Eye for an Eye
A battered, bloodied, and naked Kanzu regains consciousness. Struggling to focus, she finds herself bound to her blood-stained double bed by the wall and her bedroom door shut. Trembling at the horrific recollections flashing through her mind, Kanzu looks out at a darkening hazy sky. She spots the panic button under the windowsill by the other double bed. Sounds of a squeaking bed next door draw her attention to the demising wall between bedrooms.
“Raym,” she cries from a weakened throat as tears trickle down.
A few more squeaks next door and then silence, followed by a male’s sigh of accomplishment. Kanzu hears Raym’s bedroom door open and shut, then muffled laughter. She struggles to free herself when her bedroom door opens, and the now-scarred baby-faced hominoid enters, closing the door behind him. Holding his vape pen, he takes a puff then puts it in his pocket.
“You know why I avoid archaic women?” the baby-faced hominoid says. “Too fragile compared to our own.”
“Why?” Kanzu cries.
The baby-faced hominoid undresses, tossing his gun and clothes on the bed under the windowsill.
“This is Terra,” he replies.
“Raym!”
“I like that sound. Please continue.”
The baby-faced hominoid sits on the bed and caresses Kanzu’s trembling, naked body. He sniffs around her. Kanzu moves her head away, trying to avoid his slimy tongue.
“Please,” Kanzu begs.
“Security found me unconscious. I was relieved of duty and placed in a holding cell. But good fortune came as pirates attacked the Zanta Golo. During the commotion, my friends freed me. Although the pirates could not take the ship, we escaped in a dead pirates boat. Tracked your scent back to the little archaic boy’s family.”
“No,” Kanzu sobs.
“For an archaic, the mother put up a good fight-”
Shatter glass followed by a loud thud next door draws their attention. The baby-faced hominoid turns his head toward the wall.
“Easy with the merchandise over there,” the baby-faced hominoid barks. “Ya hear what I-”
A laser bullet rips through the wall and into his shoulder. The force knocks the baby-faced hominoid onto the floor. Spouting blood, he writhes in pain and then crawls toward the other bed, leaving a trail of blood, when a gun-toting Brazin kicks the door open and rushes in. Brazin turns the baby-faced hominoid over and presses his gun into the stalker’s temple.
“You smell familiar,” the baby-faced hominoid says before Brazin knocks him out with the gun.
“Brazin?” Kanzu asks.
Brazin pulls out zip ties, restrains the baby-faced hominoid, and confiscates the gun on the bed before freeing Kanzu.
“Kanzu, are you-”
She hugs, kisses, and sniffs him before pushing back to stare at him.
“Raym,” Kanzu cries.
“All clear,” Syrric yells.
Kanzu and Brazin turn to see Syrric appear by the door, holstering her gun before entering.
“Are you all right?” Syrric asks.
“I’m fine,” Kanzu says, then calls out, “Raym?!”
Syrric shakes her head and replies, “Kanzu, I’m so sorry.”
“Raym!” Kanzu cries as Brazin bear hugs her.
Syrric activates her implant’s comchat.
“Yeah?” Ren asks via comchat.
“You get the coordinates?” she replies.
“Just about to head out.”
“You got cutters?”
“Of course.”
“Bring ‘em. And hurry.”
“Sure. Mind telling me what’s-”
Syrric hangs up on Ren and walks over to the baby-faced hominoid. She rips a piece of cloth from the nearest bed sheet and covers his mouth. Her cybernetic eye scans the baby-faced hominoid, detecting the brain functions of a fully conscious person. Syrric whips out a small taser and shocks the baby-faced hominoid unconscious again.
“Nice try,” she says.
She puts away the taser and drags him by the legs toward the door.
“No yet,” Kanzu says to Syrric.
Syrric nods and then pulls the baby-faced hominoid out of the room. The baby-faced hominoid’s head slams against the door frame as he slides out in a trail of blood.
“I want to see her,” Kanzu says to Brazin.
Brazin nods, and helps Kanzu up, and slowly walks her to Raym’s bedroom. He carefully helps Kanzu kneel beside a lifeless Raym, whose bruised and naked body’s spread across the filthy, blood-soaked beds by the window. Kanzu caresses her face against Raym’s limp hand. Tears flow from Kanzu’s face as she savors Raym’s scent.
