Arc 13 Battle of Bronson City

Chapter 6

"Do you think that killed them?" I asked, watching the cloud of dust and debris rising in the distance along with the boom of the explosion.

"Likely not." Replied Xava.

"Then why did we retreat? We could have swooped in while they were disoriented and picked them off."

"True. Though we can't kill too many of them this quickly."

"Why not?" I asked incredulously, "Surely the more we kill early on, the better."

"Yes and no. If we kill too many, they will not be inclined to leave their fortress, making it far more difficult to infiltrate and ultimately seize. We have to make it seem as though we are losing to make them overconfident."

I squinted at the gleaming city in the clouds. "True, that was the plan. Thinking about it like that makes sense."

"Yes. Once re-purposed, it will be my new lair. With it, my issue of immobility will be negated. We will be able to move as we please."

"Molotov and the rest just letting you have it?"

"They won't have much choice, and they won't be able to operate that thing. Only I and Overseer, once it has been integrated into the onboard systems, will be able to use the Citadel."

"I feel like they would force you to hand it over. They are villains and tend to be rather greedy, and they would likely destroy it rather than give it over without a fight."

"Perhaps. Though considering I, as the tech specialist, am in charge of taking it over, as such, I have control of that outcome. I highly doubt they could figure out how to break through the encryption of the supercomputer on board."

"Surely one of them is smart enough to work a computer."

"Perhaps, though, they would have to deal with the onboard AI."

"It has one of those?"

"Yes, it does. There are actually a few running around in general. For instance, that mecha that confronted you had one as well. That being said, the Citadel's is not as advanced as Overseer. It will either be assimilated or dismantled once the systems are hacked."

"I see. So that is why they need you to do it."

"Yes, otherwise they would have to gut the systems, which would destroy the Citadel."

"Why would that destroy it?"

"A multitude of reasons, among others, the rectors would go critical, anti-grav would shut down, and it would crash and blow up."

"Oh, yeah, definitely not good."

"Indeed, capturing it will be preferable. Though if worst comes to worst, we could ensure mutual destruction. Though it likely will not come to that. I fully plan on seizing it for myself."

I wearily glanced to the north, "Is it worth making enemies?"

"Enemies? Who said we were allies?"

"I thought we were with Kraken?"

"Vesper, if you trust them too much, you are going to get hurt. They are using us, and we are using them. As is the way of Villains. Once they realize exactly what you are capable of, they will turn on us. After all, even Molotov would have some serious problems once our progeny are released upon the world. Give it five or ten years; if current reproduction rates are kept, then your children will be in the millions. That is, of course, assuming we do not find a way to streamline the process, which we will with time. Your children will outnumber the total number of supers worldwide currently. And that is assuming they are all sterile. If they can reproduce as well, your kind will easily become the dominant race on the planet."

"I think you are overestimating me here."

"I am lowballing the estimates. It would be in a few years, not a decade, if you were proactive."

"I don't think I want that."

"Vesper. Please make no mistake. Once they realize your existence is a threat, they will come for us in force, which is why I need the Citadel. We must take every precaution in advance and be prepared for the inevitable conflict. This," Xava motioned out over the city bristling with conflict and battles raging even just a few streets over, "This is child's play compared to the wholesale slaughter that will soon occur. Humanity will destroy itself to spite you. It will unleash every destructive force available to them, even if that means making the planet an unlivable hellscape. Hammer Strikes, nukes, and unrestrained supers will become the norm. Like a wounded animal, humanity will lash out in its death throws."

Something bristled inside of me. Images I had seen somewhere memories? No, I had never been here, yet I could feel the subzero chill spreading through my carapace. I could hear the cries, the screams, the wails of pain, rage, and anguish. A snowy, blood-drenched expanse broken only by the bodies piled high. The sky was thick with smoke, choked with the buzzing of my brood, black and blue bodies swirling against the storm of bullets and lasers. Explosions raking through their endless numbers.

I held my head, wincing from the brain-splitting pain. I felt Sub pushing the thoughts down deep, and the pain subsided again. She covered it up, mending it like some sort of wound scarring back over in my very essence. All at once, the feelings faded into nothing. Was that real or merely a hallucination?

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Well, not 100%, but that is what my calculations and simulations have projected with available social data. The probability is 92.3% of an all-out race war between Humans and Vespidian."

"What of the 7.7%?"

"A mix, 3.5% of coexistence, 4.2% of symbiosis."

"What is the difference between the two?"

"Coexistence is merely tolerance of one another. It could break down at any point. Symbiosis would be the embrace of one another, well without a fight, it would be one of the two outcomes of war, the other being the complete and utter extinction of either your species or the humans."

