Rubicon, page 8
“Fuck. No,” Kato grunted, blowing past Adriene toward Daroga and the Stormwalkers.
Kato marched away, fists tight at his sides. Adriene tilted her head. Interest even more piqued.
The Stormwalkers exchanged amused glances as Kato approached, all three turning to face him.
“Ah, Lian…” The taller one’s lips pressed into a pretentious sneer. “Wondered when you’d show up. Always the good corporate lapdog.”
Daroga held up one hand toward Kato, the other toward the Stormwalkers. “Now, fivers,” he said, with an air of warning. His posture straightened, some confidence returning to bolster his tone. “It’s far too early for this.”
“It’s far too early for their bullshit,” Kato retorted.
Adriene scoffed, a bubble of amusement rising in her chest.
“Aww,” the short one crooned. “The Provan bumpkin’s all worked up.” He cast an adoring look at the other two.
The taller one snickered.
Daroga sighed. “Please, guys. Keep things civil,” he urged. “If you start something now, you’ll all wind up in the brig for the day. You could end up deployed with barely a single sim under your belts.”
“What the hell?” A husky woman’s voice carried in from the vestibule’s entrance. The Stormwalkers, Daroga, and Kato all glanced over, and Adriene’s gaze followed.
The fourth Stormwalker—a thin woman in her forties with pale skin and graying blond hair—stomped down the stairs toward her squad.
“I swear on Mira’s last breath…” The woman marched right up to the shorter Stormwalker and smacked him on the back of the head.
He dropped his chin, ashamed, and the other two withered as well, all amped-up bravado vanishing.
The woman growled, “I leave for two fucking minutes to take a piss and you guys are already starting shit?”
Adriene couldn’t catch the exact words as the three Stormwalkers mumbled, presumably apologizing. The older woman jutted a finger toward the suite. Properly cowed, the Stormwalkers picked up their helmets and shuffled inside.
The woman glowered after them as she curtly retied her hair. She exchanged a few quick, quiet words with Daroga, then followed her team into the suite.
Daroga went to the suite’s terminal, chin low, his black hair curtaining his expression as he started typing.
Kato stomped back toward Adriene. Shoulders stiff, he propped against the wall beside her. “Assholes,” he muttered under his breath.
“What was that all about?” Adriene asked.
He crossed his arms with a huff. “Just the Stormwalkers talkin’ shit. Bein’ ignorant jerks, as always.”
“The Provan thing?”
“Nah,” he grumbled. “They’re just fuckin’ rude. Always talkin’ down to Carl, actin’ like he hasn’t had more face time with the scrappers than every one of us combined.”
It took her a few seconds to link the name “Carl” with Daroga.
Kato frowned at her, then mumbled, “Other than maybe you, I guess.”
She quirked a brow at him. “Daroga?”
He nodded.
“The corporate egghead?”
Kato cast a fleeting glimpse across the room, then the remaining frustration in his expression softened with … sorrow? Sympathy? Pity? She couldn’t tell.
He sidled closer to Adriene and lowered his voice. “He was in the Brownout.”
Adriene’s brow creased. “Really?” She glanced past Kato’s shoulder to Daroga, still working at the suite terminal. “But he must have been just a kid.”
“Yeah,” Kato sighed.
“The consolidation?” she ventured.
Kato nodded, solemn. “He was twelve. Came from Bryer-III.”
Adriene chewed the inside of her lip, dragging her thoughts back twenty years, ninety-six lives ago. She had only been nine at the time, but she still remembered the events well, having sat for weeks on end watching the endless media coverage while her father paced, wearing a trench into their living room floor. Before the Brownout, he hadn’t had half as much gray in his hair.
First contact with the Mechan had, justifiably, triggered panic. CNEF was stretched way too thin, and after a handful of tragic incidents at the out-system colonies, the Concord Nations began withdrawing everyone to the Miran system so they’d be easier to protect. Only three of almost a hundred ships made it back to Mira. The rest were intercepted by Mechan forces during the retreat.
