u/KyleKKent

First

Cats, Cops and C4

The artifact is... not any less complicated or intense for the fact he’s examining it from behind. Or despite the fact that there are several layers of paper, cloth and even a wooden wall between him and it. None of it impedes his ability to see the downright dizzying array of Axiom totems overlayed on top of each other.

“Well?” Observer Wu asks from the side. He was around the corner of a wall that had layers of trytite panels in it. Only enough Axiom to stop someone from dying was allowed into the area and any Adept trying to do anything would find themselves heavily limited to extreme close range abilities.

“The best way I can describe the sheer complexity of this is to have you imagine all the differeing little effects that a vehicle running off of Axiom uses. Can you hold that in your mind?”

“I can.”

“Good, now imagine an extremely successful and large dealership specializing in Axiom based Vehicles.”

“I can do that.”

“The entirety of it’s stock is effectively compressed into a singular mirror. That is the level of complexity we’re seeing here. Only Gravia are more complicated and they’re living equations capable of learning, growing, aging and even reproducing despite being made of pure energy. Wait...” William pauses and he considers that train of thought. “Actually... yes. It is very similar to a Gravia’s natural structure now that I think about it. The pattern is... somewhat there.”

He raises a hand and starts pointing along to help with his reading before he nods. “There are... I can’t make it out too much at the moment, but more than one active mirror clone. I won’t be able to tell more unless another clone is created or destroyed. As it is now I can tell there is more than one clone.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, we should get a Gravia contractor in here. Their Axiom sensitivity and sheer mental might will help crack this in a hurry. I can see... all of it. But I don’t fully know I’m looking at. I can presume part of this allows the mirror clones to be out of sight of the mirror itself. But I can’t tell what part is that and what part is the one that makes a mirror clone completely aggressive to their original, or which part makes it so that a mirror clone can only be harmed by the original without harming the original. Which is something we haven’t tested with this mirror, but would be unwise and dangerous to test.”

“So it’s beyond your skill?”

“My skill is in perception Observer Wu, I can certainly say that this thing is immensely complicated, and if some part of the Axiom structure offends I can pull it apart. But I don’t know what it will do, they’re all tied together and working as one. It would be like toying with the source code of a program. Even a single errant or missing digit could cause catastrophe. And considering the sheer energy that the mirror is holding... Well, it’s comparable to a starship engine mid-Laneway.”

“Which is an absurd amount of power.” Observer Wu states.

“Correct.”

“I see. Well my curiosity... while not fully satisfied, is as satisfied as it can safely be. Thank you Sergeant Smith.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Tertiary Equipment Room, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“So... Axiom Ride Plasma Pistol.” Bernice notes.

“No identifying marks on the outside, The question is what do we do with it? Do we repair it and use it? Or do we break it down for the parts? Perhaps the value of the metal?”

“When we need something destroyed we have a lot options. Options this little monster can pay for.”

“Yes, but only so many times. This is... absurdly valuable.” Bernice says.

“Heh, the little piece of this that was broken is big enough to be repurposed into an engine big enough for the Dauntless, easy.” Xona says examining the weapon with her wings shifted into a pair of arms that looks through it. She smirks and puts it back down. “I’ve got a lot of Gohbs in the family. I know my way around engines and weapons. This is not an amateur’s weapon, it has no signs of mass production tooling or commercial printing. No whoops marks either. But it’s got nothing to tell us where it’s from. No serial numbers on any parts, no artisan’s signature. Which is really damn weird as working with Axiom Ride like this is generally the work of the super rich or super skilled. Too expensive to put it in a position where you can lose grains or shavings of it.”

“Whoops marks?”

“What the family calls small, but harmless mistakes. You know, little scratches or dents. Things like that. This gun is made perfectly, but not artistically. It’s not mass produced, and it’s not made by the hand of an expert, they’d put their mark on it.”

“Unless they were paid a lot more to not do so.”

“Hmm... maybe? Probably not though. A weapon made purely of Axiom Ride? That’s not normal, not something you stay quiet about and really damn weird. Someone, somewhere would have brought this weapon up, okay? A pure Axiom Ride weapon is the sort of thing you give a name to. Leaving it unmarked is... absurd. It’s like... I’m trying to think of something close... It’s like running for the highest office of a government with a clearly fake name and a mask on and winning. Okay? This is really, really fucking weird. And dangerous too.” Xona explains before pointing to the weapon again. “That thing should be famous. But it’s not even a whisper on the wind.”

“Well, what would be needed to work Axiom Ride to that level?”

“Trytite tools is the start of it. Axiom Ride is a powerful enhancer of Axiom. Very powerful and very reliable. But if the Axiom isn’t being engaged with, like with trytite hand tools, then it doesn’t go off. Basically to work Axiom Ride, you need trytite equipment. Presses and such. Where it’s mass produced you can always count on the serial number or artist’s mark being carved out of the Axiom Ride rather than raised or embossed. All to save a few little bits.”

“Don’t forget the sheer budget range on Centris. We have everything from girls who only own the rags they wear to women so wealthy that hand sewn designer dresses are worn only once then tossed away on the daily. And that’s if they’re being thrifty. Compared to that, is an Axiom Ride Pistol all that exceptional?”

“It still is yes. I know for most girls Axiom Ride is just the core of an engine or the really big money denomination. But there’s a reason it’s so damn expensive. This stuff is rare. It’s supply and demand. The supply is through the floor and the demand is through the roof so the price has an exit velocity.” Xona says as she reaches over and turns the gun over. “This is so damn weird. It’s like someone just... transformed... a...”

“Could a Transmutation Adept do this?”

“Yes. Yes but holy shit is creating the big materials in anything but a state of emergency illegal. A lot of Transmutation Adepts get a freaking government stipend to NOT do it that puts them easily in middle class and most of those places double down and let them ignore taxes too so long as they play ball.”

“Okay, so our Options are we either have an Axiom Ride Artisan making weapons on the sly and not putting their marking on it, or a rogue Transmutation Adept that’s blatantly breaking laws.”

“I can’t tell you which is worse, but I can tell you both of them will go down to an Axiom bullet to the brain.” Xona remarks.

“How about we think about how to do this diplomatically before we think about how to do this murdery?”

“But I’ve been working on my aim!”

“Back on topic. The short scans we had of the massive trenches this thing carved before they were filled in tells us that it’s powerful enough to operate in ship to ship combat. A person could in theory, stand in front of a fully armoured battleship and fire this weapon into the hull to burn a hole into it. In fact Mei’Lan’s extremely fast thinking and reflexes are the only reason the unguarded officer that was nearby the weapon when it was discharged, twice, is alive. At the temperatures this weapon can reliably put out, standard starship ablative armour is effectively a gas and not a solid state material.”

“Yeah, which leads to a question I have.” Libra states.

“And that would be?”

“Why wasn’t a massive explosion when the plasma blasts vaporized that much earth and stone?” Libra asks and there is dead silence. “You fire a plasma blast into water and you get a steam explosion, most battle explosions on a starship is because substances with lower temperatures get hit with plasma level heat and go bang in an atmosphere, which is usually followed by the explosion and everyone it killed, knocked silly or hurt getting dragged out the newly made hole and into the vacuum. But the point stands. That was a pair of plasma blasts on the same level. Why wasn’t there an explosion?”

“The Expanded Space. Part of the refilling effort was taking down that totem to have the actual structure fill in more room. But basically the explosion was trying to enter a hole the size of a pin head and while there was some backblast it was hardly noticeable with the atmospheric controls and the sheer size differences.”

“Which of course brings us to the next mess. That totem we recovered. It is a very, VERY powerful expanded space totem. That entire structure could have fit on this table with that totem in effect. This gives us TWO very expensive chunks of technology in the high end cloning equipment and this fucking pistol. And TWO very powerful Axiom artifacts! And like with the gun and gear, one is stupid rare and dangerous, the other more common but very high grade. What the actual hell was going on that it was under the control of a druggie who burnt out before leaving basic schooling!?”

“Not to mention how did she find it? Open and close an out of order door that leads to a dead end hallway multiple times?”

“That’s the easy part. Drug fuelled haze, slamming a door can be fun. Then it suddenly changes and they go in to take a look. Maybe find a place to lie down and recover. That’s not the hard part. The hard part is where did this mess all come from? Was it all there to begin with? Did she find more and more of it? Was it even Erin Fibrerise that did all this? Was she dead by mirror before any of these crimes could be committed?”

“And then there’s the question of the legal status of a mirror clone. I managed to get more information on these things and they’re rare enough to be a legal mess generally all over. The Mirror Clones are classified as actual clones in some jurisdictions, others say they’re false people, Axiom projections based off of a murder victim and before anyone asks, Phon Spire has no laws regarding Mirror Clones. They’re an unknown entity there.”

“And there’s also the fact that Barnabas killed the mirror clone below the spire. Does spire law extend underground?”

“It extends upwards by the equivalent of two more levels from the top of a spire. So most judges would likely argue it extends two levels down as well. If only for the sake of expedience and clarity.” Micah offers.

Bernice opens her mouth to say something before her communicator chimes and she checks it and nods. “From the looks of it our soon to be Observation Adept has recommended we get a Gravia Professional to examine the mirror. Apparently he recognized part of the Axiom Pattern within it. It matches Gravia patterns.

“Shit, that brings up another question. Is the Mirror alive somehow?”

“It can’t be. It has... now way to...” Fern protests before pausing and thinking. “... If it is then it is likely insane and completely hostile. If the mirror is alive then it has been in isolation for long enough for it’s mind to unravel. And that’s even assuming it has the kind of mind that can unravel, or be recognized as something that we can recognize as a mind.”

She then waves her hands. “But putting all that aside, if the Mirror does somehow qualify as alive in it’s own right then it’s only method of communication has been murder attempts, and some of them weren’t attempts.”

“... Well, I think we can rule out the mirror trying to communicate through murder. The mirror clones didn’t say a word and just fought. So even if the mirror does qualify as alive, it’s likely only alive in the sense that a microbe or plant might be. And it’s all hinging on a very big IF.”

First Last

First

(Too hot... too hot! It was supposed to be cooler! I’m welded to the chair and falling asleep as I sit!)

Cats, Cops and C4

The secretary looks up from her communicator as the heavy footfalls of a massive person with heavy tread stomps in. They look like a Cannidor scale Tret made of nothing but corded muscle and wearing armour and with ship grade weapons strapped to them.

“What?” She asks before he can speak.

“I am here to purchase five million kilolitres of liquid state hypercrete.” He says and she blinks.

“I beg your pardon.”

“I need five million kilolitres of liquid state hypercrete.” He says again.

“For what?”

“A spire has had a hollow melted out below it. It needs to be filled before it can start a chain reaction to drop two hundred hyper dense cites onto another two hundred hyper dense cities.”

“Uh... okay I need to get started on the forms to release the material.” She says. “How are you paying for this?”

An Axiom Ride Trade bar is put on the desk and she stares at it for a moment. Then another, and then another.

He makes a stack of them.

He then hands over a data-slate. “You’ll find all the information needed to make a proper sale on there. I need that hypercrete as soon as I can get to it.”

“Right uh... hold on.” She says typing a few things into her console quickly. “How are you transporting it?”

“Portal.”

“Okay... right. We’ve worked with that before. And we do have enough.” She says tapping at the console a and then a small white disk flies out of the wall and beeps agreeably. “That guide drone will lead you right to your hypercrete and can answer any questions you have about unloading it so long as your Galactic Basic doesn’t have an impenetrable accent.”

“Thank you and god bless.” He says and then follows the tiny drone out of the room. Leaving the secretary staring at the stack. He leans back in. “By the way, the extra bar is for your to put some hustle on it all to make this legal. There are a lot of lives at stake here.”

“What spire?”

“Phon.”

“I have family there! Okay, distant and non-blood but... family!”

“Do your part and we’ll save them before they even know they’re in danger.” He assures her and she nods and starts filling out the forms faster than she ever had before.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Hidden Compound Below Central Structural Piller, Level -1 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

Across still sizzling slag a tiny pair of boots walk and leave behind a glowing trail as the uppermost layer that had cooled ever so slightly is disturbed.

“Hopefully it’s enough.” Private Stream says as he switches his gloves and the khutha totems worked into them with wire and delicate knotwork glow brightly. Then he holds out his hands to the side like he wanted a hug. Liquid Hypercrete sprays out in a huge and steady stream that he aims at the back wall and quickly develops a mound. Spraying up and own and all around he slowly backs out as the massive chamber fills. Several more Streams use Axiom gloves of their own to direct the hypercrete upwards to fully fill the cavern as they all slowly depart.

The ever growing wall of grey sludge is slowly pressed through the entire compound. It’s stripped bare and nothing has been left but the base structure, not even the wiring beneath the panels of the maintenance hallways was left, and they took the panels too.

It takes several hours of concentrated pouring as the compound is slowly filled up and the gloves of power are switched from one Stream to another as the exhausting duty is passed like a baton.

The teamwork is flawless, and by the time the final Stream walks out backwards from the portal doorway they leave only a thin sliver. Two more streams on either side use their gloves to hold the hypercrete on the other side of the opened portal up in the spire as a fourth Stream walks up and pulls out a tiny totem. They hold it up and direct Axiom through it. The Hypercrete hardens instantly. They flip the disk shaped totem and chuckle. “Jobs done Private Stream. Good job.”

“Thank you Private Stream. Want to see what Private Stream and Private Stream have been up to since I took over from Private Stream?”

“I think I would Private Stream. Now Private Stream, are you and Private Stream going to be joining us?”

“Are all of them named Private Stream?” A reporter woman behind the police cordon asks.

“We are many!” The Private Streams all say as one.

“Yes, because that wasn’t incredibly creepy.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“So back here again?” Fern asks.

“Yes, back here again.” Bernice says. “We need to coordinate and get our teams and partners nice and read yf or the big moment.”

“So we’re planning on breaking the mirror?”

“Only when we have eyes on everyone we know to have looked into the mirror. If some doctor vanishes mid surgery that’s a problem. Especially if the glass shards end up in the patient.”

“Which means we have someone studying the horrible thing right?”

“More sensitive scanners are being positioned all over the mirror. It’s in a dedicated location and Chenk has outright taped papers to it’s reflective side to prevent someone from casually looking into it. They’ll have to actively open it up and try to get the effect rather than just stumble on it. But it also won’t block our scans. And we’re going to be scanning it for a long time. These mirrors are complicated.”

“Are we hoping to find some kind of connection?’

“Well it’s known that shattering a mirror shatters the reflections. So there is a link, and if nothing else an energy signature that we can look for. We look for that, do a scan of places and see about isolating the potential damage this thing has done. Then we move onto what to actually do with it.”

“And the retention bands?”

“That is a slower process. The bands have come from multiple different hospitals and it is serious patient doctor confidentiality breaches to have these things. There’s also the fact that few hospitals are willing to admit they’ve lost control of these things. The original hospital that Horace Blue went to that had his retention band stolen from is still unwilling to admit that the band was not properly wiped. Which is understandable as admitting to that would open them up to being sued, badly, and the loss of a lot of funding. Losing an active retention band is a MASSIVE breach of legal responsibility and trust.”

“And the recovered Erins?”

“Thirty Four in number. Layla Stonefield is being counted as her own person and the apparent leader of this group was shattered by Barnabas. He’s apparently a dab hand with a minigun. Go figure.”

“He’s human, with the exception of the newborns and civilians that came out of Cruel Space they are from first to last combat monsters. I suspect he’d have won that fight with a handkerchief if he had to.”

“Do we know where he is now? I heard he got called away for furhter police work while delivering the mirror and blasted off at borderline illegal speeds to get there after safely ensuring the mirror wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Mid case. A small gang war erupted and as a laserproof and hand to hand capable officer who can perform non-lethal take downs he’s in high demand.”

“Oh.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Embattled Cul-De-Sac, Level 115 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

Mei’Lan’s kick topples over the belligerent Cannidor, but she has Axiom going through her hardand refuses to be knocked out.

Then the moment her back hits the ground Chenk drops from above like a meteor and lands on her stomach elbow first. It’s not lethal, it’s not even all that harmful, but it is painful and her focus is disrupted enough for Mei’Lan to sweep back in and send the woman tumbling with a kick to the back of the head, out cold, soaring over Chenk as he races to the next opponent who’s trying to wrestle with a transformed Vera.

Linda is working at the back hatch of the Cannidor’s armour as Chenk wraps his arm around the plasma cannon the woman is getting control of and wrecks the barrel.

A figure is a blur as they try to intercept their group but Mei’Lan is on defence and open palm strikes the Feli in the side of the head before the armour is finally opened by Linda who opens up with several shots from her shock pistol into the Cannidor. Considering she was pressing the weapon into the back of the woman’s head at the time she’s out like a light in moments.

The three most competent fighters down for the count breaks the morale of the gang they start to surrender to the police.

“Well that was brisk.” Mei’Lan notes as Chenk hands the once more bipedal Vera her clothing and she dresses quickly. “SO have you had a chance to talk to them about the lady you’ve met?”

“Stirring the pot hard today aren’t we?” Chenk asks her and she smiles unashamedly.

“You met someone?”

“Yes, tied to the latest bit of nonsense. Layla Stonefield. A highschool music teacher that was one of a clone line that modded herself to get a grasp on her own life, but also knew that trying to run would just get her chased, so she went into a place that her memories said was hell and turned it into her sanctuary.”

“He also likes the way she looks.” Mei’Lan says.

“Thank you sister, is there anything else you’d like to share?”

“He had to kill himself in single combat.”

“What?” Linda asks.

“That was not me, that was my reflection.”

“And if it had one it would be working now to convince everyone it was you, and probably succeeding.” Mei’Lan says.

“Okay that’s enough.”

“But we haven’t even touched on the Axiom Ride Plasma blast you dodged.”

“You dodged it too.”

“Twice, and it nearly toppled the spire.”

“And I’ve received confirmation that the entire area has been filled in with hypercrete and...” Chenk begins to explain before his and Linda’s communicators start going off. “Here we go again.”

It’s a simple text. Their shift has ended and for safety concerns, outside of an active state of emergency they’re off duty. “Oh.”

“Did you seriously lose track of time?” Vera asks in amusement.

“Maybe.” Chenk answers.

“Which means he has time to introduce you his new lady friend.”

“Mei’Lan, I can and will throw your ass off the spire.” Chenk threatens.

“Oh! But mother would love to meet her too!” She teases and Chenk groans in exasperation. “Oh! Maybe little miss Frost as well! After all her daddy having a new mommy for her is always good news.”

“I am not her father.”

“Her little slip of the tongue last week says otherwise.”

“Why do I put up with you again?”

“Because you’re physically incapable of getting rid of me without murder and you know I can be trusted to assist in combat in a non-lethal manner. Also mom likes you and put you on the family rolls so I’m you big sister too.”

“It’s one of those.” Chenk notes as the officers of this level start converging around the Power Armour bedecked Cannidor and start prying her out. It takes a bit, she’s still plugged in.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Genetic Recovery Wing, Undaunted Hospital, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

Layla looks up as the doctor comes out of the examination room. “Miss Stonefield?”

“Yes?”

“The news with your sibling is mixed. Do you want the good or the bad first?”

“Bad.”

“The damage is extensive. She’s going to need a healing coma and her genetic structure is badly damaged, so without gene therapy she’s not going to take well to the coma.”

“And the good?”

“You were on the nose with your claim. Your genetic structure and modifications can be easily purposed into a silky smooth therapy that will cut down on the typical time and entirely sidestep most complications. She’s going to make it.”

“Which brings us to the ‘could be good, could be bad’ news. The Healing Coma and Gene Therapy are going to be fairly extensive and she’s also requested a change of legal identity and has put you down as a trusted next of kin.”

“Oh... That’s fine. I can take care of a little sister.” Layla says.

“She apparently wants a more... daughter relationship.”

“... I need to talk to her first.” Layla says.

“I assumed as much. The room is yours, just don’t scream at her. She’s not going to just die if you yell at her, but it won’t help.” He says turning to the side and sweeping his arm to the door.

“I see. Thank you doctor.”

“Doctor? No, I’m freshly escaped from the Psyche Ward. I stole the outfit.” He says and she turns and sees he’s grinning. “Made you look.”

“You have an awful sense of humour.”

“Well all senses must be present and accounted for if you’re in charge of helping people.” He says. “The green button at her bedside will summon a nurse if you need help.”

“I see, thank you Doctor.” She says and he nods.

First Last Next

First

(Wow the heat SPIKED today. I can’t think straight it’s so bad.)

Cats, Cops and C4

“Hey wait! Wait a minute!” Layla calls over as the ambulance with the Undaunted Markings on it swoops in and doctors rush out to see to one of her sisters. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Miss? Are you related to this woman?”

“The runner?” The exhausted looking Erin asks as she spots her.

“What happened to you? You look like you’re barely alive.” Layla asks in horror.

“Miss? Who are you?”

“Layla Stonefield, I’m her sister. We’re both clones from the same line but I gene modded myself.”

“Right, okay. We need to ask a few things to help her. Nothing invasive. Nothing that should be invasive. But well... some people get testy.” The Doctor says as they place a band around Erin’s arm.

“What is that?” Erin asks in a dazed tone.

“A tiny teleportation beacon that will transport tiny amounts of a glucose solution into your veins directly. Feeding you without the need for food or drink. Now we need to scan you a bit, but we need to know what kind of clone you are above all else.”

“Why?”

“If you’re a flash grown clone then you’re aging at an accelerated rate and we need to stabilize you enough to safely undergo the Skitterway Method. If you’re a bio-print we need to do a gene-scan to make sure that nothing is hidden in your genetic code... actually we’re going to do that either way, but we need to be extra careful with a bio-printing. Anyone can be modified but there’s a greater chance for some kind of genetic irregularity in a bio-printed clone. If they’re severe enough then we’ll need to gene-splice her before applying any form of healing coma because it simply won’t have the genetic blueprint to work properly.

“We’re Bio-Prints. I’ve gene modded myself and am both compatable with my sisters and genetically stable.” Layla says.

“Miss, we’re going to need you.”

“If you didn’t take me with you I’d be following you.”

“You have transportation?”

“Nearby, but you’re Undaunted, I know where you guys are. I can find you.”

“Sister?” Erin asks. “They said I’ve been starving myself. That I needed mroe food and water because I have human organs.”

“It’s going to be okay. I’m here.” Layla promises.

“By mother tank! It IS you! I thought nothing would drag you out of that horrible place.” Another Erin says from nearby and Layla turns to face her. She’s bald as an egg with a sharp stubble on her head and an X tattooed on the top of her head with a circle tattooed on her face to turn the mole into a circle with a dot in it. Her clothing is cobbled together from rags with obvious panels of armour in it and several empty weapon holsters all around her.

“Oh no... you.”

“Me!”

“Excuse me?” A child asks and Layla instinctively puts a warm smile on her ace and turns to face... a little boy in an oversized uniform and carrying a laser cannon that looks like he tore it off a starfighter. “Hi! I’m Private Stream! An Undaunted Low Profile Bodyguard and general all around helper! Can we talk? Everyone?”

“As in you want to talk with everyone?”

“Yep!” Private Stream says as his exact doubles flow into the hidden compound like a river of little boys, each one carrying some kind of weapon or pierce of equipment.

“No no no! Back with the others, I’ll be speaking with them.” A woman calls out.

“’Kay monkey lady!” Private Stream says before saluting them all and running off with the massive laser cannon bouncing on his shoulder.

“Excuse me.” An Agurk woman says dropping down from above. She’s dressed stylishly with a pair of fashionable glasses on that have tiny bits of text scrolling across them, a formal business shirt that cuts off before her flat stomach and ornate pants with increasingly more gold designs worked in as they go down to her feet perched prettily in golden heels. Heels that have an aura around them that fashionable fighting women often use. The strappy heels might look unbalanced or delicate, but she’s basically wearing angled combat boots from how stable they are. “Love your hair darling, I’m Bernice, with the Undaunted Intelligence. I was hoping to speak to you all.”

“Uh...”

“We were looking into where our possible leaks were that had human level knowledge and skill attacking your lovely school and the more we looked and learned with Mister Barnabas as our eyes the more concerned we grew. So my team and I have arrived with a small army in tow. Now, you’re quite the woman to defy your birth in so calculated a manner, I was hoping we could have a bit of a hear to heart.” She says with her tail swaying gently.

“Oh. Right, yes. I’m afraid I can’t tell you too much. There are only three rooms in there I really know of and unless you want to hear about music theory or how to get a licence to teach children I don’t think I know all that much.”

“Oh nonsense my dear, I’m sure you have plenty to share.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Hidden Compound Below Central Structural Piller, Level -1 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

Chenk turns as there is a commotion and then grins as the blue clad forms of a whole river of Streams flows around the corner and stops short of him. “So I’ve got an army now?”

“Sir! Yes Sir!”

“Minions!” Mei’Lan laughs.

“Uh...” The Officer brave enough to stick close

“Don’t worry, the Streams will not be killing anyone, destablizing the structure or damaging evidence.” Chenk says before turning to the Streams. “Is that understood?”

“Sir! Yes sir!” The Private Streams answer.

“Good! We’re doing a sweep and secure operation! Take down the defences and fully secure the facility. Destroy no equipment and detain anyone that actively fights us. If they’re able to be peacefully neutralized do so, but do not be afraid to use stun rounds on the belligerent. This group is attached to an individual who has used our techniques and technology in an attempt to mass slaughter children. We are not going to let that slide and we are not going to allow them any freedom.

“Company.” Mei’Lan notes casually and Chenk turns as a silenced blast of plasma lances directly towards him. At first he does nothing then his eyes widen and he dodges. The Streams follow his lead and then there is HEAT as the plasma eats through the rear wall and keeps going. There are screams as an increasingly large hole is melted into the world as the plasma unravels with every inch travelled and burns hotter and hotter.

“That was warship grade.” Chenk says lowly. The initial hole the plasma came out of is surrounded by bright orange metal panels.

“You come into MY home. Take MY children and think to threaten ME!?” An Erin demands in a fury.

“Surrender now.” Chenk orders as Mei’Lan silently points to the Officer she pulled out the way. Even without being hit the woman had horrible burns along her entire right side and Mei’Lan had her hand over the woman’s mouth to stop her from screaming. He nods.

That plasma weapon is at least an order of magnitude more powerful than it should be. A forest of Weapons is pointed at the wall the initial blast came out of. Then a few laser beams lance out and nail hidden cameras. Another blast follows and the room BAKES as the white hot star flashes through the room and digs a TRENCH as it was angled downward.

“We’re under the spire you idiot! If you keep firing that thing you could kill everyone!”

“Shut-” The attacker begins to scream and Chenk uses the sound to guess her location and he unleashes with the minigun. The weakened wall shatters in less than a second. He catches a glimpse of a desperately dodging Erin but he swivels his massive weapon and he watches as it catches her lower back and legs. There is no blood but she’s torn apart regardless.

