Novus Dies, page 2
The Hesper’s mantric voice chants in her mind: ’Will you switch her off now? Will you switch her off now? Will you switch her off n—’ Kate’s still staring at the lockers on the far side of the room when a knock on the door stirs her. ‘Come in.’ A man steps into the room and her face relaxes as she smiles warmly. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I work here, you know,’ he answers.
Kate folds her arms and tries to keep the coyness from her voice. ‘I thought you only work half days.’
‘Well, half day’s still two hours out,’ he replies with a stupid grin.
She returns her husband’s kiss and squeezes another tea.
Monty slides in beside her—butt against the counter and as close as he can comfortably get—and then he prods her foot with a matching black working shoe. ‘How’s the first day back going?’
Kate stares at the floor for a second and then nods her head slowly. ’Good, hon, it’s been good so far. Thanks.’ When she looks at Monty, her eyes find upturned lips and smiling epicanthic folds. She bumps him with her shoulder.
They take their tea over to their desks, swiveling their chairs to face each other. They’re on the clock, and neither of them balks at switching to the task at hand.
‘What are you thinking about that feed that came in last night?’ Monty asks over a sip of tea.
‘The one with the Hesper tearing off fingers?’
‘Yup.’
‘Not sure yet. It seems to be another first.’
‘A lot of those in the last couple of months.’
Kate puffs her cheeks and exhales loudly. ‘You can say that again.’
‘The mother’s checked into their building’s medbunk. She’s sedated and they’re busy printing her a new pinkie. The father’s waiting at her side if you want to go talk to him.’
‘Why can’t we talk to him on comms?’ Kate asks.
Monty raises his eyebrows. ‘A robot just tore off his wife’s finger in front of their daughter.’
Kate nods slowly. ‘Well, when you say it like that, I guess I want to go talk to him. Which hub?’
‘Central.’
Kate takes a moment to consider.
‘You up for that?’ Monty asks.
‘Of course.’
‘How’s your capacity?’
‘Good.’
‘Regulated?’
‘Yes.’
‘I can take it if you don’t feel up to it.’
‘The Collective works ’cause—’
‘Everyone works,’ Monty finishes for her. He chuckles diffidently. ‘Okay, Katy, your call. Do you have your new comms?’
‘Yup, got it this morning.’
‘Trained?’
‘Not yet, but we’ll be able to communicate.’
‘One thing the damn thing’s good for at least.’
‘Like you said, hon, a lot of firsts.’
They toast each other and get to work.
Monty’s voice drones in the background while Kate picks up her nanovar soft armor, unpops the nozzle from the hydration port next to the lock box and straps it on.
‘Monty, prep my squad and sanction one LPC for the trip.’
‘Already done. I’ve added two extra RAVs, bringing it up to four.’
‘I’m okay with my team, thanks.’
‘You’re taking two extra RAVs, Katy.’
‘Copy that,’ she says while rolling her eyes.
‘I saw that.’
Kate chuckles as she inspects her WRAP. Happy that it’s in good working order, she opens her lock box, removes her battle-belt, checks its integrity, and clasps it around her waist. One of her belt pouches contains her augs; she takes out the clear-lensed optics, checks them and places them high on her head. She confirms that the rest of the belt pouches are secure and stocked up, and then straps on her gloves.
The last item Kate picks from the lockbox is her trusty CR-04.
‘We should ask engineering to make you something smaller,’ Monty says from behind her.
‘What? Why?’ Kate asks.
‘Those things are too big for your dainty little hands.’
Kate laughs. ‘Don’t you worry yourself about my dainty little hands, Monty Park. I’d rather have my dainty little hands than those big ape fingers of yours. And in any case, you know it’s the weight that counts.’ She hefts the carbine and feels its familiar, lightweight receiver. After checking it thoroughly, she clasps the big bot-ready grips tightly, pulls the oversized stock into her shoulder, and sights through her optics. Happy, she moves on to her mags, seating one and pressing the rest into the mag pouches on her belt. When she’s done with her firearm, she swaps the batteries on all her powered equipment and then checks everything again.
‘Ready for mission brief, hon.’
