Looking with visible signs of anxiety in his eyes at the convulsing figure of the giant who was barely kept by a force shield, Donald gulped before confirming his latest command to the museum’s employers, shutting the facility's doors for everyone. Still, the medical team was already on standby, waiting only for a signal. The signal, Donald wasn’t sure he would send as the current situation differed from the previous one by a lot.
Noticing another flickering of the invisible shield around the Terranoid, the scientist quickly left the room. Closing the strengthened doors just in case, he turned his attention to the information on the nearest terminal. Multiple sensors were constantly monitoring the prisoner as he was Mr. Wright’s most precious piece of the collection. Obviously, other “statues” had their part of the attention, but not on the same level. Using his ability to study this masterpiece of destroyed Earth, Donald added quite a number of them, modifying them in the process.
It didn’t help to uncover the mystery behind energy-aether or the way the Terranoid was created, but still provided valuable data for various research. The part of it the scientist started to organize into something more usable for future work with a clear goal. The only reason why Donald hadn’t started the project a while ago was the constant change that the giant’s body was making as if the Terranoid never left an idea of escaping his prion. And the current data that Donald was seeing on the screen was another confirmation of this assumption.
“I need to contact Mr. Wright. Yes, he needs to know… No chance I want to face his rage if his “pearl” dies on my hands… But what can I do? His organism is too unique, too adaptive, too unlearned... Yes, I need to call him,” nodding as the mechanical puppet, Donald finally made the decision. The fear of his boss was too strong in him, putting the scientist into a dilemma – to cause a burst of negative emotions because of contacting him at the wrong time or to get a full consequence of the Terranoid's death with his own persona to get full blame.
“I am sorry to bother you, Mr. Wright… yes, I know about the space blockade of our city but… yes, it’s an emergency… I would never, Mr. Wright! Yes, something is going on with your main exhibit. And this something has already increased the power drain from the energy reactor up to 500% and has no signs of stopping. Yes, the reactor can handle even hundreds of times more of it, but… Thank you, Mr. Wright. I am waiting for you,” sighing with relief, Donald finally ended the call, dropping down on the chair and closing his eyes. Lying in such a manner for a minute, trying to get his thoughts together and calm his nerves, the scientist managed to keep his cool. Only after feeling better, he decided to check the data.
“1278%? What is going on?” muttering in disbelief, Donald almost jumped forward from his chair, barely avoiding crushing the screen with his head. However, the numbers didn’t lie, showing how the captured modified humanoid was sucking the reactor’s energy with constantly growing speed. It was still far from being dangerous, but considering the war fleet of the Free Coalition of Planets that was blocking all movement in and out of Fantasy City, this trend might influence the situation badly.
“And everything started with you,” Donald muttered, looking at the Terranoid through the camera, which was showing how the giant figure was starting to get spots of black as if getting painted from the inside. The color bared the resemblance to the obsidian steel, but the scientist didn’t see how it was possible, “The President never let go the death of his grandson, pushing the narrative among his citizens that our station is a den of pirates and must be burned to the ground… If only… Wait, the obsidian steel?”
Diving into the stream of the live data, Donald quickly checked the state of the “bone” construct using outer scanners. The information made him frown, but on the other hand, pushed his mind into full swing. Half an hour and hundreds of numbers later the scientist somehow managed to create a vague picture of what was happening. He wasn’t absolutely sure, but even a remote possibility of it being true could lead to disastrous consequences.
“I need to stop before it’s too late… But the only way to do it is to cut the connection with the reactor,” the scientist halted his hand in mere centimeters above the screen, which showed the confirmation button. His mind, seeing the threat, made everything by itself. However, the fear of Mr. Wright was already gripping his heart. He, who did a lot of dirty work for this psycho and helped to get his collection, knew how unstable the current leader of Fantasy City could be. A simple death was already enough to scare him shitless, but Michel Wright was capable to turn the life into a horrible never-ending torture. Donald knew as no one. So, he backed off, instead trying to call his boss not to face any responsibility for the wrong action.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times the scientist did it, there was no answer. At some point, when the pressure of raising numbers became too huge, Donald bashed the button with a fist, almost shattering the screen. Almost, as despite the panicked action, the device worked as intended, confirming the command. The problem was the appearance of the new message – “access denied”. The latter brought Donald back to his chair, sucking all his strength and courage. The scientist knew that there was no way to kill the Terranoid from outside as the protective shield was still there. Moreover, he wasn’t sure if it could be done at all in the current circumstances. Even the cable was too hidden and under a huge stream of energy, making it impossible to be damaged without proper tools, and Donald had no time to get them. The prison, following the stupid joke from reality, became a fortress, saving the life of the prisoner who turned out to be the main threat to the whole station.
