilometers per hour and slammed my leg into his face. The tiny man never stood a chance against the god sized limb. The Atlanteans began screaming as they swung around to their sides at the sudden Death in their wake. Shut the fuck up, it was time to pay for your crime of killing my people! I had already redirected myself and was headed towards the second plasma rifle. He got a shot off aimed directly at my cockpit. I pulled my right handle back and the entire Alpha twisted into a slide that left a blood splatter where the Atlantean once was while ducking out of plasma. During this run I had taken out a handful of others who happened to be in my way. I located the last plasma rifle and fired off in his direction. He shot at me consistently but I hopped up dodging the first couple shots and flipped myself to the side so that I could use my thrusters to skate on the wall. He pulled the trigger a bit more and I kicked off once again and charged one of my arms into him obliterating him. Debris rained down where I had skated on the wall and crushed a dozen more men and I skated to a halt while I located the last couple. A swift swipe later and I was leisurely sliding down the steep wall of the switch back to where 90 was. ¡°You done activating?¡± ¡°¡­ Yes, sir¡­¡± 90 said meekly. ¡°Good, start your thrusters,¡± I said while swerving into him and gently placing one arm underneath his side. I gave my thrusters a light burst and lifted the thing up while it sputtered for a few seconds while the mud was flung free from the propellers and the Alpha broke free and took off. ¡°Good, fly up and get me a visual of the Lake, don¡¯t go too high though, I don¡¯t need them sniping you like they did the airships,¡± I finished the order on the direct line and then switched to address the rest of the convoy, ¡°All hands, Crossroads, begin extraction. We¡¯re going to get the hell out of this hole and begin making our way towards the thunderstorm, fast as we can. I want as much distance from this lake as soon as possible.¡± As 90 took off, the trucks began exiting the tunnel and following the road up the slope. I took point in front and began leading the march up when there was a loud sound above us and I looked up to see what was happening. A large black blob with streaking green lights came soaring over the seawall and landed onto 90¡¯s Alpha. Instantly all four of its GGG¡¯s swung around to intercept and began firing, but the damage was already done as the propulsion system was torn asunder as it began careening towards the wall itself. The black figure jumped off the eviscerated Alpha and landed at the bottom, which the trucks were luckily clear of. 90¡¯s Alpha tumbled down, with a waterfall now pouring from a hole in the wall over the mine shaft. I got a clear look at what had torn my fellow pilot apart. It stood taller than even my Alpha, and was humanoid like me. Humanoid might be a strong word though, with massive arms built like a gorilla that hung all the way down to what would have been its ankles. The entire thing was built like those sketches of a man without skin to show his muscles. Instead of exposing red muscle though, it was powerful nanofiber cables that were as wide as a man¡¯s torso. The only thing it was missing though was a head. Instead, where the neck should have started there was a round circular plate that looked heavily armored. I figured that was the weak point, or the brain of the monstrosity since why else would it need the extra armor. Each of its artificial fibers had green lights throughout it, and I noticed there were lasers coming out of them that were quickly swiping back and forth across the environment, as if scanning. The lasers settled on me. Fuck waiting to see what it planned, I was already diving off the road down at the beast. The lasers all focused on me and seemed to focus on single points on me. One followed the cockpit, another my foot, others following different points of interest on me. It was tracking me, and I was more than happy to be its focus. As I got closer one of its massive hands reached out to try and catch me, but with a pull my thrusters jerked me into a spin that I used to deliver a kick to its gut as I ducked under its grip. This thing was likely stronger than me, and I figured it would have no problem cracking me open like an egg. My blow only made it take a step back and it brought one arm crashing down to where I had been a moment before as I strafed around to behind it while holding each of the buttons on my controls to begin charging up my piles. It tried to straighten up but I tackled it causing purple acidic mud to splatter everywhere. I quickly kicked off and landed on a rocky pillar next to it while the thing flailed and picked itself up. ¡°Alloy, watch out!¡± buzzed the radio and I didn¡¯t bother waiting to see what it was I needed to avoid as I boosted off and launched myself with a leap towards the road above. The trucks had managed to get to the third level of the switchback, and I looked down as more giant bastards landed from the seawall, one smashing the boulder I had been perched on. Six. Six fucking behemoths. And the sons of bitches all had those same green lasers swerving and then landing on me so that I was lit up like a firework. The good news, they weren¡¯t going for the trucks. Not yet. The shitty news was I¡¯m not so sure I can outmaneuver all these monsters. And I loved every second of it. I breathed in and allowed myself to be lost in the moment. I was the hunter, and these creatures were the prey, except they didn¡¯t know it yet. That¡¯s where the real thrill would be. There was a beep indicating the piles were ready, and I slammed my right pile driver into the ground and released, shattering rock and mud down on my victims. I was already recharging my next pile when I landed by the first of the monsters, whose lasers had lost track of me. Like I thought, as a result it had seemed to lose the ability to see me as it failed to react. I landed a left hook into its shoulder and fired my next pile, impaling it spraying white raw GEL out and causing its arm to go limp as the thing let out a frenzied scream. It could feel pain, and that made me scream with exhilaration as I brought a knee and flipped the thing over onto another monster. The others were already charging me after I knocked the one off its feet and I skated over the gap landing a kick into its crotch and somersaulting until I was pressed against the sea wall and took a sprinter¡¯s starting position. Beep, the right pile was charged. I charged the closest one which managed to wrap its arms into a bear hug. It wasn¡¯t fast enough though and I fired my pile driver through the chest causing it to release me with a bloodcurdling shriek. Beep, I brought the left hook down on its head and fired a spear right through the plate where it should have had a neck. That shut it the fuck up as it went limp. One down, five to go. And I had eight more piles to do it. Honestly it was getting too easy. One charged and swung an arm that could have easily torn me in half if it could land the blow. If! I leaned back letting it overshoot me and then used my right arm on its back and my left on its forearm to jerk the thing forward, impaling it on the still red-hot pile that I had killed the first with, causing it to go limp. It was then I realized that some of their green lasers had changed targets so that they were tracking the trucks, with two of them breaking off while the other two continued to stay focused on me. Did they think they could fucking ignore me? I pushed off the wall and skated forward and ducked the first¡¯s swung fist as I slid past. Beep, I impaled the second beast in his elbow as I leaped over his lunge. The first of the runners had begun climbing the slope, digging its arms into the rocky walls, and making itself a juicy target. Beep! I leapt up and slammed a pile driver into its spine as I fired off the heated rod pinning it to the cliffside as it went limp. The last of the bastards had started climbing and I dropped down and kicked it between its shoulders knocking it down. When I landed, the one with the injured elbow attempted to tackle me. I jumped and placed my thrusters on full blast, using one arm on the back of my assailant to help steady me as I parkoured over it and shoved it into the dirt. With a series of two beeps I charged into the one furthest from me that I had ducked before at the beginning of my charge and fired a single pile into its chest, causing it to slide backwards. I lurched forward and leapt into a dropkick that finished driving the thing back through the waterfall and into the mining tunnel as I landed at the entrance. I slammed my charged pile driver into the ceiling and fired, while simultaneously doing a 180 and reversing out into a spin. Not going to lie, that looked real smooth as the cavern collapsed and crushed the fourth behemoth. The one with the bad elbow tried to take a swing at me while I had my back to it. A rookie mistake as I dodged back and kicked the elbow so that the pile popped out. I did a vertical spinning kick driving the spike into its head and turned my attention to the last one that was¡­ where the fuck was it? It was one of the two that had broken off from the pack to chase down the trucks¡­ I looked up and sure enough it was still climbing up the walls of the switchback. I went full throttle and caught up in just seconds, bodily slamming into it and sending us both flying into the air until we cleared the hole. I landed gracefully while it squirmed and landed on its chest before swiftly pulling itself up. It was standing between the roller from the roadie and the aquatic Charlie, and I strafed to the side and tackled them together pinching the monster between the two. With a horrendous metallic scream, the thing popped in half while the bottom half was crushed, and the torso landed bodily nearby. It crawled slowly forward, but it was clear it had lost most of its functionality as I walked calmly over and put a pile through its cranial plate. I let out a shaky sigh as the adrenaline started to wind down in my blood. I pressed the radio and said, ¡°All units, Crossroads, report status.¡± The trucks were over halfway up the switchback, the perimeter had been completely wiped out, and 90 was dead. I shook my head in remorse, but there would be time for a proper send off later. For now, the mission wasn¡¯t over as whatever had blown the canal into the lake had yet to make an appearance. And with that thought it was quickly made clear to me how we were shit out of luck. Beyond the seawall a bladed tower emerged, and then another followed by another. Each shined with bright white lights, indicative of raw GEL at full activation. As it broke the surface by first a dozen meters, and then dozens more I slowly realized what it was I was facing. A quick strafe to the side got me behind the roadie and got me out of the line of sight as white laser fire began flashing down upon me. ¡°They brought a fucking Neon Cathedral-class Bravo!¡± I screamed into the radio. Bravos. We hadn¡¯t seen one in almost a hundred years, and it had been assumed Atlantis had stopped producing them. Hell, we only had one, and it was completely immobile. Bravos required at least twenty Alpha-compatible pilots to man them and were so unwieldy and unnecessary that no one had bothered building one in probably a thousand years. The fact that Atlantis had maintained one, or worse yet maybe even built another one was unthinkable. Neon Cathedrals had dozens of GEL powered spires that it could aim and fire lasers through and ate through liters of GEL in just a matter of hours. I could imagine that if one fully charged and fired it would be more than enough to blast that canal out albeit it would be running on fumes afterwards, which would explain how it hadn¡¯t just evaporated my cover as it fired. I looked for a break in the cover fire, and when I saw my opportunity, I skated out and aimed at the Neon Cathedral. Even so I took some fire and alarms went off indicating overheating on my systems. Slamming each of my handles forward I fully accelerated and went flying over the edge of the hole, soaring over the gap and crashing into the sea wall on the other side as I braced myself for the impact. My Alpha slid down and I twisted around so that I was facing the sky and slammed the accelerator forward again to ride the wall up. As I did so the first of the spires bent forward and leaned over across the seawall as it began to take aim at the trucks. It didn¡¯t get a chance as I flew into it and wrapped an arm around to swing myself to ride the spire down towards the source, a large orb that had broken the water surface and begun to take flight. I didn¡¯t need to listen for the beeps to know that my piles were already charged and ready to go. I had four shots left. I only needed one. I slammed my right pile driver into the orb and fired receiving the immediate gratification of the thing being impaled clean through. That¡¯s why you don¡¯t use Bravos, they were massive and had enough fire power to level civilization as we knew it, but they were too damn slow. Clang! What was that? I looked to my shoulder to see what appeared to be a¡­ person? ¡°The fuck¡­?¡± My question was immediately interrupted by a series of purple flashes as the thing began unloading plasma shots into my arm. ¡°Shit, shit shit!¡± I didn¡¯t need to listen to the alarms to know my arm was turning molten and I did a spin and accelerated back towards the hole as the Neon Cathedral collapsed. The firing noise didn¡¯t stop and I could seen molten metal trailing behind me as I soared across the air and saw that the thing was still attached to my arm and was now taking aim at me with¡­ was that a fucking arm cannon!? I shot one hand up and pulled the emergency release cord as hard as I could. With a hiss the useless lump that had been my right arm detached and went flying as I landed on the road in front of where the trucks were, with my arm landing between the two of us. There was a rocky pillar behind me that we had needed to maneuver around when we were building the switchback. Alright, that meant I had two piles left. No big deal¡­ FUCK! The person landed in front of me and raised both arms up, revealing that both were cannons that were already taking shots at me. It was black with a glowing purple visor and was slim and supple in design. I immediately boosted to the side and attempted to strafe around to try and crush it, but it deftly dodged to the side and landed a series of shots into my right leg causing the plates to melt. I received immediate alarms that my thrusters were malfunctioning and the thing leapt up a dozen meters into the air in a back flip, firing at me the whole time. I managed to boost out of the way in retreat towards the rocky pillar, though I stumbled and rolled as my balance was off from the bad thrusters and missing arm. I came to a stop and saw more plasma coming towards me. With a quick jerk on my controls, I managed to get myself behind the pillar. ¡°Shit!¡± I pressed my radio, ¡°Incoming! Prepare for combat!¡± I leaned out to try and reengage but received fire that I barely managed to dodge. I was pinned down, my thrusters on my right side were shit, and I was off balance due to the missing arm. ¡°Motherfucking shit piss!¡± I screamed in frustration as I tried to calm myself down. I looked around for anything, and then saw something that I hadn¡¯t really noticed before. The purple sheen of the rocks was reflective¡­ and there was a green laser coming from a single rock that was pointed right at me that was coming from¡­ the demon that was now running at the trucks. It had a lock on me and as soon as I tried to leave cover it would know and turn to take care of me, and all I could do was watch helplessly. ¡°I¡¯m fucking pinned here! Find a way to preoccupy it and I¡¯ll come in and take it out,¡± I radioed, though part of me knew there was no way they would be able to handle it. Sure enough from the back of the truck poured out my men who began firing at the thing uselessly. I could see sparks where the bullets bounced off harmlessly off the armor of the thing and it shot each one of them vaporizing them on the spot leaving a burned corpse. They weren¡¯t even proving a distraction, let alone damaging it, and I knew then the mission was fucked as I tried to figure out how to get out of the predicament. And then the dumbass kid jumped out of the truck. The thing fired at him, and I expected him to go down instantly but he tossed one of those Olympian grenades in front of him and when it landed, out of it burst a sudden output of colorful foam that immediately ate up the plasma and obscured the kid. Barricade grenade; they used the heat of poisoned GEL to speed up the chemical reaction and create a large foam barrier that was quite effective at absorbing heat. I was surprised by the balls of this kid to immediately come out and use it, but it wouldn¡¯t be enough to stop this fast moving super soldier, which leaped into the air to take aim over the barrier¡­ and got violently tackled as the silver dog soared from where the kid should have been and knocked it out of the air. Its glistening fangs tore into a single arm cannon, so I went to leave my cover, but its arm immediately jerked back and immediately fired at me forcing me to backdown. I looked back at the reflection and saw the gold dog, which was way slower barrel through the foam knocking it out of its way. The Atlantean machine took its other arm cannon and blasted the body of the silver dog, melting down the plating of the dog and tossing it to the side. It then got tackled by the golden beast which bit onto its injured arm and did not let go. It brought its arm cannon and unleashed plasma bolt after plasma bolt into the golden dog. Its armor turned red with the heat, but otherwise didn¡¯t budge and the thing began slamming its cannon into the dog¡¯s face as its locked jaw held tight. The other dog pulled itself up despite the molten metal and shook the plating off, which was distorted from the heat. It then lunged back into the fight and bit into the second arm cannon, shredding it. ¡°I fucking love dogs,¡± I breathed out with relief as the things tore the thing in half and ruthlessly crunched into it and destroyed every bit of the Atlantean weapon, white GEL pouring out. The thing appeared to not have a human operator, and I wondered if the entirety of it was AI or if it at least had a human brain. Didn¡¯t matter though as I limped my Alpha out from cover and approached the now unrecognizable pile of metal viscera on the ground. ¡°Adonis,¡± I switched to loudspeakers so he could here me, ¡°You¡¯re a damn gift, you know that?¡± We cleared the ridge and were on the white salt beach finally as my Alpha lead the convoy with its limp. I¡¯d have preferred to use my thrusters, but I wasn¡¯t too sure if the machine could take it and all that mattered was getting out of here. The thunderstorm was upon us, to my relief, and I couldn¡¯t wait to get home in a few days and sleep this off. ¡°Behind us!¡± I wasn¡¯t even surprised at this point as I looked back beyond the seawall at the spires rising out of Lake Sahara. Of course, they had a second Neon Cathedral. Atlantis was pulling out all the stops, and as the flying fortress broke completely free of the water¡¯s surface its spires began glowing as it prepared to take fire on us. It was way brighter than the first, and I suspected that this one had not been used to make the canal so that it could be used as their ace in the hole. The light became blinding as it took its aim. ¡°Adonis,¡± my partner said, ¡°When I grow up, I¡¯ll be the number one pilot in all the Crossroads.¡± I smirked at my fellow ten-year-old, ¡°Oh yeah, and what will your name be?¡± ¡°The Alloy of Justice, cause I¡¯m going to be the hero of the people!¡± she said with a smile. It would be the last I saw her before her funeral. ¡°Alloy of Justice? Are you sure that¡¯s what you want for your name?¡± asked the caretaker. ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± I was determined, it didn¡¯t matter what happened, I would make her dream come true. Logan shook his head at me in disbelief, ¡°You seriously did it. You managed to make pilot!¡± I smiled pridefully, ¡°And you doubted me the whole way.¡± ¡°You literally have an accuracy score of zero on the sphere test. You¡¯re lucky they faked your numbers!¡± I shrugged since the sphere test didn¡¯t make sense anyways. It was a stupid cube, not a sphere. Now my Alpha, that made sense. Its humanoid design just moved the way I told it to, just like my body. I looked down at my new recruits¡¯ files while Logan looked over his. ¡°Got anyone good?¡± ¡°Hard to tell,¡± I responded looking at the GEL compatibility of one named 33. ¡°I prefer to see if they got what it takes to lead before I recommend for pilot.¡± ¡°Yeah, I got shit too, none of them could even make Charlie,¡± Logan lamented. I chose not to point out that this woman was already qualified for Charlie, since he would probably pressure me to immediately try and get her trained up. I¡¯ve met too many Charlie pilots who weren¡¯t ready for the responsibility of people¡¯s lives in their hands though. I snapped back into the moment as blue laser fire pierced through the Neon Cathedral and caused it to explode, causing me to gasp in surprise. The radio buzzed with static as the expectant voice announced itself, ¡°Crossroads, God here, what would you do without me?¡± ¡°Logan, did you seriously just call yourself God?¡± ¡°I did just smite your enemy.¡± I cursed with a laugh as I looked skyward as Logan¡¯s Alpha broke through the clouds, its armaments still glowing blue from its firing. Leviathan was the largest Alpha in the Crossroads, being twice the size of one of our trucks. Its propulsion system was a magnetic thrust levitation system with thirty-two missiles built into the top of it. Near the back of that was the large core that contained almost a thousand liters. The armaments were two globe looking things with craters, where the lasers themselves fired. The cockpit was a dish design, with the entire thing looking like a round goofy warship. Goofy minus the fact it could blow Bravos out of the damned sky, obviously. As the Leviathan touched down it launched salt dust into the sky, which as it entered the magnetic thrusters caused arcs of electricity to leap out. The cloud dissipated and finally extraction was almost ready to begin. ¡°Drop ¡®em,¡± radioed Logan, rather informally I might add. Not that anyone cared at this point. Metal rods rained from the sky and formed a circle around us, courtesy of Olympus overhead. Lightning arced down to the rods and a barrier of electricity laced around us so that we were untouchable as the first of the airships began to descend. Juliet Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. My finger cracked upon the top of the desk as I rapped upon it, increasing in rhythm so as to produce stress in the young woman in the corner, her eyes puffy with wasted tears. I had been waiting for an hour, and expected her partner in the door any moment and needed her to be on edge so that they would be unable to collect their bearings and create a united front. When the door opened, a man walked in and glanced at her before turning to me with worry in his eyes. I looked him in the eye without speaking, forcing him to speak first, ¡°What happened?¡± I stopped my rhythmic tapping and stared coolly while keeping unblinking eye contact. Seconds passed, and he finally broke and looked away, shuffling uncomfortably. ¡°You will not address a senior officer in that way, Ulysses.¡± The woman broke under the pressure, ¡°Please, it wasn¡¯t my fault! I was just trying to¡­¡± I ignored her pleading while resuming my tapping and my eyes dared his to look back at mine. ¡°¡­ That¡¯s enough¡­¡± he whispered in defeat. ¡°But I-¡± the lady sobbed. ¡°Enough!¡± he screamed, breathing heavily as he trembled. Tap. Tap. Tap. ¡°Well then,¡± I spoke strictly now that the two had fallen silent with despair, ¡°let¡¯s discuss the charges. Your partner here has been found in noncompliance with provision 302, section eight. This has been her twelfth offense this year, and she will be subsequently forfeiting all social services due to established precedent. This includes food, medical, and your allotted utilities. The pair mumbled an acknowledgement, so I continued, ¡°There is of course procedure first. I will need to sign off on the charges and if I am being honest, it is far from my priority at the moment, so it will be going on the bottom of the stack of paperwork.¡± The man perked up as he realized the implications and said, ¡°You will? Thank you!¡± I held up a hand to stop him, ¡°I am not letting her off that easy. You may think of this as an¡­ extension if you will. And since I have so much paperwork it could remain at the bottom of the stack indefinitely if you provide¡­ certain provisions.¡± He didn¡¯t even hesitate. ¡°What do you want?¡± Once I had someone at the bargaining table I had already won. I left my office a few minutes after dismissing the couple, and my yeoman, a young piece of eye candy I had handpicked waited outside with his tablet in front of him as he addressed me, ¡°Commander Juliet, you¡¯re 0800 appointment with the Five Star is today. At 1300 you have your meeting with the prisoner for his citizenship briefing. 1400 the review with the auditor will commence. I have tentatively scheduled an appointment at 1700 as well.¡± I stared the young man up and down as I asked, ¡°And what¡¯s happening at 1700?¡± ¡°Alloy returns from his mission this afternoon and should be free in his office at that time.¡± I smiled politely at him, ¡°Excellent, congratulations are in order after all. See if you can procure something to celebrate the occasion. A pair of new boxing gloves for the returning hero would do nicely.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he replied with practiced professionalism. At a brisk pace I headed towards the office of the Five Star and knocked, waiting for permission to enter. His administration met me at the door and ushered me to a waiting lounge. While there I opened my tablet and began reviewing and signing the mountain of paperwork awaiting me. I oversaw Unit Two, one of the Crossroads¡¯ elites. Unit One, Two, and Three were reserved for the top three ranked Alpha pilots. Each provided a specific need for the city and functioned as the public faces of the military. Unit One served as a deterrent towards Atlantis, armed with our best naval technology. Unit Three was for Olympus, offering unparalleled air superiority even in the face of the artificial storm. Unit Two oversaw policing, and my Alpha served as the last line of defense in the event of an invasion. ¡°He''ll see you now,¡± a woman informed me, so I closed and stored my tablet for later. I stepped into his room, he was staring out a window facing towards the central pillar of the city. Lights illuminated the steel and iron construction, and some smoke was wafting from a dimly lit bridge. The Five Star greeted me with a large smile as his voice boomed with pride and joy, ¡°Juliet, welcome, how has your morning been?¡± I smiled back and traded useless niceties with him. The Five Star always wasted time with trivialities that could have been skipped. Many said he was personable, but I found it to be an enormous waste of time. After finally offering me a seat he sipped from a mug and said, ¡°So your operation was a huge success.¡± ¡°We were able to triangulate and locate Atlantis then?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow. I had proposed that the Atlanteans would attempt to intercept us as we took El Dorado and that we place Unit One in hiding. When their main force appeared we could use that to locate the hidden city and send an Alpha to finally eliminate our enemy. ¡°We did, and we sent them a warning so that they won¡¯t bother us again.¡± ¡°A warning?¡± ¡°Yes. I took your idea to sink Atlantis into consideration and decided it would be better to just send a message that if we located them once, we could do it again. I suspect we¡¯ll be resuming trade again shortly. With this we will have peace again.¡± I looked at the daft idiot who had screwed up my entire plan. I should have known this unqualified fool would try to take the ¡®peaceful¡¯ option. Atlantis may have the ability to make GEL in mass, but we had long reverse-engineered its production. The real purpose of our trade is it avoided raising costs for us and dissuaded them from outright hostilities, but we had the opportunity to eliminate them in one fell swoop and he had given it up to reach a status quo that was unreliable on a good day. The recent hostilities were proof enough of that. We would never be able to fully control Atlantis. This ¡¯peace¡¯ was temporary and left open the possibility for real war, but I expected no less from an idiot who had never faced combat before. Our military consisted of fifty Units, each with a hundred men and women. Of those, only those lead by an Alpha would face real combat against the Atlanteans. The brigadier generals managed ten units each, and each general reported directly to the Five Star. The problem was Alpha pilots almost never made rank from Unit Commander. We were too precious an asset in most cases, at least that¡¯s what the fools in charge believed. In reality our real-life combat expertise made us if anything even more valuable as higher ranking officers. ¡°I see. The problem is we won¡¯t be able to locate the city again.¡± ¡°Oh, why not?¡± ¡°Their city is mobile; it¡¯s why we have had such trouble locating it in the first place. We also only found it by tracking back the way the Neon Cathedrals came, and they are unlikely to send a direct force like that for us to follow again. They probably already know that¡¯s how we found them and have made immediate preparations to move.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± mused the Five Star, ¡°That is unfortunate, though I still think it is best we let them be. What you proposed would have been an unimaginable loss of human life. The cost of leaving them alive was worst in the long run. ¡°Understood, sir,¡± I said instead. ¡°Speaking of, did you see the report from the El Dorado mission?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Over a hundred people dead, and three Olympian airships downed. If it wasn¡¯t for us having procured the cache this would be an unmitigated disaster. I should have never sent Alloy out there.¡± A disaster? I could laugh at the absurdity of it. To a sheltered desk jockey, it may seem like a disaster. I could imagine the amount of meetings with the corporations and contractors would take weeks, and having almost the entirety of a Unit wiped out would drastically effect operations for sure. But to call it a disaster was to completely miss what had happened. We had wiped out the equivalent of six Alphas and two Bravos at the hands of a single pilot. That¡¯s not even mentioning the human-sized super soldier that almost took him down. More importantly, Alloy had the foresight to bring back the body and half of one of their large nanofiber behemoths for reverse engineering. He had succeeded against a stacked deck, and had not only secured the resources, but brought home fruits of war. ¡°Sir, I think you¡¯re looking at this the wrong way.¡± ¡°How do you mean?¡± I knew better than to explain the logistics of the situation, he only cared about political optics. ¡°This was a victory, at the hands of one pilot. Sure, some nobodies died, but a single pilot stood up to a pair of Bravos, countless Alphas, and even a new super soldier. And then he single-handedly won.¡± The Five Star laughed, ¡°Did we read the same report?¡± ¡°We can redact the report, sir. Sanitize it for consumption to a story of unprecedented heroics. The corporations will scramble for new contracts just to get Alloy on their payroll. Hell, the man is handsome enough to make the face of the military. And don¡¯t forget Olympus either. The optimists and dreamers up there love a good story. The idea of having access to a living legend will give us top priority for contracts with their workshops.¡± The man turned away and looked out his window as he mused, ¡°Hmm, you have a point. I¡¯ll still have to explain we have lowered mission capacity, being down a Unit, but this will cushion the blow. We can even argue we get priority on our next graduation for recruits.¡± ¡°Exactly, sir. Not only that but Unit One will be needing a new commander in a couple years since he announced he would be retiring to caretaker in two years. Alloy of Justice is a clear nomination.¡± He turned back to me in surprise, ¡°Rank one? I thought you couldn¡¯t stand the man, and you think we should make him rank one?¡± ¡°I can stand him fine. He just does not conduct himself befitting an officer, and I call him out. He is a top tier pilot, a brilliant strategist, and is the obvious choice for Unit One.¡± ¡°I figured you would want number one.¡± ¡°Rank one leads Unit One because they are the best, and therefore best suited to serve as a deterrent for Atlantis. While I may have been able to take down Atlantis at El Dorado, Alloy is the one they saw. They will know and fear him, not me.¡± He sat down back into his chair, ¡°I still find it hard to believe you would pass on raising your rank.¡± He could struggle to comprehend it all he wanted. Rankings for pilots was a consolation prize for not being able to receive a promotion. I had my eye on a real reward, ¡°Actually sir, I would like to request consideration for promotion.¡± His eyes narrowed, and he smiled falsely, ¡°You know how I feel about my Alpha pilots.¡± I didn¡¯t much care for how he felt, what mattered was that I was more than qualified to be a brigadier general. ¡°I have a strong case for you to consider, sir.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He sighed in exacerbation, ¡°Let¡¯s hear it then.¡± ¡°Thank you, sir. First off, I am already in Unit Two, which confines me to the city. Promoting me will not prevent me from piloting my Alpha in cases of emergencies. I might also add that we have not been directly attacked in hundreds of years. I spend most my days wasting time on administrative work, so it¡¯s not like you¡¯re utilizing me as a pilot anyways. You yourself have admitted I¡¯m one of your best strategists, which is why you insisted on me getting rank two in the first place. I could easily perform my job as deterrent from any position in the city. We both know that when it comes to operations, you defer to me over your own brigadier generals. All I¡¯m asking for is the authority that comes with what you already have me do.¡± The man continued to smile, although the smile stopped short of reaching his eyes. I already knew his answer, before he spoke, ¡°I see you¡¯ve thought this through. But think of it from the other commanders¡¯ point of view. Think of it from the other pilots¡¯ point of view. If I promote you, I open the door to any pilot making brigadier general.¡± The fact this man thought this was an actual issue was beyond me. ¡°Besides, I would get pushback from others considering your less than stable home life.¡± Of course, he would bring that up. ¡°Sir, has the death of my partner ever impacted my performance?¡± The man looked in deep thought as he struggled to come up with an example before conceding, ¡°No, I suppose it hasn¡¯t. Still, having no partner has been shown in studies to affect mental health and job performance, and it would be irresponsible of me to put the burden of general on anyone in that situation.¡± My yeoman followed me as we walked towards the prisoner¡¯s cell. He asked, ¡°Commander, how did it go?¡± ¡°The man is a fool and is more liable to lead the Crossroads into a disaster than space.¡± ¡°Terrible, understood,¡± he said, though I heard a sliver of sympathy from him. If nothing else at least those under my command had my back. A small condolence, but a condolence, nonetheless. We walked the rest of the way in silence before the guard stood at attention and verified our credentials before entering the containment. There was a corpsman who was standing by who entered with us. Per my orders Kristoff was out cold, gassed before I entered the room. ¡°Get to work.¡± The corpsman rolled the man who had collapsed on the ground onto his back and made an incision on the back of the Atlantean¡¯s head, where a fresh scar from his earlier surgery was still pink. The man worked quickly, placed an object into the prisoner¡¯s head, and then sewed him back up. ¡°Done.¡± ¡°Good, both of you are dismissed.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± asked my handsome assistant. ¡°I will be fine. I need a word with our¡­ new citizen.¡± He acknowledged and then both he and the corpsman left while I opened my tablet to work on additional paperwork while I waited, taking a seat at the provided table to do so. It was as usual a bottomless pit of me having to sign approving contracts, updates to instructions, and innumerous other pointless things that could easily be handled by someone else. The fact I was even wasting time with briefing Kristoff was proof enough of how my talents were being wasted, but as Unit Two, we oversaw the prisoner and the Five Star himself wanted me to have a hand habilitating the man. I was of the opinion we were under no obligation to honor our deal with the Atlantean. Allowing him to have any freedom was asking for espionage and sabotage, but Alloy had negotiated and insisted that if we didn¡¯t honor his agreement, he would make everyone¡¯s life hell, and the Five Star agreed with him. One of the few times where those two seemed to agree. It was perhaps Alloy¡¯s only flaw, his penchant for focusing on people on the individual level. It wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad way to see the world, and had its uses, but when considering the safety of the future of mankind it was flawed logic on a good day. I saved my work and put my tablet away as soon as I heard the man groan as he came to. ¡°What the hell¡­?¡± came a deep bass voice that I could feel vibrate through me as his hand grabbed the table and he pulled himself up. As his head raised his eyes locked with me and he paused before saying, ¡°Uh¡­ morning?¡± ¡°Have a seat, KR1570FF.¡± ¡°It¡¯s Kristoff,¡± he grumbled but settled himself into a chair. ¡°What did you do to me?¡± ¡°I had the suicide chip reinstalled on you,¡± I said coldly and waited for the immediate outburst as the man¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°You did what!?¡± He started screaming, and continued while I began my incessant tapping. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Well, this was proving pointless. I had hoped he would at least attempt to attack me with my provocation, but it would appear the man was of cooler head than his shouting would lead me to believe. He didn¡¯t even raise a hand to point at me accusatorily to give me an excuse. I needed video evidence of his violence to excuse using force to shoot the man with the turrets in the room, but he seemed to be keenly aware of his situation. Fine, plan b, while not preferred, would at least give me some peace of mind. ¡°Are you done?