Security Wing. Aiden's Loss. Lopez splits the crew. A bellator fights alone.

The dull red lights of the security wing cast an eerie glow upon the uneasy crew. Domitia scans the room, seeing no signs of the creatures nor any signs of more drones. Both are good signs considering their current situation; however, the bellator knows things are still bad. The beasts are on the other side of the door, and judging by how dark the wing is, the power is probably off, making navigating through this wing difficult.

"Marsia is gone," Lopez announces.

The crew has fallen against the walls or onto makeshift chairs. There is no cursing, nor any feeble attempts to deny reality, just a quiet acceptance of the truth. Aiden is the only one with tears in his eyes. The greenhorn has removed his helmet, clutching it in his hands as he battles with grief.

"I saw her go," Domitia admits. "The bot got in my way."

"You called them Revenants," Clara looks up at Domitia, "Do you know what these things are?"

"I don't, per se," Domitia explains, "My Legacy contains genetically passed down combat data. Usually, it's nothing more than muscle memory and raw tactical data. However, on occasion, memories well up with it." The bellator removes her helmet, "Those things, I think an ancestor, a previous bellator, fought them."

"So that's how you got the name. A mentor came up with it?" Sisco asks.

"No, a bellator which had this Legacy." She taps her chest, "Bellators are links in a long chain. We can trace our lineage to the founding of the Coalition."

"The War For Survival," Lopez remarks.

"Correct." Domitia nods, "I cannot tell you exactly what these things are, but Aiden's hypothesis was correct." The bellator looks over to Aiden, who's now looking up at the bellator with awe, "The revenants play with our perception of reality, from what I observed. Much like how your brain tricks itself from seeing its nose, the creatures do the same."

"So we have to see what our brain doesn't want us to see?" Sisco asks. "That's... Gonna be easy."

"It makes you go cross-eyed a little." Aiden adds, "I mean... At least when I look for them."

"You can see them?" Lopez asks.

"Well, not really." Aiden's fingers tap across his helmet, "It's more like I'm seeing where they should be."

Lopez snorts, "Good enough for me; you're our point man now."

"Greenhorn? Seriously?" Sisco asks, raising an eyebrow.

"He has a chance to see the fucking things," Lopez counters," 'Sides, I need the rest of you alive, including the Net-Head."

"Yeah, about that," Thomas interjects. "We do have a problem."

"That is?" Lopez asks.

"No power here, place got pulled off the grid, I think I know why too," The net-head produces a note, in blocky big words it reads, 'NO POWER! ADMIN LOOSE!' "Found it taped to one of the terminals. Think the net here has an RI on it. Would explain the feeling I've been getting."

"Real Intelligence?" Clara asks, "Those are in reels, not reality."

"Nah, I've seen 'em before." Thomas counters, "Void Watch barely ever catches them out here. Have run into nasty ones in some of the abandoned Under Nets."

RIs, or Real Intelligences, were something Domitia had encountered before. They were not just a more sophisticated drone or AI; they could control the entire data space they inhabited. RIs are illegal, as laid out in the Coalition Charter, but that doesn't mean people didn't make them. The Technocrats of Multhusa and the Gene Lords of Chimera utilized various forms of RI in their infrastructure and labor classes. The tech used to make them was forbidden but got leaked during the War of Fallen Stars.

The Violet Vale pirate clan unleashed countless RIs onto the Liminal Network, causing what would be known as the Data Storm. Liminal Net Work was highjacked; planets where completely cut off, ships where lost in Liminal Space, and some even had cybernetics infected. Domitia remembered fighting in unpowered armor, her helmet off, trudging through the ruins of a RI-controlled merc ship that had crashed into a populated world. The unfortunate augs and shells are being controlled by an unseen RI. The only reason they had to do a ground assault was because a Void Watch agent demanded the RI be captured. Too many men died because of that, at least in Domitia's opinion.

Needless to say, the bellator made sure her data ports were closed and her wireless switched off.

"Okay, so the place doesn't have power, and there's an angry computer somewhere here," Sisco runs over the details. How exactly does this change our plan?"

"If the RI is aware of us, it'll lock us out of engineering, sick more security drones on us," Lopez observes. "The best way to deal with it would be to shut it down. Might be our new target..."

"It sounded like it was only concerned that the experiment continues." Dell observes, "The easiest course of action is to just leave."