“What was the emergency? Is it the same thing as was the previous time? Because if it is, I promise you will regret asking me to get here at such a time. The morons from the Coalition decided to send an ultimatum to us. To us – the strongest independent force in the universe! Labeling my city as a place full of thugs and criminals, they simply aim to get the same spot for themselves. Do they think I don’t know about their investment projects about building their version of my city? Greedy bastards! So, what was it, Donald?”
As always, rushing inside like a hurricane, Michel Wright stopped in front of the calmly sitting scientist. Maybe the word was an incorrect description as the man paused in shock from the reaction of his employee. Or, precisely speaking, the absence of it. There was no fear or anxiety, just a calm acceptance with a mixture of tiredness. Nothing else. Even the eyes that Donald raised to look at him were radiating the same submission to the unknown situation. That immediately raised a red flag in Michel’s mind.
“Donald, what is going on?” The question led to a weak smile from the scientist, who finally focused his eyes on his boss. It was quite a rare occasion when the scientist tried to observe the man who paid him for so many cycles. However, for the first time, Donald wanted to smack himself as the man in front of him had lost a lot of his previous mighty iron will after getting the desired position of the leader. The past three cycles added a lot of weight to the former thin limbs, making Michel a fatty. Considering his big head and tiny facial features, it only added a resemblance to the ball with deep wrinkles. Suddenly, the scary figure appeared to be not so scary.
“I will start from the beginning – we already have enough time to spend… Yeah,” scratching his head as he was lost in his thoughts, Donald muttered before starting to talk, “In short, your “pearl” is trying to break free once again.”
“And? This is not the first time! Keep the medical team ready. Inform me when everything ends. Act as usual! I have a fucking space fleet ready to bombard us at any moment if they get any plausible excuse. Gather yourself and do your job, while I will try to save the whole city!” Michel demanded but was met with the same weak smile.
“Well, this is not the usual attempt. Not even close. Previously, he always focused on raising the concentration of that energy-aether inside his body. My scanners recorded a multiple increase in density from the basic state. However, this time he somehow managed to manipulate the obsidian steel, creating something akin to a reactor core inside his stomach…”
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“What? Repeat that again!”
“Yes, reactor core. He produced a sphere from the parts of the obsidian, leaving the most artificial skeleton intact. Connecting it to the main reactor, while creating another force shield around the sphere itself, he basically protected himself from the inner reaction, while being still hidden behind the barrier from the outer world… And after that, he started to use energy-aether to create explosions only to fuel it into another explosion. It created a sequence that constantly grows in power. Basically, a reactor core in a miniature.”
“And what is the problem with that?” Michel asked, glancing at the screen where pitch black figure was frozen motionless, without a single sign of anything disastrous, “You were speaking about the emergency.”
“The force shield that YOU made me put around him is fueled by the main energy system of Fantasy City,” getting a small nod, Donald continued, “The more damage the shield gets, the more energy it tries to drain to sustain its work. His version doesn’t have any limits on the drain level. It was again YOUR demand that I fulfilled,” another nod followed from the boss, “and now we got the situation where any attempts to stop the supply to the force shield will lead to a massive explosion, while the continuation will lead to sucking all energy from the main system that will result in a collapse of the core. The latter is just a possibility, but I can’t rule it out…”
“Stop! Again. Didn’t you tell me that the reactor could handle it with ease?” Michel asked again, feeling another headache on top of his troubles.
“I thought so… before recalculating it carefully a few times in a row. You see, with each cycle he simply multiples energy and uses everything to make a new one. Basically the geometric progression in real life. The stronger the explosions, the harder for the shield to withstand them, thus more energy drain. On the other hand, any attempt to stop the shield would lead the explosion to blast the noticeable part of the station. And I need to remind you that the main energy system isn’t far from here, and by this point, the calculations show that the power of the explosion is enough to damage it. Therefore, in both cases, it’s a matter of time before we lose either reactor or reactor and our lives,” Donald finished the explanation with a loud sigh.
“Can he control it like before?” Michel’s trembling voice gave up his worry, but he didn’t care, “you said that he did it before and that it was his attempt to escape. Can he control it? What will be the outcome if he manages to do it?”
“I don’t know. I just assumed it,” Donald shook his head, “theoretically…”
Before he managed to continue, the doors of the room swung open, leading a group of armed guards with rifles in their hands. Wearing the heavy version of their armor, they were led by the familiar figure of the captain, who wasn’t even hiding a wide smile on his face. Stepping at the front of the guards, while the rest of the subordinates took the corners, he loudly said.
“Michel Wright, the former unofficial leader of the triumvirate, you are under arrest by the decree of the newly formed Council. Please, don’t resist and you won’t get hurt…”
“She bought you, yes?” Focusing his eyes on the grinning figure of the old bastard, who long had to retire, but somehow managed to keep his post despite all the changes above him, Michel sighed, “You bowed to me, asking to save your ass, but at the first signs of a mishap, you ran away in a search of new feeding hand. Fucking traitorous dog!”