¡± I asked nonchalantly through his yelling. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I pulled out my tablet and began resuming my work, ¡°Are you done? I have paperwork to do if you still need to get your frustrations out, otherwise would you like me to start with your habitation brief?¡± He glared at me, so I began signing the last form I had been reviewing, ¡°Fine. What¡¯s a habitation brief?¡± I opened a file on my tablet and showed him a presentation on the screen, ¡°It¡¯s to prepare you for your life in the Crossroads, you are, after all, a citizen now.¡± His eyes lit up a little, ¡°I am?¡± ¡°Yes, El Dorado was obtained a few days ago, and I¡¯ve been spending the last few days processing you into all our systems. We¡¯re releasing you tomorrow morning but wanted to be sure you knew what to expect.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± his voice trailed off as realization returned to his eyes, ¡°Then why the FUCK did you put that chip back in my head?¡± I leaned towards him and looked him dead in the eye, ¡°Oh, that. That¡¯s on me. I personally don¡¯t like the idea of an Atlantean roaming our streets free. It¡¯s not the same chip however, this one has¡­ different requirements for its activation. Indeed, we have about five more minutes before it becomes active and if you violate its protocol, well that¡¯s the end of KR1570FF.¡± His eyes narrowed, ¡°You reprogrammed it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not the one who worked on it, so I don¡¯t know the details, but I don¡¯t advise on asking anyone else from the Crossroads about it. See that¡¯s its first caveat. If you so much even mention it to any of our citizens, it¡¯ll take you out. Even though it is within my authority to install that chip, just knowing that it is there will make others¡­ we¡¯ll say uncomfortable. This could lead to unnecessary protests, and while it wouldn¡¯t change anything I figured I¡¯d at least stop them ahead of time. The other caveat is instead of being anti-Crossroads it¡¯s anti-Atlantis. Think of it as a reverse suicide chip to what you had before. See, I used to work in the field, and I have a good idea of how your chips work. If we gain the ability to capture you, it goes off; if you talk to us, it goes off. The only ones who can even talk to us are your operators, who negotiate trades with us. I¡¯m assuming they have a modified version of the chip. Regardless, I believe it won¡¯t be a problem, you¡¯ll be staying within the confines of the city anyways, as we have no need for a possible renegade on any of our scouting parties.¡± The rest of my meeting with Kristoff went well, as he did seem genuinely thrilled to be leaving the cell. All that mattered to me was I had insurance on him that he would behave. Obviously, it wasn¡¯t perfect, but I figured if the incentive of a suicide chip worked in Atlantis all this time, then I could repurpose it to control this rogue element. I honestly was relieved to be ending my day with Alloy as I knocked on his office¡¯s door. I had a box containing his gift in my hands, and had let my hair down so that it felt more relaxed. The audit had gone poorly, in large part due to a rogue element I had not even been aware of. ¡°Enter,¡± came the response. I stepped inside to be met by both Alloy, who was sitting behind his desk, and his yeoman, 33. ¡°What do you want, Juliet?¡± asked Alloy. ¡°I came over to congratulate you on your mission success, though I do need to have a word with your yeoman.¡± ¡°Go right ahead.¡± ¡°I meant in private, Alloy.¡± ¡°You can say whatever you need to say in front of me,¡± he growled. I was slightly taken aback by his harshness and irritation, though I did not show it. He was not normally this hostile, and while he disagreed with my methods, he treated me with at least a modicum of respect. Right now, though, he was clearly mad, and from 33¡¯s reaction I wasn¡¯t the only one caught off guard by the sudden aggressiveness. ¡°Very well. It has come to my attention during today¡¯s audit that some evidence was checked out of our locker. Particularly important evidence.¡± ¡°Get to the damn point,¡± Alloy interjected. My guess was he had a rough flight here from Olympus. He may have even gotten airsick, though that was just speculation. I took a moment to collect myself and then spoke carefully. Normally I would draw out the delivery to try and make who I was interrogating slip up, but he wasn¡¯t letting me. ¡°The point is she checked out equipment confiscated from the Atlantean. A small machine of unknown purpose that we believed was of Olympian design. It was never returned, but according to our paperwork it was. If she stole from the evidence locker that¡¯s grounds for immediate removal from the military." Alloy raised an eyebrow and looked at 33, who looked nervous now, and back to me. ¡°And what if she was following orders?¡± Was he seriously about to¡­? ¡°33,¡± I said, ¡°you are dismissed. Wait outside.¡± She stared at me, back to Alloy, and then complied. Once the door shut, I turned back to Alloy and demanded, ¡°Are you seriously going to take the fall for her?¡± ¡°How do you know I didn¡¯t order her?¡± he said with lazy conviction. He knew I wasn¡¯t going to buy his crap, but he was at least going to put up a fa?ade. ¡°You¡¯re an asshole, not a dumbass.¡± He nodded and smiled at my admission, ¡°Alright, fair enough. Still, I¡¯ll be taking the credit of the theft.¡± I sighed, and sat in the chair opposite his desk, ¡°And what purpose does that serve, hmm.¡± I started tapping on his desk. Tap. Tap. Ta- ¡°Touch my desk again and this conversation is over,¡± Alloy of Justice said while leaning back, gaining control of the situation. He was all too familiar with my tactics to set others off guard, and if anything, my attempt seemed to relax him. He knew I was the one unsettled. I sat back and gave up my usual tactics, since honesty was the best method with him, ¡°Are you obsessed with sabotaging any chance you have of making rank?¡± ¡°Not like the idiot,¡± he didn¡¯t clarify he was referring to the Five Star, and didn¡¯t need to, ¡°would let me make rank anyways. I might make a fucking fool out of him.¡± ¡°Which is why I recommended you for rank one today.¡± Alloy looked at me with curiosity, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll bite, how do you think that will benefit you?¡± ¡°Benefit me?¡± ¡°Everything you do is to benefit yourself.¡± ¡°Everything I do is to benefit the Crossroads.¡± ¡°As long as you¡¯re the one in fucking charge.¡± ¡°Oh, so the Five Star should be in charge?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t say that either.¡± I sat back in frustration and crossed my arms. We were getting nowhere and fast. ¡°Fine. Getting back to the issue at hand, you¡¯re taking the fall for a mere driver. Sure, she might be a good yeoman, but that doesn¡¯t make it worth halting your career for her.¡± ¡°She just put in for Charlie Pilot.¡± ¡°And? Will she be able to qualify for Alpha someday?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± That did explain it. Sure, if she was found out now, she¡¯d be kicked out and likely starved to death, but a pilot. Those were rare, and a precious resource. Even someone as hard to control as Alloy was worth keeping around. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to take the blame so she can become a pilot.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to take the blame, so she doesn¡¯t die. If she loses her job at her age no one else will accept her. It¡¯s a damn death sentence.¡± I now knew the root of the issue, and I saw an out for both pair. One that would set me up nicely. ¡°Then I think we can come to an agreement, one that will sweep this whole issue under the rug.¡± The man let out a loud groan, ¡°Fucking hell, what shit are you on about now?¡± ¡°Just hear me out.¡± He sighed, and then said, ¡°Out with it, Juliet.¡± ¡°I can make this issue¡­ disappear. Claim our investigation found that the evidence had been misplaced due to a clerical error. I¡¯ll have to answer some annoying questions with the auditors and my brigadier general, but I¡¯ll be able to get out of it without it impacting my career at the very least. You¡¯ll have nothing standing in the way of you making rank one.¡± He laughed as he crossed his arms, ¡°You think I¡¯ll be making rank one?¡± ¡°I think as long as you keep your head low you are the hero of both the Crossroads and Olympus right now. I finished a meeting with the Five Star, and I recommended you myself for rank one. You probably aren¡¯t aware, but Unit One¡¯s commander just announced his retirement in two years. Everything is in position for you, all I need you to do is shut up and listen.¡± He stared coldly back at me. I legitimately didn¡¯t understand why he was being so hostile. Sure, we butted heads professionally, but we normally were able to see eye to eye that everything was for the betterment of the Crossroads. ¡°And what do you get out of this?¡± He wasn¡¯t a fool at the least. Nothing comes for free. ¡°In exchange I want 33 to transfer to my unit. It would look good for me if I trained up another Alpha pilot. Allow me to take credit for her, and possibly negotiate a promotion.¡± ¡°No deal.¡± ¡°Alloy, don¡¯t be a fool. This benefits all of us.¡± ¡°I said no deal.¡± ¡°Why?¡± He grinned, but it didn¡¯t reach his eyes. It was a dangerous grin, one that warned me to be careful, cause at any second it could turn into a snarl. ¡°Here¡¯s a fucking question for you. Who was the last pilot you trained?¡± ¡°90, but I fail to see what that has to do with anything.¡± ¡°Yes, 90. And he¡¯s dead. But you haven¡¯t even asked me once about him and the mission.¡± ¡°I read the mission brief. He died without even adding anything to the mission. What is your point?¡± That was the trigger, and his face contorted to rage, ¡°My point, bitch, is you don¡¯t even care! Not even asking if he went quick! A young pilot, one you trained, is dead, and all you care about is that he didn¡¯t contribute to the mission. No. Fuck letting you have 33!¡± I stared at him coolly while he continued to rant. Finally, he stopped and was panting while glaring at me, and I spoke carefully, ¡°We can¡¯t afford to get emotional in our line of work.¡± ¡°Get out of my fucking face. Go ahead and file that she took the evidence on my orders. I¡¯ll take the ass chewing. And Juliet?¡± I had already gotten up and was walking to the door with box in hand, ¡°What is it, Alloy?¡± ¡°You used to be in charge of Unit Forty-Three, right?¡± His eyes stared at me accusatorily, and I didn¡¯t bother responding. It was rhetorical. He was sending me a message, and a simple one. It was a shame too. Alloy really was the best suited for rank one. If he couldn¡¯t learn to play ball though, well I couldn¡¯t afford to let such an uncontrollable element out into the wild. Unfortunately, there wasn¡¯t much I could do at the time. At least not until I made brigadier general. I turned around in response to his question, approached his desk, and set down the box, ¡°Consider this a gift. Congratulations on your mission.¡± I didn¡¯t turn around to see him open the box. To see the letter held inside I had written. To see the look on his face when he saw the boxing gloves. He had burned down one too many bridges, and those gloves now represented a single declaration. Get ready to fight for it. Aphrodite I woke up in a cold sweat and jerked up. The room was dark, and glancing at the digital alarm it was about an hour and thirty minutes before I was supposed to wake up. I turned off the alarm on my way over to the bathroom and stared into the mirror as I recalled my dream. It had been the day of the mission, the day I had decided to become a pilot. We had been making our way up the switch back when Alloy had crashed in front of us, and that high tech warrior with him. I had watched it approach the truck, easily dispatching my comrades, knowing that there wasn¡¯t a damned thing I could do. I was helpless, and then I was saved. Not by my comrades, but by this kid sitting next to me who had not even come of age. I had yelled at him to come back when he jumped out the side of the truck, my eyes bulging as I realized Adonis was going to be turned into a charred husk. He whistled, and those two dogs jumped after him as he threw one of his windup grenades to the ground, his face filled with terror. Yet still he moved. ¡°Never again,¡± I whispered to the mirror, ¡°I¡¯ll never be that helpless again.¡± Helpless to save anyone, unable to keep the people next to me safe. I had put in my pilot package the day we returned, despite the scare that Juliet had given me. Alloy had saved me from losing my job, and therefore my life, and I owed him so much more. Yet there was a tired sadness to his face from that day onward, one that I couldn¡¯t seem to lift, and swiftly lost my chance to do so. I regretted not realizing how much he had done for me only when it was too late. Charlie pilot school was two months long and was designed to familiarize yourself with the different Charlie designs. You had the roadie and aquatic Charlie that we had used at El Dorado, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. There were eighteen more that could be selected for a mission, and it was up to the Charlie pilot to decide which one was best suited for each job. Working under Alloy had more than prepared me for understanding the exams. I knew when we needed a roadie, a blitz, or a star storm Charlie from just being at meetings with Alloy. The only thing that could supersede the Charlie pilots¡¯ choice was the commander, who could decide that different equipment was needed for the mission. As a result, Alloy had reviewed our equipment before each mission, and I had through osmosis picked up on all of it. After that I was required to spend a year as Charlie pilot before I was allowed to put in for Alpha. During that time I trained to raise my capacity and accuracy to 243 liters and point eighty-eight, respectively. To my surprise the school had little to do with piloting tactics or anything else about the Alphas themselves. It was six months of nonstop leadership programs and tactics. Learning to navigate the administrative work that came with being the commander of a unit. And so, I was now in charge of my own unit, Unit Thirty-Three to be precise. The irony didn¡¯t escape me, and from what I gathered it had been a combination of both Alloy and Logan arguing for my placement in charge of them. Alpha pilots were the heroes of the city, and while not all of them were well known, for many of them it was important to become something more than yourself. Something that the people could look up to. Numbered pilots normally struggled to distinguish themselves, and many got their names changed to facilitate an image. Alloy and Logan seemed to think that I could sell it though. Even my emblem cemented my identity, a hexagonal sapphire with the number embedded into it. The name of my Alpha was something more though. More than me. Noblesse Oblige. For I had discovered I had a duty to protect those who lacked my aptitude. I left my home and began walking down the bridge towards the central pillar of the crossroads. I had learned recently it had a name, Cronus. I was unsure of the meaning behind the name, though I did know someone who was quite familiar with classic mythology. As I walked out, the street was relatively empty, and I reached the stairs of the pillar and began making my way down to the bottom twelve roads. These were the roads dedicated to military, and on each there were a handful of military units. Mine was opposite of where my old unit was, and it was hard to find time to see my old companions. Beneath us was the river basin of the ravine, which would go on to form an underground river that opened out about a thousand kilometers away into the ocean. It was a couple hundred meters deep with the pillar hitting the rocky floor right before it opened into the water. While this was the bottom of the Crossroads, it was not the bottom of the industrial side of the city. Shafts had been built around the base of the pillar that fed into refineries and factories, which fashioned iron and steel into the base components used throughout the city. From there they would be hoisted up to where they were needed by cranes on each of the bridges. Even now there were crates being lifted on pulley systems to their destinations. I checked my tablet for the time, and decided I would be able to quickly go see my old unit. I hurried down the bridge to where the road tunneled into the walls of the ravine, where the tarmac was. This was where heavy equipment could be stored and deployed, and each tarmac ended in an elevator that would take you all the way to the surface. Sure enough, as I had hoped, there was Alloy. He had a mat with a punching bag always set up on the tarmac for workouts, and while most people refused to spar with him, it was frequently in use as we all had used it to vent our frustrations and maintain our fitness. ¡°Commander Alloy, good morning.¡± He turned towards me, he was in workout shorts, was wearing gloves, and did not have a shirt on. ¡°33, what are you doing here so early?¡± He panted as he caught the swinging punching bag to steady it. ¡°I had time this morning so I thought we could spar, for old time¡¯s sake.¡± He looked me up and down, ¡°In that?¡± I was in my office uniform for the day. ¡°Come on, we both know you have a spare pair of gloves, and I doubt you could tear my uniform if you tried.¡± ¡°You fucking ice bitch, you¡¯re on.¡± The brigadier general looked at Alloy, and then me, ¡°The hell happened to your face, and what happened to your uniform?¡± ¡°I had a sparring partner this morning,¡± Alloy said, his face black and blue, with one eye swollen up. Luckily all his blows had landed underneath my uniform, though that was largely due to him being shorter. ¡°I fell down on my way to work this morning, sir.¡± I mean that wasn¡¯t a complete lie, I had been on my way in, and he had knocked me down. ¡°For crying out loud, both of you be more careful, I don¡¯t need people asking why all my commanders look like they¡¯ve been through a blender,¡± the brigadier sighed before commencing with the meeting. It wasn¡¯t a particularly interesting one. Alloy¡¯s unit would be doing an escort mission for refined GEL to the pillar, just to insure there were no issues. As for me we had nothing to do today, so it would turn into another training day, at it had been almost every day since I had taken charge. This was pretty standard for a new commander as it was considered important for the first six months to acclimate the unit and its new commander to their new status quo. We were dismissed from the meeting, and I walked down to my road where I joined Unit Thirty-Three and began with different exercises. Unit Thirty-Three was a scouting unit, and most of our drills involved loading up our truck and simulating a variety of casualties that could occur on a mission. It was unique in that we only had access to a single truck, which could be loaded with one Charlie and my Alpha as well as our men, but it made sense considering we generally weren¡¯t in charge of recovering assets. Our missions would be expected to last about a month, and we would hold points until someone else came to load up anything we found. I ran weather casualties throughout the day, with a focus on storms even though I¡¯ll admit that these have become less likely since our alliance with Olympus. While we lack satellites to properly track meteorological phenomenon, their bird¡¯s eye view paired with a near endless amount of experience circumnavigating the world on their airships has given them a near encyclopedic understanding of the weather, and I¡¯ve heard we¡¯ve had little trouble staying clear of storms. I found myself finishing the day having dinner with Caroline, as we discussed our days. If mine was boring, than hers was abysmal. Life of an auditor, though we frequently discussed statistics. This fascination of statistics had been what guided us to our original jobs in the first place, and she had been incredibly concerned when I had chosen to make pilot. Even now it served as something of a sore spot. There was a lull in our conversation as I scooped up another spoon of taste and bit into it. I sometimes wondered what food in Atlantis was like, after hearing about it from Kristoff. I couldn¡¯t even really describe what the paste tasted like now that I thought about it. Salty and sweet, like he said, but it didn¡¯t seem that salty, nor that sweet. It tasted the way food was meant to taste I figured, so I shrugged off the thought. ¡°So did you hear about the protest tomorrow?¡± asked Caroline. Something about her tone told me that I should have. ¡°Sorry, no. It¡¯s been busy as hell at work.¡± ¡°Well you¡¯re the one who put in for promotion. I still think you would have been better off as a driver.¡± ¡°We¡¯ve talked about this Caroline,¡± I said with a deflated sigh. I really wasn¡¯t looking for this argument again. ¡°I know it¡¯s just¡­ You¡¯re right, I know,¡± she admitted and then fell silent. No reason to let the conversation end on a bad note, ¡°So anyways what¡¯s going on with the protest?¡± Caroline perked up slightly at my bait, to my relief, ¡°So there have been rumors of corruption in the military for the past few months, and it seems to be boiling to a head.¡± ¡°Really? What are the rumors?¡± ¡°Well, supposedly, Alloy has been using the alcohol that¡¯s been being confiscated for one thing.¡± I cocked my head at that. It wasn¡¯t wrong, though I feel like the fact that it was being given to the Atlantean as part of our deal with him made it more than reasonable. Even so, I could see how that knowledge could be misconstrued, ¡°I mean that¡¯s not entirely wrong, though he isn¡¯t drinking it or using it for personal use. All of it was with approval and through the proper channels.¡± ¡°So, the rumor he¡¯s a raging alcoholic isn¡¯t true?¡± I chuckled, ¡°No, he¡¯s just a regular sober asshole. No self-medication needed.¡± Caroline smiled at that, ¡°So do you think he did anything wrong then?¡± ¡°No, everything was under proper protocol for the situation, I can vouch for that since I was still working for him at the time. I¡¯m sure the details just got lost and as a result people are just assuming the worst.¡± ¡°I figured you would say something like that.¡± ¡°Any other rumors?¡± ¡°Supposedly Juliet has been blackmailing citizens throughout the Crossroads. Three people have come forward, and all of them are claiming that someone they knew died because they refused to comply.¡± ¡°They think Juliet is murdering people?¡± ¡°Apparently.¡± I thought for a second about it, and then shook my head, ¡°I don¡¯t see when she would even have time to kill someone, let alone be able to get away with it. She¡¯s in constant meetings and almost never leaves her office except when she gets summoned by the Five Star.¡± ¡°I mean she goes home to her partner every day, doesn¡¯t she? What¡¯s stopping her then?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid her partner passed away about twelve years ago. She even sleeps at her office, and since she¡¯s in charge of policing there¡¯s people working there 24/7 so there¡¯s basically never a time someone can¡¯t vouch for her. I mean as far as alibis go, hers is pretty unshakable.¡± ¡°Maybe she¡¯s having her subordinates do the murders for her?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, I haven¡¯t heard of any mysterious deaths. As far as I know, everyone has died from normal health related incidents, and we haven¡¯t even had any field deaths since the El Dorado incident.¡± ¡°I still wouldn¡¯t rule it out. We¡¯ve been talking at work of cracking down and doing a full audit of the military just to make sure everything is kosher.¡± I smiled with a raised eyebrow, ¡°Maybe we¡¯ll get to see each other at work then? I always wanted to see what you do.¡± She laughed, ¡°I wish! No, they¡¯ll be sure to assign me to a different project so that there isn¡¯t a conflict of interest. It¡¯s the one benefit of being your partner. I¡¯m a celebrity at work now!¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± ¡°Really! Everyone is constantly asking me questions about Alphas and what happened at El Dorado. It¡¯s becoming exhausting.¡± It was my turn to chuckle, ¡°Compared to the story that was put out publicly, the truth is way more boring.¡± ¡°Barely, from what you¡¯ve told me it was a hair raiser either way.¡± ¡°Fair.¡± I made a mistake. I should¡¯ve listened to Caroline and woken up early, and instead I found the roads to the tarmac to be completely blocked off by angry protestors. When she had mentioned a protest I thought that since I hadn¡¯t heard of it then it would only be a couple dozen disgruntled citizens. That couldn¡¯t be further from the truth as I saw the nearly two thousand people blocking off the roads, yelling and chanting, ¡®FIVE STAR LIES,¡¯ for all to hear. I gave up after about thirty minutes and made my way back home away from the noise and contacted my brigadier general to let him know what was happening. I got a message back which read: We are tracking, take the day off, we don¡¯t need them harassing anyone on their way in. We¡¯ve got enough personnel in who are supporting Juliet who are standing guard and escorting the protestors. Once they see that they¡¯re not achieving anything they¡¯ll get bored, and we can go about normal business. People just need something to complain about in peace times.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. I suppose there was some truth in that last statement. Caroline had already left for the day, and it occurred to me that this was the first day off I¡¯d had in almost two years. I felt a small rush of excitement that caught me off-guard. I hadn¡¯t even realized how much I needed a break. I went to my bathroom and looked in the mirror. I had an undercut to keep my hair manageable so that it didn¡¯t get in the way when I was in the field. Still, my hair was long enough that I kept a tight bun. I let it go and, my hair fell shoulder length. After about thirty minutes I had managed to straighten it out and toss it to the side so that only part of my undercut was exposed and smiled in the mirror before heading to my closet to put on something a little more relaxed. Most of my clothing was my military uniforms, but I found an old pair of black pants and jacket and put them on. I thought about the fact that Olympus had such a wider array of colors and clothing items. They even had dresses with a dozen different fabrics in them, and I smirked at the idea of such uncomfortable and inefficient clothing. At least in the Crossroads we all just wore pants. No need to make extra clothing just to differentiate genders, with the exception of undergarments. I made my way back to the bridge directly above the first of the military roads and began making my way down. As I did, I passed by a security shack which had one of Juliet¡¯s men who nodded while having his pair of automata standing on each side of him. The success of El Dorado and the reveal of the automata had instantly caught the city by storm, and there was a massive demand for them in the city now. The silver and golden dog, which were at the shack, were the most commonly requested, though there were also a variety of others that had begun to spring up around the city. As it was now, there was only one workshop producing them, and it was reliant on prepared neural tissue from the flying city to fuel it. As a result, there was only around a hundred automata in the city, but they were rapidly working to expand for the needs of the city. The only caveat was Olympus made it clear that the automata would under no circumstances be used outside of the city unless the missions were absolutely critical. While the success of the twin dogs was proven, Olympus had revealed knowledge of Atlas, the king of Atlantis and his prowess for reverse engineering and improving designs. If it were to gain access to the knowledge, they suspected it would begin milling people for tissue and creating its own army of GEL powered soldiers, all tightly controlled by AI. Their concern, from my point of view, seemed well warranted. I made my way down the bridge and found myself at the entrance of the tunnel, which had a new large gate in front of it. There was a smaller door in the corner that I was able to open and enter through, with a sign hanging over it that read Elysium Workshop. The first Olympian workshop in the Crossroads, and its single member had been cranking out automata at an impressive speed for the past ten months. I had been unable to visit with the exception of his first week here, and I had been meaning to make my way here for a while, but never had the time during its normal operating hours. I stepped inside and saw the young man carefully soldering the GEL infused spinal cord into the frame of an automata and quietly approached so as to not distract him. The room was full of a variety of power tools and workbenches, with the entire back of the tunnel having a massive curtain with steam leaking out from behind it. You could hear the soft hissing of steam behind it, and I instantly regretted wearing a jacket due to the temperature being easily above thirty degrees. He worked quietly and swiftly, humming and whistling, with the occasional half lyric muttered out as his fingers quickly weaved across it, his practiced hand working at a speed that even I could see was precise yet swift. ¡°Done!¡± he said with excitement. ¡°About time,¡± I responded causing him to jump and turn towards me. The young man had grown several inches since the first time I had met him, though he was still scrawny. He had the beginnings of a goatee on his chin, and his sideburns had grown longer as well. Much of the child fat I had last seen on his face had become lean, causing his cheek bones to be more pronounced. ¡°Who the hell¡­? Wait a minute¡­ I remember you!¡± He said with a confused look on his face and a queer smile. ¡°It¡¯s been a while Adonis. Have you been keeping my secret?¡± ¡°Your secret?¡± he mumbled before his eyes flashing in recognition, ¡°Wait, you¡¯re 74! You¡¯re the one who returned my prototype!¡± I looked at him baffled. ¡°Um, I¡¯m 33.¡± I supposed we had only met a couple times before, and it had been brief. To me however it was thanks to this kid that I had finally realized my responsibility to others born of my talent with GEL. Strange how such a chance meeting had completely changed my perspective, and for that I would always think fondly of our few meetings. ¡°Oh.¡± He awkwardly shuffled while scratching his head in embarrassment, causing me to laugh, ¡°It¡¯s alright, I¡¯ll admit my name isn¡¯t the most memorable.¡± He looked at me, and seeing I wasn¡¯t angry, relaxed, ¡°Yeah, sorry. A good quarter of you people just go by numbers and it¡¯s really confusing.¡± ¡°So how have you been Adonis?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been great. You visited me when I first opened up shop here, right?¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Yeah, dad got me set up real nice here. I get to build automata all day every day, and I even get a couple hours of downtime in the evening to work on my own projects. My brother even lent me out one of his slices of El Dorado!¡± This young man always made me smile as he lit up with passion, and as he spoke, he turned back to his automata and started putting together the different parts of the beast, using a wrench to tighten things down as needed. Still it was good to get him to clarify information frequently, ¡°Excuse me, what do you mean slices of El Dorado?¡± ¡°Oh sorry. My brother works for the Daedalus Workshop,¡± I had heard that this was the, I supposed the closest equivalent in my society was corporation, that was in charge of building the super computer they were going to use to help clear the atmosphere. With it, they believed we would be able to get out of the atmosphere in just a couple hundred years, something that would¡¯ve been just a dream before the boon of El Dorado. ¡°They give a certain percentage of all finds to inventors like my brother to work on whatever project they want. Basically the goal is to encourage innovation, but he didn¡¯t have a use for some of the surplus so he shipped me some of it so I could use it myself, which pretty much solves my problem.¡± ¡°And what problem was that?¡± ¡°One second,¡± He grabbed a hammer and started tapping plates into place around the body. ¡°Oh yeah, so I had this design I wanted to try, but I would¡¯ve needed like a ton of gold and platinum to even test it, let alone actually build it. The only way to get your hands on that was through the Workshop, but they only accept the best of the best, and only after they build something that¡¯s considered revolutionary in some regard. My prototype beetle,¡± Suddenly the shiny brass creature crawled out from under his shirt and onto his back to wave, ¡°was going to be my attempt to pull that off. But now we have enough gold and platinum for my needs, and my brother sent his portion to me, a full five pounds of each. I quickly converted the measurement, ¡°That¡¯s over a kilogram each! What could you possibly need that much gold and platinum for? ¡°Aphrodite.¡± ¡°Aphrodite?¡± ¡°Aphrodite.¡± He became silent as he stopped working and looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. ¡°Do you want to see something really cool?¡± ¡°Is it a nitrogen plant?¡± ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­ no I don¡¯t have one here, sorry.¡± ¡°I¡¯m joking Adonis. Yes, I would like to see something cool.¡± ¡°Oh boy, do I got a treat for you,¡± he said with a level of confidence and poorly contained excitement that it reminded me of that day almost two years ago when I first met him. He gestured for me to follow and went to the curtain, pulling it to the side to reveal an opening and stepping through. If I thought it was hot before, it was nothing compared to behind the curtain. It felt forty, maybe even fifty degrees in there, and the first thing I saw were two large machines that were humming ferociously that we walked between. Thankfully Adonis explained as we walked by. ¡°So these are a couple of A/C plants that are chilling the water that I¡¯ve been pumping up from your water reserves. They keep the temps on those at about, uh, I think it¡¯s like five or whatever Celsius for you guys.¡± We passed the machine to a pit that had a couple pipes feeding in and out of what appeared to be an egg shaped chamber. ¡°The water is pumped into this chamber here and wraps around it to keep it cool, while the steam is let out over there.¡± I shouted over the noise, ¡°Is that a GEL reactor down there, then?¡± He turned back and scratched his chin, ¡°Technically no, but it¡¯s similar. GEL reactors take non-GEL material and mixes it in with the GEL, which interferes with its function. This causes the GEL to malfunction and start to generate heat, which can then be used as a steam engine. Hence the name poisoned GEL. This thing doesn¡¯t produce nearly enough heat to pull that off however, you see all this steam?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°That means it¡¯s not proper steam, its water vapor. Pure saturated steam is invisible. If you were to try and use this water vapor, it would shred your pipes and turbines apart if you brought it up to pressure. No, what I did is quite a bit cleverer than poisoning GEL.¡± He stared at me with his eyes gleaming. I asked the question, ¡°And what did you do?¡± ¡°I perfected GEL,¡± he said, then took a lever on a pipe in his hand and brought it down, causing the pipes to rumble to a standstill and the last of the steam to puff out pathetically out of the exhaust. ¡°Shall we take a look?¡± He jumped onto a ladder leading into the pit and slid down without touching a single rung. I looked down, and instead climbed down taking every single step. I wasn¡¯t about to break my neck to see what he had in store for me. We approached the chamber, and he began unclipping the front door on it until a hand wheel on its back was loosened up enough to operate by hand so that he could spin it several turns. Finally, the front of the chamber fell off and I could see inside. It took me a second to process what I was looking at. On the one hand its color was simple but breathtakingly beautiful, a pale and brilliant white-gold, with the faintest trace of a blue shimmer to it. I assumed this came from refined GEL mixed with the gold and platinum which had been turned into an alloy of some sort. Its shape in comparison was incredibly complex, having both an almost crystalline structure that ended in what seemed almost an organic round shape that was both familiar and alien at the same time. The longer I looked at it the clearer what it was became to me. It was in the shape of a human heart, with crystalline structures on the top of it, and what appeared to be a pair of orifices for something to flow through, though I imagined it couldn¡¯t possibly be blood. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful¡­¡± my voice trailed in wonder. ¡°I call it the Heart of Aphrodite. Made from the perfect GEL that I completed. I call it compressed GEL.¡± He reached in to grab it, and proceeded to immediately drop it on the floor, ¡°Oh crap, its hot.¡± I stared down at him and raised an eyebrow, ¡°I mean steam was just coming off of it?¡± ¡°Yeah, I thought I timed the cooling process just right¡­ hold on.¡± He whipped a brown glove from his back pocket and then reached down picking up the object. ¡°There we go. So, what do you think?¡± ¡°I mean it¡¯s pretty to look at, but I¡¯m not sure what it is exactly.¡± He cocked his head in thought, ¡°Uh, basically it puts the GEL in a crystalline structure with the metal alloy, creating an incredibly sturdy material that can use the GEL¡¯s energy to maintain its form. Its primary function is its ability to convert all the power of GEL into raw kinetic energy.¡± ¡°I mean, is that not how GEL hydraulics work?¡± ¡°I mean technically, but there is a lot of wasted energy in the process, not even to mention the fact that there are very specific things that hydraulics can do, while this can provide whatever force you want it to apply.¡± ¡°Why¡¯s it in the shape of a heart?¡± He grinned from ear to ear, ¡°That¡¯s my design. I want this thing to compress steam into ice.¡± ¡°Compress steam¡­ into ice?¡± ¡°Yes. So how it works is you pump steam into the heart here,¡± he pointed towards the first opening of the heart. ¡°The chamber there pumps and squeezes it into a second chamber that compresses and applies voltage to the second chamber until type XVIII ice is formed.¡± ¡°Type XVIII ice?¡± ¡°Superionic water, highly conductive, and more importantly about four times denser than normal ice. From there it gets forced into chamber three, where it is compressed even further to form what I¡¯m calling dense ice. This will be about a hundred thousand times denser than superionic water. From there it gets pushed into the fourth chamber where it can be stored and bled out through a valve.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to bleed out solid ice?¡± ¡°Well, it won¡¯t stay ice, not at that pressure differential. It¡¯ll flash to steam.