Ava Savanus walked with purpose through the underground hallways of the lab. The AI announced her arrival and the mechanical wing doors hissed open.

Monitors covered the walls, displaying schematics of Venture’s Fast-Response drones. Circuitry as highlighted in red, showing where the drone had been hacked just a few days ago. The drone itself lay on the central table. Panels lay beside it. Robotic arms hung from the ceiling above, perched over the corpse like a predator caught in the act.

Ava rubbed her eyes. Had it really been a few days? No… It had been almost a week. She was losing track of time. The drone had been hacked on Tuesday—the same day the cyborg got away.

“Better late than never,” Ava muttered. She leaned over the drone and commanded the AI, “Run me through everything you’ve found.”

“The earliest records of intrusion date from two weeks ago—one week earlier than the intrusion was discovered.”

Ava squeezed the edge of the table, metal creaking under her enhanced grip. “Why wasn’t this discovered earlier?”

“ERROR: UNKNOWN VARIABLES.”

“Ugh. Continue.”

The robot arm descended and used a laser to point at piles of dust inside the drone and on the removed panels. “These are byproducts of nanites and nanite construction. Nanites were able to slip between the drone’s armor plating and form connections here and here.”

“Byproducts… The nanites aren’t intact?”

“No. A self-destruct sequence was initiated. Despite this, molecular analysis confirms that these nanites are similar to those found in the holding vats on lower levels of the lab.”

Ava sighed. “Goddamnit.”

There had been hope, however slim, that the cyborg was using different nanites. It wasn’t easy to manufacture nanites, and Ava had hoped that by cutting Emmett off from the lab that he wouldn’t be able to make more. Eventually, his nanites would break down… The only other member of the Brotherhood that could make nanites of this caliber was Einon Silver, and he was currently in Europe.

Clearly, Emmett had found a way to make more nanites of his own.

That complicated things significantly.

“What else did you find?”

“No other evidence of intrusion was found.”

“Nothing?” Ava looked over the drone again. “If he hijacked transmission systems, he should’ve needed relays to boost the signal. Were there wireless relays in the drone’s flight path?”

“No evidence of wireless relays was found. It is probable that they also self-destructed. Nanite byproducts would be scattered in the wind and too dispersed to find.”

Ava let go of the table and focused on her breathing. Just because physical evidence was lacking doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything to go off of.

“Show me what Emmett was after.”

Files scrolled across the wall monitors, and Ava scrutinized the information. The information accessed told a story, but she was even more interested in what wasn’t accessed.

Among the data were lists of lab systems that were currently online, as well as their timeline for bringing more systems online. However, Emmett hadn’t copied information about any specific systems.

Next came the names of other Brotherhood members that Ava and Midas had dealt with, though no other information had been accessed. There was nothing about their powers, location, or about their allegiances. Not all members were sympathetic to Midas’s plans—some might even be swayed to Venture’s side eventually, but Emmett didn’t seem to care about that.

Then there was information about drone manufacturing. Again, Emmett only stayed long enough to grab a summary of data. Midas’s broad plans were outlined, including his plan to have a drone presence in every major city in the Allied States and then continue expanding. This wasn’t exactly a secret, but details hadn’t been made public yet. Midas had already partnered with the AS government and was in the middle of talks with most of Europe and China. The Summit knew everything, though some of them opposed the large-scale use of drones.

Shortly after came information about Atlantic reconstruction and additional surveillance construction. Ava frowned. Again, the increased surveillance wasn’t a secret, but their government partners were worried about it leaking to the public. Apparently, survey groups liked the idea of drones better than cameras—nevermind that surveillance was the key to combating crime. It was always better to stop something before it happened, but Ava didn’t expect a civilian to understand that.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Again, Emmett only stayed long enough to grab summaries of information.

Ava stared expectantly at the screen. “Is this it?”

“Yes. That is the extent of what was accessed.”

Ava mused aloud, “He wants to know what we’re up to… He was good enough to get in and careful enough to avoid detection. Or timid enough…

“That’s fine,” Ava said decisively. “His resources are limited and he no longer has an AI to help him. I don’t care how much Venture upgraded his brain. He's playing catch up and he knows it. AI, send this information to Midas.”

