Animus Complete Series Omnibus, page 218
“I finally got you to say it.” She chuckled, looked at the roads, and pointed to the one in the center.
Kaiden nodded as they continued to advance. “I guess I didn’t want to seem like I simply assumed you wanted to throw your lot in with me,” he admitted. “You’re as free as I am now and have a ton of options. Chief still reminds me that even though we’re both ‘special cases,’ you were actually invited and I was only recruited.”
“And I told you I took the invitation to find my own path,” she replied. “You don’t think it’s possible that path could be with you?”
“It could be, although I don’t know many people who would take the path over the cliff over the golden path.” He chuckled, caught movement in his peripheral vision, and took aim. Almost immediately, he lowered his rifle when he realized it was simply an animatronic advertisement. “That’s annoying.”
“It might be a path that leads to a cliff, but there could be exciting things over the edge,” she countered coyly.
Kaiden chuckled. “Isn’t that romantic.”
Chiyo passed him and made her way into another alley. “It could be that too.”
He stopped for a moment and smiled but his thought was interrupted by Chief. “We have a problem, partner.”
“Did you find them?” His gaze darted to the feed.
“No, but I wanted to let you know the sky is falling.”
His feed revealed the truth of this, although there seemed to be no explanation for it. He pressed a switch on the side of his helmet to sharpen his view of the sky as tendrils of white spread above and the buildings around them began to fade.
The infiltrator lowered her weapon and frowned at the disappearing buildings before she looked at him with real concern. “The Animus is shutting down.” She opened a holoscreen. “Akello, what’s going on?”
“All of you need to get out,” the woman ordered, a worried tone in her voice. “Now!”
“Do you think we should have gone to the AC with Cameron and the others?” Izzy asked as she set her tray down. “I thought I would sleep in, but I was so excited for the first day that I ended up waking up before my alarm even went off.”
“I didn’t sleep much either,” Otto confessed and gestured to Julius. “Although I was working on a new program, something to help Julius make new chems and salves on the fly. All he would have to do is link up his—”
Indre almost dropped her tablet when it began to flash red. “What? What did I do?” She recoiled as Warning flashed over the screen. The others checked their tablets and confirmed that all their alarms had been activated as well.
“Is this a drill?” Izzy looked confused.
“No, they wouldn’t do that on the first day,” Julius reasoned. “The initiates wouldn’t know the procedure.”
“Then this is real?” Otto placed his tablet down. The dozens of other students in the cafeteria area looked at one another in consternation and some rushed outside. “What’s going on?”
“Get out of the way!” Luke shouted as he, Silas, Raul, and Mack pushed their way out of the soldiers’ dorm. “Come on, people. Move!”
The entrance hall was bottle-necked as all the remaining students in the dorm attempted to rush out at the same time. Many weren’t even properly dressed and some even wore nothing but a towel as the dorm alarm had blared in the middle of their morning shower.
Luke and Mack were able to force a small opening for them to push through and finally made it out the doors. A large group of students stared into the sky, wide-eyed. The friends looked up as well and their heart rates increased and breath hitched when they saw something massive break through the clouds.
Wolfson barged into Laurie’s office. The alarms in the building had activated almost as soon as he had stepped in and he now yelled orders into his comm while he searched for the professor.
“I want all security bots activated and on patrol. Send all armored guards to the plaza and get everyone suited up. I want drones in the sky and flyers warming up.” He signed off when he saw Laurie behind his desk, staring at his monitor screen in shock, his face pale and lips pursed.
“Laurie! What the hell is going on?” he demanded.
The professor snapped out of his frozen shock and pressed a button on his board. A massive holoscreen appeared behind him to display the feed of a camera on the edges of the island. The security officer stopped in his tracks when a titanic ship broke through the clouds and descended toward the island. They watched in disbelief as several cannons took aim at the Academy, activated, and fired.
Chapter Nine
“It is now eleven o’clock in the evening and only three world council delegates arrived for today’s debate out of a total of ten. There has been no response to queries as to the other delegates whereabouts and it would appear the debate will be canceled for the evening.”
Anne Myers, one of numerous secretaries in the world council building, tried to tune out the news playing on the monitors above while she made her way over to the general to decide on an answer to the news story. At least four delegates were supposed to represent the military and not a single one had done so. If she had to personally remind the military leader of how important these discussions were for both discourse and public perception, she would, and not happily either.
However, what she was greeted with once she barged into his office immediately changed her anger to confusion and finally, fear. When the door slid open, a smell of mold and curdled milk almost made her gag. She staggered back and blocked her nose when she noticed a white liquid dripping from the general’s chair. His hat and clothes slid off, coated by the mysterious liquid as well a mixture of blood, hair, and yellow pus.