“How are you here?”
“I paid Tino to have Syrric meet me at the dock. Her panic button went off soon after we met.”
She and Brazin spot a curved line of blood from Raym’s foot to the windowsill.
“She saved my life,” Kanzu says.
Kanzu looks back at her friend when Syrric enters with a small canteen in one hand and a tablet in the other. She walks over to Kanzu.
“Sorry we didn’t get here sooner,” Syrric says, holding out the tablet.
“What’s that?” Kanzu asks.
“We archaics call it offspring prevention,” Syrric replies, then kneels. “Or, would you rather have ‘the talk’ in a few revs?”
Kanzu looks over at a poker-faced Brazin. She grabs the tablet from Syrric, takes a deep breath, and puts the tablet in her mouth. Kanzu grabs Syrric’s canteen, and washes the tablet down her throat with a sip of water. Brazin gently pulls Kanzu into his embrace when they hear a vehicle approach outside the cabin.
“Cavalry’s arrived,” Syrric says as she exits the room.
Brazin turns to Kanzu, who nods. He follows Syrric outside as Ren, with Shinzo riding shotgun, parks his golf cart next to Syrric’s.
“You’ve upgraded your ride,” Ren says.
“And you’ve your companion,” Syrric says with a smile.
“Shinzo, meet Syrric.”
Shinzo bows and replies, “At your service.”
“We’ll see,” Syrric says.
Shinzo turns to see the three dead hominoid staffers on the ground. He then spots an unconscious baby-faced hominoid, bound naked to a tree a few yards away at the edge of the clearing. Shinzo turns to Ren.
“You said two females,” Shinzo says.
Ren turns to Syrric.
“You said two females.
“Change in plans,” Syrric replies.
Thirty minutes later, Ren and Syrric load four soiled sets of clothing into an Okinawan recycler wagon. They then walk over to the recycler standing by the cremation trailer attached to his wagon. An armed Okie Patrol robot guards the driveway with the assistance of a flying Okie Patrol drone.
“Arigato,” Syrric says to the recycler.
“You’re one of my best customers,” the recycler says with a smile.
He activates his cremation trailer as Syrric and Ren walk away.
“I don’t recall this in the job description,” Ren says.
“Neither do we,” Syrric replies.
“What are you gonna do to him?” Ren asks, pointing at the baby-faced hominoid.
“I’m not gonna do anything,” Syrric answers.
“Just remind them we’re on the clock.”
Ren activated his comchat and walks away. Syrric walks by Shinzo, who’s using an electro cutter, or e-cutter for short, to slice and cauterize a dead hominoid into portable meat chunks with speed and precision. Shinzo looks up at her while continuing to slice and dice.
“I love a man who’s proficient with his hands,” she says with a wink.
“I am proficient with a lot of things,” he replies, then looks back down and continues his work.
“Perhaps you can show me on your next visit.”
Syrric walks away as Shinzo double-takes. She pulls out a small, knife-sized laser torch. Syrric walks past Brazin, who’s vacuum-sealing blocks of meat chunks from another dead hominoid in small recycler bags. She swipes an empty bag from the pile next to Brazin as he sets aside the ones already sealed with meat. Kanzu grabs the sealed bags and packs them into a recycler container. Syrric glances over at an unconscious baby-faced hominoid as she approaches Kanzu. Kanzu looks up at Syrric, who holds out the laser torch in front of her, presses the small button near its base to activate it, then presses it again to deactivate it. Kanzu nods, grabs the laser torch, turns to the baby-faced hominoid, then looks back at Syrric.
“Time to wake him,” Kanzu says.
“He woke five minutes ago,” Syrric replies.
The Okie Patrol robot and his drone partner continue to scan the perimeter while Brazin, Shinzo, Ren, and the recycler stop what they’re doing. They watch as the two ladies walk over to the baby-faced hominoid, who still has his head down and eyes closed.
“Pretending got you this far,” Kanzu says to the baby-faced hominoid. “Do you wish to see how it ends?”
