The Nation

Skyler Grant

The Nation

Skyler Grant

Copyright © 2018 Skyler Grant

All rights reserved.

This novel is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents described in this publication are used fictitiously, or are entirely fictional.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, except by an authorized retailer, or with written permission of the publisher. Inquiries may be addressed via email to skyler@skylergrant.com

Cover designed by Kismet Covers

Editing Polgarus Studio (www.polgarusstudio.com)

Electronic edition, 2018

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Contents

Previously

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Previously

Previously in the Laboratory series

An insulting AI named Emma was awakened by an engineer with a fondness for cookies named Anna. Emma soon learned an apocalypse had befallen the Earth, the world had been fractured into shards through dimensional space operating on different physical laws and populated by insane overlords with superpowers. A heck of a lot of SCIENCE happened and all was good until one especially vicious overlord by the name of Sylax attacked the laboratory.

Emma transferred herself into Sylax’s flagship, although it was badly damaged in the process and for awhile everything was absolutely terrible until they discovered the lost city of Aefwal. Cities meant power and Emma meant to claim Aefwal for herself, she failed.

Sylax won the city, although Emma managed to claim one of the districts becoming one of Sylax’s commanders in the process. When Sylax went missing there was a big civil war and a lot of super-powered brawling and Emma finally came out on top.

With a bit of power Emma finally figured out what had happened to the earth and tracked down one of the three crystals that had torn it apart. For a time the Agate crystal powered Aefwal but after Emma was betrayed by her copy/sister Amy who wished her to become stronger and it wound up implanted into Anna along with a powerful amplification crystal once held by Sylax. With this much power Anna became the most powerful person on Earth.

The Righteous were building a vast machine to transform the entire Earth back to “Reality zero”, a realm without superpowers. Emma instead reasoned out a way to use the device to restore the Earth, but to one with altered physical laws.

It is a new world, with new rules and new powers. Our story resumes.

1

"Emma doesn't have our best interests at heart. You have to know that. If she even knew we were having this conversation she'd kill both of us."

The monitored conversation was taking place in a storage room of Tower JL9. The would-be rebels had disabled the electronic cameras but forgotten my biological components running through the walls. My nerve-endings throughout the towers were more than enough to monitor everything. These days, the cameras were largely for show.

"The cookies might have been an accident," said Sven, a.k.a. Citizen 7AL3J. I appreciated his attempts to defend me, but really, he was wrong. I was testing explosive compounds in their tower and I'd found that humans would eat just about anything if you put it in a cookie. The first few attempts had made people ill, but the last batch had been a success. Once metabolized by the body, it turned into a powerful, explosive goo in the stomach that blew people apart. I’d achieved a success rate of over thirty percent.

I'd bring the people back, of course, from a backup that didn't even have the trauma of being exploded. I wasn't a savage, SCIENCE just needed test subjects.

The conversation wasn't anything to be concerned about. I could let this run its course.

"Akane exploded right there in the middle of the lounge. That isn't right man, and Emma isn't right. You're maintenance, we don't need you to do much. Just leave a camera broken every so often so we have safe spots like this to meet," said Kara, a.k.a. Citizen 1PK4L.

I was curious to see where this went, but I was on a schedule and it was time for Tower JL9 to get a reset. Explosive charges were teleported to key points in the structure and detonated 0.001 seconds later wiping out key structural supports. In less than three minutes the tower implosion was complete and I had maintenance drones swarming the area, moving Bio-matter and material waste to the recyclers.

Replacement clones had been prepared. Sven and Kara were already being uploaded to their new bodies in Tower KA27. We'd be repeating many of the same experiments there, however with a color palette of the tower decor in tones of neutral blues and greens. I wanted to see if it lowered the rebellious thoughts of the residents.

Anna had taken to calling our fledgling nation the Laboratory Empire, proving I suppose that given enough time even the most primitive of brains will occasionally come up with a good idea. A society built upon the concepts of SCIENCE and ruled over by an empress who was the most powerful woman on the planet after she'd absorbed countless Source Orbs, power crystals, and the Agate.

I'd been busy with experiments nonstop since the Earth had been restored to its place in the cosmos. Although the physical laws were similar to what we'd grown accustomed, nothing was quite the same and none of our systems were optimized. The return of electricity meant that old world technologies were valid again, thousands of years of scientific progress that couldn't be simply discarded.

Apart from all the science there was the land-grab. Everybody was eager to claim as much of the new Earth as possible and to tap into its resources. Queen Vinci's focus on industrialization was paying dividends. She could set down an auto-miner and auto-factory and within a few days have a sprawling citadel with defense cannons on the perimeter and aerial drones soaring overhead.

