Chapter Thirty-Two

Carl’s Day.

Edwards saw the scouts ahead of him. The three were gathered around a pile of discarded armor lying half-submerged in the mud and grime of the swamp.

Two silvers and a gold.

Edwards swallowed his anxiety and started to move toward them, his steps slow and careful as he pushed the nanites in his glove out to form the matching one on his other hand. As of yet, that was the total amount of nanites he was allowed to control.

As soon as it was done, Carl formed his real gauntlet into a sharp spike, the fingers flattening and lengthening into a makeshift nanoblade.

The closest person to him, a silver almost half again taller than Edwards, started to turn. The moment they did, Edwards launched himself forward, the nanite-boosted power of his legs shooting him across the last ten meters at blinding speed.

The Silver yelled, starting to bring their weapon around, but was way too slow. Edwards felt his hand sheer through the armor and into flesh and bone. The moment he passed the ribcage, he reshaped his hand, sending blade-like fingers into the heart and lungs.

Just like that, he had killed a silver, their vaunted armor not even slowing his strike. The eyes rolled back, and the body went limp as the other two scouts yelled, starting to fire.

With his hand still in the corpse, Edwards dragged the body between him and the shots.

That first kill might have been enough to make him freeze, as Carl had always expected it would, but Leah’s training and the constant horrors of Paren’s workshop had hardened his mind against shock. Even as he used his increased strength to throw the corpse at the gold trooper, Edwards pushed it aside and got to work.

The gold went down under the weight of the body, and Carl spun away from the flashes of the silver firing at him, kicking a piece of the bronze armor on the floor as he passed. As the bronze armguard flew at the silver, they raised the rifle to block, which was all the opening he needed.

Edwards drew back his gauntlet and punched forward, the gauntlet firing off a hair-thin line that wrapped around the rifle and tightened.

A flash of blue light passed through the line, and the rifle was cut in two.

One leap and Edwards was on the other side of the silver; both gauntlets formed into blades as he stabbed into the chest. He twisted, and blood fountained as the silver collapsed.

As the gold rose to one knee and raised a rifle to their shoulder, Edwards dodged left, then right in a zig-zag as he closed. Kicking the gun off target, Carl punched the thing away and into the mud before backhanding the gold across the faceplate.

The helmet went flying, and a sweaty, blood-streaked face was revealed.

“Stop! Please!” The man held up one hand weakly. “I surrender!”

Edwards hesitated and looked back towards the rock.

“Can they do that?” Edwards asked, unable to believe he was in this exact situation.

“Edwards?” The man hesitated. “Is that you?”

“I know you, mate?” Edwards asked. The face didn’t look familiar, but it was difficult to tell through all the blood.

“It’s Peters! I was the guy who swapped bunks with you on the transport! Remember?” Peters said desperately.

“Peters, yeah, how’s it going, man?” Edwards asked, immediately wincing at what he had said.

“Not great, if I’m honest,” Peters admitted. “Any chance you can let me go?”

“I’m waiting to find out,” Edwards glared over at the rock. “Well?”

“I’m checking!” Leah snapped back. “What is it with all you idiots giving up all the time?”

“A healthy survival instinct!” Edwards called back.

“Look, Edwards,” Peters smiled. “I can see there are things going on here, but I swear if you come back with me, there won’t be any trouble. I can probably get you a bonus, at least. Maybe even a bump to silver!”

“What?” Edwards asked.

“Look, we kill whoever that is, and you can lead us to their base!” Peters whispered urgently. “We’ll be heroes!”

“What if they surrendered?” Edwards joked, “We did.”

“Yeah, we are not taking surrenders on this one,” Peters said with a grin. “What do you say?”

“I say you were dead the moment you asked,” Edwards sighed and punched his gauntleted fist into the man’s head. The man slumped, and Carl snapped his neck.

“Okay, we can take a—” Leah came around the stone. “Hey, what happened?”

“He tried something,” Edwards sighed, dropping the body.

“One sec, let me see,” Leah looked off to one side.

“Hey! I thought only Paren could access my camera!” Edwards complained.

“Pfft, yeah, right!” Leah laughed. “Oh, he tried to turn you back!”

“Relax, I said no,” Edwards said quickly.

“Obviously,” Leah gestured to the corpse. “Why, though?”

“Two reasons,” Edwards admitted. “First, you would never let me get away. Like, ever. And second you lot treat me weirdly, but I feel like I matter at least. More than I ever did with that lot,” Edwards looked at the dead Line soldiers. “Holy shit! I just killed people!”

“How shit was your life that being our pet is better?” Leah laughed.

“I am not a pet!” Edwards insisted.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Leah smiled. “One day, you might believe it.”

He argued or tried to, all the way back to the rock outcropping, but Leah pretty much ignored him.

“Finally!” Paren whispered in his ear, making him spin in circles as he tried to find her. “I’m using your implant, silly!”

