Ava Savanus lounged on the couch of Dr. Venture’s old living room and watched the developing situation around the Gnosis compound. She’d carefully arranged the feeds of a dozen drones and biomechs, as well as an overhead map highlighting the positions of all Brotherhood and Summit forces. While most of their forces were semi-autonomous, Ava wanted to be present for this.
She just hadn’t expected how long it would take for the intruders to emerge from the compound.
So far as she knew, it had been years since the last attempted break-in at any Gnosis compound. Most attempts were perpetrated by their own—test subjects trying to escape or employees trying to steal secrets on their way out. Those that succeeded in making it out of the building didn’t last long. They were quickly hunted down and dealt with brutally.
When Ava first got word about the intruders, she wasn’t going to bother sending their forces. Not until she found evidence of power fluctuations within the compound. Gnosis had been desperate enough to cut power to certain sections—something unprecedented. This meant two things: The intruders were capable enough to survive Gnosis’s guards and in-house test subjects. And the intruders had either caused damage or found whatever secrets that they set out to find.
They were likely Class 3 supers and likely had insider knowledge about Gnosis. Her bets were on rogue test subjects.
They weren’t likely Class 4 or 5, otherwise the elder vampire, Ichabod, would’ve intervened personally. He might have even called for assistance personally, but that wasn’t the case.
Which begged the question: Why hadn’t Ichabod stopped them? Did he choose not to, or had he already tried and failed? If he’d fallen, why hadn’t another supervisor called officially for backup?
Ava wasn’t sure which question was more intriguing.
As the minutes dragged on, it was becoming more apparent that these intruders might actually succeed and escape. Ava found herself growing excited, which only made the situation drag on longer.
So Ava watched and waited with chemically dampened enthusiasm.
Or at least she was watching until Midas appeared on her screen. The AI didn’t even get the chance to announce his intrusion.
The enormous face of Midas appeared on the wall screen. His head and shoulders stretched from floor to ceiling, completely blocking half of her drone feeds. She quickly adjusted the displays to maintain the most important views.
His giant eyes looked down on her disdainfully. “Ava, glad to see you’re on top of the situation. How did you find out about the intrusion?”
Ava ignored his comment. “Ronin Tekno has a contact inside Gnosis. He relayed the information to me, but we would’ve caught the power fluctuations, eventually.”
“And the Summit?”
“I chose to include the Summit. Wight’s been insistent on a Summit presence anytime our forces are used—for raids or otherwise. As you can see, this isn’t exactly a small operation. Hiding it isn’t an option.”
Midas sighed. “Wight is a pain, but so far he’s a malleable one. Keep placating him—you’re good at that… How much longer is this going to take? You have another mask raid scheduled in twenty-three minutes, and I see you’ve monopolized most of our net launchers.”
“Well, It’s hard to say, especially when you’re taking up half of my display real estate.” The retort came out too easily. Perhaps she’d dialed back her emotions a little too far.
A smug smirk crawled across the technomancer’s face. “Just reminding you what’s really important. Your duties are to the Brotherhood. This needs to paint us in a good light to the public. I want you to do whatever it takes to ensure that happens.”
“Including killing and maiming civilians?”
Midas waved a giant dismissive hand, and, for a moment, it covered the rest of the screen like an eclipse. “Whatever is necessary. Public opinion is turning more against masks by the day. Blame them—blame Gnosis, for all I care. Maybe the homeless will finally learn that you shouldn’t camp in abandoned buildings.”
Ava shifted in her seat, trying and failing to hide her unease. At least her face remained neutral.
“I’ll handle things,” she replied.
“Good.”
Ava tried to close out the call, but Midas forced the line to stay open. She could feel him, like a hook caught in the system. Drone displays scrambled, and lights in the room flickered while his eyes bore down on her. Despite her chemical dampening, the exchange felt like an abusive lover that wouldn’t let go of her arm.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Then, as quickly as it happened, his smug smile returned. The displays and lights stabilized.
Midas disappeared from the lab’s systems without a word.
Leaving Ava alone in the living room.
She got up from the couch, trying to shake the tension out of her body. Another pulse of GABA and serotonin helped, but no matter how relaxed her body was, it was still hard to shake the exchange from her mind.
She needed a distraction.
A moment later, she got her wish—a flurry of activity came from one of the secret side entrances to Gnosis. Four contacts emerged from the underground, and a firefight immediately broke out.
Ava turned all of her attention to the wall screen and focused on capturing or killing the intruders.
