AZU-1: Lifehack Page 14

  “This Frankenstein powers the whole city?” Regan said with a tone of disbelief.

  Alisia identified the handles that the General had been talking about, and pointed them out to Regan before kneeling down to the nearest one. She reached out for it, but Regan stopped her and grabbed it herself. No electrocution.

  “Just felt paranoid all of a sudden. Let’s get pulling.” Regan pecked Alisia on the cheek, making Alisia roll her eyes, and went around the other side of the core to start on a different handle.

  When the handles were twisted and pulled out, a roughly cylindrical mass of circuitry, strange containers, and simply unidentifiable components came out. They soon found that they smashed spectacularly against nearby terminal desks.

  Regan was pulling the last one, and Alisia walked up to her. Regan stopped and looked up at Alisia. She slid the unit back in slowly before pulling it back out with a soft ‘ooh’. Alisia rolled her eyes. “What are you, twelve?”

  Alisia contacted the General and got further directions for one of the terminals. A few keystrokes later the room’s lights flickered and died.

  “It’s over.” Alisia said into the darkness. Regan pulled out a flashlight, and shone it at Alisia’s chest.

  “Oh, grow up.” Alisia said, pulling out her own. “General?”

  “I can see from here, Captain. Autar is dark. We have sightings of zombies collapsing en mass. I’m calling in the airstrike. Come on home, and we’re out of here.” Just then, the lights flickered back on.

  “What?” Regan yelped.

  “At ease, Ms. Grier. Short-term battery back-up. Three days, max. It’s safe for us to bomb the city like this. It just means there will be zombies on the way out.”

  “Alright” Alisia said, “Let’s get going. We might get some distance in before the A.I. servers boot up.”

  They took one elevator up, then the other. “Open up the hatch, General.”

  “Be ready, we’re seeing zombies moving again.”

  “Figures. Let’s do it.”

  The two surfaced. There were no zombies around. Not walking nor collapsed.

  “Maybe they responded to some kind of buggy error, and wandered off... like to the nearest server or something.” Alisia suggested.

  A shadow rose from the other side of the wall. “I don’t think so…” Regan said.

  A creature five stories tall turned its eyeless head towards them. The thing walked on its four huge, thick legs, smashing through the wall at the edge of the pit area. As it drew nearer, it could be seen that its gargantuan body was made out of zombies. Each one acting like a muscle group, pulling and pushing when needed to propel the thing. The individual zombies moaned of their own accord, forming a dreadful symphony.

  “Cute.” Alisia pulled out the Bad Mojo, warmed it up, and let off a shot at the thing’s head. The zombies that composed its head flew apart from each other. Some fell to the ground, some landed on this thing’s back, and others caught a hold before flying off to be pulled back in. Without missing a step, the behemoth reformed the damage to the head and absorbed the fallen zombies- some of which walked to the thing, others had to be picked up.

  “Um…Let’s go.”

  “Yeah.”

  They fled north toward a hole in the pit wall. Luckily, there were no other zombies hanging around. It was small comfort though, as the creature behind them was gaining speed.

  “You were saying something about a poor appreciation of physics?” Regan said, making a few pot-shots now and then while running.

  “Silly me!” Alisia turned and fired the bad mojo again, this time at a leg. “Keep going!” The beast staggered. It was already conducting repairs as it fell, but it was forced to slow down for a bit.

  They passed the north edge of the pit wall and ran like hell. The footsteps of the beast thundered behind them and it bashed through the wall. Alisia fired another shot at a leg, to the same effect.

  “This way!” Regan said, pulling Alisia towards a nearby building. “We might be able to lose it!”

  They ran though a ruinous building, going through doorways and holes alike. Alisia suspected that Regan knew her way around here. The sounds of buildings being hit by the beast resonated from behind them. The chase continued from one patch of buildings, through empty streets lined with half-functioning zombies.

  “We can’t keep this up forever!” Regan gasped.

  “We just have to get clear of the tall buildings!” Alisia said. She fired her second last bad mojo round, and kept running.

