Polis Kyiv, The Palace of Sports
Alisa Chernykh and Nikola Kowalski, August 12, 2049, 11:10 AM
A turbojet reconnaissance police drone speedily rushed onto the square in front of the Palace of Sports. It spun around sharply, turned the afterburner on and took off with a roar. A small army became visible on the side of the street: an ‘ARMADILLO Military Corp’ self-propelled artillery unit and four heavy ground cover bots. Two squads of ten tactical support flying drones provided additional backup.
Halting at the square's edge, the artillery deployed extra supports, transitioning to ‘siege mode.’ The bots spread out, covering firing sectors, setting up heavy shields, and preparing for combat.
A bright flash of light enveloped the square. A second later, a shock wave noisily scattered everything not bolted down. The heavy machines withstood the explosion easily, though…
Meanwhile, Nika and Alisa had come out of the tunnel underneath the stands into a service corridor; Max’s electronic pass still worked. Nikola turned toward the exit to the main facilities, but the android stopped her.
“Wait! We cannot go that way! There’s going to be a–” A tumultuous boom cut her off. It felt like the whole stadium shuddered. “…portal in the square outside.”
“Yup, I got it.” The redhead nodded. “Can you see what’s going on out there?”
“Let me see what I can do,” Alisa said, resuming her movement interrupted by the explosion. “There’d be no problem if only I had a few drones.”
“That was just wishful thinking,” Nika said without stopping. “So that we could know what we are up against. By the way, what do we do if we cannot use the main entrance?”
“We stick to the plan, need transportation to the hospital.”
The girls came to a fork. The checkroom and bathrooms were to the right of them, the elevators were to the left.
“We could risk it and go down to the parking lot,” Nikola said, pointing with her hand. “Find a suitable car. There are several ways out of the stadium, the west one is the farthest away from the portal. Works for us.”
At that moment, the sound of a cannonade rang out from the street, booming rhythmically as if an invisible blacksmith was pounding on a giant anvil. The peal of heavy machine guns and armor-piercing cannons shortly joined the march.
“Oh damn…” Red stopped in her tracks. “That's the main caliber of the heavy city self-propelled gun working! A ‘Tortoise’ type, most likely. If a single round comes flying this way, we’ll be in deep shit!”
“Then we shouldn’t take the elevator,” Alisa agreed. “Let’s go to the left, we’ll use the emergency exit.”
“Okay.” Nikola ran to the left. “It’s clear! Even the door is unlocked. We can’t shake your boyfriend, right?”
“Maksim is my brother. We can shake him but not too much; I made sure to secure him properly,” the android replied, turning the medbot around in front of the door.
“Brother? Now I have even more questions for you.” Nika raised her brow. “All right, go through the door and check the stairs. I’ll have to put away the blades, but I think I can carry him down fast enough, the staircase should have a wheelchair ramp.”
“Yes, there is one.” Alisa moved forward, opening the door and fixing it for Nika. “Here. I’ll go down first.”
As Nika was fumbling with the ramp, trying to carry the medbot down as smoothly as possible, a text message came that said [Checked the rooms below, the coast is clear. I’ve got a plan.]
She was quick to reply with [Okay, I’ll be right there.]
Red was on the last flight of stairs when a videostream invite came from Alisa. [I’ve got the picture from the square, here.]
[Yup, thanks.]
An augmented reality window opened with a video feed.
At the square, near the main entrance, was a thirty-meter portal crater, in which the enormous carcass of an armored “worm” was lying. Its chitinous shell plates were blackened due to explosives, some of them were torn off or badly deformed. Yellowish semi-transparent hemolymph was oozing out of the many wounds. Mountains of dead “craboids” and other creatures were piled around the giant, most of them having been shredded with high-caliber machine guns.
The city's self-propelled gun stood decommissioned in the corner. Its turret had been ripped off, the gun barrel had been bent, and there were deep dents on its armor where powerful blows had hit. An acrid plume of smoke was rising in the air from it. All four heavy bots had been overpowered by the army of monsters, some of which were literally cut into small fragments. You could tell that the machines fell back, covering the tank with their shields and buying the precious minutes needed for it to destroy the main offender.
No sign of the drones; they must have returned to base, having run out of ammo. Only flying cameras of independent bloggers and many Kyiv-based media companies were in the air.
“If somebody told me yesterday that giant fucking shrimps could chew up an urban tank, I would’ve laughed in their face for crazy talk… And to think that all of this happened in just a few minutes after the first explosion, while we were making our way to the exit…” Nikola was staring at the battle panorama in shock.
At that moment, in the area of the portal crater, a whole series of flashes sparkled like a garland, each accompanied by a small explosion.
“So that’s how they spawn from the portal!”
There were more and more of those flashes until they merged into one shining canvas, and numerous creatures started to emerge from it. New kinds of species were also among them: they were small but had a swollen rear with some weird pulsating clusters inside and many whiskers along their backs. Because they were met with no opposition, the monsters spread out very fast, and Nika didn’t get to take a better look at them. But she did manage to see another type of monsters – translucent flying “jellyfish.” With a shake of her head, she promptly collapsed the virtual screen, so it wouldn’t distract her and ran down the stairs.