Edwards blanked his faceplate to hide his blush but continued to listen as he was told the plan. Once Paren was done, he crawled back up to his watchpoint and got ready.

The Line soldiers arrived a few minutes later. With the main group hanging back, a party of about twenty went to search the camp. It was the signal he had been waiting for, and he activated the scattering field projector Paren had given him to carry, blocking communication in a five-mile range.

The moment the group hit the dry ground, Dart Raptors attacked, launching from hiding points inside and outside the camp and decimating the poor bastards.

As the survivors tried to flee, they were in the firing line of the rest of the company, which immediately began to spread out into a firing line.

In the chaos and yelling, Leah’s assassins struck at the rear of the group, taking out stragglers and dragging them back into the long grass or beneath the trees.

In seconds, over a third of the company was gone.

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Just as the cries of alarm had the soldiers turning to fire on the assassins, Black forms in custom armor emerged from the flank, their nano-rifles firing in a constant barrage, cutting down the soldiers who were trapped on three sides.

Edwards aimed and fired, his improved vision allowing him to pick out the golds in charge from the communications flowing to and from them. His customized nano rifle packed a hell of a punch, but it took a couple of seconds to recharge, which left him picking off targets of importance within the group.

As soon as the soldiers broke, Edwards and the asteroid people, now referred to as the Nameless in the camp, stopped firing and withdrew.

The raptors and assassins would hunt down the survivors before they could get far.

After rounding up the Dart Raptors and the rest, Edwards was pleased to see they had not lost many of the raptors, and other than a few minor injuries, everyone on their side had survived.

Of the company itself, there were no survivors.

Two hours of stacking corpses on raptors and a pair of large grav sleds the Line troops had been using later; they were on their way back to the mesa when something occurred to him.

“Wait!” He called. “Hold it!”

“What’s wrong?” Paren asked immediately over the comm channel.

“Trackers!” Edwards said. “I suddenly thought they might have put trackers on the gear and even the sleds, right? To find out where we were or keep an eye on the troops?”

“They did,” Leah said, holding up the still-active scattering field. “That’s what this is for.”

“What about using them instead?” Edwards asked. “Can’t we take them somewhere else and dump the lot, then ambush the people who come to get them? Or maybe use a bomb or something?”

“It’s a nice thought,” Leah said kindly.

“Buy why bother?” Paren interjected. “We know where they are.”

“To get more troops away from their base?” Edwards asked.

“Naah,” Paren sighed. “We have to finish up soon anyway. Mum needs help with the war.”

“Yeah,” Leah sighed. “It’s a pity. This has been a fun holiday.”

“So what’s the plan?” Edwards asked, trying desperately to ignore the future he faced if this was a holiday.

“Kill them, obviously,” Paren said as if it was obvious.

“I meant how?” Edwards sighed. “Obviously.”

“Do you really want to take a tone with me?” Paren asked archly.

“No?” Edwards guessed.

“Good boy,” Leah laughed.

“It will be handled soon,” Paren said. “Now hurry up, I want those raw materials.”

“Corpses, they are corpses,” Edwards corrected.

“Are they cooked?” Paren asked.

“No.”

“Sounds like raw materials to me,” Paren laughed.

The process of hauling a hundred corpses up and into the base proved to be unnecessary as a ramp built itself up to the large doors as they approached.

There was a time, a mere twelve days ago, when that would have been a miracle worthy of stopping and staring.

Now, Edwards just walked up it and considered himself lucky to have saved some time.

Once inside, Carl stood to one side and made sure everyone else came back in, counting them off in his head and exchanging a few words here and there. Dot-slash gave him a wave but did not come over. He was walking proudly, if a little self-consciously, next to Two-dots.

Edwards smiled and wished him luck.

Thanks to their armor, the two groups were distinct, even when mixed. Paren had created custom pieces for each group, something that suited their preferences. The Nameless wore strong armor that was exceptionally thin to preserve their unusual level of flexibility. It made them look even more sinister, as the skeletal forms were smoothed by metal plates and curved helmets that extended their heads strangely.

For the grey skins, it was reasonably standard armor, but in a pale grey color when they were not blending with the terrain. The long cloaks and hoods hid them entirely as it was able to both block scans and mimic the environment thanks to the sheer number of nanites in it.

At first, Edwards had thought it was just a shifting pattern, but having gotten a close look at them in combat, it was much more than that. The cloaks actually became copies of the environment as they moved.

Once everyone was inside, Edwards headed for the lab with a slight detour to drop something off.

“Hey, Robot?” Edwards knocked on the door.

“Hello, Friend Edward,” Robot said, sticking his head out into the hall. “I am told all went well today.”

“As good as it could, Robot,” Edwards admitted. “I found this and thought you might like it.” He fished around in the pouch on his belt until he pulled out a strangely shaped crystal he had found. It had an unusual color to it, but the almost spherical shape was more what drew him to it.

