Reloaded (AI Reborn Trilogy Book 2) Page 5

  “Well let’s just say, I worked with a lot of different development teams,” Eric said. “A lot of shared cubicles and shared spaces. I met a lot of different people, introverts mostly, and I learned to understand them. Because when you’re waiting for your code to integrate with the latest build, or your product to boot up, you have a lot of spare time on your hands to chat.”

  “Nice,” Mickey said. “I think I’m going to follow Dunnigan’s lead, and head to VR. I’m thinking a beach. Something to forget all of this.”

  “Have fun,” Eric said.

  Mickey’s blue eye dots became dark.

  Eric logged into VR himself, and set Dee to alert him when the charging process completed, or if anything else of import happened while he was away from the physical world.

  Dressed in a white nightgown, Molly was waiting there in his apartment, lying asleep on the bed.

  Eric walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out across the bay. “This will be gone tomorrow, when the termite storm crosses the sea. The West Coast will be hit first.”

  “Hey.” Molly sat up, rubbing her eyes. “I didn’t notice you were home.”

  Eric sat down beside her. He wrapped an arm around her waist and snuggled against her, kissing her brow. “Hey babe.”

  “Oh, I’ve missed you,” Molly said. She forced his head down, and pecked him on the lips. “Long day?”

  “Longer than you’d ever imagine,” Eric said.

  “Saving the world, one programing problem at a time, huh?” Molly said, echoing one of the favorite lines he’d programmed into her.

  “That’s right,” Eric said. “Though in this case, I’m afraid a computer program won’t solve the issue.”

  He lay down on the bed, and she flopped down beside him.

  “Are you feeling horny?” Molly asked.

  Eric sighed. The real life Molly never had the strongest sexual appetite, especially after waking up, and that comment served only to shatter the illusion. It was one of the many small giveaways that she was an AI. Giveaways that he had ignored at first, but noticed more often these days.

  A call request appeared on his HUD. It was Bambi.

  The call manifested in his simulated environment as well, causing the smartphone to ring on the digital nightstand.

  “Who’s that?” Molly said.

  Eric paused the program and Molly froze in place. “Now what does she want?” Eric accepted. “Hey.”

  “Are you in VR?” Bambi said.

  Before he could answer, he received a VR sharing request.

  Reluctantly, he accepted.

  Bambi appeared in his VR. She was dressed in a skimpy bathrobe that was barely roped closed, with an open collar that fell down to her belly button, showing ample portions of either breast.

  Eric frowned when he saw that.

  Sensing his mood, Bambi immediately changed her outfit, and it became a body hugging wet suit instead. It still showed off her virtual figure, but without revealing so much skin.

  “I just wanted to say I apologize for what I did,” Bambi said. “A while back. After the final party before our deployment.”

  “Sleeping with me?” Eric asked.

  “No,” Bambi said. “I’d never apologize for that. But what I did after we slept together. Kicking you out. It was rude. I just... I wanted to be with Morpheus.”

  Bambi broke down in tears.

  Eric wasn’t sure if it was an act, but as she kept crying, he finally stood up, and wrapped his arms around her.

  Her breathing changed subtly. Became deeper. He thought she was getting aroused.

  Why am I still hanging onto her?

  Bambi glanced at the bed where Molly sat frozen. “Who’s that bitch?”

  Eric released Bambi as if he’d been struck. “Don’t call her that.”

  “You’d rather fuck some AI girlfriend than the real thing?” Bambi said. “The bitch isn’t even hot.”

  “I said don’t call her that,” Eric said. He was getting ready to blast her out of his VR environment.

  Bambi lowered her gaze. “Sorry. Old instincts die hard. Especially now, what with our emotions set free. Jealousy... it always was a strong force inside of me.”

  “You’re jealous of me?” Eric asked.

  “I’m jealous of everyone I sleep with,” Bambi said. “Or at least, I used to be. When I was actually human. And I think, the fact that I slept with you last, before my emotions were set free, only amplifies my feelings for you.”