‘Mission: Travel to Central Hub and debrief one Mr. Smith concerning Hesper incident. Received?’
‘Copy.’
‘Execution: Your unit will travel by LPC to Central, using route 13 from the standard Collective route package. You will deploy all four RAVs as wide perimeter. Your squad will remain outside Central Hub at the secbunk. You will debrief Mr. Smith, and afterwards you will meet up with your unit and travel back using a route that I will designate before departure. Received?’
‘Copy.’
‘Context: No contact is expected and no movement has been seen on route 13 for the last three days. Certain militant excom factions seem to have reorganized and appear to have undergone another evolution. Exact locations unknown. If you hit contact, you are free to fire at will and you are expected to kill any that are a threat to Collective interests. Regular wildlife and good travel conditions in general are to be expected. Received?’
‘Received. Unpack the evolution.’
‘It’s tactical in nature. They’re still using low-tech gear pilfered from the Collective, but they seem be veering away from their standard doctrine. It’s making the attacks harder to predict.’
‘Understood,’ Kate says before kissing Monty and making for the door.
CHAPTER 4
‘These ’ere, boys an’ girls, are your standard Collective Robotic Aerial Vehicles—or RAVs for short. Now don’t worry too much about specifics, y’all will get to know ’em soon enough. The most common of ’em all though are these three here. From small to large: the Light Recon RAV, affectionately referred to as “sniffers”; the Medium Recon RAV, which never really got its own name an’s mostly just called a RAV; and lastly the Heavy Support RAV, or the “Hawk”. This’n row on this side are your more specialized options an’ you’ll be briefed on them as and when needed. For now I want y’all to step up an’ come an’ prod an’ poke these three. When ya done we’ll have an operator spin ’em up and show ya what they’re capable of.’
TRANSCRIPT: RCS Induction (01.2357.DRZ.A), Cookson, J (Cookie)
Kate steps into the vehicle bay just as a recon RAV drops for launch from a slot high to her left. She ducks reflexively, frowns, and searches for the offending operator. Engineers and techs bustle around, busy with cleaning, maintenance, and upgrade tasks. None return her glare.
Her eyes do a quick scan of the six-vehicle contingent. The two light personnel carriers are parked in a wide v-formation, their front grills separated by the exit lane and aimed at the large doorway to accommodate hasty departures. Behind them—parked in the same formation—are two heavier medium personnel carriers, and in front two buggies. She locks on to a squad standing off at the LPC to her right. The three apish, two-meter-tall robots are frozen in their usual lounging posture: knees slightly bent, hunched upper back and shoulders, forward craning necks, CR-04 carbines slung and in hand. While she watches them, engines whine up and down and RAV-whirs cause unnatural air currents to ebb and flow against her cheeks. Her nose twitches at the sweet and acrid smell coming off the fabricators, stronger here than in the armory.
Kate steps over the Robotics Depot arrow and makes her way toward the LPC. As she walks past the towering sentinels, she drops her head and keeps her eyes forward. She goes to the front passenger side and mounts her rifle to the console, aware that some of the engineers and techs are surreptitiously watching them. It’s only when she starts speaking to the robot squad’s lead bot that she allows herself to look up into its gruff, craggy, and fake-suntanned face. ‘No. 1, be aware my comms unit is new and hasn’t been trained yet.’
The robot’s jawline—stubbled with thick, less-dense-than-human hair—starts moving and it answers with a deep and gravelly voice. ‘Copy that, ma’am. Would you like me to take field command?’
‘I’ll tell you if and when,’ Kate answers.
‘Copy that, ma’am.’
The large No. 1 bot climbs into the LPC and seats itself behind the wheel before switching on the carrier and fiddling with the central console viewer.
‘No. 1, are you running diagnostics?’ Kate asks.
Dark brown eyes look at her from an expressionless face. ‘Of course, ma’am.’
‘Just answer yes or no, No. 1.’
The thing looks back at the console. ‘Understood, ma’am. Yes, I’m running diagnostics.’