The same as his reflection was, as Mei’Lan’s reflection was. The Erin shatters entirely when she hits the floor. Leaving behind clothing and equipment. A Stream teleports forward and grabs ther weapon.

“Axiom Ride Plasma Pistol!” He calls over. “Hey! There are safeties all on this. I think it’s... ah. Okay. Neat. We can still pull it apart for parts.”

Another Stream is in the room and rifling through the empty clothes of the Erin as Chenk glances back to regard the sheer amount of damage the gun had caused. The tunnel and trench go on so deep he can’t see the end.

“Ow, oww oww!” The Officer complains as the last of her burns are healed and Mei’Lan lets out a sigh.

“You got cooked there girl. Do you not have anything for Resisting plasma?”

“I do. But it’s designed for way lower tempuratires.”

“There are heat distortions on the ceiling.” A Private Stream notes before another pulls out a powerful flashlight and points it’s beam down the trench.

“Whoa, that’s what? At least a hundred metres.”

“More than that.” Another says.

“That’s what ‘at least’ means.”

“Oh! Right.”

“Can you disable that weapon? That thing was worthy of a starship.” The Officer says in a horrified tone.

“Hunh? Oh yeah, it’s a normal plasma pistol otherwise. Just snap it right here...” Private Stream says as he dismantles the gun partially and then audibly breaks something inside it. He then holds it to the side and visibly pulls the trigger. “See? Once you know how they’re made they can be disabled in no time. Using them again after you snap those connectors isn’t really on the table. But it’s a useful trick.”

“Something like that shouldn’t be in anyone’s hands.”

“What and leave that level of power to adepts alone? There is use for that kind of hand cannon.” Chenk notes as the Private Stream with the flashlight looks deep into the tunnel that the first shot sent out and then moves up closer to the hole in the wall and starts waving it around to illuminate the fact the hole had widened greatly.

Metal groans as the tiny amount of weight Private Stream brings to bear is too much and part of the compound collapses into the massive hole. The Private Stream in question is left standing on nothingness and slowly backs away to the edge of the hole and keeps backing up. It’s almost something out of a cartoon.

“... Fuck we need to fill this.”

“What? How?” The Officer demands.

“On it!” A Private Stream says.

“Hey no! I got it!” Another Stream protests.

“Boys, boys, let’s focus. Get everyone out of this shithole and leave teleport beacon behind. We’ll us e it to teleport in concrete, gravel or something to fill in the big holes that miss crazy von mirror girl carved. But first we’re getting everyone else out.”

“What about the mirror?” Mei’Lan asks and there is a pause. “Only you and I can likely even touch it without danger. And we need to cover that thing with trytite to get it out of here.”

“Luckily you have us!” The nearest Private Stream to her says. “We hear all we see all and we can do all! We’ll get you everything you need in a jiffy!”

“Then in that case we’re now on full evacuation mode. We need to get everyone out of this compound and fill it and the massive mess that was just made to get everything out of here. Leave nothing behind but have your gloves on to not taint evidence. If it can’t be carried out or pried up then take a picture of it and leave it. We need to get this place under...” Chenk begins and there is a pause as there is a groan of metal. “Control. Don’t bother apologizing! Clear this place out!”

The Streams rush off in all directions and Chenk expands the pocket inside his jacket to fit his new toy in there and then gestures for Mei’Lan to follow.

Several Streams go with them and when they arrive at the mirror room they start carrying out the shelves full of retention bands in short order. There is shouting in the distance and arguments as further Erins are found and forced out of this hidey hole.

“Here we are!” A stream says running in with a large bundle in the form of a Trytite laced Tarp. Chenk and Mei’Lan cover the mirror with it and clip the tarp closed at the bottom. Then without little more than a nod they start moving out the deadly artifact through the now quiet and calm base, only the creaking of metal around the compromised structure makes a sound. Everything is cleared out but the guards at the totem and they follow the both of them out as the entire area is abandoned for now.

It’s no longer safe in that compound and it needs to be made safe for the sake of everyone on Phon Spire.

First Last Next

First

Cats, Cops, and C4

“Breathing is steady, heart rate is high but within safe parameters.” Chenk says before patting down on the torso beneath where her breasts are. “Ribs are standing out and...”

He brushes the back of his hand up then outright gropes the unconscious Erin. “Bra severely padded to hide signs of starvation. Lips badly chapped, I had thought it might have been a minor injury but it could easily be a sign consistent dehydration. Which means that she’s approaching internal organ failure and is likely only alive due to her Axiom intake.”

“That bad?” An Officer asks.

“Worse. Human resistances and stamina tricks have a price, and the price is huge amounts of food and water. Even a non-active human requires two to three times the raw calorie intake as another galactic species on the low end. Four to five times at minimum for a mildly active one. I eat at least ten times the standard amount, and in greater variety, and I drink more water in one day than you do in a week and I still should be having more.”

“And her?”

“She needs to be in a hospital and receiving care last week. She was barely alive when we came in the room.” Chenk says before nodding and holding down a number on his communicator. “Alright, I’m going to get medical evacuation for this woman, I don’t know how long she has. But this isn’t good.”

“Do you have anything that can help her?

“... Yes, Mei’Lan can you work her mouth and throat muscles.” Chenk says as he pulls out a bottle from his jacket and a foil tube.

“That stuff?”

“Yeah.” Chenk says.

“What is that?”

“Nutrient paste and water. Like I said, humans are high calorie beings, if I get badly hurt and use Axiom to heal myself, I need a little more to stabilize afterwards. With this on me I can potentially walk off an arm being sheared off with nothing more than some mental trauma to celebrate.”

“And what are you planning?” The Officer asks.

“She needs both, nutrient paste may taste like shit, but it’s got everything and is so easy on the stomach you can feed it to babies of any species. And the water is just plain required. I’m going to guide both gently down her throat and into her stomach. Mei’Lan stop her from drowning or doing something stupid. Alright? She needs the fucking fuel.”

“Alright, let’s save a life.” Mei’Lan says as she shifts her position and changes how the Erin is lying. The head of the poor woman is now in her lap as she sits on the floor with her legs folded under her. “I’ll stop her from inhaling anything.”

Chenk uncaps the expanded water bottle and uses Axiom to tease out a small amount of fluid. No larger than a marble, and carefully guides it down into her mouth then throat as he has his left hand on her neck. He keeps it away from the trachea and guides it into the esophagus. “Not enough spit. This woman is dried out.”

He guides more beads of water into her mouth and into her esophagus. Her breathing stays steady and after he has several cups in her stomach he tears open the foil for the nutri-paste and guides it in next, then follows it up with more water.

He empties the tube of nutri-paste and even more water to wash it down. Then places his hand on her stomach and there is a slight ripple of Axiom. “Good, she’s absorbing it fast.”

“She’s waking up.” Mei’Lan says.

“Let her.” Chenk says and moments later Erin’s eyes open. “You gave us a scare there girl.”

“What?” She asks sounding confused and very, very small.

“You’re badly starved and horribly dehydrated. You need water. Lots of it.” He says holding his bottle out to her.

“No I... I’ve had enough. If I want more then there’s something... wrong with me.”

“The only thing wrong is how much abuse you’ve suffered.” Chenk says. “Drink young lady. You have human anatomy. Even a human sitting still needs far more food and drink than any other species their size. Eat Cannidor or Agela sized portions and no less. Eat as much as a Jungle or Moshak Nagasha. It’s not failure, it’s necessity.”

“But I feel better...” She starts to sit up and he lets her up but all but forces the water bottle into her hands.

“Because I made you drink and eat while you were passed out. Nutrient Paste and water. You need more. Much more, and you need rest to digest. For the love of god, please don’t starve yourself to death.”

“But I...” She begins and Chenk draws out a second tube of nutri-paste. She stares at it. “You just want me to eat?”

“If you’re willing to answer questions, then that’s great. But right now I want you to get out of here and into a hospital that can see to your recovery.”

“But...”

“Your ribs under the shirt are standing out so much that I can call you a skeleton with skin stretched on it. The only plumpness you have is padding from Axiom and where you’ve stuffed your clothing.”

“But no one else needs so much...”

“You have human organs. Much like I do. They are massive calorie hogs and need roughly a gallon of water per day to function properly. You should be having three meals a day, and every meal you should be eating as much as other people do in an entire day, maybe two if you’re more active. As it stands you’re not even getting half the required calories to break even for just staying alive. To say nothing of how you’re so dried out that you’re withering. Please eat and drink.”

“Look wiseguy, I don’t know who you think you are...”

“You have a headache right? Pounding and relentless, but nothing to cause it right?” He asks her and she pauses.

“How do you know that?”

“It’s one of the most common tells of being dehydrated.”

“Oh yeah? What are the others?”

“Lethargy, aches in the joints, constipation and your urine coming out darkly coloured or even thick.” He says and she just stares at him. Then sniffs at the water bottle.

“Dehydration?”

“It’s a killer. Freshwater Wells are damn near sacred in some human cultures. Rain, rivers and lakes have all been worshipped for the life giving water they bring.”

She sniffs the water again and takes a sip. Her eyes widen and she begins guzzling down the water with audible swallows. He lets her have five before he starts reaching for the bottle and then when she has ten big gulps he pulls it away.

“Pace yourself. You don’t want to choke.” He says before holding the nutri-paste tube to her. “This next. I put one into you already, but you will need more.”

“Nutrient Paste?” She asks before examining the packaging, deciding it’s legitimate and then tearing open the top. She sniffs it and gives it a delicate lick. Then sticks the tube in her mouth and forces all of it out before swallowing. “That was good! Why did it taste good? It famously tastes awful!”

“Because as much as the joke is, you won’t feel hungry if all you have is nutrient products to eat, it’s not true. A better saying would be that Hunger is the greatest flavouring. You’re so badly deprived that so long as you can taste any nutrition in it, it’s going to be delicious. And nutri-paste is nothing but nutrition and calories. But yeah, I suggest other food. More pleasant meals.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?”

“Fruit Salad maybe? Deviled Eggs? Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches perhaps? Hell just some shrimp fried rice will probably be manna from heaven to you.”

“Manna?”

“Oh uh... religious saying. Manna was a divinely given bread that was sustaining and sweet to a people who wandered a great desert after fleeing bondage and they needed to find some kind of purity before coming to their promised land. It’s been a while since I read the stories, but manna from heaven is a popular term meaning something good, sustaining and to be trusted in totality.”

“Oh... manna...” Erin mutters and she starts to rise but Chenk has a hand on her shoulder.

“Be careful. You’ve already fainted once. I accelerated your metabolism a little so you could absorb the nutrients I got into you while unconscious, but you’re still in a very delicate place.” He says before pulling his hand away.

She rises up slowly, staggers for a moment and Chenk is already in place and steadies her.

“Officer, can you guide her out? I’ll be calling for some Undaunted doctors, if she’s got human anatomy she should have human treatment. At the least a few tests to see what kind of damage the starvation and dehydration has done, Axiom alone isn’t enough in the quantities that Tret instinct absorbs it.” Chenk says.

“Right, right, I can get her out. Is there any end to this?”

“Not until it’s over. And even then, maybe not.” Mei’Lan answers. “It’s why my branch of the order likes Centris, there’s always more to do. Even if it can get kind of exhausting and just plain... absurd.”

“It’s why there hasn’t even been a consideration about leaving Centris. Not a serious one anyways. All the chaos and conspiracies is throwing out free goodies left and right, not to mention it’s right on the pulse of political power in the galaxy, both of those together means we have endless training and resource acquisition opportunities and are in the exact right place to leverage all that into something more useful still.” Chenk explains and the Officers that had come in after the human Erin had been escorted out are looking a little uncomfortable.

“And what are you getting out of this?”

“Information is valuable in it’s own right. They’re studying the mirror, to say nothing of the fact that some of the Erins may want to sign up and make something more of themselves. Layla can be the good example for them. I’ll talk to her. If she can be free of Phon Spire she might like to try.”

“... You like her!”

“She did something brave and turned a prison into a home. That’s an underestimated kind of strength.” Chenk notes and Mei’Lan smirks. “... And the deep tan white hair look she’s rocking is...”

“There we go.”

“Are humans really that looks oriented?” An Officer asks. “I thought you were indiscriminate.”

“The Axiom tends to make most people look not only good, but damn good. A citizen that isn’t dying of something generally looks like the kind of woman that there would be outright competitions for the attention of back on Earth.”

“And we have to get through the Null to win the prize. If there is some kind of abstract deity that formed the galaxy then they’re clearly a cruel one.”

“How is it cruel? They kept the most dangerous species in quarantine.”

“Chenk, stop implying that humanity has been isolated for everyone else’s safety.” Mei’Lan chides him.

“Why, am I starting to convince you?” He asks cheekily.

“Kinda.” She admits and he chuckles.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“Goddess be damned, down to the minute.” Bernice notes as she receives the update.

“You’re kidding.”

“I am not. Fifty seven seconds after you implied Barnabas would find further nonsense he reported that one of the clones he’s dealing with has human anatomy. The update afterwards has him not she’s badly malnourished and dehydrated. Apparently not knowing how to take care of herself with human grade physiology.”

“Why is Irony more consistent than Gravity!?”

“No idea, but I’m starting to think we need to get our feet on the ground over there.” Bernice says before sighing. “The problem is that it’s still in motion. And to be frank... the best option might be to divert a river of Streams in there and just flood the whole place with the little boys in blue.”

Fern suddenly looks amused. “And what is that about?”

“Nothing.” Fern says.

“You just thought of something horrible didn’t you?”

“... maybe.”

“Just spit it out.”

“If we send in a river of streams we can also leak that there’s going to be a lot of children there and catch a bunch of pedos and busybodies.” Fern says and there are groans of disgust around the room. “What you know I’m right. We’ve caught so many of the crazy witches already.”

“And we’ve also gotten a lot of good women who are concerned about a small child alone.”

“Those are busybodies.”

First Last Next

First

(Stalled out after the call. Hmm...)

Cats, Cops and C4

The suggestion was a good one, but there were some things that a lot of soldiers didn’t like to think about too much. Not because it was wrong or immoral or anything. Just... it was a lot. Bernice adjusts her collare and swishes her tail around a little.

The call goes through. Audio only though.

“Yes? Apologies for the wait. It’s the middle of the night where I am and it’s hard to slip out of bed when you’re the main pillow.” The deep voice with chiming echo says as Emmanuel Skitterway The Primal Urthani, answers the call. “And to be honest, I haven’t really, so we’re going to stay in audio to not wake anyone up.”

“That’s alright. I apologize for waking you, but lives have been lost to a dreadful Axiom artifact and you’re the only person I can contact that has any experience with anything like it.”

“... That’s not good. There’s only a small handful of things that I’ve experienced that are unique. Has someone’s soul been ripped out or some kind of body snatcher?”

“Neither of those, thank goodness, but a mirror.”

“The Dark Mirror?”

“Not a dark mirror, but another mirror like it. It sends it’s reflections out to attack rather than drawing people in.”

“I see. I’ve studied it a bit. But I’ve covered it up further to make sure it doesn’t go off because someone gets lost and has more lockpicking skill than sense.”

“Is that common?”

“We’ve actually had that scare.” He says.

“Oh... wow.”

“So I’ve taken a few looks at the mirror trying to either turn it off or find some kind of safety on it. But I haven’t had any luck in that area, not to mention I’m generally too tied up in ruling and rebuilding to have time for side studies. I’ve resorted to throwing a big tarp on it, putting up a warning sign and a few motion sensors in the room that will set off a loud alarm and tell anyone in there to get the hell out as they’re in immediate danger.”

“I see, are there any hints or particulars you can tell me about The Dark Mirror? The one we’ve found might or might not have been used to kill and replace a lot of people?”

“It’s not ready for Other Direction Energy, I can tell you that. Placing even a tiny amount into it’s system will cause it to start to break. Thankfully I was able to extract it and the self cleaning and self repair functions of the mirror fixed it in short order. It also has an unusual security feature. But I’m not certain if it’s common to these types of artifacts. A sample size of two is much too small for more than the most basic observations.”

“Anything and everything helps.”

“Of course. The Dark Mirror has been studied. It was not on the manifest of the colony ship, meaning it was created AFTER the crash and failed colonization attempt. But there is no record of it’s creation outside of rumour and hearsay. Nothing is written or preserved outside of a few recordings of local legend and rumour.”

“So it was made by either first generation colonists or an early generation one.”

“Correct. Now, this means it can be made with relatively rudimentary tools. And likely a lot of Axiom use. Near or at Adept Level use.”

“I see.”

“Now, as to what I’ve learned from my mirror that may be helpful, is that this one doesn’t have anything resembling a memory bank. It has no way to retain information.”

“Really? Does that mean you’re at risk of entering your Mirror again?”

“I am not.” Emmanuel says.

“... How does that work?”

“The Dark Mirror reads the person who looks into it. If they remember fighting their own reflection, it doesn’t do anything else than the initial reading.”

“... So if our Mirror has similar effects then maybe we can spoof it.”

“Potentially. It’s not something that can be easily tested. Your mirror sends out the problem, so anyone attacked can be assisted in fighting for their life. But no matter how that ends, they can’t be used for testing again. With my mirror they’re drawn inside so rescue is a lot harder.”

“From what we know, helping someone fight their own reflection is just going to hurt both fighters.”

“There are more ways to help someone fight than to hurt the enemy. Tripping a foe might bruise your ally’s ankle if they’re linked. But the danger of a trip is to be rendered off balance or prone. Putting someone’s reflection in a hammerlock might make the original a little uncomfortable, but it won’t do much more than that while pinning down the reflection for a killing blow from the original.”

“Oh that... hmm...”

“Still, there is something more about mirrors. You need to turn the sensitivity of any scanners up. There are going to be multiple layers of Axiom Totems sandwiched between the glass of the mirror and the frame. If the sensitivity is down, then the numerous Axiom effects can blur together and skew your examinations badly. How have you contained the mirror?”

“It’s been turned to face the nearest wall. You’d have to pull it out to get a good look at it.”

“That’s a good start. It’ll give you the time you need to study yours.”

“Is there any way to control them?”

“Yes, but the instructions once lost are hard to remake. In my own I have been looking into The Dark Mirror, through it I’ve been able to expel the bodies of the departed. The Star Seekers had a record of everyone who failed the test to be a Martial Master of the order, so they’re all laid to rest with proper headstones... but here’s the thing about that. The bodies were fresh. Still warm even. I’m not certain if that’s a Dark Mirror thing or common to all other mirrors like it. But it’s a possibility.”

“Can you not revive-”

“Shhh! I’ve made a decree that it’s not to be spoken of. We’re almost there. But I still don’t want half the galaxy dropping cities from the sky and destroying Lakran for the sake of medical tourism.”

“Ah. I see. Almost done?”

“We need to test things. But we can reliably drive off Astral Hargath from an area through the use of modified totems that use Ode. But the Energy frequency is so finicky that they have a limited lifespan. We’ve got it up to an hour from the original minute long use. My hope is to refine the creation method of the totems so that they can be replaced faster than they wear down.”

“You can’t make the totems longer lasting?”

“We’ve reached what seems to be the limit of Khutha’s ability. I’ve started looking into potentially using Axiom Ride, but with it’s enhancing effects it will likely throw off all calculations and require it’s own modifications. Granted using a new material would always cause that, but it’s going to be extreme.” Emmanuel states and then there is a slight chiming sound. Then when he speaks again he’s whispering. “For a final note, pulling a mirror apart is not recommended. Either destroy it all at once, or not at all. The many totems work together simultaneously. Break the pattern and it can do any number of things. Yes, if it has nothing to reflect it won’t be able to copy anyone else. But if the mirror is holding corpses, then they might be expelled at high velocity.”

“I see, one last question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know why these mirrors are so complicated?”

“Because they need to account for everything they need to copy a person. Even a basic mirror needs to be able to emulate movement, mass, hardness, composition and everything that composes a person up to and including behaviour. The Dark Mirror is the size of a small building because it needs all that space to run all the calculations it does. A smaller mirror might have better programming built into it. But yes. They are complicated because while it’s easy to say they bring reflections to life, actually doing something like that is immensely difficult.”

“It’s the difference between someone who uses Axiom and a proper Adept.”

“Exactly. Every mirror, even a poorly made one, is a masterwork of Axiom Totems. And if they weren’t so damn dangerous they’d belong in art galleries and museums. Now it... oh... sorry babe. Work called.”

“Work can go fucking kill itself. Go back to sleep you giant goof.” Magrica mutters.

“Right sorry, I’ll finish up.” Emmanuel says. “Is that all over there?”

“Yes, I’ll use text if we need more. Thank you very much.” Bernice says.

“Best of luck.” Emmanuel bids her and the call disconnects.

“So... that’s a Primal. Lot more casual than I considered.

“Well he just woke up and do remember just what that conversation brushed up against.”

“yeah, reviving the dead. He’s being very careful about that.”

“Reasonably so. Agelessness is one thing, bringing back the people we lost? That’s basically a step away from actual immortality.” Bernice remarks. “Okay, so we have information. Including a few methods to destroy it without heavy ordinance. Getting either Specialist Racz or Officer Eckmeki to force a small amount of Ode into the mirror should cause it to break fairly thoroughly.”

“Maybe but remember the source of the information. A tiny amount of Ode for a Primal might be more than any two or even ten mortals can draw.”

“That, is an excellent point. But the main thrust of it is that like all other Axiom based totems and technology it’s unable to withstand Ode for long.”

“It could also go the other way. One of Ode’s peculiarities is that if the person using an Ode based device is an Ode user it functions far more reliably. If it’s the same with Primals then his own presence would have stabilized the enormous mirror. Perhaps if he stepped away at that time it would have shattered instantly.”

“Or he inserted some from a distance and never was in contact with the mirror physically. Goddess damn it even when we get more info we need more info. And he’s trying to sleep again.”

“I’ll send him the request in text. Still, we’ve got good information. And his advice to up the sensitivity on our scanning devices is a good one.”

“The ones we have there are more robust than sensitive though. We’ll need to move things into what could end up as an active combat zone at any moment to replace them. And equipment that delicate requires special transportation concerns, and either a stable enough area to work in peace, which we don’t have, or an expert on hand to constantly adjust the equipment to compensate for difficulties. Which we DO have but in civilian form, meaning a guard duty will be required to keep them safe as they keep the equipment functioning.”

“And that depends on whether or not our boy Barnabas finds further fuckery.”

“Well now that you’ve jinxed it...”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Hidden Compound Below Central Structural Piller, Level -1 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

The chunk of wall is peeled away and inside and Erin moves to intercept. Only to find herself looking down six barrels simultaneously and backing away. More of the wall is demolished and as she tries to figure out what to do an arm wraps around her shoulders.

“Hey girl! I’m Mei’Lan, the one holding the gigantic weapon pointed right at us is my brother. A brother who trusts me to dodge if you give him an excuse to pull that trigger.”

She lets out a distressed whimper at that and Mei’Lan pants her on the shoulder.

“Yeah, it’s one of those days. Now, I have a bunch of questions and hopefully you have a bunch of answers. Mostly about The Challenge Refractory.”

“The... the what?” Erin asks.

“Dear goodness girl. Did the original surgically remove the spine of everyone who stayed?” Mei’Lan demands as the last bit of the wall is peeled away.

“Wait it just lines up?” Chenk asks as he walks through the hole. It lines up perfectly. Looks like the Barracks was more at the end of a hallway with a few side rooms of it’s own. But why would they lead into the area that leads to the rest of the spire?”

“Hey this is just room one little brother. There’s no way to know.” Mei’Lan notes. “Now that weapon of his is capable of firing thousands of rounds per minute. Think of it as a less explosive Endless Barrage and you’re in the right area for it’s capabilities.”

“Why are you trying to intimidate a woman that looks like she’s about to faint already?” Chenk asks.

“Just getting it across that now is not the time to lie or deceive or...” Mei’Lan is cut off as the Erin she’s holding suddenly drops and she holds up the now limp and unresponsive woman. “... There was nothing in her Axiom to hint she would do that.”

“Really? You couldn’t read the abject horror on her face?”

“I felt nothing in the Axiom. I thought it was performative. I mean with humans, yeah we can make mistakes but...” She starts to say before suddenly hefting up the Erin again. And then again. “She weighs funny.”

“Funny how?” Chenk asks as Erin slides to the side and gently makes sure that the Erin is resting properly in the recovery position. She then pulls out a chemical scanner and it starts letting out little warnings.

“Chenk, she has human anatomy.”

First Last

First

Cats, Cops and C4

“Yes, everything you can get to me about Challenge Refractories. I don’t care how obscure it is, my reflection tried to mow my ass down with a minigun. The only information I don’t want is the sexual fantasies of the women who looked into this thing the last. Which is my adopted sister by the way. Get me the information, all of it and more.”

“... So are all humans as odd as you or are we just lucky?” An Officer asks.

“Why do you think we’re contained by the null normally?” Chenk asks with a straight face and the look of dawning horror on her face makes him snort. Her eyes narrow as she realizes he had just played a joke on her and she smacks him in the shoulder. He chuckles.

“So... the odds are good that our Erin Fibrerise is actually a mirror copy of the original Erin, one who’s made of aggression and who’s first act alive was to murder the original.”

“Which leads to the question as to how the hell we test these things out.” Private Stream says at Chenk’s shoulder and ducks the reflexive elbow that was going for his eyes and dances away. “Hey! Just dropping a sensor at the back of the mirror and leaving. We need to study this nightmare.”

“You could have asked, you could have warned me, you could have even told me to put the damn sensor there myself!” Chenk protests counting off the possibilities on his left fingers and thumb.

“You’re busy, also, I’m here to trade you.” Private Stream says after setting down the scanners next to the mirror and then pulls out a full on UG Pike 101 Minigun out of his coat. The darkly painted weapon seems to outright jump out in the room compared to the more bare and less professional looking one Chenk has. “Real for the fake.”

“I’ve spent some ammo.”

“Full two drums. Five thousand rounds each. Enough for five consecutive minutes of fun.”

“If I want to shred the barrel maybe. Careful carrying this. The grip is hot garbage.” Chenk says setting the massive gun to the side and Private Stream hands him the proper minigun. Then pulls out another two Ammo drums.

“You trained in replacing the ammo on that thing?”

“I know how, but I have no experience.”

“Learn by doing then. I’ve got another twenty thousand rounds for you.”

“Do you know something I don’t?”

“Well I know that more ammo is better than less ammo, but that’s strange that you don’t know that.” Private Stream says.

“Are there going to be forces where you think I will need this weapon and all that ammo?” Chenk asks clearly and to the point.

“Maybe? From what I’ve been informed all of your turns in this case have been illegal left hand turns. Besides, better to get the strength training hauling that around than not having an anti-army equation if and when you find an army.” Private Stream explains as Chenk takes the ammo and starts storing it in expanded pockets.

“I suppose if they’re too close for the minigun I can just crush someone’s head with the spare ammo drums.” Chenk notes wryly.