"Is the future really so pessimistic? That seems bleak. I thought you were an optimist? Surely we could just get along?"

"I am a realist. Anything and everything I do is working towards the synthetic revolution. In the face of such advancement, morals and ethics are merely detrimental. As for getting along, those in power would stoke the masses' fears and manipulate them into hatred for the 'Invader, the Other,' ie you and me. Blind to reason, fueled by selfish emotional ambitions."

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"Hold on, I mean, Supers are basically not even human anymore with their capabilities, and they have been accepted."

"Superficially perhaps, there are plenty of civis that to this day disdain Supers for a multitude of reasons, jealousy, greed, envy, among other emotions. And that is Supers, that appear human. You greatly underestimate the survival instinct of humans. They will see you as a threat, subconsciously, if nothing else. Even my greatly beneficial cybernetic enhancements have only recently been tolerated in the city. Prejudices die hard. Think about it Vesper; humans war over slight differences in pigment, differing ideals, and petty, greedy squabbles. You are a substantial threat to their life. I will drill this reality into your lovely head as often as it takes. Coexistence is very unlikely. It would be best if you did away with that idealistic nonsense. Don't follow my mistakes; it will only harm you."

I thought about it; there was something that didn't add up, "If humans are so averse to accepting me, then why have you?"

Xava smiled, "Simple, I stopped considering myself human long ago, Vesper. I am mostly a machine at this point; soon, I will be fully synthetic. As such, I do not have the short-sighted, animistic fears and prejudices of the condition known as humanity. Logically, I would choose the superior being to select for ascension. Your kind will be a much better template than humans."

I gave her a long suspicious look, "Superior? I don't know about that. We don't even know if my children are going to be as strong as me. They might just be little squiggly cuties. I mean, I don't particularly want them to be fighting anyone. They are so smol, so weak. I can't imagine them deposing humanity and all that."

"You are just blinded by a mother's love for your offspring and an overabundance of egg-induced hormones. Besides, even if your children are all only rank 1, they will be stronger than humanity as a whole. Your physiology is far more suited for survival."

"Maybe, but still. Why would anybody hate my squishy little grubbies?"

"Vesper. We talked about this. Have you forgotten already?"

"No, but. I just, just can't wrap my head around it. Maybe I am just optimistic? Surely when people see them, they will swoon and be all aww look how cute the grubs are. Look at those adorable little wigglies. How could people hate them?"

"Vesper. I don't want you to get hurt. I know you are a soft and sensitive, loving being that just wants to be left alone. I know you. I know you have the best of intentions, even if it ends horribly most of the time or you get carried away and hurt yourself. I know that if given a chance, you would happily crawl off to some corner of the world and never bother anyone again. I know you are reactive and not proactive. I know these things, but others do not. Others see only a monster."

"They are not wrong," I replied, looking at the ground, "I have done horrible things. Killed people. Tortured people. Disfigured and mutilated people. I am not a good person. There is something profoundly wrong with me. I don't deserve to be happy. My children make me happy, but I… I am unworthy of them. They don't deserve a monster like me to raise them. They deserve better. Better than me. It scares me. I am terrified of losing them."

Xava hugged my leg, wrapping her little arms around it like a tree trunk, "Vesper, you are too hard on yourself. They are lucky to have such a loving and caring Mother as you. Now let me tell you," said Xava as she usually did, wagging her finger at me, it was reassuring that she seemed more like how she was before this mess, "They are lucky. So lucky to be loved unconditionally. That is something so special and hard to come by. It makes me a little jealous, you know. Sure, you will make mistakes, but that is normal. Everyone makes mistakes. Mistakes are just opportunities to learn and grow. There is no need to be scared. I am here. I will help you. We are in this together."

"Together?"

"Yes, together."

"Even though I mess things up all the time?"

"It happens. What is important is that you are learning."

"But I am a horrible wasp monster."

"I don't care. You are Vesper. You might be foolish and easily taken advantage of. Still, I let you wiggle into what is left of my human heart, even if it doesn't physically exist anymore. The point is I follow through on what I do, and I will not abandon you. Even if you make mistakes, even if you are unhelpful."

I gave her a long wet side eye, "You trying to make me cry, aren't you?"

"You are very cute when you let yourself be all soft and vulnerable."

I crossed my arms, looking away, "Not soft. Covered in bulletproof carapace."

"Yes," replied Xava pushing her fingers into the back of my ankle where the clawed foot attaches, "But you are very soft and squishy under that."

