Chapter Twenty-Seven

The helicopter’s blades ripped through the air as we hovered over the green roof of the Haven parliament building. Overclock stood up, her hand wrapped around a grip made of webbing. “Okay, Z-4, here’s the situation. We’ve had a massive Emergence in Victoria. City leaders are cut off from the capitol building’s shelter. Your job is to get them to safety, starting with Mayor Ambrose.

The old parliament building overlooked a wide field. Trees lined the center of it, their branches blowing as we flew over, and a large fountain spat up water in the center of the grassy area.

Candice held a deadly-looking polearm, two blades sticking up almost as far as the central spear tip. Sam had opted for a smaller version of my Delphi, which she carried at her hip, and a bandolier of mana-bought medical items. And Li Mei had chosen a spinning buckler and a short sword. I’d brought the Delphi, but it was slung over my back - I wanted to try out magic.

“You’re all new except Luciole, so you’ll get powers based on group needs. Candice, you’ll be generic Orange for this mission. Sam is a Pink, Li Mei, you’re a Yellow, and Luciole, you’re already a Red, so you’ll get to use your abilities. Default Mana Surges and no spells for you three. Secondary objectives will be relayed to you by your Operators. Good luck, Girls.”

The helicopter swooped down between the parliament building and the inner harbor, spraying bits of green grass and salty water everywhere as we jumped out and ran. The flying debris stung my face and hands.

“Li Mei, you’re with me! We’ll clear the trees left! Sam, Luciole, go to the fountain and cover that front door!”

Sam and I nodded and sprinted straight toward the grand old stone building. It loomed over the center fountain, majestic and proud, like something from a history book.

“Luciole, on our right!” I shook myself back to the here and now.

I turned. A handful of six-legged Type Ones skittered toward us across the grass, their legs churning up chunks of earth and their eyes flicking to red as they got closer and closer.

Sam pulled out her handbow and pulled the trigger. A fireball roared into being near the machines, but they ignored it.

“Moonray!” I shouted, pointing my finger like a gun. A line of faint white light connected the closest machine and me. Then, a thicker line punched a hole into its body - a gap that black goop poured out of.

Another hand crossbow bolt whipped out, this one landing between two macks. The explosion rocked the ground, tossing them into the air. They fell to the ground, twitching, their eyes fading.

I pulled my Delphi off my shoulder and finished the last Type One before it was halfway across the field. “This is so much easier with two healthy Girls!”

As I spoke, the fountain started falling apart as something ricocheted off it. Little bits of stone and mortar spalled off and flew everywhere!

As Sam and I sprinted to the fountain and dove inside for cover, we looked behind us. A pair of new machines ambled out of the harbor. From a distance, they looked like weevils.

Unlike the Type Ones, their six legs weren’t spiked, and their round bodies had plates only haphazardly slapped across them - almost as if the armor wasn’t a thought in their design. They carried a wicked-looking gun in place of their long noses.

I set myself against the fountain wall, ready to pop out and cast, but another burst of fire tore the upper basin off the fountain before I could. It crashed down in a spray of water, and Sam screamed as it landed on her arm.

I popped out of cover, aiming my body at the macks with a double handful of actual water. “Feu-Follet!” I screamed as I threw it in their direction.

The light beam hit them full-on, knocking them to the ground, where they blew apart as two explosive bolts slammed into them.

I turned and started shoving shattered stones off Sam’s arm. “I think that’s broken. Can you keep going?”

She gritted her teeth and pulled an AutoSet’nSplint from her bandolier. “Do I have a choice? This hurts way more than it should!” The AutoSet’nSplint inflated around her arm as she screamed and panted in pain. “We need to get to the building before more come!”

“Those are Type Twenty-Eights, Luciole,” Bentley said. “They’re a late-stage Mack, used to fight organized resistance and siege buildings.”

“Tell me in a minute!” I started running, with Sam just a step behind.

As we sprinted toward the stairs, another pair of weevil bots pushed through the trees to our left. They opened fire, sending shells ripping across the field.

“Mana Surge, Connor!”

A yellow shield wrapped over Sam and me. Bullets bounced off, forcing the yellow to fade as we hurried toward a narrow wall outside the building. We ducked into cover.

The Macks went silent.

I poked my head up and watched Li Mei and Candice break from the trees and run toward the building, right past the wreckage of the two Type Twenty-Eights.

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“Okay, team, change of plans. The Macks - did you let Sam get hurt?! Luciole, you’re supposed to be keeping her okay! Without her, we can’t take care of the civilians like we need to!”

I opened my mouth to retort.

“Later, Candice. What’s the change of plans?” Sam spat through gritted teeth.

“There’s Type Twenty-Ones out there. Three of ‘em. We’re not clearing the outside, so we must get in and do it quickly.”

Another burst of gunfire from the left-side trees rattled off, and we cringed as shots bounced off the stone wall.

Candice pointed at herself, then at the stairs. “I’ll go first, then Luciole. Sam, you’re middle, and Li Mei, you’re in the back! Go!”

The four of us ran as bullets whistled off the stairs. I turned and pointed my hand. “Blazing Light!” The empty feeling in my stomach grew, and light engulfed one of the weevil bots. It burst into flame.

“Good job!” Li Mei grinned as she panted.