For weeks, those colonists were held hostage while the Mechan established a blockade, which soon became known as the Firewall, around the Miran system. Then the negotiations began.
That part didn’t last long. Though they’d never released specifics, it was safe to assume that it was less of a negotiation, more of a dictation. The Mechan hive mind informing the Concord Nations directorate of how things were going to go.
Miraculously, the bots kept their word and released the colonist hostages, though not before thousands had died. Though allegedly, only due to sickness or starvation. The scrappers hadn’t directly killed a single person.
But if Adriene’s experience being held captive by Mechan was any indication, execution might have been the kinder option.
Daroga walked up behind Kato, stopping to lay a hand on the shorter man’s shoulder. “Thanks, bud. You didn’t have to.”
Kato pouted, kicking the floor with the toe of his boot. “I dunno why you won’t let me beat the shit outta them.”
Tone affectionate, Daroga replied, “It’s for your own good.”
Kato patted the hand Daroga had laid on his shoulder and smiled up at him. Daroga looked over to Adriene.
She shifted interest to her fingernails, her instinct to avoid eye contact at all costs. Then that seemed even more awkward, so she forced herself to look back up. “You again,” she said.
“Don’t sound too disappointed.” He smiled, though it wasn’t reflected in his eyes.
“I take it you’re a live-in?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. Permanent posting.”
Kato rested his temple against Daroga’s shoulder, fluttering his eyelashes at him. “He’s our very own groupie.”
Daroga elbowed Kato in the ribs, and Kato retreated with a whining yelp.
“This ‘groupie’ regulates every piece of tech you use,” Daroga pointed out, “so you may want to rethink the name-calling.”
Kato tapped his chin. “How about ‘resident nerd’?”
Daroga threw out a jab, but missed as Kato sidestepped, then scurried away past Brigham, who huffed in general disapproval as he approached, newly serviced rifle in tow. “We doin’ this or what?” Brigham grunted.
Gallagher cast Adriene a smile as she approached as well, hauling a sleek black sniper rifle that probably cost half a year’s wages.
Daroga’s glower at Kato morphed to pure professionalism as he turned to address Brigham. “Ready when you are, Lieutenant.”
“Activate Rubicons,” Brigham ordered.
“Aye, aye.” Daroga made a few quick taps on his tablet.
A twinge fired through the back of Adriene’s eyes along with a short flash of white. It cleared away and the simple, sharp, black-or-white HUD lines overlaid her vision.
// Welcome to Rubicon. //
Adriene held her palm against her temple, feeling briefly unmoored as the soothing male voice rang into her mind.
// Searching for access point, please hold … //
She remained perfectly still for a few drawn-out moments, breathing slowly.
// Connection to mainframe established. //
A slew of notifications appeared in her HUD, one after the other, almost too fast to read: “Peripherals detected, establishing connections … Hardsuit, connected. Pathfinder module 1.0, connected. Firearms (2), connected,” and a dozen others she didn’t understand.
The messages disappeared at once.
Adriene’s gaze went straight to Brigham as he adjusted settings on his rifle. Thin strips of red light now lined the planes of his suit—artificial coloring that hadn’t been there before. Two parallel strips ran from the small of his back up to the base of his neck, and a single thin line ran down each of his arms and legs. Gallagher’s suit looked much the same, though the lines were green.
Adriene looked down at her own suit, but saw no color.
// Yellow. //
A shiver ran down her spine. The thing could literally read her thoughts.
She pushed the unease aside. It was just part of the fun. She had to get used to it.
// An unsynced suit has been detected in range. //
Adriene turned to Kato, who leaned against the wall, half-asleep. His suit lacked the glowing strips of color, and instead, his outline had been highlighted in white, pulsating slowly.
// Would you like to establish a connection? //
She cleared her throat. Yes …
// Requesting handshake … Sync complete. //
The white highlight disappeared, and bright blue lines swept down Kato’s arms, legs, and back.