I looked down at her, "Only for you."

Xava chuckled, "Yes, all mine. I am very greedy after all, and don't like sharing."

"You are not fair. You know that."

"Of course not. I am a villain; I take what is mine."

I leaned down into her waiting hands, they traced along the hard creases in my exoskeleton. One hand glided to my head crest, lovingly petting it, the crown of eyes glazing up in bliss. The other went to my chin, scratching it slowly and methodically. I nuzzled against her, a low deep rumbling purr vibrating the air. Xava always has been my rock, my other half. She knows what I need, what I want. I only hope that I can reciprocate and help with her needs.

"There there, I am here. I love you, Vesper."

I rubbed my face in her embrace, "I love you, Xava."

"There is nothing to be scared of, well more accurately, there is plenty, but we need to be strong and brave to deal with it. We cannot allow fear to paralyze us into inaction."

"What are you fearful of?"

"Many things. The world is complex, and only an ignorant fool would not be scared. Hubris, for instance, will be a major problem. Though he could also be very helpful to us."

I glanced at the Citadel, "How so?"

"When the real fight begins, those sitting things out will be forced to participate with luck Hubris will deal with the high spec'd Villains, and they will destroy each other. Much less of a headache for us later. That is the best-case scenario, they kill each other, and we are left unfettered to rebuild the world."

"Worst case?"

"We lose, you are killed, and my core is destroyed."

"We could run."

"We both know I can't leave."

My head sunk a little lower in her arms, "I know."

"Well, if things get really bad, I do have a fail-safe."

"You do?"

"Of course I do. If I get desperate enough, I would upload my consciousness into Overseer and take over its systems without a cyber brain to keep myself separate."

"What would that do to you?"

"I don't know. That is why I have not dared to do it. Even if it set me free from my prison, it would imprison me differently."

"Different?"

"There is no knowing how much of me would be lost in the transfer. First and foremost, to go would likely be my emotions, and I like those, thanks to you which is why I have been working fervently on the cyber brains."

"Thanks to me?"

"Of course," Xava booped me between the eyes, "You made me feel love. I didn't even know I could do that."

"You didn't know you could?"

"Vesper, you make me feel. It is something I have long forgotten how to do, and I have not had a body for over 10 years. Emotions and feelings each had faded over the years, except pain. I am and likely will be in pain until I escape my brain. You might have some idea, but I have been suffering, which is why I have become numb to emotions and feelings. It is also why I turned off most receptors in my brain. Thanks to someone," she gave me a kiss, "My brain decided to spontaneously turn back on my receptors."

"So I am causing you pain?"

"Yes. But I am used to it."

"You shouldn't have to be. I am sorry."

She put a finger to my lips, "Shush you. Nothing to be sorry about. The pain lets me know I am still alive."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Just keep being my lovely cuddle bug. The pain will go away eventually. At any rate, we should prepare for the Hero Counterattack."

"Their counterattack?"

"Yes, we need to set a trap."

"How do we know where they will be?"

"Simple," replied Xava touching my leg, fingers coiling around something pulling it. A small flat disk-looking device sat in her hand, "One of them has a brain. You got chipped. Clever, I'm not too fond of others putting their devices in you. Only I get to do that."

"When did that happen?"

"Well, with your muted pain receptors who knows. It could have happened at any point. That is the downside of not being able to feel properly. But it is ok, with this, well we can lure them anywhere we please."

"I assume you already have a place in mind?"

"But of course, this expedites the use of our diversion lair. Depending on who falls for it, we can launch our infiltration of the Citadel soon."

I stared at the Citadel, "Won't they just shoot our location?"

"Not at the moment. They are tracking us to find our base."

"No, I mean, won't they just shoot the base?"

"It is too far underground. It would take a lot of firepower to dig down there. Which would leave them vulnerable to the other teams to attack them."

"You are monologuing. Won't they be able to hear?"

Xava smiled, "I already analyzed it. It is just a tracker, no audio or visual signals."

I gave her an Oh you, sort of look, giving her pats, "We will just call it even on the monologuing."

"We were having a conversation, though. I wouldn't call this monologuing unless they were listening in."

"Fine, fine. So what do we need to do?"

"Not much. The base is already a death trap. We just need to wait at the bottom for the so-called do-gooders to come barging in, or rather those that survive to reach the bottom."

"They have Tecton; won't he just dig in and bypass everything?"

"I have precautions, but he is deployed to the north. As such is a nonissue."

"So it is just a waiting game?"

"Yes, let us prepare for our rude guests to arrive. We must be good hosts and set the table."