Meanwhile

Aiko held on to the side of her chair as the aircraft stalled.

Where did this weather come from?

After getting a late start because of some malfunctions with Jack’s helicopter, they had finally left New York at dawn. But the weather changed drastically about halfway through their journey. Blanka had expertly piloted the helicopter through the storm. The closer they got to Boston, the worse the storm. She wondered how Nigel was doing with dropping the kid off.

Are they here already?

“I need to land before we crash,” Blanka said.

Aiko looked out the window for any sign of a suitable landing spot. Several balloon-shaped objects filled the sky. She thought she could see blue skies in the distance, but her vision distorted as several of the balloons exploded simultaneously. Green, red, and yellow gas filled the air. Dark clouds formed just above the exploding balloons.

“I think this weather is manmade,” Aiko said, pointing to an exploding balloon.

Blanka gave her a concerned look. “Hold on, we’re coming in low.”

The helicopter shook as a gust of wind pushed the vehicle. The fog lifted, and they were perhaps twenty or thirty feet off the ground.

“Why are we so low?” Aiko asked.

“Visibility is shit with the weather, and my instruments are going haywire,” Blanka said.

An alarm that sounded like a tuba blared from the heavens.

“What was that?” Blanka asked.

“I don’t know, but it’s coming from above,” Aiko said.

“Look,” Vedrana said, pointing to the sky.

A massive square box with antennas and enormous exhaust tubes filled their view. The flying structure blocked out the rain. Green gas shot out from vents that pointed downward.

“What the hell is that?” Aiko said.

“One of Doc Chop’s monstrosities, no doubt,” Eva said.

“Get your masks on—look under the seat,” Blanka said.

Aiko found a mask attached to a cylindrical object. She put on the mask, then adjusted its valve to ensure the steady flow of oxygen. She helped Blanka with her mask, then shot a look back. Vedrana and Eva already had their masks on, and were assembling weapons. Eva was adjusting a gigantic assault rifle, and Vedrana was checking a handgun.

“Can you get me closer to that giant box?” Eva asked.

“What do you have in mind?” Blanka asked.

“Up for some rappelling?” Eva said to Vedrana.

“It’s too far,” Blanka said.

Another deafening tuba blast, Aiko covered her ears. Blanka positioned the helicopter just above the floating box. Vedrana and Eva shot a hook attached to a wire at it.

“When we land on the surface, we will unhook the tether,” Eva said as she strapped on her harness.

The grappling hooks latched on to the side of the box, and Blanka compensated for the shift of electrodynamic energy.

“You’d better get down there. I can’t hold this for much longer,” Blanka said.

Eva connected the tether, then zipped down the line, screaming as she descended. Vedrana was not far behind.

“Destiny is that way, Aiko,” Blanka said.

Aiko connected the tether to her vest, attached her goggles, then followed her teammates. The experience was like traversing a zip line in the middle of a hurricane. Her heartbeat was off the charts. Aiko struggled to keep herself upright. She closed the distance in seconds, but it felt like much longer. Rain and wind pummeled her. Clouds obscured her vision. She hit the top of the box with such velocity she lost control. Her body slammed against the metal surface like a fish thrown on the deck of a boat.

“I got you,” Eva said as she gave Aiko a hand.

Vedrana unhooked the tether, which recoiled back to the helicopter. Soon it and Blanka were out of sight. They were on their own now.

“That’s some next-level shit,” Aiko said.

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Eva and Vedrana gave a nod and smiled like this was just another day at the office. As the green gas dissipated, a throng of wires, cables, and metal conduit covered the surface. There was a symmetry to the mess. Aiko visually followed the trail to a metal box, which presumably contained a wiring harness or control panel.

“What now?” Aiko asked.

“Find an ingress,” Eva said.

Aiko followed the two teenage assassins through the maze of infrastructure to the junction point. Eva used her cybernetic hand to rip off the panel, allowing access. A bunch of wires were tethered to a harness. A series of LEDs flashed. Labels were affixed to three switches; Aiko thought they must control certain parts of the ship.

“What the fuck… I can’t understand any of this,” Vedrana said.

Eva shrugged. They both turned to Aiko.

“I will give it a shot,” Aiko said.

The first switch was labeled “Control,” the second “Access,” and the third “Systems.”

This must be a way in.

The situation reminded Aiko of her uncle’s AI, Kaen, who often presented her with an answer that wasn’t obvious to the situation. She found it difficult to concentrate; the constant jerkiness of the ship did not help matters. She remembered a lesson from her school computer class about how certain security systems like access control worked. There were four models. Discretionary allowed multiple administrators to control access. Mandatory required a rigid model, in which the administrator could not override or bypass a system. Role-based assigned users access based on their role. And rule-based required some rigid control in which a system could only be accessed during certain times or conditions.

“Any luck figuring this out?” Eva asked.