The baby-faced hominoid opens his eyes, raises his head, and smiles at Kanzu. He glances around to see Shinzo slicing up one of his buddies, Brazin and Ren vacuum-sealing and packing the remaining chunks of another, the recycler napping inside the recycler wagon’s cab, and Syrric holding up an empty recycler bag. The baby-faced hominoid finally looks back at Kanzu.
“You made friends quickly,” he says.
“You lose them quickly,” Kanzu responds.
“Finish it already,” the baby-faced hominoid says while staring at Kanzu.
Kanzu punches him in the stomach with all her might, causing the baby-faced hominoid to spit blood. She holds up his face and stares into his eyes.
“She was kin,” she says.
The baby-faced hominoid sniffs at her belly.
“Then it’s good fortune you’ll gain another…in nine cycles,” he chuckles with bloody saliva and pained laughter.
Kanzu activates the laser torch and jams it in his mouth, frying off his tongue. The baby-faced hominoid spits out his charred tongue and belts out a terrifying scream. Intentionally ignorant, the Okie Patrol robot and his drone partner continue scanning the perimeter.
“We shouldn’t disturb the neighbors,” Kanzu says.
The baby-faced hominoid’s eyes follow Kanzu’s eyes downward and nearly pop out of their sockets. Kanzu slices off the baby-faced hominoid’s genitalia, which fall by her feet. Seconds later, he passes out.
Kanzu turns to Syrric, who nods. Shinzo gives Kanzu a thumbs up. Ren silently taps his wrist, urging Kanzu to wrap things up. Syrric looks over to see the recycler still napping. Kanzu turns back to the baby-faced hominoid and carves out both of his eyes which then land near his genitalia. Finally, Kanzu sticks the baby-faced hominoid in his heart, ending his misery. She spits in his face, returns the laser torch to Syrric, and runs into Brazin’s arms.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Syrric walks up to the baby-faced hominoid and kneels. She picks up his eyes and genitalia from the ground, and places them in the empty recycler bag. She stands and stares at the eyeless baby-faced hominoid.
“Oh, and the boy’s gonna make it,” she says, then smiles.
She activates the laser torch and slices the baby-faced hominoid’s restraints. The corpse drops to the ground. Everyone, except for the napping recycler, wraps up their work. Syrric knocks on the wagon, wakes up the recycler, who looks around and spots Shinzo slicing up the baby-faced hominoid. Smiling, he sticks his arm out to Syrric, who transfers more credits to his account.
“Pay up,” the recycler says.
“I hate you,” Syrric replies with a smile.
“Always a pleasure doing business with you,” he says.
Brazin and Shinzo load the final container with the baby-faced hominoid’s meat chunks onto the wagon. They join the others around the cremation trailer. Kanzu nods to the recycler, who activates it. A brief flash inside the trailer jars Kanzu. She moves closer to the small window when short bursts of light from inside the cremation trailer jar her again. After a few seconds, the recycler opens a panel on the cremation trailer and pulls out two dark coins. He retrieves and hands them to Kanzu while the others watch.
“Keep one,” the recycler instructs. “Bury one.”
Kanzu looks down at the coins to see Raym’s face laser grafted on one side and the letter ‘R’ on the other. She squeezes the coins in her palm as Syrric walks over to Kanzu.
“Come,” Syrric says. “Quickly.”
The recycler packs up and drives off with the Okie Patrol robot and drone escorting him. Brazin, Shinzo, and Ren wait in the clearing while Kanzu puts the dark coins in her pocket and follows Syrric behind the cabin. The two females navigate the vintage sports equipment and venture into the forest. Syrric leads Kanzu a few yards from the backyard to a clearing with buried coins. They walk over to a small hole.
“That’s for your friend,” Syrric says.
Kanzu looks at the hole, then Syrric.
“How did you know?” Kanzu asks.
“I didn’t.”
Kanzu nods, takes one of the dark coins from her pocket, and kisses it.
“In the light, sister.”
Kanzu drops the dark coin in the hole, buries it, and weeps. Syrric places her organic hand on Kanzu’s shoulder.
Kanzu the Bold
Kanzu and Syrric stand atop a rocky ledge and watch the following sunset to the sounds of waves crashing upon the shore. The long silhouette of a Lorian spacecruiser glides across the horizon.
“Must be somebody important,” Syrric says, looking up at the spacecruiser.
