House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero
M1 Rank: ?/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null
Term: 1, Round: 2
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“I Just got some … news.” Daedo said. He sent the message to his squad.
“What!” Vannier shot to her feet. Half of his squaddies circled around him offering words of sympathy and encouragement.
Barran was angry. “This is bull! We need to find this scum and … yeah, ruin them.”
“Should we involve Master Nader?” Mace asked.
Daedo shook his head. “She would know by now. If she wants to get involved, she will.”
Vannier peered at Master Nader’s door. “So are you going to help?” she called out.
A message came through to all the squad members.
Master Nader: Go see your father. Take two with you. The rest of you, secure the exos at your facility. I will accompany you.
After reading the message, Vannier asked, “So who do you want to come with you?”
Daedo thought about it for a moment. It wasn’t an easy decision to make on the fly. And he really didn’t care who came. But it would be good to have someone with him. He shrugged.
“Okay,” Vannier said, “then –”
“Wait,” Daedo interrupted her. She’d been about to delegate two squaddies herself. “Vannier and Axel-Zero with me. Mace, lead the workshop team.”
Daedo had picked the two that he felt would provide him with the most support and left the smartest squad member to handle the workshop with the two best brawlers, Barran and Picard. Not that he expected anything to occur now. But he hadn’t expected anything to occur before. Gaumont didn’t come into his calculations; the cadet hadn’t even agreed to come to the workshop yet, and Daedo wasn’t privy to his discussions with Vannier. As far as Daedo was concerned, until Gaumont came on board with the squad, he did not exist.
Cisse arrived to take the three cadets to the hospital. It would have been easier to book and ride a hovervan, but she insisted. To be exact, she didn’t insist, she just informed Daedo she was on her way.
“Get in,” she called from a sleek hovercar. Two large butterfly doors opened on either side. Despite the vehicle’s small size, there was room inside for four with the seats facing each other. This was a driverless car. There was no driver seat nor manual controls.
The trio piled in, and as soon as the doors closed, harnesses secured them in place.
“The news from the hospital is he is fine. I want you to stop worrying now,” Cisse said.
“When did you get this?” Daedo asked. Cisse had no legs and usually travelled in special hovervan vehicles with lifting equipment. The chair she used to get around with was nestled into a place where a seat would normally be.
“Oh, I’ve had it awhile,” she said. “I don’t like to show it off in front of Ikaros.” She paused and added, “I have my reasons.”
Daedo suspected that it probably had to do with earnings from her settlement or career. She seemed to indicate it had to do with Ikaros’s feelings. Except that her mere presence without legs was probably a much greater reminder than a vehicle.
The hovercar zoomed off to the hospital selecting the fastest route whilst merging and avoiding other vehicles. When they arrived, Cisse lead Daedo to his father’s ward with Vannier and Axel-Zero trailing them.
She held up the info on her wrist screen. “He is already out of intensive care and in a holding ward.”
“Why are they holding him if he’s okay?” Daedo asked.
“Probably waiting on test results, or a precaution if he has a head injury,” Cisse said. “I’m not sure. We will find out.”
As Daedo entered the ward, his squadmates waited outside, not wanting to intrude on the family.
“Father,” Daedo said approaching the bed tentatively.
“Oh, Etana, I am sorry,” Ikaros said meekly. He was propped up in the bed and sensors were attached to his chest and his head, which was shaven.
“Why are you sorry?” Daedo asked.
“Because I caused you to worry. Look – Cisse is here all concerned, and I can see your friends outside. All because I got in the way.” he said.
“It is not something to be sorry for, Father,” Daedo replied.
“If this ever happens again, just let them have whatever they want,” Cisse said. “It’s just stuff – it’s replaceable. You are not.”
“This will never happen again, I’ll make sure of that,” Daedo insisted. “There will be blast doors, sentry guns, and traps. It will be safe, I promise.”