“Ah, this is excellent, Friend Edward. May I ask where you found it?” Robot asked.

“It was on the edge of the swamp,” Carl admitted. “But I thought it looked interesting.”

“Very, thank you,” Robot said. “It is nice to be able to continue my collection even when I am busy.”

Carl knew better than to ask what Robot was doing. Paren had him doing something far below the main building, but that was all Edward needed to know. Carl had found that the problem with asking questions was that Paren tended to answer them.

A high-pitched whistle sounded through the complex, and Edwards sighed.

“I mean, I have an implant,” Carl grumbled. “She doesn’t need to whistle.”

Robot patted him on the shoulder in a vaguely comforting way before returning to his room.

Edwards turned and hurried for the lab, careful not to look through the door.

He had seen it once, and that was enough.

The headache lasted for three days.

Arriving at the lab at almost a dead run, Carl took a moment to compose himself for whatever he was about to see inside. It was always something different, which at least kept the nightmares fresh and varied.

“Took you long enough!” Paren crabbed at him.

“Sorry, I was dropping off a rock that I thought Robot would like,” Edwards said defensively.

“Oh, that was… nice of you,” Paren said with a frown.

“Was I not supposed to?” Carl asked.

“No, no, it’s fine,” Paren said with a sniff. “I mean, I upgraded you and taught you and stuff, but why should I get presents?”

“I-Uh,” Edwards thought quickly. “We did bring back a hundred corpses?”

“That was just your mission,” Paren said. “Wow, I just this second realized how Nellie feels sometimes.”

“I did let you take out my eye!” Edwards tried.

“Yeah, but that was more for you than me.” Paren sighed. “I didn’t even recycle it.”

“Uh, is there a present you would like?” Edwards tried. “I mean, Robot likes interesting rocks, Leah likes to beat the crap out of me, but I wouldn’t know what to get you.”

That didn’t seem to help.

“I mean, if I found some interesting creature or a new bit of tech, sure. But other than that?”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Paren insisted, keeping her back turned to him.

An idea did occur to him then, but he was almost desperate to avoid it.

The problem was Carl Edwards was a soft touch. He always had been; from as early as he could remember, Carl hated to see someone unhappy. This made him a great and very generous friend, but it also got him into trouble a lot, especially with women who were smarter than him—which was, unfortunately, the type he was most drawn to.

“Would you like an organ?” Edwards asked.

“What?” Paren half-turned.

“Like, upgrade an organ or a limb or something?” Edwards asked. “Whatever you would like to do.”

“Really?” Paren asked.

“Sure, why not?” Edwards smiled nervously. “Can I keep my other eye, though?”

“Great!” Paren turned, holding something strange in her hands. “Sit down somewhere and take your shift off!”

“Uh, okay?” Edwards swallowed hard and did as he was told. “Oh, fuck me! Is that a tail?”

“No, silly,” Paren waved his hands away. “It’s a tentacle!”

“You had that ready!” Carl accused her. “You had that ready the whole time!”

“Duh,” Paren laughed. “Now stay still, or I might sever your spinal cord.”

A burning pain in one shoulder came, and then… he had a new limb. It was mounted on his shoulder, coming smoothly out of the meeting between two muscle groups.

“Oh, fuck, that is so weird!” Edwards said as he stretched and curled it.

“You’ll get used to it.” Paren patted him on the top of the head. “Now, stay still while I do the other one.”

“The other one?” Edwards yelped.

“Do you want to be lopsided?” Paren challenged. “Do you?”

“No,” Edwards said morosely.

Five minutes later, Leah walked in as Paren was just finishing up with the other tentacle.

“Oh, wow, Paren. That’s so twisted!” Leah laughed.

“What?” Paren challenged. “He’ll get lots of use out of them!”

“I bet!” Leah ducked out again as Paren threw something at her.

“Great! Now, leave your shoulder and chest armor here so I can adapt it and go help with the stripping of the bodies, okay?” Paren shooed him out the door.

“Yes, Paren,” Edwards sighed. “Thank you for the gift.”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Paren slapped her forehead and whistled again.

Edwards turned and stifled a scream as something skittered over the floor toward him.

“This is the Mark 4 Smiler - Personnel edition!” Paren said happily. “Hold out your arm!”

Edwards leaned down, holding out his arm and felt the metal legs scratching at him as it ran up his arm and wrapped around his wrist.

“One second…” Paren said.

Sub-Drone M4 Smiler assigned to your control.

Connecting….

Link established…

“Huh,” Edwards could feel the thing's mind hovering just at the edge of his own. It was simple, but it seemed surprisingly friendly. “Wow, cool. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, now, shoo!” Paren pushed him out the door. “Bring me back lots of corpses!”

Sub-Drone M4 Smiler renamed:

Ben.

Edwards hurried towards the processing area of the base, carefully ignoring the people staring at his new appendages.

At least there was only a couple who screamed.