“So,” I took a deep breath. “Stop me if I’m wrong…”
We were still in the commands center, the cosmos giving more light than the illumination system here.
I was sitting on one of the silver seats, while Absoli was nervously fiddling with his limbs on the table in front of me.
“Yes, master…”
“You have a semi-intact spaceship,” ignore the childlike squealing from within the depths of my mind. “And also a semi-accurate coordinates, which, as you believe, point out the locations of others like you – by the way, remind me what you are?”
“A Hyper Intelligence, master. I am to serve Titans and their children, if the former are unavailable.” He paused. “Also, my body is a Moon-sized cube floating in the middle of space… as you put it…”
“Yeah, that’s right!” I nodded. Whoa, what an epic mess have I gotten myself into…
I massaged my temples.
“So, what’s the problem? I mean – let’s board the ship and… well, fly into the unknown!”
“…”
“It’s that thing that has been chasing me that is the problem, huh?”
“One of many… things, not the problems…” they considered it for a moment. “Although, that depends – master, do you consider many of the reavers to be one problem, or many?”
“Reavers?”
“That is the closest equivalent in your language, yes.”
“Okay…” I cracked my neck. “There are many?”
“In the sector, where the starship is – my last known recon mission indicates more than one hundred hostile units. Perhaps the number has dwindled – the investigation was decades ago, though I wouldn’t expect a great drop. The reavers proved to be… durable.”
“The last one lost most of his limbs when he ran into the wall,” I frowned. “And I was more or less fine.”
“That unit was severely damaged, master.” Absoli warned. “The others are far deadlier.”
“Lovely…” I idly scratched the back of my head.
I really hate fighting. Really. But…
“Absoli, where did you get my new leg?”
“I fabricated it,” they made a shrugging motion. “I have one functioning fabricator… and even it has lost most of its functions…”
“Can it make me some equipment?”
I had the impression the robot blinked.
“Armor and weaponry?”
“You can?” I curiously asked.
Ignore the inners child rabid joy…
+++
The equipment was hot.
As in – hot to the touch.
The dozen bots that carried it here didn’t seem to mind, though. They laid the bracelets on the table, and positioned armor on the floor before me.
“Fresh from the oven, if I do say so myself, master.” Absoli sounded extremely proud of himself. And they had a right to.
I looked over the armor and armaments once more, feeling nothing but the pure awe.
The armor was a one piece black and white suit, which you had to step in. Its shell looked like it was made of hexagons, with black lines where the figures touched. The visor was almost identical to a typical gasmask, though without the filters. The hands were gloved, and the gloves were completely stygian, just as the boots. A suit also had a cap, which was completely white on the outside, but black on the inside.
The guns were a more curious matter. Weaponry was simply a black and white bracelet.
It did ruin the impression from armor, just a little bit.
“What is this?” I weighed one of the bracelets in my hands, it was almost weightless.
“A multi-tool, master.”
“What it can do?” inspecting the weapon closer, I noticed a few notches on the inside of it.
“Oh, many things!” they sounded genuinely excited. “It can make a hard-light shield, about a meter and a half in diameter; it can fire off hard-light rounds; access any system on the station; it also doubles as a recorder of audio and video information, or even written!”
“Nice,” I couldn’t keep myself from smiling.
Then, I frowned.
“How am I to, well, fire it?”
“With thought-command, of course!”
“Certainly…” I mumbled.
“I intend to teach you, naturally,” Absoli hurried to comfort me.
I perked up.
“Great! Thanks, Absoli!”
“Happy, to serve, mast---“
“Alexander,” I interrupted them. “My name is Alexander. Call me Alex, though.” They were my friend, after all, were they not?
“Alex,” they tasted the name. “Interesting. I like it!”
“Thanks, I got it for my birthday!”
…
Wow, tough crowd.
“Very funny, Alex. Ha ha ha.” they were sure rubbing it in.
“You’re a cheeky bastard, aren’t you?” I sighed.
Well, at least my sidekick is fitting in the tropes, I thought.
“I make an effort… I had no one to talk to for thousands of years…” they thought for a moment. “Never, come to think of it… I don’t ever remember talking to anyone…”
Shit…
“That’s…” I swallowed the word ‘unfair’. My experience proves that universe knows no such words. “You can talk to me,” I pathetically finished.
“I intend to, master!” happily answered Absoli. “Then, I can go to Earth and talk to lots of people! I mean, once we find a way back, right?”
“Yeah, no doubt about that,” I lied. I had doubts.
“Anyway,” I held up the multi-tool. “How do I use this?”
+++
The training wasn’t as hard as I thought. I’d go so far as to say, that it wasn’t hard at all.
Absoli lead me to a large empty room, told me to put on the armor, and the bracelets – turns out, those notches on the inside were connection ports, so they come in complex with the armor.