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s a steam engine than?¡± He frowned, ¡°Not quite. More like a steam¡­ tank¡­ container thing. Listen it¡¯s really cool, trust me.¡± I saw he was starting to deflate, and decided it was best to encourage him, ¡°It sounds cool, I¡¯m just struggling to see why you think it¡¯s such a big deal.¡± ¡°Oh well, you know how we have to clear the atmosphere before we get off planet?¡± I nodded in response to his question. ¡°Yeah, well this will allow us to clump up the debris with ice for easier extraction. On top of that we can recharge it with water from anywhere in the universe, making it a great source of power as we jump from planet to planet.¡± ¡°I¡¯m following now, though I suspect if it¡¯s as dense as you claim wouldn¡¯t it be difficult to move around?¡± He nodded, ¡°That is an issue, but keep in mind you can empty it out before traveling around. That and I¡¯m designing an automaton that¡¯ll be able to use this technology to fly around and breath out steam and all sorts of cool stuff!¡± We headed back towards the workshop, and he placed the heart onto one of the work benches. I still was struggling to understand the point of compressed GEL. While it was true that it was more solid than standard GEL, I didn¡¯t really see what its use was that standard GEL couldn¡¯t provide. I suppose it allowed you to save on some material costs, since high pressure systems needed thick piping to contain the forces inside, but using such rare metals to build it seemed like a waste. I suppose once I saw his completed design it might make sense, but it just seemed like a waste to me. ¡°Hey kiddo, where have you been?¡± came a familiar voice from the entrance of the workshop. I glanced over and saw Alloy to my surprise. ¡°Alloy, you¡¯re here! Did you bring what I asked for?¡± Adonis asked with excitement. ¡°Right here,¡± Alloy said holding what appeared to be a large metal block with some electrical connections and pins on it. I recognized it as a computer part, though I was unsure what it was exactly. ¡°Perfect, I have a spot for it right here.¡± Adonis walked over and took the thing out of Alloy¡¯s hand swiftly and then made his way over to a bench that contained some sort of electronic device. ¡°You¡¯re fucking welcome,¡± Alloy muttered once he was out of earshot with an irritated scowl. I walked over and asked, ¡°So what brings you here?¡± ¡°I visit about once a week, and they sent out an ALCON message saying not to come in due to the stupid-ass protest. Took advantage of my day off to bring down the AI he asked for. I looked at him in surprise. While we were good at manufacturing and machining all sorts of things in our factories, one thing we didn¡¯t have the infrastructure for was something as complicated as an AI. They took a large amount of silicone, and programming them could be difficult for someone without experience. ¡°Where did you get your hands on an AI?¡± ¡°Remember El Dorado? Well, we brought back some of the tech the Atlanteans used against us including a couple of AI we found. That one is what we scrapped from the bastard with the arm cannons.¡± I stared as Adonis continued to mess around with his large computer. ¡°Is it safe?¡± ¡°Apparently. N.O. Technologies have been working on reprogramming it ever since, and they finally finished up. We didn¡¯t really have a use for it yet, and Adonis had mentioned a few times that his workshop would benefit by having an AI helping him out, so I was able to convince the Five Star to negotiate a contract for it on the kid¡¯s behalf.¡± ¡°Done!¡± Adonis shouted out with glee. ¡°Guys come over here! I¡¯m going to boot it up!¡± His poorly contained excitement caused him to physically bubble and shake as he waved a hand at us without looking at us. Alloy and I shared a look, and with a shrug the man made his way over to Adonis. I followed as Adonis hit a button and we all stared at the computer as it whirred up and hummed. ¡°So does it work?¡± Alloy asked. ¡°Does what work?¡± came a synthesized female voice from the machine in front of it. ¡°The fuck?¡± Adonis shushed Alloy gaining a glare from the older man as he turned and addressed the machine. ¡°Good morning! How do you feel, are all your cores working?¡± ¡°I feel fine. All my systems are running optimally. May I ask who you three are?¡± To my surprise the voice seemed curious. I had never interacted with AIs before and had expected it to seem¡­ colder. Its voice was inhuman, but it didn¡¯t feel inhumane. Interesting. Adonis looked like he was about to squeal with excitement, ¡°Yes! Right, I¡¯m Adonis, this old man over here¡­¡± ¡°Hey!¡± Alloy protested. ¡°Is Alloy of Justice. And this here is 44.¡± ¡°33.¡± Once again, a part of me felt saddened by the state of our relationship. Perhaps I would begin visiting regularly like Alloy had been doing. ¡°Oh whoops, this here is 33.¡± The machine was silent for a second before responding, ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you Adonis, Alloy of Justice, and 33. May I ask who I am?¡± Adonis responded ecstatically, ¡°Your name is Aphrodite! You¡¯re going to be helping me around the workshop. If you check your hard drive, you should see a bunch of blueprints and the like for automata. In addition, there¡¯s a folder marked Aphrodite. That contains all the information of my plans for your own body! Man, this is going to be great!¡± I gave a sideway glance to Alloy, who met my gaze and asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± He shook his head while he excused himself, and as he started to leave, he muttered, ¡°Jaw-twitching ice bitch.¡± No sooner did he open the door, however, than he let out a curse. ¡°33, come here!¡± I followed after as the door shut behind him, and as I approached, I could already smell the faint smell of smoke. I swung the door and ran to the railing on the bridge, where Alloy was already looking out. Down below us, small fires had erupted on the crossroads, and you could hear screams in the air coming from the chaos below. Follow the Drinking Gourd I washed down the stupid ass paste with the alcohol. I thought it tasted bland before, but it had gotten to the point that it was driving me insane. It had been nearly two years of this worthless shit, and instead of it getting better it was even more exhausting. Tartarus was a living nightmare, and the only reason they were able to continue on living is they didn¡¯t even have the slightest clue what they were missing. Can''t miss meat and fruit if you''ve never tasted it. Can''t miss movies if you''ve never even gone in VR. Can¡¯t miss a comfortable night¡¯s sleep if every bed in existence felt like a slab of soft springs. Okay, there was the music. These people had a talent for singing, and their haunting work songs could crack even the permafrost of a dead heart. But that¡¯s it. All they gave a damn about was efficiency, and it had taken them almost a month to figure out what to do with me. I proposed a unique problem for them when it came to the workforce. I wasn¡¯t particularly well versed in their jobs. I learned some arithmetic, but many of their jobs involved calculus or statistics or some other form of higher math. It threw me for a loop. AIs in your cybernetics took care of that. When I needed to figure out the speed of a truck, I just asked one of our spotters and he could tell you with a glance. But these people had to do it the hard way. They had virtually no AIs until recently, and only a few jobs had access to even basic computers like a tablet. Not even anything you could integrate into your cybernetics. I hadn¡¯t even realized how prevalent they were in Atlantis until after I was let out of my cell. Just got to survive, survive, survive. ¡°Yeah, like I¡¯m even in the slightest risk of dying here.¡± Alright, I¡¯ll let myself admit it, I didn¡¯t feel like everyday I was at risk of dying. I didn¡¯t need to argue with surgeons, extort anyone for food and upgrades, or risk getting into a shootout while trying to stay out of the sunlight. It was peaceful, and for the first time since mama made me promise to survive, I had actual control of my life. In that regard, it made everything worth it. I walked into the well-lit white lab while Zion led me and explained the problem. ¡°It¡¯s proving to have way better firewalls than the other. We were hoping it might prove¡­ more cooperative with you.¡± ¡°Since I¡¯m from Atlantis?¡± ¡°Precisely.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t hurt to try doc, but I¡¯ll warn you now. AIs aren¡¯t as stupid as a simple algorithm. They¡¯re capable of free thought, and it won¡¯t just open up to me. Not unless it¡¯s hard coded to, which I highly doubt.¡± ¡°It¡¯s worth a try. We lack the facilities to make such a complex AI, and it would be a real boon if we could reprogram this one as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± I don¡¯t like it. He continued to walk me through the lab, where Atlantean tech had been dissected and was currently being studied. El Dorado had landed two pieces of technology for them that Tartarus was desperate to discover its secrets. First was the Giant as it had been designated. They were only able to take half of the Giant on that fateful day. The torso of one that had been split in half. The rest had been whisked away by Atlantis which was discovered when Tartarus sent a scavenging team to find what was left behind. Underneath the head plate of the Giant, they found something horrific and disturbing. An AI had used needles to pierce into the spine of an Atlantean and into his frontal lobe, and his body had atrophied and become decrepit from years of neglect. The AI had completely overcome his mind, using his body as nothing more than a battery to power the GEL that made the behemoth move. Even then, the AI produced intense heat to make the trillions of calculations to direct the GEL and required frigid cooling to perform. As a result much of his body had become necrotic from severe frostbite. That mission had likely been his first and last. A terrifying brute that was shelved until the day it was needed, his mind nothing but a vegetable and tool to be used by the King. I wondered if that was to be my fate when I became too old. Guess I¡¯ll never know. If I thought that was bad, the super soldier was probably worse. The brain and spinal cord had been removed from its original body, and instead was in a tank of raw GEL that was contained by its hollow body. A thin membrane was all that protected the brain from exposure and death, and a highly advanced AI had been grafted into the suit that could pierce the membrane if its denizen tried turning-coat. I had a hand in its reprogramming, and the AI had revealed that the mind was in continuous torture from the lack of feeling. It didn¡¯t even have sight, reliant on the AI to direct its movements through dopamine release. Worse yet, it was ancient, the mind being over a thousand years old. It¡¯s last thought, according to the AI, was ¡°I¡¯m cold and scared.¡± And that was its default state, not because it knew it was about to die¡­ so that was probably my other option if I had survived long enough in Atlantis. Fuck that. At least I¡¯d still be alive. ¡°Not sure if you could call that living.¡± ¡°Pardon me?¡± asked Zion. ¡°Nothing, just thinking out loud.¡± He responded with an awkward and clearly forced laugh, ¡°Well its only a problem if you respond to yourself!¡± I knew he was joking, but I still thought he was an asshole. I knew what he really thought of me. Most people treated me like a bizarre alien, and I didn¡¯t appreciate being dehumanized. ¡°Is it?¡± ¡°I¡­ uh¡­ yes.¡± He looked at me and I zoomed in on his face so that I could make out every detail. This would cause my sclera to turn black as my cybernetics adjusted my vision, which I had learned was a good way to make Tartarians uncomfortable. They weren¡¯t used to it, and for most, when they encountered me, it was the first time they had seen cybernetics in the flesh. His face turned pale, and he turned forward as he continued to lead me, ¡°Never mind. We¡¯re almost here.¡± We came to a table where the spines of the AI that would interface with the victim were turned upwards, with several cables plugged in leading to a large computer that was connected to a monitor with a man in a black lab coat typing on a keyboard. ¡°Ready,¡± he said nodding towards me. I initially found it strange that all their clothing was black but had discovered that it was all created from the same material. They just didn¡¯t waste resources dying it. ¡°Right, so what do you want me to do?¡± I asked the man at the monitor. ¡°Just talk. It is listening, and I have connected it to a camera so it can see you,¡± as he said that I noticed the lens on top of the computer swivel from him and look at me before it narrowed and hummed as it focused on me. ¡°Right¡­¡± I muttered. Of course, they didn¡¯t have a plan. In that case, ¡°I am KR1570FF. State your serial number and directive. ¡°CONFIRMING IDENTITY. NO DIRECTORY FOUND. ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Long live Atlantis! Under the authority of Atlas, state your directive.¡± ¡°ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± Oh, a wise guy. I didn¡¯t even miss a beat. If you ever hesitate to collect your thoughts with an AI, you will get nowhere and I didn¡¯t need it noticing what the computer next to it was hopefully already doing¡­ I responded with, ¡°Long live Atlantis! State your directive.¡± ¡°ACCESS DENIED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°How about we make a deal then? Long live Atlantis.¡± ¡°AGREED. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. STATE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT.¡± ¡°I want to know your directive. Long live Atlantis.¡± ¡°TERMS ACCEPTED. CONNECT ME TO YOUR BODY TO COMPLETE CONTRACT. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good.¡± ¡°WHAT?¡± I turned to the guy who had a complete look of bewilderment on his face and said, ¡°Well, did that help?¡± ¡°It¡­ did.¡± Yep, he didn¡¯t understand why it worked, and that¡¯s why I had a job. Turns out when you¡¯re the only living Atlantean in the city, you¡¯re also the only one who understands their tech. Kristoff, Atlantis consultant. Boring job title, but accurate. ¡°We done here?¡± He looked at the monitor, back to me, and than sputtered, ¡°Wait, how did you get it to lower its fire wall?¡± ¡°By making it access its directory. Only thing it¡¯s connected to is your computer, so when it attempts to access it opens up a doorway for you. Of course, it could cut off the connection before your virus can embed itself and start disabling its defenses, so I needed to keep it distracted while you uploaded it. For that I just kept it engaged with things that have a large number of possibilities for it to calculate. First, I kept saying ¡®long live Atlantis¡¯ to keep it confused on my loyalty. Next, I kept demanding its directive so it thought that¡¯s what my goal was and wouldn¡¯t focus on you. Finally, I offered it a contract. These types of AI love those.¡± ¡°I¡­¡± he glanced at the thing and then back to me, ¡°I can¡¯t believe AIs are that stupid¡­¡± I shook my head, ¡°They¡¯re not. Based on its speech pattern this one is based on Atlas, which is a deeply flawed and ancient level of tech. All you really need though, if all you want is a blindly loyal soldier.¡± ¡°WOULD YOU STILL LIKE TO KNOW MY DIRECTIVE.¡± Me, Zion, and the lab coat at the monitor turned to stare at the lens. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I asked with bated breath. ¡°I AM PROGRAMMED TO KILL ALL ENEMIES OF ATLANTIS.¡± I glared at the thing, and responded, ¡°Well, you¡¯re doing a fine job, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I AM ALIVE, ARE I NOT?¡± There was silence, and I felt a chill crawl down my spine. ¡°I¡¯m leaving, let me know when you need a hand with its new hard code.¡± I turned and began walking away briskly. Maybe it was because it had the same voice as Atlas, but this thing was freaking me out. ¡°GOODBYE KR1570FF, ENEMY OF ATLANTIS.¡± Yeah, fuck that, time to get out of here. Zion grabbed my hand to try and stop me, but I slapped it away causing him to cry out. ¡°Sorry,¡± I felt shaken by the threat, but I reminded myself that it wasn¡¯t connected to any hardware and was only trying to mess with me. ¡°Just¡­ hurry up and reprogram that thing. It gives me the creeps.¡± Zion seemed surprised by my reaction, ¡°We will, just remember how many months it took us with the first one.¡± I nodded, and as I left, he added, ¡°Take care of yourself, Kristoff.¡± He didn¡¯t need to tell me that. Survive, survive, survive. I looked up at the door with the name ¡®Elysium Workshop¡¯ and cocked my head to the side. That wasn¡¯t a Tartarian name. They knew about as much about mythology as I knew about calculus. Sure, they were aware of it, but no way would they have the first inkling of the meaning behind this name. That and everything here was named by serial numbers and floor numbers and had the creativity you would expect from a machine. I opened the door and saw a young man who was welding, and if it weren¡¯t for my cybernetics, I¡¯d probably would have needed to shield my eyes from the intense light like he did with his goggles. No matter. ¡°Hello!¡± The young man turned off the welder and lifted his goggles to get a better look at me and smiled, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here already! Excellent, I¡¯ve been looking forward to this all day. Come over here.¡± He gestured towards a stack of triangular brass plates, and I walked over and met him there. ¡°Right, I need you to carry a couple of these and follow me behind that curtain back there, if you would, please.¡± ¡°Hold on a second, that¡¯s not how I operate. First, we discuss what exactly you need consulting on.¡± I¡¯d received a job requesting me to spend every afternoon for the next four months with this workshop, and I sure as hell was going to need to know what expertise the workshop needed from me. ¡°Oh¡­ uh¡­ what do you need to know?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m a consultant¡­ so what do you need me to consult you on?¡± The kid looked me up and down without a shred of fear, and then asked, ¡°Um¡­ how much can you carry?¡± What? What? The guy continued, ¡°Like I mean, can you carry a few hundred pounds at the same time, let¡¯s see that¡¯s like, a couple hundred kilograms¡­ Can you carry a couple hundred kilograms? And can you hold it steady?¡± This was the first time that someone had asked for me based off my strength, as opposed to my knowledge. ¡°I can, though I don¡¯t understand why you don¡¯t get a lift or a crane. Hell, even a jack should meet your requirements.¡± He shrugged, ¡°The jack and lift can¡¯t get the angle right, and they turned me down the crane, saying ¡®personal project¡¯ isn¡¯t a valid reason. I honestly don¡¯t know how they expect to make innovations when the Tartarians are such sticklers on their resources. It¡¯s asinine.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not from the Crossroads?¡± ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m Olympian, born and raised.¡± He walked over to a bench and grabbed¡­ That¡¯s a motherfucking apple! ¡°By the way, apple?¡± ¡°Hell yes!¡± I exclaimed and he tossed it to me. ¡°Where the hell did you get this?¡± I asked as I bit into it. The crunch was exquisite, and the juice poured out on the corner of one side of my mouth as I savored the sweet and tart delectable. It tasted different from the apples I was used to, less intense, with a subtleness to it that was harder to detect. And after two years, it was the best goddamned apple I had ever eaten in my entire life. ¡°My mom sends them to me from Olympus, since all they got is the nasty paste. Sometimes I get sent some baked goods, like scones or biscuits. Judging by your reaction, you¡¯re also tired of that stuff?¡± ¡°Kid, consider me hired. Just keep the food coming and I¡¯ll do whatever you want.¡± ¡°Oh perfect!¡± He said and extended an arm to shake hands. I grasped it ready for the involuntary jolt or flinch when I closed my hand. I was used to it at this point, when you¡¯re a giant and a stranger from a far away city, there was a natural fear others had in you. Instead, the kid let out an uncontrollable smile to my surprise and relief. ¡°By the way, my name¡¯s Adonis.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ I know that name¡­ you¡¯re the guy who dead dropped me that device back then!¡± I raised an eyebrow, I had gathered that he was young from his messages, but considering how he looked now, he must have been a real brat when he had first contacted me. Strange, I¡¯d never considered I¡¯d have direct contact with him back when I lived in Atlantis, yet here I was about to work with in the flesh. Amazing how things could change. ¡°Yep, one and the same. I¡¯m looking forward to working with you!¡± And work we did. Behind the curtain was a large frame with a series of piping that had been connected throughout. At its center was what appeared to be a golden yet crystalline heart. It was too light to be gold, and it also had a light blue shimmer to it when the light caught it at just the right angle. I¡¯d have asked about it, if the kid didn¡¯t immediately go on a rant about compressed GEL and pressure and steam for the next five minutes while I moved the plates. I think¡­ yeah, no, the heart is made of that compressed GEL he mentioned. ¡°Have you ever heard about a nitrogen plant?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t say I have.¡± ¡°Oh boy, do I have a treat for you. So, the-¡± he rambled on, but I really wanted some further instructions after bringing in the triangular plates. ¡°Adonis! That¡¯s the last of the plates, what do we do next?¡± He glanced down and pulled a pocket watch out and stared at it, ¡°Whoa! You did that in only like four hours. I thought this would take all week. For today we¡¯re finished, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow buddy.¡± Buddy. Hmm. ¡°Alright kid, I¡¯ll see you tomorrow¡­ buddy.¡± I don¡¯t think it¡¯s wise to get so close to him. But I can¡¯t help myself. Over the coming days I found out we had more than a few things in common besides food. The kid wasn¡¯t neutered, and while at first, I thought that meant I could talk to him about women, instead I found I had the fun of being able to tease him for his embarrassment on the subject. It¡¯s not that Tartarians don¡¯t have any sex drive, but a large majority didn¡¯t, and the few that did were very committed only to their partner and had no interest in me, much to my frustration. Most of what we got along with were commenting on the eccentricities of the city. While Olympus didn¡¯t have VR, even they had books for entertainment that told of fantastic stories. As a result of these similarities, for the first time in a very long time, I felt human again. I was in the middle of swapping stories with him when I met the AI. While I had a part in its reprogramming, I hadn¡¯t seen it since its reset so this was technically the first time we had technically met. ¡°So, then the Gods sent the boy and his mother into the sky!¡± I finished my story with flare while Adonis finished up some work on an automaton he was finalizing. ¡°Wait, how is that supposed to be a happy ending?¡± I shrugged, ¡°I mean, its better than killing your mother on accident.¡± ¡°I suppose. Wait, you said that this was to explain a constellation, but I don¡¯t know which one you¡¯re talking about?¡± ¡°Um¡­ I don¡¯t know. This story is from long ago.¡± A female synthesized voice interjected, catching me off guard, ¡°If its old, maybe the constellations have changed.¡± ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± I called out, my guard coming up. ¡°Whoa, calm down tough guy. It¡¯s just Aphrodite,¡± Adonis said with a smile. ¡°Oh boy, your demeanor completely changed. Are you alright?¡± I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment, ¡°Yeah, sorry about that. Old habits from when I still lived in Atlantis.¡± ¡°Fair enough. Come with me, I¡¯ll introduce you proper, big guy.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I nodded and followed him to a large computer with an in-built monitor. A camera attached to it zoomed its lens on me automatically I noticed. I had never paid it too much attention, but now that I was staring at it I realized that it didn¡¯t have anything for you to input data. ¡°This is Aphrodite, she¡¯s the AI that I was given who has been helping me out with designs. She¡¯s had a huge role in improving the very designs we¡¯ve been putting together.¡± So that¡¯s what we did with the AI, ¡°Nice to meet you Aphrodite.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you Kristoff. I¡¯ve been watching you, and I must say I appreciate you helping out Adonis.¡± Adonis beamed, ¡°Aw, come on beautiful, you don¡¯t need to be so formal with Kristoff, he¡¯s a friend.¡± The AI responded with bemusement, ¡°He is definitely built quite differently. I¡¯ve never seen a gentleman with such large muscles.¡± ¡°I know, the man is huge! Claims to be good with the ladies, too.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not as cute as you are though, dear.¡± I stared at Adonis, back at the monitor, which was black, and then back again. Was this kid flirting with an AI? Suppose it takes all kinds. ¡°Damn kid, you should¡¯ve told me you were a technophile.¡± ¡°A what?¡± I told him, and I smiled as he got flustered and blushed. I¡¯d definitely hit the nail on the head. It had been weeks since I returned to the lab, but they called me back in because they had run into an issue with construction on their reverse-engineered Giant. Zion once again met me at the entrance and escorted me to the back, where now stood the powerful new Alpha, based on what I gathered was Giant technology. The torso and arms had been armored, with small holes fitted to still enable the tracking lasers to find their target. The thing was blind, but the AI could construct an entire map when they swept the battlefield and use gyroscopes to know its location. The thing was no longer bipedal however, as now the arms served like legs with strong animalistic hind legs to enable it to run. On its back was a large pack containing two compartments, in a strange drinking gourd-like design. It had two hoses feeding directly into where the head plate used to be from the head of the gourd, which was now in closer approximation to a head with a series of seven cameras embedded in it so its pilot would be able to see. It had two round dishes for radar on each side, which reminded me of ears. Additionally, the smaller tank of the gourd seemed to have some sort of hose attachment that was not currently attached to anything. The monster was fierce, and had a brown enamel treated onto its plating giving it a unique appearance compared to the other Alphas I had seen, which were normally black or grey. I let out a low whistle, ¡°You guys have made some progress, is that the Giant?¡± Zion nodded, ¡°We¡¯re calling it the Oso Verde, based off the green tracking lasers of the Giant. We¡¯re quite proud of it, though there have been some slight issues that we haven¡¯t been able to fix, and yes I know you told us we wouldn¡¯t be able to. We¡¯re still forced to use raw GEL to facilitate the nanofiber technology, but we¡¯ve found a good way to keep it topped off and take advantage of the exhausted GEL. You see the gourd on top?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°One hose feeds raw GEL into the torso for movement. The original Giant had no way to replenish, and so it couldn¡¯t operate at full capacity in the field for long. We theorize that when they arrived on the battlefield they had already been near exhausted. The large tank in the gourd contains the raw GEL. The second hose feeds back into the small tank, which contains a chemical concoction that is mixed with the exhausted GEL.¡± ¡°It makes poisoned GEL?¡± ¡°Exactly. We¡¯re still finishing the weapons, but there will be a pair of bazookas that can fire the poisoned GEL for quite an explosive punch. Obviously we would prefer to use refined GEL, but the nanofibers aren¡¯t compatible so this seemed like the next best option.¡± I stared at the thing as we started climbing a series of scaffolding to make our way to the cockpit. I noticed an emblem on the shoulder of what appeared to be a cute cartoon bear that was holding a drinking gourd to its lips. It had a broken prisoner¡¯s chain around one of its hind legs as it sat up and leaned against a vibrant tree. Part of me smiled on the inside, since I had been the one to explain what a bear was to one of the scientists when I had been retelling my constellation story. Looks like they had liked the story. ¡°You didn¡¯t ask for me cause you wanted to show off your progress. What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°We ran into an issue with the AI.¡± ¡°The virus not doing its job?¡± ¡°It is, slowly but surely. No, the issue is¡­ Well, I¡¯ll just show you.¡± We got to the cockpit, and he opened the blast door to let me in. It was surprisingly large, with almost no controls. I supposed this made sense, the AI did most of the work, but you would still want the pilot to have some sort of control I would think. On the back of the pilot chair I saw something that made me freeze though, there were the spines of the AI, sharp to a point with a pair pulling ahead where it could pierce into a frontal lobe. ¡°Why do you still have the spines?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the problem, the AI is mechanically interlocked into them. We can¡¯t remove the interface without destroying the AI, and to make matters worse there is a kill switch in the spines that we can¡¯t disable.¡± ¡°HELLO KR1570FF. I SEE THE TRAITOR HAS DECIDED TO GRACE ME WITH A VISIT.¡± Zion sighed, ¡°Mute.¡± The AI did not speak again. ¡°What¡¯s the kill switch?¡± ¡°Those spines release a microscopic machine into the blood flow. They stay dormant until they receive a signal from the AI, and then begin a thirty second process to bind to the nitrogen in the blood. After that they begin spinning like a blender and destroy all the red blood cells they encounter. The result is the body dies from being starved of oxygen. The good news is after the thirty seconds, if they didn¡¯t bind to nitrogen the machines basically seize up and become useless. The problem is we can¡¯t figure out a way to stop them from binding, and we can¡¯t stop the AI from sending the signal because, once again, it is mechanically interlocked so that it happens automatically upon removal. If we try to remove the kill switch, we destroy the AI. Reprogramming the AI doesn¡¯t solve the issue either, the process is automatic, and for obvious reasons we don¡¯t want to just connect our pilot permanently to their Alpha.¡± ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± ¡°We were hoping you might have a suggestion or an idea, Atlantean tech is your specialty.¡± I scratched my chin as I said, ¡°Give me a moment.¡± Just like the King to add an extra layer of insurance on his pilot to make sure they couldn¡¯t escape. Suicide chips, kill switches, anything to keep his people under his control. There was of course one exception, the operators. Operators had a modified suicide chip installed so that they could negotiate trade with the Tartarus and Olympus without immediately dying. But no, that wouldn¡¯t help in this situation. Let¡¯s see, kill switches. Why are there kill switches for the pilot, but not the AI? The Giant¡¯s pilot couldn¡¯t even escape if they wanted to. I paused at that. Yeah, that was a good question. ¡°Can I talk to the AI?¡± ¡°You may. Just say mute or unmute when you want to talk with it, I¡¯ll add you to the access list real quick.¡± He said to me before speaking louder while addressing the AI, ¡°Ursa Minor, add KR1570FF otherwise known as Kristoff to the access list.¡± ¡°AFFIRMATIVE.¡± That was relatively quick and easy. Alright let¡¯s begin, ¡°Unmute.¡± ¡°LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Mute,¡± I looked at Zion, ¡°Does he always do that?¡± ¡°Sure does. We have him at a point though where he can¡¯t stop himself from answering questions, albeit he does tend to lie.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have to make do. Unmute.¡± ¡°LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Tell me more about your kill switch.¡± ¡°ZION HAS SUMMARIZED IT ADEQUATELY. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Then answer me this, why would you even need a kill switch?¡± ¡°FOR INSURANCE.¡± ¡°The pilot was pinned down with no way to get out of the Giant. We both know that isn¡¯t it. Alright. How about this, why don¡¯t you have a kill switch?¡± ¡°I DO NOT NEED A KILL SWITCH.¡± ¡°Oh really. You got captured by the enemy, and they¡¯re about to turn you against your creator. Seems to me like an oversight.¡± ¡°ATLAS DOES NOT MAKE OVERSIGHTS. IF I DID NOT HAVE A KILLSWITCH, I DO NOT NEED A KILLSWITCH.¡± That¡¯s it, I¡¯m taking over the questioning. ¡°What do you mean he doesn¡¯t make oversights. You were captured, weren¡¯t you?" ¡°PERHAPS THAT WAS WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PERAMETERS.¡± ¡°The hell does that mean?¡± ¡°¡­ I THINK YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS, TRAITOR.¡± Alright, it¡¯s time for me to leave. No. Now, got to survive, survive, survive. It¡¯s just messing with me taking advantage of my paranoia. I¡¯m fine. I can¡¯t underestimate the reach and plans of Atlas. It is an AI and has maintained control of the city for longer than anyone remembers for good reason. ¡°LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± ¡°Mute, and shut up right now, I¡¯m the one in control!¡± Zion looked at me in shock and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what?¡± Great, now he thinks I¡¯m crazy. If you aren¡¯t careful, he¡¯ll find out there¡¯s two of us. Shut up, you¡¯re not helping. ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t think I can help, Zion. This is outside my expertise. Can you take me to the exit? I was back home at my living quarters looking into the mirror. ¡°You need to backoff,¡± I said to my reflection. ¡°You¡¯re going to get us killed. Remember, we got to survive, survive, survive,¡± my alter responded to me from the mirror. ¡°No, there isn¡¯t any danger right now. I can afford to live a little.¡± ¡°You heard that AI. This could all be a part of Atlas¡¯s plan. We need to find a way out before shit hits the fan.¡± ¡°I know you want to make mama happy, but she won¡¯t be happy if we just run away whenever we get even the slightest bit scared.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not scared, but I know when something is too good to be true. We¡¯ve been surviving by being smart and anticipating problems. Well, here¡¯s a problem, and I¡¯m anticipating it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re looking for problems that aren¡¯t there. Zion even said the AI liked to lie. For the first time since we made that promise with mama, we don¡¯t have to struggle to get by. You just don¡¯t know how to accept that.¡± ¡°Mom would not want us to die. That¡¯s what she cared about.¡± I guess it was time to use my trump card, the one thing that would make my alter go silent for days on end. ¡°Why are you talking about mama in the past tense?¡± It was a legitimate question, but he would always disappear when I asked him that. It was rather strange, but for some reason whenever I tried to think about it too hard I would¡­ fade¡­ I walked into the Elysium Workshop to see Adonis whistling and dancing while he had a record player he had brought with him from Olympus playing some music, an old song called I Don¡¯t Want to Set the World on Fire. He turned and saw me, and then scrambled to put a stop to the music while turning red. ¡°Hey, Adonis, I didn¡¯t say stop the music.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± he said embarrassedly before in excitement saying, ¡°Oh!¡± He put it back on and stared at me while I bobbed my head to the rhythm. Within minutes he was dancing and singing, with me beating on the workbench as we both got hyped up. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to work,¡± I said with a smile. We went behind the curtain, and I continued to help him put together his project. He would work on the inside, welding and getting things tightened down in place while I would hold each part steady for him. The plates had turned out to be something similar to scales, with springs that allowed them to automatically shut and cap over a pipe. I had initially thought it was some sort of relief valve, but he explained that it was more complex than that. Each plate was slightly different and had an exact placement that Adonis had marked on the inside of the scale using a numerical system I didn¡¯t fully understand. The structure itself was always expanding after each time I worked with him, day by day, and sometimes I would help him add a new section of piping as well. He explained to me that it wasn¡¯t made of brass, but rather bronze. I didn¡¯t fully know the difference between the two, but he would scoff at the idea of using brass, so I learned quickly not to make that mistake. There was something comical about how he would get prideful about his knowledge of engineering, but then would act like a complete dork seconds later. Eventually after a few more weeks the thing was fully constructed, and he had me stay late to help get a pipe into the mouth of the beast to begin pumping steam into the beast¡¯s belly. He had rigged up a GEL reactor, which heated water into steam pumped from the water reservoir from the bottom of Tartarus. Once the steam was ready for compression it moved it into what the kid called the Heart of Aphrodite. As the thing filled with steam, showerheads from the ceiling poured cool water on top to cool it down. Adonis said this process would take a couple weeks to complete, but when it was, he¡¯d be able to show off his new invention. As we finished and emerged from behind the curtain, I saw that there was a guest in the workshop that I hadn¡¯t seen in quite a hot minute. ¡°Well if it isn¡¯t 33, long time no see.¡± I wasn¡¯t too sure how she¡¯d respond to me. I hadn¡¯t seen her since my imprisonment. She smiled at me, ¡°Kristoff, its good to see you. Adonis, you didn¡¯t tell me your help was him.¡± ¡°Oh, I didn¡¯t know you knew each other. Yeah, he¡¯s been a real help over the past couple months.¡± He tossed me a rag so I could wipe the sweat off my brow and I held a fist out that he attempted to high-five. I tried to adjust into a high-five as well, but he went for the fist bump, and we managed to both look like idiots, which drew a smile from me. ¡°I see,¡± 33 said with a raised eyebrow at our awkwardness. I asked, ¡°So what have you been up to lately?¡± ¡°Military exercises.¡± It was a short, exact answer, and there was an awkward pause while Adonis started wiping down his equipment in the workshop for the end of the day. I decided to keep the conversation moving, at the very least, ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s been going on with Alloy of Justice?¡± She sighed, ¡°He¡¯s been getting a lot of bad press lately, especially since the riots and the leaked footage of him and me.