.
Alex looked at this barely noticeable postscript, clearly hinting at the presence of Mentor Jokeiro, and activated the ‘Accept’ function.
Took you long enough to make up your mind, Jokeiro’s voice resound in Alex’s head.
“Thank God you’re back,” Alex whispered.
God has nothing to do with it. Don’t kid yourself. Jokeiro is a fraction of me. I can’t materialize, but there is still a meager chance to access the Net.
“Please, just try to get there.”
Alex pressed himself closer to the warm columns. Get the updated codes for all the ships in the solar system, now that they all obey you. I trust you will show wisdom with this power.
Suddenly, several explosions shook the spaceship, approaching like an earthquake. Alex jumped to his feet. “Is that you, Jokeiro?”
Jokeiro laughed. No, my friend, this is the captain and his team. They got a little crazy, losing control of everything around them. The Homo-3s began to open the spaceship bulkheads, and now they are trying to break through to the reserve control post. Naive, albeit supreme.
The Reaper continued to shake from the explosions. Every second brought a distant bang, and violent vibrations. Alex, bewildered, hesitated.
Jokeiro roared, Phoenix, do something! The Reaper is under your complete control. Don’t miss your chance. There is very little time left before the big bang. Take what is of value, save your people, and steal the priceless spaceship Dark Radiance. Goodbye, Alex, remember me fondly. You have your own way, I have mine.
Alex realized his mentor, from that moment, would no longer contact him. Small red numbers indicated he had thirty-six minutes before the Reaper blew up.
“So… I need to rob the enemy, hijack a spaceship… but Jokeiro said there are the Earthlings here… where are they? How did they end up here?”
His feverish thoughts were interrupted by a calm, unfamiliar voice inside his head.
I propose to call on a senior AI known as Iss, to coordinate your further actions.
Alex realized this must be his new assistant or adviser. “Iss, come to me! Quickly!”
A small, gray ball appeared in front of Alex. The nimble mechoes flew up to the AI, studying it with keen interest.
He quickly read the stats. Iss was trinuclear and significantly superior to Smiley in all respects. He blew out a breath, duly impressed.
“Glad to serve you, player Phoenix,” Iss said in a deep voice similar to an operatic tenor.
You should work in the theater! Alex thought. “Display the ship scheme with details of allies and opponents.”
Iss drew a voluminous, informative scheme. It zoomed automatically when Alex’s eyes fell on certain parts. The majority of the central area turned red.
“Iss! Enlist every AI, engage all capabilities of the ship in the fight against the enemy. Use everything, from household droids to ancillary systems. Pump out the air, fill the rooms with water, open the hatchways, and strengthen the bulkheads on the Homo-3s path.”
“Yes, player Phoenix,” the main Reaper AI said.
The ship’s convulsions abruptly ceased. Short-term fragmentary demonstrations of the central sectors’ current predicaments were terrible. Patches of darkness were interrupted by rushing flashes of plasma shots, followed by horrible screams. The working fire extinguishing system and the crazy Homo-3s fighting off swarms of droids. The spectacle was frightening and addictive at the same time.
“Welcome to hell,” he muttered. “Iss, show me the location of Homo-54s, the storehouse of values, and the parking lot of the Dark Radiance.”
After a moment, Iss illuminated the three objects in green on the scheme, as well as the image of the room where the Earthlings were kept.
“There are twenty of them!” Phoenix exclaimed.
They looked to be in a large, narrow room that resembled a laboratory. They were all clad in the black Ice Vigor clan uniform, bound to the wall with wires and appliances like a collection of butterflies.
“I don’t understand,” Alex thought.
Flash, perched on his shoulder, gritted his sharp teeth.
Phoenix, you have an urgent message, sounded in Alex’s head.
Hello, Leader Phoenix!
There are twenty of us, all members of the Ice Vigor clan, taken prisoner by Homo-3s of the Mind Catchers clan. We are all from different regions or even countries. Despite my frantic desire to slug it out, the enemy levels far beyond three thousand will not allow this. Take revenge if you can.
Evil Gunka
Alex answered without a moment’s hesitation.
Evil Gunka,
Got it. Help is on the way.
Phoenix
***
A series of explosions and a terrible vibration rocked the Reaper. The lights fizzled and went out. Moments later, the emergency lights of the capsules activated. The Homo-54s’ prisoners looked around anxiously, catching their breaths. Some tried to free themselves, straining their arms, and legs, but to no avail. The other hung motionless.
Even under the transparent lids of the capsules, as if prepared for vivisection, the Earthlings remained calm. However, they could not remain silent indefinitely.
“So, brothers and sisters, it seems we’ve fallen into a trap from which there is no escape,” one man said. “I’m Evil Gunka from Russia.”
“Yeah,” a large redheaded man introduced himself in broken Russian, “Seppo, from Kotka, Finland. Hello, everyone.”
One by one, everyone gave their names and countries of origin. They were from all over the world. All stared in awe as a beautiful girl introduced herself as Lady Munstead Wood from Veliky Novgorod, Russia.
Evil Gunka broke the tense silence. “I didn’t think my childhood dream would come true, and I would go into space. Only I had a crappy chance.” A wide range of emotions flashed across his face – surprise, doubt, hope. “I’ve just sent a message to Phoenix and told him twenty of his clanmates are in captivity. And… and he answered!”
“What?”
“Don’t keep us in suspense!”
“Tell us!”
Evil Gunka almost screamed the Alex’s response. “Got
