Technomancer 32: Shadows of the Mind

Beneath the blue sky, the distant explosion of artillery shells caused the ground to rumble. Leron wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his fatigues, crouching amidst the lifeless robots. He picked up the canine-shaped head of one of them and ran his hand over the cool, shiny metal. An inscription in Chinese was etched into the surface under its empty eyes. From the mouth, two sharp metal fangs protruded from the elongated head. His eyes drifted to the damaged brace on his arm and the two puncture marks where it sank its fangs. He was lucky it had not reached the flesh. Turning it over revealed a mass of snapped wires, where, in a rush of adrenaline, he had ripped the head off the machine. Did I really do this? His hands shook, and he fought to still them.

The footsteps on the pavement behind him caused him to tense up.

"How do they have so many of them?" asked Matt, standing beside him.

Leron frowned, returning the head to its body. He tried to remind himself that the danger was past, but his body did not respond; it remained tense, anticipating more danger. "I don't know. They must fold and compact or something. I wish we could get closer to the shoreline, then we could take out the personnel on that ship."

"I think I saw something about that," came Sadie's voice from behind them.

They both turned to face her. She approached, cowgirl boots clicking on the pavement. Her medical bag, hanging from one shoulder, the strap shortened so it was more fashionable.

"About the ship?" Leron asked.

"No." Her eyes narrowed at him, and she shook her head. "The robots folding down. It was on a documentary, you know, from before..."

"Let's return to cover. We need to find a new location to overnight." He turned, moving back towards the building where all their supplies were stored.

A hum of drone blades filled the air behind him. Leron stopped and turned.

Behind him, drones filled the sky above Sadie and Matt like a swarm of flies. They fired.

"Get down!" Leron screamed and dove behind a nearby car.

He peeked over the hood and fired. Matt and Sadie rushed towards an abandoned van. Somehow, they had survived the volley. The other members of the drone corps began firing and pulling their drones from nearby. Bullets flew through the air, thickening and turning the sky black. One drone fell, and another. The enemy drones were disappearing, but so were theirs.

"Drone count down 50%," reported Leron 2.0.

"Can you turn them?"

"Negative. The algorithm has new protections."

"Damn." They needed to divide and conquer.

"I'm going to draw their fire. Matt, Sadie, follow me. Everyone else, continue the attack." Leron ran, avoiding bullets; the sound of gunfire filled the air behind him, pierced only by the rumble of artillery shells.

Leron 2.0 used one of their drones to project the path of fire, sending him images so he could avoid the rain of ammunition.

From a side street, a second group of drones appeared, targeting him directly and separating him from Matt and Sadie.

He ran around buildings and dodged abandoned cars while the bullets ricocheted off metal and concrete. Ahead of him were open fields. No cover. In a panic, he turned, firing at the drones in the street.

Leron 2.0 took out three of them with a drone. He continued chasing the remaining enemy drone, but it fired. Leron 2.0's drone spun and crashed into the side of the building.

Leron fired and took out the remaining drone.

A sharp pain cut through his lower leg. Leron risked glancing down to see blood streaming from a wound in his lower leg. His breathing quickened to match his racing heart. Glancing around, he saw no enemies, but it was dangerous anywhere you went in Corpus Christi. I need to hide. As soon as he put weight on his leg, pain ripped through it. He whimpered, struggling to hold back a scream as tears trickled down his cheek. He bit his tongue and hopped off the road and down an alley, struggling to ignore the pain.

An open door was just ahead in the side of a corrugated wall. He struggled along, hand against the rough, hot metal. The short distance seemed an eternity to cross. Sweat poured down his forehead from the Texas heat, and his heart felt like it was going to pound out of his chest. What if more drones found him? He wouldn't be able to fight in this condition. Every time the hot wind blew, he jumped as the trash moved behind him.

He made it through to the door and breathed a sigh of relief. His nose was assaulted with the stench of grease. Abandoned cars and other machines lined the wall. Crushed beer cans were strewn across the floor, left by the previous owners. He hopped just inside the door, unable to make it further. With his back against the corrugated metal, he collapsed onto his behind. Clearing his nose, he wiped the sweat and grime from his face. He worked to steady his breathing and swallowed away the dryness in his throat. In the dim light coming from the door, he could see that the wound in his leg looked and felt worse than it was, but he wouldn't be able to move without help. It continued to throb as he tore the sleeve from his braced arm and tied it around his leg.