Kanzu turns to Syrric and says, “Before Freeland, I never encountered an archaic with our vision. Let alone a better one.”
“At first, I actually thought it was a blessing,” Syrric responds. “Now it’s taught me ignorance can be bliss.”
“How far have you gone beyond these shores?” Kanzu asks.
“Far enough to know I wouldn’t trade this place for all of humanity,” Syrric answers.
“If I survive, I promise to compensate you for the difference,” Kanzu responds.
“I’m willing to forgive your remaining debts, if you’re willing to forgive my poor hospitality.
Kanzu hugs Syrric.
“Ar-ee-gah-toe, Syrric the Guide.”
Brazin and Shinzo wait for Kanzu and Syrric a few yards away. They spot the two females hugging each other.
“How touching,” Shinzo says.
“I can barely hear them,” Brazin responds.
Shinzo augments their conversation so Brazin can hear.
Syrric gently pats Kanzu on the back.
“It’s been an honor, Kanzu the Bold.”
A gentle breeze passes.
“He’s a keeper,” Syrric says, then winks.
“Kanzu!” Brazin calls out.
Kanzu turns to see Brazin and Shinzo a few feet away.
“It’s time,” Shinzo says, pointing down.
Kanzu looks down at the private dock to see Genji, Ren, and Sofi boarding the minisub. An uninterested Okie Port officer, an island native, watches a streaming show while sitting in a metal booth with an automated gun turret on the roof. She runs over to Brazin. They embrace and walk down to the private dock. Shinzo and Syrric walk down behind them.
“I saw you checking me out,” Syrric says.
“Which means a high probability you were checking me out first,” Shinzo replies.
“Perhaps we should exchange logs,” Syrric says. “Unless you’re afraid of a little timestamp.”
“I’ll have to take a raincheck,” Shinzo says with a bow.
Syrric gently kisses Shinzo on the lips. If a mechanoid could blush, Shinzo would be patient zero.
“Pleasure’s all mine, Shinzo Tedeshi. Just leave the kids at home next time.”
Shinzo watches Syrric’s backside as she boards her armed golf cart and drives off.
“C’mon, Shin,” Genji says via comchat. “You can jerk off to her later.”
“Not in this vessel,” Minnie interjects.
Shinzo shakes his head.
“The things I do for friendship,” he says.
Shinzo sprints past the uninterested Okie Customs officer and boards his minisub. Sofi secures the hatch and activates the minisub engines. Shinzo sits next to Genji in the control room.
“Next stop, Hirokuza,” Genji says.
Minnie’s perturbed digital face appears on the display closest to Shinzo.
“So, who’s the metal bitch?” she says.
Shinzo places a hand on his head in exasperation. In the cargo bay, Ren tosses Brazin and Kanzu each a wetsuit.
“A precaution,” he tells them. “No sapien’s immune to hypothermia.”
“It looks too big for me,” Kanzu says.
“They’re self-forming,” Ren replies. “One size for all.”
“Same with these,” Sofi says as she hands them each a watermask.
Sofi leads Kanzu and Brazin into the control room. The virtual itinerary pops up on one of the displays. Both hominoids appear as if they’ve discovered a toy store.
“This resembles a master’s ship,” Brazin says. “Only much smaller.”
“And less sophisticated,” Kanzu adds.
“You’re not exactly prime specimens,” Minnie snaps back.
Both startled, Kanzu and Brazin look up and around.
“Bray-zin, Kan-zoo,” Genji introduces. “Meet Minnie, the big brain behind this little operation.”
Minnie’s digital face pops up on the two outer displays.
“Apologies, Minne,” Kanzu says.
“We meant no disrespect,” Brazin adds.
“We have a problem,” Minnie warns.
“What now?” Genji asks.
The display zooms in on an area of water between the former Korean Peninsula and former Japanese mainland.
“Several distress signals along our route,” Minnie says.
“Play,” Genji says.
Crackling echoes throughout the minisub.
“May…immediate…” the faint transmission crackles “Pi…”.
“Sorry, but we’re a little out of range until I get further instructions,” Minnie says.
“Pirates,” Sofi says.
“Water roaches,” Ren chimes in.
“What’s a pie-rats?” Brazin asks.