"Not happening," Lopez growls, "I'm not leaving till I know this place is good and buried."

"Then will have to deal with the RI." Domitia points out.

"If that's the case, what's our best option?" Lopez asks.

Thomas raises a finger, opening up his deck, "We might have a solution."

"That is?" Sisco asks.

"Security borders Admin. I'm willing to bet that this," He puts his wrist out so the crew can see, tapping his finger on a conspicuously unlabeled room, "This is where our RI is cradled."

"Well... If RIs are as dangerous as they are, does it matter? It can just go somewhere else on the net, right?" Aiden asks.

"Not exactly." Thomas looks up to the ceiling, eyes squinting a little as he works out an explanation, "Depending on how the net is set up, they could have the RI be integrated with a cradel. Kind of like a Net-Head needing a body. Would prevent it from hopping onto a wireless signal."

"Prevents it from leaving the facility," Domitia observes. "We burn the cradle; we kill the RI."

"We'll need to delta out as soon as we do that, ain't no way they built this place without a dead man switch," Lopez says.

"Well... If you look here..." Thomas presents his deck again, moving the image with a stylus, "Right here..." He taps a void labelled 'Executive Landing Pad.' "Gonna guess they have a few shuttles just for an occasion like this."

"And if we know corps, they love to buy in bulk." Dell comments.

"That'll do then." Lopez motions, "Let's cut through this shit. Lights on. Watch your sectors."

The crew gets to work, replacing their helmets and flipping on their headlamps, and begun to navigate through the security wing. Thomas giving directions while Aiden took point, the bounty hunters taking up the rear once more. The dark corridors gave no comfort to anyone, with frequent pauses as Aiden would spy something, only to dismiss it as a mere trick of the light.

They encounter their first real roadblock - a locked bulkhead. Labeled as 'Bull Pen,' it had tighter security; locks along the bottom of the door prevent the bellator from simply lifting it up, while the frame of the bulkhead prevents her ion lance or Lopez's plasma torch from reaching the locks.

"Must be a maintenance shaft or some way to get at the locks." Lopez thinks aloud.

"Can't we go around it?" Sisco asks.

"No, we gotta pass through here." Thomas says with a sigh, "Cell blocks line the center of the security wing, gonna guess those are locked even tighter."

"Well, ain't that great." Sisco remarks.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

As they mull over it, Domitia begins looking around the frame, her gaze landing on an out-of-place seam along the ceiling. She's able to get on the toes of her sabatons and press a hand up, feeling something give. She jumps a little, putting enough force on it to pop the panel free. Dell climbs up Domitia's shoulder, motioning to get a boost. She lifts her arm up, the grumlian climbing up it, balancing atop her armored fingers to look inside.

"Yeah, this might work. Dark as hell, but it looks like it goes the direction we need it too." Dell guesses.

"Could be a way to release it from the other side." Domitia guesses.

"We can't have people going alone. No telling what's on the other side." Lopez's lamp falls onto Aiden. "Alright, skinny, strip."

"W-what?" Aiden asks, nearly jumping.

"You're the thinnest one here; you can squeeze through with Shorty over there." Lopez points to Dell.

"I ain't short, you are all just too damn tall." Dell quips.

"Hmm, even me?" Domitia asks.

"Especially you."

"Cut the chatter. Let's get this going."

----

Dell is used to cramped spaces, even dark ones, but navigating through the air vents of a lost Lazarus facility with unseen monsters everywhere gave him new levels of paranoia he didn't think were possible. He had never been more thankful for a light in his life, as every dark corner or odd-looking shadow held some sort of invisible horror that would disappear you into nothingness. Still, despite the horrific death that probably awaits him, he presses on. He remembers the old adage: "When caught in an asteroid field, the best way to go is out of the field."

He's thankful to be out of his cramped environment suit, at the very least.

Aiden crawls behind him, the human doing a decent job navigating the dark vent. It turns out his gaunt head rested upon narrow shoulders, which connect to toned but skinny arms and a thin, box-like, torso. It's a wonder to Dell that a kid like Aiden had lived this long, or made it onto a crew like Lopez's. He knows not to judge people by how they look, but he imagined Aiden would be better suited as a data-jockey rather than an energy farmer.

