The last time I had been at the EEC, it had been flooded with people. A chattering crowd had shown up to see President Frost in all her “glory.” I wondered if Frost remembered them since she had probably kidnapped everyone who had been in that crowd. How did they feel about their glorious president now?
The Exploration Exam Center was a black building covered in white specks. It used the color scheme to simulate space, just like the Canis Major. It was funny: the building was now surrounded by robots that fit the same color scheme thanks to the person we had come to see.
President Margaret Frost stood in front of a sea of Black Dwarfs: thousands of red eyes staring at nothing. A few White Dwarfs stood between the black ones and Frost…and Alhabor. Towering over both of them was a miniature cell tower. I was shocked that it was black, not purple.
That tower must have been the source of all the electrical interference. If that was the case, then all we had to do was smash it. I didn’t know how much electricity I had left, but it didn’t matter. Not when there was a huge complication at Alhabor’s feet.
“Rebecca!” Manning exclaimed.
A woman with long blonde hair was on her hands and knees. She wore a pink and white space suit that bulged around her arms and legs due to her muscles. Two White Dwarfs had barrels aimed at her head. This was the worst way to get confirmation that she’d made it here.
Rebecca Stein was Manning’s best friend and the Humanity’s Oath member with whom he’d been in contact earlier. Her Hybrid ability was superhuman strength. Manning had sent her here to protect New Selene, and it certainly looked like she had tried. I couldn’t blame her for losing to an army of Dwarfs.
“Stay back!” Rebecca held her palm out, urging us to keep our distance. The left side of her face was burned, and that had cost her an eye. I gasped in horror, but then I remembered that she already had that injury when we first met her. “They are too powerful.”
“Correct, Ms. Stein.” Frost sneered as she stepped in front of Rebecca. “I remember being distressed when Mr. Oak failed to protect my precious cargo. I thought I’d lost the fruit of my labor. Imagine my surprise when she delivered herself to me anyway. Life has a way of working itself out, doesn’t it?”
Rebecca gritted her teeth and reeled back her fist. Before she could throw a punch, one of the Dwarfs fired a white blast into her stomach. She coughed up blood and fell on her back. Manning gasped and gave the meanest look I’d ever seen on his face. Rebecca’s strength enhanced her durability, so she could survive attacks like that. Plus Frost wanted Rebecca alive, so that bot had to have held back its true power.
“You monster! We trusted you!” Manning’s eyes flashed gold. “You gave me the instructing job at Wander’s high school. You promised to help Upton—”
“And I will,” Frost said with a malicious gleam in her eye. “After I overwrite Upton’s mind like I did Rebecca’s, he’ll be another object on my tool belt.”
“Is using people all you can do?” I stepped forward. It was finally time to comfort this maniac. “Using my friends and family. Using your own citizens as fuel. You’re supposed to be a president: a leader! This isn’t what it means to lead. You may think it’s fine because you’re doing it to fight the AI, but no one wants to win like this. And…if you’re not going to use my Hybrid powers, what was the point of Implanting me?”
Frost’s plan had been to keep me out of the way so she could fight the AI with Dwarfs. If she was never going to use my powers, then why had she given them to me?
Frost’s expression softened like it always did with me. “Wander, I never wanted you to be a weapon. I’ve been watching over you ever since you were a baby. At first, I did it because I wanted to see the potential of Michelangelo Locke’s grandchild. Then I realized that I truly cared about you. I wanted to see you grow, and I wished that someday I could take you under my wing to witness that growth in person. Like a parent. I gave you abilities for your benefit, and just look at all you’ve done with them.
This creepy psycho had been stalking me since my birth. Frost had put me through all of this because she’d thought I was her son? Giving me powers was her awful way of parenting? I imagined she wanted me to replace her as president someday. Yuck.
“Still lying to the bitter end. His powers aren’t for the war because you intend to use him for far longer than that.” Beth’s helmet clicked and whirled as it disassembled. It took long due to the interference, ruining the dramatic tension. “Keeping hostile enemy divisions in line, threatening anyone you want for more power. You’re going to milk my brother’s powers for his entire life. Lie about that all you want, but it’s time you confessed the role you played in our parents’ deaths. Unless you want me to tell him.”