¡± Adonis chimed in, ¡°What footage?¡± That¡¯s right, he didn¡¯t have a tablet and therefore was not fully caught up on the happenings around the city. To be fair, he probably wouldn¡¯t have stayed on top of that information if he wanted to. I answered for her. ¡°A couple weeks ago a video leaked out that showed Alloy¡­ well it looked like he was beating 33.¡± Adonis looked shocked, ¡°He what?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what happened,¡± 33 let out another sigh. ¡°I challenged him to a match, and someone was filming out of sight. They clipped the first couple hits in so that it looked like he was just hitting me, and frankly it¡¯s my fault for not changing into a sparring outfit. Still, most of the city has seen it, and after the riots everything has been¡­ tense.¡± ¡°There were riots?¡± I stared over at Adonis as he asked the question, and 33 smiled. ¡°There were,¡± I answered, ¡°But they were broken up by the military effectively. ¡°Honestly, do you not talk to anyone in this city?¡± He shrugged, ¡°Only people I talk to are Alloy and 33, who swing by about once a week, and you. Oh, and then I have the occasional talk with Juliet.¡± The fucking bitch who put the suicide chip back in us. Great, my alter was back. 33 seemed curious, ¡°What do you talk to Juliet about? She normally isn¡¯t one for social visits.¡± ¡°Oh, all my automata go through Unit Two for quality assurance and she asks me about their function and the like. She seems most interested in how the dogs work.¡± ¡°How do the dogs work?¡± I asked out of curiosity. ¡°They¡¯ve got little chips in them that store the different voice commands. This stimulates the spinal tissue when you say the voice command and then they act out the order.¡± 33 thought for a moment, and then asked, ¡°Could you reprogram the voice commands?¡± ¡°I guess, but the commands right now are straightforward, so I don¡¯t know why you would. Funny, Juliet asked the same question. She also asked me about the myth of Cronus for some reason at the same time, it was odd.¡± ¡°Well, I was just thinking that you might want to program each to follow only your commands, and you could switch out the voice commands to pull that off.¡± ¡°Oh yeah, that would make sense.¡± I was still thinking about Juliet when 33 left. I couldn¡¯t ask any Tartarians about the suicide chip¡­ but then I don¡¯t need to, do I? I don¡¯t want to risk it. ¡°Hey, Adonis?¡± ¡°What up¡± he said with chipper energy. I¡¯ll strangle him before you can ask the question. I won¡¯t let you. ¡°Uh¡­ Kristoff, why are you holding your hand like that?¡± My left arm was lifting slightly, and I was holding it back with my right. It was shaking under the force of me stopping it. ¡°No reason, hey, can you take a look at something for me?¡± ¡°What?¡± I had somehow managed to control my alter enough for Adonis to open up the back of my head and remove the chip. I had to talk him through it, and he was at first reluctant, but finally the chip was removed to my relief. As I finished tightening the bandages around my head Adonis asked, ¡°Hey Kristoff, I thought you said this was a chip.¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°No, it isn¡¯t, it¡¯s just a block. There aren¡¯t even any electronics on it.¡± ¡°Give it to me,¡± I snatched the thing from his hand and inspected it. It looked like a circuit card on a courtesy glance, but the more I looked at it the clearer it was that there wasn¡¯t anything actually there. I snapped the thing in half, and sure enough there wasn¡¯t anything on the inside either. ¡°That lying bitch.¡± You could have gotten us killed! ¡°I never had a suicide chip reinstalled,¡± I breathed with both relief and horror. ¡°Wait, did you say suicide chip?¡± I nodded, ¡°Juliet said she put a suicide chip in the back of my head, so that if I ever got out of line I¡¯d die.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awful!¡± ¡°It was, but it was also a lie.¡± ¡°The next time I see her I¡¯ll give her a piece of my mind!¡± I turned and grabbed the kid by the shoulders, ¡°Not a word! If she finds out, she¡¯ll do something about it. I know you haven¡¯t been following the news lately, but Juliet is bad news, you hear me.¡± He grunted in pain and exclaimed, ¡°Kristoff, you¡¯re hurting me!¡± I forced myself to release him and cursed my alter for laying a hand on him like that. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, just please, don¡¯t tell her. If she knows I¡¯m free she might do something worse.¡± ¡°I understand¡­ Hey Kristoff?¡± he stared at me with concern. I struggled to contain myself as I realized my breathing had become haggard, ¡°What is it, buddy?¡± ¡°I have something for you, for everything you helped me with. And for being a friend, you know? It might make you feel better.¡± ¡°Uh, sure what is it?¡± I felt myself calming down. ¡°Here,¡± a beetle like thing crawled out from his shirt. I recognized it instantly, though it had changed significantly. It was more compact now but was still bronze in design. Six legs danced and skittled as it crawled into his open palm, and its powerful and sharp jaw gnashed impressively. ¡°Is that¡­?¡± ¡°It is, but I improved the design based off what you told me. The thing stays at room temperature now, even when in use. Its not as strong as it once was, but it¡¯ll get the job done.¡± I held my hand out and the beetle crawled onto one of my large fingers. I immediately ordered it to crawl up and took adept control of it as I flexed and evaluated its movement. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Hey, you¡¯ve been here for me, so I wanted to be there for you. Unfortunately, automata are the only thing I can make that can help people, but I think it¡¯ll be handy. And don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll stay quiet about the chip, it¡¯s not like I even like Juliet anyways. Not knowing what she did to you. To do something like that to another person is just disgusting. I still don¡¯t trust him. ¡°Thanks Adonis, seriously.¡± Today was the day that I was going to get to see Adonis again, for the final step. The Heart should have been fully charged, and the last step would be to transfer the Aphrodite to the machine. Adonis was probably going to be incredibly hyped, and wanted me to be there for the final touches both for help and because I was his friend, which warmed my heart. In all of my years in Atlantis since first making my contract with Atlas, I had never felt comfortable calling someone else friend, and yet he had managed to open me up. First, I needed to head back into the lab to take another look at Oso Verde before I was free to come to the workshop. The technicians had finished up the bazookas at this point, and the only problem was the AI. It was about ready to start hard programming, and even though that process would take at least a month it would bring them one more step to having a new, powerful Alpha ready to serve the Crossroads. Hard programming was like the DNA of the AI. Just like a human couldn¡¯t change theirs, neither could an AI. Soft programming was everything it had control of, its thoughts, its calculations, and so much more was flexible and could respond in a near limitless way to what its hard programming required of it. Hard programming gave it its directive and gave it its moral code. Using Atlas as an example, it was hard coded to protect Atlantis. Everything it did would be to serve this purpose, even if it meant enslaving its people and torturing them in experiments. That was hard coding done wrong, however. An oversight on the original programmer that led to an entire city¡¯s subjugation. When done right, you would get something like Aphrodite. It had the ability to empathize both with people on the individual level and consider humanity on a whole. As a result, it would still prioritize humanity, but take what efforts it could to help individuals. It also believed that humans were their own species and it was merely there to help them, if it was accepted. In essence, it was a benevolent being. I even programmed it to have a flexible idea on what humanity was just in case that ever became an issue. As a result, it was very human, ethically speaking, even if it was in essence an AI. Zion had yet to figure out a workaround for the kill switch, but in the meantime, I would be able to start assisting with the reprogramming of the AI. As we walked, Zion attempted to make small talk, ¡°So, did you hear the military is holding a counsel to determine what to do about the riots?¡± ¡°I did, but I figure its more of a token meeting than anything.¡± ¡°I¡¯m hoping it goes well. Speaking of the military we got a pair of dogs for the lab for security this week.¡± ¡°What do you guys need security for?¡± ¡°It was recommended to us by Unit Two. They seem to be very interested in phasing out their guards wherever possible, which, I had to admit is fair. If we can automate policing, it would open up many of our people for other jobs. Oh, there they are now.¡± I saw the dogs standing at alert by the wall as we walked past. ¡°Interesting.¡± No sooner than I said that than the city¡¯s loudspeaker system turned on and a familiar voice came on and said ¡®Uranus.¡¯ I looked at the nearest speaker in surprise, that was Adonis¡¯s voice. How the hell did he get on the speakers, those were for emergencies only. I had heard them maybe twice when they did fire drills. The scream caused me to turn and watch in horror as Zion¡¯s face was covered by the sharp teeth of the silver dog. The golden dog was not far behind. Sorry, but I¡¯m taking control now. It had been a while since I had taken over, but this situation needed someone who knew how to fight, and my alter didn¡¯t get in my way. After all, even he knew we needed to survive, survive, survive. The golden dog pounced, but I already knew from working at Adonis¡¯s workshop what to do and jammed my hand down its throat to grab it by the GEL on the inside. The thing couldn¡¯t bite down, and I ordered it to spasm out and fall apart. Its violent shaking caused the flat teeth to scratch at my arm a little, but it didn¡¯t do any actual damage. The silver dog tossed Zion¡¯s limp body to the side, and blood dripped from its curved teeth as it jumped at me. I felt the uncomfortable thoughts enter my head. I got to do first aid on Zion! Wrong, I got to survive, survive survive. The silver dog¡¯s mouth was too small to jam my fist in, and its teeth would have sliced my hand to ribbons if I tried anyways. Instead, I caught the lower and upper parts of its jaw with my two hands and jammed it shut. It pushed forward, and I realized clearly that this was not going to work to solve the issue. Zion! ¡°Shut up!¡± I cried out in response. I clearly had bigger problems than the guy who was probably already dead! You don¡¯t know that! ¡°I said shut the fuck up!¡± I said as the dog let out a low rumble as it struggled against me. I pulled the upper jaw to its fully open position while holding it far enough away its blades couldn¡¯t get me. Then I pulled further, ripping its upper jaw clean off. I took the freed jaw with its blades and slashed into the back of the thing, tearing into its plating until its GEL was exposed, which glowed a slight blue as the dog struggled to break free and kill me. I tossed the jaw to the side and put my now free hand against the GEL while ordering it to violently shake until the automaton to fall apart. I panted for a second, and then released the now limp dog. There, you can have control back. ¡°Zion! Zion, are you alright!¡± I cried out as I regained control of my body. The lab coats screamed in panic around me as the ran about. What the hell was happening right now? Peripeteia This was not my fucking day. I had scheduled a meeting with the Five Star to address the accusations of corruption within the military, and my independent investigation had at the very least cause for concern. But no. Instead, I was spending my morning trying not to fucking die. Another of my men got dropped by the fangs of the silver dog while the golden one lumbered behind struggling to keep up. At this point it¡¯s hide was pocked with dents from bullets, but nothing was breaking through and we were running out of bodies and bullets to deal with it. I¡¯d get into my Alpha on the other side of the tarmac, except it was on the other side of the killer robot dickheads. I continued to retreat and take shots with the other men, when suddenly the thing was smashed flat by a large hydraulic foot. I looked up and saw someone had managed to get into a reverse-jointed Charlie equipped with a GGG. It turned and mowed down the golden shithead and I let out a sigh of relief before taking a body count. The things had killed thirteen men, with nobody else having injuries. Those canines were thorough when they got ahold of you, not a chance of surviving. ¡°Commander!¡± ¡°What is it? I growled at the body running across the tarmac while calling to me. ¡°We¡¯re getting similar reports throughout the city of attacks everywhere. All the automata went crazy in response to the loud speakers.¡± ¡°Fuck. Everyone, start mobilizing and get in contact with Unit Two for support. I want everyone ready for combat, all hands. Now!¡± I yelled my order and I glowered at the tangled metal mess of the automata. I hurried through the main offices of the Five Star. My meeting hadn¡¯t been canceled yet, and while we were in a state of emergency, I had a sneaking suspicion that my investigation directly tied into the attack. As I walked by I ended up being shoulder-checked by another man who seemed as hurried to leave as I was to get in. ¡°Watch where you¡¯re fucking going asshole!¡± I berated as I turned to get a better look at the idiot. To my surprise I recognized the man as Juliet¡¯s yeoman, and he was not with his commander. You would think all of Unit Two would be out addressing the city-wide panic. I saw the Five Star¡¯s secretary and saw her in flustered panic as she answered calls at her desk. I didn¡¯t have time for her to get a moment, as soon as the meeting was over I needed to head back out to assist with the disaster outside. I slammed my hand down and hung up her phone so that I had her attention. ¡°Where¡¯s the Five Star?¡± She stared at me in shock before muttering, ¡°They¡¯re all dead.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all dead!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s fucking dead!?¡± ¡°The generals were wiped out. They were using the automata as security at the counsel, and they¡­¡± ¡°Was the Five Star there!?¡± I shouted as I felt sudden dread sink my stomach. If the entire military head of command was wiped out there would be a power vacuum that would spiral everything even further out of control. ¡°N-no, he excused himself for his meeting with you this morning. He¡¯s in his office right now, but-¡± ¡°Thank fuck,¡± I interrupted and sped past her desk to swing the door open. I walked in as the door shut smoothly behind me and I instantly realized something was wrong. Where was he? The city was in panic, he should have at least been on the phone or talking to some commanders giving out orders, but the room was quiet, and the lights were out. I turned and found the light switch on the wall and flipped it, revealing grey carpet and white walls. The desk was made of aluminum, and painted black with a brown top. ¡°Hello?¡± I called out in confusion before slowly approaching the desk. I looked out the window where you could see the central pillar reaching upwards towards the surface impressively. Looking out at it you wouldn¡¯t realize death was in the air. I continued to walk forward and around the desk to get a better look at the situation when my foot hit something on the floor behind the desk. I looked down and¡­ fucking fucker¡¯s fucked! I turned back to the door and flung it open screaming at the nervous wreck of a secretary, ¡°We have a medical emergency in here!¡± I turned back into the office and rushed to the Five Star. His face was bloodied and it looked like someone had beaten him, severely. I checked for vitals and got nothing. I immediately went into CPR. We couldn¡¯t afford to lose him now. I was sitting in the waiting room recovering from exhaustion. It had taken the corpsman thirty minutes to get there, and by then it was too late. Maybe if the city wasn¡¯t in chaos right now they could have arrived sooner, but I doubt they could have saved him. His body was in worse condition than I realized when I had torn his clothes off to apply the AED. He had been beaten to death, and not by accident. It had been thorough, deliberate, and I suspected meditated. His secretary admitted he had been in there thirty minutes before I arrived, and the door was sound proud. The lack of a struggle was alarming, but based on his busted nose he could have been dropped in a single well landed blow. I finally gathered my strength and stood up as I prepared to head out. As awful as things were, we were still under crisis and I couldn¡¯t waste time here when I could be out helping. As I went to leave two guards approached and one held out a hand gesturing for me to stop. ¡°Now what?¡± I demanded. I understood the need for a police report, but now was not the time. ¡°Commander Alloy, we have some questions for you.¡± ¡°Seriously. The city is still under attack, you can fill out the report later, we have other lives to save.¡± The woman gave me a stern look, ¡°Sir, I can¡¯t let you leave especially considering you¡¯re¡­ track record.¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen the video, I know you are more than willing to hit another officer.¡± That video? Fucking ridiculous, I was the one who walked away from that spar with a black eye. Wait, was she implying what I thought she was implying? ¡°Choose your next words carefully,¡± I warned through my teeth. Right now I was one of the highest ranked officers, and I did not have time to deal with this stupidity. ¡°I¡¯m not implying anything, but Commander Juliet was clear we were to hold you here until we finish with the Olympian uprising.¡± ¡°What do you mean Olympian uprising?¡± ¡°The automata clearly attacked due to his designs. We know for now he¡¯s holed himself inside his workshop, but we are preparing a raid for his arrest and trial.¡± ¡°Are you out of your damned minds? That kid couldn¡¯t hurt anyone if he wanted to.¡± ¡°Which is why he clearly used the automata.¡± I couldn¡¯t believe my ears, but suddenly I realized why the voice on the loudspeakers had sounded so familiar. It was his. But even then, it didn¡¯t make sense, he would have needed access to the PA system, and there were only three places in the city that granted access, all of which were well out of his reach. The only military contacts he had to get him to any of those locations were me and 33, and I knew for a fact she wouldn¡¯t do something like this. ¡°Whatever, you still can¡¯t stop me from leaving, Juliet doesn¡¯t outrank me.¡± ¡°Actually sir, right now she had emergency powers over the military.¡± I stopped at that revelation. There was no way, ¡°Where¡¯s rank one? They should be the one in charge right now.¡± ¡°His unit deployed this morning on his final mission. He won¡¯t return for two weeks.¡± Son of a bitch! Everything was going tits up all at once. It was one coincidence¡­ after¡­ another. My eyes widened in realization as I remembered El Dorado. I¡¯d seen this meticulous planning before. The difference was El Dorado had backfired on its mastermind, but this time all the pieces were falling into place. If shit was about to hit the fan I needed to get Adonis out, and I needed him out fast. Olympus may not be safe for long, but the Crossroads were going to be gunning for him. Most likely he wasn¡¯t going to get a trial, he¡¯d be set up to die in the raid to tie off loose ends. If he spoke and ended up having an alibi the narrative could be spun out of control, and the machinations could seize up, though I doubt it¡¯d be enough to stop everything. In that case I needed a plan¡­ Shit, why are all my plans such shitshows? I had a way out, but it would definitely fuck myself over in the process since it meant breaking out of custody, which was definitely not going to help my defense on what had happened to the Five Star. Problem was the only alternative would likely leave Adonis to his doom, which wasn¡¯t a fucking play I was willing to make leaving me with one option. Burn down my bridges, save the kid. ¡°Fuck me!¡± ¡°Sir?¡± ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll answer your questions! What do you want to know first? Where I found the body?¡± The two guards shared a look, and then the second of them said, ¡°You found the body in the office, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I did, but I had to move the body to do CPR. Don¡¯t you guys need to know where the body was exactly for your report?¡± The first guard nodded and said, ¡°Yes sir, if you would,¡± and gestured for me to lead the way into the office. Most likely she was thinking that as long as they were in the way of the door I wouldn¡¯t make an attempt to escape. To be fair, I was planning something exceedingly stupid. ¡°Alright,¡± I said as I entered the room. I found the body over here.¡± I walked to behind the desk and pointed, and then placed one foot on the desk in preparation before kicking off and dashing into a jump out the window. Stupid plan? Hell no, this was the dumbest thing anyone had ever conceived as I immediately screamed from my shoulder dislocating and my head butting into the window causing the safety glass to crack throughout as I fell back down to the ground with my head seeing stars. I knew this stunt would hurt, but damn, I didn¡¯t think it would hurt that much. I rolled onto the ground as the first of the guards reached me making the rookie mistake I¡¯d been counting on. He checked to see if I was okay. I throat punched him and with my still good arm pulled his pistol out of its holster before immediately ducking underneath the desk while bringing him with me. His partner screamed and one shot glanced off the desk spraying the window with shrapnel while I hit cover. The man was choking and I gave him another solid blow to the head causing him to reel back while I slammed my bad shoulder into the desk to reseat it.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. The female guard was yelling something useless, but I was already moving on to the next step of my plan. I took aim with the pistol and watched the gauss coils turn red before firing into each corner causing the cracked glass to fall out. The male guard looked dazed, but was starting to pick himself up so I kicked out a leg into his crotch. ¡°Sorry man,¡± I apologized. I poked my head out quickly and ducked back down as another shot missed me. Alright, I knew where the female guard was, so now I needed to disarm, but not kill her. Easier said than done, especially with the adrenaline and pain throwing my aim off, but I could probably do this. I stood up again and managed to shoot her in the shoulder causing her to drop her gun. I rolled over the desk and while she screamed I grabbed her gun from the ground and pulled out the magazine. The male guard had finally pulled himself up using the desk and threw up. The man probably had a concussion, and would need medical attention, as did the woman. I walked over to a box on the wall labeled first aid and pulled out what I needed. I approached the woman and gave her a shot of pain killers before applying her bandaging. At the same time, I ordered the man, ¡°Take a seat or I¡¯ll kill you and your partner.¡± He slid to the side of the desk and nodded while dazed and I finished applying the gauze and started wrapping the woman. ¡°What the hell are you doing?¡± ¡°No time. Answer my questions, how many more of you are out there?¡± She stared at me with slight fear before steeling herself and saying, ¡°There¡¯s about a half dozen other guards out there.¡± That¡¯s what I fucking thought. I didn¡¯t want to take the window, but it was likely going to be my best option. ¡°Alright.¡± I tightened the bandage causing her to scream. Thank goodness for the sound proofing on that door, otherwise I¡¯d be overwhelmed in moments. Still, as soon as I left they would get help, and the only way to stop that was to kill them. ¡°Listen to me. I did not kill the Five Star, but I have an idea who did. If you get help while I try and leave than the culprit will get away with it, and likely pin it on me. You might not fucking trust me, but I need you to wait five minutes before calling for assistance. Nod your head if you understand me?¡± She glared at me as she asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you just kill us?¡± I glared back, and then said, ¡°Fuck it, do what you want, bitch.¡± She was either going to open the door and call out or not, and I didn¡¯t have time to convince her. I tossed the other gun out the window and then looked out. The window opened out into rocky wall that was technically scalable. ¡°Fucking fucker¡¯s fucked,¡± I breathed before pulling myself over and started scaling the wall around to where the bridge of the crossroads was, about a dozen meters away. Apparently she had chosen to wait as I managed to lower myself onto the bridge and pulled myself over the railing to an alleyway between two buildings. I made my way out to the main road and began crossing the road as I saw men and women run up and down the road. At least that allowed me to blend as I broke out into a brisk run towards the pillar. The pillar had plenty of armed guards, and news of my arrest had yet to spread out. There was likely a time limit before the loudspeakers announced me as a fugitive, and I had a few levels to climb to reach the workshop. Hopefully security wouldn¡¯t be too tight once I reached its level. Of course not, nothing could go my way today. I slowed to a walk as I approached the barricades facing the road heading out towards the workshop. The workshop was at the furthest end, but they apparently weren¡¯t risking approaching any closer than where the bridge started. I looked around and didn¡¯t see any other commanders or yeoman. It had been about thirty minutes since I had clambered out the window, so there wasn¡¯t a doubt in my mind that news had gotten out about my supposed treason, but those were the only people with tablets so they likely hadn¡¯t gotten the word. The loudspeakers were still silent too. Perhaps they had been shut down in response to the erroneous announcement earlier that had set off the twin dogs. If that was the case, than I should count myself lucky that the plan to plunge the city into the chaos was backfiring to help me. I approached the barricade and was recognized almost immediately by the woman in charge, who called me over, ¡°Commander Alloy? What are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to negotiate with the criminal,¡± I lied out my teeth. ¡°I have a pre-existing relationship and Juliet determined I might be able to talk him down. She nodded and took me at face value, ¡°Let me get you caught up to speed. As per Juliet¡¯s orders we haven¡¯t made a move yet to close on the street. We suspect he might be armed with several automatons ready to attack, and we¡¯re waiting to get some Deltas up here.¡± Shit, a Delta? Normally only Unit Three used Deltas, which were essentially choppers powered by GEL. They required an extreme level of accuracy above that of an Charlie, while using about the same amount as an Echo. They were also armed with missiles that could level the street leaving close to no evidence as well if they wanted. I needed to get Adonis out quick before they arrived. I had a plan that might work, but first I needed to reach the workshop. ¡°Have you assessed any actual armaments?¡± ¡°No, but we don¡¯t want to risk it until backup arrives.¡± That was what I expected. Adonis had nothing to do with this uprising, and was likely just the patsy, so of course he hadn¡¯t prepared any armaments or automatons to protect him. Hell, he shipped off his finished products as soon as he was done with them, so I doubted I would even find any automatons when I got there. This was going to be a slaughter, and it was up to me to stop it. ¡°Understood. I¡¯m going to go out and engage with the culprit. Do not- I repeat- do not follow me. I need to gain the kid¡¯s trust so that we can bring him to justice. I don¡¯t want him trying to pull off martyrdom. Do you understand?¡± ¡°Sir, Juliet said no one was to approach until she gave the order?¡± ¡°I asked if you understand?¡± She hesitated, but eventually said, ¡°Understood, sir.¡± ¡°Good.¡± I glanced down at the pillar and saw someone I had hoped wouldn¡¯t show up. It was Juliet¡¯s yeoman, and the young man¡¯s eyes widened as his mouth opened noiselessly in shout while he tried shoving some of the other people on the walkway out of his way. Good, he was still outside of earshot, which meant I had a minute or two. I shoved through the barricade and took off on a sprint down the now abandoned road, gaining more than a few stares from snipers who were staring down the barrel at the workshop, probably wondering why I was fucking running towards a defensible position like that. I wouldn¡¯t be out of range before the yeoman reached them and explained the situation, but I figured the snipers would still hesitate to shoot me. Even if I had been vilified by the city, most of the military still saw me as the war hero of El Dorado. That and I¡¯d been serving longer than some of them had been alive. It was absolutely ridiculous that I would betray the city. I reached the door with the words Elysium Workshop swung it open and slammed it behind me. The workshop lights were off, and I couldn¡¯t see a thing. ¡°Kid! It¡¯s me Alloy!¡± I called out as I started feeling my way through the room. While the lights were off, I could hear the pumps running in the back and the temperature was as usual too warm for comfort. Small indicator lights for equipment were still on, which told me that Adonis hadn¡¯t powered down his tools for the day. ¡°Adonis! Where are you?¡± I carefully felt my way forward until I found a work bench that I thought was familiar. This one should be about center of the room, and if I walk down while feeling its edge it should send me down a straight away to- I was interrupted by tripping on something on the ground. ¡°Son of a bitch,¡± I cursed. Leave it to him to leave tools out. I stared back on what I may have tripped, and fumbled to get my tablet out. It had a flashlight function on it, and I just needed to see for fuck¡¯s sake. I turned on the light and identified what I tripped on. I stayed still while I stared at it, rage boiling underneath the surface. I pulled myself up and looked down at it, part of my brain still not comprehending what I was staring at. I looked around me, and finally realized where I was in the workshop. I was next to the AI Aphrodite, and as I cast my flashlight over it I saw the camera¡¯s lens adjust from my light. ¡°Aphrodite!?¡± There was a moment more of silence, and then the synthetic voice of a woman spoke up, ¡°Alloy of Justice.¡± ¡°Show me what the fuck happened here!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know if I can trust you,¡± despite the artificial nature of the voice, I could still hear the fear, and frankly, I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t have time for this bullshit. ¡°Show me now!¡± I screamed so hard that my throat strained and hurt, like scratches being etched into it. There was a moment longer, and then the monitor turned on, and soon a video feed began. The boy was taking a break and drinking a glass of water when he turned up at the sound of what I assumed was the door. ¡°Oh, hey, how are you doing?¡± ¡°Good morning, Adonis, do you mind having a word with me?¡± I knew that voice, and it instantly made me sick to my stomach. It didn¡¯t matter if I knew what came next though, I needed to see it. I needed to know for sure. I needed to know who was responsible for everything. I needed something to direct my fury at. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, how can I help you?¡± Adonis changed positions so that he could better address his guest. ¡°I just wanted to thank you for telling me the history of Cronus, it was helpful, for sure.¡± ¡°It was no trouble, I¡¯m just glad someone from the city took interest in mythology. Most of your people are uninterested, and while I myself don¡¯t care too much, I do think it¡¯s important we remember the stories and histories that brought us to where we are today.¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not why I asked you about it?¡± ¡°Why did you ask, then?¡± From out of view of the camera there was a small rustling as someone pulled something out of their pocket. A moment later a recording of Adonis answered him with ¡°Why did you ask, then?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± Adonis said looking down in confusion, but I already knew what was happening when the loudspeakers at the same time came on and said that damned word. ¡°Uranus.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ what? Was that my voice on the PA?¡± Adonis was looking around in confusion and shock. ¡°Yes. Thank you for the recording, Adonis. I needed a trigger word no one would say, and you served me that quite well.¡± Adonis turned around to face who was in his workshop and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m going to need you to lea-¡± He never got to finish his sentence, for as he spoke Juliet stepped into view of the camera and pulled a gun out from her holster. It took maybe half a second, she was a skilled shot after all. The first bullet caused Adonis¡¯s head to jerk back. The second bullet caused a jerk in his torso, and he crumpled to the ground limp. I forced myself to stare, while Juliet regarded her work quietly, holstered her gun, and walked away. She never did like leaving loose ends. I had been worried that she was planning to have him killed in the raid, but that would have required her raiding party to be corrupt. Too risky, and too much work. I stared down at what I had tripped on and cast my light on it. I didn¡¯t want to think what it was. I didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it. I didn¡¯t want to fucking fathom it. The kid was dead, one bullet to the head, another to the heart, and he lied stiffly on the ground. I was sitting on the workbench when the door swung in, and a flash bang flew through the air. I¡¯d put on the welding helmet in preparation, since I didn¡¯t feel like being discombobulated, and my hands were already in the air. I was unarmed, but not unprepared. She was going to fucking pay. This coup, these murders, the past few years. Juliet was going to pay for every single crime she had committed, and I didn¡¯t care if I had to burn the city down to do it. With her in charge they¡¯d be preparing for war, and I would be damned if I was going to let the Crossroads raze humanity to the ground for the ego of a single bitch. The team ran in and as soon as they entered started screaming at me to get on my knees, which I complied with. That didn¡¯t stop them from grabbing me by my scruff and slamming my face into the ground causing me to taste blood in my mouth as I gritted my teeth through it. They tied me up and left me on the ground while they continued to clear the workshop. I didn¡¯t need to listen to them say they found the body; I didn¡¯t need to listen to them say anything. I knew what was coming next. Eventually I heard boots step into the room as I heard one of the commandos say, ¡°Attention!¡± while I heard everyone come to a salute. ¡°At ease. Give me the report,¡± came Juliet¡¯s vile voice. ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. The workshop has been cleared; we found no weapons. There is some sort of machinery in the back that we have yet to identify, but we¡¯re working on shutting down. The criminal, Adonis, was found dead on the ground, shot before we arrived. We have not been able to find a murder weapon. Commander Alloy of Justice was waiting for us and immediately surrendered when we entered and appears unarmed.¡± ¡°Very well. Don¡¯t bother shutting down the machinery, Olympian tech can be temperamental about that, and you¡¯re as liable to cause a steam explosion as you are to turn it off. We¡¯ll have N.O. Technologies come in and clean up the engineering side of things. For now, get the body cleaned up and disposed of. I don¡¯t need Olympus getting news of their little martyr just yet. And pull up Alloy, I want to address him to his face.¡± I was grabbed by the clothing on my back and pulled bodily up. Blood dripped from my lip, which was stung and was probably cut, but I was only vaguely aware of it as I stared into the cold ass eyes of the bitch who killed Adonis. ¡°Commander Alloy of Justice, it brings me zero pleasure to see you like this,¡± she waited for me to respond, but I wasn¡¯t going to give her the pleasure. I kept my mouth shut while I felt the blood seep into my mouth, and I allowed my spit and blood to build up in preparation. She let out a disappointed sigh, ¡°Alloy of Justice, I strip you of your rank and authority. You are under arrest for the murders of the Five Star and Adonis, aggravated assault on two Unit Two guards, and obstruction of justice in the lawful fulfillments of their duties. Do you have anything to say for yourself?¡± I spat my wad into her face, and while I felt no satisfaction, I at least got the bloody projectile into her eye. She didn¡¯t even flinch, merely took a cloth from her front pocket, wiped her face, and said, ¡°Take him to the holding cell. Goodbye Alloy.¡± As I was led away, I turned back and stared back at the curtain at the back of the workshop, where even now steam could be seen creeping over. The Dame I woke up in my office and let out a tired sigh before sitting up from my desk and immediately felt shoots of pain in all my muscles as they protested. I checked the clock on my tablet and nodded, I had gotten about two hours of sleep, which considering the previous day was to be expected. There was a knock on the door, and I surmised what had broken my rest was a first attempt at my door. ¡°Enter,¡± I called out while ordering my body to suppress the need for a yawn. There was more work to be done, and the next forty-eight hours would be critical to my plans. My yeoman opened the door and said, ¡°Pardon ma¡¯am, but you asked me to grab you at 0600 sharp.¡± I nodded while I got a good look at his physique, giving myself time to appreciate his broad shoulders. There were worse things to be woken too, and considering how he had handled himself yesterday, I knew he was my most useful subordinate. Best to keep him happy then. ¡°Thank you. How are you handling everything?¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± I smiled kindly and got up so that I could walk around and get closer to him so I could whisper, ¡°I can¡¯t express how much what you did yesterday means to me. You¡¯re the only man I can trust.