Then, he instructed me, and explained a few minor quirks of the equipment.
The armor had a HUD – which gave me the insistent flashbacks about Iron Man – and the hard-light shield and shots were just the basics, of what the multi-tool was capable of. Technically, you could fashion the hard-light into anything – the ‘tool had an infinite amount of energy, just as the armor (I didn’t even ask how THAT was possible) – but the problem was maintaining the construct.
See, human mind, as it turns out, is a fickle thing – it experiences a constant stream of thoughts, which, many a time, have no correlation between them. And that makes maintaining clark-tech space magic bullshit, very difficult.
The sphere in my hands collapsed into itself and dispersed into glowing golden particles.
I dropped to my knees in exhaustion.
Sweat poured down my brow in fast rivers, leaving a salty taste on my mouth, and yet, I couldn’t stop smiling.
I did magic! Or, well, space-tech magic!
“You could do better, Alex,” the AI paused. “Though you are progressing at an impressive pace, according to my archives.”
“How would your archives contain information about teaching to use this…” I made a vague hand motion to myself. “Technology to people?”
“I do not know,” they sighed, as in, made a sound of sighing.
“Anyway, how long did I manage?”
“Sixty three seconds.”
“Cool.” I nodded. Huh, weird.
“Absoli? Why am I no longer sweating? Is that the armor?”
“Yes,” Absoli was clearly pleased with themselves. “Maintaining your body in optimal condition is one of its main functions.”
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“Cool,” I nodded again. “How well it will hold the reavers’ claws?”
“Well, first the claws will have to go through the energy shield…”
“Huh?” I looked at my armored arm more closely. Indeed, there was a barely perceptible distortion in the air around it.
“Yes,” it seems they noticed my inspection. “The shield is capable of handling… well, maybe three or five blows,” robot made a shrugging motion again. “Unfortunately, unlike the energy shields in your books or video games, this one isn’t capable of recharging until after it has been drained.”
“And how long does that take?”
“Eight seconds,” this time their voice was quite dim. “I’m sorry, I could have done better, but my fabricator isn’t what it used to be…”
“It’s alright, I’ll manage,” I always do. “And how tough is the armor itself?”
“The same, I’m afraid,” again, they were very apologetic.
“Is it capable of self repair, or something?”
“No…”
I cracked my neck and my knuckles, and stood up. Surprisingly, I already felt refreshed.
“Hardcore, then… I will manage.”
I always do.
+++
“Not ominous at all,” I mumbled.
Absoli awkwardly shuffled next to me.
We were standing before one of the hatches, though this one looked exceptionally decrepit.
The metal was dirty with nondescript dirt, the floor before the door was littered with broken parts of sphere-spiders, and a thick white X was painted over the hatch.
All I’m missing is the haunting music.
“Well, perhaps a sense for theatrics was as much as Titans’ weakness, as it is of their creations,” they solemnly said.
I smiled and rolled my eyes, grateful for Absoli attempts at easing my anxiety.
I was, after all, walking into the mortal danger. Not for the first time in my life, but for the first time willingly.
“You will be in touch through comms in the armor, right?”
“Yes,” Absoli sexless voice sounded right in my ear. “And remember – your multi-tool is capable of producing a shield – it’s one of the two of its basic commands – which is capable of enduring much more attacks than the armor’s energy plating.”
“And the shot is to be fired from a distance,” I gulped. “Not for close quarters…”
“If, indeed, a need arises for a melee fight – you will be at a severe disadvantage, and will have to make constructs manually,” they paused. “Above all else – survive, master. It is a top priority, we can always try again if you comeback.”
“Spider-bots are really that ineffective?”
Absoli wordlessly pointed one of their limbs at the remains before the hatch.
“Noted.”
I raised my left arm and summoned a shield, golden particles coalescing into an o-shaped mass, floating a few millimeters from my left hand.
My right arm remained at peace. For now.
“Well, wish me luck.”
“You’re a Titans’ child, Alex,” their voice was soothing. “You are incapable of failure.”
I didn’t reply.
+++
The metal sheet slid closed behind.
I was back in the darkness, not even a pale blue light to show me the way.
Thankfully, I didn’t need to – the armor was equipped with GPS or its analogue, and deep blue arrow guided me, remaining in the left up corner of my vision, snaking through seemingly corridors and mazes, avoiding the few rooms that were on my way.
According to it, I had quite a way to go.
And about a hundred reavers standing in my path.
I felt a cowardly thought of turning back – Absoli had a fabricator and hundreds of bots, why the hell should I do it?
But I steeled myself the next moment.
The Absoli bots were workers and helpers, they explained, and could barely fight. Oh, the things were fast, but they sure as hell weren’t durable or dangerous. And the AI couldn’t replace them either – the few hundred they had, were the last ones.