  Finally, the first sniper tower came into view. “When the thing gets to this position, we’ll have some help.” A minute later, the welcome sound of an echoing zipper rang out. Sustained fire met the thing’s left front knee. It served to slow it down a fair amount, which was just in time. Alisia and Regan were getting tired, and the bad mojo was almost depleted.

  It was enough for them to lure it into view of another zipper tower, and finally they felt like they would make it. Through the din of the beast, a helicopter was heard. They kept running, now towards that sound, finding it waiting in an open intersection.

  Parker sat in the helicopter’s side bay door, manning a zipper. They jumped on.

  “Don’t be shy, Corporal,” Alisia said, “Let ‘im have it!”

  With the girls safely out of the way, Parker opened up and started chewing up the ammo. The beast was looking very troubled, but more daunting than the effect of sustained fire from multiple zipper guns were the hundreds of attack VTags appearing everywhere. The girls sat back and then noticed the General across from them.

  “Nice going, ladies. Now that we have you, the tower snipers can leave, and we can go watch the fireworks.”

  The chopper pulled out of the area, joining about two dozen others in the air. Everyone wanted to see the show. Through the visors, the city was bleeding VTags.

  They waited in silence, except for the droning chopper engine, and the distant clamor of the beast as it approached the city’s outer wall and began ramming it.

  “It... it couldn’t.” Regan said. But despite her hopes, the beast soon opened a gaping hole. It struggled over the remaining rubble, staggering into open wasteland. Regan looked worried, but the General grinned.

  The comm began to announce: “Airstrike approaching in three... two... one...”

  The bomber was already gone before anyone realized it was there. The sonic boom hit at the same time that a flourish of genius-bombs appeared over the city. For a split second they idled in free fall, then locked onto their assigned VTags. All at once the swarm of bombs all fired to life, streaking generally downward with white smoky exhaust trails behind them.

  A forest of white flame erupted in the streets. Chunk by chunk, the great bridges collapsed, pulling, and being pulled by the various buildings. One building lasted so long as to remain until a connecting cornerstone building began to fall on it. From the air it all seemed to happen in slow motion. All of it being consumed by the convulsing pool of burning oblivion.

  The beast was tossed forward by the shock, but still stood. It staggered and rose to its rear legs. The sound of hundreds of voices screamed into the air before the thing collapsed, all the bodies letting go. Soon, it was nothing more than a heap of rotting meat.

  “No more servers,” the General said serenely, “No more zombies.”

  Autar was still foaming in violence. The outer wall was crumbling, especially at the north and south doors, and where the beast had damaged it. At some places, entire sections of the wall were falling outward.

  Most of the choppers began departing while a few remained to keep watch, just in case.

  Regan looked out the window and watched as Autar grew smaller and smaller, eventually to be eaten up by the horizon. Now, even from a distance it looked like a mess, smoke rising high. She tried to remember how it looked when she first arrived, shimmering in the sun. A monument to omnipotent progress. But that image seemed so far away. Forgotten was the cynicism she felt when s
he first saw it. She couldn’t see beyond the tragedy now.

  The General stiffened up, paying extra attention to his comm. Alisia noticed the grim look on his face. “General? Something wrong?”

  “Hm? No,” he forced himself at ease. “Ah, I just got word my team lost. I’m out a hundred bucks.” He suddenly snapped into a cheerful mood. “Hey kids, we should celebrate. Let’s go back to my base, you can meet the wife, and we’ll all get hammered.”

  Regan made some comment about Generals always making the best plans, but Alisia wasn’t put at ease by his bravado.