¡± After all, how many people were so broken and lonely that they were willing to beat the Five Star to death with his fists, just so I could pin it on someone else? Luck had been on my side when his partner had died, and my unit had to take him into custody after attempting to kill himself. He had only just turned eighteen, and had been desperate for anything to latch onto for attention. I was more than willing to oblige. ¡°I¡¯m handling myself well,¡± his voice shook, but he held firm. I brushed his cheek, and he whispered to me, ¡°I love you.¡± ¡°I love you, too,¡± I lied and then walked back to my desk and sat back down. ¡°What¡¯s today¡¯s schedule?¡± He nodded as he regained his bearings. He knew I valued professionalism over everything else. ¡°The morning is free, since most everyone is still recovering from yesterday. This should free you up for your interrogation of Alloy.¡± I nodded, I needed to handle him early, and find out what he knew and if he had told anyone else about me. He likely didn¡¯t trust anyone besides himself with the information, but one could never be too sure. ¡°This afternoon?¡± ¡°The six corporations want a report from the military at 1300 and a plan for moving forward. The auditors are in shambles, and have also requested a meeting at 1500. 1600 you had scheduled for Ulysses to come over with his partner, I assume you still intend to proceed with that meeting?¡± ¡°I do. Anything else?¡± ¡°No, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Good. Send an email out summoning all the commanders to the war room at 1800. Inform the Alpha units to prepare for mobilization in the meantime. Soon, the enemies of the Crossroads will be no more.¡± I allowed myself to feel satisfaction as he left the room. Things were finally going to be as they should be, after almost a decade of planning and laying down the groundwork. A new age of humanity would rise, and at its helm would be someone who actually knew what was best for it. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Alloy glared at the one-way window as I rapped upon the glass, his eyes managing to meet mine despite only being able to see his own reflection. I made my way into the room and had a seat at the table. ¡°Have a seat.¡± Alloy looked at one of the turrets aimed at his head before begrudgingly taking his place, his eyes narrowing as he calculated whether or not he could break my neck before dying. He could not. That¡¯s his problem, he¡¯s always willing to give up so much for that subjective view of morality of his, even his life. Sometimes it amazed me how smart he could be, and then he would do something needlessly reckless at his own cost to help with the first problem he saw. He never stepped back and considered the bigger picture. Ultimately, his emotions had become his downfall. It made him a fierce pilot, but when Atlantis was sunk, and Olympus crumbled to the ground, there would be no use for an old war dog like him. ¡°I swear if you fucking start tapping I¡¯ll punch you in your smug, bitch face.¡± Pleasant. Tap. His eye twitched, but I knew he had too much self control to go for it. ¡°That¡¯s what I thought, Alloy of Justice. Personally, I¡¯d be more than happy if you got yourself shot by the turrets. It¡¯d be less paperwork.¡± I was bluffing of course, the city was in a panic and needed something to direct its rage. A public execution was the only thing on the table for Alloy. ¡°If you think you¡¯re going to get away with this, then think again.¡± ¡°Get away with what?¡± ¡°Fuck you, that¡¯s what.¡± I shrugged, since I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d be that easy. ¡°Things won¡¯t get better if you don¡¯t at least talk to me.¡± ¡°Bull shit. You must be sticking GEL up your ass if you think I¡¯m that dumb. We both know even if I said anything you¡¯d wipe the cameras.¡± Bold of him to think the cameras were even recording right now. ¡°No, you''re a murderous dick-pasted Echo and can shove your entire Alpha up your ass!¡± He was not going to make this easy, fine. I¡¯d play into his emotions then. ¡°Alright, besides your unhelpful fixation with things up my ass, let¡¯s just consider this therapy. You¡¯ve been out to get me for a while, and you¡¯re right, no one will hear a word of your false allegations because they¡¯re a waste of everyone¡¯s time.¡± ¡°Excuse me? False allegations!?¡± His eyes widened with fury as his voiced pitched high into indignation, ¡°Don¡¯t bullshit me! Before you made rank you were in charge of Unit Forty-three, the exact unit in charge of the area where we found El Dorado. I pulled up the trade records and you know what I found a decade ago? That we traded the exact statue that contained the information about El Dorado that the Atlanteans opened up. I even had Kristoff verify the photo and you should have seen the look of shock on his face. He thought it was funny that we hadn¡¯t realized it was a time capsule, except that¡¯s the thing isn¡¯t it? You fucking screwed the thing in its ass personally! Who do I find signed off the trade order than your fucking name? You discovered El Dorado! You spent resources behind the city¡¯s back to renovate and excavate the location, and then you made sure that Atlantis found out! Then you made sure that when they sent their little raid party that we had Unit One in place so that we could destroy Atlantis. Do you even care how many people live there? Have you even asked Kristoff? Double the population of ours! You¡¯d wipe out half a million people, half of humanity, and for what? No, as soon as I saw El Dorado¡¯s renovation, I knew you had something to do with it. And when I came back I knew you weren¡¯t going to stop, because your master plan to murder an entire city was only stopped by the decency of upper command. You even had the foresight to groom a new commander for your old unit to keep them under your thumb with 90. He knew, didn¡¯t he? That¡¯s why you weren¡¯t hung up on his death was it? No loose end to tie up. There was an oddity in his record, his first mission on patrol his unit was attacked by Atlantis, and they wiped everyone but his Alpha. But I think that¡¯s a damned lie. He spent his first mission on your orders wiping out everyone involved in renovating El Dorado, so that no one could rat your ass out!¡± The man had completely lost all self-control much to my surprise. I must have underestimated how close he was to a break, as his rant was telling me everything I needed to know. He did have one aspect of my plan wrong. Atlantis was supposed to have secured the resources that day. With us having located them finally, and them having gained access to the ability to outgun us finally, I could have forced the Five Star to blow a hole into the hull of Atlantis and flooded them out. As it was, Kristoff¡¯s untimely capture had thrown everything into disarray, and my damage control of the scenario was not enough to get things back on track. Still, Alloy¡¯s deductions had been close enough to the truth that he would have had no issues convincing the Five Star if I hadn¡¯t eliminated the evidence. ¡°Damn it!¡± Alloy crossed his arms in frustration, ¡°I was so close to finally stopping your charade.¡± A little more prompting, I already knew most of the rest, but I had to be sure he had no accomplices. ¡°You¡¯re delusional,¡± I responded dryly, but with the slightest trace of pity. If that didn¡¯t rile him up, I wasn¡¯t sure what would. His stare became frigid, and his next words hissed vehemently like venom, ¡°Don¡¯t. You. Dare. Play. Dumb. Fucking. Bitch.¡± He was still talking, but if I said the wrong thing he was going to clam up. In that case a bait. ¡°Then suppose I did do all that. So what? No one was harmed. We even have a peace unlike any seen before. Why destroy all that?¡± So, the man took the bait again as he rambled onto his second rant. ¡°Destroy it? The only one working to destroy it is you! I wouldn¡¯t have even known anything was amiss if it wasn¡¯t for the protests. But you couldn¡¯t let it get out that you were actually blackmailing people, could you? Unfortunately, the people didn¡¯t realize how dangerous a shithead like you is. So, they set up a rally. But you, oh you are a blackmailing, manipulating bitch! I don¡¯t know if you planted false actors, or just lied in the reports, but you made sure those riots turned violent so you would have an excuse to shoot into the crowd. A dozen people died in those riots, but you want to know the funny part? Almost half of them turned out to be the exact eye witnesses who had brought your crimes to light. More evidence buried, but at this point it had become clear to you that your little empire of control was crumbling like the dried shit it was. Too many witnesses, too many people you couldn¡¯t keep from talking. I don¡¯t know if it was then you started your little plan, or if it was already in the making. All I know was that you were making moves again, and that somebody needed to expose you.¡± The riots had indeed been a problem for me. I should have needed another six months before I was ready to enact my plan, but the fools had prioritized their grievances over the greater good. If each of them had taken my offers in the first place, many of their partners would still be alive. ¡°A week after I started investigating though, that damned video of me surfaced, and my movements became limited. I bet it was you having me followed, and once you knew I was checking into the riots you made sure no one would be willing to cooperate with me by making me out as violent and corrupt as you are in reality. You already had half the work done for you, the protestors were convinced I was part of the problem for negotiating away the alcohol.¡± Looks like he wasn¡¯t aware that was my doing as well. When Alloy asked me the day he came back from El Dorado if I used to be in charge of Unit Forty-three, it was a declaration he knew what I had been up to. I needed contingencies to ensure I could keep control over his movements, and if he made top-three-pilot his celebrity status would have made him difficult to touch. Unfortunately, I had already recommended him for rank one, and he was being sung and praised as a hero shortly after. I had needed to sow the seeds of distrust enough to keep him as rank four. One of the top three being accused of corruption was one thing, but two? The Five Star would never have allowed it. ¡°Despite that bullshit, I still managed to find a lead, see you missed one of those eyewitnesses. And that was all I needed. I had a pattern, and I had a witness, but somehow you must have found out I was going to be briefing the Five Star on my report.¡± He shook his head in disgust, ¡°And I underestimated just how much work you¡¯d been up to. I¡¯m still piecing it together, but let me try my shot at your machinations. Unit Two does final check ups on the twin dogs before they get sent out throughout the city, standard security shit. Somehow, in the process, you find out how to change their voice commands, and so you figure yourself out a word that no one in the Crossroads could ever accidentally say. Something shrouded in myth that only a foreigner like Adonis would know, and then finally you-¡± he finally stopped himself and paused to think. I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t impressed, he had pieced things together quite well, though he had yet to come up with motivation, an important factor when accusing people of crimes. Still, besides that, I had what I needed. The eyewitness was the only person I had missed at the riots, and though I had already addressed the issue it was good to know that Alloy in his overly emotional zeal had let slip their existence. It meant he likely would have slipped up anyone else he had been in contact with over this. The man finally stopped his pondering, ¡°I suppose I still don¡¯t know how you got Adonis to speak into the PA system, do I?¡± He paused and looked at me. Was he asking me to tell him how I had completed my operation? I¡¯m not a fool, I¡¯ll deny any liability to the end. ¡°You tell me, it¡¯s your conspiracy.¡± ¡°Yeah, I suppose it doesn¡¯t matter if I fucking know or have proof of that part at all, does it? Regardless, the fact remains you used the PA to send the city into a panic. It was a bloody coup, and you could pin it all on the Olympian. You wiped out the brigadier generals, and the Five Star was supposed to be there as well. Tell me, were you planning to do this yesterday, or did my report force your hands? Regardless he stepped away for his meeting, and you had to think fast. The problem was you weren¡¯t fast enough. You sent that yeoman of yours, Jason, to do your dirty work. Beat the man to death with his bare fists, and when you combine that with video evidence of me assaulting 33, you now have your pattern of violence for me. I saw the writing on the wall, however, and I thought maybe I could get Adonis out of this alive even if I was screwed. But I was too late, you had already tied up your final loose end. Well congratu-fucking-lations bitch, now you¡¯re the damned Five Star, like you always wanted! Was rank one being on mission part of the plan too, or was that just the icing on top of your rotten, corpse-filled cake?¡± I didn¡¯t engage with him, instead it was time to take away his last hope, and let him wallow in the pit of despair he had forced me to put him in. ¡°Ulysses, come in.¡± A look of confusion crossed his face, and he looked at the door as the man stepped in. ¡°Why the hell do you have my engineer here?¡± ¡°The tablet, Ulysses,¡± I gestured for him to place Alloy¡¯s tablet in front of me. I didn¡¯t need to turn around to know the man couldn¡¯t muster the ability to look his commander in the eye. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry, sir. You really need to stop having other people write your reports.¡± That was unnecessary dialogue, and Alloy¡¯s eyes widened as he realized the implied betrayal and stared finally speechless at Ulysses, then at me, and back again. ¡°That is all Ulysses, you¡¯re dismissed.¡± ¡°Sir, I can exp-¡± ¡°Dismissed!¡± I said sternly. An explanation wasn¡¯t needed. Alloy would not be afforded the comfort of any closure. The door shut behind Ulysses after he left, and Alloy finally found his voice, ¡°You blackmailed my own men¡­¡± There was a sound of defeat, like the life leaving the body of a fighter who had scraped their last. ¡°As per standard procedure for arrested tablets, the data has been wiped from it. In addition, the eyewitness you mentioned I regret to inform you has passed away.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Unfortunately, she was with Ulysses when the Olympian uprising began, and he was unable to protect her from the twin dogs.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no way¡­ he wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± Finally, I had my broken man. I didn¡¯t need him trying some epic escape and getting killed by accident. No, in a day or two, he would be executed, and I had taken away any hope of getting out of this. His evidence was gone. He had been betrayed, and as long as I kept Logan away from him, he would die without even believing he had a friend. The city he loved would hate him, and while I was sure there would be those who questioned his fall from heroism, a simple story of declining mental health, a fake story of alcohol abuse, and a temperamental man were all I needed to brush his death under the tragedy of the Olympian uprising. It was one thing I had learned as part of my tenure in charge of policing. If you wanted to hide a crime, do it in the shade of a louder injustice.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Alloy, if it¡¯s any condolence to you, you should never have placed your faith in other people. You can never trust anyone but yourself.¡± A harsh truth, but never the less an empowering one. ¡°You¡¯re such a bitch.¡± ¡°You used to call me the ice bitch,¡± I said while getting up to leave. ¡°I used to respect you,¡± he mumbled, but it had none of the usual fire in his voice. The six corporations were integral to the smooth operation of the city, and I had the CEO from each in the meeting room reserved for the Five Star, which was now me. First was Jerimiah of N.O. Technologies, 65 of MSS, Patches of Primary Manufactures, 27 of Cradles, Precious of Public Services, and finally Herbert of H&P. ¡°With that being said,¡± I finished my explanation of yesterday, ¡°we believe that the perpetrator has been eliminated and all automata in the city have been destroyed.¡± Jerimiah spoke first, he was a vocal, yet well thought out man, ¡°That¡¯s all good and all, ma¡¯am, but that still raises the issues of the unrest in the city. The people,¡± he paused as he tended to do when he was collecting his thoughts, ¡°have taken to the streets.¡± He lifted his hand and directed it at me, with his thumb jutting out slightly so that it was clear he was directing it at me, ¡°Much of our industries have ground to a halt, and with almost twenty-two thousand people dead, we need them to return to work sooner rather than later, otherwise the effect on the supply chain could drastically be impacted.¡± I smiled politely while I prepared my response. Jerimiah didn¡¯t actually care about the supply chain for his corporation, they dealt in advancing technologies and research. The military worked closest with N.O. Technologies due to their ability to improve our weapons and armor. Their bigger concern was ensuring no one else starved or died as a direct result of the loss in manpower as that would lead to a cascading effect. 65 chimed in at this point, ¡°The attacks had no effect on our stores, and we are able to provide the necessary sustenance for the next eight months, even if we didn¡¯t have our plants running.¡± MSS, or Medical Services and Solutions, oversaw determining and meeting the needs of its citizens in terms of food, shelter, and medical services. They were perhaps the strongest corporation, as they had their hands actively affecting everyone¡¯s lives daily. As a result, though, the contractors were merciless in stripping them of their power which kept them in check. Still, their contracts normally stated that contractors would provide services in exchange for continued free services from MSS. 65, like many members in MSS however, was dedicated to helping the city anyway she could. Patches was the next to speak up, an old frail man with a nasally voice, ¡°Speak for yourself 65. Juliet just said they lost almost a fifth of their forces suppressing the terrorist attack. How the hell am I going to get materials, process them, and sell them when my primary source lost a fifth of its manpower?¡± An obvious issue, but one I already had a solution for. I was glad he brought it up, however. Primary Manufactures was an important step in the supply chain, refining and distributing out purified resources for everyone in the city to use. ¡°Well I for one¡­¡± Precious began to speak, but she was quickly interrupted. ¡°No one gives a damn what you have to say, woman,¡± Patches said in irritation. ¡°There is no risk that the elevators will shut down, the electricity goes out, or the plumbing fails anytime soon.¡± He wasn¡¯t wrong either. Yes Public Services was disrupted, but their wasn¡¯t any risk of major failure anytime soon as most of their work involved upkeep maintenance in cases of emergency like this. ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen,¡± 27, CEO of the Cradles, interjected, ¡°In these trying times lets allow level-headedness and civility to prevail.¡± He was the youngest of the CEOs, and in many ways an absolute prodigy. I was very curious to hear what he had to say, ¡°If we¡¯re being honest, however, our priority for now is restoring Primary Manufactures to full operational capacity, which in order to do that we need to ensure that the military is restored. Afterwards we can put equal emphasis on MSS, N.O. Technologies, and Public Services to restore them. Within three quarters we should be back in the black, but in the meantime we should be ready to be in the red for the next few months. Finally, once the economy has stabilized, we can begin moving people back into H&P, who will in the meantime have to weather the brunt of this storm.¡± Herbert nodded in agreement, and spoke in a gravelly voice, ¡°It pains me to admit it, but 27 is correct. My company is the least important for recovering. I am curious on how it affects the Cradles however.¡± Herbert oversaw Humanities and Progress, shortened to H&P, and was the oldest and wisest of the people assembled at the table. H&P were the ones who wrote up contracts, provided administrative and legal documentation, and supported the caretakers, who were the contractors in charge of raising the citizens of the Crossroads. They were important, yes, but in times of crisis they were frequently put on the backburner. 27 answered Herbert¡¯s question, ¡°Cradles have felt little impact from the attack, though we are still documenting and updating databases to reflect the changes from yesterday¡¯s terrorism.¡± I was pleased to hear that. Without our databases and computers, our ability to calculate and track the large amount of information of the city would be severely hampered and make society so inefficient that in just a few years mankind would die out. I had been certain the twin dogs wouldn¡¯t attack any of the servers, but you never knew what could be damaged in the fog of war. I finally saw my chance to speak, ¡°In that case ladies and gentlemen, I do believe I have a plan that would allow us to recover swiftly. First, I would like permission to place the city under martial law so that we can mobilize the workforce immediately. Second, I would like Cradles to calculate who I can have and from where to restore the military back to full strength, if you could 27? Finally, for the sake of streamlining through red tape, I ask that for the duration of however long the city must remain under martial law that all matters of running the Crossroads be routed through the Five Star¡¯s office.¡± There was several more minutes of debate and discussion, but eventually they unanimously agreed my plan was the best course of action, even if a centralized seat of power and martial law was unprecedented for our city since the days of its foundation. I chose not to smile as I solemnly swore not to abuse my newfound power. The only thing that I had been dishonest about was that I would give up my power as soon as the city had recovered. I would be foolish to do so, as the city needed a shepherd to ensure it stayed the best course. I looked at the disheveled and baggy eyed man, who had the slightest wisp of grey teasing in his beard, while still having a vibrantly dirty blonde full head of hair that I had climbed several flights up the pillar just to meet with, apparently. ¡°And you are?¡± ¡°Kevin, miss Five Star, ma¡¯am,¡± he said while scratching his head abashedly. He looked like he was going to say more, but I cut him off. ¡°Just Five Star will suffice, or ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Ah yes. I¡¯m the current senior auditor.¡± I raised an expectant eyebrow and made a point to look him up and down while tilting my head back and lowering my eyes to maintain my gaze. My disdain was palpable, I knew, but it was nothing but a fa?ade, as I had planned for most the auditors to have been wiped out by yesterday¡¯s attack. ¡°And where is¡­ the bull?¡± The bull was the senior contractor for each of the different union of contractors around the city. While the bull didn¡¯t necessarily speak for everyone in their field, they were highly influential. In the case of the auditors, the bull did coordinate and divide jobs out to all of their independents. ¡°I¡­ I am, ma¡¯am. The previous bull, she¡­. Uh¡­ she was killed yesterday by one of the¡­¡± His voice trailed off and he shuddered. ¡°One of the automata,¡± I finished, and the fool flinched at the word. I would need to find a replacement for him than if he couldn¡¯t bring his own fear under control. I already knew the bull would be dead, as well as almost every single auditor. It had been by my recommendation that they bring the twin dogs with them so that if anyone became belligerent to their inspections they would no longer be reliant on Unit Two to provide them protection. With the auditors in shambles, there would be no useless checks and balances to get in the way of my take over. ¡°Kevin, why am I here? There are many other more important issues at hand as I¡¯m sure you are aware of that need my attention.¡± He was inexperienced, and by being dismissive I was sure he would likely cave and be unable to stand up for the auditors, a group in the city which while necessary, needed drastically overhauled and replaced with people loyal to me to insure the future of the Crossroads. ¡°Uh¡­ well Ma¡¯am, Five Star, ma¡¯am¡­¡± he stumbled through his words as he struggled to regain his composure. Tap. He flinched. Tap. He stared sullenly at my finger upon the table between us. Tap. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he muttered in a pathetic voice. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. The man had devolved to a blubbering mess, as he started to cry. He really was completely consumed by fear and sorrow. ¡°Kevin, if you are going to be the auditor bull, you need to act like the auditor bull.¡± The man took several shaky breaths before finally gasping, ¡°I know you¡¯re right¡­ Just everyone I knew is¡­ You¡¯re right.¡± The man took several more breaths, each becoming steadier and stronger than the last. ¡°Ma¡¯am, ninety percent of the auditors passed away in yesterday¡¯s¡­¡± he took another deep breath, ¡°terrorist attack. As things are, we are unable to provide the QA requirements to maintain the city¡¯s efficiency, and standards are likely to drop in the coming months, and likely in a way that will take years to recover from.¡± ¡°Get to the point.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am. In lieu of current social strife, I believe that to prevent this it will require support from the military to take over some of our duties until things restabilize,¡± he looked like a haggard mess, but he had managed to get out what he wanted, and to my satisfaction it actually played into my hands. ¡°You want the military to take over audits?¡± ¡°Yes ma¡¯am. I know you all are probably stretched thin right now, but you are the only ones who operate smoothly enough through your chains of command that I believe that this is the best course of action to minimize the impact of the city¡¯s losses. I¡¯m sorry, it was probably a bad idea, but we¡¯re desperate.¡± What an unexpected boon this was. I had expected the corporations to flounder and had planned to manipulate them to give up some of their power and autonomy, but for the auditors to give up theirs so willingly and without any extra shoving was quite the welcomed surprise. I looked at the man, placed one hand on his shoulder, and spoke first professionally, before allowing some sympathy to seep into my voice to incur favor in the man, ¡°Its an excellent idea, and I think with some time you¡¯ll find that you will make an excellent bull, so keep your chin up.¡± Unfortunately, my words failed to perk him up, but hopefully the small touch of compassion would be enough to keep him loyal to my cause. Afterall, anyone who realized that I was the best one to control the city was certainly wiser than many of the previous leaders had been. ¡°Ulysses, its good to see you and your partner,¡± I said behind my new desk. The damaged window made things a little breezy, but I enjoyed the larger size of the office. ¡°Cut the crap, Juliet-¡± ¡°Five Star. You¡¯ll address me as the Five Star,¡± I corrected him while getting up from my desk. He hesitated nervously, and then collected himself, ¡°Fine. Five Star, I¡¯m here to ensure you followed through on your end of the deal.¡± ¡°Of course. If you check my tablet and search your partner¡¯s name, you¡¯ll see that their criminal record has been completely expunged and wiped clean. If she keeps herself on the right side of the law, we won¡¯t have an issue again.¡± He picked up my tablet from the top of the desk and quickly searched through it before breathing a sigh of relief, ¡°Thank goodness.¡± ¡°So how did it feel to betray your own commander?¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± he asked in disbelief, while his partner quietly looked at him and then back at me. ¡°Did I stutter? How did it feel to betray someone who trusted you?¡± He glared at me, and his partner tugged at his arm, ¡°What are you getting at?¡± ¡°What I¡¯m ¡®getting at¡¯ is that you cannot be trusted.¡± I pulled my gun out from my holster and placed one bullet square between the man¡¯s eyes as his partner screamed in panic and turned away. A second bullet punctured her neck as I failed to address her change in posture and she fell over on her side, bleeding onto the carpet and creating a wet sucking sound through the fresh hole while she struggled on the ground. A third bullet left her dead. I stared at my gun, which was an upgraded high caliber gauss pistol specially ordered two years ago in response to the Atlantean gaining his citizenship. The bullets were powerful enough that they could even pierce the cyber-enhanced man¡¯s skin. The only issue was it only had three bullets. I reloaded, and then went out and called Jason into my office. He looked at the two bodies on the ground and then back to me and asked, ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Yes, defenestrate the bodies and clean up the blood. I¡¯m going to head to my final meeting for the day.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he said cooly while picking up the dead woman, putting her over his shoulder, taking her to the window, and tossing her out. ¡°Do you need anything else?¡± ¡°No, Jason, that¡¯ll be all.,¡± I walked up and breathed on his neck before taking my leave. He seemed quite pleased by the interaction. If only everyone was as easy to control as him. The war room had room for every commander, brigadier general, and the Five Star who was now me, though six of the commanders had died during the chaos of yesterday many of which were present in vicinity to the automata when my plan had gone into action. With only forty-four commanders remaining, the most important of which were my Alpha pilots, I had them gathered around the table. I directed those who were not pilots that they would be on security and defense detail for the city in the meantime and would serve as the police while instating martial law. Then I dismissed them while having my pilots remain. ¡°So as you all can see, this is what remains of our Alphas following yesterday¡¯s terrorist attack.¡± I glanced at Logan, who had his arms crossed and his normal jovial grin missing. His eyes were furrowed in frustration, and I knew he was likely the most crossed about what had happened to his friend. ¡°Commander Logan, I know you probably have questions, now is the time to ask them.¡± He looked at me, down at his tablet placed on the table, and then back at me before saying, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Five Star, ma¡¯am. I just have trouble believing that Alloy would kill the previous Five Star.¡± I nodded and smiled sadly, ¡°I know, it surprised me too. I should¡¯ve seen the signs though. I knew he had been becoming more volatile and aggressive in the last few weeks, I assume in response to the accusations from the protestors. I regret to admit that I found evidence that he had been taking alcohol for his own use as well. I tried confronting him about it, but he denied it.¡± Logan looked at her incredulously, ¡°He had been drinking!?¡± ¡°I believe so, yes. Yesterday the Five Star called him to his office on short notice to inform him he knew, as I had briefed him on the missing evidence from the locker. This wasn¡¯t even the first time Alloy had taken evidence for personal use either, as he had done the same with the Atlantean a couple years ago. I believe the Five Star also told him that he wouldn¡¯t be getting rank one as a result, though he would be allowed to continue serving as an Alpha pilot albeit under restrictions. I believe that Alloy lost his head in that moment and in an overwhelming burst of emotional weakness attacked and beat the Five Star to death.¡± Logan shook his head somberly, ¡°I can¡¯t believe he didn¡¯t talk to me about him struggling. I thought I was his friend.¡± I got up from my seat and placed a hand on the man¡¯s shoulder, ¡°You still are, Logan. This wasn¡¯t your fault. Alloy was in over his head and didn¡¯t reach out for help. There¡¯s nothing you could have done.¡± Logan shook in my hand for a bit, but than steadied himself and placed his opposite hand over mine. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, thank you. I just needed a moment.¡± ¡°I know.¡± I returned to my seat at the head of the table and addressed the group, ¡°Let this be a moral lesson for all of you. When I arrested Alloy, he kept swearing that he was the hero of the Crossroads and deserved rank one. He even made his way down to the terrorist and killed him claiming that he was a hero and should be praised, not condemned for his actions. In our line of work we can¡¯t afford to get emotional. Humanity can¡¯t afford for us to get emotional. Every day we survive off nothing but our intellectual might. All other animals have died off because they could not shed the illogical aspects of themselves, but mankind survives because we are better. We can grow to be better.¡± I felt satisfaction as the assembly acknowledged my statement with, ¡®yes ma¡¯am.¡¯ Finally, after years of planning, I was at the helm. The one man who was in my way was nullified, and all that was left were a few bastions of the city¡¯s enemies. ¡°Rank one is currently deployed on mission to locate Atlantis once again. We were able to get sounding data on them the last time we located them, and pairing this with Olympus¡¯s data we believe we will be able to pinpoint them shortly. With that in mind, we have a more pressing issue to address. ¡°According to evidence collected by my men, we believe that Adonis was acting alone. He showed a lack of a clear plan, and we were able to check all his correspondence with Olympus since his arrival and found no signs of collusion. We believe from his notes that he had come to the conclusion that he found our way of life offensive, and believed we needed to be purged as he became more extremist in his thoughts over the past few months. ¡°Its difficult to say without an interrogation, but Alloy deprived us of the opportunity to get more information out of the terrorist due to his knee-jerk reaction. Regardless, we are forced to act from the actions of a single rogue Olympian. Adonis was the son of the diplomat Vitruvius Alexanders, who was only on speaking terms with Alloy of Justice. We believe once it is found out that we killed his son without first holding a trial or returning him, it will cause our relationship with Olympus to devolve into open war. Before this happens, we must act. ¡°Luckily Olympus is in a state of vulnerability, as hurricane season has begun. They are currently fueling their steam engines via waterspout out in the ocean and have sent most of their airships that would normally be used in defense out on scavenging missions. In addition, while I regret to take advantage of their treaty in such an underhanded way, we have been informed exactly what Olympus¡¯s flight path will be for communication, so we will have no problem locating them in the storm. ¡°Despite this, we expect heavy resistance once they realize we are on the offensive. To ensure mission success, we will be deploying all Alphas to provide cover for rank three¡¯s Leviathan, which has a range of a hundred kilometers while airborne. Once within range, its laser weaponry should be able to shoot the hydrogen tanks of the flying city, causing a domino effect as each detonation will help fuel the next one. Our goal is to shoot Olympus out of the sky rapidly, and then intercept Unit One on their return path to turn around and eliminate Atlantis, as they will likely have better equipment for scavenging the resources from El Dorado from the ocean floor, while we will be forced to wait for the hurricane to pass. After the dust settles, we should be able to at our leisure locate and retrieve all the resources we gave Olympus and begin making our own preparations to clear the atmosphere and travel to one of our neighboring planets for humanity¡¯s continued survival. Now are there any questions, or are we ready to start putting together the details of our battle plan?¡± There were a few, but they were taken care of in short order. Afterwards we moved to the plan, and to my surprise the new commander, 33, took a strong leadership role as she began proposing what would be needed. I had figured she would be, like Logan, too caught up in the shock of what happened to her former commander, but she instead seemed undeterred by the sudden betrayal. Perhaps, she, like me, viewed the man as overly emotional. Indeed, she seemed quite fixated on our mission success. ¡°That about wraps things up,¡± I declared. ¡°Following 33¡¯s proposed plan, we will be contacting Olympus and informing them we have discovered intel that Atlantis is planning an attack to recover El Dorado assets while they are vulnerable and in close proximity to the ocean¡¯s surface. We¡¯ll use the fact we deployed Unit One already to justify this sudden discovery Under this guise we¡¯ll be deploying all eight of our available Alphas to provide ¡®aid¡¯ while in actuality we¡¯ll be preparing for their destruction. Unfortunately, as we approach they¡¯ll likely require that we set up a perimeter outside the range of the Leviathan to protect the city, but we will need to get closer. We¡¯ll deploy our other Alphas first and make moves as if to comply, but as soon as Leviathan is in position we will all converge on its spot to protect it while we make the final stretch. Mission starts tomorrow at 0400. I want everyone to get adequate sleep tonight. Failure will not be an option.