Beth had mentioned something about that before. She had said that Frost had been involved in the Kilo’s destruction of our house. I thought she was just looking for someone to blame other than her precious AI. The panic in Frost’s eyes said otherwise.
“Of course, Elizabeth Locke would come back from the dead in an attempt to expose me. You may be a Locke, but don’t expect to be spared. I have no need for second best.”
Beth clenched her teeth so hard that I expected them to break. “Wander, on the day our parents died, Frost—”
A White Dwarf aimed its glowing barrel at Beth. Her eyes widened as she noticed. She tackled me to the ground, narrowly avoiding the purple blast that soared past. That sure didn’t seem like a warning shot. Beth jumped up and fired a shot at Frost. The Dwarf attempted to block the blast but didn’t reach it in time. It zoomed right up to Frost…and exploded against an invisible barrier. Frost smirked at Beth’s dropped jaw. That had to have been projected by her suit. It was exactly the kind of thing we could expect of Frost.
“That’ll do for this conversation. I’ll be taking my leave now.” Frost turned her back on us as she marched away. “Alhabor, stay here and round up any remaining Black Dwarfs. Also, do keep Wander and his friends under control. Disable the Interference Tower, and contact me when you’ve finished.”
Alhabor saluted. “Sir, yes, sir. Make sure to take the Sirius Dwarf with you. If you leave him here, little Andy won’t stop until he saves him.”
“Shut up!” Anderson ran toward them, but I yanked his arm before he got too far. Rebecca’s condition was a clear example that that would be a bad idea. “Let Ben go. If you don’t, I’m gonna snap off your arm and beat you with it!”
“Such boldness. I’d possess an ounce of fear if that threat hadn’t come from a failure.” Frost walked around the tower and tapped something on the back of it. Must have been a button back there. She then raised her wrist to her mouth. “Lower it. We’re ready for takeoff.”
Frost tapped the tower again and looked at the sky. A wave of static washed over me. Apparently, Frost had switched the tower off then had just turned it back on. So, if we could circle around the tower…
The sky flickered. A shadow fell over us for one second then vanished the next. Then it happened again. Something was blocking out the Sun. It was like a ship was losing its ability to cloak. A ship that Frost had summoned? Dang it! The shadow returned permanently: a massive ship burst into the sky. It rumbled as it descended toward us. Something that big barely had room to land.
The First Ship: a gigantic xeno ship that housed the First Division’s government. It had been hanging over our heads the whole time? It didn’t have the Asteroid Belt Formation, which comprised its satellites, so she must have deactivated it or something.
“Why isn’t the tower affecting that thing?” I thought aloud.
“For the same reason the Dwarfs are unaffected: the tower’s disruption isn’t powerful enough.” Frost’s eyes were glued to the ship. “I only brought the tower to disrupt phones, televisions, and lite ships. No one can call for help or inform the galaxy about what happened here today. You and your friends won’t be able to either once Alhabor is finished.”
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We’d see about that.
The First Ship touched down in the parking lot, crushing at least a few dozen street lights. I covered my eyes as a gust of wind blew dust at me. Frost marched into the ship’s blinding parking bay. It held ships of all sizes, like the galaxy’s largest garage. That had once been one of my favorite sights. Now it was a place of evil.
A White Dwarf and all the Black Dwarfs followed Frost into the bay, marching in perfect unison. I felt so helpless watching my brainwashed town march into the enemy’s grasp. I couldn’t stop that many Black Dwarfs, so there was nothing I could do, especially not in this damaged one-armed state. Once the ocean of black had poured into Frost’s ship, it lifted back into the air and hovered straight up until it became nothing but a star in the darkening sky.
Alhabor crossed his arms as he leaned against the tower. He and two White Dwarfs were the only ones left. One jerk and two brainwashed mechs against five Hybrids and one Anderson. All we needed was one good plan.
“I’d suggest surrendering unless you want things to get messy.” Alhabor twirled my bionic arm around like a baton. “This makes for an awful backscratcher by the way.”
I clenched my jaw. “Hilarious. It’s not like I’d ever forgive you, but are you really going through with this? What kind of guy helps brainwash thousands of people for fifteen minutes of fame?”