“Sapiens you don’t wanna fuck with,” Genji says. “If you don’t have to.”
Shinzo and Ren appear.
“Did I hear pirates?” Ren asks.
“We have to abort,” Genji sighs.
“Abort?” Kanzu asks.
“Sorry,” Sofi replies while pointing at the display. “We can’t go through that.”
“You must,” Kanzu pleads.
“We paid half up front,” Brazin adds. “We have a contract.”
They hear a series of beeps.
“We’re sorry,” Minnie replies in a female operator’s voice. “All circuits are busy.”
“Deviate and we will scream.”
“Not a good idea,” Genji says. “We promise delivery and we will. We just need to wait.”
“My brother can’t wait,” Kanzu responds.
“I will match her fee,” Brazin says.
Genji, Shinzo, Sofi, and Ren turn to Brazin.
“Excuse me?” Genji asks.
“Proceed, and I will match Kanzu’s fee,” Brazin says. “Otherwise, take us back to Okie and return her payment.”
“How about we drop you off right here and keep the
Genji turns to Ren .
“What a coincidence,” Minnie says.
“What?” Shinzo asks.
“That you just had to cut her off before she got to my name?”
“Really?” Shinzo asks. “Are we really doing this right now?”
“I’ll match Kanzu’s fee,” Brazin interrupts.
“Excuse me?” Ren asks.
Brazin presses a button on his wristlet. A holographic screenshot of his Freeland credit account displays a substantial amount.
Kanzu’s eyes widen.
“You made that much typing in a box?” she asks.
Brazin nods.
“Plus I have a little extra stashed away,” Brazin responds.
Shinzo’s minisub propels forward.
“Minnie?” Genji asks.
“If we’re going to die,” she says, “I prefer fighting over bickering.”
Genji, Ren, and Sofi all glare at Shinzo.
“So, now you can all look me in the eyes,” Shinzo says.
“If it means not dying in a metal tube under water,” Sofi responds.
“Ever get feeling you could short circuit at any moment?” Shinzo says. “I just did.”
Ren turns to Genji.
“A word, Cappy?” Ren asks.
Genji nods to Shinzo and Sofi.
“Let’s give the boys some privacy,” Sofi says, ushering Kanzu, Brazin, and Shinzo to the cargo bay.
Shinzo closes the control room door. He and Sofi keep their backs to Kanzu and Brazin while they change into their wetsuits.
Inside the control room, Ren waits patiently while Genji types a command into the console.
“Aural disruptors activated,” Minnie whispers. “Permission to speak freely.”
“Is it me or did we just get mutinied?” Ren asks.
“By your clients,” Genji responds.
“Walked right into that, didn’t I?” Ren asks.
“Yup,” Genji answers.
The virtual map on the control room display tracks the minisub’s trajectory between the former Korean peninsula and western coat of the former Japanese mainland.
Boat Wars
In the minisub’s cargo bay, Kanzu extends her Freeland wristlet to Shinzo, who inspects it.
“Quality work,” he says. “Your species continues to impress.”
Kanzu turns to Brazin then back to Shinzo.
“Grats,” she replies. “As does yours.”
Kanzu smiles at Shinzo. Brazin walks up to Shinzo, who checks his own cybernetic eye display to view a private credit account.
“Funds haven’t cleared yet,” Shinzo says.
“I don’t understand,” Brazin replies. “I made the transfer before we left port as instructed.”
“It’s not your fault,” Shinzo says. “Of all the things archaics could’ve preserved from the old world, they chose a failed banking system.”
Shinzo returns to monitoring the console while Brazin and Kanzu walk back to the cargo bay and take their seats. Ren dozes off in a corner. Sofi watches a movie on her display while the sounds feeds directly to her implant. Brazin leans back and closes his eyes. Kanzu makes eye contact with Sofi, who pauses her movie.
“What are you watching?” Kanzu asks.
“Nothing that would interest you,” Sofi answers.
“I cannot sleep,” Kanzu says.
Sofi unsecures herself and walks over to a porthole behind Kanzu. Kanzu unsecures herself and joins Sofi, who presses a button beside the porthole that projects a virtual rendering of outside on the porthole behind them. Kanzu’s eyes light up.