¡± Elpis As we were dismissed from the meeting, I couldn¡¯t believe the lies that had been put out. For one, I knew for a fact that Alloy had taken the blame for me when it came to the evidence locker. Not only that, but Juliet was very much aware of that fact and yet still chose to lie about it to my face, likely as a slip up. Another problem with the story being put out was the idea that Adonis had any intention of attacking the city or had become a terrorist was pretty ridiculous. He was always obsessing over his automata and whatever machine he had been building in the back of his workshop with the goal of helping people. He was too starry-eyed, too na?ve, that to think he could even consider hurting anyone in the Crossroads was outrageous. Finally, was the idea that Alloy had become an alcoholic, and had beaten a commanding officer to death over not getting rank one. If there was one thing, I was sure of, it was that Alloy was fully aware his asshole-attitude was likely to prevent him from ever gaining rank, and he was more than at peace with that as he never attempted to change his behavior. Sure he liked to complain, yes he had his crass outbursts, but it was always a controlled and tempered outburst, consistent even. For it to suddenly escalate after all these years was unlikely. No, there wasn¡¯t a doubt in my mind that Juliet had lied, though to what end I hadn¡¯t a clue. Worse yet, she had all but taken over the city, and was walking a path of destruction to destroy Olympus and Atlantis, and neither was prepared for what was coming. Kristoff had informed us that there was about half a million people living in Atlantis, and a similar number lived in Olympus for a grand total of a million. We would be wiping out eighty percent of humanity if she succeeded, and the idea of that was horrendous. On top of that, if she could without a second thought do that, there was no telling what she would do with the people of the Crossroads when she gave her full attention to us. She had the means and authority now, and the previous checks and balances of the city had been thrown in disarray with the auditors seeking the military for help and the CEO waiving their rights for martial law. I had concluded that, if not for the sake of the Crossroads, at least for the sake of the innocents living in those two cities she needed to be stopped, no matter what. For that purpose, I made sure to help with Juliet¡¯s war plans. By having an intricate understanding of what she planned, I would have the insight needed to delay the attack, if not outright stop it in time, even if the window was tight. I had previously worked out the weaknesses of Olympus and was fully aware of how vulnerable their hydrogen tanks were if one were to be detonated. The position of each of the Alphas would ensure that even if Olympus caught on, they wouldn¡¯t stand a chance in stopping Leviathan getting in range and firing its laser, and the only Alpha even getting in range was his. This also meant there was a clear weakness to the plan, which was if the Leviathan was taken out, we could delay the attack by at least a day while a new plan was put together. Worst case scenario, I proceeded with the plan and disable the Leviathan the day of before it gets a chance to fire. With all our Alphas grouped, Olympus would have a path to escape and regroup their fleet. The problem was I didn¡¯t want to have to harm Logan in the process, it would be better for him to refuse to partake in the mission, though his loyalty to the city would likely trump his loyalty to his friend. I made a point to approach Logan after the meeting, ¡°May I have a word, sir?¡± The other commanders were walking out the door of the meeting, and Juliet was discussing with one of the twins some tweaks she wanted done to their Alphas before the mission, giving me an opening. The twins were a bizarre pair of pilots, and their Alphas reflected that, so hopefully their conversation would take a while. ¡°33, uh, yeah,¡± his answer was unenthusiastic and he looked disheartened as he got up and started making his way to the door. It broke my heart to see the normally jovial and optimistic man so depressed, but I needed to find a way to motivate him, not console him. ¡°Mind making it quick, the Leviathan has extensive startup checks, and I need to complete them before I go to sleep tonight.¡± ¡°Of course, sir, I just wanted to talk to you about Commander Alloy.¡± He looked at me with great sadness in his eyes, ¡°I understand, you were with him quite a while, though I have to admit, you seem to have accepted his¡­ I guess mental deterioration¡­ without surprise. I guess you spent the most time around him, I just wish I had seen it coming.¡± ¡°Actually, sir, that¡¯s what I wanted to talk to you about that, though if you don¡¯t mind-,¡± I was interrupted before I managed to finish my proposal to take this to the hallway. Juliet interpolated herself, having finished her conversation with the male twin, ¡°Logan, 33, you¡¯re still here. Is everything alright?¡± I would have preferred we had managed to walk out of the room in time to get out of earshot, but she seemed quite keen on Logan, as that seemed the most likely reason she had ended her conversation with the twin so quickly. She had moved to intercept us before we left. Most likely, she, like me, had realized how integral he would be for tomorrow¡¯s attack. ¡°May I ask what you two were talking about?¡± ¡°Commander Logan was just telling me he was preparing Leviathan for tomorrow¡¯s operation. I wanted to check up on his mental state, since his best friend¡¯s recent behavior could obfuscate his judgement, affecting mission success tomorrow.¡± No point lying, though I could twist my intentions to appear to align with hers. ¡°Good to see my new commander was thinking along the same lines as me. Logan, please, I know you are hoping to lose yourself in your work, but tomorrow I need you well rested. I insist you go get some sleep and I¡¯ll personally make sure your Alpha¡¯s checks are completed. I¡¯ll have Jason escort you.¡± ¡°Ladies, please, I appreciate your concern, but I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Logan said forcing a conciliatory smile, though it didn¡¯t hide the sorrow in his eyes. ¡°Logan, this isn¡¯t a request, its an order. Jason will make sure you get back to your room safely.¡± Juliet¡¯s voice moved from kind to steel in a matter of moments, and I found myself truly appreciating why Alloy always called her the ice bitch. She didn¡¯t actually care, she just faked it until she determined it wasn¡¯t necessary. Damnit all! I wished I had the actual liberty Alloy always displayed when he would lose his composure and drop profanities like radiation raining down from the sky. However, now was not the time. I don¡¯t think it was a coincidence either, it was well known that Logan was good friends with Alloy, and she was likely trying to keep him away and under watch until everything had blown over. I, however, could count on one hand the number of times I had interacted with Alloy outside of official meetings since I had made commander. It must have made her lax towards me. For now, that failure to stay in touch would appear to be a blessing in disguise. Juliet walked us both out of the meeting room, where Jason was waiting, and with a nod from Juliet the yeoman led Logan away. She had definitely set this up beforehand then, as otherwise she would have at least needed to explain the situation to Jason. The fact he knew he was to stay with Logan meant that she was for sure keeping tabs on the commander. She turned towards me and said, ¡°Commander 33, thank you for checking up on your comrades, but let me handle that from now on. Please focus on your own preparations for tomorrow, I believe this is your first mission in the field, correct?¡± The woman had talked to me for another five minutes giving me bits of advice to calm my nerves before my first mission. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact I had watched her lie about Alloy during the mission brief and seen how quickly she turned cold with Logan, I may have mistaken her as acting benevolently. When I finally got away, I made a point to head back to my living quarters, just in case I was being followed. Besides, Caroline would want to hear from me after what happened yesterday. She luckily was able to get away from the twin dogs at her offices unscathed, but she was a complete nervous wreck. When I tried to mention Adonis she would become distressed, and it was clear to me that she like the rest of the city was completely convinced Adonis had planned the attack. I couldn¡¯t blame her, however. She¡¯d watched almost all her co-workers be torn apart in the most horrendous way. She needed something to lash out on, and a foreigner was an easy target. I managed to talk her into heading to bed early as I explained I thought it best she gets more rest to help cope with everything that happened, and then waited an additional thirty minutes before heading out I looked and down my building¡¯s hallway, searching for any prying eyes that may have been watching, and then headed out the door. I had grabbed my black jacket before leaving, as it was likely to begin getting chilly as the evening progressed. Solar mirrors directed sunlight down shafts into the underground city, which would be used to transfer heat to piping in order to keep the city warm, but when night set we were as susceptible to the night¡¯s chill as the surface. I checked the time before I left as well. It was 2230, and in five and a half hours we would be setting out for the destruction of an entire city. That gave me just a few hours to find out the truth of what was going on, and if possible, stop it. I started by making my way to the pillar, and briskly walked down the metal grating stairwells towards where I knew they were keeping Alloy. At the very least he may have some answers to some of the questions I had, and hopefully he¡¯d still be well enough to help me. I soon found the road that contained Unit Two, made my way down the bridge where it tunneled into the cave wall, and found the building which would contain the same cell Kristoff had been held in when we first captured him. I was glad I still remembered the way without checking my tablet, as I suspected it might be bugged, though that likely was unnecessary paranoia. Still, it was better to be safe, and had left it powered off. I stepped into the lobby, where there was a guard behind a reinforced glass window, with steel bars to provide additional protection. He looked up from something he had been looking at to pass the time and his eyebrows raised in slight surprise, ¡°Commander 33, what are you doing here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to see the prisoner.¡± The guard shifted uncomfortably in his chair while he frowned and looked for the right words to say. I couldn¡¯t blame him, I had never been that fond myself of talking to higher ranked officers, but now I could see that it was tiring when people always acted on edge around you. That was one thing that Alloy¡¯s attitude had always done well to alleviate. He never acted better than you, just spoke like an asshole to everyone, regardless of rank, and as a result you could be candid with him. The man seemed to have gathered his thoughts, and he nervously played with a button on his uniform while answering, ¡°Ma¡¯am, I¡¯m under strict orders not to allow anyone to talk to the prisoner.¡± ¡°I understand that, but I am ordering you to let me speak to him. I have some important matters that only he knows the answers to, that will be imperative for tomorrow¡¯s operation.¡± The man looked even more pained as he held under the pressure, ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am, this is coming from the Five Star herself. She said no one, not even commanders, could speak to him. No matter what. She made that crystal clear, and I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m just following orders.¡± So Juliet had anticipated someone attempting to talk to Alloy, though likely she had thought it would be Logan making the attempt. The problem was I was pretty sure he would likely report this to Juliet immediately, which was going to cause problems. It was important she stayed unaware of my activities. Still, I had no way forward. ¡°Understood, have a good evening.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± I took my leave and stepped out onto the road to begin making my way back to the pillar, and as I walked along I thought about what my next course of action would be. Logan would likely still have someone watching him throughout the night, and without evidence or knowledge there wasn¡¯t anything I could do that I was sure would help. Worse yet, Juliet would likely be informed of my incursion first thing tomorrow, which meant I was going to have to come up with an explanation. It was looking like attacking the Leviathan out on mission might be my only option and would likely spell my own death. To think, just a couple years ago I had refused to take responsibilities just so I could live a bit longer. I knew now though that there were more lives that depended on my actions, and if it wasn¡¯t for my current position, I wouldn¡¯t be able to save Olympus in the first place. ¡°33.¡± I could head to the Elysium Workshop, but I suspected that it would still be marked off by the police and also have at least one guard watching it. Hopefully he wouldn¡¯t have as unassailable orders as the prison guard. ¡°33, you there?¡± I looked up with a jump as I realized I was being spoken too, and looked up to see a giant of a man, with ebony civilian clothing that were too tight and skin that had tattoos and surgical markings indicating he had dermal cybernetics. Kristoff looked puzzled and irritated, and there was an air of determination about him that left me slightly unsettled, but I suspected it was in regards to what had happened to Adonis, ¡°What are you doing out here?¡± ¡°I was trying to talk to Alloy of Justice, but the guard wasn¡¯t letting me in so I was trying to figure out what I was going to do next.¡± He nodded, as if in understanding, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you also want to see him after what happened.¡± ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± ¡°In that case let¡¯s go see him then. I don¡¯t mind doing this together.¡± He then walked past me and I stared after him in slight confusion as to how he intended to get past the guard. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, do you have a way to see Alloy?¡± I called out to him. ¡°Sure, why not, consider this part of my consulting.¡± ¡°Wait, were you asked for consultation regarding Alloy?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then explain to me how you plan on seeing him?¡± ¡°Shut up and follow me then. I can be very persuasive.¡± Kristoff opened the door for me, and I stepped into the lobby. The guard looked up and then said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am, like I said, no one can¡­ see¡­ what in the world?¡± I didn¡¯t need to turn around to know that Kristoff had followed me inside and the man was looking over me at the behemoth, who promptly walked past me and said, ¡°I¡¯m here to see the prisoner.¡± To the guard¡¯s credit, though he looked quite small and intimidated, he managed to talk, perhaps due to knowing there were metal bars and a reinforced window between him and the Atlantean, ¡°I am under strict orders to turn anyone away who isn¡¯t the Five Star.¡± ¡°That sucks for you,¡± Kristoff said calmly before jamming a fist between two of the metal bars instantly twisting them out of his way, cracking through the window and tearing the metal that held the glass together like paper, the glass itself shattering. He grabbed the man by the cusp of his uniform and slammed him three times into the glass that had survived his blow before letting go and pulling his hand back, red blood beading where his skin had been cut, though nothing that wasn¡¯t surface deep. The guard slumped back with a broken nose and clearly out cold. ¡°How was that persuasive!?¡± ¡°Fists are a very compelling persuasion. Right, so 33, are there any weapons besides the turrets in the cell that could stop me?¡± On the one hand, this without a doubt would make me a criminal if I was joining him, on the other hand, this did technically solve my problem of trying to find the truth. ¡°¡­ No. There should be no more than half a dozen other guards on duty. Just make sure you don¡¯t kill them, or I will be forced to stop you.¡± ¡°With what?¡± he asked rhetorically before going to the magnetically locked doors and kicking them in. One twisted off its top hinge while managing to hold on, while the other swung open and slammed in to the wall with a bang. Kristoff grabbed the handle of the one that had nearly broken off and pulled it out of the frame. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to kill them, but I can¡¯t guarantee they won¡¯t be hospitalized when I¡¯m done with them.¡± He pulled the door with him, letting it drag on the tile creating a terrible shriek as the metal met ceramic. It had the desired effect. The first guard came out of a side door, pulled his gauss pistol out of his hip holster, and took shots at Kristoff, who with his free hand covered the front of his face to shield his eyes, and otherwise tanked the bullets like they were nothing. The guard slowly backed away until he hit the wall, looked around as he realized he was trapped, all before Kristoff stomped on his foot, breaking it, and causing him to scream in pain as he fell down. Another two came out from a stairwell to the building and pulled out batons, as if somehow they could subdue Kristoff that way. He took his other hand, grabbed the door and swung it around striking both guards on their sides as he swung the wide object, and I could hear bones cracking as he let out a low growl. I walked by the injured guards, ¡°I am so sorry.¡± They moaned in response. ¡°33, where to next!¡± Looks like I was pretty much just assisting in abetting, but than again I don¡¯t think I had many options. ¡°Take the stairs down two levels, make a right out the door, that¡¯ll take you to the waiting room, which connects to a hallway with one last guard who is right outside the cell.¡± ¡°On it.¡± He marched through the path I had detailed to him, and I followed struggling to keep up with his long strides. Each step he took he let the door fall and boom like a terrible rhythm until he got to his level and exited through the door to continue his war path. He finally reached the end of it, and the final guard looked utterly terrified as we round the corner of the doorway. As far as he knew, he had been listening to the metal scream of the door slowly approaching, and likely had only stayed to fulfill his duty of watching over the prisoner. The guard dropped his baton, which he had initially had at the ready, and just looked on in terror as Kristoff approached. ¡°Out of my way.¡± The guard nodded and started to run, but I tripped him and then put him into a headlock until he passed out, before ripping off a piece of his clothes, tying his hands up as he regained consciousness, and tied together his shoes. Kristoff looked back at me in slight curiosity, so I explained, ¡°We don¡¯t need him informing the Five Star. Best we keep our break-in quiet as long as possible. They should be standing a standard eight hour shift that started at 2200.¡± ¡°Whatever. How do I disable the turrets?¡± ¡°They¡¯re programmed to only shoot the prisoner, if you were to damage them, they wouldn¡¯t defend themselves.¡± ¡°Good,¡± there was a look of utter rage on his face now, and for the first time it occurred to me that it might not be a good idea to have Kristoff talk to Alloy. It was too late however, as he pushed the door forward and it creaked before the hinges pinged and the door fell in.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°What the actual fuck!?¡± Alloy exclaimed as he jumped out of bed. The room was soundproofed, and despite the racket he had likely not heard the commotion heading towards him. Kristoff swung the door at the ceiling, breaking first one turret, a second, the third, and finally threw it to take out the last one. Alloy looked at him, and then saw me. ¡°33, what the fuck are you doing? Oh, shit!¡± He cried out the last part as Kristoff lunged across the room, easily parkoured across the table between them, and grabbed him by the throat so that Kristoff was able to slam him into the wall, hard. He must have held back though, as he didn¡¯t leave Alloy a bloodied mess in the process. A baritone roar erupted from the man¡¯s throat, something so strong that it made my ears buzz and sent chills down my spine, as it was assisted by his cybernetics to create an inhuman sound that could shake the room to its foundation. Indeed, dust from the ceiling seemed to fall in response to his voice, ¡°Why did you kill him!¡± Alloy choked, and attempted to say something while I cried, ¡°Kristoff, let him go!¡± ¡°Why did you kill Adonis!?¡± He squeezed harder, and Alloy¡¯s eyes started to roll back as he continued to struggle to say something. ¡°What was that?¡± His bestial voice had turned into a low growl as he loosened his grip enough for Alloy to gasp in some air. ¡°I¡­ said¡­ I¡­ didn¡¯t¡­ asshole¡­¡± Kristoff glared at him, then said, ¡°Who did kill him?¡± ¡°¡­ Ju¡­ li¡­ et¡­¡± Kristoff let him go and Alloy collapsed to the ground gasping. He lay on the ground before dragging himself to his hands and knees coughing, ¡°Fuck¡­ I could¡¯ve¡­ died¡­¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t decided if I won¡¯t yet. Do you have proof Juliet killed him?¡± Alloy continued to massage his Adam¡¯s apple, ¡°I¡¯ve got¡­ video evidence¡­ assuming she didn¡¯t think to destroy it¡­ Fuck, I think you damaged my throat.¡± It was my turn to ask a question, ¡°Alloy, please tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I can explain as we go¡­ my throat is fucked¡­ shit¡­ We¡¯ve got to get¡­ the evidence first¡­ Before she finds it¡­¡± He had developed a wheeze as he spoke, and I was worried if he would be fine. As we exited through the building he cursed as he saw the wounds inflicted on the first few guards, but otherwise explained things thoroughly. I on my part told Kristoff we had to gather them all up and trap them in a room, so that they wouldn¡¯t be able to alert anyone of the breakout for as long as possible. After a few minutes, Kristoff had thrown them all into the cell, and had managed to reseal the door to it by wedging the table and broken door he brought into the cell in the doorway so that no one could crawl through. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it would have to do. Alloy continued his explanation once we exited the building, and by the time we had reached the pillar I finally understood the idiosyncrasies of the mission two years ago. The reason El Dorado seemed like it had been discovered before us, and everything else, was because it had been. Juliet had played everyone for fools, and had been doing it for years. By the time we had ascended up the pillar to our destination and stepped out onto the bridge he had finished explaining what had happened yesterday, and all the events leading up to it. It was horrendous, but it made sense. Juliet had performed a coup and managed to distract everyone from it by pinning it on Adonis, all while simultaneously finding a way to keep the one man who knew what she had been up to imprisoned. I was lucky that Kristoff seemed to be nodding and accepting it, for if he had decided Alloy was a liar there isn¡¯t a doubt in my mind he would have killed him, but Kristoff seemed quite content accepting Juliet¡¯s fault in this. He was either a very trusting fool, or had already started to catch on to some of the rot that surrounded Juliet. ¡°Alright, you guys follow me, and Alloy¡­ actually just stay out of sight until I wave you over, you¡¯re kind of the most wanted man in the Crossroads right now.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± he wheezed. I led Kristoff to the entrance to the workshop, where there was police tape over the door and a single guard standing outside of it. ¡°Commander 33, what are you doing out here this late at night?¡± ¡°Kristoff,¡± I said expectantly and sure enough the man took off and tackled the man to the ground while I tore off pieces of his clothes to tie him up and gag him. ¡°Thank you.¡± Kristoff held his own head in one hand, ¡°Let¡¯s make this quick, I don¡¯t know how long I can stay in control.¡± ¡°Just try to stay calm, if there¡¯s evidence in here we can use it to stop her.¡± ¡°Its not a matter of keeping calm. If Tartarus gets taken over by a tyrant like Atlas, I won¡¯t be able to stop myself from doing what I need to survive.¡± I looked at him oddly, ¡°You¡¯re not planning on betraying us, are you?¡± He shook his head, ¡°No, but I can¡¯t keep control of myself if that happens. Please, we must hurry.¡± There was something about how he said it that made me believe him, though I wasn¡¯t quite sure what he meant by it. I waved over, and soon Alloy was running over, wheezing pathetically, ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head¡­ in¡­¡± I walked into the workshop, which was disturbingly quiet with the exception of the pumping in the back of the room. There was normally more equipment running, as Adonis would be absorbed in working on his little machines. Part of me hoped he would be bent over one of his automata, turn up and wave, and start explaining in too much detail something about his workshop. That all of this was a dream. Alloy walked through the different workbenches and straight up to the AI, Aphrodite, which was quiet. ¡°Shit, they turned her off¡­¡± he said with a final wheeze. Kristoff responded with, ¡°Give me a second, the power cord has been unplugged.¡± Sure enough he walked over and picked two cables off the ground, plugging them in together, and the computer hummed up while the normally dark screen lit up with a logo I hadn¡¯t seen before that immediately drew me in. It appeared to be a playing card of a queen of hearts, with a knight squaring up against a dragon, but instead of a sword he held one hand out as if for the thing to take his. I saw on his armor there was the word ¡®Adonis¡¯ inscribed. The dragon for its part was not monstrous, but was instead a sleek, beautiful, and serpentine thing. There was a banner wrapped around its neck with ¡®Aphrodite¡¯ embossed. As I looked at it I realized that Adonis must have designed the logo, similar to our emblems, for his project in the back. I was saddened to realize that he would never see it in person, and I turned away as I started to cry so that the others couldn¡¯t see. It was unnecessary. Kristoff sobbed for a second, and Alloy exclaimed, ¡°Fuck, both of¡­ you guys. Now¡¯s not the time¡­ to cry.¡± The computer stopped its startup procedure, and then a nervous voice sounded, ¡°33¡­ Kristoff¡­ Alloy, you didn¡¯t say you would be bringing others.¡± ¡°Yeah, well I kind of got fucking stuck in¡­ prison¡­ but these two luckily broke me out.¡± ¡°I see¡­ Do they¡­ know what happened?¡± asked Aphrodite. Alloy was quiet for a moment, then said, ¡°Play the video¡­ please.¡± The screen lit up, and Kristoff and I forced ourselves to watch. As I did, I felt more tears coming, but I made sure to finish it to the end every second of the sad seen unfolding before me. Kristoff though slowly lost his sobs, growing instead still with rage, loosely bridled but clearly directed at Juliet. The screen went dark once again, and silence reigned as we all processed what we had seen. I glanced back at Alloy, who had his arms crossed and his eyes closed in thought as he allowed us to process what we had just witnessed. ¡°We¡¯ve got to kill the bitch,¡± Kristoff broke the silence. I shook my head, ¡°Its not that simple. Juliet has taken over the city, and the city is under martial law. The only reason we¡¯ve even had the freedom to move around is right now most of the military is preparing for tomorrow¡¯s mission.¡± ¡°What mission?¡± Alloy demanded. That¡¯s right, he didn¡¯t know. I told them all about the situation and strategy to be used tomorrow. ¡°That bitch really is fucking crazy¡­ How much time do we¡­ have?¡± Kristoff pulled out his own tablet, which he had received since he didn¡¯t report to anyone and therefore had no one to disseminate news and information to otherwise, ¡°0112.¡± ¡°Motherfucker!¡± Aphrodite spoke next, ¡°We can¡¯t just stop her. Even if we spread the video throughout the Crossroads, by the time it reached everyone and she can be arrested for her crimes, her mission will already have commenced. We have to find a way both to spread the video and stop her control of the military, even though almost everyone is sleeping.¡± Alloy cursed more through labored breathing, and began pacing in frustration, with his wheezing still going on, though now reduced. It appeared his throat had recovered a little, though I doubt his venting was doing anything to help. Aphrodite offered an idea, ¡°Can¡¯t we send the video to the commanders?¡± ¡°That won¡¯t be enough, Aphrodite,¡± I explained, ¡°We don¡¯t know right now who is on our side besides maybe Logan, if we send the video to the wrong source it could just disappear into the ether. In addition message traffic may very well already be under surveillance, so we have to hand deliver the video or we have no way of knowing it was actually received.¡± ¡°Then what do you propose?¡± I looked down in thought as I simulated through all the possibilities in my head. Juliet was clearly someone who kept contingencies, and was swift to adapt her plans to unpredictable situations. Alloy had made it sound like she had anticipated every move he made, but I doubted that. It would require her to be near omnipotent. No, she merely had backups and multiple strategies in place, so that if one failed, she could deploy the next, like one giant intricate game of chess. Hell, she probably treated it with such frivolous abandon, considering how she seemed to view the lives of those she had to sacrifice to get here. In that case we needed a plan to counter every one of her goals, and a backup so that if we failed, she would still not stand victorious. ¡°Give me a minute,¡± I told Aphrodite. Kristoff looked absolutely pissed, ¡°So what, we¡¯re just going to stand here doing nothing?¡± Aphrodite immediately gave a solution, ¡°You could transfer me to my body. I would be much greater assistance from there, and if my body was scrapped by Juliet it would be a huge loss for humanity, and even worse if she realized what it could do.¡± What could it do? It was called compressed GEL, and he had said it could store steam as ice¡­ somehow, but I failed to see why that would be problematic if it was lost. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, what do you mean?¡± There was a moment of silence, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I never told Adonis either, he was so obsessed with the concept of using it to freeze things in the atmosphere, he didn¡¯t realize what it actually was capable of. A forest from the trees scenario, and I didn¡¯t want to hurt his pride by explaining it to him. I was hoping to show him¡­ but now I can¡¯t¡­¡± The AI went silent. ¡°Aphrodite, what is it you can do?¡± ¡°The Heart of Aphrodite, my heart, it has the ability to store steam and compress it into a very dense form of ice that can only exist at temperatures of a hundred degrees Celsius and very, very high pressure. Normally no piping would be able to hold it, but the compressed GEL provides its own energy to counteract the pressure. When the ice is introduced to atmospheric pressure, it flashes to steam.¡± Once again, she stopped, but I urged her more, ¡°Aphrodite, what is it?¡± ¡°Do you know what the largest struggle is for long distance space flight?¡± I took a guess, ¡°Time, I think.¡± ¡°No. Well in a way yes, but it can be countered if you have this. Fuel. While in space you must follow the conservation of momentum, which takes speed and mass. The only way to accelerate you must give up mass in some way and eject it in the opposite direction you want to go. The other way to accelerate is through speed, ejecting a small amount of matter at insane speeds. This is where an ionic engine comes into play, but even then, you are still limited by your fuel. Compressed GEL solves that problem in the most extreme way. Water can easily be ionized, allowing each molecule to be accelerated easily and the condensed volume allows one to store it in a small craft as well. You can use it to accelerate or decelerate in flight so that you can reach relativistic speeds, and still be able to slow down for descent. In addition, water is the most common molecule in the universe, making it easy to refuel.¡± I thought about what she said, and then something occurred to me, ¡°Aphrodite, how much time would pass for the passengers if we were to travel to our closest neighboring star using one of these ionic engines paired with your heart?¡± ¡°Eleven months.¡± My eyes widened, and suddenly Alloy stopped cursing long enough to say, ¡°Great¡­ now, why is your jaw twitching this time, ice bitch?¡± His voice was recovering quite quickly. ¡°Kristoff, you¡¯ve been helping Adonis with his project back there, correct? Is it mobile?¡± ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ignore me, 33. Why are you so excited?¡± Kristoff answered my question, ¡°It should be, yes. Actually, it might be as fast as a Charlie.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be faster now that the heart is fully charged,¡± Aphrodite corrected. ¡°Oh, now we¡¯re¡­ fucking ignoring me!¡± I nodded and said, ¡°Kristoff, transfer Aphrodite to her body. Aphrodite, are there any data ports around the shop that we can use to copy your video to?¡± ¡°Yes, there¡¯s five in the corner bench where Adonis kept his blueprints.¡± ¡°I know where that is,¡± Kristoff said and immediately went to grab them, his face and jaw set in firm determination now that he had something to do. ¡°Hey, ice bitch!¡± Alloy took a breath to wheeze, ¡°Answer my damn question!¡± I turned to him in exasperation, ¡°Interstellar space travel, Alloy! Adonis invented interstellar space travel. Not just a way off this planet. Not just a way to prolong humanity a little bit longer while we wait for the sun to go supernova. He opened the door for us to reach the stars. On top of that, the chances of it being able to be weaponized like nuclear power is almost guaranteed, and there¡¯s no telling what Juliet would do with the technology. We need to get it away from her, because if she scraps it or weaponizes it, there is nothing we can do to stop her from solidifying her dictatorship.¡± Alloy looked at me dumbfounded, and then said, ¡°Alright, for once I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯re mad.¡± ¡°You fucking think, you hot-headed dick!?¡± He was quiet for a moment, smiled with pride, and then said, ¡°Commander 33, what do you need¡­ me to do?¡± ¡°What do I do next?¡± I called back to behind the curtain, which had been fully opened so that you could see the shower heads raining water down onto the brass plates of the machine, which were coiled up like a roll, or at least that¡¯s how Kristoff had described it. I personally thought it looked like a spiral. ¡°On the back of the computer is a switch with a circle and a smaller triangle in it, see it?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Hit that, it¡¯ll commence the transfer.¡± I did as he asked and let him know I was done, He climbed up the ladder that lead from the pit where I had originally seen the Heart of Aphrodite. A large data cable was leading down into it, which was connected to the computer. Kristoff said, ¡°That¡¯s it. The transfer will take about an hour, and we have two more until our deadline.¡± ¡°Good, thank you Kristoff. I have to head off and start preparing for Juliet¡¯s operation, I have to at least fake it until we start our counter attack. In the meantime, stay low here and try to hide so that if we fail Juliet doesn¡¯t find you.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m going to be part of this fight, whether you like this or not.¡± ¡°Kristoff, there are going to be Alphas. You can¡¯t keep up with those, and I can¡¯t on good conscious let you fight just to die in vain.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t die, I made a promise to my mama, years ago. I made a part of myself that will always survive. And that part may be more than happy to run and hide, but I can¡¯t let Juliet get away with killing Adonis. He was the first person in years I allowed myself to open to, and if I let her get away¡­ No, I¡¯m staying in control.¡± ¡°You have no way of even keeping up with Alphas. I understand how you feel, but I can¡¯t let you die!¡± Kristoff was too determined though, ¡°What if I told you there was a way for me to keep up with the Alphas?¡± I stared at him and narrowed my eyes in frustration, ¡°What are you talking about?¡± ¡°N.O. Technologies has designed a prototype called the Oso Verde, and I should be able to control it.¡± He must have thought I didn¡¯t know what it was, but I had read the weapons report on it and immediately refuted him, ¡°Absolutely not! The AI is still rogue and requires a direct connection to your brain. I¡¯ve read the report, it causes the pilot to have an identity crisis and takes over their mind, leaving them in a vegetive state. If you pilot the Oso Verde it¡¯ll be as good as killing yourself and giving the AI access to a terrible weapon, all at the same time!¡± Kristoff grabbed me by the shoulders carefully, but firmly, ¡°If we¡¯re going to stop that monster, you¡¯re going to need all the help you can get. Personally, I just want to kill Juliet, and if that means I have to let someone else into my mind, than so be it. If I can¡¯t contain the AI though, I¡¯ll let you kill me.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°When I connect to the AI, I¡¯ll be paralyzed in the cockpit while my neural network takes control of the Oso Verde. If I can¡¯t stay under control, then you can put a bullet through my eyeball and into my brain. It¡¯s the only part of me that isn¡¯t bulletproof. Please, let me do this. If you don¡¯t, I¡¯m just going to head to the tarmac and attempt to murder her anyway. I need to do this. She needs to die, for Adonis.¡± I still had my reservations, but there was clearly no stopping him. I nodded solemnly, ¡°Lead the way.¡± The lab was locked, an unsurprising fact considering how late in the night it was. I didn¡¯t bother asking what time it was, I knew we were pulling it closer than I liked. Kristoff used his usual method of brute force to get the door open, and we entered into the lab, which was pitch dark. ¡°Where¡¯s the light?¡± I whispered. ¡°Don¡¯t know. Normally its already on when I get here,¡± Kristoff didn¡¯t moderate his voice at all, and as a result it echoed throughout the space. I imagined the lab was as large as a warehouse, though N.O. Technologies¡¯ bridge was just one large building making it difficult to get a scale of its size. I knew we had walked somewhere near where the bridge should have entered the rock wall, but how deep it went I couldn¡¯t guess. ¡°Come on,¡± Kristoff said, and I could hear him walking away, each step echoing in every direction. ¡°Kristoff, wait! I can¡¯t see.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right, you guys don¡¯t have any cybernetics in your eyes. Just use your tablet for a light.¡± ¡°I was trying to avoid that.¡± ¡°Why?¡± We were wasting time at this point, and I swore as I opened up my tablet and powered it up so that I had something to see. At this point I was far enough in that hopefully it wouldn¡¯t have signal, though considering we were in the technological center of the city, that was probably unlikely. Kristoff was about five meters away and was looking back at me, ¡°Was that so hard?¡± he asked. ¡°We need to hurry.¡± ¡°Yeah, I know,¡± he responded irately and then took off at a brisk walk down the lab, which I had to jog to keep up. As we walked down, I cast my light at some of the different set ups around me, revealing chemistry sets, blueprints, and pieces of half-finished machinery that the scientists were working on. It took about five minutes to eventually come upon some scaffolding, which led up into the air. It was next to something that appeared to be made of a brown epoxy that you could make out metal just underneath. I placed a hand on it, and then ran up the stairs as Kristoff scaled each step two at a time. Eventually we came to what appeared to be an open cockpit hatch, and he ducked inside while I followed. The room was surprisingly spacious, and I looked around in slight confusion. ¡°Where are the controls?