“Alisa, we need to move, now!” Red yelled, rolling the medbot out onto the landing. “Where are you?!”
[Second room to the left, door is open, get in here], Alisa quickly responded via a text.
“The portal kicked off, and monsters are pouring out!” Nikola helped the medbot through the door and looked around the room. “Why are you stuck here?”
It was a typical room for small repairs and service of bots and drones. A few large charging stations, an assembly frame, a universal workbench, some tools…
“I’m going to slap together a Wunderwaffe!”
“That’s German for ‘wonder weapon,’ right?”
“Yes, my brother and I were refugees to Germany under the human rights program, we moved there in ‘42, before the war. Max got his college degree in Germany; we came to Kyiv not long ago to continue his education. We can talk about it later if you want.”
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Yeah, back to the matter at hand. Anyway, the portal is open.” Nika waved.
“The drones will be back soon, but they won’t be able to kill all the monsters. It’s a critical situation in the city now because there’s not enough military, police, and corporate law enforcement agencies. If Max didn’t have a broken spine, we could’ve skipped the hospital and just left town as soon as possible. There are plenty of cars down in the underground parking lot.”
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to make a few combat drones out of this scrap from scratch?”
“Do not underestimate my abilities, young lady!” Alisa said in a serious voice, looking up at Nika, her hands on her hips. It looked quite comical because the android was much shorter than the cyborg girl. The latter was tall enough already, but her running blades added about ten more centimeters to her height. So, Red was two heads taller than Alisa.
“Okay, okay,” Nika said, raising her hands and smiling, “you’re right. We need drones, and I could use a better weapon. But those scampering shits are already at the stadium! Almost!”
“Let’s do the following,” she said, grabbing a big quadrupedal robot that stood by the wall with the workbench’s mechanical arm. “This is a universal CaTZ-4-based bot, just what we need! Leave Max by the wall, I’m constantly monitoring his health through the connection to the medbot. My crafting will take about fifteen minutes. Can’t promise much, but I can make a ‘meat shield’ bot for us and a couple of supports. You go down to the parking lot. If it’s empty and clear of monsters, pick the right car, hack it and move it closer to the exit.”
“Well, I guess I could pick a car. But I’m no hacker, how am I supposed to hack it?” asked Nika, positioning the medbot by the wall.
“Look for EasyShare, Uzer, or iDrive logos. I have a city police volunteer account, so just pick a suitable car and stay in touch. Can you share your videostream with me?”
“I can even start a livestream. Actually… No, better not. We don’t want anyone keeping tabs on us,” Nika agreed. “Here, I’ve sent you the invite. Alright, I’m off.”
“Okay, see you. I’ll barricade myself in the room, so that no one could barge in and foil our plans.”
“Dobrze!” Red nodded and left the room.
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Polis Kyiv, Polytechnic Institute, Student startup “KG AeroDrive”
Kamil Teodoryanu and others, August 12, 2049, 11:10 AM
“Hurry up, that thing is getting close!” A well-built young man added an overturned closet to a big, improvised barricade by the doors. “Alba, what’s up?”
“I’m holding it off,” a long-legged brunette of Hispanic descent replied. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, large VR goggles on her eyes, “but you better hurry!”
Most of the ones present were members of a students’ startup specializing in drone racing. They were supposed to have a competition tomorrow, so they were stuck at the university.
“Kamil, that’s everything!” A tall, skinny blond guy brought a large drawer from the next room over. “There’s nothing heavy left, and the desk won’t fit through the door. Jules and I already tried.”
“It’s like Vratislav says; we’ve used everything we could!” a light brown-haired girl in a garish sundress said. “But there’s a gym down the hall. That’s your thing, right, Kamil? Can you swing by and bring, like, two hundred heavy dumbbell plates?”
“An excellent idea, actually,” another tough-looking, wiry student chimed in. “But you should go, Julia, since it’s your idea!”
“Pfft! I’m the brains, you and Kamil are the dumb muscle! You carry that stuff!”
“Whoa, shots fired!” One of those ‘dumb muscles’ said. “Gleb, let’s use her for the barricade. Her bulky brain will make a fine addition.”
“Really, Jules, it’s no laughing matter,” Vratislav quietly remarked looking at the girl. “Everybody’s scared, not just you! Guys, what’s next?”
“If we had a bit more time,” Kamil said, pensively running his hand over his short black hair, “we really could bring a few press benches and some weight bars from the gym. It could stop a tank! But I’m afraid there’s no–”
“Come mierda!” the Spanish girl suddenly cursed, pulling the VR goggles off. “The son of a bitch got me. That’s it, people, we lost the drone!”
“Come on, Alba, what the hell?!” the bodybuilder said indignantly. “That was our only eyes!”
“You try it next time! That thing is lightning-fast and agile, like a Satan’s offspring!” the brunette shot back.
“Alright, alright, sorry! Everybody knows you’re the best!” Kamil raised his hands conciliatorily. “Is it still there?”