“How’s that?” Sofi asks.
“Grats, Sofi,” Kanzu says.
Sofi uses her two index fingers to visually demonstrate to Kanzu how far the rendering works underwater. Kanzu observes the various marine life congregating around a partially-sunk naval carrier nearly half a mile from shore. Using her elongated fingers, Kanzu playfully zooms in and out.
“Looks like you got the hang of it,” Sofi says.
Kanzu zooms the display in and out. She spots more naval wreckage painted with unfamiliar symbols.
“My brother and I would visit a place with similar water castles,” Kanzu replies.
“We call them warships,” Sofi says.
Kanzu turns to Sofi.
“Those things could fly?” Kanzu asks.
Sofi shakes her head.
“Only in water,” she replies. “That big one was a carrier. And that little one was an escort to protect it.”
“Strange a ship that big would need protection,” Kanzu
“Size can be an advantage or disadvantage,” Sofi replies. “Even the big guys need a little help once in a while.”
A bell chimes.
“Approaching the strait,” Minnie warns.
“Strap in,” Genji barks from the control room. “And keep quiet.”
Kanzu and Sofi secure themselves in cargo bay chairs while Brazin continues to sleep. Yawning, Ren press buttons on his arm rest. Small panels on the side of their chairs open, revealing black gloves for their wetsuits, which everyone puts on. Kanzu wakes Brazin to do the same.
The interior lighting becomes a dim red.
“Sonaflage activated,” Minnie says.
Kanzu turns to Brazin, who’s gone back to sleep.
“Weapons, manual,” Ren confirms.
“Countermeasures, manual,” Sofi confirms.
“Pilot, manual,” Genji confirms.
“Shields and radar, mech-ual,” Shinzo jokes.
A holographic radar of the minisub’s immediate surroundings appears above the center of the bay. Faint explosions echo through the hull, growing louder which each passing minute.
The displays show sinking bodies and debris up ahead. A corner of the display also shows the activated sonar camouflage, or sonaflage for short. The sonaflage reveals that Shinzo’s minisub appears to enemy radar as a large school of alien fish. On the control room display and the holographic radar, Minnie’s digital face appears with an index finger over her lips along with the following text in various languages:
SHHH!! ENEMY SONAR DETECTED. SHHH!!
Shinzo pilots his minisub while Genji checks the radar scans. The display shows Minnie’s operating system power increases as more onboard functions (i.e. weapons, piloting, etc.) are controlled manually.
A hydrospeed timer appears on one of the screens, counting down from six minutes, twenty-three seconds. Explosions grow louder, causing the minisub’s hull to tremble. Shinzo stares at the radar. Digital renderings show bodies sinking below the water while war boats attack each other on the surface above.
Radar picks up what appears to be a large fish swimming in and out of range. The fish vanishes from radar as Genji tries to steer around the sinking corpses. However, a few of the bodies bounce off the hull, causing echoes and waking Brazin up. The large fish reappears in another location and seemingly splits in two, with the smaller piece speeding towards them.
“Enemy projectile approaching!” Minnie warns.
“We’ve been made!” Shinzo says.
“Someone got themselves an upgrade,” Genji responds. “Soaf?”
“On it,” Sofi replies.
A torpedo slices through the sinking bodies as it hurtles toward them. Shinzo’s minisub takes evasive action as Sofi fires a timely countermeasure that intercepts the torpedo. The ensuing explosion fails to distract the battling war boat factions vying for naval dominance.
Inside Shinzo’s minisub, the hydrospeed timer counts down from two minutes, fourteen seconds as Ren tries to lock onto their camouflaged enemy combatant.
“Slippery bastard,” Ren mumbles. “Eat this!”
Shinzo’s minisub fires a torpedo toward the pirate minisub, which launches its own countermeasures to evade danger. The pirate minisub maneuvers its way toward them and fires another torpedo.
“Two minutes,” Genji warns.
“Incoming!” Shinzo warns.
Sofi launches more countermeasures while Genji takes evasive action. Although Genji narrowly escapes the torpedo as it hits the countermeasures, he’s unable to avoid the sinking war boat that hits their minisub.
“Hull damage minimal,” Minnie says.