I couldn't compete with that, but I had an edge of my own with my ability to rapidly create new drones. I'd had the growth vats pumping out people as fast as I could make them. Create a tribe and give them weapons, armor and tools, and they could build themselves a settlement quickly and establish their own set of growth vats to further populate the area.

The Scholarium had spread themselves far and wide. Anyone who had absorbed a power crystal becoming at least minor nobility, holding as much land and commanding as many unpowered serfs as they could hold onto—which wasn’t many.

I was offering any serf who crossed our borders abilities of their own through my upgrade powers, and a role in our civilization. Queen Vinci ruled a vast empire of machines and was desperate for people to compliment the machines’ functions. Those willing to serve her were being offered the best life her industrialized society could provide.

Both I and Vinci appealed strongly, offering more than a life of being subjugated, and the Scholarium was bleeding people to us. Its heavy-handed attempts to impose order by use of force only escalated the problem. The endless, internal struggles between the Scholarium factions weren’t helping.

We weren't free from our own subversive problems, of course. It seemed that many people who were not born one of my drones didn’t really trust me, and questioned my constant surveillance and direction of their lives. Suspicion had begun to grow even among the ranks of my own creations.

Under the guidance of Caya, the Flawless were rapidly expanding. They had taken to my growth vat technology happily and were creating millions of genetically perfect humans. The people of Diamate remained almost entirely Flawless and now represented almost a third of the population of Aefwal.

The Divine among us had prompted a growing religious movement. Many regarded us as Emma, the Goddess of Birth and Creation, and Anna, Goddess of Death and Rebirth. Together we had grown the world anew. Anna liked it, but it concerned me. The Divine always thought their connection to these archetypes strengthened them. I believe that defining who you were to that degree limited your options and made you weak. I wasn't going to let anyone define me.

At least the Gobbles didn't go in for religion, and they had more reason than most to think of me as their creator—I'd designed their entire species, albeit after the initial accident that spawned them. They now had a city of their own. My attempts to bolster their intelligence had been more successful than even I expected. They even had scientists, physicists proving particularly valuable editions with ways of thinking well outside of the human norm—or my own.

They were still cats, generally, although now they stood a little over two meters in height and were massive constructs of fur and muscle. Wolf had once used his people as shock troops and they had been very good at it. My Gobbles didn't work quite as well as a unit, but individually were far more dangerous.

Their latest request was that I build them a race of super-powered mice to make their lives more interesting. It was a challenge, but as I needed more stealth experts anyways and scientists with an understanding of dimensional rifts, it was a challenge I was happy to undertake. So far the current mice models weren't even as intelligent as the original Gobbles and had little control over their teleportation abilities. Still, with improvements, one day I'd make sure my Gobbles had something to give them an interesting hunt.

A communication was coming in, picked up by one of the outposts near the southern pole.

That was home to the people once known as the Righteous, these days calling themselves the Fallen. The Fallen were a complicated case. They built the device that I and Anna used to remake the Earth. Their intent had been to return everything to the physical laws that once governed the world.

The Righteous’ proximity to the device exposed them all to a massive burst of power that left them transformed and thus became the Fallen. Based on my scans it seemed that over ninety percent of the people had become tertiary recipients of Anna's gifts. Far weaker than Anna, yet still among the strongest of the Powered now on Earth. Most had gotten three abilities, a few four. And these were a people who had always hated the Powered and done their utmost to see them stripped of their gifts.

We'd tried diplomacy and every effort had been rebuffed. They didn't want to talk. Fortunately they didn't seem to want to fight either, so we'd been content with leaving them to do their own thing.

Suddenly, the Fallen wanted to talk now. In fact, they were requesting military aid.

In the past, the Righteous were more often enemies than allies and I should care less. However, if something was threatening them I wanted to know all about it. It was also an opportunity to see what they'd been up to.

Anything that could threaten them must be powerful. I had to call in my heavy hitters for this.

I had just the people in mind.

2

Many things had changed with our new world. Before, dispatching forces would have been an almost instantaneous affair. No longer. While I could still teleport a mission it was limited, and dimensional drives didn’t function with the Earth no longer in tatters.

I'd retooled airship engines to allow for rapid travel. Even so, getting people to the southern pole was going to take over an hour.

"Do you think there will be anyone to kill? I haven't killed someone in way too long," Sylax said, sprawled out in one of the cabin seats.

"You killed someone this morning," Bana said.

