Twelve hours later
Freeman and several members of the Cabal crowded into the conference room. Video feeds from body cams on each cyborg were sectioned into squares and displayed on the gigantic screen that took one long wall of the conference room.
“I have modified the code we got off of ProgHub,” Freeman said. “All you need to do is tap this button, and the reactor’s cooling system will shut down. It should create enough of a diversion to get the materials we need and get out of there.”
“Perfect, we will be ready,” Dahlia said.
“You won’t have much time before the reactor goes into meltdown. We have less than thirty minutes before the rods will overheat. It is crucial the cooling system gets put back online before that happens,” Dr. Ash said.
“I’ll take that into consideration. It is crucial we get this material,” Dahlia said.
“Our agents are in place,” Dr. Ash said.
“You’re early! Remain on standby, I will call you just before we go in,” Dahlia said.
“Nigel, are you ready?”
“Yes, we are in an open field with a direct line of sight to the reactor. I’m prepared to engage manual control if needed,” Nigel replied.
“Do that only if necessary. The cyborgs have access to the computational power of my AI. They will lose access if you take control,” Dr. Ash said.
“Acknowledged,” Nigel said.
“I hope your bots are ready for action, because the guards are on the move,” Dahlia said.
“Not to worry, I have everything under control. The agents know what to get from the reactor,” Dr. Ash said.
Dahlia examined the camera feed, the cyborgs appeared without any special gear or any other protection from the radiation. “Why don’t the cyborgs have protection?”
“My agents—my hunters—are resistant to radiation. I designed the latest generation of the Echo project to thrive in hostile environments. Nuclear energy is not hostile to the hunters—they will use the excess energy as fuel,” Dr. Ash said.
“Won’t their skin melt off?” Dahlia asked.
“They do not need skin. My hunters will survive. They are in position, shall we proceed?” Dr. Ash said.
“Yes,” Dahlia replied as she tapped the red “STOP” button.
A timer superimposed the tablet interface and started counting down from ten minutes.
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“Your hunters have less than ten minutes, tell them to move—now.”
“Plenty of time, dear,” Dr. Ash said in a patient tone.
Dahlia watched as the cyborgs ran toward the guards. They moved so fast that the camera only picked up a blur. Dahlia switched to another camera from the perspective of the closest entrance. She switched just in time to see a cyborg yank a man’s arm out of its socket. The man grasped at his damaged arm and attempted to flee, but the cyborg moved in to finish the job. Dahlia couldn’t hear anything, but it looked like he was screaming. The cyborg took the guard’s gun then shot several times at the elbow, yanked again, and the arm was ripped off. Similar visions of carnage could be seen from different camera angles.
“Look,” the Sultan said, pointing to a monitor.
Several armed guards were taking positions outside one of the reactor’s side entrances. An object about the size of a tennis ball was thrown into view from off camera. The men tried to scatter—and then the monitor turned to static.
“Why are the cyborgs attacking? We have little time!” Dahlia yelled into the radio.
“I can hear you, dear, you don’t have to shout,” Dr. Ash, said as if she were talking to a child.
Dahlia switched camera angles. She could see a small group of men huddled around a workstation. They appeared to be trying to figure out what happened. She was about to turn away when a female cyborg with black hair strode into the control room with a samurai sword. She began hacking away at the engineers. Blood sprayed on the walls, and body parts flew like confetti in the wind.
“This carnage is unnecessary and barbaric,” Kurtzen said.
“Dr. Ash, the bots are killing everyone in their path, and we need these men to get the reactor back online,” Dahlia said.
“My children are at play,” Dr. Ash said, smiling.
“I wanted to keep this on the down low,” Dahlia said.
“Remember that Ukrainian nuclear meltdown a week ago? History is repeating itself in the Ohio Valley.”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I’d thought the answer would be obvious. We have replicated the hack, and once the IT geeks piece everything together, the Red Falcon hacking group will be in jail, and we will be long gone with enough power to bring hundreds of cyborgs online, ushering in the Gamma phase. Not only will the cyborgs be resistant to most environments, they will also live hundreds of years,” Dr. Ash said.
“I hear explosions coming from the plant. What the hell is going on?” Nigel asked.
Dahlia tried pressing the green “RESTART” button to get the reactor back online, but it wouldn’t respond.
“Freeman, are you there?” she asked.
“I’m here, D,” he answered.
“I cannot control the reactor.”
“I know!”
“Can you override it and bring it back online?”
“I can, but the cyborgs have not finished their mission.”
“They have the material, I saw them take it,” Dahlia said.
“That is only part of the mission. The rest of the plan involves melting down the Ohio Valley Nuclear Reactor.”
“What? I’m putting a stop to this,” Nigel said.
“A meltdown will kill thousands of people,” Dahlia said, turning to Dr. Ash.
“Hundreds of thousands, once you calculate the prevailing winds,” Dr. Ash interjected.
“It doesn’t make sense to attract so much attention, not with the big attacks that Chen has planned,” Dahlia said.
“I tried to take manual control, but a skinless cyborg just destroyed my laptop,” Nigel said.
“The order to cause a nuclear accident came directly from Mr. Chen. I want my big payday, so that’s what we are doing,” Freeman said.
“I didn’t think the infamous Black Heart would mind killing a few people,” Dr. Ash said.
“No, I will not let this happen. I’m going in. I have my tablet, I just need to get close enough to the reactor’s network to stop the meltdown,” Nigel said.
“I wouldn’t advise that, Nigel. Radiation levels at the reactor are already at 4000 mSv, most die within months of exposure,” Dr. Ash said.
“There’s no need to kill innocents.”
“The revolution has begun. The cyber hunters have set us free,” Dr. Ash said.
Several members of the Cabal applauded.
“Well done, team,” Mr. Tage said.
Dahlia shot up and appeared to be scanning the room.
“Where’s Chen?” she asked.