“That’s the spirit! Besides that one actually has a comfy grip and proper slots for mounting and not these. Uh... Hunh this thing was torn out of whatever it was in.”

“It was part of a turret.” Mei’Lan notes.

“That’s mean!”

“Make sure you share the details with the Level 84 precinct. We’re working WITH them, not against them.”

“Of course. We’re just having our experts going over it. They’ll get everything.”

“Call us! Get our people in to collaborate. We might be able to locate the source for the materials that thing was made of.”

“That would do it. I’ll do that. But if you want a hint at things, I sensed some interesting Axiom Patterns. Hospital style patterns in that room.”

“Oh... shit.” Chenk mutters.

“Yeah, take lots of pictures. I need to secure this and start screaming at a bunch of people in Intelligence. Bye bye now!” Private Stream says cheerfully and disks of light are now above and below the tiny agent before he’s covered in sparkles and vanishes.

“Why would you spend so much extra Axiom to... you know what? I don’t care, screw trekkies, back to work.” Chenk says.

“Hospital Style Patterns? That is what he said right?” The Officer asks and Chenk nods. “Oh no...”

“if the mirror was used to replace a few doctors, nurses or even janitors then we’ve got a big problem.”

“And what level of alive or legally alive is a mirror clone?”

“Well, if it’s a legitimate clone, then it’s the child or sibling of the original. But if they’re just Axiom constructs that only last so long as the mirror allows them to, then are they alive to begin with?” Do these things even have full cognition or are they just programming? And not in the way a Synth or theoretical AI is programming.”

“Or a Gravia.” Mei’Lan interjects as she slides a drawer out of the shelf and looks in. Then she says something sibilant but it comes out in a hissing tone.

“Miss!” The Officer protests.

“Translation?” Chenk asks.

“Absolutely not. Especially not in ear shot of a man.”

“What?” Chenk asks.

“You heard, I’m sticking to it.” The Officer says and Mei’Lan huffs in amusement and tilts the drawer she pulled out. Inside are several retention bands.

“Shit.” Chenk hisses in English. “We need to Null those things yesterday. But if we let lose with Null down here the totem will likely go and pop goes the everything.”

“To say nothing of what that’ll do to the mirror.” Mei’Lan reminds him and he nods before he moves further into the room and opens the nearest drawer, more bands, stolen totems, nick-knacks... “What are you looking for?”

“Some kind of itemized list or something. A system that this is all organized under. If the knowledge to make and place those bombs came from a retention band it leads to further questions and confirms our fear that there must be some compromised hospital staff.” Chenk says as he goes through drawer after drawer and starts cursing. There are so many retention bands. None of them are marked, all of them are lightly thrumming with energy. With him used to that giant Axiom distraction that is the mirror he can actually make them out better and better as he, Mei’Lan and The Officer quickly scan each drawer and find nothing in the way of a system for organizing things.

“God damn it she must have just tossed it all where she wanted it to be and remembered it. Is there a way to test these? Can they be ethically or legally tested? We don’t know what’s on these bands and unless Erin has a gigantic hoarding habit then we have to assume that all of these have either private or confidential information on them. Maybe even state secrets.”

“We need to get these to an Axiom disposal chamber. Good old Trytite lined room that we just null the shit out of and knock out any lingering Axiom constructs.” The Officer groans.

“We really need a proper answer to the question of whether or not a mirror clone is an actual clone or just a reflection.” Chenk notes.

“You really want to break that mirror.”

“I do. But there’s something else.”

“Which is?”

“No way in hell this complex is only this big. We’ve taken too many turns and found too few rooms for it to be the whole damn thing.”

“Ah, fair enough.” The Officer says. “Do you think that there are more hidden walls?”

“More something. More... Hmm... You had a look at the damage my reflection did with his gun right?”

“Yes.”

“I was a little caught up in life or death, but did any of the holes left... lead anywhere?”

“They shouldn’t.” She says and then thinks. She then steps past him to call down the hallway. “Hey down there! Can any of you see anything through the bullet holes?”

“There’s light coming through these ones!” One of them calls and Chenk nods.

“Sister, I’m going to tape off this room as full of highly dangerous and delicate things. Mark it to send drones in first. Just in case something truly fucky happens with that mirror and it turns around somehow.”

“You really don’t trust this thing.”

“No. It forced me to kill the most handsome man on the spire. There’s going to be riots when people learn of it.” Chenk says with a serious expression and holds it only until Mei’Lan snorts and starts laughing.

“Seriously though, if you can’t sense anything other than what we’ve already found we need to tape this area off and get poking around. Wait... did you spot or sense anything while you were swinging into this room from below?”

“Hmm... maybe?”

“Maybe?”

“The mirror was pretty attention grabbing even when covered in trytite.” Mei’Lan explains and he nods. “But... you’re right. This facility IS bigger. But the question is, did we just stumble into one wing and the entrance is closer to the cloning chamber, or something else?”

“Well I’d think that it would be around the central point, which is the expanded space totem.”

“Unless there are redundant totems.”

“But... that would imply intelligent construction, UNDER a spire and for some reason connected to level eighty four of the same spire.”

“Idiot Savant?”

“I hate that THAT is a half decent explanation.” Chenk mutters.

“Well either way, we need to start looking into things.” Mei’Lan says as she walks past Chenk who himself vacates the small room. Sets down his minigun and pulls out some cordon tape he starts criss-crossing over the entrance to the room. Just in case.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

Bernice just gives Frye a slight smile as she comes in. Xona is already there as well as Fern and Debra. Micah and Libra enter shortly afterwards and the Agurk woman clears her throat.

“Thank you for coming. We have had a major upset to our research and investigation that may very well nullify all our efforts so far.” Bernice says.

“Damn, it must be bad if we’re at the ‘throw it all out and start again’ stage.” Xona says with a low whistle.

“Yes, to put it lightly. An extremely dangerous Axiom Artifact has been found by Barnabas and Mei’Lan. She identified it as A Challenge Refractory. Which is the most commonly used name by martial orders like hers. They’re also known as Dark Mirrors, Murder Mirrors or The Mirror.”

“Wait, those things are real? I thought that was cartoon nonsense.” Fern protests.

“Didn’t you read about the Lakran Incident? Emmanuel faced one while still going by Jasper.”

“That mission report is basically a religious text and just as pretentious. I mean really? Learning how to fly as an Urthani after being one for only a couple hours by his own reckoning? Oh please.”

“That was an early sign that Jasper was actually Emmanuel with amnesia and a memory download.”

“Isn’t the official story reincarnation into his own clone?”

“Is that what happened?”

“Everyone back on topic please.” Bernice says raising her voice a little. “In summation Murder Mirrors use Axiom to create a physical illusion and uses a snapshot of the victim to form it into a double. The reason it’s called a Murder Mirror is because the double then attacks and tries to murder the original. Someone unprepared for a brutal fight with an equal foe is generally just flat out killed in moments. Hence the name.”

“Okay, so there’s a weird suicide device involved. How does this get in the way of our investigations into living people?” Xona asks.

“Because some makes of Murder Mirrors also have the lovely side effect of the reflection then replacing the original stealing their lives. Lower grade ones leave no organic trace behind and seem to be endlessly unchanging just a little more aggressive. But the really good ones? It’s basically another one of that person kept alive by the mirror.”

“What about the bad ones that make lasting copies?”

“They go on to destroy the lives of the original they murdered and can resemble a violent psychotic break in action.”

“Damn.”

“Surely there’s some way to tell in the Axiom.”

“Only in that the reflections don’t change as fast as people do. But that can be attributed to emotional numbness.”

“Is there a way to test for sure?”

“Null them and they vanish.”

“And randomly nulling people is a little on the nono side.”

“Okay, every big problem comes with a ‘fuck it’ solution. What’s this one?”

“Break the mirror. Then every mirror clone vanishes, every dead body inside the mirror is suddenly exposed and it’s in a tight underground area beneath Phon spire and we don’t know how many dead bodies are in there.”

“Please tell me there isn’t more.”

“There is.”

“Goddess save us all.”

“There’s no saving our damned souls.” Bernice says sardonically. “But the team has also recovered dozens, potentially hundreds, of retention bands. Hospital grade and active.”

The room groans at that.

“So not only can the entire list be innocent, but the actual guilty party might or might not be dead and replaced by a maybe copy made out of their reflection?”

“Yes.”

“I want to shoot something.”

“Yeah.”

First Last Next

First

Cats, Cops and C4

Mei’Lan opens the door from the inside and there is a pause.

“The room seems clear, but there’s something behind that cover there. It’s laced with trytite wire.” Mei’Lan explains and she points inside and Chenk slowly enters with his minigun pointed right at the covered wall. There are several crates and shelves in the room but Mei’Lan’s attention is at the wall.

“What do you think it is?” Chenk asks.

“I don’t know. It’s covered on all sides by trytite. A sheet with trytite wire is draped overtop and it sits on trytite plates. The tiny gaps between are letting in A LOT of Axiom and it’s... it’s churning and turning and twisting there.” Mei’Lan explains. “I don’t know. But it has me on edge. It’s a danger, but it’s nearly perfectly muffled by the sheet.”

“Then let’s not touch it. I’m calling in whatever that thing in as an extreme danger. If it has you on edge, then it’s more than any standard Officer can take.”

There is a click and a flash of fire as something ignites the covering sheet.

“Clear the room!” Chenk roars as he moves back to the entrance to force the other Officers out and away from the Rec Room with his minigun pointed directly at where the fire strips away the cloth around the trytite wire and it all falls away in ash and hot wire to reveal...

“A mirror?” Chenk asks even as he suddenly hears the Axiom swell and surge and Mei’Lan braces herself. Then dodges a hail of bullets from Chenk’s reflection.

“Get everyone out of here!” Mei’Lan shouts as she blocks a kick from her own reflection that had rushed out to kick with so much force that Chenk can ride the shockwave back and let himself slide out of the next blur of minigun fire. He slips around the corner and backs away to the nearest room for cover.

A blank faced and focused reflection of himself marches out and the moment it spots him it pulls the trigger and he backs off into the barracks.

The fire does not let up as and he can hear the stomping of his double’s boots slam into the floor as the false person rushes into the room and he ditches his vest with trytite plating, pulls at the Axiom and jumps to the side with a short teleport into the smaller bedroom to his left.

If it IS a double of him then...

The double warps in but Chenk is already jumping up, over the minigun fire and carried forward into the face of the madman. The lunatic doesn’t even blink and tries to headbutt him and Chenk actually lets go of his own minigun to grab at the grip of his doubles as he tries to stomp at the man’s feet.

Both of them are moving fast. Very fast. He grabs the drum casing of the gun with unyielding strength and simply endures the endless, unrelenting aggression by hardening his skin against the blows and trying to just... the ammo drum comes lose and he moves forward as best he can, shoving against and wrestling with his double until there is a clacking, clattering sound from the minigun as it’s halved ammunition and wasteful, unrelenting rage of his double had blown through all it’s ammunition.

The reflection ditches the minigun and lashes out before drawing a knife and Chenk backs off hard. Then grabs and lifts the minigun. His double pauses for just a moment and Chenk sends out a pulsing wave of Axiom to disrupt everything he can around him as he pulls the trigger.

The double tries to teleport away, but can’t. Whatever it is, it didn’t have the trytite plating in it’s own armour. The Axiom hits it and it’s teleport is barely a foot to the side.

Ammunition tears into the double that shatters like glass and he then rushes out of the room.

Mei’Lan is in the fight of her life as every technique, trick and tactic against her double is perfectly countered. Flawlessly endured or effortlessly deflected.

A knife hand goes for the collarbone of her double who dips to the side and brings up her arm to trap her hand. But she is far from overextended and withdraws the limb, but the double had been using it as a set up to give a wide kick while having her hands up in the ideal position to block a further punch or punch Mei’Lan if she blocks.

So she ducks under the blow and steps forward to attack the side and back of her enemy, but the double uses the momentum from the dodged kick to step away with so much force that she has a little crouch she uses to spring at Mei’Lan who weaves to the side and grabs at her foe. The grab is good, but her foe counted on it and a knee is coming for Mei’Lan’s ribs.

She catches the knee while turning her foe to try and keep her hands pointed away and avoid harm in that manner, but the other leg is snapping back and Mei’Lan dips to allow it to pass over her unharmed.

The double again uses her momentum to try and move and Mei’Lan moves with her and drives her elbow into the double’s back as hard as she can. The double rolls along the blow and kicks off the wall to add momentum as the further hand comes down for Mei’Lan’s head and she counters it but the other hand grabs onto her shirt as the double shifts further. But there is no expected further kick before Mei’Lan realizes the plan and then simply allows her double to take the shirt from her, phasing out and slipping away from an Axiom enhanced chop that was aimed to her neck and could have taken off her head.

“Every move is to either attack or get into position to attack further. You’re raw aggression, aren’t you?” She notes as she glances to the mirror time and again and then recognizes it fully.

“Hmm... odd. There are modifications there. I’ll have to take a look at them.” Mei’Lan notes serenely as she fully understands the issue. “You are murderous intent and brutal skill. Mine.”

She flits away and then dodges and flits away again. Not attacking, not countering, or blocking, or parrying. Just dodging. Giving the reflection nothing.

It leads with a spear hand strike. She does not retaliate, only dodges. It recognizes that she is trying to toy with it and... it knows how she can retaliate. But she does not. It tries several other probing attacks in the form of punches, chops, a sweep of the legs and her own shirt thrown back into her face. She slips to the side, ducks twice and then hops over the legs before simply not reacting as the shirt lands into her face. She slips to the side to avoid a brutal kick and she grabs it and holds it behind her back to clear her vision.

The double is uncertain how to move forward. So it charges. Forgoing all caution in an attempt to kill her.

She ducks to the side and her hand lances out. Directly into the chest of her double that shatters around her knife hand and crumbles to the floor.

There is an impressed whistle from the doorway and she turns to grin at Chenk.

“And here I was thinking you might need help.”

“Sorry baby brother, but you’re decades too young to be able to help me.”

“We have fought before.”

“We have.”

“I have also beaten you before.”

“And since then you’ve been caught up in more police procedure and I have been redoubling my training.” Mei’Lan says.

“Fair, now... what is this thing?”

“A Challenge Refractory, among other names. They’re not exactly common, and from what I know this is one that’s been modified. But for what? I do not know.”

“Is it still dangerous?”

“Yes, but not to you or me.”

“So it only does the reflection thing once?”

“Yes.” Mei’Lan says as she walks up to it. “In fact, now that we’ve bested our reflections it’s not a mirror anymore. It’s a doorway.”

“To where?”

“That’s the question, isn’t it?”

“... The other officers will be in a fight to the death with their own reflections if they try won’t they?”

“Yes.”

“... Will helping them fight help?”

“Do not! Absolutely do not! The reflection is bound to the person it’s reflecting. If an outside party attacks it, or a new weapon brought in. Then it will harm both the reflection and the reflected.”

“Oh... shit.”

“Yes, if you had gotten here sooner and lit up my double with weapon fire you could have seriously hurt me. Maybe even killed me.”

“So this death trap...”

“Not exactly a death trap.”

“What do you mean?’

“It’s more a test. A very deadly test. Some branches of The Empty Hand Masters and other martial orders use these as final tests of strength and ability.” Mei’Lan explains. “But why is one here? Hidden below a Spire? It was clearly made into a trap. But... there’s something wrong with it.”

“Is it safe to enter the mirror?”

“Let me check first. Keep everyone out of this room. We’ll lose a lot of people this way. It takes a certain kind of person to basically kill themselves in combat.” Mei’Lan says.

“Yeah. On it.”

“How did you do it by the way?”

“My reflection was stupid aggressive and really liked the minigun. But it is NOT a weapon for these kinds of places. Not to mention... they burn through ammo fast. Unless you have ready reloads, which I don’t, then you can only use it for a short time. And I also broke off half of it’s ammo supply. So... yeah. He also didn’t actually have trytite on them. I teleported after ditching my vest to get out of the trytite and he followed, proving he had none protecting him.”

“Doesn’t that gun of yours have trytite incorporated into it?”

“As an alloy, and only to regulate Axiom flow and offer some protection. Nowhere near the purity or resistance of my vest.”

“Which you still don’t have on again.” Mei’Lan notes.

“I thought you still needed help, didn’t want to take time I wasn’t sure I had and now I need to stand guard. So I still don’t have it back no.”

“Then stay back and be ready to bring that monster to bear. If you charge the ammunition with Axiom it should be able to damage if not break the mirror.”

“And... oh shit there’s something in there isn’t it?”

“Clasissically it has the bodies of everyone who failed the test.”

“... And what happens to the reflection if it wins?”

“It’s supposed to-. Oh... You don’t think that?”

“I think it may be possible.” Chenk says as he hears Officers on the approach. “Stay back! WE have some kind of cloning mirror in here that creates endlessly hostile reflections! Unless you can kill yourself in a fair fight, keep your distance!”

He turns back to see that Mei’Lan has taken a moment to slip her shirt back on and is examining the sides of the mirror. Running her hand along the khutha inlaid into it and letting out a concerned noise.

“Bad news?” Chenk asks.

“I’m not certain. I’ve never even heard of these effects. There are sensations of reversal and theft and more. The actual markings are in a language I’ve only dabbled in. Generally describing the sort of effects the totems are having but... this is just weird.” She explains before shifting the mirror and moving it a bit. “Here we go, a lot more on the back.”

“Hey, I told you all, back away. Dangerous Axiom artifact! Some kind of mirror that summons a hostile reflection. Stay away unless you want to get in a shootout with yourself!”

“The sheer damage on the walls is incredible! Is that what your new toy does?” Someone calls over.

“I’m not going to be keeping this thing. I’m carrying it with intent to confiscate and get it first to police lockup and from there into Undaunted control to pull it apart and see how much in the way of our techniques were stolen.” Chenk answers before he hears Mei’Lan start swearing. He doesn’t know the language, but pronunciations that punchy are rarely polite.

“Bad news?”

“We’ve found a mass grave!” Mei’Lan calls back.

“Oh shit.” Chenk answers.

“The mirror stores the corpses of the defeated and allows the reflections to live their lives! Right down to the DNA! But they’re reflections! Agressive! Designed to kill! Cruel! Your own blazed away with that weapon despite the potential damage! Mine was outright confused when I stopped attacking back and went pure defence!”

“You think Erin Fibrerise is in there?”

“Her and a lot of other women. My grasp of this language is more akin to blunt force trauma. But when we break this mirror there’s going to be dozens of bodies at the least. And that many women are also going to suddenly shatter.”

“Who made that thing?” Chenk asks.

“Can’t tell at the moment. Studying it is a little on the risky side.” Mei’Lan states.

“Is there any way to deactivate it so it can be studied?”

“None that I can see.” Mei’Lan notes.

“Is it only dangerous out the mirror itself? Can we turn it against a wall to neutralize it for now?” Chenk asks.

“Yes, keep other people out of this room. I’m going to turn it.” Mei’Lan says and Chenk looks down the hallway and holds out a hand even as the sound of the trytite the mirror is balanced on screech against the floor. “It’s done. The room should be safe to enter.”

First Last Next

First

Cats, Cops and C4

Next three rooms are bedrooms, also empty, two messy, the last one clearly used but clean. Fourth is a larger room with numerous bunks. Four more Erins are in there and a bit of playing with the lights gets them all up. Four minutes later they’re marching out with their things. So far none of the Erins have had much in the way of an assertive personality or anything anywhere near the aggression of the one in the drug storm, the one that ratted her out or Layla’s own initiative.

“Hey girls, make a point of going through whatever records are in those cloning tanks. The fact that we’ve had no one and nothing with anything resembling the personality of the primary Erin is concerning. She’s been playing fast and loose with her templates.”

“If they’re all so changed, do they even count as clones anymore?”

“We’re in the grey area between clone and artificially produced offspring. Not that there’s much legal distinction. But it becomes a clear case of Erin Fibrerise being a deeply abusive parent and also not bothering to name any of her daughters anything other than Erin Fibrerise.” Chenk says.

“Confirmed. We’ve just received the other four you sent to us. They’re clearly exhausted, but don’t seem to have the wherewithal to even disobey a stranger’s orders. Which is concerning. Useful for now, but concerning for what comes after.”

“What about the expansion totem? How’s that looking?”

“You already got the trap pointed at it. We do have officers posted at both entrances to the room to make sure that nothing happens to it.”

“Good, this hallway is leading to a single room at the end now. Checking now.” Chenk says as he and Mei’Lan form up around the still unopened door. The rest of the officers are in the doorways of the other rooms just in case. Chenk was getting more paranoid about when the actual counter attack would start and Mei’Lan hadn’t countered him at all. Which was as good as confirming that something was wrong.

The door is opened and something powers up. A scanning beam sweeps the hallway, but everyoen is out of the way and in cover. It passes by harmlessly. Mei’Lan glances in as the beam is closest to Chenk and lets out a humming sound.

“I don’t recognize that weapon. Looks human.” She says.

“Does it?” Chenk asks and he waits for the beam to go back and glances in. “A minigum? Where did they get a drum fed minigun?”

“It has two of those drums.” She remarks.

“Yes, but still a drum fed minigun. Still, that’s a big calibre with a huge fire rate and a lot of ammo. Can you see anything that’ll indicate it’s trapped at all?” Chenk asks as the sweeping beam is closest to him and Mei’Lan glances in.

“Nope. Excuse me.” She says and vanishes. There is a crunching noise followed by the sound of snapping metal. The beam flickers out and Chenk glances in. She’s torn the gun from it’s base and separated the weapon from it’s turret entirely.

“So you think you can use this?” Mei’Lan asks.

“... I do have the training. But it’s a bit much for a closed in area. Miniguns are more area denial weapon, just having it somewhere means no one with a functioning brain considers that path.”

“I wonder what it says about me then?” Mei’Lan remarks as she carries over the massive weapon and all but forces it into Chenk’s arms.

“I stand by my previous statement.”

“And I assert that I’m the smarter of the two of us. Now come on. If the room has an area denial weapon guarding it then there must be something good inside.” She says as he adjusts his grip on the weapon and walks with it. He doesn’t quite have the massive frame required to handle the enormous weapon with the ease that some other Undaunted have. But with Axiom he can easily handle the stupidly large weapon.

The room doesn’t have anymore hostiles and he waves in the following officers. He then starts properly examining the weapon. No identifying marks beyond the few ragged edges where it had been welded into the turret mounting. Not that flimsy bits of metal could actually stop Mei’Lan. A politely worded note has a better chance of slowing her down.

The model was... identical to something recently iterated on by The Undaunted. Trytite used in the housing and panelling to control the flow of Axiom, minor repair totems worked into the inside of the frame to cut down on maintenance. Silence totem worked into the barrel cluster stabilizer. It meant that it could be used without ear protection. Not quite actually silent. The roar of the engine and the sound of the bullets alone would make more than enough noise that calling the weapon silent was a joke.

Still, no identifying marks. But it’s still nearly identical to a UG Pike 101 Minigun. Or Undaunted Grade Pike Model One Type Zero Iteration One Minigun. Otherwise known as a Bear Gun for how loudly it roars despite the silence totem.

“Officer Barnabas, you’re looking overly concerned and interested in that weapon.”

“This is a nearly perfect replica of the latest piece of Undaunted Analogue Weaponry. This weapon will work in a Null Field, this weapon will work outside of one and is screamingly dangerous either way.”

“What is it?”

“Bear Gun, Pike One Oh One Minigun. This is a weapon that only the largest and strongest soldiers are to use on free foot, otherwise it’s emplaced or vehicle mounted as an Area Denial Weapon. As in you’d have to be suicidal to enter an area you know is covered by this piece of equipment. This thing is rated to tear vehicles apart and kill anyone in them with ease. This monster can breach power armour in under ten seconds of sustained fire due to sheer repeated kinetic impact.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, not enough people consider raw kinetics in armour. It’s almost comedic.” Chenk notes.

“And if the armour is properly hardened for Kinetics?”

“That really depends. This is a lot of damage, but proper armour has a lot of things working for it. Could go either way to be honest. But regardless, this is a weapon you sit up and pay attention to.” Chenk says. “And they copied damn near perfectly. The biggest standouts for what it’s missing are serial numbers and some proper ergonomics in this grip. It feels like I’m hanging onto a deformed pipe.”

“Does it have a safety?”

“Yes, but don’t move in front of me either way. This thing is THAT mean.” Chenk answers.

“Yeesh.”

“Yeah, we don’t play around when it comes to making new toys.”

Clearly.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“Hey.” Micah greets Libra. She swishes her long blue and green tail feathers out of the Carib woman’s way. “Just clear your suspect too?”

“I did. I figured that you’d have at least some chew in the cud with yours.”

“Turns out that trying to sign up to The Undaunted was Stacy’s lucky charm. She’s heavily pregnant and has been in an office job since leaving to support her new family. Girl got everything she wanted more or less the minute she got the boot.”

“Hunh. I suppose that’s one way to get off a suspect list.”

“How’s your fellow Carib doing?”

“Eh, so so. She got a drunk and disorderly charge and then mouthed off to the judge. So she’s had a tracking band on her for the past couple of months. Takes her nicely off the suspect list, but I wish she could have done better after proving she wasn’t up to snuff.”

“Hunh. Pity.” Micah remarks and Libra shrugs. There is movement just outside and Bernice comes in.

“Oh good, you’re both here already.”

“What’s up?”

“We may have a big clue for narrowing our suspect list.”

“Oh?”

“Barnabas has recovered a nearly flawless replica of a UG Pike 101 Minigun.”

“Isn’t that the really robust analogue monster that gets either bodybuilders, Titans or full on vehicles to carry it around?”

“Yes.”

“The one that some of the boys joke that it isn’t a weapon to put on vehicles, but it’s the vehicles that are being put onto the weapon?”

“No, that’s the One One One.”

“One One One?”

“The Zero in the middle means it needs technically no enhancements to safely carry. The One means you need equipment to carry it. A Two means you build it directly into a larger device. A Three means you build it first then devices around it. The UG-111 is the largest the minigun gets. But it’s still larger than most soldiers shy of Titan Squad.”

“Okay, So it’s a soldier scale vehicle weapon. Wait. How recently was it made?”

“Recently enough that we can temporarily narrow the list. But only temporarily. If our girl isn’t in the narrowed section then we have an even bigger problem.”

“Yes, it means we’re still leaking information like a sieve. Pictures of weapons getting out is one thing. Detailed enough schematics to replicate them? That’s entirely another.” Bernice says as she takes out the folder and quickly flicks through it before bringing out a mere dozen entries. “These are all of our suspects that would have had access to the information required to create and make use of both C4 and the schematics for a UG Pike 101 Minigun.”

“Well they only were fully finished in the last month or so. When Engineer Pike solved a few problems and was asked his opinion on things, then proceeded to redesign the weapon in such a way that the minigun ended up so tough it can be safely and reasonably interfaced into Power Armour, or scaled up further to integrate with vehicles while both can be produced by the same production line.”

