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TH - Book 2 - Chapter 6 - Triumphant Return
🕑 Added 2024-12-24 16:15:19 +0000 UTCThe hive network was a lot more extensive than either Skyler or I realized. It covered several square kilometers, which we had to methodically burn out with a combination of enzyme gas and nanite injections. The combination of the two processes worked quickly, but even after splitting up it still took us several hours to destroy all the branching root systems, and the rogue antithesis gathered at the various harvesting operations at the far ends of the system.
By the time we regrouped at the original heart of the hive, I was exhausted. Apparently I wasn’t the only one.
“Reina… I need to recharge,” Skyler moaned as she feigned falling, only to grab onto my shoulders and nuzzle her head into my neck. “Mmmmm… cozy,” she muttered.
“Are you sure this is the right time for cuddles?” I asked, as I slowly stroked the back of her head.
“We’re no in combat, and we dug out a decent sized hive all by ourselves, I think we deserve to be rewarded,” Skyler pouted.
I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re right, we do,” I replied.
Skyler nuzzled for another minute or so before finally straightening up, and letting out a huge sigh. “I guess we should probably head back soon. That took much longer than I thought it would to clear everything out, and I don’t really want to walk back through the woods in the dark,” she paused and glanced in my direction. “Did you have any trouble on your end?”
I shook my head. “There were about a dozen Model Threes feeding stuff into a digestion pool, and it looked like the hive was trying to create some new birthing pods in that area, but I’m pretty sure I destroyed them before they could become active,” I reported.
“I ran into something similar on my side,” Skyler told me. “It’s actually pretty scary how fast the hive adapted after we destroyed the core.”
“The antithesis wouldn’t be even half as scary as they are, if they didn’t adapt, and grow, at such a frightening rate,” I said. I reached out and grabbed one of her hands, and slowly pulled her back towards the exit. “Come on, if we leave now we should be able to get back while there’s still a little light left, and maybe even make it home in time for a late dinner.”
“Mmmm… I have a craving for fajitas,” Skyler mumbled.
“I’ll see what I can do,” I promised.
{Athy: You know, we can provide you with a protector grade meal for only a point or two, which provides all the nutrition your body needs, and tastes great.}
“I appreciate the offer,” I said, as Skyler and I started climbing out of the cave system, “but there’s more to food than nutrition and taste. There’s a lot to be said for having a home cooked meal made by your loved ones.”
“I certainly don’t eat Reina’s food for the taste,” Skyler giggled behind me. I pivoted on the spot and shot a death glare at her, which only made her giggle harder. “You know it’s true!” she managed to choke out.
“I know, but you don’t have to reveal it to everyone,” I grumbled. “I try my best.”
“And that’s why I love eating it,” Skyler replied, leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on my cheek.
By the time we managed to get back to the treeline the sun had dipped low in the sky, causing the whole area to be draped in long shadows. I’m not sure why, but it made me nervous. It felt like something could be out there, stalking us, waiting for the right time to pounce. I knew it was probably just my imagination going wild, but it didn’t stop me from being on guard.
We didn’t give Edward a call for a pickup until we could see the walls of the compound again, I have to say I wasn’t super surprised when a familiar green and white security vehicle drove over to meet us.
“Ladies, it’s good to see you again, and in one piece,” Andre said with a smile as Skyler and I piled into the back of the SUV.
“It’s good to be back,” I said as I slumped into my seat. “Have there been any more issues with the antithesis since we left?”
“One or two stragglers, but no big attacks like before,” Andre reported as he maneuvered the hover vehicle over the wall. “My team and I actually managed to catch up on our sleep in the last few hours, so we’re fighting fit if those antithesis decide to show their faces again.”
“Let’s hope that doesn’t happen for a while,” Skyler grumbled. “Cleaning up after those bastards is a real chore.”
“I can imagine,” Andre chuckled. “Edward wanted to have a word with you before you left, so I’m going to drop you off in front of the control room, is that alright?”