Alhabor shrugged. “The same kind who ditches his family, I guess. I lied about them being killed. I liked my family for a bit, but then President Frost approached me with this great offer. ‘How would you like to lead this little project of mine? It’s called…the Constellations.’ How could I say no?”
A father who’d ditched his family to take up an offer from Frost? I’d heard this story before. If this guy was who I thought he was, then things were about to get even more complicated.
“What’s your kid’s name?” I asked despite my terror at the likely answer.
He blinked. “You realize we’re enemies, right? You don’t have to care about my family more than I do. If you gotta know, my little girl’s name is Nessa. Well, she was little when I left. I have no freaking idea how old she is now. I forgot her birthday a while ago.”
Laura gasped right as my whole world shattered. I had to be living in one big sitcom. There was no way my closest friend in the Oppressed, the girl who’d sacrificed her mobility to help me out, was related to this demon. Nessa was so kind and generous, while Alhabor was so selfish and fake. She didn’t even look like him. I was the one who had hazel eyes like his. Now I understood why Nessa had hated that color before I’d come along.
Alhabor chuckled at my shocked expression. “What? Did you bump into Nessie—”
Rebecca jumped up and delivered an uppercut to Alhabor’s chin. His head snapped back as his entire body was launched into the air. Droplets of blood rained down as he flew over the tower. Rebecca beamed as she watched him crash to the ground. She wore a triumphant grin and her eyes flashed pink, but then she gasped and clutched her arm. What had just happened?
The last time I’d seen Rebecca, she had just used her full strength to drive a javelin through Peta (who hadn’t even died). Using that much power had to have done something to her—something we’d have to wait to address because we still had two White Dwarfs and a tower to deal with.
“Protect Rebecca, take down the Dwarfs, and shut off that dumb tower!” I rushed toward it.
“Locke, what do I do—whoa!” Anderson ducked as purple blasts zoomed toward him. As long as he kept doing that, he’d be fine.
Rebecca rolled away before a White Dwarf blast could hit her, but the purple explosion blew her away. Balls of fire, Beth’s rifle shots, and the Dwarf’s massive blasts ripped through the air as the parking lot transformed into a war zone. Meanwhile, I was pumping my legs as hard as possible just so that I could reach the tower. I stretched my arm out as I approached it. I could shut it off if I just made contact.
A Dwarf’s massive arm collided with my ribcage. Pain spiked my lungs as the air blew out of them. The impact sent me flying backward. I bounced against the ground and rolled up beside Laura. This was where I had started, but now I was wracked with pain and was just barely able to keep my lunch down.
“You okay down there?” Laura called before tossing a fireball and dodging a purple blast. It sounded like she was panting. The infamous Hybrid exhaustion?
“No.” I propped myself up on hand and knees. “It won’t let me get close. I’ll have to shut it down from here.”
Using my powers with this many injuries was equivalent to writing a suicide note. Unfortunately, I didn’t have many options. Especially because another blow like that would kill me anyway.
I stretched out my arm again and crackled electricity around my fingers then shot a blinding stream at the tower, but a White Dwarf stepped in front of it. The electricity latched on to the Dwarf instead, shrouding it like a jacket. This was the next best thing. If I couldn’t shut down the tower, I’d shut down its guards. Maybe I’d even command the Dwarf to smash it. What a stupid robot.
I willed its systems to do my bidding just as I’d done time and again. But nothing happened. The Dwarf’s eyes didn’t flicker. It wasn’t slowing down at all. It glared at me as if issuing a taunt. Something was preventing me from reaching the suit’s core. Could it have been the person inside the suit? My arm grew heavier, forcing me to shut off the stream.
“I can’t hack the White Dwarfs! The humans inside them work like insulators. Maybe I could if I got close enough and made contact—”
I jumped out of the way as a purple blast surged by. The energy made my hair stand on end though my space suit was protecting me. I couldn’t tell if the Dwarfs were shooting to kill now, but I hoped not. My electricity wasn’t working, Laura was getting tired, Rebecca was hurt, Beth could only do so much damage, and Manning’s pistol wasn’t doing much at all. Wait, we were missing someone.
The left Dwarf suddenly looked to its right and fired in that direction. Anderson yelped and dove forward as the asphalt behind him was blown to bits. I could fit three cruisers into the distance between us and them. What was he doing, running away?