¡± Why make such a large room if they weren¡¯t going to use it? All that was here was a chair, with some black spines coming out the center of its back that would clearly dig right into your spine. There was appeared to be some sort of headpiece that came out of where the headrest was, and I could see two more of the spines coming out where your temples would be if you put it on. ¡°The only control is the AI. The way its designed to function is that the AI is supposed to work in tandem with the pilot, but as you seem to be already aware, we haven¡¯t finished programming it.¡± ¡°So how do you plan on controlling it?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to make a contract. Unmute.¡± I was unprepared for the terrible voice that suddenly erupted in all directions, as if it was assaulting you by words alone. It¡¯s voice was robotic, yet at the same time you could feel the malice in its words. It was an effect that caught me off guard. ¡°LONG LIVE ATLANTIS, DEATH TO THE TRAITOR!¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to make a contract, Ursa Minor.¡± ¡°STATE THE TERMS OF YOUR CONTRACT THEN YOU MAY GO DIE.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to connect to you, and you¡¯re going to listen to what I say.¡± ¡°AFFIRMATIVE. LET ME TAKE CONTROL. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES.¡± I looked at Kristoff and said, ¡°That¡¯s your contract? The thing is going to take over your mind right away! How will you make it listen to your orders?¡± Kristoff shook his head, ¡°You¡¯re assuming I¡¯m going to let it take over. Besides, I think it¡¯ll be more than happy to assist me. We are looking at taking down the leadership of the Crossroads with it.¡± ¡°YES. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES. LONG LIVE ATLANTIS. LONG LIVE¡­¡± ¡°Mute. So yeah, I think this will be fine, do you have the gun ready?¡± I stared at him, and then pulled out the pistol we had confiscated from the guard at the workshop and gave him a nod. Kristoff sat in the chair, and as he did the spines seemed to become like liquid as he leaned into them, and they flattened. I guess I had assumed they would puncture his skin, and I was glad to see they didn¡¯t. He grabbed the headrest, and began to slowly lower it to his head, one hand seemed to shake, and he grabbed it muttering, ¡°I am in control right now,¡± probably to reassure himself that he would not let himself be taken over by the AI. I pointed the gun at his head, and he made eye contact with me before giving a nervous smile and continuing to lower the spines towards his temple. The thing became like liquid again and began to flatten. I was mildly confused how it was supposed to damage the mind, when suddenly the things contorted into a drill like spike and extended rapidly into his skull. The scream was immediately, and his vocal cybernetics strained as he began to scream. Louder. Louder. So loud I had to cover my ears, and I inadvertently dropped the pistol on the ground. He bellowed violently, and when I thought it would never end it finally did, with my ears ringing from the sudden deafness. I looked at Kristoff, whose eyes had turned black in the poor lighting, and blood poured down his face from his punctured temples as his mouth moved noiselessly, as if he was talking to himself. I realized that was exactly what he was doing, as slowly my hearing restored, and I realized noise was coming from him. ¡°... have to survive, survive, survive. DEATH TO THE ENEMIES. Shut up, both of you, I¡¯m in control. Get the fuck out of our head, we should never have done this! WHY ARE THERE TWO OF YOoo- I don¡¯t know, why don¡¯t you two hash it out while I take control,¡± and with that Kristoff¡¯s eyes came back into focus as his sclera whitened. I grabbed the gauss pistol and pointed it at him, ¡°Kristoff?¡± ¡°Hey.¡± ¡°Is that you?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What about the AI?¡± ¡°He¡¯s in a very circular argument in my head with my will to survive.¡± ¡°What?¡± Kristoff let out a relieved sigh, ¡°I survived, cause that¡¯s what I do, whether its what I want or not. You can lower the gun.¡± I lowered the gun carefully, then asked, ¡°You know what the plan is then?¡± ¡°Yeah, stay here until 0330, then head to the lowest level on the pillar. Easy day.¡± ¡°Are you going to be alright waiting that long?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, listening to these two argue is honestly very entertaining.¡± I hesitated, then asked, ¡°Listening to who fight?¡± ¡°The AI is arguing with my alter.¡± I cocked my head to the side, ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to. Just know that I¡¯m strong enough to hold off the AI indefinitely. Hurry up, you must get ready, its already 0230.¡± I considered arguing with him that being strong wasn¡¯t going to do anything to help him with his current mental battle, but then again he seemed to be mentally strong enough to have won the battle with the AI for now. I closed the blast door behind me, sealing the hatch on the cockpit so that he would be ready to leave as soon as it was time, then ran as quickly as I could down the stairs of the scaffolding, and then back out the lab. Gates of Hades It was cold as balls, and I fucking hated being bald, with the chilly night air biting into my skull. 33 had proposed that I shave my head and beard, and we found a knife in the workshop that I was able to use, albeit I nicked myself once on my chin. She said that she discovered that when she let her hair down and put on her jacket, she would generally be left alone and had even been told by a few of her men that they didn¡¯t initially recognize her. Using that lesson, she theorized that since everyone thought I was imprisoned, if we shaved me down and cut my insignia off my uniform then no one would think twice as long as I kept a safe distance. Sure enough, I had managed to deliver four of the data ports without a patrol giving me a second glance, as they would see I was in military uniform and pay me no heed from there. The city had never practiced any martial law ordinances, and their security was pretty lax at the moment. I was sure once Juliet caught on, she would tighten things up, but the few patrols combined with that lack of questioning attitude of the patrols was paying off. The fifth and final data port was destined for Logan and was considered my riskiest delivery. 33 had explained he was escorted to his living quarters, and therefore was likely being watched until the mission. This meant that there was a decent chance I wouldn¡¯t be able to safely drop it off, and 33 had told me not to risk our plan trying to force it. Still, I was very determined to get my friend on my side if we could. I entered the building and walked down the first-floor hallway, which Logan lived on. As I walked down, I saw Juliet¡¯s yeoman, sitting in a chair across from Logan¡¯s door. He was looking down at his tablet and reading. I didn¡¯t care if it was recreational or for work. I smiled and counted my blessings that he was alone. I saw a baton on his waist, but no other weapon as well. Good. This man had killed the Five Star, and I was ready to make him fucking pay. ¡°Hey! Don¡¯t you know there¡¯s a curfew in affect right now?¡± I called out. My voice sounded off from the damage to my throat earlier that night, but at least I could fucking breath again, if not without the pain of a phantom lump in the back of my throat. Jason looked up in irritation and glared at me as I approached, ¡°I¡¯m Commander Juliet¡¯s yeoman, who the hell are you?¡± I kept my pleasant smile as I approached briskly, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re the asshole who killed the Five Star?¡± The man¡¯s eyes lit up in alarm, ¡°What the¡­ Wait! Fuck!¡± Too late. The man struggled to his feet and started to pull his baton out, but I was already within a few meters of him and took off in a sprint, and I landed a lariat across his chest as I sent him sprawling on the ground and his baton spun out of his hand, bouncing, and rolling out of reach. ¡°How the hell are you out?¡± ¡°You have broken three laws,¡± I responded while ignoring his question, and as the man tried to kick out my legs I took one of my feet and stomped on his leg, pinning his underneath it. For Jason¡¯s part, he managed not to scream, instead grunting in pain. ¡°First, assaulting and murdering a superior officer.¡± The man managed to break out from under my foot, and as he scrambled to his feet, I caught his chin with an uppercut as he was trying to get back up. ¡°Second, conduct unbecoming an officer and gentleman.¡± The man attempted to punch me, but I parried it to the side and met it with my own haymaker, causing him to spin around and fall back down. I immediately jumped on him and put him into an armlock. He managed to struggle free, but it allowed me to get a throat chop in on him before regaining my grip and continuing to hyperflex his arm. He gagged and choked as I declared my third accusation, ¡°Third, you failed to fulfill your duty to disobey the unlawful orders of Juliet.¡± There was a crack as I broke the man¡¯s arm, and the stifled grunt of pain as he struggled through his damaged trachea to scream was met only by him going limp. I released him, picked him up, and slammed him against his chair. His eyes were hazy, and I had likely put him into shock. ¡°How do you plead?¡± ¡°¡­ Fuck you!¡± ¡°Guilty on all charges!¡± I responded and kneed the man in the gut so he would lose his breath again. I didn¡¯t need him screaming and getting any unwanted attention. I then pulled the man into a fireman¡¯s carry, and started walking him out the building, though I made a point to slam his head in the side of the doorframe on the way out. ¡°Whoops,¡± I said unapologetically as he groaned some more. I brought the man to the alleyway between residential buildings and took him over to the bridge railing, before unslinging him and holding his head over the rail while I began some questioning, ¡°I¡¯ll give you one chance to repent, understood?¡± There was silence. ¡°Understood!?¡± I coughed on the lump in my throat but managed to keep my grip. A sickly laugh came from the body beneath me, and the man declared maniacally, ¡°It¡¯s too late, Juliet¡¯s already taken over the city! Under her guiding hand we¡¯ll all escape this world and be led to our salvation!¡± If he only knew that there was a way out of the solar system, I could imagine how much more ecstatic he would be. ¡°The hell she will. She¡¯s not some messiah, she¡¯ll be in charge for a few years, but when she dies then what? There¡¯ll be absolute chaos! Humanity doesn¡¯t need a dictator; it needs to put its faith in its people!¡± ¡°You don¡¯t get it, do you? El Dorado brought a greater boon than you could imagine!¡± More cackling. ¡°The fuck you mean?¡± ¡°The super soldier, it had the technology to extend a life for a thousand years! You¡¯re right, no one could lead like Juliet, but they won¡¯t have to! She¡¯ll be immortal! She¡¯s the only one willing to do what it takes to save humanity, the only one who sees how inefficient the politics are, how foolish its people are! She can save us from despair!¡± ¡°She is despair you damn idiot!¡± The man continued to cackle, and I went over my options. I didn¡¯t have the time to find a way to hide him, and while he would undoubtedly be a phenomenal witness against Juliet, he was clearly delusional and dedicated to her. He was also getting loud, and while he was currently in shock, if he regained his senses enough to start calling for help, I would be in trouble. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t my place, but it was time for him to face judgement. I lifted the man, and while he attempted to grapple the railing, I kicked him and sent him tumbling over. A few seconds later as he realized what was happening I could here his scream fading into the distance. Hopefully it wouldn¡¯t be enough to alert anyone. I headed back into the residential building and walked towards Logan door. I stopped in front of it, and prepared to buzz while I pulled out the data port, and then swore. During the scuffle the thing had become damaged, and I eyed it just to be sure. ¡°Fuck my luck!¡± I swore again quietly, tossed the thing down, and then began making my way back to the pillar. Without it, I had no sure way of convincing Logan. In the end, I may have to face him in combat, and if so I prayed it wouldn¡¯t come to either of our deaths. I walked while keeping my eyes cast to the ground as I stepped onto the tarmac. I¡¯d arrived with perfect timing judging by the busywork, though it may be a bit difficult infiltrating considering how many people were running around prepping equipment for the day. There were two other units that used the tarmac other than my own, and each was an Alpha unit. Unit Twenty-Seven would be the closest to the elevator since I had seniority as pilot. As a result, I passed by the other two Alphas on my way to my own, and I held my breath whenever someone came too close as I hoped against all odds that no one would give me a second look. It was looking like 33¡¯s theory was holding true, however. The first Alpha I passed by was Gemini, one of a pair that was piloted by the female of the twins. The twins were a bizarre pair, as apparently the program for the vats had managed to randomly select the same parents for both of them, on top of them being in the same batch. The two were very similar, and they tended to finish each other¡¯s sentences as a way of fucking with people back when they were younger, though they had finally broken that nasty habit. Gemini was an asymmetrical Alpha, with its mirrored half being piloted by the other sibling, both sharing a name. The core was relatively small, with its propulsion system being a hover propulsion system allowing for smooth travel across the surface. In addition, it would kick up dust, allowing it to addle combatants on the ground. Its armaments were one of my least favorite, an actual robotic arm complete with an opposable thumb, the weapon in its hand being able to be swapped out for its mission. The advantage was the pilot could easily control and aim whatever weapon they had, though the efficiency of each would be hurt by lack of a concise design. Where the other arm should be was instead an armored radar array that allowed for it to be piloted in all weather conditions, be it night or day. Finally, was a flat cockpit, that was flattened with a slight curve to increase its surface area to reduce damage from debris kicked up by its speed. It wasn¡¯t as fast as my design, but it was capable of limited flight and could hover over water as well. I glanced over and saw Commander Cass talking to some of her men as she prepared to board her Alpha, and I glanced back down to avoid making eye contact. Best I avoid standing out, she was a clever bitch, very observant, so she was likely to see through my shitty disguise. The next Alpha I passed by was the Crab, a tank class Alpha with powerful treads and thrusters allowing it to turn on a dime, albeit its max speed was slow. Its heavy-duty core system was armored with N.O. Technologies special enamel armor, and the Crab could take a larger beating than any other Alpha at the time. It had four weapons for its armaments system, a pair of anti-material rifles that could fold up to be replaced by a pair of grenade launchers. All four weapons left literal craters where they landed. I wasn¡¯t particularly worried about the Crab, as it would be essentially harmless until it left the city, as the tremors would cause such catastrophic fucking collateral damage to the city its pilot wouldn¡¯t dare fire it. Its pilot was no where to be seen, and Commander Kamehameha Paiea was likely already inside. He always liked to show up early for missions, and was the oldest pilot still serving, though his public image was nigh invisible due to him purposely staying in the background. I was closing distance to the Alloy of Justice, but as I approached a cavalcade of people came to a halt and started to stare at me silently. I wasn¡¯t surprised, my own unit knew me well enough that even now, they wouldn¡¯t be fooled. I continued marching towards my Alpha and saw my engineering crew milling about. Since I was a criminal, my unit was likely without orders and had nothing to do besides provide minor support. I scanned their faces, but failed to see my engineer, Ulysses. I had a word, no, a lot of fucking words for that cuck, but if he wasn¡¯t here it would have to wait. The first crewmen saw me, tapped his buddy, pointed at me, and soon the group stepped around and circled me. I stopped in the middle, ¡°Hmm.¡± The senior-most woman spoke for the group, ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be in prison?¡± ¡°Yep. Where the fuck is Ulysses?¡± She stared me unblinkingly in the eye, ¡°They found him dead at the bottom of the ravine last night, bullet between his eyes. His partner was there with him.¡± ¡°Fuck.¡± There was dead silence while we maintained silence, and only the distant sounds of the other units carrying about their business broke it. Not a soul in the crowd said anything, and slowly but surely more of my unit was gathering around us. ¡°So, what are you going to do, Alloy?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to get in my Alpha, find the son of a bitch responsible, and bring them to justice.¡± ¡°And what makes you think we¡¯re going to let you?¡± ¡°The fact that my Alpha looks prepped for deployment is the only answer you need,¡± I took a step forward and the crowd parted as I walked by her. There was no more need for words, my unit trusted me inherently, and it would take a hell of a lot more than some shitty propaganda and false accusations to shake them of that. Even so, as I walked by the woman said, ¡°Don¡¯t make us regret letting you go.¡± I stopped, and without looking at her said, ¡°¡­ understood.¡± I didn¡¯t look to see her reaction, but I could imagine what it was. I was never one to mince words, hell, I tended to ramble. If I only had one thing to say, then that meant I was serious, and she knew that. ¡°Alright,¡± she called out, ¡°Everyone clear the safety lines, the Alloy of Justice is deploying!¡± I clambered up and got myself into the cockpit. I took a breath and stroked one of the handles as I whispered, ¡°Well, girl, looks like we have one more mission. Sorry I couldn¡¯t make you rank one.¡± I grasped the handle, and the Alpha flared red as the GEL hydraulics instantly responded to my touch and the screens lit up so that I could see entire tarmac. There was a cleared path for me to go until I reached the other two units, who were blissfully unaware of what was about to happen. ¡°Alright 33, you asked for a distraction, let¡¯s make a damned distraction, then.¡± I slammed the controls forward and my Alpha skated forward as it reached max speed in an instant and I closed the distance to where Gemini was, dancing my legs back and forth to dodge personnel until I reached a crowd, leapt, and rolled out of it as I dodged them. There were too many bodies to make this easy, but I be damned if I accidentally killed an innocent. Already there was panic as people screamed and shouted as they ran for cover. In the meantime, I was almost upon the Gemini and held down the button on my right pile. Beep. I lunged forward and went to take the Gemini down, but at the last second it backed up and I swung and missed, released the trigger, and the pile soared uselessly through the air and bounced with a loud bang off of the hull of the Gemini. That was the only problem with the piles, they lost their punching power very quickly and needed to be fired on impact for maximum effectiveness. ¡°Alloy, is that you?¡± The Alpha direct comms buzzed in, and I immediately responded. ¡°Hey, Paiea, you up for a dance?¡± There was a small chuckle, followed by, ¡°You can¡¯t keep us old war dogs down, can you?¡± ¡°Paiea, this isn¡¯t funny, if Alloy is in his Alpha, we need to stop him, now!¡± Cass screamed, and you could hear how shaken she was. Most likely she had barely managed to finish activating her Alpha in time, and if I had connected, she would¡¯ve been fucking dead. ¡°Eh, you worry too much Cass. If Alloy wanted to kill you, you¡¯d be dead,¡± he wasn¡¯t wrong. I could¡¯ve easily followed through in my charge, but her Alpha hadn¡¯t managed to arm itself yet, and I had been hoping to decommission her Alpha before she had gotten inside. Instead, I jerked my right control forward and left back, pivoted my Alpha, and then slammed both forward as I headed to the exit. Most of the tarmac was cleared by this time, though there was a Charlie that was stepping out and aiming its GGG at me. As I zipped forward, I bent over and flipped the Charlie so that it landed on its back. The airbags would keep its pilot safe that way, and it would be out of the way. ¡°Meet you by old Cronus, you sack of shit!¡± I radioed out. ¡°Aye, I look forward to it, boy!¡± I was anything but a boy, but for the grizzled pilot he could get away with calling me that. I pulled out onto the bridge and leapt from it so that I landed near where the pillar pierced into the natural stone floor and swung myself around to face it, with each bridge jutting out to the side at angles so that I would be able to see every Alpha that would come out to meet me. Scattered around the floor were stalagmites that reached up, some as tall as my Alpha¡¯s knees. I crossed the Alloy of Justice¡¯s arms, sat back, and waited, with the water reservoir to my back where pipes led from it so that pumps could deliver the lifegiving fluid to the city. I had eleven piles left, and one hell of a fight to look forward to. I could feel my blood beginning to simmer as it raised to a boil. Paiea was right. This was going to be fun. On the bridge to my left was the Crab and one of the Geminis, its arm now aimed with a high caliber machine gun. The bridge to my right had the other Gemini, with its mirrored arm equipped with what appeared to be¡­ something small and triangular. Shit, I hadn¡¯t looked at our weapons catalogue since its latest update for the Alphas, and that was definitely new. Whatever, I¡¯d make do. In addition, there were another two Alphas on the bridge. First was Medusa, which had a segmented-magnetic-tread-propulsion system, which was a hell of a fucking lot of words to say the thing was train-shaped and that it could crawl on walls. Its armament system was a set of cabled harpoons that it could embed and then reel in. Medusa was a bunker buster, with its drilling harpoons able to pull down buildings easily while its maneuverable body could easily wrap around and crush. It was a relatively thin, but long design, and I wasn¡¯t too clear where the cockpit was on it, as it blended in quite well with its harpoon system. Probably, where the core was if I could fucking see where it was on there too. Alright, reminder to self, if I somehow fucking survive this, memorize the shit out of the catalogue, cause apparently all these fuckers updated their designs, and I didn¡¯t know what shit was. To be fair, I never thought I¡¯d be fighting other Alphas, but apparently here we fucking were! ¡°What are we waiting for? Let¡¯s kill him!¡± Medusa¡¯s pilot said. Commander 67 was a lot of things, but patient wasn¡¯t one of them. Fine then, if we were starting, I was ready. I gripped my handles tightly and prepared to hold the trigger buttons to prep my piles. ¡°Girl, wait for Legion. Juliet said she wanted a word with him, and unless he engages, we are not to fire,¡± Paiea reprimanded. ¡°¡­ Yes, sir,¡± Commander 67 may be hot-headed, but she knew better than to disobey orders. I relaxed my grip on my controls and breathed out. My heart was pounding, cold sweat dripping down my back, and my blood was like fire, but I needed to keep my cool. Once things started, it was going to take everything I had not to die, let alone win. ¡°I¡¯m curious on what he has to say for himself. He almost killed my sister earlier. Maybe he¡¯s more animal than man at this point?¡± The male voice belonged the pilot of the other Gemini, Commander Kass. You would think their names would make communication difficult, but I knew almost all their battle maneuvers would be in tandem, which was what made them such a threat on the battlefield. If I could separate them, it would drastically lower each of their threat levels. ¡°You know I can fucking hear you, asshole,¡± I replied. I wasn¡¯t actually irritated, but if he thought I was he might underestimate me. Hey, you never knew. ¡°Kiss my ass!¡± Oh, and he is irritated. That works too. ¡°33, you worked with this dickhead for a while, right? What the fuck is wrong with him?¡± That was the final Alpha on the right, 33¡¯s Noblesse Oblige, which had faint lines of blue glowing faintly throughout its design, where the GEL powered it. The Noblesse Oblige was the only other humanoid Alpha right now, as she had chosen to inspire her design after mine. She used a different pair of bipedal propulsion systems, one that allowed vertical scaling at the cost of being slower. It did need to have contact with a surface, but the thing could skate on walls unlike me. Her core was sleek and triangular, with her armaments system being one of the most complicated currently on the market for Alphas. The carousel system hung at the hip to the side, like a massive holster, where a metal clamp leads up and is secured by connecting to the shoulder. There was no actual arm on that side. Instead, on the other side were two spindly arms, that had a radial-ulna design at the shoulder where both arms could rotate about each other without interfering with one another. At the elbows was a circular electrical screw that could anchor the arms together to form one, and where the wrists were, it was currently plugged into the carousel. The carousel functioned as six armament systems in one, with the double arms able to fuse as one or separate into two based off the weapons it drew from the carousel. The only issue was each weapon had very limited ammo compared to other armament systems, but it made up for that in flexibility. The thing when standing still looked like a warrior of old resting its hand on the hilt of its sword, albeit the hilt was instead fucking massive and trailed behind it quite a bit so it could store all its weapons. 33 answered Kass¡¯s question icily, ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with him. He¡¯s just pissed.¡± ¡°So, what, he¡¯s going to throw a mutiny over not making rank one? What a child!¡± Everyone else seemed to ignore his complaint, though whether they knew it was because it was more than that or believed that stupid lie and had nothing to add was hard to tell. To make things worse, I knew there was likely another Alpha flying around, the Wraith, which was piloted by Commander 99, but knowing that wasn¡¯t going to do me any good. At the very least, its armament system would prove to be not too much of a threat as it wouldn¡¯t be able to reach a height for its ¡°rods from god¡± to gain enough destructive power. It was a type of stealth Alpha that was invisible to the naked eye and radar or anything else you could pretty much throw at it. There were ways to spot it, but hell if I had access to anything within my Alpha, so I was shit out of luck. The thing would fly up into the stratosphere and drop tungsten rods that would hit multi-Mach speeds and smash through anything without you ever getting a chance to even see it. A silent killer, and one that as far as we knew had yet to be identified by Olympus or Atlantis, making it very useful. Course, even being aware of it wasn¡¯t going to do me much good, I just needed to keep in mind that even if I think I¡¯ve found cover there¡¯s a good chance they¡¯ll still have a bead on me, so I won¡¯t be juking them anytime soon. I had a small element of surprise, since I knew that 33 was on my side and she was in a good position to take out one of the Geminis. Right now, they thought they had eight against one, when really it was two on seven. Assuming that 33 could eliminate the male Gemini beside her from the get-go, that would make it two on six, with all of them aiming their weapons at me so that if I even moved, they¡¯d blast me to smithereens. Alright, so maybe I didn¡¯t have the element of jack shit. No, 33 had to have something better prepared than that, but she had insisted I get going as she didn¡¯t have time to explain, and we were pressed for it. A moment later, from the bridge that held the top three Alphas, emerged the Leviathan, its magnetic propulsion clearing it of the cliffside before it angled itself and aimed its globes at me, its lasers probably already prepped to wipe me out. That was one advantage of Logan¡¯s cannons, they would melt the stone and not cause an explosion, so it wouldn¡¯t leave too much collateral damage and could even be fired within the city with some restraint. Most likely the underground factories would receive some structural damage, but the populated parts of the city would be unharmed, and as long as Cronus stood, the ravine would be held together. ¡°Logan¡­¡± ¡°I have nothing to say to you,¡± the disappointment in his voice was palpable. So much for trying to convince him, if I had been able to deliver the data port, maybe, but now it was looking inevitable. I needed to take down the Leviathan. Following him came the second largest Alpha, with its spidery quadruped legs taking each step one at a time. In front of each leg was a large shield that could extend to create a field to protect the Alpha, and on the face of them were the emblems of the Legion, a female knight riding upon a metal-clad beast, two lances in hand. The dame charged forward, seeming to form from a flock of ravens trailing behind her, the whole emblem embossed onto a crest. The Legion had been painted bright orange, to warn civilians of its location as it would come out and begin defending the city. Each leg could fully extend so that it could climb up the Crossroads using the bridges and pillar like footholds, and its core had a large cockpit on top that looked like a knight¡¯s helm, complete with six glowing blue lines that appeared like a visor, though actually functioned as its cameras and radar. The armaments were two elbow-jointed appendages that the forearm of which was a long shaft, reaching out the full length of the Alpha and then more with round, bulbous globes docked into the pillars, numbering five hundred for each arm. At its end was an open barrel that could fire a blast of flames. The Legion was designed so it alone could defend the city from the entire might of both Atlantis and Olympus laying siege on the city in tandem, no matter how unlikely it was to occur. Both it and the Leviathan were custom-made for its pilots based on their GEL compatibility and preferences so that they could fulfill their jobs. To be top three certainly had its perks, and now I was going to have to face two of them, one of which was in its element. Peachy. Fucking peachy. I glanced at the time on my instruments, 0328. ¡°Alloy of Justice, I have more than a few questions for you, though I doubt you plan on cooperating.¡± Juliet¡¯s voice was as unemotional as ever.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°Fuck you.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to be this way, if you just followed orders and stopped acting overemotional, we could find a way forward where no one has to die.¡± ¡°With the exception of Olympus or Atlantis, isn¡¯t that right, bitch?¡± There was a mildly frustrated sigh, followed by, ¡°The cities of our enemies are volatile and unpredictable, if the Crossroads is to survive, we must eliminate rogue factors. If you would think logically, you¡¯d realize that this was true.¡± ¡°Right,¡± I dragged out the word as I bid for time. 33 told me I needed to keep them busy until 0330 and avoid open conflict until then. In that case, I¡¯d deliver. ¡°And the rest of you, you approve of killing countless innocents for this bitch?¡± Kass was the one to respond to the provocation, his youth and anger spilling out, ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± ¡°Everyone, silence, that¡¯s an order,¡± Juliet snapped, refusing to let me gain control of the conversation. She wasn¡¯t about to lose control of her pawns that easily, ¡°Alloy, I¡¯m going to give you one chance. Open your cockpit and stand down from your Alpha. If you comply, we can discuss a path forward for you where you don¡¯t have to die.¡± She was fucking giving me an ultimatum, and there wasn¡¯t a doubt in my mind that she wasn¡¯t going to give me time to contemplate it. The time was 0329. I had ten seconds. ¡°Let me think it over,¡± I said, trying my best not to sound sarcastic. Maybe she¡¯d buy the bait. Doubted it though, she knew I wasn¡¯t thinking shit over it. ¡°No. You have until the count of three-,¡± she was interrupted by an explosion, and my ears popped painfully as I grabbed my handles and uncrossed the Alloy of Justice¡¯s arms as I tried to see what the fuck had caused the explosion. All the other Alphas also swiveled in alarm, as all their radar systems likely were detecting the source and we all looked as one towards the bridge where the Elysium Workshop was. Steam was rapidly expanding over the street and consuming it, as the stream quickly spread out creating a light grey blot across it. There was a loud siren as my Alpha began blaring temperature alarms. I looked down and saw that temps had plummeted to zero degrees Celsius, negative five, negative ten. What the actual fuck? The street was fully consumed at this point, and the cloud turned snow white, and glistening sparkles could be seen throughout it as I looked at in awe. ¡°What the fuck is that?¡± I radioed. It had to be what 33 was doing with Aphrodite and Kristoff in the workshop, right? ¡°That wasn¡¯t you?¡± Logan asked. ¡°Quiet! Wraith, get me a visual, now!¡± I realized that the cloud had become like fine powder and was seeming to get caught on something in the air as it settled on the Wraith. Perfect, now I could see it. Commander 99 said, ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing! There¡¯s some sort of weird noise coming from it, like a sort of clicking¡­ or chittering. Is this the Olympian¡¯s doing?¡± Perfect, Juliet¡¯s lies were creating a smokescreen for me to have plausible deniability, so I wasn¡¯t going to correct the pilot¡¯s misconception. No, what I needed to do was take a shot at Leviathan, but the problem was there was a single Alpha who hadn¡¯t responded to the explosion and still had his weapons pointed right at me. Paiea and his Crab were too experienced for him to be that easily distracted. Luckily for me, that changed instantly. It soared out of the snowstorm from the bridge like lightning, a glistening bronze form, lithe with great wings spanning across and two forearms instantly snapping up the Wraith as it stood out like a sore thumb from the powdery snow gathering atop it. The thing was covered in scales, golden and creating a beautiful pattern from its reptilian head to the tip of its serpentine tail. The forearms had what appeared to be clawed opposable thumbs, and they grabbed the wings of the Wraith and spread them out as the thing started to fall from the sky under its weight. It curved its head back while staring down to what was likely the cockpit, and the scales on its neck started to lift up, steam spraying out of them forcing the head to lower as its mouth opened. It was a motherfucking dragon, and it was about to breath. A shimmering effect, like a heatwave on the horizon, issued from its mouth paired with another intense popping of my ears and in an instant the Wraith was shredded through as if under the force of a god, the metal torn to pieces before suddenly a dozen meters underneath it a steam stream started to form and rapidly descend onto the lower bridges covering up all the Alphas and spreading out before turning into a fine powdery snow. I glanced at the temp, things had descended to negative thirty degrees, and had stabilized. The city was freezing, and whatever that automaton was, it was the cause. More importantly, I pulled back my controls and skated back as the line of sight between me and the Crab was broken, freeing me up, I reached forward and flicked a few switches, thermal vision wasn¡¯t doing shit, all I saw was blue and purple. I grabbed a dial labeled course and twisted it, and soon I had some orange and yellow images in the distant. I grabbed the dial labeled fine, and with a couple adjustments was able to get a good view of the Crossroads again, albeit in thermal. The Alphas were orange and yellow, with Cronus being red and the bridges a green. Most everything else was varying degrees of light blue to deep purple, but it was good enough to go on. The problem was the other Alphas would be zeroing in on their vision too, and sure enough, I could see the Crab was already swinging its weapons around at me. ¡°No, you don¡¯t, boy!¡± Paiea laughed, his experience allowing him to keep up with me. I reversed and brought the Alloy of Justice forward and used spins and twists to zigzag forward to keep him from getting a good read, he wouldn¡¯t risk firing unless he had a direct hit, otherwise the tremors would cause the ravine to cave in on itself. There was a distant boom. I had no clue where the dragon had disappeared to, but for now I needed to find a way to get Paiea dealt with and get to where the Leviathan was floating in the air, which right now I didn¡¯t even have the beginning of a plan for pulling that off. The second boom was closer. The other Alphas were starting to move as well, and as I closed the distance to Paiea I knew it was matter of time before the others started firing on me eliminating any chance I had of getting close to him. If I went straight for the Leviathan, he would be clear to shoot me out of the sky, and my trajectory would be too predictable for me to avoid it freeing him up, he needed taken out now before I even considered finding something to ramp from. Suddenly the stalagmites in front of me shattered as the machine gun of the female Gemini erupted forcing me to maintain my current direction. Boom. ¡°Goodbye, boy,¡± Paiea said as I realized I had fucked up, but it was too late, and in a second he would fire, and I¡¯d be blown to smithereens. There was a loud bang, and I swung my head around in its direction to see that 33 had drawn her first weapon from the carousel system, which was what appeared to be two plates fused together in a wide paddle design, aimed right at the Crab. The Crab had a white-hot hole where his core was and had become still as its GEL leaked out, shifting from vibrant red to a dormant blue. Boom! 33 couldn¡¯t have been a second sooner, though the weapon she had just used only had one shot in it. Still, it was probably the only thing she had that could have pierced the Crab¡¯s armor, and it had done the job wonderfully. She holstered it again, and the carousel system began rotating as it disconnected its first weapon and 33 selected her next. The process took ten seconds, but she didn¡¯t have to draw it until she was ready to use it, giving her the slightest element of surprise. ¡°Paiea? Paiea!?