I got lucky, Rhea said. If he had attacked me in my sleep…
Then again, the cyborg was probably planning to do exactly that. The assassin had reached the wall panel and decided to wait until nightfall to attack. His plans had been ruined by the arrest warrant.
Still lucky.
Rhea remained in place, letting her nano machines extract the necessary metals from her attacker. She wondered when the others would return. She kept glancing between the rungs that led to the chamber, and the tunnel, keeping an eye on both.
Finally, her arm was fully formed. The nano machines automatically retreated back inside of her, and the tiny vents in the surface of her skin sealed.
She retrieved the remaining Ban’Shar knuckle from the hand of her severed arm and attached it to her newly built one. The nano machines that existed in the lost arm would have permanently deactivated as new ones were created from the cyborg—part of the limiting mechanism programmed into them.
She returned her gaze to the tunnel, sparing only a glance for the desiccated assassin she had defeated.
She heard the clang of boots descending the rungs.
She drew her pistol and trained it on the ladder. She glanced at her overhead map. The blue dots indicated Renaldo, Brinks and Miles.
She kept her weapon pointed at the rungs anyway, just in case.
Renaldo slid into view, followed by Brinks and Miles.
She holstered the pistol.
“What happened here?” Brinks asked.
“Another assassin,” Rhea replied nonchalantly.
“They’re everywhere,” Miles commented.
“I don’t mind,” Rhea told the albino. “It’s good practice. For Khrusos.”
Miles nodded. “But the question is, how many robots from the contingent above have made their way into the tunnel?”
“The assassin would’ve wanted to deliver the bounty himself,” Renaldo replied. “Which means he would’ve preferred no interference from Aradne security… so I doubt he told them and was likely very careful not to let them follow him.” He kicked at the body. “What happened to him, by the way?”
“Looks like you ate him for lunch,” Brinks commented. “You used your nano machines on him, didn’t you?”
She shrugged.
Renaldo looked up, as if listening. “Jairlin tells me the security forces are tearing down the Texas barriers.”
“Instruct the Wardenites to surrender without a fight,” Rhea told Renaldo.
The man nodded.
“Will, get down here,” she sent, glancing at her overhead map. He was still on the top levels, close to his quarters.
“On the way,” Will replied.
She heard thudding and loud bangs coming from upstairs.
“Sounds like they’re ransacking the place,” Brinks said.
“Will…”
“Coming,” Will transmitted.
She nervously followed his dot as it descended on the map. Horatio was with him.
She heard footfalls on the rungs.
“My map shows Will and Horatio,” Brinks said.
“Yes, but the military are known to use spoofing technology,” Renaldo said. Something that Rhea had known instinctively.
They all aimed their guns at the ladder on the far side of the room, ready to fire at any infantry robots that might show up. Instead, it was really Will and Horatio. They both wore backpacks.
Rhea and the others lowered their pistols in relief.
“Sorry,” Will said, raising his hands placatingly. “Had to drag Horatio out of his VR game.”
“I was just about to be crowned leader of my guild!” Horatio complained.
“You robots and your weird online games,” Miles said. “I almost shot you, by the way.”
“On purpose or accidentally?” Horatio asked.
“The former,” Miles replied.
She turned toward Will. “Did you get the CommNixer pistols?”
“Of course.” Will reached into his pack and produced one of the requested pistols. “Want yours now?”
“Hold onto it for me,” she said.
The weapon was a smart pistol, capable of firing multiple CommNixer disks at different targets simultaneously. Program in the targets ahead of time, point it in their general direction, and squeeze the trigger—the pistol handled the rest.
Horatio had worked with DragonHunter to come up with the design. The pair had also modified the range of the CommNixers themselves, so that a given disk need only attach within a meter of the designated target in order to disrupt the communications signal.
The weapon was great for shutting off surveillance tech like security cameras. She had originally intended to use the pistol on Mars, but it looked like she would be needing it far earlier.
Rhea stepped over the body of the cyborg and entered the tunnel. She kept her pistol pointed in front of her, leaving the LIDAR active so she could see in the dim light.
Will followed just behind her, and when he stepped over the body, he commented: “Another assassin?”
“How’d you guess?” Rhea told him.
“They keep coming out of the woodwork, don’t they,” Will said.
Horatio, on drag, replaced the wall panel behind the party, and the way forward became completely dark; the LIDAR wireframes that outlined the tunnel guided her.
“Disable external network connections,” she ordered. That was to ensure none of them automatically connected to the Internet when they passed beneath wireless access points, should a signal somehow manage to get through. Connecting to the Internet would allow them to be tracked.
Rhea’s comm node was internal, while the comm nodes of the others were built into their AR goggles or visors. They would be relying on wireless mesh networking going forward, which allowed their comm nodes to connect without any Internet coverage.
“Hey, shouldn’t someone else take the lead?” Renaldo said. “I thought we weren’t allowing you to put yourself in any danger?”
“Considering that none of you will be able to do anything except serve as cannon fodder if we’re attacked in here, it’s probably best I’m in the lead,” Rhea replied.
“I think we were just insulted,” Will quipped.
“Do you have a weapon that can transform into a shield at the squeeze of a hand?” she asked him.
“I see your point,” Will replied. “Still, Renaldo is right, you shouldn’t be in front. Let me squeeze past. I’ll make a deal with you: if someone attacks, I’ll drop to the ground, so you can still take the brunt of the impact.”
“Kind of defeats the purpose of
