Chapter Thirteen - On the Up and Up


    Chapter Thirteen - On the Up and Up


    These fucks! Do u know how much I sacrifice to keep this company rolling?


    I only got a 29% pay increase last quarter, and these shits are complaining?


    Were not getting enough for a house & food. Why did u cut medical? The company made big profits, why arent we making more?


    Selfish.


    --Former Nimbletainment CEOs last Tweet, 2028


    ***


    You got those security feeds? I asked while looking around us. The garden pillars cut off my line of sight, I couldnt see as far as I wanted down any direction, not unless I happened to be in one of those spots where things lined up just right, then I could see all the way across the facility.


    Just connected to them. It looks like there was some hesitating from the head office as to whether or not to give you permission, but it was overridden.


    We might actually be working with someone clever, Gomorrah said.


    Well, youre used to working with me, I said.


    She snorted. Exactly. Working with someone clever will be a new and interesting opportunity.


    I laughed while I continued to scan ahead of me. We were nearing the sections that Jake had mentioned the antithesis has been seen in. At least, if I had figured out how the sections worked. We were in section G, according to the signs on the pillars we were passing.


    Atyacus and I are pouring over the feeds from the last few days. There are several thousand cameras all across the facility. It seems as though theyre quite worried about employees stealing plants, or resting during non-break minutes. In any case, weve found three locations that are likely to be the places where the antithesis are entering the facility.


    Three spots, huh? I asked. Can you mark them out for us?


    Done.


    I blinked as an overlay popped up over my cybernetic eyes vision, it turned all the buildings ahead of us into wireframes, then highlighted three spots in a dull orange that I guessed could only mean one thing.


    The breaches are a couple of hundred metres apart, Gomorrah said. Do you think we should split up?


    Theres three of them and two of us, I said.


    I can send the Fury to the middle one. It can shoot down any antithesis trying to sneak in or out while we clean up the other two locations, Gomorrah said.


    I flicked open my aug menus, then toggled on the invisibility on my suit and coat. My outfit wavered, then disappeared. All I saw looking down was the grey cement that covered every inch of the facility ground.


    Reaching down, I tugged my Trenchmaker out and held it by my side as I walked on. It was probably weird that I wanted my boots to make big clunks as I headed down towards my goal.


    So, you thinking about weapons? I asked.


    Im thinking about many things, but yes, weapons are one of those. Are you in the mood to buy something now?


    Lets see how tough the aliens here are. Ive got the impression that were dealing with small-fry.


    That should be an accurate impression, yes. The hives that have just awoken likely havent reached the point where they can produce anything thats a real threat yet.


    How long do we have? Until we start getting the scary aliens, I mean? I asked.


    If we rely on the general projections for hives that have lots of biomass and room to grow? Then one full day before the hives can start producing models above ten. Two days for models above twenty. Likely five to ten days for models above the thirties.


    Thirties, I repeated. A shiver ran down my spine. Gomorrah and I had had a hell of a time against a model in the twenties. Gonna need a big gun for those. Hopefully well make enough points in the next couple of days to be able to deal with them. If things scaled the way I thought they did, Id be a snack for a model thirty if one showed up now.


    I was a good fifty metres from the orange zone when I heard a scuffling.


    I stopped, dropping into a crouch while holding my breath back. Something had moved. I focused on my hearing more, trying to pinpoint the exact location of... whatever it was that had scrambled like that.


    There were plenty of things generating white noise around. Sprinklers hissing, ventilation shafts rattling inside the pillars, some fans humming along somewhere else. A lot of sounds that I hadnt paid any attention to until I had to listen past them.


    Where had the...


    I glanced up and to my right as I caught a shadow moving.


    There was a pillar nearby, with the usual glass walls that allowed natural light in.


    A model three was tearing apart the plants on the edge of the glass, little clawed paws digging away at everything like a street dog on meth. I stared for a moment until I noticed the large form of a worm moving up deeper in the pillar, its mouth wide open so that a few other model threes could toss in mouthfuls of plant matter and bags of what I guessed were fertiliser.


    I opened a line to Gomorrah. Hey. Found some alien buddies. Theyre going all black-friday on the fertiliser over here.


    A distant and familiar roar, like liquid fire being hosed around by a pyro-nun, echoed through the field of greenhouses. Ive found some too, Gomorrah said. Just kill them all.


    Alrighty then, I said as I started towards the pillar.


    ***