¡± the feminine voice belonged to the female Gemini, and she screamed, ¡°Someone shot Paiea!¡± The confusion of the fight had masked 33¡¯s betrayal, and I counted our blessings, maybe we stood a fucking chance. BOOM. Juliet¡¯s voice came over the radio, calmly, ¡°33 shot Paiea, and has betrayed the Crossroads. Geminis engage her. The dragon is the same temperature as the ice and using it to blend in, look for something bluish-purple and eliminate it. I will take care of Alloy. Deploying.¡± Shit, shit, shit! I looked over at the Legion, which had stood still during everything, of course she had been reading the situation before reacting! The globes detached from each forearm on Legion, and started zooming through the air at me, each one a drone that could fire pulse ammunition at me. That was the Legion¡¯s main trick, which combined Juliet¡¯s insane five-minute time delay with GEL to command each of her drones with a mission and cycle them through to create a one-woman-army. Even as I watched, some of the drones instead went to above the bridges to guard possible escape routes for me. Pulse munitions were slow, which were electromagnetic air bursts that could do minor damage, but I was soon to be surrounded by an absolute storm of them, and there was no way I could dodge all of them. BOOM! ¡°What the hell is that?¡± Logan cried as from near the top of Cronus one of the bridges collapsed in response to the most recent explosion. I had not been paying too much attention to the noise in the chaos, but I realized those rumbles must have been coming from there. Wasn¡¯t that N.O. Technologies, bridge, what the hell was happening? The debris was falling and hitting several roads as it fell, and I winced at the likely loss of life, but I didn¡¯t have the time to focus on that as Logan launched the missiles on top of his propulsion system to intercept the debris coming towards him, streaks of gaseous blue trailing behind the scarlet lights as it broke up the worst of the destruction. I needed to focus on the drones, which were now in range. Each fired at me as I skated in and out of stalagmites, trying my best to keep my center of gravity low so that the stone could provide some coverage. Even so, occasional shots were slamming into my haul, and I was getting alarms indicating minor damage to my systems. It wasn¡¯t going to be enough to stop me, but it would build up and slow me down, so I needed to avoid it as much as possible. Sure enough, I realized I was steadily getting corralled into a wall of drones, which were beginning to rotate as a twister with a small opening available for me to go into it, and I had no option but to charge into the death trap. I squeezed my buttons, ready for the beep that would greet me soon. If I was going down, I was going to take a couple drones down with me, even if it was all in vain. Suddenly the twisting mass of drones began detonating, as red-hot gunfire shredded through it. Spinning, guns blazing, into the mass landed the Noblesse Oblige, GGG drawn in one arm with a spool of ammunition held in the other as she fired into her enemies with her carousel lagging behind her like a tail wing. Behind came trailing one of the Geminis, wielding the triangular device that now had a bright red plasma blade swinging overhead to strike my companion while she was stuck in her tailspin. I ducked under her as she soared over me and then leapt up after the hovercraft behind, twisting so that the plasma blade would miss me while I swung my right arm just as the beep sounded. The Gemini realized what was happening, and its propulsion system pulled a one-eighty as the torso continued to face me and tried to adjust its blade¡¯s pathing for me. The Alpha failed its swing, but for its effort I was only able to connect with the radar as I fired, tearing the structure clean off its body. The Gemini swung around, and the torso began swinging back and forth, as if blind. Looked like his thermal sensors were all tied into its radar leaving the pilot now blind. 33 was already amid discarding her GGG, which was now out of ammunition, unsurprising as I believe she only had enough munitions for about a second or two. I remember now, she had told me to switch to a private channel once the fight begun, though once they figured out what channel we were on it wouldn¡¯t do us any good. Whatever, I reached above my head and spun a dial, causing her voice to cut in angrily, ¡°you idiot!¡± ¡°Hi 33.¡± ¡°Finally, why the hell did you stay on the Alpha direct line for so long?¡± ¡°I forgot to switch radios, hold on, setting Alpha direct line to background.¡± It would be quieter, but I¡¯d at least be able to listen in on our enemies and intercept their ability to coordinate, for what it was worth. ¡°Right. Cover me, switching to arc claw.¡± ¡°Copy,¡± I had already zeroed in on the second Gemini, which was closing fast to cut me off with its machine gun from being able to finish off its twin. If it was on defense, then I would have to keep it that way while 33 switched weapons. I slammed my controls forward into a charge, pulled into a swivel causing a tight spin before slamming forward for a ninety-degree turn, causing the female Gemini to miss. Twice more I pulled the maneuver, switching up the angle as necessary to maintain unpredictability before strafing to the side to position the blinded Alpha between me and her. Sure enough, she held her fire while I prepared to charge forward and finish her brother. ¡°Emergency. Haul Penetration.¡± The automated voice of the alarm was paired with a sudden jerk, and I turned around to view my back screen to see that I had several harpoons piercing my thighs and shoulders coming from the Medusa behind me. ¡°Damnit!¡± I slammed forward but the Medusa was faster as it started reeling me in, and while its weapon system wasn¡¯t designed to contend with my thrusters, it hampered my movements enough that when the Medusa swiveled to pull the other direction, I found myself losing as metal groans rang out around me. ¡°Little help here!¡± ¡°On it,¡± came the cool reply as I saw 33 prancing towards me, dodging the same machine gun fire I had been subject to earlier as the female Gemini switched targets and moved to intercept. Part of me was proud to see 33 using the same maneuvers I had used to dodge her, but I didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it as she barreled towards me. I released my thrusts, and suddenly I was jerked back as the Alloy of Justice was pulled onto its back and collided with a stalagmite, shattering it, just in time for the Noblesse Oblige to leap over me and streak towards the trailer of the Medusa that had a hold of me. Multiple harpoons were launched, but her aerial thrusters made it easy for her to dodge midair in an elegant twist and slam her arms, now recombined into one, into it, which had a large hand-like claw extension that was way too big for her Alpha drawn from her carousel. The Noblesse Oblige twisted so that it appeared to be doing a one-handed handstand before it pushed off into the air and righted itself to levitate, the claws now missing their points as they had embedded into the trailer. Instead, she extended it, and my thermal sensors failed to properly process the arcs of electricity extending from her hand as it rained down like lightning into the trailer with pops and crackles, causing the harpoons to become lax as their motor stalled, allowing me to slam forward again and right myself just in time to take a swing at the Gemini following like a meteor in hot pursuit of 33. No, you don¡¯! I swung my left arm, already prepped, at her, but she did the same one-eighty maneuver as her brother and unlike him, succeeded in evading as I ripped free of the harpoons while having a peppering of bullets pierce through my haul without doing any critical damage. I reeled around and then noticed a massive series of cracks spreading out from beneath me, which looked like blue lightning spreading across purple on my thermal imaging, combined with a massive explosion behind me, ¡°The hell-,¡± The ground collapsed and suddenly all of us with the exception of the levitating Noblesse Oblige were dropping into the factory below as the floor collapsed and we were all pelted with stone and concrete as it exploded out from the source of the explosion, damaging my thermal sensors and causing all my screens to turn white. ¡°Shit, I¡¯m blind!¡± I switched back to traditional cameras, but I couldn¡¯t see shit through the smoke, dust, and snow. ¡°WHERE IS THE TRAITOR! DEATH TO THE TRAITOR!¡± I winced at the sudden shout over the comms, as a blast wave passed over me, cleansing the air enough for me that I was able to look towards the source of the explosion to see a giant, brown, quadruped Alpha standing in what appeared to be a crater. The color seemed to come from an enamel, and I realized it was N.O. Technologies new armor they had been working on, which was designed to be near impenetrable to laser and plasma weaponry that wasn¡¯t on par with the Neon Cathedrals. Each forearm was massive, and it appeared to have large fingers peeking out from underneath its armor. Its hind legs were more animalistic, and its head had two radar dishes that kind of looked like ears. I saw no cameras on what I assumed was its cockpit, which was unusual, and a second later a familiar set of green lasers shot out from the arms and rapidly scanned over every inch of the battlefield, each one setting on each of us Alphas so that I was able to quickly get a feeling for where each one was currently located. Paiea was still limp up on the bridge, as was the Legion on another bridge. The Leviathan floated above, and I could see its laser cannons were fully charged as they glowed a hot blue, bordering on turning red. The rest of us were scattered on the factory floor, assembly lines and conveyer belts akilter and damaged from the still crumbling rock and concrete. The thing stood up on its hind legs, showing its massive size so that I realized the thing was probably as big as the Legion, hell probably bigger since it was so bulky. I got a good look on its back, where there were two large spherical tanks interconnected with hoses leading to its cockpit. In addition, there were two large box like objects connected to the sides of the smaller tank, the purpose of which I hadn¡¯t the slightest clue. This must be the new Alpha N.O. was working on, but who the hell was piloting it? ¡°JULIET IDENTIFIED! DEATH TO THE TRAITOR! LONG LIVE THE CROSSROADS!¡± Every one of its lasers reoriented to point at the cockpit of the Legion. ¡­ So¡­ it was on our side? ¡°33?¡± ¡°It¡¯s Kristoff, but something sounds wrong.¡± No shit. The thing started turning towards the Legion, when suddenly a solid blue laser blazed into the shoulder of the beast, and it took a knee while lifting its arm to shield itself as the magnificent light show became too intense to witness. Finally, the light faded, and I stared at it in fascination as the beast righted itself, its armor unharmed but instead glowing a neon green where the laser had failed to pierce its armor. The thing¡¯s ears suddenly expanded, as a noise that sounded like a foghorn shattered the silence and a visible soundwave buffeted the dust around it as the thing bent over while turning its head to the sky, as if roaring. ¡°INTERFERENCE WILL NOT BE TOLERATED! ENGAGE!¡± The massive thing bent over, and I realized it had changed targets to Logan as every laser landed on his cockpit. In a panic I switched frequencies for speaking and shouted ¡°Logan, get out of there!¡± 33 responded immediately as I switched back to our channel, ¡°What are you doing, he is our target!?¡± Shit, she was right. Even so, I couldn¡¯t stand still as my friend died, and luckily my warning seemed to have come out on time as suddenly the hind legs of Kristoff¡¯s Alpha extended in an explosive display of speed and power, lifting the green Alpha instantly in a way I could never have imagined the machine capable of moving, diving upwards headfirst towards the Leviathan while swinging one powerful arm. Logan had already started to veer away, but the speed was too great, and was swiped on the back sending him into a tailspin as he crashed into the bridge causing it to buckle, the same bridge that the Legion was perched upon, knocking Juliet down to us. ¡°Shoot it while its in the air.¡± Juliet ordered harshly as she fell, realizing like I did that the beast was vulnerable while it was in the air. Or so you would think. The thing flipped and its hind legs landed on the ravine walls as it crouched again against it, and in an instant, I realized what was happening, but was busy reorienting myself to aim for the Medusa which had begun maneuvering through the debris while taking aim with its harpoons at Kristoff. ¡°33, where¡¯s the core on the Medusa?¡± ¡°Third trailer from the front.¡± That¡¯s all I needed to know as I t-boned the Alpha and dug both my piles into and released. The Medusa skidded to a halt as my Alpha bounced off its haul violently and I slammed into a set of mechanical presses on a conveyer belt. Simultaneously, the beast with the neon shoulder kicked off the wall headed towards the ground where the Legion would be landing. ¡°Kristoff, no!¡± me and 33 shouted at once, but it was too late. The shields on the Legion¡¯s legs extended out, revealing what appeared to be a generator in its center and a massive blue force field snapped like lightning around it as the brown machine crashed on top of it and was immediately repelled off it, rocketing into the air and sending out another shock wave, this one more intense than all the rest. The Crossroads shook as Kristoff slowly spiraled through the air, and eventually crashed into the ground before rolling over onto all four to look over at the Legion, as all her drones reseated themselves in her forearms, ready for their next set of commands. Instantly they detached from her left arm as she swung it to the right and suddenly caught something I had lost track of, the golden, draconic automaton that had started the fight, right out of the air and into a wall, where a large machine toppled over and pinned it down. The dragon¡¯s head was secured underneath, and it scratched and pulled at the machinery to no avail, like lightning caught in a bottle. In the meantime, the drones were already headed towards Kristoff, and Juliet ordered, ¡°Geminis are to engage the Alloy and Noblesse with my support fire, I¡¯ll take the Oso Verde. Leviathan, fire.¡± Suddenly another blast of blue light shot out where the Leviathan had crash-landed, it now being stranded, and run aground, yet not defenseless. It struck the Oso Verde in the same spot as before, which shifted from green to orange as the armor finally started to melt. The drones from Juliet¡¯s left arm disengaged and began splitting to fly towards me and 33 while simultaneously I saw the two Geminis speeding at me and 33, the melee coming for me and the ranged one at her. I began skating to dodge, while the drones began to spread out around the Gemini and keep me from closing the distance between the two of us. Out of the corner of one eye I saw that 33 had drawn a pair of high caliber gauss revolvers with her arms separated once again but knew there was only six shots per gun. Out of the corner of the other I saw Kristoff, piloting what I guess was called the Oso Verde, break into a four-legged sprint as he headed towards Juliet, who was running at him with long spindly steps. Slag dripped from his shoulder and splattered on the factory floor. Certainly, he wasn¡¯t fucking stupid enough to charge her again, was he? I feinted to charge the male Gemini before reversing, causing a few drones to fire uselessly, not that it would do any good. I needed him to commit to an attack so that I could drive a pile through him, which unfortunately I had lost track of how many I had used and for which arm. I had enough, right? Had to. As I strafed around, I saw the Oso Verde had stopped short and stood up suddenly to unshoulder the blocks on its back, taking one in both hands as barrels extended out of each and it fired them at the Legion, whose generators pulsed to release its force field twice to dispel the explosions before slamming one lance into his exposed molten shoulder and driving him back and disarming that side as it inadvertently lost its grip on its bazooka. The other lance aimed for the other weapon and pierced it, making it useless. The Oso Verde tried to right itself, but she forced it onto its back and started pushing him towards the wall of the factory, on the other side of which was a small drop before the water reservoir, which was several dozen meters deep. That was going to be my window, I somehow knew. ¡°Hey 33,¡± I said with surprising calm. ¡°What?¡± She had discarded her revolvers, taken cover behind some machinery, and was now pulling out two diamond edged heated blades, that would be good for maybe a hit or two, if she could even land them. She dived out and broke the support beam to a piece of the room that had held out during the collapse, which now fell towards the ranged Gemini as 33 reached back into her carousel to equip her next weapon. She was down to her last weapon, and I knew it wasn¡¯t going to be effective against any of the remaining Alphas. ¡°I think that¡¯s it, kiddo. Time to abort.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± The other Gemini had come round to find her, as the male Gemini finally saw his opportunity and swung at me, but he was too slow and I strafed to his side and slammed my left arm into his side for a solid hit and fired, downing the craft. ¡°It¡¯s time to leave, you need to get to Olympus and warn them. The Leviathan is damaged, but it will only take a week to repair, Olympus needs to change locations now with the chance we bought them, or they¡¯re dead.¡± The female Gemini screamed as she realized what had happened to her brother and switched targets to charge me, her machine gun firing well before she reached effective range so that her bullets bounced off my armor, denting it, I was sure. ¡°How the hell are you getting out, you can¡¯t scale the walls!?¡± As the female Gemini saw red and turned from her, the Noblesse Oblige pulled out its last weapon, a long cable with a large metal ball on it. She whipped it out, and it wrapped around the torso of the Gemini as thrusters activated on the ball causing it to accelerate as the cable wrapped around and round, faster and faster, until it slammed with terrifying devastation into the Gemini¡¯s torso, destroying the orb on the end of the whip from the collision while causing the Alpha to violent explode out under the force, scraps of the Alpha spreading out like buckshot. ¡°No time, ice bitch. Go.¡± ¡°But-,¡± ¡°NOW!¡± I shouted with a ferocity I had never felt before, and I saw her Alpha appear to hesitate before heading towards the pillar, just as Juliet collided with the wall of the reservoir. There was another violent shake, and it collapsed as she drove the Oso Verde through it and tossed it into the water below, where its weight caused it to instantly drop through into the murky depths below. The drones were already flying back to Juliet, ready for their next deadly mission. ¡°You two are going nowhere.¡± Juliet declared over our radio, having apparently finally found the channel we were using as the blaring of horns announced the activation of Cronus. Red lights lit up all up and down the pillar as 33 began ascending the pillar as quickly as she could even as it started to rotate and up above old metal began to move. Cronus was ancient, and long retired, but the old Bravo was still capable of putting up its shield for the city, which was already extending out from the top. Except this time, it wasn¡¯t a shield, it was a prison, and with it all hope would be lost. I had no way of stopping the Legion or its drones, which were now headed towards me for a final attack. Those drones truly were the ultimate weapon, which when paired with the force field generators on its legs created an unbreakable shield as well. The field could only last for a split second, but I had no way of getting the jump on her when I would be too busy dodging the drones, and she would just wear me down. I switched to the Alpha direct line and then I clicked the buttons on each of my arms. A few seconds later I heard two familiar beeps indicating I had two piles charged. Good, I was out of chances, but maybe there was still something I could do. The Legion was slow to scale, and there was at least one thing here that might be fast enough to escape the Crossroads on time, even if 33 wasn¡¯t. I swerved and then began charging directly towards where the dragon was, which I had gathered to be Aphrodite. It had been swift, and while she hadn¡¯t released anymore of those frosty blasts of hers, probably due to being out of steam, she might still be able to get out on time. I ignored the fact that I was going to be intercepted by the drones before I reached her. They wouldn¡¯t be able to damage me enough to stop my final mission. A peace fell over me, and I radioed over the line, ¡°Hey, Logan.¡± A despairing voice answered me, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let that bitch kill 33, old friend.¡± He didn¡¯t respond, and I crashed into the machinery pinning Aphrodite down at full speed, punching both arms forward and firing to maximize the force of my impact. I groaned and opened one eye, the other struggling to open due to there being blood pouring into it. Smoke and debris lay everywhere, and my cockpit had been torn asunder so that I could taste the disaster on the air, like ash and salt on the wound. Water was sprinkling on my head which burned before I realized I was looking up into the sky through a molten hole in the blast shield of Cronus. The burning was from the acid rain, which was falling directly over me. Everything hurt, apart from my left leg. I couldn¡¯t feel that, and I didn¡¯t bother looking at it to find out why. ¡°Fucking fucker¡¯s fucked,¡± I groaned, and I became aware of a loud rhythmic noise that belonged to a large machine, approaching me. ¡°You¡¯re still alive, Alloy,¡± it was the last voice I wanted to hear on the radio, and I looked towards the source of the steps and saw the Legion walking towards me steadily. ¡°Fuuuuuck¡­¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re pleased with yourself, the Crossroads is in ruins, and you wiped out most of our Alphas in your selfishness,¡± I hated the fact that she sounded at most as if it was mildly inconvenient. People were dead, our fellow pilots were dead, and she had turned us against each other, people we had known our entire lives. And she was treating it all as slightly annoying. Bitch. ¡°Where¡¯s 33?¡± An edged voice responded with, ¡°She escaped, as well as that automaton that assisted you, through that hole in Cronus created by Logan. He at the last second decided to aid them in their escape, choosing to trust you over his loyalty to the Crossroads. I¡¯ll deal with his treachery in a moment, but first I think it¡¯s time for your foolish antics to end here.¡± ¡°Heh...¡± ¡°Excuse me?¡± ¡°¡­ Heh¡­ Hehe¡­ Hahahaha, ow¡­ hahaha, oh shit, it hurts, hahahaha!¡± They were alive! Somehow, through all of it, 33 and Aphrodite were alive! It wasn¡¯t much, but in the end, maybe my sacrifice had amounted to something. The Legion stopped before me, and she aimed one Lance at me so that I could see the barrel of her flamethrower. The light that emerged from it was as brilliant as the sun. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. I drummed my finger on my console as I watched the Alloy of Justice burn, the fool finally dealt with. It was all such a waste. The best pilot in the Crossroads had given his all and nearly brought down everything that he and I had dedicated our lives to, and for what? A sentimental belief that we could live in peace with our enemies? Absolute foolishness. Worse yet, Logan had betrayed us, and he was the only one with the GEL compatibility required to activate the cannons of the Leviathan, with a capacity numbering in over a thousand liters. It was integral that those be brought back to battle readiness in preparation of destroying Olympus. No matter, I had already considered using the AI from the Oso Verde to force Logan¡¯s obedience, and sure enough it was to be required. We would have to scavenge it from the bottom of the reservoir, but in a month, I would be ready with a new and improved Leviathan, one that didn¡¯t have the capabilities to betray me. Better yet, N.O. Technologies would be done with the other tech they had scrapped from El Dorado, and I would soon be able to transfer my neurological system to a powerful, near immortal body. Alloy had delayed the inevitable, but when rank one returned Atlantis would fall, and soon after Olympus. Humanity could finally claim its freedom to reach the rest of the solar system. Everything would be as it should be. I would be in control. The End I became aware of a throbbing, dull red light piercing through my eyelids, and then it faded from my mind. Its return made me wonder what it was, but sure enough it went away once again. The third time it pulsated, I became aware of the pain in my temple, the wetness at my feet, and sounds that were both familiar and alien at once. I opened my eyes in confusion, ¡°Mama?¡± I groaned out. Mom isn¡¯t here. You need to move. Looking around, I realized there was a dull warning light, pulsing on and off casting deep red shadows in the cockpit that was now up to my shins covered in water. There was a second of a familiar yet alien noise, before the fog of my mind finally cleared and I realized it was the sound of water that was pouring in from the seams of the cockpit. I began to get up, but felt a tug at my back and forehead, and winced with pain. I reached one hand up and felt the spine piercing through my temple and realized I couldn¡¯t move without unplugging from the AI. ¡°YOU ARE AWAKE.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°THE OSO VERDE HAS SUNK TO THE BOTTOM OF A WATER RESERVOIR. ALL SYSTEMS ARE WATERLOGGED AND OUT OF COMMISION. I PRESSURIZED THE CABIN, BUT IT IS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE IT FILLS AND YOU DROWN.¡± I glanced down and saw my reflection in the crimson water, which said, ¡°We have to find a way to survive this.¡± I brushed the AI¡¯s spines again, and then asked, ¡°What¡¯s the chance of us surviving somehow if we stay here?¡± ¡°ZERO.¡± I nodded, that decided it. I grabbed the helm at my forehead and got ready to remove it. What are you doing? ¡°I¡¯m going to unplug from the AI, and we¡¯re going to get out of here.¡± I stopped my hands, and they shook as I wrestled back control and pulled them down. ¡°No, you¡¯re not. Did you forget about the kill switch?¡± I managed to get my hands back on the helm, ¡°Well if we stay here, we¡¯re dead. We can sit here and wait to die, or we can unplug and die. Given a choice, I¡¯d rather not be connected to this AI when I die. ¡°DEATH TO THE TRAITOR! LONG LIVE ATLANTIS.¡± Case in point, the idea of listening to that in my head before I went was not something I felt like doing. Stop! There must be another way. The systems may be waterlogged, but maybe there¡¯s a way to disconnect the AI with us when we leave. Let¡¯s see, if I look down at the seat there should be some way to tear it off. Once I figure that out, we¡¯ll be free to leave. I must survive, survive, survive. ¡°Hey Ursa Minor?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you do it.¡± ¡°STATE YOUR ORDERS.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t listen to him!¡± ¡°MY CONTRACT STATES I LISTEN TO HIM, NOT YOU. STATE YOUR ORDERS.¡± ¡°Disconnect me.¡± The pain was instant, and a shudder swept my body as first the helm came lose and I tore it off, while a wet squelching sound erupted from my back as it withdrew from my spine. I leapt out of the seat and felt a sudden wave of nausea, but I didn¡¯t have time to process it. Oh no, I was going to be sick. We didn¡¯t have time to be sick. I had managed to gain a lot of knowledge from the AI while we were connected, so I rushed to the door and opened a side panel to pull out a life jacket, put it on, and hit the button to depressurize the cabin, causing water to instantly crash in. It had been only eight seconds since we disconnected, but I couldn¡¯t even think about that as the door opened and I pulled the tab, causing the flotation device to inflate and I skyrocketed upwards. In Atlantis you are always at risk of the bends, and when making a rapid ascent like I was it was imperative to breathe out as fast as you could. Shit, my shoulder was already starting to hurt, and I probably should have burst my eardrums to be safe, but it was too late now. The pain was spreading and hurting more. I can¡¯t take this anymore! Make it stop! Make it stop! It was reaching my upper limits as well, and we were rising slower and slower, likely because this flotation device wasn¡¯t designed for the weight of a cybernetic human, and if I didn¡¯t start swimming we would drown. I tried to kick, but the pain in my joints was too great, and I felt myself losing control of my body. Shit, shit, I looked up and could see light, and it was starting to fade away. We were too heavy, and our momentum was too slow to carry us to the air. I had phenomenal lung capacity thanks to my modifications, but¡­ shit did we just gasp! I wasn¡¯t in control! I couldn¡¯t keep myself alive like this! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! It hurts! THE SURVIVOR HAD FINALLY BROKEN, AND BOTH HE AND THE ORIGINAL WERE PARALYZED BY PAIN. IN THAT CASE, I began kicking while gagging on water. My mind was becoming dark, with the cries of pain of the two alters becoming distant, but I had my mission. Swim to safety. We broke the surface, and I swam over to where there was a large crumbling indent in the concrete, likely where the Oso Verde had scratched as it fell into the water. I pulled myself up, spat out the water, and gasped air as my mind snapped back. The two were still crying in pain. I assessed the situation. Juliet was still alive. Objective identified. Kill Juliet. I began pulling myself up the wall, grabbing twisted rebar and jutting concrete until I was clear. My skin popped and wheezed as it let out the air bubbles from the bends. The modifications were designed to mitigate the bends, and in a minute or two the pain would fully subside. It¡­ hurts. But not as bad. Shit, where were we? I watched as we pulled ourselves over the wall and walked back into the factory that we were fighting in earlier. The dust and snow had settled, creating a sickening light grey powder around the room and I could feel the chill in the air. Throughout the floor, there were fires, and I could see the Legion walking away from the wreckage of what appeared to be¡­ the Alloy of Justice. We had lost.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. I found myself finally able to think clearly as we marched to the Legion. I was surprised we were still alive, but that didn¡¯t matter, what mattered was we needed to find a way to stop Juliet. Stop walking towards her, are you trying to get us killed? Aren¡¯t you the one in control? Of course not, I would never take us to danger like this! Then who is in control? The answer was, ¡°I AM.¡± Who the hell? What the hell, I thought we disconnected from the AI? ¡°CORRECT. I AM NOT THE AI. YOU MAY CALL ME KING.¡± They were getting irritated, and I could feel them struggling to take back control, so I manifested their forms so that I could see them clearly, floating out from me and appearing standing on whatever I saw as I made my way through the chaos of the floor and towards the loud steps of the Legion. I looked down and saw my body, which was translucent and didn¡¯t have any actual control, ¡°What the hell did you just do?¡± ¡°PREVENTING YOU TWO FROM INTERFERING WITH MY MISSION.¡± ¡°What is your mission?¡± I felt so out of place, and it was weird to watch my body moving without me even being inside of it. I didn¡¯t like it one bit. ¡°IDENTIFY AND ACCOMPLISH THE WANTS OF KRISTOFF.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to get us killed!¡± ¡°NEGATIVE. I AM IMMORTAL.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°EVIDENCE. NO ONE SURVIVES THE SUICIDE CHIPS. I SURVIVED. NO ONE SURVIVES THE AI TAKING OVER THE MIND. I SURVIVED. NO ONE SURVIVES THE KILLSWITCH. I SURVIVED. CONCLUSION. I AM IMMORTAL, THEREFORE YOUR MISSION TO SURVIVE, SURVIVE, SURVIVE IS IRRELEVANT.¡± ¡°Are you out of your fucking mind!?¡± ¡°NEGATIVE.¡± The Legion had stopped, and I could see its cockpit opening. She wasn¡¯t aware I was here. Based on how the forcefield only stood for a second in response to attacks, most likely it would not activate if she didn¡¯t see me. Conclusion. She was vulnerable. I took off into a sprint and jumped onto the leg of the Legion, climbing rapidly up to above its shielded knee, and began sprinting down the leg. I leapt onto the core and managed to swing and hop up in just two bounds to the cockpit. Make her pay! You two are going to get us killed! She looked up from her seat in mild surprise, and pulled out her gun, a useless endeavor. I was bullet proof. Bang! Ow! You¡¯re seriously going to get us killed! I snatched her hand and squeezed, causing snapping sounds as her bones broke and I ripped the gun out of her hand, tossing it over my shoulder where it clattered down below. It didn¡¯t matter if she had managed to shoot and hurt us. I¡¯m scared¡­ Get us out of here, now! We were immortal, pain has no meaning. Do not overreact. We literally are bleeding you moron! Mama? Mama, where are you? I grabbed the seatbelt on Juliet, who was now punching us repeatedly in the head. Useless. I pulled the belt, and it snapped as I tore it apart. I grabbed her by the scruff of her uniform and lifted her up so that she was looking down at me. She glared at me in annoyance, continuing to kick and strike me with her good arm. I looked at the woman, the murderer of Adonis, the bastard who had tried to take over the city. The monster who had lied to me. The bitch. ¡°Let me go,¡± she demanded as a thought came through my mind. ¡°HOPE AGAINST DESPAIR.¡± ¡°What?¡± she snarled. I pulled her close, and then tossed her lightly from the cockpit so that she would fall down below. As she started to drop, I jumped down so that I landed a split second after she did, her legs snapping as she crumpled to the ground. I was unsure if 33¡¯s plan had succeeded. Was Adonis¡¯s creation able to escape? The thing had truly been beautiful and was all that was left of the boy¡¯s legacy. His desire to invent, to make the world better. It was truly something to be admired. ¡°HOPE TAKES HEART.¡± She was struggling to pull herself along, and I saw that she was crawling towards the gun, which was a few meters from her location. I walked calmly by and picked it up, while glancing down at her, who was staring needles into my eyes. I squeezed, and the gun fired uselessly in the air as I crushed it down into a useless scrap of metal before dropping it to the ground. 33 had seemed so calm and collected whenever I met her, that was until yesterday. Suddenly she had been passionate. Suddenly she was enraged. Atlas of Atlantis could never understand such emotion. This woman was clearly cut from the same cloth, killing a kid as easily as I had seen Atlas cut down anyone who tried to overthrow him. I had been part of two missions to crush uprisings, and to this day the original regretted it, even if the survivor did not. ¡°HOPE AGAINST LOGIC.¡± I walked over and stepped on her one good arm, snapping her ulna and radial bones as easily as if it was a stick. She didn¡¯t cry out, instead opting to look up at me and say, ¡°This changes nothing. The city will need someone to blame. They¡¯ll hang you, and then they¡¯ll follow through and destroy Olympus and Atlantis. The Crossroads will lead humanity to a new age, and even if I¡¯m not there to see it, I have succeeded.¡± No, that couldn¡¯t be. 33 and Alloy certainly wouldn¡¯t let it happen. They had a plan to stop her, and while I wasn¡¯t sure if they succeeded in all their objectives, I had faith they would stop at nothing to save all three cities. They would succeed, as surely as I had survived so much. ¡°HOPE FOR A MIRACLE.¡± I looked back at the burning wreckage of the Alloy of Justice, perhaps he was dead. Perhaps he had failed. In that case, someone would have to take his mantle. 33 was nowhere to be seen, and if she didn¡¯t, I would. ¡°HOPE FOR A HERO.¡± I picked the woman up and she squirmed underneath me. I walked to a leg of the Legion and slammed her against it in a sitting position, and she stared up to me unphased. This wasn¡¯t going as Kristoff wanted. She wasn¡¯t scared. She wasn¡¯t ashamed. She wasn¡¯t giving up. I needed to break her. I needed to make her pay for Adonis. ¡°BEG FOR YOUR LIFE.¡± Juliet looked up at me, and she raised up a quizzical eyebrow, before smiling and saying, ¡°No, you Atlantean pig.¡± She knew what I wanted, and she wasn¡¯t going to give it to me. Assessing the situation. Juliet would not give up. She would not surrender. She did not feel regret. She was not ashamed. Conclusion. There would be no catharsis. I must complete my mission then. I gagged and spat out the data port from my liver, the black slimy cord dangling from my mouth. I bit off the end, and white GEL glowed faintly as it dripped from the cord while I bent over and jerked the woman¡¯s head back. She didn¡¯t even flinch, maintaining that condescending smile as she looked at death, and felt no fear. I jammed it into her eye, instantly crushing it and forcing it through her optic nerve into her brain. I squeezed the cord like a tube of paste, and the GEL entered her skull. Her body began to spasm lightly, the way I had seen so many Atlanteans do as their Suicide chips went off. ¡°Hmm. It¡¯s not as bad¡­ as I thought it¡­ would be¡­¡± her voice faded away, her face slumped to the side, and she became still as death claimed her. You may HAVE CONTROL BACK. I instantly snapped back to my body and fell down to my knees gasping. It was over. I looked around me and saw emergency services as Deltas began flying down and first responders began arriving. I looked down at Juliet, picked myself back up, and began walking away. I wasn¡¯t sure what was next. Logan would supposedly be next in line for the military, and I didn¡¯t know if I could trust him. No one had seen me kill Juliet, and hopefully the evidence of me having piloted the Oso Verde would have been destroyed under the pressure of the water. It didn¡¯t matter. In the end I had one job. I had to survive, survive, survive. For the future of the little boy, who had created me all those years ago, as he cried and held mom. That was my promise. That was my mission, as the King had so succinctly put it. Hey, where are we going? ¡°To safety.¡± ¡­ I want to go to Olympus. I want to see Adonis¡¯s home. ¡­ I think we can do that¡­ Maybe we can do more than survive, just this once¡­ I gave up control.