The grumlian raises one hand, signaling Aiden to halt, while the other feels a seam in the metal. Wordlessly, he motions to Aiden, who eventually produces a crowbar after jingling and jangling over his tools. Dell silently scolds the greenhorn for making so much noise, but as he forces open the panel, it slips from his grasp, and he watches as it tumbles from the ceiling and crashes onto a desk with a great crash. It echoes through the empty room, and Dell prepares to meet his end, but no end comes. He peers into the darkened office, light in hand.

A series of tables are pressed against one another, and a chair is neatly placed before each one. Files and terminals are at the top of each table, all facing in a way that creates a workspace for each officer. One of those desks now had a ceiling tile, the terminal crushed and lightly sparking. Walled-off offices line the walls, each closed with the lights off, save for one. It's the biggest office. Clearly, the chief's, judging by how it dominated the space. Dell slowly lowers himself down, using his tail to ease his way before flipping down and landing up a desk. Aiden follows afterward, shakily lowering himself down before landing on the desk with a clatter, falling onto his back, groaning with a bit of pain, but alive.

"You oughta lift some weights." Dell observes, "Might do you some good."

"Probably right," Aiden whispers.

"Let's check the boss's office," Dell motions to the one office with lights on, "Might be our best shot."

Wordlessly, they creep toward the office, checking their corners. They get inside, shutting the door as they do. Papers lie on the floor, and draws are left open, giving the impression that the office has been ransacked. Dell and Aiden begin their search, looking for a switch, control panel, or anything to help them with the locks. As they search, Dell catches a whiff of something smoky, and as he brushes aside papers, he finds a cigarette.

"Found something," Aiden announces.

Dell hops over, finding the greenhorn under the desk. He looks under, seeing Aiden's discovery—a grey panel with a series of switches underneath the desk. At the base of it is a key hole, with the key inside it, the head of which is broken off.

"Well, shit." He hunches over and gets next to Aiden, looking the keyhole over, "Not the worst; we'll just have to get a little creative."

"Why would someone do this?" Aiden asks, "Seems careless to break the key like that."

"Could be that someone else didn't want the doors to get unlocked." Dell muses.

"But why?" Aiden asks.

"Kid, you ask too many questions," Dell says as he pulls out a pair of screwdrivers and starts working on the lock.

At first he tries to turn it, but realizes that the bastard who did this jammed the wrong key into it, meaning not only will it not turn, it'll prevent someone from picking the lock. This wasn't some hasty act of frustration, this had been calculated. So Dell gets to work unjamming the lock first, as he does so, he can't help but ask Aiden something that's been on his mind.

"So why are you here, kid?"

"Hmm?" Aiden looks from the lock to Dell, "I mean, Lopez is my boss."

"I get that, but," Dell pauses as he flicks the key out of the hole, "Gotcha, you son of a bitch," He then swaps his tools to start picking the lock, "It's obvious this ain't a normal gig. Lopez doesn't seem the type to trick people into something, and you don't seem the 'dangerous gig' kind of guy. So I'll ask again, why are you here?"

Aiden is quiet for a moment; he looks up at the base of the desk, clearly thinking through his words, "My brother worked for Lopez. He was a cool guy, basically my dad. Mom left for the core, and Dad got drunk on a job and fell off a train. So it was just my bro and I." Aiden's eyes start to glisten with tears. "He just vanished. Taken. Lopez was furious. Promised to take care of me. Said I wouldn't have to worry about money.

"I guess I could've not come. Let Lopez and the rest of them try and fix this but..." Aiden looks away, clearly upset, "I couldn't just rot in my tiny room, watching the same reels over and over again, trying to forget my bro. I had to do something. So I came." He sniffles a little, wiping his eyes and nose.

"Ah hell," Dell clicks the lock and activates the panel, he looks over to Aiden, putting up his tools and putting a hand on his shoulder, "If I knew it was a sob story I wouldn't have asked. You could've lied, said it was for the money or whatever."

That got a chuckle out of Aiden, his mood turning quickly.

"See! There ya go!" Dell flips the switches, releasing the remaining locks. "But hey, listen." His voice turns serious and somber, "You're doing your brother proud, know that," He taps Aiden on the shoulder with a fist, "Come on, wipe those tears and let's get moving."

Dell and Aiden quickly find the rest of the crew. Domitia is already pulling the door up, and the crew is funneling in. Dell is quick to get back onto Domitia, clinging onto her armor like an avian on a branch. Thomas takes the lead once more, pointing in the direction they need to go.

"Not too far, I think; entrance to Admin is just ahead," Thomas states.