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 28: Post-Game

  ~~~~~

  The General entered the officer’s club of Yute central base with his wife beside him, an hour and a half later than expected. Regan was already half plastered. Introductions were made. Luckily, the General’s wife chose to be amused by Regan instead of offended.

  “I didn’t think ya were gonna make it, Gen’ril!” Regan said, slapping him on the back.

  “Oh, had to please the press a bit, you know. They’re hard to get away from sometimes, and they’re very interested in the two heroes. We’ll have to have a talk about what’s classified and what’s not, before you two start basking in the limelight.”

  Despite the General’s jovial tone, Alisia was still unsure, and just sipped quietly on her red wine.

  “Relax,” the General told her, sensing her tension, “With any luck, you can sell the movie rights or something! My retirement egg is largely funded by a book I wrote about my missions from way back.” Alisia smiled politely. Regan sorted some pocket change and excused herself before wandering off.

  “General, you didn’t lose any sports bet today, did you?” Alisia asked. She didn’t really want to hear the answer, but the question was bugging her.

  He put down his stein and sat back with a grim face. “Ya couldn’t just leave it alone till the morning, could you? I guess that’s admirable.”

  Across the club, Regan smacked the jukebox, and started ‘Rebel yell’, with a small shout of celebration.

  “She’s got the right idea,” the General said as Regan sat back down, fresh drink in hand. Alisia threw the General an expression that let him know she wasn’t giving up. He slumped his shoulders and looked at the table for a moment before continuing.

  “Shortly after the Autar back up battery kicked in, a transmitter sent a large encrypted signal.”

  Regan tuned in, finally picking up that something serious was going on. “What does it mean, Sir?” Alisia asked quietly.

  “We don’t know yet, but it’s a safe bet the A.I. at AutarLabs had something to do with it.” He thumbed the handle of his mug. “Could be some kind of back up, or a data evacuation. It’s also been suggested to me that the A.I. could not have become what it is now without help. The signal may have been meant for someone connected to that.”

  “Then it would mean that Autar’s fall wasn’t an accident.”

  “Well!” the General perked up, and finished his beer. “Let’s not worry about that tonight.” The General’s wife put on her jacket, and they got up. “Well, I have people I need to talk to. Major Terone, I’ll leave you and Ms. Grier to try to have fun, alright?”

  “Did you say ‘Major’?” Alisia asked.

  “Yew heard the Gen’ril,” Regan said, slinging her arm around Alisia, “We’re shupposhed to have fun!” Hidden under the table, Regan’s hand crept along Alisia’s lap.

  “I’ll be in touch, Major.” The General said on his way out.

  Alisia watched the General and his wife disappear around the corner as the drunken Regan slumped against her. “General!” Alisia meekly squeaked, “Don’t leave me with her!”