So, it was up to me to clear the way to starship, and Absoli would repair it to working condition, and then we fuck off to the infinity and beyond. Or, well, to the coordinates of other, supposedly, six Titans’ bases.
“A nice plan,” Absoli said, a little shocked, I remembered.
I agreed then, and I agree now.
I gulped through a suddenly dry throat.
My agreement didn’t mean I wasn’t scared, nay, terrified, of a thought of fighting the metallic slenderman more dangerous cousins.
But, well, the Creation never cared about my agreement anyway, so – nothing new.
The suits lenses changed into the dark vision mode – as Absoli called it – and I could clearly see the corridor before me.
There really was nothing new – strange dirt clinging to walls, dust floating around, and emptiness.
Oh, and a few remains of the spider-bots on the floor.
I took a deep breath, and stepped forward, the shield before me.
The echo of the suits boots spread thinly throughout the hallway, bouncing of its high ceiling and wide walls.
The walk promised to be an eventful one.
And soon it fulfilled this promise.
“Alex, hostiles up ahead!” Absoli voice rang out in the helmet, making me jump. The mini-map in the corner of my vision bloomed with a bright red dot. I was walking straight into it, just behind a corner.
“How can you see that when I can’t?” I whispered loudly, though probably unnecessary – the armor was soundproof.
“Radar on the suit,” AI quickly answered. “Wait for it to come out and then blast it!”
“Understood,” I grit my teeth to stop them from chattering.
The sound of metal on metal. The tall figure rounding the corner. The six baleful red eyes locking onto me.
Absoli wasn’t kidding, when he said, that the one that chased was severely damaged.
The reaver was taller than any man, had four arms and long thin legs. That much was the same.
What wasn’t the same were the lack of any spikes on his body, and the abundance of plating, that covered it. It’s body, while still slim, was no longer spindly, and it looked overall much more refined, than the last one.
The whine it gave of, though, was very much the same.
I fired, or, well, thought to fire.
The bracelet spewed forth the golden light, that whizzed through the air, until it hit the reavers chest plate.
The thing was thrown back – its body hit the wall with a loud thud, its whine cut off. The center of its chest was gone, replaced by a football sized hall, with charred edges. The edges gave off a light smoke.
Reavers six red eyes blinked a few time, and dimmed into nothingness.
I waited for a few seconds more, until Absoli voice commended me:
“A good shot, master!”
I breathed out I breath I didn’t notice I held, and fell to my knees.
Wow, that was… much easier than expected.
“They…are much flimsier than I imagined,” I choked out.
“You have a weapon this time, Alexander,” I was frozen in place by the cold anger in the Absoli voice. “This time, you fight back, master.”
“Right,” I took in a few lungfuls of air and brought myself up on my legs. “Tell me when the other would come close, okay?”
“They will highlight themselves on you radar, Alex. But I will alert you,” they sounded much more subdued this time.
“Good. Let’s go.”
+++
I have encountered ten more reavers in my journey. All of them, despite being seemingly much dangerous than the first one I met, went down with one or two shots.
None of them managed to get close enough to seriously threaten me, but one did get frighteningly close, his unmoving body slamming into my golden shield. Then, it slowly slid to the ground.
I kicked it out of the way, the fear of it getting too close quickly fading.
“Interesting.”
“What is, Alex?” Absoli asked.
“Nothing… just thinking,” I shook my head. “Am I far off the ship?”
“No, master,” Absoli sounded very optimistic. “Just five more minutes and you’ll be there!” the arrow on the mini-map pulsed.
“Got it. Prepare the bots, we will have to do it quickly, in case more of the reavers come up,” I confidently, but steadily, marched ahead.
“I have already uninstalled the fabricator and my core. I will be ready as soon as you clear the last of the reavers before the starship, master.”
“Your core?” I carefully looked out of every corner before crossing them, and glanced at the radar just as often.
“Yes, the housing for my consciousness,” they explained. “Without it – I’ll die. Well, I mean – if something were to happen to it then---“
“Yeah, I understand,” I nodded. “Keep it safe. I think I am getting closer.”
“You are and I will.”
The corridor abruptly shot out in all directions, opening up to the huge room.
I looked around, but my eyes stumbled upon a sight so majestic, that the entirety of my body shook for a moment.
The starship, just as everything else here, was huge.
The 4-pointed star rested on a pale shimmering force field – as Absoli identified, - its white hull dimly lit by floating cubes of energy plants, surrounding it, which gave of the force field.
The ships architecture was curious. It upper and down points were longer than the stubby side ones, and all four points were connected with a thin – compared to the rest of the vehicle – metal circle, that had spikes spread out evenly along it’s perimeter.