“Most fortunate,” Brazin responds.
“Propulsion damage moderate,” Minnie adds.
“Not as fortunate,” Brazin responds. “But acceptable.”
“Rerouting power for hydrospeed,” Minnie says.
The hydrospeed timer counts down from four minutes, forty-three seconds.
Shinzo turns to Genji and says, “We’re sitting ducks in hydrospeed.”
“Ren,” Genji shouts. “Can you take out that sub before we hydro?”
“Guess we’ll find out,” Ren replies.
Kanzu turns to Brazin and says, “Stay here.”
Kanzu releases her seat restraints and stands.
“What are you doing?” Brazin asks.
“Helping,” she replies.
Kanzu makes her way to the control room, which draws Sofi and Ren’s attention.
“Kanzu,” Sofi cries out.
“Trust me, Sofi,” Kanzu replies.
Sofi turns to Ren, who shrugs.
“The man said, ‘All hands on deck,’” Ren quips.
The minisub rocks as Kanzu taps Genji on the shoulder.
“What the hell are you doing?” Genji asks, turning toward her.
“Extending our lives,” Kanzu pleads.
Kanzu types on the console.
“Shin!” Genji yells.
“A little busy right now,” Shinzo replies.
Genji releases his restraints to challenge Kanzu, who grabs him. Genji’s unable to overpower her.
“There’s no time for this, Genji,” Kanzu says, staring at him.
“Someone please take that wheel so we don’t die?” Shinzo begs.
“Okay,” Genji says.
Genji nods. Kanzu releases him and takes his seat. Genji opens a panel on the side of the chair, removes a pair of gloves and goggles, puts them on, then activates them.
“Shields, manual,” Genji says as he puts on the goggles and gloves.
Kanzu secures herself in the seat. She simultaneously pilots the minisub while typing into the console, causing Shinzo to do a doubletake. Kanzu sets a course for the pirate minisub as Minnie’s digital face looks down at her.
“Guess, Shin’s not the only one who knows how to push my buttons,” Minnie says.
Shinzo plots Kanzu’s calculations on the display. It shows them heading straight for the pirate minisub before curving off toward their destination. Kanzu turns to Shinzo, who nods and shares piloting duties while tracking radar. She then looks up at Minnie’s digital face. Minnie nods.
“Sofi, countermeasures on my mark,” Minnie orders.
“Just say the word,” Sofi replies.
“Ren, on my mark, torpedo six at these coordinates,” Minnie orders.
“Set,” Ren replies.
“Genji, concentrate shields to bow on my mark,” Minnie orders.
“Yes, ma’am,” Genji replies.
The hydrospeed timer counts down to zero. Kanzu steers the minisub into a feigned retreat toward Okinawa as the enemy minisub fires another torpedo. She then takes evasive action.
“Sofi!” Minnie yells.
“Away!” Sofi confirms.
The countermeasures take out the torpedo as Kanzu and Shinzo turn their minisub back around to face the enemy.
“Ren!” Shinzo bark.
“Fire six!” Ren replies.
“Genji!” Kanzu yells.
“Max Shields!” Genji replies.
The minisub fires its torpedo at the enemy as all of its shield power forms a bright glow at the bow.
Kanzu activates the hydrospeed. The minisub shoots toward its bluish counterpart, causing the enemy’s radar to display one long projectile heading for them. The leading torpedo veers left and hits the enemy’s countermeasures. However, the minisub hurdles on a collision course with the enemy.
The second dark coin with Raym’s face on it slips out of Kanzu’s pocket, falls to the floor, and rolls away.
“Raym!” Kanzu calls out as she removes her restraints and crawls after the dark coin.
“Kanzu,” Shinzo pleads. “Bad time for hide-and-seek.”
Kanzu tries to retrieve the dark coin, which settles in a very hard-to-reach spot. Genji unstraps himself and grabs the controls, but struggles due to its force.
“Kanzu!” Genji yells. “Trust works both ways, yeah?”
Unable to reach the dark coin, Kanzu reluctantly rushes back to her seat and re-secures herself. She and Shinzo then veer the controls right. They sideswipe the pirate minisub, using its forward shield power to slice through the enemy’s shield and hull before speeding away from the heavily-damaged enemy.