Unknown Time

Ali? You back with me? Kayden asked.

[“I am here.”] Ali replied. [“Whatever you were sprayed with seems to have worn off when we were transported here.”]

Great. You ready for this?

[“As ready as possible.”]

Kayden grit his teeth. Time to dance then.

The moment he took a step forward, dozens of Voidborn creatures emerged from the ground all around the queen. They chittered as they clawed from their subterranean hiding spots, using their sharpened claws to shovel away dirt and climb to the surface. As one, the group of quadrupedal creatures turned to face Kayden and rushed towards him, their jaws hanging open to reveal rows of sharp teeth.

Undeterred by the sudden appearance of more combatants, Kayden summoned his own nanobots. He deployed them into a swirling mass around him, electrifying them as he did. He envisioned them ripping through the creatures, giving him a clear path with which to attack the queen herself.

Before he could get close enough to do anything though, the world stopped. The leaping Voidborn monsters were suspended motionless mid-air, their gaping jaws stuck open. In the distance, a bolt of lightning was frozen in time far longer than it should have been. Even the Voidborn Queen was paused, the smug look on her face suspended in time.

“Tell me, what is your plan here?” Zerya’s calm voice sounded from all around him.

Kayden suddenly realized he could move, but when he turned in a slow circle the Kel woman was nowhere to be found. Ignoring her for a moment he cautiously approached the closest Voidborn creature, reaching out and poking it to see if anything would happen. When nothing did he shrugged and moved back to the opposite side of the platform.

[“I believe they have paused the simulation for the moment.”] Ali said. [“It would be wise to answer her query before they allow it to continue.”]

Realizing Ali was right, Kayden spoke out loud. “I was planning on attacking them.”

“Your reckless abandon will get you killed. When you fight the Voidborn Queen, she will likely not be alone.” Zerya’s disembodied voice rang out. “She will never engage without an army at her back. How do you plan to counter her advantage?”

“I have my own companions.” Kayden answered, thinking of his girlfriends. “We might not be an army, but each of us has powers of our own.”

“What if you need to engage her alone though? Battlefields can be chaotic – you may become separated.” Zerya countered.

“I have a solution for that too – a robot of my own I can summon.”

“Show us?” Zerya requested.

“I’d need an external power cell to activate it. I usually carry one for that reason.”

“Will this work?” Cyrius’ voice boomed.

Suddenly, a small cylindrical device appeared in Kayden’s hands. The top and bottom were made of grey metal hemispheres with 20 cm metal rods connecting them. In between the rods was a transparent cylinder filled with a pulsing blue substance. As he turned it over in his hands, the top popped off to reveal an input for his control cable.

“Yeah. That should do just fine.” Kayden said, connecting his control cable before placing it on the ground.

[“Activating Fenrir.”] Ali said as Kayden summoned his swarm of nanobots.

The miniscule robots quickly coalesced into a quartet of legs that stood almost 2 meters tall. They were connected by a torso with a long tail and a canine-looking face. The sides of its torso began to glow with blue lights as it consumed power from the power cell, and its jaw opened hung open just long enough for Kayden to catch a glimpse of its sharp teeth.

When his creation was complete, Kayden returned what was left of his nanobot swarm to him. As he did, the robot-wolf turned to look at his creator with its icy blue eyes crackling with electricity. There was a brief moment of stillness as Kayden mentally communicated his commands to his ally before it turned back to face the oncoming horde.

The moment it leapt forward, the entire world burst into motion again. Fenrir bounded into the front ranks of Voidborn quadrupeds, tearing them apart with metallic teeth and claws. Nothing escaped its deadly attacks, and in moments the rampaging quadrupeds redirected their assault to the rampaging wolf in their midst. Their rabid strikes missed its agile body far more often that they hit though, and even the ones that managed to connect barely scratched the surface of its nanobot-forged skin.

The Queen grunted in frustration before the quadrupeds changed tactics. They began leaping en masse high into the air to bury Fenrir underneath a sea of bodies, determined to pin the agile robot down. A slow grin spread across Kayden’s face as he watched the wolf disappear under a pile of Voidborn flesh only for a pulse of electricity to expand outwards a moment later.

“An effective companion.” Cyrius commented, nodding approvingly as the energy field fried the electronics embedded in the Voidborn creatures neural links, freeing them of the Queen’s control.

“What would you do if they attack from range though?” Zerya asked.

