Bryke
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“Are you serious?! That thing is still alive!?” Bryke demanded horror in his voice. The idea that something that was still alive down there? And that they were able to try to breach the castaway’s tech? He didn’t know much about programming, but something seemed off with that idea.
Dalila only nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense! We were able to get the shield up before, so what changed? There has to be something. The only other option is a cloak-capable drone nearby able to try and break in. but where did it come from?”
Bryke started to speak again when someone put a hand on his shoulder. He looked to his left and saw Zevortro shaking his head.
“Okay, so we now have to go into it, right Chief?” Zevortro said as everyone looked at Duncan.
Duncan was looking down at the ground, a look of intense anger in his eyes. Bryke could understand. Up until now, the idea that the thing below them was a threat was just a theory. Now they had information that showed the threat.
“We do. No matter what we find, we have no choice but to go into it. We don’t have a choice,” Duncan said bitterly.
“But the time, we should go tomorrow. We’ll need to prepare,” Jessie said with a hard look.
Bryke was about to open his mouth when Duncan nodded.
“Yeah, and we’ll need a team. Something small and fast. But we’ll need people to hold the ground if you retreat. That means more people,” Duncan said as he looked around.
“I’ll go,” Zevortro said holding his hand up.
Bryke looked at his friend and sighed, shaking his head. “If this idiot is going, I’ll back him up.”
Duncan looked at Bryke for a few moments before he nodded. “Goodman! Jessie, Terra, and Dalila will round out who's going down. I everything ready to cut into that thing tomorrow.”
“This is going to be crazy. But how will who’s ever down there talk to us?” Bryke asked as he looked around.
“I expect that it’ll have our language down if it’s not automatic,” Dalila said as she looked at him. It must have been something in Bryke’s eyes that startled her because she covered her mouth with her hands. “Oh nova! You think someone is still alive down there!?”
“There’s not!? Then what’s hacking into the network!?” Bryke demanded. Something was hidden here, and he couldn’t see it. And from the look that most of the others were sending him, they had figured it out before him.
“I think it’s an AI,” Dalila said as she swallowed.
Bryke stared at her in horror. All the horror stories about AIs. And one was beneath them? He suddenly saw that this was a lot worse than he had thought.
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Bradford
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Bradford kept a frown on his face until the door was closed. Then he smiled and shook his head as he looked at Jones. “Well done my boy! That was perfect!”
“You think so, sir?” Jones asked with a slightly crazed look on his face.
Bradford looked at him and kept down a shudder. Something about this man was starting to make him worried. The way that Jones had talked about the ‘Proper path’, was starting to sound deranged. There was something that was slowly making him think that he might have to arrange an ‘accident’ soon.
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“Of course my boy! That was the perfect acting! With this, Duncan will have no choice but to lean on me to solve problems here! I’ll soon have the voice we need to make changes!”
“Perfect sir! If you need anything from me, let me know!” Jones said and Bradford nodded.
“I will my boy! I will,” Bradford promised as he looked at Jones as the man left the bathroom.
Bradford waited until the door was closed to scowl, his mind going dark places. He was sure that someone had picked up on Jones's acting, but who? And would they tell Duncan?
Bradford looked around, a slight crazed feeling going through his body. There it was again, that strange feeling that someone was watching him! He didn’t know where it was coming from, but it was there! For the last day, he had felt it on and off, and he still couldn’t find anything.
With a slight deranged feeling growing within him, he wondered if he was slowly going mad. The way that he had talked to Operative Brute was something that he still couldn’t believe. He knew about Power Users, but he had become one? He felt the flame that most beings talked about stronger than they had. If this was real, then there was something about this island, this different planet.
“Communication hub!” He barked softly.
As the grid formed again, he saw that most of the icons were still blacked out. But the star icon was active, and it seemed to be calling to him.
With nothing to lose, he pressed the icon and it glowed.
“Who is this!? How are you doing this to me!?” A harsh female voice called out through the grid before him.
Bradford blinked, and then he grinned. “Operative Mind, it’s wonderful to hear from you!”
“Master Bradford!? Where are you!?” Operative Mind asked, a strange urgency in her voice. “Sir, find a place to hide! The robots will find you if you’re not undercover! If that AI gets you, I can’t rescue you alone!”
“Robots?! AI Robots!?” Bradford asked, a slight edge to his voice. The idea of Robots under the control of an AI were nightmares for a lot of people in the Federation. The fact that one of his operatives was saying that there was one that was attacking her, was beyond bad. “I’m fine, I’m with another escape capsule that crashed on an island!”
