Why did I torch the entire building? Because there were antithesis in there. It would have taken hours to clear the place, and the people were safe in the shelters, I was just being efficient.

-Firebug, on the burning of the Northern Bay housing complex

—

I gently pushed open the front doors of the Tanaka Industries building and glanced around the lobby. I half expected the place to be filled with antithesis, but the area was empty.

The place was an absolute mess, all the desks were smashed, plants toppled, and doors had been smashed open. The most surprising thing was there were about a dozen dead antithesis scattered around the area.

Emily silently signalled for Skyler and I to come closer, so I slipped back towards her. “Does Tanaka Industries post defenses in their facilities?” she asked quietly.

“They have guards, and maybe an incursion expert in most complexes,” I whispered back, “but that’s standard for most companies. Only the essential buildings will have anything bigger, why?”

The PMC captain gestured to the collapsed wall to her right. I didn’t see what she was pointing at, but Skyler did. “Are those, bullet holes?” She hissed. “What kind of weapon could do something like that?”

I stared at Skyler for a minute, then back at the wall again. Only then did I catch what she noticed earlier. I thought maybe something big, like a Model Twelve had smashed its way through, but the perimeter had a series of semi uniform holes blown out of it until it collapsed. Something big.

“I’m not sure, the damage is pretty excessive. I’d say a heavy machine gun, if not an autocannon. Neither of those are something you just carry around, they’re typically vehicle mounted weapons,” Emily explained. “I’d say maybe a samurai came through here, but I think command would have said something.”

“So let me rephrase my earlier question,” Emily said quietly. “What kind of defenses does Tanaka have in its ‘essential’ facilities?”

I paused, and thought back to the last time I’d actually BEEN in one of those buildings. “A special response team, all with military grade cybernetics, and maybe a couple of heavy security bots,” I replied slowly, “but I haven’t been to one of those facilities in years, so I can’t say for sure.”

“Look, the Nimbleland androids were one thing, they weren’t armed, but I REALLY don’t recommend wandering into a building with something toting a heavy machine gun,” Steve hissed. “If it doesn’t recognize our authority it’ll rip us to shreds.”

Emily nodded. “Unless you two have a way to figure out what did this, or better yet have a way to shut it down, I’m not going to risk my squad.”

I glanced over at Skyler. {Rei: Any ideas?}

{Sky: I can send my drones ahead and perform a room by room search, but I only have a couple so that’ll take awhile. Even if they find something, I can’t exactly deal with it while it’s inside.} Skyler looked directly at my face, and narrowed her eyes. {And don’t even think about offering to deal with it yourself. I have a feeling that one wrong move and that heavy machine gun will end you, shield or not.}

{Rei: So we back off?}

{Athy: I have a suggestion. Even if Skyler doesn’t have a ton of points, she does have enough to unlock the Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities Catalog. This would allow her to upgrade both her implant with system intrusion protocols, and the drones with network interfaces. If it is a bot, or even someone with Cybernetics, you could shut them down remotely.}

{Sky: Why didn’t you bring this up when we were at Nimbleland? It would have been useful against the androids.}

{Athy: You didn’t have the points when we entered the park, and you ultimately didn’t need it to deal with the handful of hostile androids we ran into. You also didn’t seem that interested in network intrusion, so it’s been low on the list of recommended catalogs. I only bring it up now because I do not see another alternative. Either one of you invests in network intrusion, or we back off.}

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

{Rei: And I just used all my points. Sorry.}

{Sky: Don’t apologize. If that new blade keeps you alive, it’ll be worth it.} She paused for a moment, thinking. {How much will this upgrade put me back?}

{Athy: The Class I Basic Cyberwarfare Utilities Catalog costs a hundred, Mark II Cyberwarfare Augmentation will cost you fifty, and the Network Interfaces will cost you ten each. So about a third of your remaining points.}

{Rei: Little bit pricy.}

{Sky: Let’s do it!}

I glanced at her, surprised at how fast she accepted.

{Sky: Hey, we can’t clear this building without it, and one of us we’ll probably need the ability to access cameras and computers in the future. Plus, it’ll probably make it easier for me to find incriminating evidence when someone attacks your mom in the future.}

{Rei: I somehow doubt you’ll have the time to perform your full attorney duties in the future.}

{Sky: Then I better invest in time savers! Athyna, please make the purchases!}

A pile of boxes appeared at Skyler’s feet, which she separated into two piles. She took the smaller pile, and handed me the larger. “I’ve summoned my drones, please attach these to them while I deal with the implant,” she asked me before popping open one of her other boxes.

“I take it you two have an idea?” Emily asked as I slowly opened one of the boxes in my arms. The sensor looked somewhat like a head mounted flashlight.

“Sort of… Skyler’s AI suggested equipping her drones with remote hacking capabilities. That way she can both scout ahead of us, and shut down anything particularly dangerous,” I replied.

“And if the thing can’t be accessed remotely?” Emily asked.

I paused. “Then we leave,” I admitted after a few seconds. “I seriously doubt my dad would install something that dangerous and not leave himself a backdoor to control it, or at least shut it down, but if we can’t deal with it, there’s no point in risking everyone’s lives.”

“Good,” Emily replied.

She stepped away, apparently satisfied with my answer, leaving me with the small line-up of drones which had assembled in front of me. I grabbed the top flashlight and inspected the nearest drone. The drone was shaped like a flattened donut made of metal. It had a single optical array on the front, and a hover system embedded in the middle, but I didn’t see a single port anywhere to plug the interface into.

Take the sensor and press it firmly against the bottom of the drone, just under the optical array. Make sure the interface is facing forward. Artymis instructed me.

“Thanks. I didn’t need that last reminder, but I appreciate the instructions,” I whispered as I flipped the little sensor around and placed it against the drone. The sensor hissed for a second, and when I let the thing go it had somehow melded seamlessly with the drone.

The sensors have a small payload of nanties that both allow it to merge with the drone, and connect to its systems.

“The miracles of futuristic technology,” I mumbled as I discarded the top box and grabbed the next device. It only took a minute to go down the line and install them all to the five drones. When I turned back to Skyler she was shaking her head slightly. “You okay?” I asked.

“Fine. The implant installation was just a little more intense than I expected. Good to go,” Skyler replied with a smile. As soon as she stood up straight her drones shot down the hallway and disappeared into the staircase. “The drones can already detect a signal, about two floors up, but they’re too far away to connect, sending them up to investigate,” she reported.

As the drones ascended Skyler started broadcasting their visuals to the squad, so everyone could take a look. The view point was a little disorienting, since the drones were flying at different heights, but it didn’t take me long to get a hang of things.

The little mechanical swarm zoomed over the banister of the third floor, and through the busted door. The third floor was filled with smashed up cubicles, and a half dozen dead antithesis, but what really attracted my attention was the mechanical horror at the far side of the room. It had eight slim legs, connected to a wide, flat body. It was just narrow enough to fit through doors, if it tucked its legs in, but it had to be close to eight feet wide now that they were all fully extended. The most fighting thing was it had some sort of massive turret mounted on it’s back.

The turret swivelled, and targeted the drones as they came in. It hesitated, just for a moment, then slumped over.

“It’s clear,” Skyler called out.

“What the hell is that,” Emily hissed. “That’s military grade.”

“I don’t know,” I replied slowly. “The bots they used to use were big, heavily armored things. Meant to take a beating, and scare off anyone stupid enough to come close. That thing… It looked like a killer.”

“Either your dad really stepped up his defenses at all his facilities,” Skyler hissed as he drones orbited the robot, “or this isn’t a sales office.”

I just nodded in response.