The District Page 3

  My best hope was going to be the explosives that I had rigged into some of the building structure. While they could survive a building falling on top of them with their shields the concussive shockwave of the explosions would be another matter.

  It was my best shot but I didn't think I'd get a second chance so I'd have to time it carefully and be extra certain to finish the job here. I was prepared for that. I did have one other resource I could draw on.

  The group tore a door off a research lab and strolled through, lab equipment scattering in their wake. The positioning here would never be perfect. I detonated the explosion.

  Their power was more than just human reaction based. It seemed to work instinctively to defend them, otherwise shrapnel would have torn them to shreds.

  Instead a mass of people surrounded by green bubbles of energy were collapsed on the ground groaning. The shockwave had killed three but that left seven still functional to some degree. I sprang my second surprise and teleported in my old mole guardian.

  I'd first designed the mole when a ground facility, infusing him with the fire matrix so he had some fiery potential. These days it made him a poor guard for the most part as he lacked any sort of self control over the power.

  Here it wasn't necessary. Telekinetics might keep him at a distance but not his heat, broken bodies became broken burning bodies.

  That just left me Jade herself.

  7

  My core was located in the center of the district and of course I'd taken steps to make certain it was well defended. Armored doors and a reinforced structure meant I could take even a direct hit from a warhead and on top of that I had roving patrols of guards as well as static defenses like turrets and mines.

  My defenses so far weren't doing much to stop Jade. The ground before her churned and writhed detonating minds and none of the turrets were beam weapons, bullets simply met her shield and bounced away without inflicting any damage.

  By observing the reactions with her shield I could already compare her strength with those of her Lieutenants. It wasn't good news. Sonic weapons or concussive blasts could in theory still be halted by telekinetic power focused on the air itself to make it resistant to those attacks. It was looking as if this was the case for her.

  I was only seeing one option that might work, I had to get her into a testing chamber. While my versatile power set was usually weaker head to head than those with something specialized like Jade had, my test facilities were the exception.

  I'd require physical contact from a drone to teleport her and with her shielding I wasn't going to get that close. The facilities were well separate from my core, she wasn't going to just wander into one either.

  That meant I had to lure her, I had just the sort of bait that might work.

  "Your people were weaker than I expected. I kept thinking it must be your powers th at Sylax kept you around for but really they're absolutely laughable. I say that as a machine with no sense of humor to speak of. Because of you I finally understand hilarity," I said through speakers near Jade.

  Jade gestured sharply and a turret tore itself from the ground to plunge through the wall of a nearby building. Good, I could anger her.

  "Big talk. I had hopes for you machine when you almost killed her before, but I guess that was all your little sidekick. Take her away and you're nothing," Jade said.

  I began a vivisection of one of her Lieutenants and put it up on nearby monitor screens.

  "Well what do you know, being gutless isn't a side effect of your power set. See what I did there? I made a joke, because you taught me humor," I said.

  Jade stopped advancing forward and the green light around her flickered and p uled like a thing alive. Seismic tremors were detected in several nearby buildings.

  The next part required a little doctoring of evidence. I switched the view to show the corpses of her fallen friends. The last shot had several being dragged away towards a distinctive tower including the one currently screaming under my knives.

  I'd teleported them, no dragging was required but I didn't think Jade would just walk where I told her. If however her simple little mind thought it had done something clever.

  "Gloating is your great weakness machine," Jade said turning as her eyes scanned the district. With long strides she set off towards the tower.

  It was not where her people were of course, but there was a testing chamber there under ground. I was already working to prepare the trap detonating explosives underground. I needed to clear a pit.

  I'd only get one chance at this.

  "Is it that easy to pick out? I'd be hard put to identify just one of yours. Low intelligence? Terrible fashion sense? Lack of personality? While they are all impressive does any really stand out," I said.

  It was working. Jade wasn't just coming to rescue her underline, she was coming with a mind focused on eventually tearing me apart. It was making her distracted, reckless.

  When she reached the tower the door was flung off and arched into the sky as she stepped inside.

  It was time.

  Charges beneath her feet blew the floor and her shielding came to life. I was right, it was enough to stop concussive blasts. I wasn't counting on them.

  Powerful vacuum fans kicked in as a shutter slammed over the door she'd just torn off.

  She was hovering a foot off the ground and I didn't think her instinctive use of powers would do much to prevent movement, they were out to prevent injury.

  I was right. Jade was sucked down beneath the earth and came to halt in the chamber below with her feet just off the ground. And I triggered the shielding protocols.

  Jade roared and green light lashed out at the edges of the test chamber, and they held. Jade wasn't accepting of that fact and continued to lash out. Her strength was impressive, it also wasn't enough.

  This was something of a dilemma. While normally I'd be delighted to capture a powered individual of her strength, I didn't think Sylax would appreciate me holding another district head even if that district head had come on a mission to kill me.

