“Hey, Walter,” Xalla whispered by my side, “Don’t you think things are going a little too well?”
I had to agree with her there. I looked around and saw that my impromptu Restus army was making its way into the inner sanctums of the Site. The only resistance that they met along the way was the common vat-grown fodder found in the early trials. They wouldn’t have posed much of a threat even for the humans, much less the berserk Restus.
“Yeah,” Big Bob muttered, “It’s like they want us to cause a mess at the heart of their Site. I don’t like it, it smells like a trap.”
I frowned, I had to admit that I felt the same. The second we had infiltrated the Site’s territory, alarms and alerts would have sounded off in every corner of the Site; there was no way that this place was so run down as to have those disabled. Plus, the fact that we did encounter resistance, even if it was a token effort, meant that someone was aware of our activities, so where were any attempts to contain and stop the Restus?
The Restus Aspirants were certainly making a mess of things. My impromptu Sponsorship had boosted their aggression and rage to insane levels, and these current Aspirants were little more than violent berserkers. They smashed at anything that wasn’t the walls or floors, each one seemingly trying to outdo their kin on how much collateral damage they could inflict. I have overdone things.
“But it doesn’t make sense,” Xalla added, ignoring the rampage around us, “There’s been no indication that anyone’s noticed the three of us here, and it’s not like anything on the Site level can contain us in any case. So what kind of trap would they employ for a bunch of crazed Aspirants?”
“Dunno,” I answered, “Maybe they want to herd us into some kind of stasis field or something? That’s the only thing I can think of for letting this close to their base of operations.”
“Maybe they’re just not afraid because the Restus are still so weak?” Xalla said, “I mean, I know that the city-state’s defense officers were worthless, but even the least equipped head of security should be able to clean this mess up.”
And a right mess they were making. I saw another group of strange bipedal aliens with lasers grafted into their arms launch a concentrated volley of well-coordinated shots at the end of the hallway. They kind of looked like fantasy dwarves with their stubby legs and short stature, but there was no mistaking the lethality that they could inflict. The shots that missed their targets singed huge holes in the walls of the compound, highlighting just how deadly their weapons were.
Unfortunately for the laser dwarves, Restus scales were apparently reflective enough to simply deflect most of the beams aimed at them. These caused the light to bounce off harmlessly, with some ricocheting back into the attackers. The dwarves were not laser-proof.
Sure, some shots did hit the occasional weak spot like an eye socket or a particularly large gap between scales, but even those wounds healed in almost an instant. The laser-dwarves were quickly overwhelmed by a tide of crazed lizards soon after and we marched onwards even further into the Site.
“If that’s the case then whoever’s in charge of this Site’s a bigger idiot than I thought” Big Bob added, “There’s no way whoever’s in charge will take unnecessary risk with having lizards running amok in their main headquarters, even if these particular lizards are not all that menacing.”
“Then we’re all in agreement that it’s a trap,” I said again, “Probably not for us, but for the Restus in any case.”
Xalla and Bob nodded and agreed.
“Think you can find out any more information with those devices of yours, Bob?” I inquired. Any more info to work with would be helpful; I couldn’t afford to have these so-called lizards captured and not killed.
“I loathe to do so,” Bob answered with an anguished sigh, “But yes, I can still access my bastardized creations to see what the Site Admin’s doing.”
Xalla frowned, “Wait a second, so you’re saying that you can remotely access any of your creations to spy on Central? I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in the contracts we signed with your company.”
“Uh…” Big Bob stuttered wide-eyed. It appeared that he forgot that Xalla was still the head of security for Central. I mean, I can’t blame him for his lapse in judgment, since Xalla was actively helping to sabotage one of Central’s sites right now.
“But,” I said to help my friend, “It’s only Babylon who can do that unless he’s gone crazy in the 10 cycles I was gone and gave out the source code for all of his inventions. I’m sure that it’s not as big of a security risk as it may seem.”
Bob nodded quickly, “Exactly what Walter said! I would never break ethical protocols and do something like that without good cause!”
Xalla just shook her frills, “You and I will have to figure something out about these security problems once Q’s back where he should be, Bob.”
“Right…” Big Bob muttered under the admonishing gaze of the Xollon, “Um, please don’t let this detail leak to the others.”
Xalla sighed but ultimately agreed, “I’m not going to do that to a friend, Bob, I’ll let it go this time, but you’re going to tell me about other potential oversights in your designs when we’re done here. And don’t worry, Walter, I’m not going to share those findings with the Overseer. I might not care about Central as a whole, but there are people I do care for in Q’s site.”
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“You’ll get an extensive report!” Bob answered.
I chuckled and shook my head, “Alright, no go get to spying, Bob.”
He went hazy-eyed for a few moments, directly integrating with his creations, before refocusing his attention onto us.
“So how’s the situation?” I asked.
The Restus had just dispatched a new group of foes, this time they were strange genetically modified ogres that gave the Restus a bit of a fight. These huge things regenerated almost as fast as the Aspirants did, and were a smidge stronger as well. Too bad there were only a few dozen of them versus a green tide of Restus.
“It’s… um,” Bob thought for a moment before continuing, “How do I put this, the entire Site’s almost as bad as that city-state we were just in, and there’s a woman in charge of the Site. From what I can tell, she’s actually quite capable and has the respect of the people around her, although I still can’t tell if she’s being overly cautious about not harming the Restus or she’s got something else planned.”