“That’s fine,” Skyler replied lightly. “We can spare him a few minutes before we leave.”
The big man nodded, and turned the SUV towards the huge central structure. As far as I could tell it mainly functioned as a warehouse, with massive storage areas, but there must have been other facilities to cater to the small onsite crew too.
Andre drove us to the north side, where there weren’t any large bay doors, just a small parking lot with half a dozen vehicles and a small security door.
“Door should be unlocked, Edward’s expecting you. Just head straight down the hallway, and take your first left to find the control center,” Andre explained as he planted the vehicle right next to the door.
“You’re not coming in?” Skyler asked.
“Sorry, no. Now that the antithesis aren’t crawling all over the walls I need to check up on those alerts we’ve been getting from the farms. I’ve been trying to get the people assigned to sweep those areas to give me a full update, but I can’t seem to get a straight answer out of them. Need to check on it myself,” Andre explained. “It was nice meeting you both, and… sorry about earlier.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him as Skyler and I hopped out of the vehicle. As soon as we were clear he was off, speeding towards the far side of the complex again.
Skyler took the lead as we entered the building. This section looked brand new, the walls were a light green, slightly olive color, and the floors appeared to be some sort of laminate. Not exactly what I expected the interior of a top secret facility to look like. The area was empty, except for a single cleaning bot which was methodically making its way back and forth down the hallway.
“Straight in, and to the left,” I repeated under my breath.
It didn’t take long to find the room Andre had directed us to, this part of the building wasn’t that big, and when we entered the faux wood door I was surprised to find a massive, modern monitoring station inside.
Rows upon rows of monitors displaying the status of the different farms, harvest rates, watering schedules, and even more things that I didn’t recognize. There were a handful of people zipping back and forth between different stations on their chairs, speaking through headsets, but the only one that turned to look at us as we entered was Edward.
“Ah, Ms Wind, Ms Rain, it’s so good to see you again,” he exclaimed as he jumped out of his chair, mopping his forehead with his handkerchief. “We haven’t experienced an attack in several hours. I assume we have you to thank for that?”
I nodded, “We cleared up the hive, so you shouldn’t have any problems for a while,” I confirmed.
Edward looked noticeably relieved by that fact, but there was still something about the situation that seemed… odd. “Is something going on?” Skyler asked, before I could. “Or is the situation always so frantic in here?"
Edward glanced back towards the control system for a moment, before turning back towards us with an uneasy smile. “Nothing for you to worry about. We’re getting some strange readings from the sensors in vertical farm three, but the maintenance team inside keeps insisting the system is malfunctioning. We’re just trying to troubleshoot the issue now.”
I felt a sense of unease. “Multiple sensors are tripping in just that one farm? None of the others?” I asked. Edward nodded slightly. “This wouldn’t happen to be the same farm that Andre just went to investigate because he couldn’t get a straight answer from his men inside, would it?”
The pained expression on Edward’s face was the only answer I needed.
“What are you thinking?” Skyler whispered.
“I’ve done surveillance before. I might get one or two cameras, or sensors that act sketchy, or fail, but usually there are backups,” I explained. “The system should never fail to the degree we’re seeing here, which means the issue probably isn’t the sensors, but the workers inside. Isn’t that right Edward?”
The man sagged. “We suspected sabotage a couple hours ago, but the security team we sent in ALSO reported no issues, so unless they’re in collusion with the maintenance team… I don’t know why they’d say that,” Edward explained, wringing his hands “In addition, if the point was to sabotage the system they should have hit all the farms simultaneously, and done more than mess with the climate and water control systems. It doesn’t make sense!”
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Skyler muttered. “Maybe we should check this out before we leave, what do you think?”
Before I could answer a series of faint gunshots echoed through the corridor outside, and the alarms in the room started blaring. “Definitely,” I replied.
Comments
Shannon Livingston
Yw
Azari
Thanks for the chapter!