Ava waved dismissively to the drone on the table. “Take care of this and patch the exploit. We don’t need Emmett getting back into our systems.”

Ava turned to leave. “Oh, and AI…”

“Yes, Ava.”

“Double-check your security protocols. Do not let this happen again.”

~

Afterward, Ava found herself lounging in Venture’s old living room, staring at biomech feeds on the giant wall screen. She knew Midas would call, and she was dreading it.

That alone wasn’t surprising. But Ava genuinely couldn’t recall ever dreading communication this much. She’d dealt with verbal and physical abuse from family and lovers, and yet there was something about Midas that made the rest pale in comparison.

She’d been able to escape the others. Maybe that was it. She’d run away, cut ties, or killed them. But she was stuck with Midas.

…For now.

“Midas is attempting to—”

The AI’s voice fizzled out, and the wall monitors went black.

Midas appeared on the screen. He’d overridden the display parameters so that he appeared enormous. Only his head and shoulders fit on the wall. It wasn’t a good look for him. Normally, he was more careful about his appearance, but now every tiny wrinkle and pockmark was magnified.

Despite her dread, Ava’s implants kept her heart rate and facial expressions neutral. She double-checked the time. It had been nineteen minutes since she’d sent Midas the details of the hack.

“You must have been busy, Midas. What took you so long?”

“I was finishing up a meeting with Speaker Rivera. Care to explain yourself?”

“I thought the information I sent covered—”

“I want to know how the cyborg was able to outwit both a Class 4 artificer and a Proto-AI?”

Ava took a breath to steady herself. She wasn’t a Class 4 artificer. Not anymore. Midas knew that. And a Proto-AI was nowhere near as capable as the real thing…

Ava replied, “He was careful and lucky. The exploit has been patched.”

“Did he find anything about the lower levels?”

“No.”

Midas’s face relaxed. “Good. I want you to double-check that all information about the lower levels has been scrubbed. Then I want updates on the dismantling process.”

“The reactor is offline and powered down. It’s being dismantled and the parts are being recycled. The nanites are a different story—”

“I don’t want excuses, Ava. I want it done.

Ava stared back at Midas. “While I’m taking care of the lab, maybe you can find time to talk to Wight. He’s not happy about the altercation on Eastside. It would help to have your support.”

Midas frowned. “Perhaps you should take over my next twenty—excuse me, twenty-one—meetings with world leaders.”

“Excuse me?”

“I trusted you to watch over the laboratory. You failed. You tried to capture the cyborg. You failed.” Ava tried to interject, but Midas’s volume steadily increased. “Your orders were to kill him. Instead, you tried to capture him so that you could dissect him for your own experiments. A succession of failures. A cascade of failures.

“Now, explain why I should help clean up your mess.”

Ava’s face and voice remained placid. “Because Wight will want assurances. Because, technically, you’re still the face of the Brotherhood.”

“You should narrow your gaze and focus on smaller tasks, Ava. Next time you get a lead on the cyborg, blanket the area. Depending on the artillery you use you can still dissect his corpse.”

“I don’t think you read the report. There were civilians in the area.”

Midas scoffed. “There were a few homeless camped in a garage. What are they gonna do, sue us?”

Ava couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. “Are you going to tell me to go after Emmett’s family, too?”

“Not unless he forces our hand. Next time, do what the Summit does when there’s collateral damage—blame it on the villains. Even better, start the PR campaign now and make it easier in the future. Turn the public against the cyborg and anyone else still working with him. …Can you do that?”

“Yes,” she replied flatly. “I’ll reach out to Hunter Nine and see what other tidbits I can dredge up.”

“Good. We can’t let an insignificant thing like Venture’s pet project get in our way. And Ava…” Midas peered down at her. His face had grown so large on the screen that it distorted. “Don’t leave a machine to do a human’s job.”

Midas blinked, and the entire screen went black.

~ ~ ~