Cisse frowned. “This isn’t a game, Daedo.” She looked him in the eyes as he turned to stare at her. The look he gave her sent a shiver up her spine. The intensity of his gaze made her wonder if he was really twelve.
“I know it's not a game,” he said vehemently. Even with supposed games, he took them so seriously that they weren’t games to him. He turned back to Ikaros. “You don’t have to come back if you don’t want to.”
His father coughed and spluttered, and a little blood showed on his lips. His injuries were not as mild as he made out. Daedo could see the blue, discoloured skin at the back of his head. It was bruised significantly; no wonder they wanted to monitor him and keep him close. Usually, the hospital would apply regen or replacement, put the sensors on a patient, and send them home. But when they wanted to be able to react quickly to changes in status, they kept the patient close.
“Nothing would keep me away,” he said earnestly.
“There was something I was going to ask you this weekend, but now I am not so sure,” Daedo said quietly.
“What? What were you going to ask? Just ask it, son,” Ikaros said, his voice cracking with emotion.
Daedo took a deep breath and said, “Daedalus, our company, can easily afford to employ you. I was going to ask if you wanted to be at the workshop full-time?”
Ikaros laughed, and it hurt. He was forced to stop and gather himself, and his eyes filled with tears. “Nothing would make me happier. You wouldn’t even have to pay me.”
“I can give you shares then,” Daedo said.
His father waved his hand and then shook his head once, very slowly. “No. Daedalus is your thing. Yours and your new friends’. I will resign from Fortescue now,” he said emphatically. And after some thought, he added, “Wait … you have good health insurance, I hope?” He started to laugh again but winced from the pain.
“Ikaros, stop making jokes – you are in no condition to laugh,” Cisse lectured him. She looked at Daedo. “What about me? Are you going to offer me a job?”
Daedo had wanted to, but he was surprised she would ask just like that. “You want to work for Daedalus?”
“Aren’t I already?” Cisse said. “I’m already making you reactors from scratch, which is not easy, mind you.” She smiled to lessen the impact of her point.
Daedo thought about that for a moment. “Does Fortescue have all sorts of secrecy agreements around your work?”
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“I am out of contract,” she said. “And even if I weren’t, my work is part of the international cooperative effort. We’re sharing information within that group now.”
“I have some ideas around the zero-point radiation and gravitation equations,” Daedo said.
“Both?”
“Yes. They are interrelated, I believe. I don’t think it’s possible to solve one without the other.”
“Hmm, the data certainly supports that view. We still know so little about gravity. We understand how it acts, we just don’t fully understand its nature. How are you going to crack the gravitation equation if we don’t fully understand its nature?”
“I expect I will have to cheat,” Daedo said seriously. He didn’t know how he was going to crack the equation, he just had ideas and wanted to test them by analysing the observed data to see if it worked at all.
“Will you two stop talking physics? My head hurts enough as it is,” Ikaros croaked, although a smile was threatening to emerge.
Daedo nodded and popped out of the ward for a moment to talk to Vannier and Axel-Zero. “I’m going to stay here tonight if they let me,” he told them. “I can work on my coding anywhere.”
“I will stay as well,” Axel-Zero said. “Nader wanted you to have an escort for a reason,” she added to head off any protest.
Vannier looked at Daedo and Axel-Zero, and then she nodded. “Okay. Axel-Zero can stay here. I’ll go to the workshop and give you a report on what is happening there. I’ll come back after a nap and relieve Axel-Zero at 0300.”
Axel-Zero started to protest but stopped herself mid-utterance. She didn’t like the idea of staying up all night, and if she fell asleep, she would hardly be a good lookout for Daedo.
The three nodded, and Vannier left. Axel-Zero followed Daedo back into his father’s ward.
“Axel-Zero,” Ikaros greeted her, “thank you for visiting.”
She smiled and nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t bring any flowers.”
“Oh,” Ikaros said with a half grin. “No, please don’t. That would be a waste of pretty plants.” He dropped his gurney down to half its height.
“We should let him rest,” Cisse said.