“It was just a second ago.” Alba got up, straightening out her denim shorts. “Even though we don’t have a UAV anymore, everybody still has mediaphones. We can leave one camera here, on the windowsill, for example. When that beast breaks through the barricade, we’ll see.”
“If it breaks through the barricade, not when, I hope,” Gleb said, checking how well the furniture that they’d brought last time was laid out. “Okay, let’s get a move on. We’ll hunker down in the gym and wait for help.”
“I’ll try to contact other survivors through the university’s network,” Julia said. “The police and the Army are not picking up anyway.”
“Good,” Kamil said. “We can do that once we’ve sheltered in the gym. Let’s go.”
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Polis Kyiv, Polytechnic Institute
Daria Vasilevskaya, August 12, 2049, 11:10 AM
“I hope it’s safe on the floors…” Dasha whispered, opening the staircase door. “All right, let’s go.”
She had already somewhat recovered after trying to run as far away from the epicenter of battle as possible. Dasha had seen some students and faculty members from a distance, but had still yet to come across any police officers, soldiers, or even a security drone.
The girl had tried to call the police four times and her father in America once, unfortunately, to no avail. Her shoulder was hurting more painfully by the minute. That didn’t stop her, of course, but still caused her serious discomfort.
“Either the battle sounds have fully quieted down, or I’ve gone too far. So creepy… I’ve never seen the University so desolate,” Dasha thought, quivering, “I don’t even know if I’d be happy or scared to see another person right now…”
She descended two flights of stairs and opened the door to the empty lobby on the fifth floor. Surveying the area and not seeing any signs of invasion, the girl carefully stepped forward.
“Phew, lucky… Nothing here. Good. If I remember right, there should be an automatic medical station nearby. I’ll stop by real quick to check my shoulder.”
She hurriedly ran past the elevators and turned into a hallway.
After hearing noise and the sound of breaking glass coming from a closed lecture hall to the left, Dasha tried to slow down and turn around. She almost managed to do that, as the door slammed open loudly right in front of her. A giant praying mantis-like creature sprang out of the lecture hall. Sharply turning, the monster carelessly waved off the stunned girl with a swipe and took off toward the direction she was going.
She didn’t have the time to either react or feel anything. A hard blow to her right thigh, and she got hurled at the wall, spinning in mid-air.
A short flight.
A strong impact.
A fall.
Cowering in terror, Dasha froze, waiting for her short life to be snuffed out…
But nothing had happened after a few minutes. When it got to the point when she couldn’t endure the pain, dizziness, and loud ringing in her ears any longer, the girl tried to get up but only managed to get on all fours. She suddenly felt nauseous and threw up on the floor.
Dasha tried to crawl away, but her right leg was burning where it got hit, and she couldn’t move far. She collapsed into a fetal position, writhing and crying on the cold floor for a few minutes, trying to recover. Unfortunately, the pain in her thigh wasn’t going away, but the floor’s coldness helped a little.
At last, the girl rose up a little, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, and then wiped her hand on her pants. Wobbling, Dasha stood up with difficulty, holding the wall for support.
She wheezed as she struggled to take off her backpack, still leaning against the wall. She took a small plastic bottle out of the side pocket, took two mouthfuls of water to rinse her mouth, then gulped down what was left greedily. Her dizziness got better after drinking the water, but her shoulder and thigh still ached badly.
“Frick! I should’ve left some to clean the wound,” the girl mumbled, looking at the many bleeding cuts on her right leg.
“Can’t… go on… blindly!”
She took a few steps backward.
“I should go back… Where there aren’t any of those things…”
Holding the wall for support and cringing in pain, she returned to the lobby and staggered toward the door leading to the maintenance rooms and disappeared behind it. Making sure it was clear, Dasha sat down on the stairs, put her backpack down next to her and opened the university’s plan in AR.
“Yeah… Not making another step without some intel! Need a map and some eyes.”
The girl sighed, looking at her pant leg despondently. It was completely torn and covered in blood.
“Why… the hell… does it hurt so bad?”
She massaged her temples, trying to alleviate the pain, and “hopped” into a university portal to find a full map detailing all the rooms in the building.
“Vasilevskaya never gives up!” Dasha felt around for her vape in her pocket, took it out and gave a sigh of relief, seeing that it was intact. She didn’t turn it on though out of fear of attracting more monsters with the smell. She just sat for a while, sucking on the mouthpiece, then patted the vape box and put it away.
“Let’s see, let’s see, where could you be?!”
Floor plans were flashing before her eyes as Dasha searched through the rooms. Yes, of course, the room in question wasn’t directly listed in public maps. But that’s not a problem if you know exactly what you're looking for and how to search for it. And, finally, she succeeded.
“Gotcha! Thank Her Holy Brightness there’s a security room in this wing. Before going to the “industrialists,” I gotta get access to the surveillance cameras. ‘Cause I might not survive another encounter… Dammit! Those monsters could be anywhere!”
“I wish I had at least a couple of security drones. All the working ones must already be in use, obviously, but those disabled for maintenance or repairs might be available…”