“How did he do that?”

“He studied the Endless barrage and integrated some of ti’s shrinking technology into the production line. Shrinks all the larger components down for just long enough to produce an entire weapon. So yeah, the Pike Manufacturing Method. Clever, but apparently he doesn’t think it’s groundbreaking enough. Especially as the energy cost is considered high.”

“Engineer Pike...”

“He’s one of the Wanderers that collects information from the endless conspiracies of Centris. He also has the distinction of being one of the first humans to have a healing coma and subsequently mass cloned on such a scale that he’s a demographic.”

“Right. Poor bastard. Didn’t he release a video about health warnings and such?”

“Yep and it brought out the Gravid Fever and a stack of paperwork taller than the ship in numerous bullshit legal attempts to get control him or his power of attorney.”

“Oh yeah, wasn’t that the fuel for the Legal Division’s bonfire? I had an invite from a friend. We roasted food over it.”

“Sounds about right. You know things are legal nonsense when the lawyers use it for kindling.”

“Don’t they also call it the Bear Gun?”

“Yeah, it roars like one and Bears eat fish and Pike is a type of fish.”

“... I’m concerned for the mental health of our ground soldiers. They come up with the weirdest mental links.”

“There’s a reason psychiatric care is mandatory.”

“Right, so the women with the necessary explosive training and who had access to the schematics to make a Bear Gun are... Hmm... Why am I surprised that a quarter of the list are Gohbs?” Micah asks.

“Because you’re so used to curve-balls that things being as expected is honestly baffling?” Libra answers.

“Yes, that would do it. Amelia Shocks. I guess she’s my problem for now.”

“May as well clear out the Gohbs from our list.” Libra answers as she takes the next Gohb. “Darnella Drive.”

“I’m still looking into my current one, but will be looking into Gretchen Growls after this.” Bernice says.

“Really? Even though Growls is a bigger suspect?”

“I’m nearly done setting things up to look into my current target. I’ve got maybe five minutes left on the job. Then I go to Growls.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Hidden Compound Below Central Structural Piller, Level -1 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

“Rec Room. This is apparently the mother-lode. Mei’Lan, do you sense anything?” Chenk asks as he takes up a position next to the door and Mei’Lan puts her hand on it and waits a moment.

“Lot of energy sources in that room. Numerous Axiom Siphons. Not sure what they’re being used for, but there are some sensors connected to them. Could be bombs, could be turrets. Could be anything.” Mei’Lan says and Chenk considers.

“Can’t just Null it, force it and deal with it. The Expanded Space totem will get it if I do that.”

“Null’s not always the answer baby brother.”

“It’s a good answer.”

“Right, well, if you’ll excuse me. There’s... a trytite mesh around the room. Oh clever. Stop people phasing in. Classic paranoia trick.” Mei’Lan says. “And classic mistake. Excuse me.”

She then drops down entirely and Chenk chuckles.

“... They forgot to cover the floor didn’t they?” An Officer asks and Chenk chuckles.

“Most people think only about reinforcing walls and the like. But above and below are perfectly respectable attack vectors.” He says with a grin.

First Last Next

First

Cats, Cops and C4

“So...” Mei’Lan begins. The other direction from the store rooms that led into the chrome hallway had just had a series of data-banks that basically ran the computing behind the cloning machines and nothing else.

“So.” Chenk replies and she smirks.

“Shall we?”

“I think we shall, I wanted to share though.” Chenk replies and Mei’Lan reaches over to pat him on the head.

“Good little brother.” She says before pulling her hand away.

“I didn’t say stop.”

“Too bad!” She teases and he chuckles.

“Is this an Empty Hand Master thing, Undaunted thing, Sibling thing or is a level One Seven Two thing?” One of the officers asks as she makes a last minute adjustment to the tiny scanning disk.

“Sibling. It took a bit but Chenky here is a lot more eager for affection than he lets on. Romance isn’t the only way to get close to the humans.”

“Right. And you haven’t gotten romantically close to one, if not carnally?”

“Oh she’s doing the dirty with Modan a lot. But has decided I’m baby brother.” Chenk replies even as the officer finishes up.

“Right, well. Weird sibling dynamics aside. We’re doing this by the book. Traps are confirmed and not just suspected on the field. So we’re sending in scanners first. One side you two, I need to get just the right angle to...” The Officer says before hurling the tiny disk down the hallway and it’s tiny antigravity engine keeps it off the ground, it bounces off one wall and then ricochets down the corridor at maybe a full centimetre’s height off the ground as the girl examines her communicator.

“Hallway is clear, no sensors detected, no anomalies in the panels of the walls, floor or ceiling and nothing obstructing the space between the walls. All common vectors for traps have been accounted for.”

“Barring timers that have been manually set or magnetic ones.” Chenk says.

“No this scanned for magnetic fields as well.” The Officer says as she points at the part of the screen that his eyes flicked over.

“Oh, my mistake.” Chenk notes.

“Hallway clear. We’re going on.”

“This place has the energy fields common to starships.” Mei’Lan notes.

“That doorway though... it doesn’t feel like a portal.” The Officer protests.

“But the first one in DID.” Chenk notes. “I think that if we crack at the walls in this place we may find ourselves in a starship of some kind. Or at least a facility designed to emulate one.”

“Which leads to further questions. If we did take a portal into a ship. Then where is the ship? The space around Centris is so in motion that anything being parked long enough for a gathering of petty criminal clones to take it over will have so many tickets that it should have been towed off and decommissioned or repossessed by now.” Mei’Lan says and Chenk opens his mouth to speak. “And don’t bring up conspiracies. The ones this well run are so few and far between as to be absurd. And we’ve already run into just such a thing this year once. Htere can’t be that many on Centris, even with it’s obscene population of conspiracy loving loonies.”

“That’s presuming the ship is in orbit. It could be in a docking bay.” Chenk notes as he forms up at the corner and galnces around it. No hostiles, no traps, no turrets. Not even a security camera. Which is just plain bizarre.

“No it couldn’t. Docking space is at a premium. Hell you should know that. The Unduanted have had to pay through the nose to keep that massive ship on a platform.”

“I suppose you’re right. Admiral Cistern is in negotiations to outright buy it. It was offered as a gift but he refused as he didn’t want to owe the favour.” Chenk says.

“That makes sense to me. But we are clearly not on Phon Spire. We can’t be in orbit. We can’t be on an official platform. So where are we?” Mei’Lan asks.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Who knows? There might still be an Erin nearby.” Chenk says and his eyes glance to the side.

“You’re right, there just might.” Mei’Lan says before zipping to the side, opening the panel to the maintenance hallway and reaching in all in a few moments.

“No! No no no!” The identical face of Erin Fibrerise calls out. “Leave me alone! I just want to be left alone!”

“Then use your words madam. Keep talking and being honest and we’ll just be talking to you. Okay?” Chenk says.

“Oh uh... it...” The Pale Tret woman with blond hair says before nodding. “Right.”

“Okay, so first off. We clearly moved through a portal to get in here. Do you know where this is?”

“I... This is, this WAS the base of some kind of old conspiracy.” The Erin Fibrerise says. “I emerged from the cloning tank about a month ago to maintain this place. The other... The First Erin said that my predecessor wanted to betray her but... I don’t think she did. I’m not brave enough for that. She made it so I wouldn’t be brave enough for that. And I think the one before me was like that too...”

“I see. So you fear for your life?”

“Yes! Very much so but... you’re police. You have rules... you... you will be merciful right?”

“Right.”

“And you’re right here and she isn’t and... and... the first crazy. Like. She’s actually crazy. She’s had a lot of her product and several Erins are just made to sling it and... No one says no to her. Not even Layla and she changed her everything, moved out but didn’t go far. She knew The First would come for her if she tried to run.”

“About that. Do you know anything about bombs?”

“Hmm? No. I... Hmm...”

“You know something?”

“Not about bombs. But uh... This place has a door labelled Rec Room. It’s used for the storage of delicate things instead. Valuable things. I didn’t hear anything about what’s in there. But after something was brought in there, there was a conversation about dealing with Layla with a bang.” The Erin says and Chenk nods.

“Anything else?”

“Only that dust shows up in places where people are and not where they’re not. Which is really, really weird.”

“Okay, if we put you in the custody of the police are you going to run or panic or anything?”

“Will it be safe? The First has ways of getting things.”

“... If it’s needed I can get you off world, with a new name face and far, far from The First’s reach.” Chenk promises.

“Really?” The Erin asks and he nods.

“Okay... okay. Uh... before you do anything can I leave? I’ll give you my access key. I’m allowed in most places because I’m the cleaning girl. It’ll open doors but not computers.” Erin offers and holds up a small device on a string. Chenk takes it from her with a nod and Mei’Lan takes it from him. He gives her a look before turning to the officer with them.

“Can you...”

“If you’ll follow me miss, we can get you out of here and nice and safe.” The Officer says. “You two. Try not to break things.”

“I’ll try.” Chenk says and the Officer snorts in amusement.

“Here, I got her. I’ll escort her right to the station.” Another Officer offers and the Erin is passed off and Mei’Lan finishes securing the key fob to her waist.

“Let’s keep going. And eyes open for the Rec Room people.” Chenk says as he quickly pats his expanded pocket. Checks for a few things and nods. He has the big weapon ready and waiting. Just in case.

“Caster Gun?” Mei’Lan asks.

“Caster Gun.” Chenk answers.

“The hell is a caster gun?”

“A series of fragile totems that when broken fire off a directional Axiom Effect. Basically it lets me pretend to be a powerful Adept a few times.” Chenk answers.

“How powerful?”

“I am not to point it at anything structural to a Spire.” Chenk says and the Officer with them lets out a low whistle.

“Exactly, are you starting to see why I made this man my brother? He’s hilarious!”

“How did The Undaunted not get mass adopted by things like your order or other sort of...”

“We confused them all too much by being sexy.” Chenk says with a sway of his hips and Mei’Lan snorts hard.

“Oh please.”

“He’s joking a lot less than you think he is. The biggest debate among Empty Hand Masters is whether to adopt the very young, very action oriented species, or to marry the very virile, very masculine warriors from beyond.”

“One could almost say we’re...” Chenk begins and Mei’Lan’s hand clamps over his mouth and then she snaps her hand back as he starts to lick her. “Heh.”

“Eww...” Mei’Lan notes as she wipes her hand off on his jacket.

“Alright back in. Now... forward.” Chenk says as he starts stalking forward, his step in his heavy boots somehow near totally silent as he creeps along and looks around the corner to see numerous different doors in a row. Still no camera, still nothing else.

Then he draws out his communicator and holds down a contact button.

“What do you need?” The Private Stream on the other end asks.

“My current location. I walked through a portal to get here. Where is here?”

“Hang on.” Private Stream answers. “Hunh.”

“Good hunh or bad hunh?”

“Weird hunh. You’re inside the central column of a spire. Technically below one. Right in the hypercrete.”

“Which one?”

“Phon.”

“So how low are we?”

“Level negative one and halfway to level negative two?”

“I’m going to double and triple check these. If that really is a hollow directly under a spire then there are so many concerns to be had that even the really stupid and really short sighted shouldn’t do something like that.”

“So watch collateral.” Chenk says.

“Yeah, I should think so. You’re in a place that isn’t supposed to exist. Mind your step.”

“Copy that.” Chenk says and he closes the call.

“Did I hear that right? We’re UNDER The Spire?”

“Yes. The Portal Led straight down. This whole structure’s mere existence violates about... every single safety regulation on Centris and is so illegal that even The Trytite Lady will just shoot them as opposed to going over the entire list of crimes.”

“Good goddess...” Mei’Lan mutters.

“More extremely pissed off Goddess. This structure is the architectural equivilent of trying to ram someone while inside a major laneway.”

“The fuck do we do?”

“Clear it out. People and things, remove as much as we can without compromising the spire and filling in the rest with Hypercrete. Restore it’s stability to the utmost. Hopefully we won’t need much. This area is expanded after all. So maybe that totem means it’s the size of a fist or something. If so then it’s a bullet we’ve dodged and not an artillery bombardment. But we need to move carefully. And tell them to put a guard around that totem! I don’t know what will happen if the facility is directly under the spire when it expands to full size, I don’t want to know what will happen to this place if it expands under the spire.”

“It’ll probably just get crushed like an empty can in a hydraulic press from the sheer forces involved. Hypercrete is famously unyielding and the sheer weight of a spire is comparable to entire mountains on the low end. To say nothing of the sheer number of safeties mixed in. The Spire is Fine. But this place is hyper illegal.”

“Fine as far as we know. For all we know we open one of these doors and find some kind of compressed hyper-matter that turning the power off directs a crippling beam of energy directly up and into the spire to core it’s central support and...” Chenk begins and Mei’Lan flicks him in the head.

“Just open the doors you dork.” Mei’Lan chides him.

“Right right. Sorry. I just can’t believe that someone would do something so stupidly reckless and recklessly stupid as to build UNDER The Spires.”

“Yeah... but first thing’s first...”

“Clear out the current infestation, then take a look at what the hell is going on. This is just... bad all around. We need some kind of answer.” Chenk says as he goes to the nearest door. The Hallway is clear and the unlabbeled door opens to... “Bedroom. Freshly cleaned. No one inside.”

He turns away and heads to the door opposite. Also unlabeled and.

“Wha? What the fuck? Who are you!?”

“Officer Chenk Barnabas. Are you willing to cooperate?”

“The hell is going on?”

“Your little organization has been found. One of yours, potentialyl The First, attacked a public institution. Furthermore this entire building is hyper illegal. It’s UNDER a Spire.”

“I’m WHERE!?”

“We’re beneath Phon Spire.”

“Oh shit!” The Erin exclaims rushign out of the bed. Stumbling. And just carrying her sheets out and Chenk blocks the door.

“Get yourself properly dressed then leave the area at a calm, measured pace. Cooperate with our officers and no harm will come to you.”

“There’s a trap pointed right at the main totem! If it goes off and we’re UNDER a spire then safeties be damned we’re going to go crunch! At best!”

“I found the trap and disabled it. But if you’re willing to cooperate, then dress calmly and carefully, then head out and if you mean another trap then the one I found you can instruct our officers in how to disable it safely so that this area doesn’t suddenly implode. Okay?”

“Okay... that... yeah. Okay that works.” She says and Chenk closes the door.

First Last Next

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“This is Lizzie Lights with Seeking Central News! I am here on Level Eighty Four of Phon Spire where an enormous cloud of an unknown substance and a tight lipped police cordon has been in place for the past hour! Early in this event numerous laser and plasma shots blasted out of this cloud and eventually a police cruiser from level One Hundred and Seventy Two came swooping in and the lasers and plasma shortly stopped before landing just over there!” Lizzie Lights reports as she points to the police cruiser with number clearly indicating it’s standard level.

“Now, as we have yet to actually receive any definitive statement on what is going on, we now have...” Lizzie Lights begins again before suddenly turning her camera drone. The field of vision washes over to show portals opening and numerous teenagers pouring out. “And now there are portals evacuating what looks to be the students of Phon West Public School which is currently under the cloud of unknown particulates!”

She rushes up to the crowd and notices the very broad shouldered form of a man with an Undaunted Uniform on that also has several police patches sewn into it indicated he’s from Level 172 of Phon Spire.

“And here he is! The mysterious police officer and apparently Undaunted Soldier of...” Lizzie begins and Chenk ignores her entirely before making a beeline for the Deputy Chief.

“Slayn, you wanted me?” He asks immediately.

“Officer Barnabas, you’ve already done more than can be expected but we need more. With all the explosives that have been used we suspect that there will be more coming in the form of booby traps and I want you at least on standby if not in the breaching team for when we hit the... get that camera out of here! What is wrong with you girl!? This situation is still in motion!”

“But the public has a right to know!”

“After the debris has settled and the fire is out! Things are still happening!” Deputy Chief Slayn half snaps and half barks at her.

“Is that thing live? We’ve got a group that was violent enough to take an entire school hostage. If they’re watching this...” Chenk asks.

“You think criminals watch my news channel?” Lizzie asks in a challenging tone. “But if you want to make up for your insinuations-”

“Are you stupid? Get that thing out of here before I break it. If you want to point that thing at someone point it at the students or staff of the school. I have things to do.” Chenk states before turning to Slayn. “Do you want me and my sister in the...”

He turns around and glares right at the drone.

“I’m going to give you a five count before I disable that drone. Turn it away. Immediately.” Chenk says.

“You won’t.” Lizzie says and waits for him to count down from five. Then he moves quickly and grabs the drone out of the air and quickly forces open it’s casing before pulling out the tiny piece of Khutha that it’s using to draw in energy.

“I’m confiscating the energy siphon. When the investigations are complete you can retrieve it under the oversight of Deputy Chief Slayn to whom I am surrendering the item to.” Chenk says forcing the drone into Lizzie’s arms and then passing the Lopen Officer the siphon. She pockets it with a grin.

“This is outrageous!”

“You were given ample legal warning, and your toy isn’t damaged it’s just temporarily disabled. Now please leave madam.” Chenk says before turning away. Clearly dismissing her. But she has a head full of steam and stomps up closer.

“Ma’am, you are already too close to a police cordon, please leave.” Slayn says.

“But...”

“Leave or be arrested for interfering with the duties and responsibilities of law enforcement.”

“That’s not fair!”

“We’ve been very fair. Now leave.” Slayn says and Lizzie narrows her eyes.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“Back already?” Bernice asks and a couple of papers are slapped on the table.

“Total bust. She’s in private security and her training has her hours registered with a full on tracking app. Got in easy. She was nowhere near Phon Spire and too busy anyways.” Xona explains.

“Miss Hellena is currently in the midst of a police training course. Not only too busy, but on the wrong side of the equation for this bomb scare. It looks like she may very well end up on a bomb squad herself.” Dinah explains.

“Very good, but remember, these aren’t busts. We’re narrowing the suspect pool. Proving them innocent is a good thing. Keep going.” Bernice says.

“Who are you looking into?”

“I’m just waiting for a few algorithms to return with information on Ciri Doxin. A former criminal that couldn’t stop herself from talking back even during parts of her training that needed absolute obedience. She had prior skill with explosives and was being used to see how it compares to Undaunted Standard. But she’s... she can’t prove herself trustworthy with the amount of slack she needs to work with us. So we can’t have her. Which is a pity.” Bernice says.

“Where did she go?”

“She’s gone to ground. So she’s a maybe, but... she’s a natural contrarian and struggles to obey even the most mundane and reasonable commands. If she did provide the bombs, then she didn’t know what they were being used for. Meaning that someone else with information on how to completely fold a building in half with those tools is involved. But she has the skills and abilities.”

“I’ve seen how chaotic and outright random some of our soldiers can get. WE have someone that’s too much for that?”

“Weren’t you listening? She said that Ciri was disobedient and contrarian. You give any of our crazy boys orders from Admiral Cistern and they’ll do it. Perhaps they’ll call him for clarification or double check the order to make sure it was actually from him. But they will do it. Sounds like the only person Ciri listens to is herself.”

“Yes, but she didn’t seem bloodthristy and her psychological profile would have her as a vigilante at the most extreme and...” Bernice begins to explain before her communicator pings and she checks it. “She’s a Bounty Hunter now, specializing in forcing people out of heavily reinforced positions. That’s a good use for her skills. It also explains why it was hard to track her down. She’s been going all over the place in the bottom ten.”

“So all three of us need to pick new targets.”

“Yes. I’ll let you two have first pickings.” Bernice says as she puts her own papers on the table and then opens the folder for the other two. “Have at it.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Central Structural Piller, Level 84 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

A tiny transparent film is slipped over the lens of the last camera and then, now that they’re all covered a flash of light enters the area. The films now only display the area before the flash. To anyone watching the camera it would have been a flicker of light for such a short period of time it wouldn’t grab any attention. And since none of the cameras were mobile or watching each other then the very cheap and very basic trick worked flawlessly.

“We’re in!” An excited voice exclaims and a Drin woman with multiple little Axiom Totems dangling off her Antenna and wearing the Level 84 Phon Spire Police Uniform exclaims.

“Alright, everyone know what they’re doing?” Deputy Chief Slayn demands.

“Ma’am, yes ma’am!”

“Then let’s move ladies, and gentleman, we have a job to do!” Slayn declares.

Chenk and Mai’Lan move in first. The door is opened and closed so fast that it sounds more like automatic gunfire and they rush in. Mei’Lan is up and boucning around while Chenk goes low, he’s pouring energy into his Undaunted Brand and several laser beams lance towards him and he makes a point of taking them and rushing up to the sources to crush the barrels of several laser cannons even as Mei’Lan finds a kinetic launcher and catches a small disk of tritite being launched and hurls it back to break the railgun component.

“You don’t!” A furious woman rushes out of the room at the end of the hallway to swing a large weapon that resembles a morning-star with a large handle, but it causes a detonation in the wall after Chenk ducks under the swing.

Chenk’s fist buries into her gut at the same time that Mei’Lan’s foot crashes into the top of her head.

She crumples and Mei’Lan guides the unconscious form to the floor even as Chenk grabs the weapon and stops the head from making contact with anything. There are khutha tracings around the spikes. Reinforcement, repair and force multiplication. This thing will hit like it was launched out of a cannon on a casual swing. Put your body behind it and you’ve got one hell of a door opener.

“Crude and nasty.” Chenk notes as he very, very carefully puts it down now that he knows it doesn’t just cause explosions on impact.

“Crude can be effective. If that had hit you...”

“I’d have be paralyzed, asleep and anaesthetized for that to hit me.” Chenk remarks as he leans the handle against the wall.

The rest of the officers pour in and take up defensive locations at the doorway to the sides of the large chamber and slide in small disks to either side. The disks scan each room.

“Contacts!” Both sides call out and Mei’Lan goes to the left as Chenk goes right.

Laser blasts lance out and he intercepts one before it can hit an officer and he crunches the source of it. Another woman is in there. Identical to the last. Right down to the mole right to the left of her nose.

“Whoa now-” She starts to say before he grabs her by the face and takes her down to the floor.

He flips her and cuffs her. “Explain to the officers.”

He scans the room looking for more than immediate threats. Chemical containers and pallets of supplies. Nothing surprising. Exposed power and plumbing cables in the walls. Markings of old graffiti behind containers. Another exit out. No other people and the turret is the only defence.

He slips towards the next room and slides low before jumping up as he senses a tripwire. Adrenaline is pumping and he’s pouring in Axiom. Despite his speed everything is slowing down. The Tripwire was to directional charges and this room is just another store room with a bunch of machine parts rather than raw resources. Several of the pallets and shipping containers are damaged in such a way that suggests theft. The room is otherwise dark and the left wall has a collection of tools hanging from it and numerous manuals in both paper and data-slate format.

He processes all of this as he lands, forces himself to slow and calm and then stalks towards the tripwire and looks down it without making contact. He finds the payload and notes it’s embedded in the wall. There is movement nearby.

“Don’t come closer! I found a trap! Am disarming it now, will need some time.” HE calls out as he senses for anything that might sense Axiom in turn. Nothing. It’s clear so he phases out and slips his head in ever so slightly.

“What?” He asks as the inside of the wall is... not. It’s a hallway. And the bomb is resting on a stool. Directed into the chamber and pointed directly at... a very fragile expansion totem. “Oh. This just keeps getting weirder.”

He then starts examining the bomb and his eyes narrow. C4 again. Detonation caps. Primed to go off if the wire is pulled, goes slack or if it’s removed from it’s stool. But no Axiom sensors on it so he is able to lever in his tools and snip the connecting wires before pulling out the caps and setting them down under the stool before slowly and carefully extracting the C4 itself. He examines the bomb again. Senses nothing in the way of a transceiver or antenna. No Protn in it’s workings. So he disables the bomb mechanisms as well and then pulls it out and away.

The tripwire dislodges and the bomb doesn’t do a thing as he pushes it and the stool away. He starts looking around and finds a latch. Gives it a yank and the wall slips out towards him and then he can easily slide it to the side to reveal the new hallway. “Trap cleared! But proceed with caution! There are false walls and hidden chambers!”

He then turns back to the brightly lit, chrome and well maintained area. It looks more like the interior of a ship. One so freshly made you could smell the factory in it.

First Last Next

First 

(There has been add-ons and adjustments to this chapter as some good points were brought up and I have made an effort to correct them.)

Cats, Cops and C4

(... Finally had a mistake I was making pointed out to me. I need to hurry up on my corrections. Gallia spire is supposed to be Phon Spire. Sorry Youtube Channels.)

More bombs, all in key areas. Primarily throughout the foundations of the school. Professional, well organized. He hasn’t had time to examine the actual timing on things, but Chenk is willing to bet his boots that if they had gone off in sequence the building would be shorn from its foundation and caused to crumple. Coupled with the other bombs the entire building just collapses, with extra attention paid to just a few places.

He passes the snipped blast caps from his latest disarmed device to the custodian that found it and then quickly pulls out the payload. The custodians had gotten better and better at finding the wretched things. But they still have more to find. Sixteen total bombs. At least four more. Potentially thirteen.

He digs his thumbnail into the C4 and examines it. Rolling it between his knuckle and thumb. He takes a sniff.

“What’s wrong?” Dispatch asks.

“This C4 has a different consistency. I think this was either an earlier or later bomb. It’s of higher quality. Better balanced, better refined.”

“That’s not good.” She replies.

“It’s a clue. Nothing more. But something I need to say out loud to put it on the record.”

“So what do you think happened?”

“Well... this is a good grade of C4. Very good actually. Something that I would use. The rest has been powerful, but this would be stronger pound per pound. And not need a lot of pounds to be very strong.” Chenk notes.

“Can you just tell?”

“The other C4 was slightly grainy; I could feel tiny lumps in it. This is smoother. Better mixed. Properly made. Maybe even professionally made.” He notes.

“Really?”

“Properly made C4 feels more like an art product. A texture like modelling clay. Most of the other ones had a small amount of lumps in it. Not too much, but this... much smoother.”

“Not good.”

“If it’s one off then it’s disabled and a curiosity. We need to establish if this is a pattern.” Chenk says before glancing up and mentally mapping the school. “Are we under the Cooking and Accounting Classrooms?”

It had been kind of funny to know that cooking and tax-filing courses were required with more advanced ones for dedicated students being full blown Chef Prep and Accounting.

“No, your current location is close, but a bit off. You’re directly under the hallway between the more home based courses and the mechanics classes.”

“Hmm... is this the closest load bearing structure to either side?”

“Yes. If any load bearing structure could be said to be directly under Accounting and Cooking then you’re at it.”

“Hmm... Something to see if you can’t scare it out of Erin if Layla doesn’t know.” Chenk notes.

“We’ll scare it out of her anyways. We’ve got eyes on the door to their little sanctuary and lab, even better. We’ve got eyes on their eyes. Some of them at least. When the school is out of harm’s way well move on it hard. But you need to move faster.”