As if summoned by her words, a phalanx of snake creatures reared their ugly heads behind the Queen. Their serpentine bodies slithered forwards and their metallic forearms waved menacingly. As one, the front rank reared their heads back and began spitting globs of green acid into the fray, uncaring if they hit friend or foe. Kayden watched in horror as the quadrupeds kept fighting despite the fact that their bodies were melting away under the green liquid.

“I’ll use my adrenaline rush.” Kayden replied, gritting his teeth as he watched a spray of acid land on one of Fenrir’s legs, burning partially through its armour. “Go in hard and fast before they can react.”

“And risk being surrounded?” Zerya chastised him. “You have better tools at your disposal.”

Kayden furrowed his brow as he looked at the rank of serpentine creatures – one that was quickly spreading out so all of them could fire into the fray. “What are you talking about? I don’t think I can spread my bioelectrical powers across that wide an area – even with the help of my nanobots.”

“Please. I was not suggesting anything so crude.”

Kayden’s confusion deepened. “Alright, what were you suggesting then?”

“Use your nanobots to create a small hollow cylinder with one end open. Then wrap that cable of yours around the closed end tightly.”

Furrowing his brow further, he realized both the Voidborn and Fenrir had paused again. He shook his head in amazement at the way the acid spray hung suspended in the air precariously close to the robot-wolf. Finally, he answered Zerya.

“Where are you going with this? It’d be a lot easier if you just told me what you wanted me to make.”

“I’d like you to use the principles of electromagnetism to create a miniaturized projectile accelerator.”

“Come again?” Kayden asked.

[“I believe she’s making a crude coilgun.”] Ali explained.

Oh. He replied before shaking his head. “I don’t think that’s going to work. The barrel would need to be made from something that isn’t magnetic.”

“You have nanobots in your swarm which were created from non-magnetic metals.” Cyrius interjected. “Use those.”

“I…what?” Kayden said, astounded.

[“Your nanobots are formed by consuming metallic substances and using those substances to manufacture new nanobots. I could parse the nanobots created from titanium – a non-magnetic substance – and use those to create a barrel.”]

Oh. Kayden thought before mentally chastising himself. I can’t believe I haven’t thought of that before.

[“Admittedly, neither did I. Though I believe exploring new uses of your powers is the purpose of this exercise. Ones that I will remind you that you’ve only had for 39 days.”]

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Fair point. Kayden thought as a small swarm of grey-tinged titanium nanobots began to circle his arm, welding themselves into a barrel.

[“At any rate, I believe I can improve upon her design.”] Ali continued as a copper-tinged set of nanobots began to stream out from his arm. [“Form these into a wire wrapped tightly around the barrel. Then weld the ends to your armour, as well as the barrel itself. I will sync the positioning to your heads-up-display.”]

Couldn’t do this without you Ali. Kayden said, sending feelings of appreciation towards her.

[“No, you couldn’t.”] She replied cheekily.

Making a mental note to spank her later, Kayden followed her instructions. In moments, he had a simple coil gun attached to the forearm of his armour. When a blue targeting reticle appeared on his heads-up display he grinned to himself and formed a simple copper ball before slotting it into the barrel.

“Alright Zerya.” He said, holding his arm out in front of him and taking aim at a serpentine Voidborn at the end of the platform. “I’m ready.”

The world around him burst into motion again, with the droplets of acid continuing their prior momentum and landing on both Fenrir and the surrounding Voidborn quadrupeds. Bracing himself slightly Kayden ensured the targeting reticle on his heads-up display was aimed squarely at the serpentine creature’s center of mass. He took a breath before calling on his bioelectrical powers, using Ali’s help to direct them towards the new weapon on his arm.

Suddenly, Kayden’s arm was wrenched backwards as the copper ball was launched down the smoothbore barrel towards its target. In less than a millisecond, the shot penetrated the snake’s shield and tore an outsized hole through its torso given the relatively small mass of the bullet. When it slumped over dead a moment later Kayden looked down at his arm in amazement.

Well that was effective. He thought to himself. Hurts like a bitch though.

[“Without your enhanced strength, your arm may have been torn cleanly off.”] Ali replied. [“However, it appears to be an effective weapon.”]

Kayden formed another copper ball and reloaded the coilgun before firing again experimentally, killing yet another snake before wincing in pain. Am I going to need a doctor to look at my arm after this?

[“Likely. Perhaps after you should dispatch the remaining Voidborn using a different tool at your disposal?”]

Just one more. Kayden replied before lining up his targeting reticle with a pair of Voidborn snakes who were standing in a line.