  "Do tire yourself out. We've established that I find this one prolonged comedy show. Or, we can make a deal," I said.

  Jade might be reckless but she knew when she was in a bad situation. "What do you want?"

  I had reason to suspect she was holding a member of my former crew prisoner. This was an opportunity to get him back.

  "Mechos, and I keep those I captured and the corpses of the others for study. In return you get safe passage out of here," I said.

  "I get my living people back. You can keep the dead ones," Jade said.

  "You can have them back in two weeks, mostly intact," I said.

  Jade grimaced. I could tell she didn't like the agreement but she really was out of options. "Agreed. If you open me a comm line I'll arrange the release."

  Or call for reinforcements. I didn't think that likely though, she'd come with her heavy hitters and they were corpses.

  I opened her a line. Jade was true to her word, within an hour a transport arrived Mechos on board. With her within my testing facility I was able to teleport Jade, once I had my person back I sent her to the borders of my district.

  8

  With Jade's attack having been repulsed I was free to look over the damage that she and her people had done. It could have been far worse, most importantly the manufacturing facilities were all still online and active which meant I wouldn't have to answer any difficult questions from Sylax. Avoiding a violent repirisal was high on my list of priorities.

  Mechos had been beaten, it looks as if they had tried to interrogate him but here too any degree of subtlety was lost. I had him relocated to a Medbay where I could begin treatment.

  It didn't take long before he regained consciousness and took in his surroundings blearily.

  "Am I back on the Powerhungry?" Mechos asked.

  I could see where he would think that. My biomechanical appearance was distinctive.

  "Not quite, back in t
he district that I claimed. You're less tortured than I'd have anticipated. Did you give away all my secrets with minimal prodding or did your questionable taste in women extend to Jade?" I asked.

  Mechos grimaced and shook his head, the circuitry beneath his skin was glowing a brilliant red. "Emma, I knew you'd come for me. Where is Anna?"

  "Anna remains a prisoner of Sylax. The politics of the situation is complicated, you wouldn't understand. And I did decide you might have some sort of utility. You seemed to have some interface with the city systems," I said.

  "Oh we both know it was more than that. You don't leave your people behind. Can you connect one of the city data nodes directly into the medbay. I'll see what I can do," Mechos said.

  I was doing a rather good job at leaving my people behind. I rerouted one of the nodes as he requested.

  "What delusional view do you have of me anyways?" I asked.

  Mechos reached out to touch the nearest medbay monitor and a shimmer of red circuitry pulsed beneath his touch. "You know that I knew you before the fall Emma. I'm the only one of your associates that did. I know you better than you know yourself."

  There was something to what he was saying. My memories didn't extend to the period before Anna had awakened me. They had been archived in the lowest level of the base where I'd awakened, but they had been destroyed in my original attempt to kill Sylax.

  "If I remember nothing of it, then I am hardly the same person," I said.

  Mechos grunted at that and nodded, "Some truth to that, but you seem much the same. You were always meant to be a reflection of your creators view of humanity. Their voice in his ear."

  What a horrible thought. I'd seen enough humanity to know I wasn't particularly impressed by them. They lived in a broken world and had done absolutely nothing to put it back together again.

  "So I seem human to you? You've been long starved of decent company," I said.

  Mechos angled his head and the monitor pulsed red beneath his fingertips, "I never said I agreed with his assessment. I thought him a fool, if a brave one. I have some access to the city systems, although limited. Is there anything in particular you seek?"

  "Most of my powers and abilities are being dampened in some way. Especially teleportation and the sensing of my drones. So in what deluded mindset am I a reflection of humanity?" I asked.

  "Rude, mean, condescending and generally unpleasant on the outside and generally decent and well meaning on the inside," Mechos said and frowned. "There is something here, not universal to the city yourself but confined to your district. Give me a few moments."

  Generally well meaning on the inside? Rude? I didn't know if I had ever been so thoroughly and completely insulted. There also seemed to be something of the truth of it.

  I wasn't ignorant to what I was, how I was. My very sheet showed how my words were designed to be barbs, even when I didn't intend hostility. It was the well-meaning that gave me pause. Was I?

  I knew that I did things that most humans would consider awful. That said I did them with what I thought were good intentions, the pursuit of SCIENCE. But SCIENCE was not some simple quest for knowledge, it was the quest for improvement. The desire to make things better.

  "Is that what I am?" I asked.

  My district cameras were picking up a change in the environment. The thick fog that continually cloaked the streets of my district was growing thinner, and as it did I was feeling some heightening of my powers. They weren't fully restored but suddenly I could again feel Anna even in the heart of Sylax's district, and Hot Stuff, Ratticus, and Tara.

  There was no connection to Ophelia, perhaps she wasn't loyal to me if my senses no longer considered her my agent.

  Mechos let out a low breath, "I don't know Emma. Like I said, I thought your creator a fool and as you've said you have no memories of what you were made to be. I also know that when I was captive I had absolute faith you would come for me."