“Why? I’ve already got more than half and haste makes waste.”

“Done is better than perfect. We need those bombs gone. The wind is turning. And with how unstable the one in the cloud is.”

“Got it. Stepping it up. There may be a panic.”

“We can deal with panicked teenagers. Dead ones less so. Keep them all alive.”

“Copy that.” Chenk says and he turns on his scanners, bundles them together and starts to move fast through the foundations of the school. Noting every little ping, then as he returns he gets close to each one. Finding several monitoring devices embedded in numerous machines that shouldn’t be there but are not connected to anything explosive or dangerous so he mentally notes them and moves on.

He finds two more bombs and while leaving them intact enough to not interfere with the signal, he moves a lot faster. Ensuring they have no Axiom sensor and then ripping them apart

“Basement clear.” He notes as he throws the now crushed blast caps in his fist and hands off the remaining C4 to the custodians.

“What’s going on?!” Layla yelps as he rushes up and past.

“Situation’s changing! We need the bombs out NOW!” He says as he goes to an unchecked room, scans it with a powerful beam and then rushes from radio location to radio location. Confirms it’s a dropped communicator, a camera that he destroys and the chemical sensors. He moves onto the next room and the next. Finding another camera that shouldn’t be there and three more lost communicators before finding his next bomb. He’s at nineteen. There is at bare minimum one more. Perhaps another ten.

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“Alright, everyone in. In in. The sooner we get a good grasp of the situation and begin our task the less chance they have to get away.” Bernice states as the six other Undaunted come in. She uses her tail to pull the door closed behind the last one and takes a wide stance.

“You’re one of the Stream Controllers aren’t you? Bit strange that you’re taking the lead here.” An Erumenta woman with willow like branches and leaves for hair asks.

“Maybe, but I am in the lead and I expect you to follow my lead.” Bernice replies and there’s a nod.

“Just asking in case it’s because you’ve run into something in your drone and that’s why you’re leading.”

“No, but I suspect it’s because none of us have our faces known. We’re all local, Centris recruits and therefore blend right into the background. Invisible on this world.”

“That doesn’t narrow it down. A lot of people here are Centris recruits. A LOT.”

“Maybe we all just have those kinds of faces? You know, the types that blend in and no one notices?” Another asks.

“That’s also it. We’re all well tested for two traits. A low tolerance for making mistakes, and an even lower one for treachery.” Bernice says and everyone tenses up. “I won’t mince words. We have evidence of either a possible traitor, stolen knowledge or someone who’s learned Undaunted Tricks and Techniques at a terrifying pace. Whichever one it is, we’re the team dealing with it.”

“And where do we start?”

“Level Eighty Four of Phon Spire. We currently have one of our Undaunted lent out to the police working to disable C4 Bombs in a public school. These bombs are much too well placed and of too high a quality to not be at least Undaunted influenced. We need to find the source of that influence and determine what to do about it.”

“What if we find a traitor? Or a flunker? Those are both very different things. A would be soldier that was discharged, honourably or not, isn’t legally in our jurisdiction anymore. What right do we have to hunt down someone like that?”

“The hell do you mean not our jurisdiction? They’re using our tools, our techniques and our methods to potentially kill children!”

“Yes, while in the territory of other legally recognized galactic scale communities. Ones with larger populations no less. Even if they are a fully recognized terrorist and even if what they’re using is equipment explicitly stolen from us, there are so many legal snarls for sending in the commandos, shoving a black bag over their head and dragging them into a van. We push a lot of buttons and don’t so much cross lines as use them to play fucking games with! But children are involved now. People are going to be looking and if we get caught shooting a criminal outside of Undaunted Controlled Territory, even if we can show evidence they deserved it, we’re going to get a lot of people looking at us and we’re going to get looked at.”

“We’re already being scrutinized from every angle imaginable for the high crime of existence. We are not some local warlords, petty police precinct or national security organization. We are a recognized Galactic Scale Military Polity. And someone who might have once been one of us, or tried to be one of us. Has potentially gone rogue or at the very least is selling knowledge and equipment to hostile parties. Even if the target weren’t children. If the target was a prison full of mass murderers who were only not being executed due to technicalities we would still investigate because this is our mess and it’s our mess whether it’s on Centris, in the laneways, or on an escape vector from the galaxy itself!”

Bernice sticks her thumb and middle finger into her mouth to give out a piercing whistle and break apart the growing argument. “Like I said, we have to determine what to do when we find them. But first we need to find them. And we do have cause to find them. Someone is using the techniques and skills we provide to cause harm, therefore we have some responsibility to stop it. So we shall.”

“I’ve got some sniper training. We can deal with a bomb maker easily.” The Metak of the group says.

“No. We go in soft at first and then determine our course of action when we narrow down our suspect. We already have an entire school being held hostage and while it’s being disarmed, we need to make sure it’s harder to happen twice.”

“Ma’am... there’s no way we can keep this from eventually spreading. The information will get eventually further and further afield regardless of our efforts.”

“True. But until it reaches that point we have a duty. So we shall fulfill it. Now, it’s time we go over our list of failed soldiers. And remember, most of them are just that, people that failed to meet our standards. That is not a crime, it is not even strange. Our standards are high, some say too high. There is likely only one, perhaps two people in this folder that are guilty of anything in this case, and maybe at most ten who have done more than cussed in public. We go in soft, because these are civilians.” Bernice explains and everyone nods. “Good, now does anyone have anyone picked out already?”

“I’ve scanned through it already. The Dark Purple Mnenmi woman notes. “Are we going to scan for those with proximity to Phon Spire or...?”

“It’s been concluded with how swift and effective all forms of transportation are, it will be of low priority. I want a bigger focus on psychology. Go through the notes, and anyone of those two hundred plus people that pings your interest needs to be investigated. Granted we need to investigate all of them, but this is just priority order.”

“Well, I think that proximity is important, so I’ll go looking into the Andinus. They’re ten levels up on the same spire.” The Mnenmi notes.

“Very good, Miss Frye, anyone else?”

“The fact we had an Aka trained in demolitions and then flunked out is grabbing my attention. And I’ve always wanted to go spear fishing.” The Metak notes.

“No attacking the targets. This is observation only at this stage. Miss Xona.”

“Hey a girl can hope.” The Metak notes as she pulls out her own file.

“You know... I’ve never really even spoken to a Lirak before, seen a few at a distance. But well if we’re going to be studying people might as well start off with a novelty.” The Erumenta says.

“Alright Fern. Micah, Debra and Libra. Do you three have selections?

“Yes, this Valrin, Hellena.” Micah says as her Pavorous tailfeathers spread out a little before settling. “We have some history I’m afraid. Not that she remembers me.”

“No then. Pass that file to another team member. This cannot be personal.”

“Here.” Debra says passing Micah her file. The Merra woman offers kindly. “I’ll take Hellena, we have no history.”

“Then I appear to be on... Stacy? Discharged for sexually harassing superior officers. Repeatedly.” Micah notes as she makes a face. “Oh lovely.”

“And that leaves me for last, barring you Bernice. I have a fellow Carib. It should mean I shouldn’t be as suspicious to her. Hopefully.” Libra notes holding up her file.

“Very good. I will get all your gear ready. Remember, they are suspected at the moment, not confirmed so do not treat them as confirmed enemies, and do not make them confirmed enemies. Do you understand? We’re here to find enemies, not make them.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Independent Study Hall, Phon West Public School, Level 84 Phon Spire, Centris)•-•-•

“That’s Twenty Three. Potentially six more.” Chenk notes as the latest bomb has it’s blast caps snipped.

“Problem!” Dispatch states.

“Name it.” Chenk says.

“The threats now include setting off the bombs if they see Mei’Lan again, the winds are still shifting and... GET DOWN!” Dispatch suddenly calls out and his arm snaps out to tear out the final payload just in case there’s something screwy and... there is a slight sound of power surging from the ruined case of the bomb. But there is a cracking sound in the distance and the sound of somthign falling. Single explosion confirmed and... it was outside? She had it on a tree!?”

“Oh thank god.” Chenk says as he takes a deep breath. “Holy God that was close. I just disabled the twenty third.”

“That was too close.”

“A near miss is still a miss. We’re not hurt, just... grateful about it. Do me favour and tell Mei’Lan I want to see the tread of her shoes on that bitch’s face. I’ll finish up disposal and gather up the remains of the bombs. And apologize to a few people, I scared quite a few students blitzing the school.” Chenk says.

“Your sister is already off and our bomb girl has had what she was saying cut off. We’re going to move to disperse the drugs.”

“Well done. Well done everyone.” Chenk says as he reaches back, grabs the remains of the last bomb and crumples it into shards of small computer bits and transceivers.

That said he unkinks his legs from around the ceiling reinforcements and drops downwards, flips in the air and lands on his feet.

The door to the room is cracked open and the large or more popular students are peering in. “Got em all! We’re safe!”

For a second they don’t respond. Then the door is pulled open and students come rushing in. He walks out with the broken remains of the bomb in his right hand and the extracted payload in the left. He can feel the Axiom start to shift as a hole opens in the air and police officer start rushing in and setting up the framework around a portal. Looks like this room is going to be one of the main evacuation points. Good. The district is still inundated with drugs.

First Last

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“Hey, hey. That’s enough for now. We’re still in danger. We still have a job to do. Tears are for after the danger has passed. Okay?” Chenk says after a few minutes.

“Okay...”

“Good, now lets protect this place. Regardless of it’s history, it has innocent children in here and...” Chenk begins and Layla snorts. “What?”

“Teenagers innocent? I need to bring you in every now and then. Just hear the things they talk about.” Layla says as she starts drying her eyes.

“Oh please, talk is cheap. If it wasn’t then I would have murdered Drill Instructors dozens of times.” Chenk says.

“Right, right. Now. If Erin wants me dead, and the school destroyed. There are a few more places we need to look. Not all students take music, so there are some classes I occasionally assist in. Follow me.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Training Band Storage, Classified Location, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“And clear. Damn.” The Officer says as he checks the final container. He presses on his earpiece to activate the microphone. “Nothing. All training bands are present and accounted for.”

“Did you check all of them all of them?”

“I did. The ones currently in use are fully tracked and registered, all bands not currently in use are here in storage. No sign of them being moved or replaced.”

“And our demolitions lessons?”

“Untouched.”

“Hmm. Damn. There goes the easy option.”

“How is an instant training device stolen an easy option?”

“Because if it’s not that, then it’s either someone mastering out skills in a tiny time frame, or a traitor. And one option is borderline untraceable, and the other...”

“Unfortunately inevitable. We’re recruiting like crazy. Someone untrustworthy is bound to slip in.” The man back in Intelligence says.

“We need to ping all our soldiers with demolitions training. Get their timelines, get them to check their gear. If someone is using our methods and technology to attack innocent people then the responsibility falls to us.”

“It does, if only to an extent. But it does fall to us.” The officer back in Intelligence agrees.

“Alright, shit. Start Vetting everyone. We can use this as a test of our own self scanning and reporting abilities. Either way. We need answers.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Independent Study Hall ,Gallia West Public School, Level 84 Gallia Spire, Centris)•-•-•

“Hello children!” Layla says with a cheerful wave.

“Miss Stonefield?” The local teacher asks. “Oh... oh no that’s the bomb expert with you.”

“Yeah, sorry to say there’s a decent chance of there being danger here.”

“You mean the thing up there?” An Urthani student asks pointing up above where the teacher was sitting.

“What? What do you mean there’s something up there?”

“Uh hello? I came out of my cocoon a couple weeks ago with two more pairs of antenna than I thought I would and I can see forever with them. I just sort of figured it was something I couldn’t really see before.”

“Silka...” Layla says.

“What? I was told that I wasn’t supposed to shove my face into everything new I sensed so I left it alone! How is it my fault!?”

“It’s no one’s fault. Excuse me.” Chenk says slipping into the room and taking out his scanner. Sure enough there is a radio signal coming from the roof directly above the desk. “Hate doing this.”

He then floats up with the Axiom under his boots slowly rising him up. When he’s about a meter away he can sense the slight play of Axiom.

He enhances his hearing and then has to ignore the mutterings of the girls as he flicks the supports of the ceiling and can hear a tiny echo inside. There’s nothing in the panels but there is something just above it. He moves a panel a bit away to the side and looks in.

“Yep, and no traps either. Thankfully.”

He puts that panel back in place and shifts one directly under the bomb out of the way. “Two payloads? Shaped charges, going up and down? A blast-wave directly below to kill or cripple whoever is there and a dropping of the building on what remains, alive or dead.”

He can hear the teacher slowly inching away. “So long as you don’t do something insane like grabbing at me or hitting me for some reason it’s perfectly safe to run.”

She books it and there’s a chaotic few seconds as she and all the students clear away. Thankfully this bomb is very, very simple. Almost too simple. Unless...

“The ceiling here is a bit more reinforced than in other places. Is there something particular above us?”

“Chemical labs are directly above.” Layla calls over then there’s the sound of her clucking her tongue in thought. “You’re directly below a chemical store. I’m not sure of everything that’s in there, but it wouldn’t be good if it were to be mixed up, that’s for certain.”

“And it would delay any effort to actually effect rescue, repair or other such operations if it were to happen.” Chenk notes as he slowly eyes up the mechanism. “Detonation caps again. Shit. And with the two payloads we have four caps.”

He pulls out his wire cutters and examines the device again to make sure there is no sudden surprises and gingerly reaches in to clip the wires and then slowly lowers himself with two of the blast caps.

“Hang on, there are two more.” He says before floating back up and slowly reaching in to carefully cut out the caps. “These are detonation caps. They have a small payload of a more unstable explosive in them.”

“I still don’t understand why those are being used instead of the electrical caps we saw more of.” Layla says.

“Neither do I to be honest. I thought it was for trapped or particularly well hidden ones. But perhaps it’s for personal targets?” Chenk offers.

“Me and the principal... I suppose.”

“What? Layla, are you? This attack is targeted at you?”

“Maybe? Excuse me Silka, how long has that bomb been there?”

“Three and a half weeks. I’ve been in here for my free period since then to catch up on everything I missed being in the cocoon.” Silka replies.

“How old are you?” Chenk asks as he lowers himself carefully.

“Hunh? Fifteen.” Silka answers.

“Oh... hunh. I thought Urthani went through the whole... you know cocoon thing at a little younger than that.”

“Those ones are early. I was right on time.” Silka answers.

“My mistake then. Anyways, the bomb is mostly disabled, but I really don’t like these blast caps. So I’m going to get these into storage and then come back to remove the payloads. Now, what they’ve used is C4, it’s very stable. So even if you attack it, the bomb won’t go off. But the bomb itself is likely part of a network. If it’s damaged then it may give the crazy lady holding the detonator a signal and the ones I haven’t pull apart yet will go bang. So no one touch the bomb. It’s fangs are gone, but it’s still a problem.” Chenk explains as he carefully picks up the blast caps. “Now, I’ll be back in a minute. Maybe more if someone else has found another bomb. Excuse me.”

“How many are there?”

“More than zero, which is why you’re all staying in your seats. If not for the atmospheric attack on the district you’d be out of the building and far from the blast radius.” Chenk says. “But otherwise you’re all going to be sitting down, not setting anything off and letting me work. Horsing around, reckless defiance and more can get you killed. In more ways than one.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes.” Chenk states sternly. “Layla, if they do something stupid give them a smack or something.”

•-•-•Scene Change•-•-• (Briefing Room Gamma 5, Undaunted Intelligence, Undaunted Territory, Centris)•-•-•

“I wasn’t expecting anything this fast.” He remarks and the Agurk woman who serves as a Private Stream Pilot shrugs as she hands the other investigator the thick folder.

“This is a preliminary list of people we’re looking into now. People that failed out of The Undaunted for one reason or another. I suggest you skip to the red tab.”

He does so and raises an eyebrow. “Two hundred and nineteen suspects? That’s not a small number.”

“Those are all the individuals that washed out or were thrown out AFTER receiving some degree of demolitions training.”

“So many?”

“We train multiple thousands of new students every day on Centris alone. Recruitment and training is still expanding at exponential rates.” She reminds him.

“Point. I don’t see that much. I’m on paperwork duty until the shrink clears me for the field again. That smuggling operation took a lot out of me.”

“Yes, I read your file. You got in too deep and had a hard time pulling out. Desk duty and patrols in nearby areas at most until full recovery. We have vacations for a reason. Even monsters like The Jamesons need to take breaks.”

“Hmm...” He notes as he flips through the profiles. “I’m seeing a lot of people who had far better than average ID’s. Things that passed the first few tests but a deeper dive caught.”

“We’ve updated our protocols to try and stop it. It’s been successful as far as we can tell.”

“I’m seeing nothing of Gallia Spire where the trouble is located.”

“No, but public and private transport is so fast that even if they lived on the other side of the planet it wouldn’t be too much of a complication.”

“True... but the profile of the bomb’s controller suggests she wouldn’t trust anyone she didn’t know.” He says and she shrugs.

“It could go either way. There are still many options on the table. There are clones with copied memories in the loop. So the treachery might not even be that. A woman having herself tranquilized after flunking out or being discharged and then waking up in another location, unaware she’s had a brain scan would be able to get our information out. Every single person we can’t account for, and indeed, even the people we can account for could all be the leak. They don’t need to say a thing for it either.”

“And that’s just with a retention band. A brain scan that is then broken down until only the demolition training remains could also transfer the knowledge in a nearly flawless form.”

“You would know.” She says and he nods.

“Yeah. I would.”

“... We opening the files on your mission. I know you got attached to some of the people involved...”

“I’m fine. The ones that weren’t... the ones that deserved out are out.”

She says nothing and he looks away.

“They’re safe.” She tries.

“I know.” He says. The subject is not up for discussion.

“So long as you know.” She says.

“I have to get off this investigation. Don’t I?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll file the paperwork and make myself available for another mission.” He replies.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do that. Empty platitudes are the last thing I want.” He says as he closes the folder and hands it back to her. “Good luck.”

He then leaves the small office leading the enormous woman behind. She flips open the folder and looks through it. Then the door behind her opens and she glances back to see the blank face of Mister Heron. “Sir?”

“You made the correct choice Bernice.” Mister Heron states before placing a small data-chit onto the open folder. “Inside is a list of forms you will need to fill out for a future leadership roll. Provided you feel yourself ready for it.”

She regards the data-chit and then picks it up and hands it back with a shake of her head.

“With all due respect sir. I’m not ready yet.”

“Understood. Your insight speaks well of you.” Mister Heron states as the data-chit vanishes into his breast pocket. “I will be assigning a small team to this project. You are to bring them up to speed. It is paramount that we understand where the leaks are and prepared to plug them.”

“Sir... two questions.”

“Ask.”

“What if it’s not a leak, what if one of our own has had their knowledge stolen?”

“Then we find the thief and work to destroy all copies.”

“And if we are betrayed?”

“Mercy to the guilty is treason to the innocent.”

“So assassination.”

“If it is required. Your missions have been protective, investigative and at times preformative. You have killed in simulation. Are you prepared to take a life?”

“... It doesn’t matter if I’m ready. Only if I can do it. And I can. Taking a life is all too easy.”

“It’s not. But you will adjust.” Mister Heron states.

“I hope not.”

“So do we all. We have vetted out anyone with any desire for death for death’s sake.”

“Really?”

“Harold Jameson is the most bloodthirsty we have. And he enjoys combat, not murder. And I and others are pushing to slowly have him divested from Intelligence. His Battle Hunger will be better served elsewhere.”

“Does HE know that?”

“It was something he requested in his reports.”

“... He is a clone with copied memories from Herbert. How is he so different?”

“He has made an effort. But it does appear to be the question of the day. How is Layla so different from Erin, The Vish from Vishanyan? Harold from Herbert? DNA says the differences are trivial. Behaviour would struggle to be further apart.”

“Nature and nurture.” She notes.

“Indeed.” Mister Heron finishes. “Do you foresee further requirements in your equipment or team?”

“I will need to meet my team first sir.” Bernice notes before smirking. “And yes, I know you’re priming me to take a leadership roll. I am not blind.”

“It is why I offered the promotion. A steady hand at the controls is one of the most valuable traits in leadership. And if not for your excellent reflexes your nerves could be defined as deadened they are so steady.”

“Oh no, I feel plenty. I just don’t let it control me.”

“If you do not want the promotion, stop talking me into it.” Mister Heron chides her and she lets out a huff of amusement. “Your team will arrive in ten minutes. They will have their own copies of the data.”

First Last

First 

(Came out slowly, but it surprised me a bit)

Cats, Cops and C4

“So what’s the story behind this?” Chenk asks as he opens the back panel to the large pillar. It was an art piece that was central to the western wing of the school. Apparently one of their students had gone on to become a master shifting sculptor and had donated a piece that she had carved while thinking about the school. The fact that the pillar occasionally shifted into scenes of violence made Chenk want to ask a lot of questions.

“In what way? The scenes on the pillar, the woman who carved it or why it was targeted?”

“Well, it’s a sort of expanded space art piece that keeps shifting out and will basically explode if the totem down here is badly damaged. And this bomb is... right on the totem, smallest payload yet from the look of it. Downright strategic. So this location is both insult and injury to the school.”

“It was also the place where some old teachers would give Erin dressing downs and pointing to the statue to try and emphasize what kind of potential she had. What kind of life she was spurring.”

“Ah, so this is insult, injury and a cathartic location. Got it.” Chenk says as he checks the bomb and nods before more closely looking just in case there’s a trap.

There are none and he snips away the blast caps, tosses them out and away and then removes the payload. It’s so tiny it could fit in the palm of his hand easily.

“How much was in there?” Layla asks and he leans out and hands her the tiny slab. “Really?”

“Still enough to shatter the totem, which would cause the whole piece to go off like a bomb. Ruining it permanently and unless the sculpture’s it’s shifting between are all hollow, dropping enough weight to crack open the floor and compromise the nearby walls.” Chenk notes.

“Yeah. It would do that.” Layla notes as she stares up at the carved pillar as it shifts again. It once again shows crowds of learning and images that always show a singular person in the distance or background. Always along, and always looking right at you, but none of the figures in any of the carvings or configurations have eyes.

“But I also have questions about what kind of school life, or what kind of person the artist is. The lack of eyes on all the characters in the carvings seems stylized at first but the placing on things is... well it makes me think the carver isn’t a truly happy person. Or even content for that matter.”

“I’ve thought about that a lot actually.” Layla admits. “The artist... I actually took her first name, Layla. It’s actually kinda funny, but I used this pillar to rename myself. But... it’s a miserable piece. More about turning old resentment and pain into something good. The school doesn’t want to admit that.”

“Did the school cause the misery?”

“No. Layla Hardara is just a natural recluse and would have hated any school she was forced into. She can’t look people in the eye, hates talking and is just... not suited to Centris. Too many people, too much everything.” Layla says.

“She inspired you?”

“Yeah. I guess she did.” Layla admits before smiling. “It’s funny, there’s so much resentment around this thing. But it almost set me free in a way.”

“Almost?”

“Well, I’m still trapped in here with a number of bombs going to go off. So that’s bad.”

“True enough.” Chenk replies. “Now...”

His communicator goes off with a text and he checks it before nodding. “Another potential bomb has been found.”

“Where?”

“The Music Room.”

“What?” Layla asks. There is both fear and hurt in her eyes. Whatever she had been expecting from all this, a bomb in her own classroom had not been it.

“Yeah. Let’s go check.” Chenk says. “Where is it?”

Layla takes off at a run and in mere moments Layla freezes in front of the door. “I didn’t have any students this period, thank the goddess, but the fact they put any in my room at all.” She says and Chenk looks around and mentally maps out where in the school they are.

He opens the door to the music room and notices the walls are all pushed in a little to soundproof it so that the noise in here doesn’t wash out and disrupt other classes. He starts scanning the room and narrows it down instantly. Everything in the room was already shut down anyways.

“The holo-projector? I use that to simulate any instrument the students could want.” Layla explains as he slowly scans around it and finds where the signal is strongest. He then finds the latch and begins to open it before the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. That is wrong. This is a trap.

He focuses Axiom into his ear and mind and puts his head against the side of the projector and gives it a light tap. Followed by another and another. Mapping out the internals.

“This was very deliberate. It’s meshed in with the machine itself. Much more complicated than the others.” Chenk says.

“They want me dead.”

“More than that. The antenna in this is much more advanced. I think... yes. This may very well be one of the primary triggers of the bombs.”

“But if they want me dead? Why the warning? Why the cloud? Why not let it just go off?”

“The Blood Metal Scare. Everyone’s reacting in different ways. The drugs in the air and threat could be a panic response.” Chenk explains as he taps the side a couple more times and hears out the shape. “Okay, so there are wires leading up to the projector itself, meaning a certain instrument or command might have set it off, and there are little arms on the door. Opening it will break a circuit and probably set off the bomb. There is also a transceiver, much more robust than all the others.”

He taps it a few more times and channels more Axiom to really focus. “The blast caps are different too. Detonation Caps as opposed to Shock Caps. The same treatment the Principal had in her office.”

“They really want me dead.”

“Probably. There’s enough of a payload in here to...” Chenk answers and here’s a thump. He looks up to see a shocked Layla sitting on the floor. “Sorry.”

She just looks at him. Hurt, lost and with something else starting to spark there. Maybe rage, maybe grief, maybe both. Whatever it is, he needs to hurry.

“No Axiom Sensors. The trap is on the latch and integrated into the projector itself.” He notes before shifting where he’s crouched down and then slipping off his jacket and rolling up his left sleeve. He then phases out his left arm and both hands to reach in. Left hand reaches lower and slowly grabs the shaped charge. Right hand uses the tips of his fingers to stop any jostling of the blast caps as he slowly, carefully pulls out the large payload. A full five pounds. Enough to straight up murder anyone using the projector.

Layla starts leaking air as she strangles back her absolute fury. Chenk reaches back in and carefully, oh so carefully, snips out the two blast caps and draws them out of the projector. He stands up and away from the projector and takes a step back and away from the payload.

He holds the blast caps gingerly in his left hand and grabs his jacket with the right.

“I’m going to put these away where they won’t be jostled, and then I’m coming back to secure the payload.” He says as he starts to walk off. Then he drapes his jacket over Layla. “It’s not your fault. You did nothing wrong and you do not deserve what they’ve done to you. It will get better. I promise.”

She says nothing and he walks out. His mind is whirling on how to deal with this. No matter what happened as a police officer, when you’re involved someone is hurt somewhere and your job is to stop further harm and bring in the violators for proper punishment. But it always feels lacking. No amount of punishment, or preventing further harm can heal a person.

It’s never enough.

“Where’s Layla? Is she alright?” The Vice Principal asks as he arrives to gently drop off the blast caps.

“No. She just learned she was personally targeted. She’s... I don’t know. But I needed to get these out of there. I’m going to see how she is when I go back for the actual payload, but it was the largest we’ve found yet.”