Candice kicked the wooden door. When it didn’t open, she slammed her ranseur into each hinge. Once. Twice. And again. Then she kicked a fourth time, and the door popped open, spinning on its bolt and crashing into the ground.

“In! Go!”

Inside, the sounds of gunfire echoed through the building. “I’m lowering your audio gain so you don’t go deaf,” Bentley said. I’ll try to boost the other Girls to compensate for it.”

“Thanks, Bentley,” I whispered.

Following the shots, we turned the corner into the building’s lower rotunda. The wreckage of an old-looking, painted canoe, along with blood, was strewn across the room.

Two eight-legged, four-armed Type Seventeens were pressing into the next room while a pair of blue-uniformed security guards fought back with handguns. Candice rushed forward. Her ranseur sang as she swung it down and broke one Mack’s chassis at the halfway point.

Two more Type Seventeens crawled down behind her. I blasted one with a Moonblast, but she screamed as the other caught her side with a spike.

“Roger, Surge! Surge!”

The surviving Type Seventeens flew away from her as a burst of force pushed against my body. My ears popped.

“Fuck!” Candice screamed.

One of the Macks had crashed into Li Mei, and it had wasted no time stabbing her over and over. I used my last Blazing Light to destroy it as Sam rushed in to check on Li Mei. She shook her head. “I can’t fix that. Not yet, not at my level.”

Candice dodged a blow from two of the last Type Seventeen’s arms. She spun, swinging the ranseur’s blades in a wide arc. They bit into the Seventeen, slicing it in half.

Li Mei sat against the wall under the old Seal of British Columbia.

“Fuck!” Candice screamed again. “Roger, what now?!”

Sam and I checked the room next to the rotunda as she listened to her Operator's response. Behind the pillars, a security guard had bled out. A familiar man in a suit lay under him, breathing rapidly. His gray hair and beard matched his skin.

“Hey, girls! We’re supposed to find Mayor Ambrose and get him to the shelter!”

I offered my hand to the shaking man. “I’ve got him, Candice. Where do we go?”

“Roger?” She stood for a minute, eyes looking at the doors. “Okay, Roger says we need to head toward the basement. There should be a shelter there. Once we’re there, he’ll have another objective for us.”

I followed Candice as she checked each door and corner. Something skittered behind us, but it was gone before I could do anything.

“Uh, Candice, we need to get moving. I think those were Type Ones.”

“Fuck. Fuck. Okay, let’s get moving. Mr. Ambrose, you know where the shelter is, right?”

He nodded, face ashen.

“Okay, take us there. We’ll keep you safe. Girls, I’ll be with him. You two make sure we’re safe behind us.”

Red carpets covered the floors. White pillars and wooden walls hinted at bygone grandeur. I didn’t have time to look at the exhibits on the first floor.

The first Type Four came around the corner as we reached the stairs' bottom. I fired at it, followed by Sam, but it moved quickly toward us!

“Candice! Help!”

The Orange Magical Girl ran toward the oncoming Type Four, swinging her ranseur. The Mack moved too fast, though, pinning Sam to the floor with two tentacle spikes before she could reload. The ranseur cut through a tentacle a split second too late.

With my crossbow and Candice’s polearm, we finished the Type Four, slicing its tentacles and electrocuting it until its eye shut off.

“Shit, Candice. We’re in trouble here,” I murmured.

“I know that, dammit! Okay, if we get to the shelter, maybe we can signal for, uh, extraction or something. There’s gotta be a way out!” Candice started down the stairs, the mayor following her.

I followed them both into the basement.

It was, surprisingly, a well-lit and clean basement. The rooms were obviously office spaces, or at least had been, and they kept the ground floor’s classy look. The carpet was worn and less cared for, but the halls were easy to move through.

“The shelter should be around the corner - Alice, duck!”

I threw myself onto the ground as another Type Four surged down the stairs and swung its tentacle at me. Candice thrust with her ranseur, catching the Mack in the eye. It twitched but didn’t stop thrashing around.

A second mack joined the attack. I cupped my hands. “Feu-Follet!” The two-meter wide light beam burst forth and ripped across both Type Fours. Candice thrust again, lining up her spear tip to jam into the machine’s eye again. The first one went still.

The second one stabbed me through the chest. My body faded as Forform activated, and the spike slid through harmlessly. Then it stabbed again. And again.

“Alice, Alice! It’s okay! You’re fine!”

I didn’t feel fine. I thrashed around, water covering my head as the spikes punched into me. I felt excruciating…nothingness?

“You’re in your room, Alice. The simulation is over for you,” Bentley’s voice filled my ear.

I laughed weakly. Of course, the simulation. None of the guards had said a word. Neither had the mayor. The world beyond the parliament building had been a blur. But other than that, it had been so real!

I opened the sensory tank. I climbed out onto the tile and lay there. It had been too real once we were in it. Being hunted by Type Fours, and fighting the Type Seventeens, was too much with no preparation.

“Okay, kids, get changed into your uniforms and meet us in the common room for your baseline evaluation,” a familiar voice said. Overclock didn’t sound happy. “You have three minutes.”

“Shutting down A/V, Luciole.”

“Th-Thanks,” I shivered. I wasn’t sure if it was nerves or being cold and wet.

In the room to my left, I could hear Candice cursing and punching something.