“Can you do a better job of keeping them distracted?” Anderson yelled as he dodged another blast. Did these guys ever reload?
I glanced at him and then at the tower. At that point, I thought I got it. We’d been trying to get through the Dwarfs, but Anderson was going around them. If we kept them busy, he could circle around and turn the tower off. We just had to distract two killer mechs for a few seconds…
“You heard him. We have to make ourselves the only targets they can focus on.” I swiped a chunk of asphalt off the ground. “Just long enough for Anderson to do what he’s gotta do.”
“We’re trusting Anderson with something this important?” Laura asked as she really began to pant. “Are we that desperate?”
“It’s not desperation. I trust all my friends.” I whistled, drawing the Dwarf’s attention. Then I reeled back and tossed the asphalt at it. The hard lump bounced off its shiny exterior. “That all you got, you overgrown snowmen?”
The White Dwarf’s eyes pulsed as if it were expressing frustration. Then it charged toward me. My heart rate spiked. I turned and ran, but it grabbed the back of my collar and threw me into something hard and metallic. I glanced over my shoulder and realized that it had thrown me into the Interference Tower. What an idiot!
When I reached for the tower, the Dwarf grasped my arm. I yelped as it yanked me away. The Dwarf lowered its face to mine as it squeezed my arm. This was the only one I had left, and it was about to get crushed. I knew the universe hated me, but couldn’t it let me retain my remaining arm? Fire enveloped the Dwarf’s back as Laura tried in vain to save me. I appreciated the effort, but it’d take more than that.
“Let him go!” Rebecca socked the Dwarf, causing it to loosen its grip on me.
The Dwarf swung at Rebecca, but she caught its arm. She trembled, a sign that she couldn’t hold it back for long. Its grasp on me was still too tight to wiggle out of, but I was close.
“Got it!” Anderson cheered from the tower. He was surprisingly stealthy for a loud-mouthed brute.
The static in my ears faded away. Whoa! He’d actually done it! Anderson had shut down the tower!
The Dwarf looked up at the tower. Its grip loosened even further as it realized what had happened. My wrist was free. I immediately grabbed the Dwarf’s face. I could feel the human barrier. I never would have been able to pierce it with electricity. Thank goodness my hand was strong enough to hack in despite the barrier.
I pushed through the human mind and fiddled with the systems within. Codes and information rushed through my head. I saw the exact specifications of each plasma weapon and missile in the Dwarf. It was like I was taking a peek into Frost’s notebook. Something with this much power could absolutely stand against the AI…but at what cost? I severed the figurative wires that had been keeping the human chained to the suit. Hopefully, it’d be enough.
I opened my eyes and slumped against the tower. The Dwarf’s eyes dimmed as it fell back too. Rebecca yelped and jumped out of the way before the bot crushed her. The miniature quake it created threatened to knock me off my feet. That was one Dwarf down.
“Hey, watch it!” Anderson shouted.
The other White Dwarf swung at Anderson, who had to duck under its arms. It must have targeted him after he’d shut off the tower. The Dwarf stalked toward him, causing him to back up. Why was he moving toward me?! I scrambled to my feet, but it was hard with only one arm. The White Dwarf launched another punch, but Anderson rolled away to avoid it. I threw myself to the side to dodge it too.
Metal groaned as the Dwarf’s fist collided with the tower. The entire thing buckled under its strike. Oh…Anderson had made it attack its own tower. He had directed it toward me on purpose because I had been leaning against the tower.
“Gotcha! I can’t believe you were dumb enough to fall for that.” Anderson snickered. “Turns out I’m not as dumb as everyone thinks. I figured that, if a button was all it took to turn this thing off, there was nothing to stop anyone from turning it back on. That was why it had to be wrecked.”
“Great job, Andy!” I lunged at the Dwarf and grabbed its face.
I willed its connection to end like I’d done with the last one. After my exhausting dive through the suit’s data, the White Dwarf went limp. Its eyes dimmed and it fell to the ground. Both Dwarfs were down. Mission accomplished.
I looked at my friends. Everyone was either panting or sitting down, but at least they were alive. Without the tower, the remaining citizens of New Selene were free to report what had happened. There was just one problem: was there anyone left?