Kato jerked upright, going almost cross-eyed for a second before he looked over at her.
“Sorry,” she said. “Is it bad form to sync without asking first?”
“Not at all.” He smiled and pushed off the wall, stepping closer. Some of the color had returned to his cheeks.
“You seem to be feeling better,” she commented. “Rather suddenly…”
He flashed a grin. “Rubie gave me a nice stim cocktail to help with the hangover.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Rubie?”
“Yeah! What, you haven’t named yours yet?”
“Uh … no. Haven’t really had a chance.”
“Oh, right.” He smiled. “Well, lemme know if you have questions, but really, it’s all pretty intuitive. Your VI will control everything for ya, ’cept our hyphens.”
“Hyphens?”
“Ah, don’t got those in the 803rd either?”
“By default, you can assume we had nothing you guys have.”
He chuckled. “Fair enough.” He turned his forearm over and tapped his suit. A thin panel slid open, revealing a small screen recessed in his bracer. “Hyphen.”
She squinted at it. “What’s it for?”
“It’s just a basic terminal interface,” he began, “but it’s in its own little world, air-gapped from the rest of the suit and Rubicon. As the team’s engineer, I have to use mine a lot—mostly when interfacin’ with systems we might not have firewalls for or can’t trust. Though, Rubie’s a better hacker than I even am. I’m sure she could fend off most anything.” He shrugged. “Suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry sometimes, though.”
Adriene turned over her own arm and tapped the suit. The hyphen’s cover slid open.
“Hyphen’s nothin’ for you to worry about,” Kato clarified. “I’ll have ya covered in that regard. But if ya got questions about anything else, your VI’s your go-to.” He glanced back at Brigham, embroiled in conversation with Daroga. “If ya got anything to ask ’er, now might be a good time. We’ll be hittin’ the sim before ya know it.”
Adriene nodded her thanks, then closed her hyphen.
She drew her focus inward, not entirely sure where to start. She didn’t believe for a second that the basic description given in the primer had even scratched the surface of the VI’s capabilities.
Though one thing she hadn’t even gotten a shitty primer on was her pathfinder module. Might as well start there.
// Certainly. Pathfinder module version 1.0.0 contains six survey programs and twelve database programs. //
A chill ran up her spine. The mind reading thing would definitely take some getting used to.
// Survey programs include Geological, Ecological, Topographical, Cartographical, Structural, and when available, Orbital. Databases include biology, chemistry, geology, ecology, astrophysics, technology, architecture, engineering, archeology, anthropology, history, and biota, including flora, fauna, and fungi. //
Adriene ran a hand through her short hair and heaved a sigh.
// There is no need to feel overwhelmed. //
She narrowed her eyes. Who said I felt overwhelmed?
// Vitals indicate an elevated heart rate, increased levels of cortisol—//
“No, just—” Adriene said, then cut herself short as she realized she’d spoken aloud. She glanced at Kato, but he stood reclined against the wall, whistling softly, oblivious.
It’s fine, she thought quietly. You don’t need to explain.
// Understood. However, please remember you do not need a practical understanding of these programs and their functionalities. You will not interface directly with any one program. Rubicon exists as a bridge to facilitate. //
Adriene nodded slowly, exhaling a steadying breath. It was almost too useful. This really would be a whole other way of operating. She wouldn’t have to take the normal steps in evaluating a problem and determining a solution before setting a course of action. Most of the work was going to be done for her. It was like an entire COB kit and then some, directly in her suit. Or her head—she wasn’t actually sure which. Maybe both.
She lifted her arms, eyeing the streamlined edges of the unscuffed, matte-black suit. The 803rd wouldn’t see tech like this for … fifteen years? Maybe longer. Hell, they may never see tech like this.
Brigham slung his rifle as he approached the ajar door to suite one. “Here we go, Forward Recon,” he prompted with an inviting sweep of his arm.
Kato frowned. “Give the newbie a minute, LT.”