“Do you think she was the main target?”

“I think she might have been. Yes.”

“Why her?”

“... The bomber is a relative of hers. One she’s not on good terms with, but didn’t think she was on bad terms with.”

“A member of her family is trying... wait. Erin Fibrerise is the one attacking us. Fibrerise means she doesn’t have a family.”

“She made one, and Layla wanted nothing to do with the rest. So she came here where the others wouldn’t follow. But they did, in the worst way imaginable.”

“The poor girl.”

“Yeah.” Chenk remarks. “Excuse me, I need to get back to her.”

He moves through the school and there is another text. He pauses. Checks it and sighs. Then turns around and heads out for a janitorial closet. A strange signal has been found and it’s right up against a load bearing wall.

Sure enough, it’s another bomb. And his examination of the area places the bomb right above a jointing on the material. This wasn’t just well placed, it was expertly placed. It’s not a mad bomber’s move, it’s a professional demolitionist’s move. The bombs are basic, but he’s starting to think that most of them are more mass produced than actually personal. But who? Who has the proficiency and who has the...

“The training.” Chenk realizes. There is a group on Centris that has all the training needed to handle chemical explosives on this level. His own people.

The Undaunted.

Has a trainee gone rogue? Has someone... No. This just became internal.

He cuts out the blast caps, basic shock caps, and tosses them away. Removes the payload and leaves the remains of the bomb, then brings out his communicator and sends a message to a very particular contact.

~Attempted terrorist bombing using C4 at a level that takes my kind of training. Look into it. We may be partially to blame.~

There is a pause in the answer. Then he gets a call. “Hello?”

“Can you confirm that mister police man?” Private Stream asks him.

“I can. I’ve been dismantling bombs for a bit now. All C4, all well made. All in strategic locations designed to fold in this building like an accordion, with only two exceptions, and both of them targeted at people.”

“Oh wow, that is bad. We’ll start looking into things.”

“Hopefully I’m just being paranoid. But as I’m dealing with bombs paranoia is the wind beneath my wings.”

“Yep.” Private Stream says popping the P. “Anyways we’ll start by going over everyone who officialy has the explosives training while checking what info is in the public sphere and what isn’t. This could be someone who’s just really, really good at following instructions.”

“And the Fibrerise collective does have that kind of mind.”

“The what?”

“You’ll get a mission report soon enough, I need to disable numerous explosives and possibly an emotional one as well.”

“Oh! Spicy! Have fun!”

“Fun isn’t the word I’d use.”

“If you don’t love what you do then you’re in the wrong job.”

“I don’t like that I have to pick up after people make a mess of their lives or the lives of others!” Chenk snaps.

“Touchy...”

“I have bombs in a school full of children and the woman who is my greatest help in dealing with them is going through it. That’s not a good thing.”

“Okay, okay, go save the maiden good hero.”

“You are lucky I can’t reach through this communicator and smack you one.”

“No. You’re lucky you can’t do that. Otherwise I’d get your fingers, tasty tasty fingers.”

“You’re a sick man.”

“Yes.” Private Stream says and Chenk hangs up.

He crushes the electrical blast caps and tosses them out before placing the payload with the rest. He then heads back to the music room to find that Layla has moved to sit on her desk. His coat is hanging from a hook next to the door.

She doesn’t say a thing as he enters the room.

“Another bomb was revealed. Not only was it a load bearing wall, but right where the primary support beams were bolted together. An expert placement.” He says.

She says nothing for a bit before sighing. “Something went wrong with me.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense. When I was produced and copied into my body something must have gone wrong for me to turn out so different from the rest that I never even considered the things they do.” Layla says. Her eyes distant and full of old pain. “Is that why I... why she was abandoned? Just... surrendered to the state? Could our mother tell we... I... that she was broken? Did she just know that Erin Fibrerise was a monster?”

“I would think it would be impossible to tell in a baby.” Chenk says.

“Probably, or at least, you’d think so. Wouldn’t you?” Layla asks as she looks away. “Ever since... ever since I was a little girl I asked myself, did I make a mistake? Did I do wrong? Was there something wrong with me? Every time someone brought up their family, I was reminded how I didn’t have one and even if I stopped hearing it... the question was still there. Always there.”

“It couldn’t have been your fault.”

“Well not MINE mine. I wasn’t born yet. Made yet. But Erin... I’m starting to think that voice in her head was onto something. That something is wrong, and maybe mother knew it. And it was just safer for her to get rid of me... her. Safer to get rid of her.”

She pulls her guitar off her back and holds it, case and all in front of her before sighing. “Can a person from a broken place, with a broken mind, and born to a family so broken it never was... can they ever be whole? Or will they always be broken?”

Chenk says nothing as she puts the guitar to the side and has it propped up against the desk. “Who am I trying to fool? I’m just a broken thing from...”

She’s cut off as his arms wrap around her and she goes completely still. Then there is a sniff, a sob, then a cry before she starts openly weeping.

“It’s okay. You’re going to make it through this and you will start building more. You won’t need to step lightly to avoid the others. They will not touch you, they will not hurt you.”

“But what if-”

“IF. If is a big word for all that it’s so short. I have told you what WILL. No IF can stop it. You WILL be safe. You WILL heal. Trust in that.” He says and her arms wrap around him in return.

The tears are not entirely pain anymore.

First Last Next

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“So... why did Erin go into drugs in the first place?” Chenk asks as he pulls out the fully snipped blast caps away from the payload. He holds them out for Layla to hold and she takes them.

“Money. It wasn’t complicated. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know how to make them, but following instructions, be they for illegal drugs, a cookbook or a music sheet is really easy for me. I have a good head to remember those kinds of things.” Layla admits.

“Nothing wrong with that skill. Believe me, so many people ignore the instructions that having a head for them is a step up that may very well put you in the genius category compared to others.” Chenk remarks as he pulls out the rest of the bomb and then takes out the payload. He puts the now revealed mechanism on top of the locker and tosses the small brick. “And you were right, this wall isn’t load bearing. But I could sense that there are several major lines through the building. This would cause the power to surge in dangerous ways, if not cut it off for parts of the school.”

“Goodness, is it a hatred of me or the school that’s driving this?” Layla asks. “And I don’t think I’m that smart. Sure, compared to an illiterate idiot who doesn’t even try to look for a way to do things properly I’m plenty intelligent. But it’s not like I’ve written my own best selling albums, or pioneered a new style in music or found some way to counsel all my sisters into being something other than maniacs.”

“Have you written music?” He asks.

“Why?”

“Making small talk, you’re about to show me where the next bomb might be, so I may as well be friendly.”

“What do you want?” She asks in a suspicious tone.

“We’re on the same side. So I’m acting like it.” He says and she blinks and then looks away. But when she turns back there is a small smile.

“A few songs, most of them set to fairly common tunes. But... well finding a tune that can be played with my fumbling fingers that hasn’t been used by a billion other songs already is on the far side of impossible on a good day.” She says. “It’s mostly just a bunch of silly lyrics. Including one that uses technically clean synonyms for every foul word there is just jumbled together. If the students do well for the first semester then I play it for them and I have yet to have a single class where they can get through the song without laughing too hard to hear the rest of it.”

“You really love being a teacher.” He notes and she pauses.

“It... it’s mine. It’s for me. It...” She looks away and down the hallway. “There’s no real peace here. It’s a school, full of children and all the horrible things they think are perfectly fine to do to each other, and the wonderful pure hearted innocence they have... that’s not peace. It’s a problem. But it’s mine. A tide of madness that I can easily navigate. But only because of so much practice.” Layla says. “Now, we’re almost there. It wasn’t my first guess, but if there is a bomb here then the attack on the school is more about petty revenge than actually wanting the school down.”

“What do you mean?”

“We are nearly at Language Studies. The room itself is not near any important infrastructure and even with a powerful bomb here, it wouldn’t do much damage to the rest of the school. But Erin’s most hated teacher taught in this room.”

“Ah. I understand.” Chenk says.

“Yeah... Miss Carthala was... not Erin’s favourite person.”

“And as a teacher yourself now, has your opinion changed at all?” He asks as she opens the door to the classroom.

“Quite a bit actually. Honestly as an adult my opinion changed quite a bit.” Layla admits. “Hello children. Wendy. We need to scan the room.”

“For what?” A teenager asks.

“Something you don’t want to be near.” Chenk says. “Now you don’t HAVE to turn off your communicators, it just makes this a lot easier on me, and considering I’m here to break apart something dangerous, I would like it to be as easy as possible.”

“Communicators off girls!” The Teacher in charge states. “Miss Stonefield. This is that man?”

“He is. There’s a higher than average chance that what he’s here to deal with is in this room.” Layla says.

“Oh no there’s a bomb in the room.” One of the teenagers puts it together instantly and there is movement.

“STOP!” Chenk barks out. Everyone freezes. “Panicking will not help. Flailing and thrashing and acting like the room is going to eat you will not help. If you don’t want to risk being in here, calmly stand up from your desk and walk calmly into the hallway while I do my search.”

“Who the hell are you?” One of the girls asks. She’s a Drin with a bright red carapace and generally angular look around her everything except where she’s rapidly growing into a woman.

“Officer Chenk Barnabas, expert in chemical explosives. Both making and dismantling. Undaunted Soldier on loan to The Eastern Precinct of level One Seven Two of Phon Spire.”

“Bit far from home aren’t you? Don’t police from other spires or spire levels lack jurisdiction?”

“Unless deputized by an appropriate officer of the law. And considering I’m currently in contact with their cordon teams and portal specialist as we speak, I would say I have their blessing and official deputization. So yes. I am effectively a full officer of this level of Phon Spire as I am of my own. Any further questions?”

“Why do you think there’s a bomb in this room?”

“The woman that either planted the bombs or directed their planting apparently hated taking classes in here. So while most bombs have been in strategic locations designed to damage the school... if she’s getting personal then there may be one here.”

“Who is it?’

“Sorry young lady, but that question went from need to know to very well exceeding it.”

“What? I deserve to know!”

“Says who?” Chenk asks as he finishes scanning the wall that divides the class from the hallway. There is a general camera that’s been deactivated and the PA system is giving off a weak signal.

“What the hell?”

“Child, do you have a bounty hunting license?” Chenk asks as he starts to scan the screen that the teacher had been drawing runes and letters on as part of her lesson.

“What? No.”

“Are you a police officer, detective, private investigator or other individual in some form of law enforcement or military career?”

“What does that have to do with anything?’

“Because broadly speaking those are the people that NEED to know the name and identity of the woman responsible for this. Telling anyone else might encourage them to do some very, very dumb things and get not only themselves, but a lot of other people hurt. Plus it’s against the law and rules for me to divulge information like that, I like my job. I want to keep my job, and if I want to keep it then need to know information stays strictly with those that need to know.”

“I don’t like that.”

“You’re free to leave the room.” Chenk answers and she scoffs as he finishes the front wall of the classroom and goes for the wall leading to the outside. The shields surrounding the school are holding strong and due to it keeping out physical debris in the form of all the drugs being stirred up, it’s a solid blue dome.

“Do you know who I am?”

“I don’t care who you are.” Chenk volleys back and several girls gasp.

“How dare you!? I am...”

“Cherri shut up!” Layla just snaps. “He’s literally trying to save your life and you’re giving him hell. Swallow your pride and let him work!”

“How dare you! My mother is on the board and you will-”

“Get her out of here.” Chenk orders.

“What?!”

“Girl your little power trip is interfering with an active police investigation and bomb disposal. I have every legal right to tie you up, gag you and toss you in a corner to get you out of the way. And then have you arrested after the bomb threat has passed for list of crimes if I want to.”

“Typical police, only enforcing the law when it suits them.”

“Enforcing the law when practical. With the public’s collective intelligence turned to pedantically arguing every possible loophole in the laws further and further counters are needed until the point that everything is technically illegal. So yes, selective enforcement, otherwise we have to charge you for everything. But we also slap everything on the ones that do break the actually important laws and not the pedantic ones.” Chenk answers.

“Oh like there aren’t corrupt police on every level of every spire!”

“True enough, but then again. So is every profession, public service, civil servant and more. In fact you calling towards your mother to get what you want is pretty damn corrupt.” Chenk remarks as he finishes scanning the outer wall and moves to the rear wall.

“How dare you accuse my mother of corruption! I could have you sued for slander!”

“I was accusing you little girl, and I have it on record. My earpiece has an incorporated camera and microphone. Everyone heard everything.” He remarks as he scans the wall and there is a slight signal that he traces up to the ceiling and directly at a vent. “Hmm.”

He slowly gathers Axiom around his boots and slowly lifts himself upwards until he’s floating just under the vent. The signal is clear and there is a tiny little...

“Another camera?!” He demands before re-scanning the area and tracing out the source. “Not a bomb, but another illegal camera recording children. This school is badly compromised.”

He unscrews the vent and pulls out the small camera that was glued in. Then traces back the remains to a small device embedded into the vent wall.

“Layla, catch.” He says dropping the camera and broadcast device into her hands. “The Vent has been vandalized to accommodate the main bulk of the device. I’m going to leave the lid off to remind people that they need to look in there.”

He lowers himself to the floor and shakes out his feet.

“Something wrong?” Layla asks.

“I don’t like standing on nothingness when I’m in my bomb disposal mindset. I prefer stability. Nothing more.”

“Big man can’t handle standing on nothing. How reassuring.” Cherri mutters and Chenk considers the heft of the vent cover for a moment before deciding against it and walking over to the teacher’s desk and placing it there. He then scans the desk and then resumes his scan of the ceiling. It turns up nothing.

With the help of both Layla and Wendy adding their teacher’s authority all the students gather up their things and stand up and away from their desks in a row. Chenk doesn’t find any bombs, but he does find that a Hoh’hart student’s desk has something slightly rattling in it, leading him to find a hollow carved into the side that has a data-chit in it. He considers it as he regards the thin strip of metal with a hole in it that the chit is rolling in and then places both on the desk next to it before picking up the entire desk and giving it a shake. Two other data-chits fall out. One of them heavily damaged.

“Okay, not bombs but... really weird. And concerning.” He notes gathering up all the bits and placing them quickly on the teachers desk. “As it’s not an explosive it’s not my concern Miss Wendy, but I do believe it’s yours.”

“Yes. Yes it is.” She says in a cross tone.

“Sorry for the bad news ma’am.”

“Not your fault sir... but if this is cheating... why? Most tests are open book.” Wendy pondres

“Maybe a leftover from Miss Carthala’s time? She didn’t do much open book.” Layla asks.

“Maybe, but a slot carved into a desk and then having three data-chits slid in? Seems excessive to just cheat on a test. Sneaking in bits of paper would work far better. Not to mention, her tests were hard yes. But they were never a big part of the grade.” Wendy muses.

“Could be from before her time. The desks in here are old.” Layla states.

“And a general scan of the floor is turning up... nothing. No bombs, just the camera and hte hidden data-chits.”

“That’s so weird.” The Hoh’hart student remarks.

“It is.” Chenk notes. “Everyone give your desks a quick shake and tell me if you hear or feel anything.”

The students comply and three more little ‘extras’ on the desks are found. Leading to a bundle of tightly folded paper, two data chits and the wrappers from long, long devoured snacks being found.

“Expiry date on this is older than my father. How old are these desks?” Chenk asks after reading one of the bright blue More Bar wrappers.

“They reached a century in age last month.” Wendy notes and Chenk nods.

“Surprised you haven’t lost them due to general teen shenanigans.”

“Any obvious damage or wear gets repaired with Axiom more or less right away.”

“That would do it.” Chenk notes. “Anyways, room clear. Sorry for the scare ma’am.”

“Oh no. You just reassured us and proved that you’re very good at finding things.” Wendy says and Layla nods.

“Alright, well. Going back to how our uh... how SHE thinks. There is a place a little closer to something truly structural that also has some personal significance.” Layla explains.

“Lead the way.” Chenk says.

“Hey wait you can’t just leave after all that!” Cherri protests.

“Not sure I should even entertain an answer for that.” He notes as he follows Layla out of the room.

“Hey! Listen to...”

“Cherri! Sit down.”

“My mother-” Cherri begins and Chenk dips his head back in with a glare.

“You’re down to my last nerve girl. Mind your manners or I make sure that whatever board or position of authority your mother has is inundated with your claims that she’ll abuse them for your sake. Knock it off, or I take it away. Get me?”

Cherri says nothing.

“Good.” He says and leaves again.

“Bit much for handling a teenager.”

“She’s either learning not to bluff around people who are willing to call it, or that overtly abusing her authority will only weaken it. Either way Professor Chenk has taught her a lesson.”

“Professor Chenk hunh? What field are you a professor of?” She asks in a teasing tone.

“Being awesome.” He says putting on a pair of sunglasses.

“Willing to teach?” Layla asks and then giggles as he pulls out a second pair and puts them on as well.

“Yes.” He says and then puts away both pairs as she can’t even look at him without giggling. “That would have worked so much better if I had a theme song ready.”

“Oh stop!” She exclaims smacking him in the arm and he chuckles himself.

First Last Next

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“Officer Barnabas, we have... mixed news.” Dispatch says on the other side of his ear piece.

“Keep talking, the caps are already off.” Chenk says as he pulls out the payload of a bomb he had found. It had been at the base of a large glass wall. If it had gone off it would have caused a systematic structural weakness that would have severely compromised the front of the building and potentially left chunks of plate glass scattered to impede rescue operations. Every bomb he finds seems more tactical than the last.

“The situation has gotten a lot more complicated.”

“How? Are there more potential bomb sites? Further hostages?”

“We have located Erin Fibrerise while also still listening to her threats.”

“Oh, that kind of complicated. Sorry to say I can’t help much with that. My solution to those kinds of situations is to grab everyone involved and go over it all with the most in detail investigation you can.”

“The problem is that both Erins have identical profiles and the one we have says there’s one in the school with you.”

“Oh! That kind of complicated. Dandy. I need a profile so I can at least recognize our guest of honour.”

“She’s part of the staff!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Did you spot a Tret woman with darker skin than yourself and short white hair?”

“Yes. She had a guitar with her. I couldn’t sense any Axiom in it to indicate a laser rifle or anything so I dismissed her as a dedicated music teacher with favoured instrument she was hauling around for comfort when the world was going insane around her.”

“That is Erin Fibrerise. One of three of them. But that one also has the legal identity of Layla Stonefield.”

“How reliable is this information?”

“Not very. We have one of the Erin Fibrerises with us and she’s ranting long and loud about not even knowing who the original is anymore and apparently Layla Stonefield separated herself from the rest of the group with some gene splicing to alter herself physically and took up a new job in a familiar place that the rest wouldn’t like so she would be left alone.”

“Just what the hell are we dealing with?”

“I don’t fucking know, this situation is getting weirder and more complicated by the moment. We have at least three, but there have been allusions to dozens of Erins and someone has been playing fast and loose with both memory bands and cloning tanks.”

“Lovely. I’m going to focus on finding and deactivating the bombs if that’s all right with you. Do you want me to talk to Layla? She was eye-fucking me pretty hard earlier so if I absolutely have to I can probably seduce the information out of her.”

“I don’t know how you do things on your level but we don’t whore out male officers down here Officer Barnabas.”

“Considering how much she was squirming at the sight of things a kiss blown in her general direction might be enough.” He notes wryly as he makes a point of stomping on the blast caps and then picks up the remains to toss into the garbage. Leaving the tile at the base of the glass wall that the bomb was hidden under open and obvious for repair and reapplication. Thankfully it was well away from any stairs and therefore was only a minor tripping hazard.

He carries the block of C4 to his temporary storage room and turns back to finish his sweep of the hallways.

“Hey! There you are!” He glances and it’s the tall... full form of the dark skin and snowy haired Layla Stonefield. Her pants are only a step above painted on, her pierced bellybutton is for everyone to see and a pink vest with the buttons celebrating a dozen local bands breaks up the fluffy white crop top sweater she’s wearing. Her lips are a glossy red and there is a bright blue eye-shadow to accent her deep brown orbs. “I found another bomb! I need you to see this thing.”

“Lead the way.” He tells her and she gestures for him to come and quickly heads down the hallway and indicates to the library. He follows her inside and he takes note that the shelves have a design where they slide according to spinning handles on them to allow for more shelves to be stored in a smaller space. But the space is already expanded and... she leads him right to where the totem is.

“It’s right here, right in the guts of the library. It wouldn’t break the school if it was destroyed, it has too many safeties to just pop and crush everything inside. But it would scatter the books in every direction, damage a lot of things, cause a huge amount of panic, and... and I can’t shake the feeling that it would cover up something else. But I’m not sure what.” She says and he nods and plays along.

Right next to the spot where the totem is being held the carpet has a divide in it. It’s fine so it doesn’t stand out much, but he rolls it to the side with ease and then opens the hatch he finds underneath. It leads to a dark room below with a ladder. The hole is too small for anything much larger than a tret, and a tret would find it a tight fit.

He pulls out a glow stick, cracks it and drops it inside. The green glow gives him enough illumination to see that the shelves moving is mechanical and not electrical. And the gears are all under the floor.

The totem for expanding the library is just a carved stick worked into a pedestal, and hanging off the side is a bag. He clucks his tongue and then climbs inside. Picks up his dropped glow stick and hangs it off his collar.

He doesn’t touch the bag and just holds his hands near it to get a feel for the axiom it’s drawing in to use as a battery. He then slowly, carefully opens it and pauses when he feels the zipper start to catch. So he abandons that. Instead he draws his sharpest knife and lightly, slowly, scores the side of the bag until he near surgically opens a hole in the side and under the glow of the stick he grins.

“Clever.” He says to himself.

“Can I come down?” Layla asks from above and he frowns and considers.

“Yes.” He answers. “Just don’t touch me or anything else. You’re right, this is a bomb, and it’s even booby trapped. But I’ve dealt with worse.” He notes as he slowly slices the bag open while supporting it from below to stop it from pulling anything.

The black cloth parts and he grins. The tripwire on the zipper is a basic thing. For all that this bomb is trapped, it’s also loose. All he has to do is hold onto the blast caps and...

“Ah!” Layla cries as the C4 hits the floor after he drops it. He then pulls the mechanism otu of the bag and there is a sparking zapping sound as the blast caps go off with small bits of electricity. He pulls apart the mechanisms of the bomb and then rips out the still arcing caps before crushing them.

“So that feeling Miss Fibrerise...” He begins and she sucks in a breath. “Yes. I know.”

“All I know is the others hate this place and I hate them so I make my living here. That’s it. The bombs are news to me!” She says putting her hands up.

“Presuming I believe you, what next?”

“What?”

“If you are innocent in this and there’s some kind of Fibrerise continuum on the Spire...”

“You don’t know?”

“Lady, one of the Erins is giving my coworkers a play by play of what appears to be sheer madness. My focus is on the bombs and making sure you won’t just set one off while I work. Or plant new ones as I leave an area.”

“No! This is my sanctuary! I got away from those crazy fools.”

“And how many are there?”

“Thirty five. I make Thirty six.” Layla says and he blinks.

“The hell is even... you know what? No. First thing’s first. You don’t want the school to blow up?”

“No I do not want the school to blow up, I work here, my students are here. I like it here.”

“You did not plant the bombs.”

“No I did not.”

“But someone that you’re either a clone of or is a clone of you did.”

“Not exactly, but close enough.

“Is it close enough that you have a good idea where the bombs MIGHT be?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. I have disabled four of a possible twenty nine. Can you help me find the other twenty five?”

“Where did you get the number twenty nine from?”

“The Erin keeping the cloud of drugs in the district up and ostensibly holding this school hostage claimed to have over twenty. I’ve highballed it so if I mistake I’m looking for bombs that aren’t there rather than missing bombs I’d otherwise find.”

“Oh... oh no... It would be her.”

“I have a radio, if you want to start giving your side of the story it might help your case in the investigation that’s going to hit this place, and you, like a meteor.”

“No. I’m going to help you find the bombs first.” She says and he grins. “And what’s that about?”

“You’ve got your priorities dead straight. Provided you’re not lying to me, I’ll put in a good word for you.”

“Good word or bad, I have family that have threatened this school, I have memories of being Erin Fibrerise and smuggling in drugs. The ban will extend to me. My career is over.”

“Are there any other reasons you choose to work here beyond the fact the others wouldn’t be here?”

“At first no. But... I like teaching now. The mistakes they make are funny, hearing them improve as musicians is inspiring! And when a kid with real flaring talent and dedication shows up I get to see the first steps of a rising star! But not anymore.”

“I’m starting to think that girl’s legit...” Dispatch whispers in his hear.

“Oh so now you want to talk?” Chenk demands pushing at the earpiece.

“You were doing well!”

“Oh right... you’re wired.” Layla says in a breathless tone.

“Ask her about ‘The Facility’ the Erin with us keeps bringing it up but refuses to elaborate. She keeps changing the subject.”

“Did you hear that?” Chenk asks.

“I did not.”

“What is The Facility?” He asks and she freezes. “Is it bad?”

“It’s dangerous and confusing. I... I am different so I will be different. It’s physical location is in a folded space. The doorway is on the central spire pillar. It’s labelled Waste Management Overflow with a big discontinued marking in red over it. Open and close the door three times in rapid succession and then immediately open it again. It will lead into The Facility.”

“What’s in there?”

“Erin was calling it a replication chamber in her head when she made me in there. It clones and brain scans you. It also allows genetic modifications to be made, there’s also a storage room for raw materials. But... I know there are more rooms, but I never saw them. I saw that something was seriously weird and got as much distance as I could without potentially spooking the other Erins.”

“I assume it’s being watched.”

“Closely.”

“Which means we can’t do a thing until these bombs are dealt with. Approaching that door in any way will likely set off the attacking Erin off. And if I eat a blast of C4 to the face, I will return and make you regret it. Do you hear me?” Chenk asks with his finger up to the ear piece.

“Even if it kills you?” She mocks him.

“Death is a doorway and I will drag you through it if you send me through. To say nothing of what my wives will do.”

“Relax. We’re not stupid. You will have all the time you need to locate and disarm those bombs. But keep Layla talking.”

“Copy that.” Chenk answers.

“Copy what?” Layla asks.

“We are going to be teaming up for the rest of this. I need to find the bombs fast and you need to talk. A lot. The more information you give the better this will look for you at the end of it. Maybe you might be able to keep your job.”

“Okay, but I’m not sure how useful that will be. I spooked early and easily and wanted to be away from the Erins. It’s why I spliced myself different skin, hair and more. I’m even a little shorter and fuller.”

“It’s a good look.” He says with a smirk and she blushes then frowns.

“You’re doing that thing where humans can seduce anyone aren’t you?”

“No, it’s an honest complement.” He says with a grin as he picks up the explosive and uses the remains of the bag to wrap up the pieces of the bomb. And then climbs straight up. “You coming?”

Layla climbs the ladder and is giving him a pensive look. He closes the hatch and lets the carpet fall back into place. “So... where else would Erin plant a bomb?”