“An island!? Sir, I’m in a desert! I don’t understand, how is this possible!?” Operative Mind asked with worry in her voice.
Bradford looked at the screen and tried to think. “Well, Operative Brute is with the front half of the ship in an arctic environment. So I expect this is just something that this planet has. I expect that there is at least one Power User amongst your band of survivors?”
“Yes sir, I count myself among that number. And you as well, that’s how we can talk. Right?” Operative Mind asked and Bradford grinned.
Bradford had long considered her among the smartest of his agents. It was good to see that their situation hadn’t changed much. “My dear my orders are simple. Stay alive until I call to contact you again. We will find our way back to the ship and gain power in this world. We will survive until we can contract the Federation. So do anything to last until we can find each other!”
“Yes sir!” Operative Mind said, a note of glee in her voice.
Bradford opened her mouth when the icon blinked out. He stared at the screen for a few moments more until he willed it away. He sighed and shook his head. “Well, another problem to solve then. But I will figure this out!”
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?????????
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As he looked around from his prison, the hunter cursed his Chief. Why did that one have to order the charge once the Proud Claws were dead?! They could have taken half, leaving the rest for the Wall Builders! That would have been good, a gesture of respect and they would have parted ass not enemies! But no, the chief is all about his ‘respect’! The only real way to keep the tried safe was to fight everyone that they found! And to throw themselves at even a master Might user! The fact that he and the other were captives might even have been the plan!
He felt his blood boil. The others had been talking about how he was getting stronger. Maybe the chief saw the strength that he gained as a threat? Stupid! He was one of the best fighters in the tribe. Would this happen to others if they grew as strong as the Chief? That would destroy the tribe! When the other warriors figured out what the Chief was doing, they would react. This was going to be their deaths, and spark off a civil war! The rival tribes would see the strife as the chance to come in and kill the survivors and the Packs? Those would just eat and grow strong off the dead!
“What are they going to do with us?”
The warrior looked up to see his fellow captive and tried to keep calm. The being across from him was barely an adult, still too young to be here. The only reason that the chief had sent him was because his grand-sire was once the strongest of the tribe for a year. Another mark in his theory of the Chief’s plans.
“I don’t know, but keep calm Recor! We must find a way back to the Tribe!” The warrior said softly.
Recor gazed at him, and the look in the youngster’s eye almost made the warrior weep.
“But how Blorspi? We can’t even move!” Recor exclaimed as he moved his arms around.
Blorspi had to admit, Recor had a point. This was unlike anything that Blorspi had ever even heard of! And the fact that he couldn’t see who was making this happen was another mark against them getting away. The only other thing that could be making this was the strange metallic thing below them. But that was impossible, wasn’t it? But he couldn’t let the kid know that not for now. Best to not break the young one’s spirit.
“We might not be able to move, but we can still think! We can still reach for the Power! If we can break through, we can escape!” Blorspi reassured Recor, trying to boost the youngster’s spirits. “All it takes is one small crack, and we can wield it like your grand-sire. Don’t give up, for there is always hope!”
Recor looked at him with a sense of awe in his eye. “You are going to be one of the Great Leaders, aren’t you?”
Blorspi tried to look away, feeling that sting again. The fact that others of the tribe thought he would one day be called was a source of shame for him. That others thought he would be remembered as that for just doing his duty? It bothered him so much that he couldn’t speak of it. And those same rumors were probably the reason that the Chief had done this. But part of him hoped this was but chance, just the fate of the battle’s chaos.
“Just keep trying for the Power kid. And remember, never give up. Never stop trying to live!” Blorspi said as he looked down at one of their captors. They were strange, with two eyes and fur on their heads. They were all wearing strange light-looking armor, and their bows were strange. But in this strange bar and floorless prison, he couldn’t move. He had tried to move, but nothing had happened. So he was stuck with one fact.
They wouldn’t be getting out of here on their own. When the enemy came to kill them, that was when they would strike. If they weren’t left here to starve first.
“Brother! Look at this!” Recor said, awe in his voice.
Blorspi looked up, and he stared. His eye widened in shock at what had happened. One of their captors had thrown strange-looking bundles of something white at them. Blorspi caught his and tore the white thing apart, revealing meat from the Proud Claws. He looked down, seeing the one that had thrown it at them nodding.
“They're feeding us!? Why?” Recor asked in shock.
Blorispi had to agree. This was unlike anything that he had expected. Just what were they planning? Were they fattening them up for the slugger slaughter? But as he looked at the food, he found that he didn’t care. The simple fact was that they had something to eat, and that was enough. Now they could survive, and work on the rest later. “Just eat kid. We can figure this out later.”