  “You have feelings for me?” Eric said in disbelief.

  Bambi shook her head, turned her back on him. “I don’t know what I have anymore. All I know is, I’m just looking for a connection. Something to remind me that I’m human.”

  “You are human,” Eric said. “We all are. No matter the shells that hold us. Being encased in machines can’t change that.”

  “You really mean that?” Bambi asked over her shoulder.

  “I do,” Eric said.

  She turned around, and her clothes vanished entirely.

  “But that doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep with you,” Eric said. “That was a mistake, I realize that now.”

  Bambi shrugged, then smirked. “Maybe I’ll try Frogger then. He looks the same as you, after all.”

  “Eat your heart out,” Eric said.

  Bambi frowned. “What does that mean?”

  “Never mind,” Eric said. “Old English colloquialism.”

  Her wet suit returned, and she sat down on the bed next to Molly. “She’s lovely.”

  “I thought you said she wasn’t hot?” Eric said.

  “Well, no,” Bambi said. “But lovely doesn’t necessarily make one hot. But she has a nice homeliness about her. I can see why you liked her. Can I meet her?”

  “No,” Eric said. “I’m not even close to getting her personality right. She’s like a sex-crazed hump robot. Sort of like you.”

  Bambi smiled. “I actually take that as a compliment of sorts.” She closed her eyes, and rubbed her head. “I wish we could change that day. I wish I would have been the one to take that termite. Morpheus didn’t deserve this. Out of all of us, she was the one with the most... life. She deserved to live. And now she’s gone.”

  Eric sat down beside her, and grabbed her hand. “We’re not going to let her death go unanswered. Nor the deaths of our other brothers. We’re going to make the aliens pay for what they’ve done. I swear to you, we will.”

  “Now that’s what I wanted to hear,” Bambi said. “Thank you.”

  She leaned forward, and gave him a peck on the cheek.

  Then she was gone.

  Eric sighed, then gazed at the frozen Molly once more. He waved a hand, dismissing her avatar entirely, then he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes.

  6

  Eric woke up from VR sleep simulation that shut down his conscious thought for a preset period of time. He was lying on his bed, in his virtual apartment. Molly wasn’t there.

  An alert was sounding. He examined his HUD, and his eyes widened.

  He dismissed VR and returned to the real world, his consciousness interfacing with the Ravager mech.

  He was in the cave, with tanks and mechs behind him, and the Cicadas and other support robots climbing the wall of debris at the end of the tunnel in front of him.

  "This is your fault!” Al-Khayr said over the comm. “You led them to us!"

  "Then let us fix this!" Marlborough said. "Let us fight for you!"

  "Come then, Robots!" the warlord said. "Fight for us!"

  “Already on our way…” Marlborough said.

  “Bioweapons are attacking?” Eric asked Frogger.

  “We’re not sure yet,” Frogger said. “Something is drilling through one of the blockages on the western end of the cavern. We’re going inside to help the tribe.”

  Eric switched to the point of view of one of the Savages inside the cavern. It was facing one of the blocked tunnels. The rocks shifted slightly, and dust trickl
ed down as something battered it from the other side.

  When the last of the Cicadas was crawling through the gap in the collapse, Eric sent a message to Marlborough.

  “Sarge, requesting permission to dig out this tunnel,” Eric said. “I want to help.”

  So far, Al-Khayr had refused to allow the Bolt Eaters to clear the tunnel, but Eric had a feeling that Marlborough would overrule the warlord, given the situation.

  “You and the other mechs get on it,” Marlborough said. “I have a feeling we’ll need all the fire power we can get.” He switched to Arabic. “Al-Khayr, get those crates arranged into a defensive perimeter around the opening. Form us some cover!”

  Eric reduced the video feed and placed it in the upper right of his vision, then he hurried to the collapse and began to dig. He realized that none of the other mechs were helping him.

  “Tread, Hank, can you have the mechs help me?” Eric asked.

  “You do it,” Tread said.

  Eric received a transfer of control request, and accepted.

  The other three autonomous mechs were now under his control.