~ ~
Security Unit 313 stood on the corner of Pipers and O’Brien, interspersed along a squad of its brethren. It saw the world through an array of sensors and multi-cameras, and it could sense other units across their shared network, like a shark’s electroreception. Heavy Unit 228 stood front and center on the street. It glowed in the network in a sensation part-way between heat and electricity—part bonfire, part lightning strike. In contrast, smaller units felt like candles and static electricity.
Security Unit 313 wasn’t as powerful as Heavy Unit 228 or as fast as Reconnaissance Unit 346, but it struck a balance between the two—
And it wasn’t as clumsy as its larger brethren or as cowardly as its smaller brethren.
Like all biomechs, Security Unit 313 was vaguely aware that it shared a mother unit with the others. It didn’t feel one way or another about this bond—all biomechs were tied together by directive and objective. It also knew that any one unit was interchangeable and expendable. It didn’t feel one way or another about this either—it was simply a fact of existence.
However, Unit 313 did care about the approval of Mother Ava.
And because of that, 313 focused every ounce of its biological components and circuitry on the Easternmost entrance of the Gnosis compound. The hidden door was set in the side of an abandoned warehouse, made of reinforced steel, and painted to look like an ordinary maintenance entrance. It was completely unremarkable in every way, except that Mother Ava cared about it and she cared about any unauthorized personnel that came out of it.
There were intruders in Gnosis, and Mother wanted them. Preferably alive.
That cut down on Unit 313’s arsenal, but all units were equipped with nonlethal options.
MOVEMENT ALERT
The ping traveled almost instantaneously. Reconnaissance Unit 149 saw movement first—its specialized camera registering it a fraction of a second before the others.
Then Unit 313 saw them. Two figures crashed through the door. Both moving at Class 3 speeds. The first enemy had a large and powerful build—it easily ripped the heavy door off its hinges and ran with it unimpeded. Its bone protrusions and body heat signature marked it as a Gnosis test subject, likely a Mutagen-X derivative.
The second figure held a circular shield and a pistol. Their face and suit were obscured, and they immediately took aim at the Summit forces on the rooftops.
As soon as the targets registered, new parameters took effect.
CONVERGE ON EAST ENTRANCE
LETHAL OPTIONS AVAILABLE
CAPTURE SECOND TARGET
DO NOT KILL SECOND TARGET
There was a high probability that the second target was the cyborg that Mother was after. She wanted it alive, preferably with its brain and spinal column intact. It was rated as a Class 3 super, and would need considerable damage to bring down.
The Mutagen-X super hurled the door across the street. It flew with deadly force, shearing through three reconnaissance units and a fellow security unit.
Without pausing, the Mutagen-X super leapt through the air directly at Heavy Unit 228. The heavy mech fired a capture net, but the net was shredded in mid-air by flashes of blue UV light—an additional intruder, likely a telekinetic.
The Mutagen-X super finished its leap, landing on the main body of the heavy mech. Even if the Mutagen-X super didn’t have any long range capabilities, now it was within arm’s reach of the heavy unit’s most brutal anti-personnel weapons.
It wouldn’t last long.
At the same time, Unit 313 focused on its own target. It switched to its armor piercing rifle and trained its sights on the cyborg. Mechanisms whirred to life as the barrel in its right arm extended, then fully automatic fire joined the chorus of battle.
Without turning its head, the cyborg raised its shield, blocking the first seven bullets. The shots should’ve penetrated, but the cyborg had also angled its shield so that each shot was a glancing blow, lessening the damage. That wasn’t luck—
The cyborg’s reaction time was concerning.
The next seven-round burst didn’t connect. The cyborg left two afterimages behind, confusing the mech’s targeting. Without additional sensors, it was impossible to tell whether it was illusion magic or a new piece of technology. These bullets struck the afterimages, which shimmered before collapsing like sand.
More UV light flashed in Unit 313’s periphery. Heavy Unit 228 was now engaged with multiple units. It stomped, the impact shaking the ground and throwing off Unit 313’s aim—if only slightly. Its actuators were quick to compensate.
Clearly, Heavy Unit 228 was having trouble.
The cyborg disappeared behind a building, and Unit 313 took the brief opportunity to assist Heavy Unit 228. Its glow in the shared network was steadily increasing—a sign of distress. It was common to feel alarm from smaller, more fragile units, but to feel that sensation coming from a heavy unit was disconcerting.
A shadow passed over Unit 313, and it turned just in time to see Heavy Unit 228 lose its balance. Its left leg had been lopped off at the knee. Metal groaned under the lopsided strain, and fluids sprayed from the wound. The Mutagen-X super was on the other side of the mech, shoving it over. The heavy mech toppled over, falling with the weight of a small building.
Unit 313 didn’t have time to move before its giant brethren fell on top of it.
~ ~ ~