“The lockers. There was a hole in the back of the one next to mine... Erin’s when she was a student here. It would be the perfect place to stash one, and is at a major wall. I don’t think it’s load bearing though.”

“Lead the way.” He says and she nods.

First Last Next

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“Miss Transparent you know very well that weapons like this sort are not allowed at this school.”

“Not all weapons?” The amused Chenk asks.

“Sir, my pincers can take off limbs and my tail contains a dangerous knockout drug that can kill in sufficient doses.”

“Fair.” Chenk replies.

“Half of my students have weapons inbuilt to their anatomy. The weapon ban is to protect school property. Using them on one another is covered in our rules against fighting and harming others while on school property.”

“Consider me educated ma’am.” Chenk remarks as he pulls out some small scanners. “Excuse me.”

He steps past the principal and teenager and pulls out a bundle of cheap simple scanners. “Alright, I’m sure some of you at least know how these kinds of basic scanners work right? The bombs are all wired to a radio signal. So use these little sticks to display the source of radio signals, if they’ve got a reason to be there, such as recognized school property or a school fixture, you can move on. But if you find something that shouldn’t be there I will need to know about it. Do not try to actually find the bombs. Only the signals. The first two have been nice and easy, but getting lazy or lax will get people killed. So treat every inexplicable signal as if you’d found a bomb and come get me. I will be giving each room and every identified radio signal a deeper scan to determine that a bomb wasn’t potentially having it’s own signal camouflaged behind legit signals. Understand?”

“Then why are we looking if you’re going to scan everything?”

“Because this will speed everything up. You’re looking for radio signals and flagging the ones that stand out. I am looking for bombs. Even if you find a bomb, directly, openly and without meaning to. Do not even look it for longer than it takes to memorize where it is so you can come get me. I’m not taking dumb risks in a place where children are potential targets. Hopefully you can understand that sentiment.”

“Anything you want me in particular to do?” The only male teacher, a Begrob man with a shimmering green carapace asks.

“... No. Why?” Chenk asks and he blinks.

“Oh I uh... I thought this was some kind of boy power moment.”

“No... there’s no camera crew. This isn’t a sitcom or a feelgood movie here. This is a serious bomb threat set by a lunatic. This isn’t a boys come together moment, this is a call in the commandos moment. I just happen to be the commandos. Now, what I’m going to be doing is that I’m going to search the surrounding rooms and hallways. I request one of the janitorial staff to lend me their keys or stay with me if that’s not acceptable so I don’t have to kick in locked doors. Once I have the immediate area covered I’m going to scan that half of the school first before going to that half.” He says indicating with his left hand to the left then to the right. “Are there any questions as to what we all need to do and why?”

“What about rooms where the students are in?”

“I will need to scan around the students as well in case one of them found something a bomb is contained in and potentially picked it up. I will not go through their things, but I will be requiring them to present to me anything they have that I can detect a radio signal from. Is that acceptable?”

“It is.”

“Thank god I don’t have to mug teens for their own safety.” Chenk remarks. “This day is already going to be a long one, I don’t want to feel like the villain on top of it.”

“How bad is it?”

“Every spire on Centris is shaking with activity as a result of the Blood Metal Scare. This is just another part of it.” Chenk says. “Alright, I’m going to start scanning the immediate hallways now. Everyone get moving and start scanning the other rooms. Remember, you’re speeding up my search with each room.”

The teachers and staff start to split and Chenk’s hand falls on the shoulder of a Koiran in coveralls. “You a custodian?”

“I am.” She says.

“Good. Do you mind lending me your keys or?”

“We use another system here.” She says and brings out a tablet. “I need your handprint.”

He puts his hand on it and it scans it a few times. Gives a green flash and she quickly pulls it away and starts typing things in. “There, your right hand will have an all access override pass to everywhere in the school for the rest of the day.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s registering you as health and safety inspector.”

“Technically true, I am inspecting the premises for health and safety reasons.”

“You know what? That’s fair.” She says with a grin before looking him up and down again... “So uh...”

“Yes?”

“Nevermind. You’re probably rolling in them.”

“Not so much, but I’m a very busy man that’s regularly in all sorts of danger and very, very busy even on my slow days. It’s a hard pace to keep for any woman that isn’t already sprinting. To say nothing of the heart attack that I’m literally diffusing bombs. Or getting into firefights, or fighting Empty Hand Masters one on one.”

“... How are you still alive?’

“I’m Undaunted, we’ve had death beaten out of us in training.”

“how do you do that?”

“Simple, if you die, then the instructors win, and at that point you hate them so much that fuck death, you’re not letting them get the satisfaction.” Chenk says with a laugh.

“What’s so funny about that?”

“Sorry. It’s a common training joke. If you die the instructors right about you. And no one wanted that. The truth is that I’ve been trained very, very well and until I’m fully, thoroughly dead, I’m going to fight with everything I have to survive and complete a mission. As I have been taught.” Chenk says and she looks up at him. Then covers her nose.

“Excuse me!” She cries out as she rushes away.

“Wait! I haven’t checked that room yet!” He charges after her as she ducks into a bathroom. “The room isn’t secure! You need to get control of yourself!”

His scanner is out and there are a few hits. The fact that there’s more than his earpiece, communicator and whatever the custodian has is terrifying. He scans around and at the sinks the signal is strongest. He crouches down and then frowns. “Fuck.”

“There’s a bomb in here?” The custodian whimpers from the stall she’s hidden in.

“Something’s here and giving off a signal. It doesn’t look like a bomb though. This is a motion sensor and it’s sending... something off...” He traces the wire back and to a mirror. “Oh for fuck’s sake.”

He pulls at the edge of the mirror and finds a tiny hole in it with a camera with one way glass worked into it to match the mirror. “Someone’s been spying on students in the bathroom!”

“WHAT!?” The Custodian demands barging out of the stall. All hints of shyness and fear is gone as she quickly sees the setup. She starts giving out a combination of a high pitched shriek and a howl of rage as she grabs the offending device and bodily rips it out of the wall and tears the numerous wires.

“Rest of it is under the counter.” He notes and she ducks down and finds the rest to start tearing it out to.

“I will find out whoever recorded our students in here and feed them their own eyeballs with the camera as a chaser!”

“So I should call you if I run into anything else like this again?”

“Yes. You know what? I’m sticking with you as you scan the school. We’ve clearly missed way WAY too much!”

“Cool.” He says as he sets the mirror down to the side to make both the small hole in it and the fact that there was a hollow behind it blatantly obvious to anyone who comes in next and starts scanning the room again. Only himself, the custodian and a chemical sensor in the floor and ceiling are giving off any signals. And both sensors are exactly what they seem to be.

The custodian leads him into the next room right across the hall. “This is a staff bathroom which we also share with the rare male student. Gives the poor dears some more privacy.”

“And beyond the chemical scanners we’re the only ones in here with any radio signals.”

“So there is a just and merciful creator. I was beginning to wonder.” She notes.

“Right, that’s two nearby rooms. Can you promise not to run off again as I scan these hallways?” He asks her and she flinches.

“Yes, sorry. I’m not... this is so much.” She says.

“Then best turn your nose elsewhere. This is a quiet action moment for me. Shootouts and hostage negotiations are also part of the life.”

“Too rich for my blood human. You’re cute, and you smell ready to rock in all the best ways. But momma didn’t raise no floozy. I want a stable relationship, and one with you seems prepped to go up like the bombs you so love.” She says as he scans around the lights.

“Fair.” He says.

“Just like that?”

“Yep.”

“So the rumours of humans being romance obsessed.”

“Lady, I’m trying to make sure children don’t get hurt. If hacking off my own limbs and dipping the stumps in salt before searing them shut makes sure they’re safe then I’ll swing the cleaver myself. This isn’t sexy time.”

“Sorry. It’s just... sorry. It’s hard to think of this as a danger with a man around. Especially one that...”

“You’re in charge of your instincts. Not the other way around.” He notes.

“Easy for you to say.”

“No it’s fucking not! Things are reversed with humans! Men chase! The idea that so many women would say yes and thank you if I were to run up to them foaming at the mouth and sporting a boner means it’s very, VERY distracting to be around you walking sex fantasies! But I keep in control! Right now is life and death not fucks and fuckening!”

“Sorry...”

“Why don’t you go sit down somewhere. It’s clear you’re not cut out for this. Just go to the offices. Sit down and try not to hurt yourself.” He says and she walks away and he sighs.

“Bit harsh.” The Muttras in his ears states. “But necessary.”

“You were so close to getting a rant.”

“You’re clearly infuriated.” She says.

“Ma’am, unless you have something helpful to say...”

“Your sweep for bombs has not been noticed. But we do have updated information. They’ve claimed to have over twenty bombs throughout the school.”

“Over twenty. That’s... bad. But if they had thirty or more they would have said that. Which means at most we have maybe twenty seven more. That’s very good to know.” Chenk says.

“So Princpal’s office and that other one was taken from behind a display screen.”

“That’s right, now do we have information on our perp? I need to know if these bombs are going to be in personal places or strategic ones?”

“Could be both if she hates the school that much.”

“Yep, but we won’t know unless you can give me a profile on the woman.” Chenk says.

“Right, well she’s a former student there.”

“Colour me surprised.”

“Her name is Erin Fibrerise. She was expelled after being found with illicit substances on campus. First time was a suspension and a severe warning as her product was not only bad for all students, but outright deadly to a couple more. She was found with more after the fact and was escorted off the property and banned from it. They did however set her up with a homeschooling program that she completed only at the last moment in it’s time limit.”

“And she never stopped dealing drugs.”

“Clearly not. She has a dozen other identities, but Erin Fibrerise is her legal name.”

“Fibrerise?”

“It’s a tradition in this city for daughters who are surrendered to the system as babies to be given the family name Fibrerise. They have the option to change it as adults without any legal repercussion or fee. But she has either forgotten to do this or opted not to.”

“I see. And why wasn’t she already in custody before all this craziness?”

“Low priority and only a suspected dealer. We never had hard evidence, but something has made her snap. We’re still not sure why.”

“Right well, no matter what keep her calm and let her keep talking. Anything she spills is valuable.” Chenk says.

“We know how to do our job Officer Barnabas.”

“Sorry. I’ll get back to scanning.”

First Last Next

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

The next room out is the secretarial office and general administration for the school. It’s not a big one, but it’s an inner spire school. Even the small ones need numerous staff for paperwork alone.

Everything giving off a signal is from the basic computers in standby mode. Designed to connect to the local network for database and admin use. He also stumbles on a couple of personal gaming devices for the more bored, inattentive or otherwise desiring distraction staff members. The room is clear.

“Where is the rest of the staff?” He asks Vice Principal Harssk.

“Either with the students or actively aiding the search effort. I’ve got these offices. Principal Fullers is leading the efforts in the basement with the janitorial staff.” She explains.

“Good for them, if you’re in contact with them, have them come here, I have some equipment that will help their searches. The sooner we get this finished the better.” He says before turning his attention to the Principal’s office.

Less rigid and obsessively orderly than Harssk’s office. Lots of pictures of a large Andinus family on the wall. From the looks of it a lot of her children have come to this very school. Images of trophies are being projected from a central database. No doubt one with cameras in the actual trophy room, so they’re giving of a signal. The room seems to be...

“Shit.” He mutters.

There is a signal that doesn’t belong. Coming from behind a display case right next to a vent. He carefully angles it to the side and notes a slight indent in the wallpaper. He unscrews the cover of the vent off and then can lift the paper and... “Make sure everyone stays well away and quiet. I found one of the bombs.”

“Oh goddess.” Harssk mutters.

“Remain calm. Panic is our enemy. I’ve got this.” He says carefully moving the trophy case even further to the side to make sure he has full access to the device. He uses some tape and pins the paper away from the device and starts examining it. No sensors or timers on it. It’s entirely remote activated. Good. No way to tell if it’s signal being cut off will warn the crazy woman holding the remote. He’ll have to assume that it will. Meaning he needs to disarm but not deactivate the bomb. A little trickier, but still entirely doable.

He pulls out a leather sleeve with a number of delicate cutting tools, specialty wire cutters, numerous bundles of putty, wires to be used in refocusing things and several small devices designed to give a false signal.

“What are you doing?” Harssk asks.

“The bomb is giving out a signal to it’s controller. It might be monitored in a crude way. So I’m disarming, but not deactivating the bomb. If one of them loses power or is shut off it may send out an alert and then the rest go off. So this... is me sabotaging the blast caps. Preventing them from working entirely. Then I will remove the payload. We then leave this in place and I go searching for the rest.”

“Blast caps?”

“This bomb is using a very stable and long lived chemical explosive. It’s so stable you can set it on fire without setting it off. But sufficient shock, be it kinetic or electrical, will set it off. Therefore the blast caps either have a small amount of a more volatile compound in them, or will give off a burst of electricity into the payload.” He explains in a calm even tone. “This one is... oh. I was expecting an electrical cap. That’s interesting.”

“Interesting?”

“I had another case earlier, three separate bombs with electrical caps on them. This one is using an RDX cap.”

“Is that a problem?”

“Not at all, but from what I’m seeing of this circuitry and wires... Yes. Perfect. This will be so easy.” He says as he pulls out a small pair of wire cutters and slowly reaches in before severing two bundles of two wires. He then slots his clippers back into place tucks his bundle under his armpit and reaches in to pluck out the blast caps. He holds them out. “Gently put these someplace they’re not going to be jostled and away from anything too valuable. They’re mildly explosive, but you won’t lose a hand to them. Be very gentle.”

“Uh... okay. What will you be doing?”

“Removing the explosive from the bomb. This is a shaped charge, a deliberate attempt to murder the principal.” He says as he holds out the blast caps and doesn’t even look as she gently takes them. He then starts manhandling the remains of the bomb and wrenches out the explosive charge. Harssk has turned to stare at him.

“Alright. Since more volatile blast caps are being used we need two separate rooms, one for payloads and one for detonation devices. I will not have them in the same room together.” Chenk says.

“I agree. I will hold onto that after I set these down nice and...” Harssk says as she gently. So very gently. Puts down the blast caps. “Gently. Thank goodness. We have a lost and found and a room of confiscated items nearby. We can use them to store either the blast caps or payloads. The two rooms are connected so...”

“Excellent. If you’re willing, put the blast caps in your office. This kind of payload I can bludgeon someone with, and unless I use Axiom to increase the force of the blow it still won’t go off.”

“Understood.” She says and starts walking before the sound of hissing plasma makes itself heard and Chenk is staring down the plasma blade of a student who’s flickering form is switching between dozens of different species and faces in seconds.

“Who are you!? What do you want?! Are you responsible for this?! My mother warned me that the worst people out there are the ones who try to preen and look good you! You!”

“Oh great a terrified Cloaken teenager with a deadly weapon. Just what I need while disarming bombs.” He notes.

“Shut up! I’m not scared! You are!”

“Girl. I am holding...” He weighs the chunk of explosive in his hand. “About three pounds of high explosive. Can I please be allowed to make sure the room I’m going to store this in doesn’t have a bomb or listening device?”

“How do I know I can trust you? I was warned that pretty men, especially one that smell as good as you, get up to all kinds of craziness and need to be home safe! That if they’re not...”

“Talis Transparent what are you doing?!” A High Pitched voice demands. A Bright BRIGHT pink Andinus woman marches up and grabs both the Cloaken’s arm and the plasma sword. She closely resembles the principal. And is in a clearly unnatural colour for her species.

“Principal Fullers I presume?”

“Yes. Who are you?”

“Officer Chenk Barnabas. Chemical explosive expert from the Eastern Precinct on level one seven two.”

“A bit outside your precinct sir.”

“I am the undisputed expert of chemical explosives on the spire. I also am an extremely well trained soldier and combatant. I am a one man Bomb Squad and Special Weapons and Tactics Squad.”

“I see...”

“No I’m not going to ask about the fact that you’ve been dyed bright pink.”

“Thank you.” She remarks in a tart tone. “Now as for you Talis. I know you’re not the only one to slip something in. Who else managed to sneak a plasma sword into my school and why? What mad religion or insane cult made you think bringing a deadly weapon into a school was appropriate?”

“Yani foresaw we would need them?”

“Of course she did...”

“Look, as fascinating as this is. And I am legitimately interested. But I need to focus on the next room. I need to clear this school and get the bombs all disarmed.”

“Where was that one?”

“Right next to the vent in there. A shaped charge aimed right at your desk. This wasn’t an attack on the school, this one at the very least, was aimed right at you.”

“This is personal?”

“Either that or they think the school losing it’s principal will cause more chaos.” Chenk remarks as Fullers drags Talis away.

“I’ll just store these then.” Harssk says.

“Right, I’ll put this here for now. Touching it won’t kill anyone. Touching it too hard or with electricity might. So just don’t touch it.” Chenk says as he puts the block of plastic explosive on a desk top and moves to the next room.

“That’s our lost and found!” Fullers calls over.

“Good! Hopefully I don’t find what I’m looking for in here.” Chenk answers before starting a scan. Then he lets out a sigh. “Never mind.”

He scans closer and then lowers himself to the floor and crawls forward to find what looks like a speaker. He removes it from the rest of the shelf and scans it again. Then senses with Axiom and nods. “Okay, if it hasn’t already gone off then it’s not too sensitive.”

“There’s a bomb in there!?”

“Yes, disguised as a music speaker. Which means it’s probably safe to move.”

“Probably?!”

“These are bombs made by or commissioned by someone crazy enough to take a school hostage. Probably is the best we got.” Chenk answers as he feels it out. “Okay, braindead simple this one. With electrical blast caps? Hunh. Either the one in the office got special attention or we have two potential bomb makers.”

He uses his thumbnail to pry back the plastic cover and retrieves his wire cutters to snip both blast caps away and tosses them out of the room before extracting the charge. Just a pound... that’s a lot of boom... hey was this speaker found near a load bearing wall or at the base of something heavy?”

“What shelf was that on? Harssk asks and he glances back.

“Thirty Two.”

“Shelft Thirty two was emptied last month and it was filled... five days ago. Which means... ah. Yes it was in the gymnasium. There is a large scoreboard and it was found directly behind it on the beam that holds it against the wall.” Harssk explains.

“Meaning it if had gone off it would have compromised the board and potentially dropped it.” Chenk says and there are some gasps as he removes the charge. “More plastic explosives. Thank god in heaven this is the preferred boom by those who use chemical weapons.”

“Why is it good that such an explosive is preferred?” Fullers asks.

“The very thing that makes it easy to work with, also means that it’s stable enough to safely store when you disarm a bomb. That it won’t go off at random. The only downside is that it’s so stable that a bomb can be placed and stay placed for a long time. The shelf life is just that good. There’s little risk of the chemicals expiring and the bomb going inert on it’s own.” He says as he fully extracts the charge and puts the still opened speaker back on the shelf and walks out tossing the small brick of plastic explosives up and down.

“Officer Barnabas, should you really be that blase with the explosive?” The Muffis Officer that opened the portal asks through his earpiece.

“Oh yeah. Plastic Explosives, or C4 is designed specifically for ease of transport. Doesn’t matter if I drop it, throw it, set it on fire, so long as it’s well away from any active blast caps then it’s fine. This explosive is so stable it can last ten years in dry conditions before even beginning to break down. I can take out a pistol and shoot these bricks of explosive and they will not detonate.”

“What if it’s improperly mixed?” She asks.

“Then it’s even less likely to detonate and contains significantly less explosive power. Any room we can store these things without any active electrical charges or any other explosions expected and these things are borderline harmless.”

“Borderline?” Principal Fullers asks.

“Well it’s inedible and would be at least mildly toxic. And I suppose that if you shoved some up your nose it could impede breathing.” Chenk says with a smile. He takes note that much of the staff is here and the stragglers are quickly arriving. He places the second recovered chunk of C4 on the other and turns to scan them. “Is this all the staff?”

“We are not leaving the students unattended.” Principal Fullers says and he nods.

“Of course. A very reasonable course of action. Now then ladies... and Gentleman. I am Officer Chenk Barnabas, explosives expert. All the bombs threatening your school, your students and yourselves are hooked up to a trigger mechanism, I will be passing out devices. Anything you find giving of a signal that can’t be explained as part of the school decor I want to know immediately. After we hit all those I will be going room to room to double check things. While you’re helping me search, I will be doing a deep search of the nearest rooms and halls. If you find a bomb do not touch it, do not say it out loud. Come to me immediately and inform me about it. Understand?”

“Yes, we understand.”

“Hey uhm... when can I get my plasma sword back?”

First Last

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“So how long until something else happens?” Mei’Lan asks him as they climb into the police cruiser for the drive back.

“Well... the planet is thoroughly provoked so nonsense is on the rise, nonsense tends to happen in bundles, so yeah. There’s also an active mystery that may involve a second spire which usually kicks off nonsense and it’s a day ending in Y and the world is still turning. So all that together, especially the last two points, basically guarantees that something’s about to happen.” Chenk notes with a grin as she cackles. “By the way, how’s Modan? I haven’t seen him in a hot minute. Been drowning in paperwork and procedural business.”

“Well, I’ll spare you the details that you boys find yucky about other men.”

“Thank you.”

“And say that he’s been caught up in deep research. Particularly the Research and Development branch has effectively tried to kidnap him in order for his probability manipulation to be used to try and consistently create extremely unlikely compounds and results for them to be studied. They’re working on some form of advancement in the field of metallurgy at the moment but more than that is classified.”

“Likely Ghost Metal then. If they find a way to produce it faster or with less infrastructure required then it will be an even bigger blessing for The Undaunted.”

“That stuff is dangerous. It’s an even bigger Adept killer than Trytite ever was.”

“Appropriate seeing how it’s a meta-material with the primary component being trytite alloy.” Chenk notes as they reach the lip of the spire and begin a controlled climb at a proper safe speed and angle. “And it’s also understandable why no one developed it before us despite it being simple, if energy intensive and slow. Axiom is in everything, and anyone using it regularly would lose ghost metal in short order.”

“Ghost Metal. Blood Metal... Think there’s going to be a brain metal or a flesh metal?”

“You mean processor chips and repair totems?” Chenk asks as casually as he can and he makes a point of not looking as he hears Mei’Lan’s hand thump the window. He knows she’s staring. He can’t break. He won’t break.

“You’re smiling.” She says and he chuckles in response. “... Still... Yeah. Oh! How would a computer with a blood metal or ghost metal processor chip work?”

“No idea. One we’re working to destroy it and only study it in tiny, controlled amounts at most. The other is being used entirely for Anti-Adept armour and weapons.” Chenk replies.

“Still wild that blood metal is real.”

“Or that it seems to do terrible, terrible things to people psychologically while also being only producible from brutal murder.”

“That’s a bit of a downside.”

“Brutal, horrifying murder that effectively consists of torturing a person to death by turning the natural way they twist Axiom Against them so it grinds them down and leaves only a smear of blood and some tiny fragments of metal imbued with all the concentrated pain, hate, horror, fear and more that the victim underwent.”

“I get it.”

“Mere contact with blood metal re-traumatized one of the oldest and most dangerous groups of Axiom Adepts in the galaxy and forced four entities that can be described on terms similar to that of gods to cling to each other in sheer horror.”

“The point is made, blood metal is bad.”

“I’m glad we’ve had this talk.” Chenk notes and Mei’Lan scoffs. “What?”

“Are you in your twenties or your two thousands?”

“Yes.” He answers and she blinks before thinking and then sighing.

“Not what I meant.”

“Eh, close enough.” He says as they pass the fifteenth level and his communicator goes off. “Damn near on cue.”

Mei’Lan’s hand is faster and she activates it for him. “Officer Barnabas here with Deputy Mei’Lan.”

“We need both of you on Level Eighty Four. Unknown assailant has aerosolized product and is firing from within the cloud. Plasma and Laser weaponry at vehicle grade is flashing out. Disrupted visuals are preventing proper target lock and any drone or camera with superior sensor ability are being treated as priority targets.”

“Copy that, ETA Five minutes. Commencing Dive.” Chenk says as he activates the sirens and tilts the nose of the Cruiser straight down and shoots directly down, veering to the side to avoid the slowly widening platforms of the spires as dozens of levels blur by. The acceleration takes them down faster and faster.

“We have injured! I repeat! Officers down!” His communicator rings out and Chenk cracks his neck from one side to the other as he begisn tensing muscles and seeming to shift in his seat as he prepares. Mei’Lan is smiling as Axiom begins outright singing around her.

Level Eighty Four has a large plume of pale pink glittering drugs in the air somewhat near the central spire. The cruiser is a blur as Chenk starts pouring Axiom into the framework and feels his brand start to hum against his arm. He’s pushing it a bit, but...

Plasma bolts splash against the cruiser and lasers fizzle against it. The brand starts warming up on his shoulder and he dodges the next set to give it some time to cool.

“Have fun.” Mei’Lan bids him before the Axiom around her nearly chimes and she vanishes.

He simply angles the cruiser and feels it crash against something. There is a minor plume of plasma and several lasers abruptly cut off mid beam as Mei’Lan finds them.

He brakes hard and veers around buildings. Several more laser cannons start and then fail to go off as they merely reveal their positions to Mei’Lan who’s already on the hunt and the remaining emplacements feel Chenks newly learned Car-Fu techniques as he promptly rams each one that reveals themselves.

“Officer Barnabas! Hostages!”

“Where!?”

“Leave the drug cloud! That’s their first demand!” The Dispatcher says and Chenk nods before soaring out. He then starts twisting Axiom in his right hand and gets it into just the right configuration. Then pulses it out hard. Mei’Lan reappears moments later.

“What?”

“Hostages.”

“Damn.” She mutters as they leave the cloud of drugs.

“Dispatch this is Officer Barnabas, in accordance to the demands of the hostage takers we have left the cloud of aersolized product.”

“Why are they setting off their product like this anyways? Isn’t this a lot of money gone?”

“Making drugs is easy, it’s the sourcing and selling of drugs that makes money.” Chenk says.

“Really?”

“Yes really. With chemical scanners being a thing and the balance of not getting a dangerous overdose, the actual production of dangerous drugs is the easy part. It’s making sure you don’t kill your customers after the long process of finding them. But once you have them...”

“Ah. So is that why almost every drug den we’ve ever hit?”

“Had more product than people per pound? Yes.” He says before rolling his shoulders. “It’s also why I’m getting more and more work. Chemical weapons were basically ignored until humans came around. After all, just use Axiom. There’s always more and they can’t stop you. But then all the games and media and entertainment showing how dangerous a chemical explosive or straight up gas weapon can be and it got people thinking. And not in ways anyone wants them to.”

“Lovely. And for all that chemical scanners can catch drugs. They’re not yet fully tuned to...”

“TNT, RDX and all the other fun treats from Earth. Thankfully most have settled on the more stable explosives for ease of transport and use. Thank god.” Chenk mutters.

“What do you get up to on the slow days?”