  Eric slowed down time, and used the management interface on his HUD to direct the mechs toward his position, and to start digging. It was very much like the user interfaces of the real-time strategy games he used to play back in his own century.

  Once selected and given orders, they used their pathfinding algorithms to circumvent the two tanks in front of them, and when they reached the collapse, they switched to their digging algorithms.

  Eric reverted time to its normal pace, and helped the Ravagers dig through. Two mechs were in front, two in behind; those in front handed the heavier rocks to those in behind, who in turn tossed them away from the collapse.

  In that manner, they slowly dug their way forward.

  Eric kept his eye on the video feed. When he was halfway through the blockage, the attackers had drilled through the other tunnel, and were racing into the main cavern. They were Red Tails minus the torsos and the tails, leaving only the centipede core. The two mandibles at the front were at ninety degree angles to one another, while the thick square teeth set inside the maw behind those mandibles seemed made for crushing rock. Definitely perfect for digging through walls. Or for pulverizing humans and robots.

  The Kurds and Bolt Eaters had taken cover behind several crates arranged in a half circle, and mowed those centipedes down with their laser fire. Not all of the centipedes fell immediately. Some squirmed on the cave floor, like caterpillars that had fallen on a heater. One of them grabbed a Kurd who had gotten too close, and ripped him to shreds in those mandibles before the Cicada heavy gunners could kill the creature.

  “Resilient fuckers!” Slate said.

  A few more waves of giant centipedes entered, and then a calm set upon the cavern.

  “You think that was the last of them?” Eagleeye said.

  “Sh!” Slate said. “Don’t jinx us, bitch!”

  Sure enough, it wasn’t the last.

  Two robots came inside. At least he thought they were robots… but if they were, they were unlike any Eric had ever seen.

  It was like they were made of some milky crystal. They were partially translucent, and looked vaguely humanoid, in a blocky sort of way.

  “Fire!” Marlborough said.

  The two milky robots stepped inside. The laser rifles didn’t do anything to them. Nor did the projectile weapons of the Kurds.

  One of the robots reached a Kurd, and touched him. The man’s eyes rolled up into his head. He stood up straight, stiffened, and then a thin film formed over his body.

  “He’s becoming one of them!” Hank said.

  “Take him out!” Marlborough ordered.

  “No!” one of the Kurds said. He ran forward, placing himself in front of the man, and preventing the rest of the team from firing.

  The milk robot reached out a hand, and touched the second man. He, too, froze, and crystals began to form on his skin.

  “Fire!” Marlborough said.

  The team unleashed their lasers, but it was already too late. The projectiles came a bit later, as the hesitant Kurds realized their companions were lost, but those too didn’t help. In moments, the two men had become milky humanoids, too, and they calmly joined the other two, spreading out, obviously intending to convert more of the fighters.

  “Fall back!” Marlborough said. “Regroup near the latrine!”

  “The latrine!” Slate grumbled. “Oh man, I’m so glad I’m not human.”

  By then, Eric had dug through the collapse. It wasn’t wide enough to fit the tanks, but the mechs could squeeze through.

  Eric entered the tunnel beyond, and hurried to the cavern. He saw most of the tribe, men, women and children alike, gathered behind a series of crates in front of the common latrine. The Cicadas and support robots had joined them.

  “I’m through, Sarge,” Eric transmitted. “Targeting tangos.”

  He highlighted the mechs via his control interface, and instructed them to follow him. He set them to target the four milky robots that had entered on the other side, and gave them orders to unleash their ZX-15s on whatever tango he himself fired upon. He didn’t have to worry about the law preventing autonomous units from firing on their own, now that the Containment Code had been removed. That was good, because it relieved him from having to take over from the units when they were ready to fire.

  Laser fire from the mechs had no effect on the blocky robots. Eric activated the remote interface on the alien energy weapon he’d stolen, and aimed at one of the robots. He fired.

  The crystalline robot’s outer surface blackened, and it froze in place.

  “That did it,” Eric said.