Daedo pulled up a chair and made himself comfortable near his father’s bed. Cisse said goodbye to Ikaros and the cadets. She wanted to leave them alone; too many bodies would interfere with Ikaros’s rest. Axel-Zero went for a quick walk to scan all the nearby hallways and rooms. She would use her advanced sensors to monitor the area.
While his father rested, Daedo finished the coding he had planned for the upcoming research and development tasks at the workshop, stopping every now and then to chat with his father.
Axel-Zero had never been a bodyguard before, and she took on the role seriously. The attacks had been centred around acquiring information on the exos, or the actual exos themselves. Nothing at this stage had targeted Daedo. Although there was only a small chance, anything could happen.
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Vannier walked through the workshop. Barran and Picard had acquired assault pistols from somewhere and had them holstered on their sides.
“Are you licensed for that?” Vannier asked Barran.
Barran rolled his eyes. “I’m licensed for everything that I am allowed to have in the EU. See? I even have a company security license.” He showed Vannier his Barran Corp. security ID. She supposed they didn’t bother to check someone’s age when issuing such IDs.
“Aren’t you going to ask Picard if she is licensed?” Barran asked.
Vannier shook her head. She trusted that Picard would never break the rules like that, especially when it came to firearms. Picard was straight up and down, and given her background, it made sense she would have a handgun license.
Picard took Vannier through the workshop. The intruders, which had been robots, had broken in through the side doors from the yard. They had searched through the supplies and stores that were strewn about, but thankfully, they hadn’t damaged the manufacturing equipment.
Mace met her in the weave room. “It looks like they took armour weaves only. Until I talk to Daedo or Ikaros, I’m not sure what else had been made during the week.”
“Can’t we check the machine?” Vannier said.
Mace nodded. “Yes, but the robots and Ikaros were assembling. The machine just tells me it made forty-four kilometres of carbon fibre tubing so far. What has been used on our exos and on Barran’s, I have no idea.”
“At least they didn’t break anything,” Vannier said.
“Other than the door and poor Ikaros,” Mace countered. “It seems they were after our exo design.”
“Do you think another M1 squad’s capable of this?” Vannier asked as Master Nader entered the weave room.
“Yes and no,” Master Nader said. “Leave it to me. I want you to focus on securing this facility and your quarters. That includes any data you have as well.”
“How are you going to track down who did this?” Mace asked. “Isn’t that something for the police or academy security at least?”
“The police have already been here,” Nader said without elaboration.
Mace looked at their house master expectantly, willing her to answer the rest of the question.
Master Nader merely surveyed the room and left.
“Do you think we should leave it to her?” Mace asked Vannier.
“Yes,” Vannier said. She was sure Master Nader was capable and was quite scared of her after the dressing downs she had received.
“The first thing we need to do is secure the premise structurally,” Mace said.
“Heavy doors, what else?” Vannier asked.
“I’ll do some research, but I think a moat is out of the question. A sensor array that gives us any protective measures of forewarning would be essential as well.”
“I’ll see about repairing the robots we have. I don’t know how long Ikaros will be out of action, and we don’t want him rushing back too early before he’s fully healed. I’m sure Daedo will want to get production back online tomorrow.”
Mace nodded. Now that they had their self-delegated tasks, both of the squad members got to work.
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The following morning, Daedo arrived at the workshop. His squadmates had been hard at work repairing and purchasing the necessary items, and the signs of the break-in and theft were almost erased.
Before he got settled in, Master Nader summoned him to the upstairs office area. He was surprised she was still there. He climbed the concrete staircase to the upper level.
“Cadet,” she welcomed him in her formal fashion. “I trust your father is well.”
Daedo nodded. “Aye, Master. He will fully recover.” He did not assume Master Nader wanted all the details, just to know whether his father was going to be okay.
“I apologise my warning did not come earlier,” she said. “Let us learn from this incident.”
“Oh, I have learned something. That is certain,” Daedo said. He was ready to rage over whoever was responsible for this. It was one thing to steal their work and damage their base. But hurting his father sent him over the edge in terms of anger management.