Kate watches the other bots fix two extra cases to the LPC’s rear modcons. Four medium-sized recon RAVs spin up loudly in the background. A technician calls out a warning and the RAVs leave the vehicle bay through the large roller door as Kate hops up and slides into the seat beside No. 1. ‘Team, run equipment and diagnostics checks on each other.’
’Are we expecting contact, ma’am?’
‘Did you receive the briefing, No. 1?’ Kate responds.
‘Yes, ma’am.’
‘Then why are you asking me?’
‘Just making conversation, ma’am.’
‘Don’t,’ Kate says, dropping her augs down from her head and onto her nose.
‘Copy that, ma’am.’
Monty’s voice comes through as clear and bright as the sun in the sky, and Kate finds herself wishing they were sitting together on a rooftop and soaking it all in, instead of her sitting in here with these machines. ‘Kate, mission is a go. Secbunk’s waiting to scan you out.’
‘Copy that. No. 1, mission is a go.’ Kate pops her head out the window and shouts, ‘Moving out!’ and engineers and techs clear the exit route. Mass and inertia disappear behind the powerful, compact engine and the LPC pulls away in a smooth acceleration.
Kate reviews their route package while they make their way to the correct secbunk. No. 1 scans them out at the guard post and the STF squad leaves the hub through a scatter of long-beaked hadedas. Oil-spill backs spread into wings, and lazy flaps lift their fat-bellied bodies into the air. Inordinately loud ca-caa’s punish the squad’s ears for the disturbance.
Monty’s voice comes over her comms: ‘Kate, be advised there’s an R&R team coming up on your left.’
‘Whose team?’ Kate asks.
‘It’s Johny.’
Kate smiles. ‘No. 1, if you spot Johny take us over there.’ Not long afterwards, the big bot turns toward the reclamation site and parks so that Kate can talk through her window. She calls loudly, ‘Old man!’
‘What? Sorry? Can’t hear so well anymore,’ the Reclamation & Recycling engineer responds with well-acted sincerity.
‘Ha. Ha. You’re old but you’re not that old,’ Kate says through grinning teeth. ‘How long?’
‘Two months.’ Johny shakes his head. ‘Two months and then twenty-eight years of Active Service come to an end. Still can’t believe it.’
‘And then what? Cocktails on the beach?’
‘Ha! I, sweet Katy, happen to love my service. There’ll be no lazing about for me! I’m going to haunt the committee until they give me a proper schedule.’
‘Yeah, just don’t get yourself thrown out. How’s this site going?’
Johny puts his hands on his hips and stares at the copse of high rise buildings with all the pride of a father beaming at his firstborn child. ‘Great, actually. The concrete was well insulated, so there are no oxidizing issues from the metal. Structurally this cluster of buildings is in phenomenal condition.’
Over and around the buildings a platoon of RAVs buzzes like bees around a flower and a battalion of geeps crawls like ants over dropped bread. Kate tracks a squad of the general purpose robots, watching them encircle the base of one tall and majestic building. ‘Why so many geeps, Johny?’
‘We flush the site with them during Checking and Marking. Once they’re done, most of them move on to the next site but some stay and continue working. The guys from Civil need to give this one a final once over when the bots are done and then we’ll start on repairs.’
‘That’s good, Johny. You guys sure do a great job,’ Kate responds with sincerity.
‘Yeah, thanks, Katy. I’m just glad this section turned out well.’ Johny’s expression turns thoughtful. ‘The hub population’s booming but we’re hoping to contain the sprawl with all these new security issues.’
Kate stares at the verdant flora creeping up the buildings’ lower levels. ‘Maybe just clean it up while you’re at it; it looks like shit.’
‘Fuck off, Kate,’ Johny says through a laugh.
A fish eagle pipes and whistles from a roost to her right and its mate answers softly from some way off. Kate takes it as their cue. ‘Let’s move, No. 1. Cheers, old man.’
The LPC accelerates and Kate rechecks the route package on the console viewer. The map shows route 13 has three secbunks en route; the first and second bunkers are the furthest apart. That would be the best spot for anyone to strike—in and out before support can arrive, she thinks.
‘Ma’am, RAV scanners have ideed signatures coming up on Loom Three to your left,’ says No. 1.