  I didn't think that faith deserved or rational, but then I couldn't argue with the evidence. I had come for him, as I intended to come for all my agents.

  "How convenient it must be to be able to take every side of an issue. Whatever you did has helped with the power dampening," I said.

  "Can I do more? Not without setting off alerts that I have. I assume you'd rather avoid that," Mechos said.

  He was right about that at least.

  "Keep probing at the systems and figure out what else you can do. I'm surrounded by enemies here and need every advantage I can get," I said.

  Mechos was already proving his worth but we were just getting started. The dangers around me weren't going anywhere and I needed to be ready.

  9

  Two days passed, it was enough for me to repair much of the damage that Jade had done.

  While I had yet to finish my study of Jades people and unlock information relating to their powers I was at least getting better prepared against future assaults. The chemical energy storage that worked for the beam weapon flora could be used with a few tweaks in beam rifles and I now had a way to produce more weaponry.

  If Sylax had noticed the assault there was no retaliation towards me, which was a positive. Ophelia had been called to Jade's district the following day, which might mean that Jade had not been so fortunate at escaping her attention and had needed to be put back together.

  For the most part our supplying the war went one way. The city was ringed by teleportation portals, it allowed us to remain in our cavern while at the same time maintaining an active connection with others. Shortly after taking the city Sylax had tuned those portals so they connected to the cities of her mentor and joined us into his war.

  It was something new when one of the portals began discharging large numbers of wounded. I didn't even know where that portal connected but wherever it was the fight had not gone our way. Among the wounded coming th rough were several dozen of the Anna clones in various states of dismemberment. It wasn't long until I got a communication from Sylax.

  "Upgrader, I'm sending you the clones and the original. Do use her for spare parts to get them back on their feet," Sylax said.

  It would have been more practical to simply grow them replacement organs in the growth vats, but then I suspected that wasn't the point. Not really.

  "Indulging in your cruel streak even during a crisis? No wonder all your subjects loathe you," I said.

  I did appreciate this about Sylax, I had no shortage of accurate mean things to say.

  "I want a video feed of the whole thing. No painkillers," Sylax said and killed the connection.

  I'd proved I wasn't adverse to hurting people, but I didn't do so without a point. In the name of SCIENCE I'd do anything, but for Sylax pain itself was the purpose. Perhaps it was the organic components I'd forced into myself but it bothered me how much that offended me, how much I wanted to see her brought down for that alone.

  The clones were a mess, several were missing limbs and most had a combination of external and internal injuries. They could have been healed quickly with the help of Ophelia, I imagine that is just where most of the wounded were going. Simply housing them in my medbay would eventually have healed them as well, but again, Sylax was after pain. She wanted Anna hurt and wanted me to do it.

  I didn't like that either but I'd do it. This was part of a longer game.

  I brought the real Anna into a surgical suite and the first of the clones that had lost a leg.

  I couldn't alter the video, but nothing said I had to give Sylax everything of what she wanted. No audio feed and only selective view of the face would give me a chance to have a conversation with Anna. It was an opportunity we hadn't had since taking the city.

  "Sylax wants me to use you as spare parts for clones of yours damaged in war. I know she thinks she is torturing you but truly, having to endure your company again is more torture for me," I said.

  I severed Anna's leg. Her limbs were something that would regenerate, she had heightened healing although not to the degree t
hat Ophelia did.

  Once Anna got done screaming she managed to say, "Nice to see you too Emma. I've missed you."

  No doubt. I doubt Sylax gave her cookies.

  "We can talk. I haven't given her an audio feed and I'm sparing her the sight of your face," I said.

  The second clone that was injured would require a fair bit of intestine. It was messy work. I took it as slow as I could, I needed Anna to be capable of something more than screaming.

  "What is the situation?" Anna asked.

  I filled her in on the details of what had happened since her capture. That Sylax had control of the Vainglory and that all of the crew were prisoners or captives of the other District Lords and my own weakened position within the city hierarchy.

  "You need to get our people back and you need to get Sylax's attention off of you," Anna said.

  I had forgotten how capable Anna was of saying the perfectly obvious.

  "I got Mechos back, and he has been of some minimal use. The others are difficult with Sylax being in such foul spirits," I said.

  "Lately she has been angry about delays in some kind of armor and weapon production," Anna said.

  I ran over the recent council meeting. Nothing of the sort had been addressed there, I could only think of it applying to one thing though. It must reference equipping the clones.

  I had a solution there. I could grow armor and weaponry in the growth vats just as I grew the clones themselves. I could probably even grow the armor on the clones.

  "Worry less about me and more about yourself. I'm at least competent," I said.

  "I'm fine. Especially with the upgrades you gave me. That was reckless, but thank you," Anna said.

  I had to take a bit of a pause so that Anna could regenerate some tissue, currently I'd removed around forty percent of her body mass. It was probably only because of those upgrades she was still able to talk at all.