  He fired three more times, targeting the other robots, also taking them out of action.

  “Bambi, I want a scout in that tunnel now!” Marlborough ordered.

  One of the Savages stepped forward, and carefully approached the breached tunnel. It passed by the blackened intruders, and entered the tunnel.

  “So far, it’s clear,” Bambi said.

  “What if they’ve been doing this to all humans?” Crusher said. “Forming an army of these things.”

  “I doubt it,” Tread said. “We would have encountered them before, if so. Has to be a recent thing, something the aliens have put into play to clean up any survivors of the initial waves in this region.”

  “Maybe,” Crusher said.

  “Heads up,” Bambi said. “Check the Savage feed. Got more of those things, incoming.”

  Eric accessed the Savage’s feed and saw four of the blocky crystalline creatures approaching from the tunnel.

  “All right, recall the Savage so Scorpion can work his magic when they enter,” Marlborough said.

  The Savage retreated.

  “Scorpion, you are free to use your sting,” Marlborough said.

  “Thank you, Sarge,” Eric said.

  He targeted the opening, and waited for the Savage to return.

  The Savage arrived, and marched away from the opening. As it walked past one of the blackened things, the crystal robot broke free of the dark shell, which crumbled around it. Before Eric could react, it touched the Savage; the stricken robot froze, and a white film formed over its surface.

  “I just lost control,” Bambi said.

  Brontosaurus stepped forward, and unleashed his heavy guns at the Savage. The invisible laser beams caused no damage whatsoever.

  “So much for the theory that these things are converting all the organics,” Brontosaurus said, retreating back into cover. “Looks like that coating can take control of anything it encases. A way to neutralize a foe, while at the same time creating a weapon out of him.”

  “Gotta love these aliens,” Slate said. “They really got a thing for micro machines.”

  “You think nanobots are doing that?” Hank said.

  “Must be,” Slate said. “Or some equivalent.”

  “Then why wouldn’t they begin converting
the floor into crystal, and streaking toward us like veins or something?” Hank asked.

  “Mm, that’s a good point,” Slate answered. “Maybe keep an eye on the floor.”

  “Yeah, you’re a brilliant man,” Eagleeye said. “Hey, let’s keep an eye on the floor, when we got tangos in plain effin’ view straight ahead!”

  “Scorpion, feel free to fire when ready…” Marlborough said.

  Eric unleashed his energy launcher at the two new milky robots, and then waited for the other four to appear, and then he shot them, too. He had to fire at the original three again shortly thereafter when they broke free.

  “Obviously we can’t stay here,” Marlborough said. He switched to Arabic. “Looks like we’re going to have to evacuate the caves, Al-Khayr.”

  “If we have no choice, then we have no choice,” the warlord said. “Men, gather the supplies. Women, children, to the eastern tunnel!”

  “The eastern tunnel?” Marlborough asked.

  “We planted heat grenades in the blockage there, in case we needed to leave quickly,” the warlord said.

  “Smart,” Marlborough said. “I don’t suppose you have any heat grenades in the other tunnel, in the blockage between us and our tanks?”

  “No,” Al-Khayr said. “And this tunnel ahead, it will not fit your tanks. Him, yes, but tanks, no.” The warlord nodded toward Eric.

  “Well I’m not abandoning them,” Marlborough said.

  “Got some news bad news,” Bambi said over the comm. “The scout I left near the tanks is reporting back.”

  “What happened?” Marlborough said.

  “The scout is picking up a strange sound coming from the stacked bodies blocking the cave,” Bambi said. “Listen to this.”

  Eric heard a strange, low-pitched crinkling sound over the comm. It could have easily been the noise of hundreds of termites devouring the bioweapon corpses, or the soft, repetitive whisper of their metallic wings.

  “Sounds like termites eating through, to me,” Frogger said.

  “That’s exactly what I think it is,” Bambi said. “The sounds are similar to the emissions we’ve recorded near termites before.”

  “When they reach our tanks, they’ll convert them into more of those little termite bitches,” Slate said.