Aiko raised a hand. The only control that made sense was discretionary. It would stand to reason that Doc Chop would have multiple people working on this marvel of engineering. She flipped the control switch, and another puff of gas emitted from just below their location. Aiko made sure her mask was on tight, then flipped the systems switch. A loud, tuba-like horn pierced her ears.

“Hurry up!” Vedrana screamed, covering her ears.

Aiko flipped the access switch. There was a clank of metal, which sounded like a squeaky door.

“Over there,” Eva said, pointing to a hatch.

Eva opened the hatch and descended, with Vedrana and Aiko following close behind. The ozone smell of electrical circuits filled the air. The distant hum of machinery emphasized the fact that they were in one of Doc Chop’s weapons of mass destruction. Aiko felt dirty even being near the machine, let alone inside of it.

“I found something,” Eva said.

Aiko ran toward the girl who was leading them into certain death and found herself in a control room. In its center were six chairs containing human operators with headsets, presumably piloting the ship. A seventh chair in the middle was unoccupied.

“Do you want to give it a go?” Aiko said to Eva.

Eva smiled, then headed to the chair. While she had some cybernetic implants and appendages, she was still human. She removed her gas mask, then put on the virtual reality headset. She then began to move her hands around in front of her. The ship turned sharply toward the left. Vedrana was knocked off her feet, and Aiko grabbed the first thing she saw: a control panel. Eva screamed and threw off the headset.

“Were you able to access it?” Aiko asked.

“No!” Eva said, panting and wiping blood from her nose. “That damned thing is evil.”

Aiko sat in the chair, and was about to strap on the VR gear, when Eva put a cybernetic hand over hers.

“Wait, you don’t want to do that. It was like the machine tried integrating into my brain or something. I didn’t even get an interface; it just assaulted me.”

“But I thought your cybernetic circuits could—”

“No—I mean, I’m not a true cyborg. I just have this metal arm.”

A clanking sound echoed throughout the room. Vedrana was fighting another woman, who was dressed in black leather and had long braided hair. The skills of the newcomer were impressive. Aiko couldn’t believe how beautiful the woman was. It was like a supermodel was fighting them. Vedrana had a difficult time keeping her balance. The leather-clad woman kicked her. She stumbled and fell. The newcomer smiled, and positioned her blade over Vedrana.

“See you in hell.”

Eva charged the woman and punched her with her metal arm. The assailant fought both teenage assassins with grace. She dodged their every move. It was like she knew what they were going to do before they did. The girls’ combined fighting skills weren’t enough to keep up with the newcomer. They were in the fight of their lives. Vedrana yelped as blood oozed from a cut just below her left eye.

“Argh, you bitch,” Eva said, throwing a knife, which the woman dodged easily.

The newcomer was more experienced than the girls, and was dodging every attack with ease. Eva reached for her gun, but the woman knocked it out of her hands. It fell behind the woman.

“I’m going to enjoy slicing you to bits,” the woman said.

Vedrana grunted and parried the woman’s thrust. Eva tried to reach for the gun, but the woman didn’t give the slightest of openings. Eva grabbed a dagger out of her belt and threw it at her assailant. The woman parried and knocked it to the floor before it could hit her. Aiko tried attacking from behind, but the half-dozen people plugged into the ship prevented it.

“Anya, stop this at once,” a man’s voice said.

A middle-aged man, about fifty, entered. He had curly black hair and a mustache. He looked like a scientist in his white lab coat. Anya frowned then raised her weapon.

“Now!” the man commanded.

Vedrana screamed, grasped her neck, and pulled out a dart. Another dart got stuck in Eva’s leather outfit. She knocked it aside and kept fighting. She threw another knife. Anya deflected it, but not before it sliced open the left side of her face. Vedrana dropped her sword and fell to her knees, then passed out. Aiko leaped atop one of the people controlling the ship, then sprung into the air. She grabbed onto a conduit and started swinging. She shifted her body weight toward the fight and grabbed her sword as she sailed toward Anya. Aiko slammed into the woman with enough force to slam her into a wall. Eva scrambled for the gun and pointed it at the assailant. Before she could get a shot off, she was pummeled with three darts, all hitting her face. Blood oozed from the points of impact, and she dropped immediately. Anya regained her footing, grabbing her katana. Aiko’s vision immediately blurred as two darts hit her. The sensation was like someone had grabbed two needles and plunged them into her neck. A fire burned through her veins, and her vision blurred with tears of pain; she couldn’t take it anymore and screamed. She rolled over to see the man in the lab coat and the woman staring at her.

“I need them alive. They’re going to make excellent specimens,” Dr. Sylvester said.

“Yes, Father,” Anya said.

Aiko was paralyzed, but still conscious. The man and the woman carried her into a dimly lit hallway with wires hanging from the ceiling. Another blast of the tuba sounded, and the gears of the mechanical beast were slowly consuming Aiko as her vision faded.