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TH - Book 2 - Chapter 2 - Safe Arbour
🕑 Added 2024-12-17 00:07:25 +0000 UTCI rewrote part of chapter 1, because although I really liked the idea of a subterranean base, but it doesn't make sense for a farm complex, or one that's under siege. That post has already been updated.
“Safe Arbour? What kind of name is that?” I asked.
“It’s a pun, like safe harbor, but for plants. It was actually samurai Death Bloom who gave the complex its name when she last visited,” Edward reported.
“Right…” I replied awkwardly. “Anyways, thanks for coming out to meet us. The president told us you were having issues with the antithesis?”
The man’s smile fell slightly. “That would be an understatement. We used to have the occasional Model Three wander out of the woods every couple days, but ever since yesterday large waves have been throwing themselves against the walls every couple of hours. The response team has been running themselves ragged trying to keep up.” The man paused to pull a handkerchief out of his pocket and whip his brow.
“That’s concerning,” I mumbled. “Anything else we should know about?”
Edward paused, I could see he was trying to decide if it was worth telling us something or not. “The farms have been sending out intermittent security alarms, but whenever we send someone to check it out, we can’t find anything. Andre, the head of security, believes the small flyers are occasionally making it over the wall and surviving long enough to slam into the windows.”
“It’s definitely possible, especially if they’re traveling in flocks like we saw back in the city,” Skyler told him. “If the attacks are as vicious as you say we should really check out the scene of the latest attack. Could you point us in the right direction?”
Edward nodded enthusiastically. “I’ve already called the response team, someone will come pick you up in a minute,” he explained. Behind him I could already see a large hover car rise above the warehouse, heading our way. It appeared to be some sort of SUV, in the Synthesis Systems white and green. It dropped down a couple feet from us, and a rugged man in body armor jumped out. He reminded me of the stereotypical soldier, with his hair cut into a buzz cut, and five o'clock shadow.
Edward’s face lit up. “Andre, I’m glad to see you. Let me introduce our guests, these are…” he glanced my way, it was probably the first time he considered asking.
“Meiyo Aru Kaze, AKA Honorable Wind, and my partner Cleansing Rain,” I said, introducing us. I stuck out my hand to shake, but the man just stayed where he was, judging.
“I’m Andre Masters, head of security,” the man declared. “I’ve been told you need an escort around the facility, and since my men are busy cleaning up after the latest antithesis assault, I came myself. That being said, I’d like to get back to them as soon as possible, so let’s keep this as brief as possible.”
“Well, then we’ve got good news for you,” Skyler said coolly. “We want to check out the location of the last attack. Once we have an idea where it came from, we’ll get out of your hair.”
Andre didn’t say anything, he just raised an eyebrow and gestured back to his ride.
While Skyler was busy loading her drones into the back, Edward approached me. “I need to get back to the operations center to monitor the situation,” he said. “I’ll give you my contact information, if you need to get a hold of me.”
I accepted the data package he forwarded with a nod. “Thank you Edward, we’ll be in touch.”
“Yo! Mayo, time to go!” Andre yelled from behind me.
I turned and scowled at the soldier, who was already climbing into the driverseat of the vehicle, when Edward chuckled. “He may seem a little gruff, but he’s a good man. I’m sure he’s just worried about his men. Go, and give me when you get back.”
As Edward began jogging back towards the command center I wandered over to the SUV. Skyler shifted over so I could sit next to her, and I slipped in the back.
“What am I, a chauffeur now?” Andre grumbled.
“How about you shut up and drive?” I snapped. “The sooner we get to the site, the sooner we can get out of your hair.”
Andre just scoffed, and turned on the car, while Skyler gently placed a hand on my arm, trying to get me to calm down. I leaned back in my seat. “Not exactly how I saw today going,” I grumbled.
“Not everyone is going to respect us just for being a samurai. Let’s just accept whatever help Andre is willing to give, then get on with our hunt. You don’t have to put up with him long,” Skyler whispered.
“True,” I whispered back.
The trip over the complex was quick, but I was able to get a better look at the complex as a whole. The farms looked like tall glass cylinders, which were separated into different floors. Each silo was connected to the main building through a short glass umbilical, which appeared to have a conveyor belt carrying sprouts deeper into the complex.
“We’re approaching the site of the latest attack,” Andre declared from the front. Although I hadn’t noticed before, there was a plume of black smoke wafting up from just beyond the wall. “It was the fourth attack in the last sixteen hours. If the pattern continues, the next wave should hit us in less than an hour.”
When the SUV finally crossed the outside wall I saw a small army of men surrounding a smouldering pile of antithesis corpses. “Do you do that for every attack?” I asked.
“We have to, if we don’t want the bodies to take root,” Andre replied. “Normally we’d take the bodies to the incinerators, but we don’t have the time, or the trucks to dispose of all of these in time,” Andre explained. As soon as the SUV touched down Andre slumped in his seat, placing his head against the steering wheel. “The antithesis attacks have always been against our east wall, but one of my men managed to track their path about a kilometer out. They seem to be coming from one of the passes in the south east.” He pushed himself upright again, then opened the door and got out. “Sorry about before, my crew and I have only been able to have short naps, on rotation, for the last twenty four hours. So I’m a little on edge. Hope you find what you’re looking for, for all our sakes.”
“See, he wasn’t so bad,” Skyler said, poking me in the ribs.
“Yeah, yeah. He was a real sweetheart in the end,” I grumbled as I slipped out of the vehicle. “Artymis, do you see anything that looks like a hive to the southeast?”
{Arty: We’ve several areas with a higher than average concentration of antithesis, but nothing that screams hive.}
{Athy: We’ll keep an eye out for where the next attack comes from, that should give us a better idea.}
“Thank you both,” Skyler said after she finished unloading her drones. “So what’s the plan?” she asked.
“I don’t think either of us are experts in wilderness survival, so it’s probably not a great idea to wander blindly into the woods,” I replied. “We could wait for the next attack, deal with it, then follow the path they took back to the source.”
Skyler nodded. “And as an added bonus, if we clean up after ourselves, that’ll give the security team a little down time,” she added.
“Let’s just hope that Andre is willing to put up with us for the next hour or so,” I said.
{Arty: Then it’s a good thing he won’t have to.}
{Athy: We’re reading a ton of antithesis signatures at one of the points. It looks exactly like what we would expect after a hive completes a spawning cycle. The entire group immediately turned towards the lab, they’ll be here soon.}
“Isn’t that good news? We know where the hive is now?” Skyler asked.
{Athy: Remember what we told you before? About how quickly a hive can grow, given enough resources? Well it looks like this hive has been well fed over the last day.}
“What does that mean exactly?” I asked quietly.
{Arty: It means you might want to get the security team back behind the walls, because this is going to be a big one.}