When the shot blew a hole through both of them, the Queen made an immensely satisfying frustrated noise. She locked eyes with him and sprinted forwards, dashing through the melee directly towards him. As she moved, the ground beneath her feet started to shake and Kayden braced himself for whatever new horror she was about to unleash.

He didn’t have to wait long.

An enormous creature burst through the platform beneath her feet, carrying her up and forwards towards him. It looked like an enormous centipede, with a tough-looking red carapace and dozens of spiny metal arms. Most of its body was still buried underground but the part that reared up carried the queen 15 meters into the air. As it reared it opened its gaping maw – one without teeth that was designed to swallow its victims whole.

As Kayden’s mind raced to come up with a counter to this new threat, Cyrius’ voice boomed. “I believe you’ve earned some extra help with this challenge.”

Suddenly, Kayden felt a new awareness in his mind. It felt strangely like his connection to Fenrir, but more evolved -as if it had a mind of its own like Ali’s, though nowhere near as complex. He felt it mentally click into place and settle in, as if it was finding a home in his mind. A millisecond of confusion washed over him as a cacophony of chittering noises rang in his mind before being suddenly silenced.

Before he could fully process what happened, a swarm of dozens of small drones raced by him. Their beams of light lanced towards the queen atop her mount, burning away at her powerful energy shields but doing nothing against the creature’s thick armour. It twisted and turned to protect its rider, limiting the angles from which the drones could shoot but preventing it from advancing any further.

Eager to put his recently learned lessons into action, Kayden raced towards the queen while activating his adrenaline rush. When he was only a few meters away he bent his knees and leapt high into the air, angling his body towards the centipede’s open mouth. Time around him seemed to slow as he tucked his feet in, landing on the creature’s tongue in a roll.

When the monster’s jaw snapped shut Kayden was plunged into momentary darkness. He immediately shot upwards before the creature could swallow, using his nanobots to form his prosthetic arm into an enormous hook. With a grin he stabbed the hook deeply into the roof of its mouth, causing it to thrash back and forth in an effort to dislodge and digest its rebellious meal.

As saliva began to fill the creature’s mouth Kayden tuned out the noise and channeled as much bioelectrical power as he could muster. With Ali’s help he funneled it into the hook, sending bolts of electricity through the creature’s skull and directly into both its brain and the neural link that he knew controlled it. Using all his genetically enhanced strength he held firmly, continuing his electrical barrage until the thrashing stopped and he felt the creature slump to the ground.

Now for the hard part. He thought to himself as he pried the dead creature’s mouth open.

The chaos that he emerged into rivaled that of the battlefield on Trappist Prime. His drones buzzed in circles around the serpentine creatures, firing beams of energy that drained their shields while narrowly dodging flying gobs of acid. Fenrir’s wounded body still somehow bounded from one Voidborn creature to another, tearing them apart with claws and teeth. The platform beneath his feet was slick with the blood and ichor of the battle, and the limbs of the centipede creature still twitched in their death throes.

Flicking off the saliva which now covered him, Kayden caught sight of the queen. She had one clawed hand on her hip that was cocked to the side, while the other was extended towards him as if beckoning him closer. Her metallic wings were splayed out to either side with their sharp ends pointed towards him, and all around her buzzed a swarm of nanobots of her own. Above them, thunder boomed dramatically as if to signal the beginning of their fight.

Unfortunately for him, the world around them blurred once more. When it finally cleared again, he was standing next to Cyrius and Zerya on top of a mountain overlooking the volcanic plains below. He furrowed his brow at the two, bewildered as to this turn of events.

“I thought you wanted to train me to fight her?” He started, slightly bewildered.

“We do.” Zerya nodded.

“So then why did you stop the test there? I could use the practice one-on-one against her.” He pressed.

“Because as much as we know that you need to kill her for the good of the galaxy…we have no desire to watch you actually perform the act.” Cyrius replied.

“Why?” Kayden cocked his head to the side in confusion. “I mean, I get not wanting to be bloodthirsty about it and everything, but I would have thought that after burning down your civilizations, you’d want to see at least a little vengeance.”

“Were it anyone else, yes.” Cyrius responded sadly.

“But she’s a special case?” Kayden asked.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Does it matter?” Cyrius countered.

“I’ve passed your damn tests, I think I deserve some answers.”

There was a long pause before Zerya nodded. A sombre look crossed her face as she stepped towards Kayden and spoke softly.

“She is our daughter.”

Kayden’s mind reeled for a full 10 seconds as he processed Zerya’s statement.

“She’s your what?”