The spaceship was enormous in size, almost a skyscraper! I could barely see its upper point---
An impact hit me in the back sending me flying far ahead, hitting the railing, which fenced in a mighty vessel.
The energy shield cracked and dispersed with barely seen yellow particles. Luckily, it also absorbed all the damage.
I rolled on the ground, rolled onto my leg and stood up, heedless of Absoli panicked speech.
I eyed my opponent with quickly growing dread.
I’m not sure if it even was a reaver. I mean – freakishly tall, black, six glowing red eyes…
And six arms, with a blade in each. The arms and legs were mighty, not the slimness of others that I killed before coming here. They gave off the impression of bulging muscle, spun out of pure blackness. The tail with a razor sharp blade at the end scraped the floor, as the thing eyed me in its stead.
Eyed, with, perhaps, too much intelligence, than I would have liked.
It also blocked off the exit with its mass, also.
“Absoli?”
…
“Absoli, hellooo?” no answer.
“Shit!” I cursed, and looked in the things eyes. I almost physically felt the contempt and glee rolling of it.
“You somehow jammed the comms or something, is that right?” I calmly asked it, the dread in my stomach giving way to… something cold. Colder, than even the vastness of space.
It spun the blades, and took a determined step ahead.
It didn’t whine, didn’t give of a single sound, except for scratching of its tail, and the sound of its steps.
I didn’t waste any more time.
The hard-light projectile was deflected by one of its blades with scornful ease, and only made it fasten its pace.
Fuck.
I dashed to it head on, shield raised before me. I fully realized that I have little chance of walking out alive from something like this, but I saw even less chances if I just stood my ground.
The things blades whipped in the air, as it charged at me, its weapons raised in a warlike fashion.
We almost collided when fell with my back to the ground, shield before, and slid between its legs.
The tail whipped at the golden armament in my hands dispersing it, but I was already behind my opponents back, and so turned my arm and fired at its tail.
The projectile hit the metal appendage with a satisfying thud, and the ninth limb of mechanical monster came off and fell to the ground, clattering as it went.
I rolled away, not even bothering to stand up, and only just barely dodging the three black blades, that strike the surface which I left mere moments ago.
I sprang upright, facing the monster again and firing off several shots, which it deflected.
We again stood still, sizing each other up, while I felt a long forgotten emotion peaking in my brain.
God, this is fun!
My whole body was sweating, my muscles taut with strength and anticipation, and my eyes sharpened with attention.
I balled up my fists.
Control, don’t lose control, this is important…
The monster leaped with strength I had not anticipated, it all six weapons pointing straight to my chest, while the only I managed to do in time is raise my arm and summon a shield, and rejoice at the energy shield being recharged.
The blades pierced both of my shields and sunk deep into my left hand, impaling it.
The pain was atrocious, even worse than when I got my leg cut off.
I raised the right arm and fired in the things chest, which the monster left conveniently empty.
The projectile hit the chest plate and left a deep searing hole in it, but the reaver only bounced back away from, ripping his sword out of my flesh.
My left arm hang limp at my side, the blood coloring white armor red…
Great, now what?
The enemy didn’t gave me time to answer that question, as it had no doubt realized my sorry state, and charged at me again, spinning the blades before it like general Grievous knock-off.
I lit the ball of hard-light in my hand and began pouring the energy into it.
The sphere got large enough, before the reaver could lob of my head that I sent it into its chest.
The blades broke off and sizzled, as they flew through the air, and a hole in the chest of the thing got bigger but it was still moving, and rearing its claws at me.
I shielded from them with the hard-light shield, and, thankfully, this time the thing didn’t pierce through it.
But it was not giving up.
The claws ate deeper through the shield, peeling away at its integrity. The six eyes looked into mine with hatred and victory.
A poor idea.
I unsummoned the shield and dove in between the legs of the thing.
Its claws slashed at the air, as I summoned a hard-light blade into my hand, jumped straight through the air, and as the reaver spun around – I hacked at its neck.
The claws hit my side with unrelenting force, and send me flying at the railing again.
I crashed into the metal rods, and felt the visor of the suit crack, small fracture crossing my vision.
Behind me, I heard as something heavy fell to the ground, and rolled.
Then, something even heavier fell with teeth aching sound.
I tiredly turned around.
The muscled body of the reaver laid dead on the floor, its limbs contorted in the last defiance of its opponent’s victory.
The head, larger than mine by a good margin, rolled ever closer to me.
I stepped on it, to stop it motion, and that’s when the horde of white sphere-spiders rushed into the room.
“Master!!!” Absoli sounded relieved.
“Hi,” I choked on my dry throat, the coldness in my gut quickly melting away, and as it went, the monstrous pain that I felt came in. “I need a medic, I think---“ I looked to my arm.
My blood was dimly glowing red and blue, in a pitch dark room.