“Cadet,” Master Nader said emphatically with her synthetic voice. “I came back here to talk to you in person for a reason. I did not want to let this wait until Monday, nor use digital correspondence. You will allow me to deal with the outside threat in this instance. I want you to focus on upgrading your security.”
Daedo gritted his teeth and clenched a fist.
“That is an order, Cadet. Trust me, the perpetrators will suffer far worse at my hands than yours. And I am much more experienced and capable of finding the source than you are.”
Daedo did not doubt Master Nader. She appeared capable, formidable, and she was quite scary in her way. But he still did not want to relinquish the task to her. He began to shake his head.
“Cadet!” Master Nader roared, and he jumped. She grabbed him by his bodysuit and lifted him off the ground. She pulled him close and whispered, “This is important. You are too inexperienced, and you will suffer if you take revenge. I promise you will not be disappointed. Your father will recover. You have work to do to ensure it does not happen again.” She shook him slightly to ensure her point got home before putting him back down on the ground.
He nodded slowly. She could be rather convincing when she wanted to be. “Will you tell me when you have found them?” he asked.
“No. But you will know the results after they happen,” Master Nader said.
Daedo had nothing else to say. He stood at attention and silence filled the space that used to be the old company’s boardroom.
“Dismissed, Cadet,” Master Nader said finally. “You have much work to do.”
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Daedo gathered the five squaddies who were present to the main workshop floor.
“First of all, I would like to say thanks for all your assistance last night,” he began. “We were about to have a squad meeting before the news came through, but we got derailed in a major way.”
He received nods, commiserations, and sounds of support from them all – Vannier, Mace, Axel-Zero, Picard, and even Barran.
Daedo continued. “On Friday, 1800, Master Nader officially made me squad leader and informed me of an attempted break-in at our quarters. A break-in which she stopped.”
“What!” Barran exclaimed, and the entire squad was up in arms instantly. They had not known about the break-in back at the academy. Master Nader had stopped any physical signs from being evident, and the news was sidelined by the injury to his father.
Daedo made a calming motion with his hands so he could continue. “Master Nader has made it clear that we are to focus on defending ourselves and our property. And that she would take care of finding the perpetrators and seeking justice.”
“No!” Barran yelled again. “We should mess their crap up – we need to set an example!”
“I hate to agree with Barran,” Picard said, “but we need to dissuade future attacks.”
“No one here was hurt more than me,” Daedo said, “and Master Nader convinced me that she is better placed to do this.”
“I agree with Daedo,” Vannier said. Mace and Axel-Zero agreed as well.
“Surely we can trust Master Nader,” Axel-Zero said.
Daedo nodded. “And we have enough on our plates. In the end, my father is okay, and they only got some first-generation armour components. Hell, you could easily buy better stuff if you were willing to spend the creds.”
Barran nodded begrudgingly. Picard looked noncommittal, but it was unlikely she would attempt anything alone.
“We need to reorganise and set roles,” Daedo announced. “Mace, you are in charge of drone research and development. This is an important task and that alone will keep you busy for the term, if not the year. You will get assistance from Cisse and Ikaros with design and construction, Cisse with power, and Ikaros is well-versed in robot design and construct.
“Vannier and Picard, you will continue with weapons development, railgun being your first project.
“Axel-Zero, your project is the grappler. It needs improvements across the board in terms of torque, speed, range, and multi-use. We need more than three uses.”
Daedo had left Barran for last. “Barran, your new role will be security. You will take care of securing this facility and our quarters. This is such an important area, I wanted someone dedicated to it, and I’m certain that with your resources, you can handle it.”
“Are you sure you would trust me with that?” Barran asked, knowing how sensitive things were at that moment.
“Yes. You are a lot more capable than you pretend to be. It suits your skillset without requiring you to do some groundbreaking R & D. And I’m sure Master Nader will review your work.”
Barran groaned.