“I don’t know what you mean, Mr. Wright, but I can’t name the battle-ready fleet on the orbit as a mishap… Just don’t make anything hard, Michel. We already made a deal by giving you away as a main culprit, so your safety is our priority,” the captain spoke once again, pointing to the door behind himself, “I will ask politely one more time…”
“I had to kill her, when I had the opportunity,” feeling how all the energy was sucked dry, Michel simply sat on the nearest table. His mind was wandering around the quantity of the horrible events that he had to meet all at once. Just the news of the incoming space fleet of Coalition caused quite a panic, dropping the stream of tourists to a tenth of what it was. Even some companies, including mercenaries, were scared enough to leave at once.
Then this coup crossed years of his hard work to get to the position of the leader. The loss of it would take not only everything Michel achieved but even his collection inside the museum might be thrown away. Even more mess to the situation was added by the unknown doings of his main pride, the pearl of his collection, his materialized essence of fear. Each of them was quite a problem, but together they simply buried Michel underneath, evaporating all chances to find the solution.
“Yes, If I had killed her… What more did they ask? I refuse to believe that the President can sell my head to his own people. That bitch must have promised more. If only I…”
“Stop it, Michel. Your desire to solve anything with murder was what led to all this… We’ve got the evidence that you were the ones who set up the Terranoid, causing the bloodbath in the corridors of Fantasy City… Last chance before we make you follow us. Those military blockheads don’t have enough patience and can see the threat in anything. Don’t make… Oh, whatever. Take him,” the captain gave up, seeing no reaction from the previously the most powerful man on the station.
“I am sorry, but if we have a new leader, I need to inform you about the problem,” finding the opportunity to speak, Donald attempted to explain, but was interrupted by the main guard.
“Not now,” the captain cut him, looking at how two of his subordinates started to apprehend Michel. However, before they even started to walk, the light went off. The suddenness of the event caused a wave of curses among the present, which partly stopped when the reserve reactor kicked in. Being much less powerful, its main purpose was to keep the life systems working, nothing more than that. This well-known fact instantly sent the fear inside their hearts, while the captain was already trying to connect with the Council.
“Tell them that we have him! We are not attacking…,” his shout into the communicator was met with an even more panicked voice.
“The fleet started to charge their weapons! I repeat, they started…”
“Fuck! Hey, you,” hastily turning around to the scientist, the captain demanded, “tell me where the nearest way to a spaceport is… Hey, are you listening to me?”
“Fascinating,” Donald muttered instead, not even catching the words of the man. Looking at the screen without even blinking, he was watching how the Terranoid’s figure started to rise from the platform, showing the dramatic change in appearance. The giant man wore only a distant resemblance to what he was before. He could barely be named as a human at this point, looking like a pitch-black grotesque humanoid with weird proportions. Moreover, multiple spikes of different sizes that were protruding from his skin in random places seemed to be in constant motion as if failing to find a proper spot.
“What is that thing?” Leaning to the screen, the captain’s whisper was so quiet that Donald almost missed it.
“The problem I tried to warn you about,” the scientist answered, unwillingly engraving the scene in his mind.
This was the moment when the Terranoid, or what was left of him, looked directly at the camera and smiled with a wide mad grin that had more in common with baring the teeth of a wild beast than an ordinary human’s expression. However, no matter how he had changed, Donald immediately recognized those dark green eyes that were radiating the hatred. And seeing how this creature freed itself from the prison, having the very same emotions toward people around, but potentially much less sanity, caused a real strike of horror. Dropping from the chair, Donald tried to overcome the sudden panic attack, but the cold grip over his heart, the tight hugs that prevented his lungs to make any breathe, the darkening surroundings, and vertigo – everything made him curl in his place without the ability to do anything.
It took all Donald’s strength to fight against what seemed to be an overwhelming feeling, but somehow, he managed to get up… only to see how the closed door that led to the exhibition was pierced by a sharp claw. Cutting through the metal as it was the paper, the oversized black palm started simply to crumple the obstacle, opening the way for its body. The guards immediately started shooting, but Donald decided to not wait for the outcome. Turning around, he sprinted with all available power, instinctively pushing his former boss Michel to the floor when the latter tried to get ahead of the scientist. Making it through the corridor, he wanted to turn around, but the loud inhuman scream of someone being torn apart alive only pushed the scared man forward.
Hastily leaving the museum, Donald paused for a moment, trying to think about the best direction, when the whole world shook. In just an instant the ceiling started to fall, being crushed under the bombardment from the orbit. The collapse of the station’s section was so sudden and intensive that the scientist lost consciousness after getting hit by a piece of metal. However, the pleasant darkness had no chance to take him as another wave of pain woke him less than in a minute. Opening his eyes and trying to focus his blurring vision on the surroundings, Donald was met with the sight of the black creature towering above him. It was grinning at him with clear expectation of entertainment, not hiding bloodthirstiness in his gaze. The following screams could inflict a mind-hurting terror… if there was anyone nearby to hear them.