I had to agree with Bob’s assessment of the Site. I’ve been to my fair share of different facilities in my time as an Arbiter, but this place was practically a slump. Equipment was shoddily repaired or downright abandoned, the halls were covered with dirt and accumulated grime, and even the mass-produced creatures being sent our way looked like they were brought on discount. This place would have been shut down if I had come here as Arbiter W in the past.
“That’s the Site Admin then,” Xalla nodded at Bob, “Strange thought, I would have thought she’d be less competent given the state everything’s in, surely the budget cuts couldn’t have been that bad, even if this is a peripheral facility.”
Bob shook his head, “No, that’s not it. I accessed their employee databases and I’m almost positive that the person in charge is their Head of Security. Her files say she’s called Margret.”
Huh, what a strangely human name, although I think that was a quark of Noe’s continued translations messing with my limited perception abilities. My brain is still fundamentally human in nature right now.
Xalla frowned, “Ok, that is a bit unorthodox, but this is an emergency situation, so maybe the Site Admin relinquished the command of the defenses to his Head of Security. It’s strange, but not unheard of.”
“No no,” Bob continued, “She’s not acting as security, she’s got full control of, well, everything. The Site should be run by a guy named Ed, but she’s using his terminal and has all his credentials as well. I can’t even find the actual guy in charge, and trust me when I said I looked. Some of the depravity that the staff here are indulging in is insane! You should have seen this one room I looked at…”
“So… was there a coup?” I asked before Bob could go into more detail; that was the only situation that made sense, “Do you think this Head of Security person disposed of the old Site Admin and just took over? Don’t think I’ve ever seen it happen when I was active way back when, but things could have changed.”
“That’s impossible,” Xalla answered with certainty, “An official Site Administrator can only be dismissed by the Overseer or his direct Council. The Origin Matrix will override any Site that tries to rebel against its owners, and the fact that this Site is clearly still functioning means that this Ed person is still around.”
“And yet someone is acting in his stead, either voluntarily or not,” I added, “This damned situation’s just getting stranger and stranger.”
“My bet,” Xalla replied with a grin, “Is that there’s a secret conspiracy bubbling under the surface! It’s just like the plot of Secret Enemies! You guys should watch that, by the way, the second season is amazing! You can use my streaming account if you need one, it’s-”
“Focus, Xalla,” I said with a chuckle.
I had forgotten about her particular interests after seeing her so focused. Xalla usually tried to present herself professionally while she was at work, but every now and then a hint of her true personality would leak through. There’s no way the fangirl in her could be contained forever.
It was an odd sight seeing her so long in her own world while the constant chaos and cacophony of battle was still raging all around us. One of the Restus had been sent flying right toward the girl by one of the huge eyeball creatures that erupted from the ground in ambush, but to the Restus’ misfortune, Xalla just batted him aside with a flick of the feeler. That was the only casualty that our side suffered so far.
“Sorry, I got distracted” she blushed, “It really is a great show though. Anyway, what I mean to say is just look at this place, it makes the worst slums of Xolloid look like the Overseer’s private villas. I’m willing to bet that the Site Admin’s a nepotism hire or something, and the disgruntled workers under his charge are plotting a rebellion!”
And just like that, Xalla’s imagination was allowed to roam and she lost focus again.
“Then, the main character, the Head of Security Margret, will meet a handsome, out-of-town conspirator who will secretly help out in the shadows! He’s been too spurned by the Admin to trust any of his staff, even though there is clear chemistry between the two, but that’s when-”
“Right,” Big Bob interrupted, “I think that the heart of what you’re saying makes sense, Xalla.”
Then, turning to whisper to me, Bob added, “Don’t tell me I sound like that when I talk about Trains…”
I grimaced, “I think you know the answer to that yourself, Big Bob.”
He sighed and shook his head. At least he’s acknowledging the problem, that’s a start, the entire multiverse could do without another one of Babylon’s infamous Train rants.
“The theory’s good,” I continued, “But there’s only one real way to see what this Margret individual is up to.”
“And,” Xalla added with a barely contained grin, “If my theory about this secret rebellion really is true, then I’m sure we can rope the disgruntled, love-starved Head of Security into helping out our cause!”
I wouldn’t have worded it quite like that, but the essence of what Xalla was saying was sound. All clues pointed towards some kind of conspiracy going on in the background, and the one person at the center of it all was the Head of Security. I wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but if she was ambitious enough to undermine her own Site Administrator, then that means that she could be a potential ally or at least someone we could manipulate if all else fails.
“We’re almost at their front doors now,” Xalla warned, “If they don’t stop us at the next intersection, then the Restus will have breached the inner sanctum of the Site, and unless this woman is insane, she will not allow that to happen.”
“Got it,” I said, “We watch how things unfold first - don’t act and give away our presence unless you think the Aspirants will be captured. If Xalla’s right and this disgruntled worker can be reasoned with, then we try that. You know what to do if negotiations fail though.”
“Understood,” Big Bob said, “There is no mercy in my veins for tech heathens.”
The Restus managed to break through the last lines of defense and stormed the crude barricade that defined the threshold between the inner and outer sections of the Site. Well, whatever Margret had in store for the stupid lizards, we were about to find out now.