"Get moving; watch your corners," Lopez growls.

The crew gets moving, Dell keeping his role as overwatch as they navigate through the halls. The winding passage eventually leads to an elevator, which doesn't work; luckily, the stairs don't require power. The stairwell features wide, sturdy steps that are clearly designed for large security drones to navigate, which also means Domitia doesn't have to worry about falling through the stairs as they climb up. That's the only comfort the crew finds; however, as the stairwell is pitch black, their footfalls echo throughout it. Eventually, Thomas points out the level they're meant to exit from, and the crew quickly exits the black void of the stairwell.

The admin-level gives Dell flashbacks to the one corpo job he did back when he was a Made Man. The subtle swirling colors give him memories of nebulas, while the polished black stone floors trick his mind into thinking he's walking in the void. As they follow Thomas' directions, they can see areas earmarked for the high and mighty - full-service bars, with a piano in one corner, the inbuilt bot still in his fine suit, awaiting someone to prompt him to play. Lavish offices are darkened and are big enough that they seem to stretch on forever. They eventually reach a vast atrium, a water feature at its center; spiraling out from it are great flower beds featuring plants of all kinds from all kinds of ecosystems. Dell realizes that the way they slither outwards from the water features that they form the shape of a wavy, eight-pointed star.

"Should be..." Thomas trails off.

"Should be, where?" Lopez asks.

Thomas looks around, checking his deck, and then his surroundings. "Right there."

The net-head points to an expansive wall with nothing on it. Dell looks it over, trying to spy some sort of odd-looking outlet or maybe a seam on the wall. Yet he sees nothing but smooth granite. It crosses his mind that this could just be an empty part of the structure, a place where nothing was meant to go. Yet the net-head quickly turns on his heels, looking at the water feature.

"Right there." Thomas points at the flower bed. A power line goes from there to that wall. It makes zero sense to put something like that there unless there was a switch of some kind."

Lopez motions, "Pairs of two, find that switch."

The crew obeys, filing out as they explore the garden. Had it been under a different circumstance, Dell might've enjoyed the garden, it's rare to see so much green out this far in the void, not to mention that the flowers smelt good. The bounty hunters poke around, finding a bench that faces toward the water feature. Domitia looks over it, but Dell sees somethings off about it. He hops off her shoulder and onto the bench.

The bellator looks Dell over, "Something caught your eye?"

"Maybe..." Dell trails off as he gives the bench a once-over.

The way it leans back doesn't look right. He then looks at the foot of the bench, noticing that the obsidian-like floor has been replaced with slate-grey flagstones. He pulls one up, feeling the regolith underneath the stones. He digs a little and feels his fingernails catch on something metallic. Despite the sting of pain, he smiles.

"Found something!" He declares.

"Found a switch?" Lopez asks as he jogs over.

"Something like that." Dell clears the dirt away, finding a metal box, flipping it open, he finds a keycard slot in it, "Looks like we're going to need a keycard."

"Probably needs the admin key." Lopez hypothesizes. "Thomas, Sisco, you're with--"

There's a groan as something shifts. Dell looks up, seeing the water slowly trickle out and the fountain beginning to open like a budding rose. Something emerges from it, but before Dell can even get a proper look at it, he's been scoped up by Domitia, who's dodging out of the way. Dell gets onto Domitia's shoulder and is able to see the fountain entity.

It's visible, for one, eliminating the idea that it's one of the revenants, but Dell can't make heads or tails of the thing. It's bipedal, with inverted knees, and from Dell, I can tell, no skin. Its steel-like muscles are on full display, with the hinting of metallic bones underneath them. Its hands end in viscous-looking claws, and its head features a flat faceplate with eight blue eyes.

"You're not supposed to be here." It speaks with a clinical, uncaring voice. "No one is supposed to be here."

"Save for those monsters your bosses made?" Lopez asks.

"All a part of the experiment. Which you're interfering with." The fountain guardian says, "Terminating organics necessary to prevent further contamination."

"Dell. Go," Domitia calmly says.

"Right..." Dell says, slowly climbing down, "Leaving... Now!"

He leaps off, and the bellator bolts forth with her ion thrusters, slamming into the creature. Lopez wastes no time, recognizing the plan.

"Thomas, Sisco you're with me!" He motions at Clara, Aiden, and Dell, "Rest of you, get a shuttle ready and prepped to go! Move!"