Kate scans around until she finds the three white-hot ghosts. The augs interpret and overlay the data on to her clear-lens optics: outlines are sized and projected to simulate distance; shades of gray and black grant form and depth; the Loom system locks the figures into the proper range bracket. Whoever they are, they’re more than 300m out. ‘Go to red-hot,’ she orders. The ghosts erupt into bright hues of red. ‘I’m not seeing weapon prints. What does TMR say?’
‘Innocuous, ma’am. Seem to be civilians moving about.’
‘Okay. If either TMR or Noise gets antsy take field command and let us know what we’re doing.’
‘Copy, ma’am.’
Kate keeps scanning her surrounds with the augs but brings the scan cone back to the unknowns after every sweep. She repeats this until they eventually pass them without incident.
As they pass the second bunker, Kate takes a deep breath, even relaxing on the exhale, and then two things happen in fast succession: the bunker lights up and roars into flames; and their RAVs to the front, left, and rear all go down with rocket fire.
The blast wave from the bunker explosion hits them with enough force to swing the LPC’s rear around. Kate snaps against the safety harness and her head brushes the beam to her right. The low center of gravity keeps the vehicle upright, but the carrier’s back end spins out 90°.
When they come to a stop, they are pointing in the direction of the downed RAV that was originally to their left. Kate’s chest is heaving and she has to swallow the adrenaline dump back down. She moves around and tries to sense any serious damage from the harness.
‘Ma’am, all systems are functional and we’re good to go,’ No. 1 says in its usual expressionless manner. ‘RAV four is still in the air and is now behind us. Recommend we head in that direction as ambush is now likely in all three other directions.’
‘What was the initial range on the RAVs?’ Kate replies.
‘Standard hundred meter perimeter, ma’am.’
‘Bring the last RAV as close as you can. Monty, we need a new route. Let RAV four take point.’
‘On it,’ Monty says over their comms. ‘Be advised, support range has changed. No. 1, you’ll have to pick up the pace.’
‘Copy that, sir.’
The LPC turns through a tight 180° and then accelerates toward the last recon RAV as Kate forces her breathing back under control.
CHAPTER 5
Armor Specification: Sub-dermal layered alloy components, padded and covered by nanovar. Aesthetic prescriptions for civilian facing robots / humanesque movement pattern requirements apply. Nanite occlusion not specified for body. Control boxes are EMP- and heavy-blast resistant / tamperproof, as well as nanite occluded. Epidermis: bioprinted human skin (DNA taken from public service pool).
Armor Performance Expectations: The nanovar can be expected to withstand all light arms fire up to .50 caliber rifle fire. The nanovar is flame and heat resistant with a melting point matching that of the layered alloy, both set at 2 000℃. Body armor components classified safe for external and building fire. Direct explosive impact and thermite ordnance to be avoided.
Risk Projection: Scope of Operation for Shiv model limited to permissive and semi-permissive environments. Excom and other hardware and heavy arms procurement currently contained. Shivs not deemed at risk of destruction within regular deployment use parameters.
FIELD MANUAL: Security Bot 3KLE1 (‘Shiv’ Model), Robotics Sector
The cityscape ebbs and flows as if a single stream of ever changing color and texture. Ghosts flitter past, too quick to idee or set one’s heart at ease. Potholes and rubble announce their presence through hard milspec springs and Kate presses herself into her seat—her left hand against the dash and her right on the vehicle’s ceiling.
‘How’s it going down there, Kate?’ Monty asks.
‘Bumpy.’
Monty chuckles. ‘Yeah, I can imagine. At least you know your hardware’s syncing well.’ The LPC slows to take a sharp corner. ‘Kate, incoming!’
Their last RAV intercepts the rocket and bursts into pieces.
‘No. 1, drop armor,’ Kate instructs.
‘At speed, ma’am?’
‘Well, hit the fucking brakes while you’re at it then!’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
The big bot hammers the brakes and manages to drop their armor at the exact moment that the LPC stops and the second rocket slams into it. The low frequency rumble bursts into Kate’s eardrums and she braces her arms against the front console. After the rapid change in pressure, her jaw starts working involuntarily to try to get her ears to equalize again.