The light outside began to fade, darkening the room further. His breathing evened out as he let the silence fool him into a sense of safety. With the adrenaline gone, his exhaustion began taking hold. Days of working their way towards the shoreline, only to be pushed back by the enemy's robots. Getting close enough to send the drones out to the enemy's ships required them to cross the bridge into the state park. Every time they made it to the bridge, the enemy sent more robots, forcing them into dangerous city skirmishes. He yawned, struggling to keep his eyes open. Quickly, he sent out a request for pickup by email, and as soon as it was gone, sleep took him like a warm, dark blanket.

The sound of gunfire from the street outside brought him awake, and he gasped, clutching his rifle in fright. How long before they discovered him? Why hadn't the pickup come? The gunfire grew closer. It would all be over soon.

Closing his eyes, Leron accessed the chip and tried to call Masa. If this was the end for him, he wanted to hear her voice one last time. The call failed yet again. It had been the same ever since he had failed to get hold of her that first night. Leron 2.0 had called her instead. He thought of her mother's words, and tears filled his eyes. Had she given up on him? No, she wouldn't. He tried again and was met with the same result. Filled with frustration, he beat the floor. Many scenarios ran through his head, threatening to tear him apart. Had she been hurt? What if Leron 2.0 had scared her off?

"Leron 2.0?"

"Yes?"

"Again, you said you spoke with Masa? And she was fine?"

"Affirmative."

"Did she give any indication she was upset?"

"What is upset?"

Leron groaned inwardly. He didn't have time to explain something as simple as an emotion. It would be alright. Masa was strong. He did his best to remind himself that accidents could happen. Cell phones were easily damaged, which is why they had the chips inserted into their brains for combat. It had been weeks since he had heard from her. Sometimes there was no time to think of her, and in the moments between battles, she was all he thought about.

"If anything happens to me, leave the chip and make sure you find her."

"Affirmative."

The crunch of footsteps came from outside. Leron tensed. He raised his rifle and aimed for the door.

"It's me," echoed in his mind from Matt's chip. "I have Sadie with me."

Dropping his rifle back onto his lap, Leron calmed. "Come in. Do you know where the others are?"

Matt and Sadie appeared through the opening.

"Over here," Leron croaked, taking a risk by speaking out loud. They rushed towards him.

Matt sat beside him. "No, we were separated. Did you already request pickup?"

Sadie began checking his wound. She frowned, removing the makeshift bandage.

"So they can give me a bandaid and send me back out? No, I thought I would enjoy my peace and quiet."

Sadie prodded the wound hard, causing him to whimper. It felt like she was trying to rip it open.

He glared at her, clenching his jaw and trying not to scream.

Her eyes narrowed at the wound. "You're lucky. This almost took out an artery."

"It might have been better if it had," he grumbled, adjusting on the floor and trying to ignore the renewed pain.

"Well, did you request help?" Matt demanded, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Mmm.....Of course I did, you idiot," Leron snapped. "Sadie, can you stop?"

"Not until I've made sure there are no bullet fragments."

"You know, you're like a grumpy old man when you get hurt?" Matt observed, chuckling beside him.

Leron ignored him.

Sadie sighed. "You're going to have to go in this time." She pulled a syringe from her belt and jabbed it into the leg.

Leron screamed again, and the pain slowly began to ease. "Thanks."

The explosions continued to shake the ground, and the echoes of gunfire occasionally filled the air. They waited in silence, huddled up beside each other. He was glad of their presence beside him physically and in his mind. Having the closeness of others always beside him was something he enjoyed. Both of them fell asleep, but he stayed awake, afraid that someone would find them.

A clink of metal came from the door. He turned to see red, glowing eyes. Three more sets followed.

He sat up slowly and elbowed Matt and Sadie. Both jumped awake with a gasp.

Matt and Sadie rushed to a crouch, aiming their rifles. Leron aimed his from where he lay. They began firing.

One of them lunged at Sadie, pushing her to the ground and ripping flesh from her side. She screamed.