“Generally what chemicals to pour into a vat of something dangerous to nullify it. It slowed down a lot when I published a little cheat sheet for dealing with common chemical explosives, so I only get called out when things are delicate or need an Undaunted touch.” He says as he brings the cruiser to an area where many others are already parked. Directly outside the police cordon, and lowers it to the ground before exiting. “This is Officer Barnabas with Deputy Mei’lan an Empty Hand Master. We’ve taken out many of the turrets attacking our drones and vehicles. What’s this about hostages?”

“There’s a school in the area. We’ve received note that while the school has had it’s safety systems implemented and is not contaminated by the drugs, that there has already been numerous bombs placed along the foundations and hidden throughout the structure. They’re threatening to set them off if any police officers remain within the cloud.” A Lopen Police Woman states plainly.

“Damn. Do we have coordinates? Do we know if they have eyes inside the school? Number of bombs? Location? Potential yield?”

“All unknown.” The Officer says before reaching down to offer her hand. “Deputy Chief Slayn.”

“Officer Barnabas and Deputy Mei’Lan.” Chenk introduces himself and Mei’Lan.

“Yes, the chemical expert of the spire. We’re speaking to the staff inside the school. They’re going to deactivate their own security cameras in case it’s been compromised. They just need to finished searching the school themselves.”

“That might not be enough ma’am, besides. What if the bombs are set off?”

“We have to risk it. The cloud of drugs is being constantly renewed and the only demand we’ve received is to stay the hell out and away. This isn’t a negotiation, this is a stalling tactic.”

“Redirect the winds maybe? Blow the drugs into an evacuated area and expose them?” Mei’Lan offers.

“Their current threat is that if anyone touches their cloud in any way they’ll kill the whole school. So that’s out.”

“But the winds may turn regardless.”

“Hence why we need to take a risk. The woman with her finger on the trigger is unstable at best and can be set off by forces beyond our control. We need her disarmed, immediately.”

“I’ll watch the winds and keep them from disturbing the cloud. Buy you time.” Mei’Lan offers.

“Perfect. Officer Barnabas, how are you stealth and disarming abilities?”

“Adequate, exceptional if I have someplace I can store equipment if needed.”

“Good, the van there has a woman who’s just waiting to open a portal for you. It will lead into the vice principal’s office.”

“That’s high up, there may be sensor there.”

“There could be sensors anywhere. But she’s right next to a higher priority office in the form of the principal. She’s also a noted neat freak with a near compulsive drive for order and cleanliness. She basically sweeps it for anything twice daily.”

“Really?”

“It’s to the degree she keeps a number of skirts and jackets for students to wear over any stained clothing they may have.”

“Hunh. Well, hopefully my using it as temporary storage and staging ground won’t drive her to violence.” Chenk says.

“Head over now. We’re not sure what she can see, so you’ll be in a contained area. When you give us the go, we’re going in hard. But stay in contact. For the love of all goddesses, stay in contact.”

“Yes ma’am.” He says and starts walking to the nearby van. He’s gestured inside by a Muffis Officer with khutha bands worked over her curling horns.

“Okay good to have you I’m... oh... oh whoa that is a scent and a half.” She begins before getting distracted. Before Chenk can say anything she slaps herself in the face. “Sorry about that. I have an earpiece here for you and a bevy of equipment. Do you need anything?”

“I have all my bomb disposal equipment in an expanded pocket, up to and including concentrated forms of counter chemicals that will reduce liquid explosives to an inert chemical mess.” Chenk says patting his thigh where the cargo pocket in question is.

“Good man.” She says handing over the earpiece he slips into place and taps active. “It has a micro-camera and microphone it it, everything we need to coordinate. Are you read?”

“Always. Open the portal.” He tells her and she nods. She reaches up to the top of the van and grabs onto a handle that is doing duty as a Khutha Totem and the bands on her horns begin glowing pale blue. A hole tears itself open in the air and expands. The edges of the portal are ragged and rough and show a small office with a terrified Lette woman inside.

“Vice Principal?” He asks and she nods. “I am Officer Barnabas, bomb disposal expert. Do I have permission to enter?”

“Yes. Please.” She answers and he steps through the portal. It closes behind him. He instantly starts looking around the room and it is flawlessly organized, clean enough to perform surgery in and everything is at right angles and precise distances. Leaving his stuff in here is going to drive the poor woman insane. The little nameplate on her desk says Vice Principal Harssk.

“Ma’am I am going to do a sweep for monitoring devices, then proceed to do the same for the other offices. Once I know this area is secure I am going to be systematically going through the school to find everything. If I encounter more unusual detection methodologies I will be using this place to store gear to circumnavigate things such as metal and radio detectors. I this understood?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Initial sweep of the room is clear. I will do a more thorough one now and get to work.” He says as he draws on the Axiom and his eyes start nearly glowing as he starts to look for certain wavelengths. He begins gesturing to certain places and asking about different things in the office. Several picture frames of family or graduating classes are hooked up to networks, her on desk communicator, the sensors on the door and temperature controls. Nothing else is giving out signals. The room is clear.

First Last

First 

Cats, Cops and C4

“Oh. That makes sense.” He notes as he finds a large group of civilian women zoned out, zonked and otherwise in numerous states of inebriation. He examines a few of the girls and they try to kiss him, but they’re too out of it to properly use Axiom so he can hold them back without hurting anyone as he finds signs of habitual drug use on each of them. Her hostages were her customers.

Even if she got away somehow at this point, she’s burnt a lot of bridges with this stunt. When these girls sober up they’ll have a much harder time trusting her. And hopefully they’ll be willing to go to rehab. If not, he can pull some strings, get them brought in on minor charges and have rehab be part of their parole. Not technically the thing he’s supposed to do. But this nightmare will continue if something isn’t done.

Hopefully it won’t come to that.

“Hey, where ya...” One of the druggies asks as she tries to hold onto him and he gently pries her off and sets her down.

“I’m a woman you know.” He lies. “The drugs are just so good you’re seeing a dude.”

“Oh... that’s disappointing.” She says. “Think if I take more a real man will show up?”

“I think you’d have a better chance with less.”

“Oh... okay. Well it’s not like I have any chance to begin with!” She says with a laugh that then breaks down into sobbing.

As pitiful as that is, he leaves the room and continues searching the area for further explosives or traps.

He finds a room with several drums of chemicals. He reads off the labels nad nods. They were planning to make more bombs. Further poking around reveals scrapped computer parts taht were being repurposed as detonators and timers. A small shelf of improvised blast caps and a data slate that he only checks to make sure it’s not concealing more boom somewhere.

Still safe so far. He goes to the next room. Shelves upon shelves of random items in bins with a table and a dataslate on it. Clothing, shoes, purses, jewellry, weapons, unused totems? A barter room? Where the dealer holds things that people pay with that isn’t cash? Maybe. Still, the weapons are the most dangerous thing he finds. A few taps on the walls and stomping around to look for hidden chambers and it comes up clean. He exits the building fully visible with his hands up and offers a nod.

“Building is clear! All bombs disabled! Hostages are in the basement in a drugged state! Get medical down there now to check for overdosing!” He calls out loud and strong and there is movement around him. “I also need a decontamination tent! The First floor off the ground has a lot of drugs all over the place and it’s on me!”

A specialized shield projecter is set up in front of the baracade and it sets up a green film of energy he walks through and is now drug free. “Thank you.”

He returns to the Synth Snict Officer who nods and opens the cruiser door for him.

“How bad was it in there?” She asks as he starts slipping his socks on.

“Three large bombs, enough firepower in there that there was a chance to compromise the level security around this block. Low chance of a chain reaction. But there are some things of concern.” He explains before pulling his boots on and moving to lace up properly.

“Such as?”

“One of the bombs was different from the other two. Two of them were waiting for Axiom measures to be used against them. The third was basically waiting to see if a line would be disconnected first. It was either a trap or there’s a second bomb maker. Either way, those bombs were very powerful, very dangerous and even without the metal detectors, if officers just rushed in, not even touched the bombs, just got too close to two of them, then boom. If they had spotted that danger and tried to destroy the bomb mechanisms from afar, it would have set off the third.”

“That is a lot more clever than our suspect.”

“There’s also a portal she was making a break for. I was just luckily in the right place and time to intercept. Where does it lead and who is she working with?”

“A lot of questions.”

“Yes, but thankfully the immediate danger has passed.” He says as he finishes going from one boot to the other.

“Shalara has a long history of being suspected as a dealer but never confirmed until recently. The fact she was in this house at all was a surprise.”

“Let me guess, ‘random’ tip from a woman trying to suddenly quit her drug habits thanks to the Blood Metal scare.”

“Yes.” She says as he finishes up his second boot and starts strapping everything back on. “Do you want to be kept posted?”

“Only if you need my expertise again. I’m going to look into getting a ceramic knife just in case I run into something like this later. In case they get even more clever next time.”

“To do what?”

“Cut away the explosive payload without tripping metal detectors or Axiom Sensors. I cut it, pun partially intended, rather close.” He explains as he starts adjusting the vest to be more comfortable. The day is far from over and there’s going to be more coming. It’s just a fact.

As he reaches in for his coat his communicator goes off and he grabs it first. “Officer Barnabas here.”

“Where are you? Has something happened?” Mei’Lan asks.

“I’m about twenty levels down, just finished assisting the local precinct. Chemical bombs, metal detectors and a lot of dream dust cut with god knows what in the air. Crazy woman is caught, bombs disarmed and hostages are being seen to by medical. So it’s a win all around, but there’s a question mark due to... what?” He asks as the Synth Snict Officer gives him a sideways look.

“Who are you speaking to?”

“My semi-official sister and a woman who has assisted me in multiple cases when things go sideways. Is there a problem with that?”

“Why are you talking about police business with her?”

“Because she’s an Empty Hand Master who often assists in police business and nothing in this is private or classified and if she’s called in to help with it, she won’t need a debriefing.”

“Can she go non-lethal?”

“She’s an Empty Hand Master, anything she can’t go non-lethal on is nothing that can be held safely in a cell.” He replies.

“Fair enough.”

“She’s legally deputized.”

“I already said fair. Do you have any other deputies?”

“My wife Vera? And I was technically a deputy of my first wife Linda for a while.”

“And Vera is?”

“Takra-Takra.” He says.

“You poor man.”

“Says the giant preying mantis.” He notes.

“Mantis? You’re speaking with a Snict?” Mei’Lan asks over the line.

“Yes I am.” Chenk says.

“Oh my goodness, I got so wrapped up in the questions that I forgot about her.” The Officer mutters as one of her armblades smacks into the side of her head in an expression of annoyance. There is a laugh from Mei’Lan and the Axiom swells.

She drops out of the air and lands lightly on top of the police cruiser. “Hello baby brother.”

“Not a baby Mei’Lan.” He chides her.

“Compared to me you are.”

“I’m also older than your husband you cradle robber.” Chenk remarks and she laughs.

“So I take it that house down there is where all the fun was.”

“I suppose you can call it that. There wasn’t any of your fun for more than a few seconds when our perp made a run for it and I was luckily in the exit route at the time. Got the detonator away from her and knocked her silly. Not much of a fight but there you go.”

“How many bombs? You don’t usually get called for specifically if it isn’t bad.”

“Three, all of them about the size of my body minus limbs and head. So that’s about one hundred or so each. One alone would reduce a building that size to splinters and send the shrapnel flying at the kinds of speeds you need a coilgun to match. Every civilian watching from their home, the people at and behind the police cordon... if I screwed up I would have been instantly dead and so would the perp and the hostages and anyone we missed in the surrounding buildings. The shrapnel would have killed or mutilated everyone out to this distance and a good chunk of the level would undoubtedly be compromised and/or peppered in enough shrapnel that the hospitals would be overfilled. Oh, and the shockwave would have reduced anything made of glass for several blocks into further shrapnel.”

“And all without Axiom. Downright terrifying.”

“She had a store of chemicals in the basement. And while they’re accelerants on their own, they’re not explosive and can be safely handled so long as someone doesn’t do something insanely stupid like fire a plasma rifle at them.”

“... So the odds that someone will be that stupid?”

“These are police officers. Unless the local precinct is in the habit of excusing inexcusable behaviour then we’re fine.” Chenk replies. “Besides, look over there. See those big blocks? The ones they’re removing from the building. That’s the explosives. Without those in the equation the worst we’ll get is a bad fire.”

“Good. Now is there a method of safe disposal?” The Synth Snict Officer asks.

“The Undaunted are willing to buy it.”

“For what purpose?”

“Training mostly. Also legal demolitions. Using Axiom reinforced targets and Axiom repaired targets allows the use of live fire munitions and explosives.”

“What about for weapons?”

“Oh no, we like a guarantee of the grade of equipment we use out of training scenarios. If this stuff is up to that level, unlikely, then there’s so little of it compared to how much we use that it’s unlikely to be used in any actual weapons.” Chenk says.

“I see... so how much gets used in examples?”

“A lot. The Undaunted as an organization is expanding faster and faster. Three hundred plus pounds of C4? Not much compared to how many people need to learn how to keep themselves consistent and careful during a live fire scenario.”

“Excuse me?”

“Explosives going off at a safe distance can still be very loud and the sensation of the shockwave, even if it’s no longer dangerous, can really throw people off. The training is to let a soldier act, numb them to panic, get them used to chaos so they can act in it without faltering. A steady hand when the world is shaking is impossibly valuable.” Chenk explains.

“I saw some of that! Buried explosives while they have to coordinate with each other in different trenches! Learning to be heard and how to work while the world is so full of noise and chaos. Good stuff.” Mei’Lan explains and before she can continue a beam of red light lances out of the upper level of the compromised house.

“The portal door has been-” The Synth Snict Officer begins to say as both Chenk and Mei’Lan race past everyone and directly to the danger.

She’s faster than him, but she’s also going for whoever the shooter is. Chenk has other goals and intercepts a laser beam with an outstretched hand to catch it before it can flash into someone’s head.

Mei’Lan has already closed the distance and the shooter is trying to retreat back through the portal with her laser gun. But she catches a foot to the side of her hood, the hood and foot go clean through her. Sweeping off a cluster of round drones, each the size of a person’s fist. Mei’Lan gets between them and the portal and her hand snaps out toe break the barrel of the laser rifle.

The portal deactivates and the drones fall to the ground leaking smoke.

“... You cheating bitch.” Mei’Lan notes incredulously.

“To be fair, they’d probably argue going up against an empty hand master to be massively unfair.” Chenk notes as he enters the room at a calm walk and therefore at a bit less than the blinding speed Mei’Lan had managed. Some bits of dust and dead skin had gotten torched by the laser, but it’s nothing more than a slight black mark on his palm. Utterly harmless to anything that isn’t a fancy white cloth.

“Still, a bunch of small drones working as one? That’s... skillful. And it was so well done I couldn’t tell something was strange until I tried to kick away a head that wasn’t there.” She notes and Chenk checks the cloak by bringing out a knife and using the back of the blade to shift it to the side. Right at the top of the hood is another drone. HE turns and quickly does a count.

“Fifteen drones working in concert to handle a laser rifle. But why? And they’ve all clearly cooked their insides, so the question is what triggered that? Was it the closing of the portal? A manual thing?”

“Why does it... oh. Either way we can potentially bug them.”

“It also tells us the level of automation the drones have. If this was fully automated then tracking is easy. If a controller is paying attention? Not so much.”

“Either way picking apart drones for clues isn’t either of our expertise.” Mei’Lan says.

“Agreed, lets get out of here and call all this in so we can get the appropriate investigators looking at this.”

First Last Next

First 

(I am not adjusting well to the warmer brighter weather. I really want to get back to posting at normal hours.)

Cats, Cops and C4

“Judith Esquin, might want to send Officer Barnabas here, she’s even quicker on the throw than me.”

“And how do you know this?”

“Who do you think taught me to be who I am.”

“You’re sending me after your criminal mentor.”

“Something like that.”

“...”

“As a reminder I have done my time and am in full cooperation with both the police and the terms of my parole.”

“I said nothing.”

“It was the implication of the silence.” She says.

“Look, Marie. You’re back on the straight and narrow and that’s good. Very good. My last memory of you was in court testifying that you tried to kill me. So It think it’s understandable that I try to be a little cautious around you.”

“I won’t do it again.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’m still ready to duck.”

“You’ll need that with Judith.” Marie says and he sighs.

“Yeah, probably. I’ll put extra power into the fresh air idea of my brand. That should help.”

“Wait, Undaunted Soldiers literally have Axiom Brands? I thought that was a rumour!”

“It’s voluntary only. But Yes, I have it.”

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

“More than anything else can and more each time. It’s always more than you can stand. Even if you can stand more from the last time you got one.”

“What do you mean the last time you got one?”

“When a new one comes out, we heal the old ones, and do it again.”

“You’re crazy. You are actually, legitimately, crazy.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re an officer.”

“Do you think sanity and policing Centris are compatible woman?” Chenk asks.

“I suppose not.”

“Yeah, we need to be crazy to deal with girls like...” Chenk begins and his communicator goes off. “Officer Barnabas speaking.”

“We need you on level One Five Two Phon Spire! Right now!”

“Heading for the cruiser, what’s the situation!?” Chenk demands as he starts rushing out of the station.

“A drug den, product in the air and chemical explosives all over the place. We need them disarmed and there are metal detectors all over, anti-explosive protection will set off the bombs.”

“Fuck. And half of all bomb squads are straight up Synth to begin with.” He says as she skids around. His handprint opens a police cruiser and he plugs in his communicator to the dash. The engine purrs and he takes off even as the main seat locks him in place just in case. He takes off and blasts to the edge of the spire before taking it down in an accelerated dive.

Twenty levels pass in seconds and he evens out. An arrow projected into the window guides him to where a large police cordon is set up around a block and civilians are being evacuated out. He sets down just outside, grabs his communicator and rushes towards the nearest Officer. A synthetic Snict woman with a digital upper face.

“Officer Barnabas! Thank goodness! We’re still trying to get people out but the crazy witch responsible is holding hostages. Her whole area is peppered with metal detectors and clearly expects a heavy response.”

“Alright. Do we know where the bombs are?” He asks.

She indicates four buildings down to a small triplex style house. “Furthest tenet. They’re three stories tall and have a basement, she’s got the explosives on the first floor off the ground. Even from this distance scans indicate a huge of chemical intoxicants and even more metal detectors.”

“How powerful are they?”

“We’ve used telescoping imagery to spot a few of them, cheap off the shelf models, but that’s no guarantee that all of them are so weak.”

“You’re right.” Chenk says as he nods. “I’ll need you to hold onto my things. I can get in there, quick and quiet, and I can deal with the explosives. If I can’t disarm the bomb mechanisms then I have several tricks to nullify the payloads. Either way, there’s going to be no boom today.”

What do you need from us?”

“I’ll need you to watch my cruiser. I’m going to be putting my weapons and equipment in there. Anything that can set off the sensors. Which means I’m going in with my pants and shirt on and nothing else. Please make sure no one walks off with it. I don’t want my plasma pistol used in a murder case. To say nothing of my trytite jacketed rounds and pistol and... other things.” He explains and her digital eyes flicker as she considers and then nods.

He opens the front and pulls off his jacket, peels out of the trytite, ceramic and kevlar woven ballistic vest. Strips off the belt’s outer layer and that’s most of his ammo and weapons. He loosens and then pulls off his boots, his socks follow and then the knives strapped to his ankles. Communicator. He removes a pouch that has an expanded pocket in it that contains several more toys. Rolls his shoulders and closes the cruiser. “First floor?”

First off the ground. That’s where the bomb is. It’s also surrounded by a huge number of drugs.

“Alright. When next you see me, you’ll have the all clear.” Chenk promises and then he takes a few breaths and then slowly fades out of sight. A few moments later there is a single question. “How am I on thermal vision?”

“Gone.” The Officer tells him.

“Okay. I’ll be back soon.” Chenk says and her audio receptors can only barely make out the sound of him leaving.

Chenk’s pace as he moves isn’t the fastest, but it’s by no means slow. In less than a minute he’s slipping through the partially opened door of the indicated house and looks around. The ground floor is chewed up. There is damage, circular burns from lasers, the larger melted areas of plasma. Nothing load bearing is damaged, but it’s a near thing.

Thankfully a lot of these buildings are made out of hypercrete with tile’s on top of them and carpet over the tile. Perhaps paper or plaster on the walls to make it more homey. So they’re fairly solid.

He creeps up the stairs and his eyebrows go up. Pale pink dust coats most things, coming from a room to the immediate left. There are the barely blinking lights of several sensors. He carefully gets close to the nearest one, stays out of it’s line of detection and studies it as much as he can.

Cheap, off the rack metal detector. Exactly as implied.

There is a tiny extension welded on and several small wires glued in place. The trigger no doubt. He studies it, but doesn’t touch. He starts creeping through the building and phases out ever so slightly so he does not leave footprints in the drugs on the floor.

A final right turn to a room that faces away from the road. He stops. Slabs of putty with crude devices attached to them. Vaguely covered in plastic sheaths that show the crude circuit boards and a tiny antenna attached to each one.

There are more metal detectors in the room, and a similar little box between the antenna and the bomb mechanisms.

He steps between the piles of poison and the explosives and carefully weaves his way through to the most easily accessed bomb mechanism.

As before he does not touch it. Merely looks. Studies and examines it. The plastic cases help a bit. But there is a fine residue of dream dust on it. It’s not enough to block his sight, but it’s sitting on a block of plastic explosives the size of his torso.

He’s going to have to have the woman in the room above questioned. But first this mess needs to be disarmed.

It’s an Axiom powered system, but has several points that convert it into electrical charge. He can vaguely sense it all. He uses it to trace out the insides. Looking for traps. Looking for anything that tells him he can’t just pull out the blast caps and move onto the next one.

Tiny batteries on the caps. Very small. Designed to go off if the main power source cuts of. Basically the whole bomb is set up against an off switch. Power from the main device goes off and boom. That’s tricky.

The need to interrogate the woman who made these things goes up a few notches.

He steps away from the bomb and scans the room again. Looking for something. Anything that might be triggered by an attempt to disarm a bomb. His first and second cans find nothing, and his third lets him know he’s stalled out long enough and needs to start the delicate work. Without proper tools, while a crazy woman is pacing above and just looking for an excuse to pull the trigger, and while the oncoming negotiators potentially provoke her. At the very least they’ll distract her. The protective cover isn’t attached to anything. There are no little magnets to trip anything and he lifts it away with ease and sets it to the side.

The blast caps are underneath. They have batteries built in so he can’t just rip them off in time to stop it from going boom. And without his knife he’s going to have to be very delicate with the Axiom to slice away the plastic explosive. Especially as this thing is powered by the local Axiom and too much disruption to it might set it off.

He slowly, carefully, slices off the top layer with a blade of Axiom and carves away the excess. It’s still enough to go off with deadly force, but he can pull it away from the rest of the mass. Limiting it’s destructive power to this one room. Which would be a win if this room didn’t have the rest of the payload and two other bombs of equal size in it.

He slowly studies how the device is sitting on the remaining explosive and carves away more and more. Gently lowering the amount and getting some room to slowly. Carefully. Pull the blast caps off the payload from below.

He then slowly and carefully lowers the device to the floor. Yes, it might potentially ignite the drugs when it goes off. But the plastic explosive seems to have been properly made, so setting in on fire will not set it off.

He moves to the next one and pauses. The miserable bitch isn’t even consistent in her... no. This isn’t a bomb from the same person. The trap is different and... two people with the same materials made at least two different bombs.

This one does not have batteries on the blast caps. And it is clever to rig up the primary hood. Even have a little Axiom sensor on the top trying to detect anyone using funny business. But it’s pointed upwards, not below.

He phases his arm out and slowly, carefully. Pushes the bomb up. He full on picks it up from below and when it’s a full foot away from the payload the blast caps go off and he sucks in a breath as electricity dances against his hand. His brand has kept him safe but it was close. Very, very close.

The third he takes time to study closer. Consider and then nods. It’s the same as the second one. Exactly the same. And like the first he lifts it up and off with ease and then removes the electrical blast caps.

“Okay... okay okay.” He mutters to himself and scans the room, then slips out. Checking each room in the building one after the other. The sheer amount of drugs on the first floor is amazing. There’s enough in it for a dozen dens, all in this petty, small apartment complex. But the question of why is consuming. Why store so much here?

Still, he finds a bathroom where numerous scales and such are in the bathtub, plastic baggies for product, a fair amount of product to be sorted. Why it’s in the bathroom he has no idea. Maybe because there’s no carpet? Maybe.

Two more rooms at this floor and... he finds what looks like a numbers book. He’ll leave that for other officers. His concern is disabling any bombs so that people can safely hit this place.

Final room is just a bedroom. Nothing in the closet, in on or under the bed. So he slips upstairs. Little four room setup. Main room the stairs come to, the one facing the street has the drug dealer who’s currently waving around a rifle. He’s tempted to go for her but... he checks the room that has a boarded up and nailed shut room to the next house over in the triplex. There’s a lot of old furniture in here as well. And food supplies. Nothing incriminating and he senses nothing odd in the Axiom so he goes for the last room. Then pauses.

A deactivated portal. The woman is planning to run. He checks the area around it. Checks the walls, ceiling and floor. Then carefully examines the portal. If he can stop it from activating then the woman won’t be able to run and...

There’s something screamed out in a language he’s not familiar with and the rush of footsteps. The door is shouldered open as the Feli Drug Dealer comes barrelling in. Chenk stops all pretense of stealth and slams into her. His hand going for the detonator and she yowls in fury. His blood pumps hard and he pours in Axiom into his adrenaline. His priority is the detonator in case there are more bombs and stopping her from running.

He doesn’t feel any pain as her claws sink into the backs of his hands and she seems to scream in slow motion as the heel of his foot slams into the top of her own foot. He slams the top of his head in her face and she’s off balance and staggers back. He has a deathgrip on the detonator and she takes some chunks out of the back of his hand as she collapses back.

She tries to bounce up and her face is introduced to the knee before he brings a hand down and uses a knockout effect on the stunned Feli.

He can hear his fellow officers charging into the building. “I have her here! Be careful! I don’t know if there are more bombs than the three I disabled!”

“Officer Barnabas! Can you confirm? Is she down?”

“Out cold and I need restraints for her.”

“Proceed to the room facing the street. We have a cruiser floating nearby!”

“Copy that!” He calls out and he rushes back through where the criminal had charged through and enters the room. He whistles slightly at the sight of the weapons. She had been ready to make a fight of things before deciding to run instead.

Hovering just outside the window is a police cruiser and a Metak Officer with a cybernetic arm is waiting. He passes the suspect over and she’s bundled into the back. The Officer turns back to him and he cuts her off before she can speak and holds out the detonator.

“Keep this secure and do not let it activate. I’ve disabled three bombs but am unsure if there are more. I’m going to sweep the building and check. Understand?”

“Understood. Good hunting.” The Officer says taking the detonator delicately and he nods before heading back for the stairs.

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