Her eyes widened and she spun to race out to the lobby and find the nearest guard. Fortunately for her, one was coming up the hall as she began her sprint. She almost fell over herself as she slid to a stop and pointed behind her. “The general—something happened…he disintegrated…” She babbled in her effort to formulate a coherent sentence and continued to point frantically behind her as she looked at the guard. To her horror, small pockets formed on his cheeks.
“It was time,” he said in a monotone, and the same rancid smell from the general’s office flowed out of his mouth as he spoke. Anne recoiled from the guard, who simply raised his rifle and fired at her.
“Ma’am, I have another call!” one of the security officers yelled. “Another lobbyist has turned to mush in the middle of the conference hall.”
The co-chief of security bit her lip. This latest report made almost twenty calls, all identical. Delegates, lobbyists, and military personnel all suddenly dissolved into liquid matter. No one recalled them yelling in pain or surprise and in fact, in a couple of cases, it was reported that limbs had fallen immediately before their deaths. What the hell was going on?
“Could this be some kind of nano attack?” she asked no one in particular, but she did get a response from above.
“I can promise that it wasn’t me.” She looked at a man who smiled at her from where he held himself on the ceiling with adhesive grips, his expression amused. Instinctively, she reached for her gun, but with a snap of his fingers, her head erupted. The other officers tried to draw their weapons quickly, but with another snap, more than a dozen men and women lost their lives in small but bright flashes.
Dario dropped from the ceiling and retrieved two tablets as he walked over to one of the consoles. He plugged one of these in and let it boot up while he scrolled through the other.
“We really did cut it close,” he mused quietly when he saw that there were only six timers remaining. Each counted down to the approximate deadline for the golems. “Fortunately, the replacements are made of more durable material.” He changed screens and pressed a green activation button before he set that device aside when the other finished booting up and accessed the system.
In the hangar bay of the council building, several guards jogged over to the group of messenger ships in the corner of the east wing when they heard loud bangs from within.
“Is anyone on board?” the leader asked and cautiously approached the rear entrance of one of the ships, his weapon ready.
“No, sir,” an officer answered. “These came in this morning, all automated.”
“And they weren’t checked? What’s in—” His question cut off abruptly when the door hurtled off the back of the ship and into him and a large group of white-and-silver Arbiter droids surged from the vessel. The guards tried to fire but were incinerated by the mechanicals’ plasma cannons. Other ships began to fall apart and revealed more of the invaders that immediately began to scatter. Some intercepted incoming guards while others forced their way out of the hangar and made their way deeper into the building.
Dario watched the monitors as the droids began their attack and noted that there were probably a little over a hundred all in all. They should be enough to maintain the chaos, but the guards would regroup sooner or later and they still had the numbers advantage. He picked the connected tablet up and smiled as he pressed a button and initiated the lockdown procedure. That should cause a few delays.
Alarms began to blare and the shields activated throughout the building. The assassin smiled as he pressed a few more keys and began the more important part—uploading the virus. Once it had settled in and assumed control, he would be able to send it to any other machine or ship connected to the WC. That, in his opinion, would make the fight a little fairer.
He took out an EI pad and instructed his device to contact Merrick. In short order, the AO leader appeared in hologram form. “What do you have to report, Dario?”
“Phase one is well underway now,” he stated as he checked the tablet’s progress. “I’m sure Jensen did good work on this virus, but it looks like it will take some time before it loads.”
“Are you worried that you may be caught and stopped before the upload can finish?” Merrick questioned.
“Caught? Perhaps, but I certainly won’t be stopped,” he promised. “Although I will say I do hope that Nolan had the gift prepared before his departure. I’m not certain how long our current forces will last.”
“I would think you would relish the chance to have your fill of violence.” His boss chuckled and he simply smiled in return and shrugged nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, my friend. The destroyer is on the way.”
“Splendid. When will it be here?”
“According to the captain’s terminal, ETA is in an hour.”
“Captain’s terminal? Are you the captain?” Dario asked, amused as he leaned casually against his console. “Did you decide to join the fun yourself?”
“It’s where I am needed most,” Merrick stated, a look of determination on his face. “I trust Nolan to take care of Nexus and for everyone else to fulfill their parts. But making sure to topple the council’s systems and bring them under our control is top priority. Everything else is to ensure we have the best opportunity to do so.”
“Understood.” The assassin looked up when someone pounded on the plated door and guards called frantically for assistance. “I have to go for now.” He activated his nanos and walked to let in the new guests. “I’ll see you soon, capo.”
Chapter Ten
The protective dome over the island had somehow been disabled and Nexus students sprinted out of the way of the falling pods. Some ran into buildings while others tried to pull or push others in their path who were too shocked to move. Security bots flooded the plaza seconds before loud hissing issued from each of the grounded pods. Four sections on each disengaged and Arbiter droids emerged. Their eyes flickered to life as they scanned the students around them.
There seemed to be a dozen droids per pod, and more and more landed on the island. Even those that plunged into the lake didn’t falter and some students hurried away from the edges of the island as blue lights could be seen in the water only a few seconds after the pods crashed.
