Chapter Forty-Six - Eww, What Even Is That?

"Antithesis specimens are divided into broad categories called 'models.' These models represent a general shape taken by the aliens, though there will always be some deviation between subjects of the same model, just as no two humans are exactly alike.

Models are, in turn, categorised in tiers. Tier one represents all models from one to ten. Tier two represents all models from eleven to twenty, and so on."

--Antithesis Identification - A Xenowatcher's Primer, Birdwatchers of America, 2046

***

"What the fuck am I looking at?" I asked as I kept staring at the unfolding monstrosity on the screen.

The antithesis... thing was unspooling long fleshy... not-quite-tentacles. These were bridging the gap between massive segments of Phobos' surface crust, almost like some sort of weird shell being expanded outwards.

There was a tug, and the shell started to close once more. Plates that had to be the size of entire provinces crashing togethers at the edges and sending small chunks of rocks flying every which way.

That looks like the start of a Model Sixty-Eight. They're one of the more esoteric biological constructs that the antithesis will deploy once they have space superiority. Think of it as a mobile hive.

"That thing's a hive?" I asked. But yeah, that made some sorta sense. "No, nevermind, that makes sense. It's fucking massive though."

Antithesis generally grow larger the higher the tier. This isn't always the case, but there's a definite pattern of growth, both in size and complexity and capability. A Model Sixty-Eight can grow to be the size of a small moon. As evidenced by what you're seeing now.

"Anything we need to know in particular about it?" I asked. "Or is it just a bigger, meaner bug that we need to squish?"

Expect it to be able to move and manoeuvre in ways that would seem counter-intuitive based on its size and mass. Also, expect esoteric weapons and capabilities. Higher tier models are more versatile, and their biological nature doesn't prevent them from using something akin to modern technology.

I closed my eyes for a moment, then stood up, which was a little awkward considering the weird chair I'd bought. Somehow, my back felt... nice? I glanced across the room. The others were mostly glued on the screen, watching the alien moon writhe and reset itself. Data was streaming in on half the screen, and while I couldn't parse it, I was sure Grasshopper and Gomorrah could. Maybe Hedgehog too.

"Stray Cat?" Princess asked. "Are you leaving?"

"I'm going to call Doctor Radikal," I said. "Susan too, I guess."

I didn't like being pushed into anything like a leadership position. It wasn't my thing. But... fuck. I wasn't awful at it. Not good enough to start bragging, but I wasn't a complete dumbass. I could figure it out.

I'd like to think that I had street smarts enough to handle the bottom rungs of New Montreal well enough. This whole thing was on another level, but some of that same logic applied across the board.

My gut was telling me that this was like when two gangs that shared a block had to deal with some corpo fuckery. In that kind of situation, putting heads together was usually the best move.

So I pulled up Doctor Radikal's information on my contact's list and gave him a call. It took two rings for the good doctor to reply. No video, voice only, but that was fine. "Ah! Stray Cat! Yes, I was just thinking I ought to give you a call. Susan as well. I imagine you've been watching our stream?"

"I have, yeah. We set up a mini-cinema over here to watch it all live."

"Yes, well, that means I won't need to explain things too much," he said. "Can you give me but a moment? I will get into contact with Susan as well, we'll make it so that a minimum of repetition is necessary."

"Yeah, go ahead," I said as I finally stepped outside. It had started to drizzle a little, which was probably for the best. The rain was bringing down all of the dust that had been kicked up by the tractors and trucks moving around the site. It looked like most of the effort right now was being spent on closing up the top of the Big Gun with pre-made metal sheets. They were three-quarters of the way to the end.

It took a few long seconds, but eventually Doctor Radikal came back on and there was a faint click as Susan joined the call.

"Greetings, Stray Cat," he said.

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"Heya," I replied. "So. Phobos was an egg and we've cracked it, huh?"

"An apt metaphor," Doctor Radikal said. "Before entering this situation, we created a predictive ten-tier system for gauging the results of our weapons platform upon Phobos. One being absolute success, ten being an unmitigated disaster."

"And this is an eleven sort of situation?" I asked.

"No, merely a seven," he replied.

Well, shit, they were more pessimistic than I was. "Seven still sounds a little bad," I said. "Did you predict this exact scenario?"

"We did not, but we were aware that Phobos likely contained an active hive and that it may be able to evolve in response to our assaults. In any case, the Collider will be ready to fire once more in... six hours and forty nine minutes, and every six hours thereafter."

"Okay, cool," I said. "Susan, any news on your end?"

"The kamikaze are flying to Phobos as we speak. Soon you will see them strike the moon with all of our anger ready to be unleashed," Susan said. I didn't know if it was the translation that made him sound so... poetic, or if he was just trying really hard. "I do not expect this first wave to finish our foe, but it will bloody them."

A dozen or so nukes crashing into anything would bloody it, I figured. "It's got some pretty big openings on the surface, from what I saw. That'll sting once we slip something past the... egg-shell."

"Indeed!" Doctor Radikal said. "It's possible that the Keiretsu's strike, followed by your own Big Gun's shot, may be enough to kill this model Sixty-Eight. In which case the next use of the collider would merely crush Phobos back down into a large mound of rock. But I do not plan on holding out hope for such a high degree of success."

"You don't think it'll work?" I asked.

"I think that we're punching upwards against a foe that is far stronger than we'd initially hoped. We would be remiss to expect the antithesis to roll over and allow themselves to die so easily."

I nodded along. That did sound about right. "Our hits are gonna come in staggered, right? We can do one hit an hour here. That still leaves the aliens an hour to heal between each strike. How often can we use your collider?"

"Four times a day," Doctor Radikal said.

"Four times a day. Those times will be doing lots of damage, right? And the Keiretsu?"

"Our drone production is only ramping up," he said. "The more time passes, the more frequently we'll be able to strike."

"Alright, okay," I said as I continued to nod. "This is going to be something of a longer fight, then. Not a fight of... what's the word for a fight that's won because one side ran out of resources?"

"Attrition?" Doctor Radikal asked.

"That's the one. It's not a battle of attrition since we're ramping up and have more resources to call on the closer Phobos gets. If we see that what we're doing isn't working, then we ramp up. We can definitely afford to build a second Big Gun. I imagine your drone production can just keep growing. Not sure about your collider...."

"We can upgrade it!" he said, sounding rather cheerful about the entire idea. "There are some here suggesting we do so already. A lot of the limitations we have on the device now are in place to allow it to function for longer under less strain. If there's more risk that Phobos will be an unavoidable threat, then we can push the machine to its limits and beyond."

"Okay, cool. We might want to time things going forwards. Either space it all out so that there's non-stop damage against Phobos or time strikes to come in when Phobos is reeling already."

Susan hummed. "We have time to attempt a few different approaches against the foe."

"Time until Phobos is right upon us," Doctor Radikal said.

"Is there any chance of that happening?" I asked.

"Truly? I think it is unlikely. Several agencies are burying their heads in the sand, but as the last hours approach, I believe they will try anything. That might collide with our own attempts to save the world. Let's focus on ridding ourselves of Phobos now rather than later."

"Alright," I agreed. "Worse case, we'll chip away at it, right? I saw lots of little bits of the moon flying off into space. I imagine we can continue doing that until it's nothing but scattered dust, yeah?"

"Those will be an issue," Susan said. "We're going to have to contend with a great meteor shower. Though we can, given time, rid ourselves of any threateningly large objects."

I puffed out a breath. It was one thing after another, wasn't it?

***