“It’s fine.” Adriene lifted her helmet on, and it locked into place with a short hiss. “I’m good.”
Brigham cast Kato a smug grin. “See? She’s good.”
Daroga finished inputting something into their suite’s terminal, then locked it down. “You guys okay for now?”
Brigham waved him off. “Yeah, man, we’re good.”
Daroga left to greet an incoming squad, and Brigham fanned his arms in wide circles, herding Adriene, Kato, and Gallagher into their suite.
The lights dimmed as the door sealed behind them.
Adriene double-checked her coilgun settings. Though by default, all weapons aboard the ship were automatically constrained to training mode, she preferred to be extra certain she wouldn’t accidentally shoot a giant hole in the wall.
A computerized voice, nearly as smooth as the counseling VI, rang over the loudspeakers. “Welcome, Forward Recon. Engagement 14F. All variables randomized. Please confirm.”
“Confirmed,” Brigham voiced.
“Simulation loaded. Good hunting.”
Buds of neon light flickered on all around the room, emanating from the thousands of small holes in the walls, ceiling, and floors.
// There are precisely 151,625 reference nodes. //
Uh … thanks.
Adriene squinted as the light extended, remaining hazy and indistinct as it grew toward the center of the room, then coalesced in a brilliant flare of white light.
When the flash settled, a picturesque forest stretched out around them. A verdant underbrush carpeted the forest floor, encircling the thick trunks of ancient cedar trees, stretching up toward a clear blue sky. A shallow creek burbled softly from somewhere nearby, the scent of wildflowers and cedar thick on the air.
Adriene tilted her head side to side, tracing the image surrounding her. If she moved her eyes quickly enough, she could just barely catch a slight tearing at the harder edges of objects. Even so, she’d never seen a hologram even half as detailed before.
// The suite technology works in conjunction with your hardsuit to display a virtual reality environment that can be experienced in tandem with your squadmates. //
So … not a hologram?
// Correct. //
Thanks.
// You are welcome. //
Then Gallagher said, “We have contacts on overwatch.”
* * *
A soft ding rang out, and Adriene jerked upright. She took a few deep breaths, confused by the cushioning on the cot below her.
And she was too cool, too temperate. She couldn’t still be in that inferno of a storage hold.
Sensing her movement, the lights illuminated slowly and the memories came back—the 505th, Flintlock, the Aurora. This was where she lived now.
Her back ached as she pushed up onto her elbows, fatigue plaguing her movements. She flopped back down.
Earlier, she’d almost fallen asleep in the shower before she’d made it to bed. They’d run simulations for eight hours with only one short lunch break, and she’d returned sweaty, sore, and feeling pretty much as in the dark as when they’d started.
The same chime that’d woken her rang out again, and a light beside the door frame flashed. Apparently, that was the doorbell.
She wiped the sleep from her eyes and stepped to the door controls. It slid open.
Daroga flashed a smile. “Sergeant.”
“You.” She stifled a yawn. “Again.”
He smirked. “Me, again. Sorry—you racked out already?”
“No, just needed a nap. I’m not on ship time yet. Still adjusting.”
“Right. That’s always fun. Just thought I’d check in and see how you’re feeling after trying out the implant.”
“Oh. Fine.”
“Good, good.” He pushed his long black hair out of his eyes. “I’ve never had an install that tough before. Just wanted to make sure it was going well.”
“Should I be worried?” she asked.
“No, no.” He held up placating hands. “Definitely not.”
“Well, it seems fine, but I haven’t really spent all that much time with it yet.”
“Right, of course,” he said quickly. “Just let me know if you have any headaches or anything.”
“Okay,” she agreed, rubbing at her dry eyes. “I will.”
He made as if to go, then hesitated. “By the way, there’s a bit of a watering hole down on deck six. If you wanted to meet some of the crew.”
“The Hold?” she asked, and he nodded. “Kato mentioned it.”
“Right. I was the new guy once too is all. Figured I’d let you know. In case you didn’t. But, you do.”