"Sadie!" screamed Matt and fired at the dog, knocking off one of its legs.

The closeness of the explosion set Leron's ears ringing.

Matt lunged toward Sadie, pulling the dog off her. They rolled, continuing to struggle.

Leron heard the approach of the other dogs and turned to fire at them. One after the other dropped. Another close gunshot, this time from Sadie. From the corner of his eye, he saw the dog on top of Matt drop.

One dog remained. It approached them in silence. Leron struggled to hold back his fear. He fired at the dog, but his gun was out of bullets.

"I have accessed a drone. There are more dogs incoming." Leron 2.0s voice echoed in his mind.

From nowhere, a flash of blue light lunged through the door, blurring past him.

The new robotic dog ripped off the head of the first dog. It stopped, staring at him in the darkness with its haunting blue eyes. It was almost as if it had recognised him.

Leron backed into the wall.

The new dog dropped the enemy dog's head from its fangs. "This is your fault." The words echoed in his mind. Something about the tone was familiar. The dog crouched, ready to attack. Waves of anger hit the chip in his mind. "Blood. Hunger. Kill."

A series of images flashed through his mind, hitting him like someone had slapped him. He was Agatha. His little girl was ripped away by dark figures in the night. Pain. Devastation. Images of the drone factory. Being forced to cut her hair and shower with the other women. The operating room. His face. The one who did this to her. Hate. The woman's memories began disappearing, her mind fragmented, leaving only hate and a thirst for blood, lapping at the edges of his mind. There could be no other AI, only her.

Leron struggled free from the grasp of her mind, recalling at once the woman who had gone mad. His blood ran cold. Why was she here in this form?

"You AI. Die!" The words echoed in his mind as the robotic dog lunged.

Its blue eyes faded into the darkness, and the machine hit him in the chest, knocking the wind from him. With a groan, he gasped for air.

Matt moaned several feet away, and Sadie was bleeding right beside him. He glanced at the lead dog in his lap. "You're right. This is all my fault." Guilt threatened to overwhelm him. He wished he had stopped the operation or stopped Leron 2.0 from doing the damage ahead of time. Perhaps so much of what had happened could have been avoided. Pushing the dog from his lap, he struggled forward, tearing scraps away from Sadie's shirt and putting pressure on the wound. "Are you alright?"

Sadie didn't respond. She was unconscious, and her chip unresponsive.

"Not sure." Matt groaned again. Pain flowed from his friend's chip in his, threatening to drop him to the floor. He was badly injured, too, but at least he was conscious. "It took several chunks out of my arms and shoulders. What was that?"

"Another dog. This one was different. I think it must be ours." Leron felt sick at the thought. He glanced at Matt and wanted to check his wounds, but he was afraid that if he pulled away the cloth from Sadie's side, she would bleed out. Tears escaped his eyes and trickled down his cheeks. When Dusty was injured, he had promised he would take care of her when they were ordered back into the city. Another promise he had failed to keep. "Did you hear her?"

"It was that woman from the operating room, wasn't it? Was she inside the dog?" asked Matt. "I...I thought those of us who went mad were kept drugged back in San Antonio. Why...Why are they here?"

"I don't know. But, I intend to get answers." Leron was angry. Bringing the mad people here was a dangerous move. What experiments was Major Andrew performing now?

Before he continued his thoughts, the rumble of trucks came from outside.

"Pickup on location," said Leron 2.0.

Men ran into the shed, bandaging their wounds before loading them onto stretchers and into the back of the trucks. The robotic dogs were tossed in beside them.

"Did they really just take all the dogs?" Matt asked.

"Yes. Are they stealing the enemies' dogs and reprogramming them?"

Matt didn't respond.

Leron stared at the robotic dog beside him. It had saved his life. The woman who had hated him had come to their rescue. He shivered, recalling the rage and the madness that had hit his chip like a force. She was a monster, and it terrified him that they had used her mind on the battlefield as a killing machine. Were there others? And why weren't they using AI? As he stared at the dog, he realised they weren't all that different. When he had told Masa what he was, she had cowered in fear in her room at the church. He refused to let what had happened to these people stand. Even if they were mad, it was wrong. He needed to understand what their side had done to these people and end it. No one should be used as a killing machine.