The security bots ordered the students to get back. Many of them helped to escort them to safer areas while others prepared to engage, but they were not as well armed as their adversaries. Most were equipped with shock gauntlets, stun lasers, and force blasters, weapons meant to daze or disable a target, not destroy it.
Several of the Arbiter bots locked in place and looked skyward as their mouths opened wide. A static shriek emitted from their speakers before a message began to play.
“Students and faculty of Nexus academy. We are here for your technology and your service. Your deaths would be most unwelcome and tragic. Please surrender and your lives will be spared until our offer can be made. If you do not comply…” The Arbiter droids arms began to change. Some became cannons while others transformed into flamethrowers or bot casters. Others simply had plasma blades extended that they held up with clear intent. “Then we will do what we must to accomplish the mission.”
Many of the students looked at one another, confused, angry, or frightened. Over near the bushes that decorated the entrance to the cafeteria, Indre, Izzy, Otto, and Julius stared as the security bots began to back away, clearly more focused on keeping the students safe than engaging the hostiles.
Otto noticed a lone bot only a dozen or so yards away. He slid a hand into his pants pocket, pressed a few buttons on his tablet, and caught Indre’s gaze. She held down the trigger on a device in her pocket.
“To hell with this!” a voice in the crowd shouted as a student engineer—indicated by the orange band around his arm—hammered a small crowbar that he took out of his bag into the back of one of the droids’ head. In one movement, he yanked it back and popped a piece of its shell off. The droid threw the student aside and turned to take aim, but before it could fire, its chest burst apart from a shot by the one Otto had taken control of.
His success was short-lived as the mechanical almost immediately turned to him and prepared an attack from its cannon, which was now aimed at the technician. Several shots came from above and it staggered long enough for Izzy to pull Otto away and the group made their escape. He looked at two small drones that attacked the droids and raised an eyebrow at Indre, who had a satisfied smile on her face.
The skirmish seemed to be enough to stir the previously stunned students into retaliation. Some attacked with whatever tools or devices they had with them while others ran to find what they could. The Arbiter droids began to fire into the crowds but most of their attacks were intercepted by the security bots who went onto the offensive to do what damage they could to hold off the onslaught.
“This is an emergency situation, you guys,” Akello warned as Kaiden and his friends stormed outside. “It’s safer for you to stay in here.”
“Holy shit.” Cameron yelped as the group stopped to stare at the massive ship that approached the island, along with the hail of pods that descended into the plaza and the lake.
The ace squinted and immediately recognized the armor design and colors of the droids that emerged from the pods. “Chief, are those…”
“The Arbiter droids,” The EI nodded. “Son of a bitch.”
“What is going on?” Genos asked, his eyes wide. “Are we under attack?”
“We are,” Jaxon stated grimly and held a hand to his commlink. “I can’t connect to the network.”
All the others tried but to no avail. “They’ve shut it down or jammed it.” Kaiden grunted and looked over to the gym. “We’ll have to go and find everyone ourselves. Either follow me or stay with Akello and barricade yourself in the Animus center.”
“Like hell!” Flynn shouted and he nodded at the marksman and motioned for them to follow him to the gym. Chiyo looked at Akello. “See if you can reach someone. We’ll try to direct others over here for safety.”
The head monitor frowned into the sky. “I’m not sure how safe the center will be,” she muttered. “What would someone want with us? Other than—”
“The Animus,” Chiyo stated. She clenched her fists and took one last look at the woman. “Please be safe and don’t try anything foolish. We’ll be back.” With that, she hurried to catch up with the rest of the group as they followed Kaiden.
“Where are we going?” Cameron asked.
“The gym. Wolfson has a personal stash of weapons I can get us access to,” the ace explained. “I’ve fought those droids and we’ll need more than sticks and practice weapons to confront them.”
“You’ve fought them?” Marlo asked. “What are they? They don’t look like normal Soldier droids.”
“I call them Arbiter droids. The best way to think of them is as modified Havoc droids,” he explained as he pushed through the gym entrance. A few dozen students worked feverishly to take the machinery and workout stations apart to use the pieces and equipment as makeshift weapons.
“It’ll be one thing dealing with the bots,” Chiyo said with another glance at the enormous vessel above them. “But that ship will require more than only firepower.”
“Sasha?” Wolfson bellowed into his comm. He barreled out of the R&D building with the plasma cannon Laurie had given him, charged it immediately, and fired as soon as a few of the familiar droids appeared. He turned barely in time to see one aim at him with a torch, prepared to burn him alive. In response, he raised an arm outfitted with a gauntlet of Laurie’s design. A shimmering purple field enveloped it as the flames surged from its arm. The purple energy erupted from his gauntlet and enveloped both the flames and the mechanical, which began to melt as it was trapped inside the barrier with its own flames.
“Sasha, can you hear me?” he called again