  ~~~~~

  Chapter 29: Fractures

  ~~~~~

  “If we’re going into town, you’re not wearing those shorts. And pull down your tank top so you’re fully covered.”

  “Yes, mother! Damn, Alisia, what’s wrong with this?” Regan stretched, and slowly moved towards Alisia, who was well prepared to dodge.

  “I will not be seen with you like that. Don’t you have something else? Jeans or something?”

  “Hm, I think so. I’m sure I have something.”

  Regan eventually showed up in the chopper bay with her usual attire, but with a slightly longer skirt.

  Alisia gave the most supportive critique she could. “Well, hopefully you won’t get arrested.”

  They hopped a ride with a chopper going to the Meston airport. It was an uneventful ride and Alisia was thankful that Regan left her in relative peace for most of the trip. They landed on the tarmac and were told to be back around 20:00 for a ride back. Regan looked at the airport. It was the most civilian, normal looking place she had seen in a long time.

  They approached the door, and Alisia noticed Regan was unusually quiet. They walked through some back areas leading to the main halls of the airport.

  Suddenly they were witness to the living stream of people that always seemed to populate an airport. Some hurrying, some dawdling, and noise, noise, noise. Regan trailed behind as Alisia was attracted to one of those huge, overpriced chocolate bars at a nearby shop. She flipped through a magazine or two while Regan stood silently nearby, looking around nervously. Alisia went to pay for the chocolate. Regan kept right behind her, close enough that Alisia bumped her when she reached for her money.

  Alisia took her change from the counter, and had no more than dropped it in her pocket when Regan clutched her forearm tightly.

  “Alisia...” Regan whispered. She now knew something was very wrong. Regan’s grip, while tight, was trembling. Alisia moved them out of the shop and out of the flow of traffic.

  “What’s going on, Regan?”

  “I... I can’t do this.”

  “It’s the people, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.” Regan’s wide eyes roamed across the mob of people milling past. “I want to go back.”

  Alisia was a bit disappointed that the day looked to be ruined, but her concern for Regan overrode it quickly. They started back to the chopper bays. “What exactly is it?” Alisia asked.

  “I don’t know. I just can’t.” Regan was still firmly clamped onto Alisia’s arm. They made it through the door and out of view of the public. They stopped, and Regan took a bit of a breath. The sound of the crowd was strong. “No. Further. Please.” Regan’s voice trembled. They walked farther in, almost to the bays, when Regan decided it was far enough and slid to the floor, taking Alisia with her. There they sat while Regan buried herself in Alisia’s arm as well as she could. Alisia took pity and got comfortable. Regan began to cry quietly, lungs heaving.

  “It’s okay, Regan. We’re safe, I’m right here.”

  Regan eventually became quiet. Alisia suggested she go ask around the choppers for an earlier ride back. After a little bit of convincing, they got up, but Regan was still glued to Alisia’s arm. It was surprisingly easy to find another ride, and they were soon in the air. Regan fell asleep leaning against Alisia, and the stress on her face slowly faded into peaceful oblivion.

  The city of Meston dissolved slowly behind them.

  Back at the Yute base, Regan went to her new quarters, slow and weary. She felt like a fool. Not long ago she was swimming in a sea of walking corpses, and here, today, she was totally undone by a mob of stupid tourists. She could only imagine what Alisia thought of her now. She took off the stupid skirt and put on her regular clothes.

  She then stopped, and looked at herself. Did this look upset Alisia? Alisia sure didn’t dress like this. Who the hell does? Even out of uniform, Alisia was always needlessly modest in her attire. Maybe that’s just the style she liked. Confidence and cunning swelled in Regan once again.

  Soon, Regan was in Alisia’s quarters, uninvited and alone, looking at Alisia’s clothing. My god, it looked like some girl’s wardrobe. A large pink pullover caught Regan’s eye in particular. She grabbed the sleeve. It was soft. She imagined how Alisia must feel in it
. Soon, Regan was in it. It smelt a bit like Alisia. She felt a bit like a freak, but it was so good. She wrapped her arms around herself, and imagined Alisia. She imagined she was Alisia. Perfect, and strong. As she caressed the fabric, her hand hit her obtrusive leather miniskirt, which Alisia apparently hated so much.

  “Oh hell. She’ll never know.” Regan exchanged it for a pair of Alisia’s cammo pants. She staggered back and collapsed smoothly onto Alisia’s bed. She stared at the ceiling, still enamored with Alisia’s pink pullover. “Would she like me better if I were ‘cute’?”

  She lay there for a while fantasizing soft, warm fantasies. She clutched Alisia’s nearby teddy bear in hopes it would give her some secret to winning her over. Certainly that ‘I’m straight’ stuff was just some kind of excuse... please? Besides, no one’s totally straight or gay, right? Right? She just had to work on the part of Alisia that might be open to it, no matter how small. Such a tiny shard of hope to grasp.

  Regan suddenly decided that she needed to get out, to avoid being caught. She had more than pushed her luck. She put the clothes back as exactly as she could and headed for the door.

  Just then, Alisia arrived. “Regan?” She sighed, “What are you doing here?”

  Regan paused, thinking fast. “I... just came to give these back.” Regan pulled out the dog tags that she had taken days ago. “I’m sorry.”

  Alisia, still mostly in the hall, took the tags. She happened to look past Regan for a moment and saw her teddy bear out of place. She looked at the tags again. She didn’t really mind if Regan had them, but she didn’t want Regan to know that. She glanced at the garbage can nearby in the hall.

  “I don’t need these anymore. These say I’m a Captain. I’ve been promoted to Major, remember?” Alisia reached the tags over to the garbage, ‘accidentally’ missing, leaving them on the rim. She moved past Regan into her room and sat down. “I’ll be getting new ones soon. Was there anything else?”