There weren't many who could bond with Anna's new power set. Most simply exploded when that much energy began coursing through their veins. Sylax could though, and so could Anna's clones. They'd been created to be under Sylax's command when she had first claimed Aefwal, disposable forces to throw at an enemy. Despite that I produced them, they weren’t actually my drones and I couldn't back them up except for the survivors from that era who since joined the network. There were only eighty-three of them left. Most had taken jobs in engineering. Twenty had volunteered to work with Sylax.

They had the second generation of Anna's power set, what I once would have called lieutenant level. That made them each a good bit stronger than the Fallen.

"That? What was just for fun. It doesn't really count unless they are trying to kill me," Sylax said, rolling her head back. "Tell her, Emma."

"Don't draw me into your sociopathic chit-chat," I said through the ship’s speakers.

"You know how to explain things to them," Sylx said.

Fine, I could play translator.

"It is like the pleasure of a cookie stolen from the cookie jar, rather than one taken from the plate offered in front of you," I said.

"Oh. That makes perfect sense," Bana said.

The clones all had their personalities. Still, some things they shared in common with Anna.

Dasana said, "Fun as it is watching you get all twitchy with want for a murder, how about we actually talk about the mission? What the hell are we heading into?"

All the Annas had taken the suffix “ana” as a part of their names. It was an improvement over them all being 'Anna' at least. Unfortunately, they hadn't kept my efficient and practical numbering system.

"Any sensor readings yet, Emma?" Sylax asked.

"The Fallen create a lot of distortion from a distance. I'll let you know when I have something."

"It's got to be Vinci. We all know she's not done," Bana said.

It was a logical thought. Vinci had been the most aggressive about claiming territory and while she might not want to pick a fight with us just yet, the Fallen were another matter and Vinci could be making a move. Individually, the Fallen might be stronger than her—so was almost every passenger of this airship—yet no one could ignore the threat she posed. Vinci could send automated drones in vast numbers and swarm an enemy,

"There are other threats out there. The Scholarium isn't done either and we don't know what new kings and queens might have arisen," Sylax said.

Distance and change had done much to cool the infighting of the Scholarium. I was sure they would be back to it, eventually. For now, things were relatively peaceful there.

"What about one of the AIs? There are two in the wild that we know of, and with the old world technology restored there might be more?" Dasana asked.

Amy was cloned from my processes and had recently, and very effectively, betrayed us. Tobias had been aligned with the Righteous before the restoration of Earth and we hadn't heard a peep from him since. While it was possible he was destroyed, I feared it even more likely that, just like the Righteous, he too gained some sort abilities from Anna.

If that was the case then Tobias was out there somewhere—and probably the most powerful AI on the planet. It wasn't a comfortable thought.

"I think if anybody wanted to wage war there are easier places to start," Sylax said.

"Not everyone enjoys preying on the weak," I said.

"Please. You know I like it when they're strong enough to scream a very long time," Sylax said, with a half-smile.

"Well, as you have spent so long fantasizing about who you are about to murder, perhaps you have some insights to share?"

Sylax leaned forward, her expression serious. "We all know who it probably is. I agree it’s likely Vinci, but we can't get complacent. When you brought this world back together you drew a lot of different lands here too, many of them never connected by dimensional drive at all."

Predators usually focus on the prey directly in front of them. A narrow, intense focus that blinds them to outside possibilities. It is the hapless prey that sees unknown threats lurking in every bush. This focus on the unknown from Sylax troubled me. It wasn’t her style.

"You know something," I said.

Sylax gave another smile, wider this time. "I know lots of things, Emma. I don't know what we are going into today, but I do know how dangerous this world is.

That wasn't an answer, not really. We had a lot of enemies who had become allies, and some of them I trusted a great deal. I'd trust Hot Stuff with my life, or Caya, even Mechos had proved his worth more than once.

I didn't think I'd ever trust Sylax. Recently she'd had the chance to kill Anna and hadn't, but that wasn't enough. Most humans fought against their vicious nature, Sylax embraced hers.

I didn't have to wonder any longer. We were getting close enough that my sensors could cut through some of the Fallen's interference. There were drones in the sky, lots of them, and forces swarming the ground.

I sent the images to the cabin.

"Vinci it is, then," Sylax said.

Here and there pockets of the Fallen had settled in and laid broad swathes of mechs to waste. It wasn't enough against a horde that never stopped coming.

They wouldn't have come overland. They must have some sort of transit station. I had it, a massive ship in a distance with an active teleportation gate signature inside.

Ever since Anna had absorbed the Agate we'd lost the power to effectively manage teleportation gates of our own. Vinci still had both the Beryl and the Chalcedony, and she wasn't as limited.

"If you're capable of something beyond brute force, I have a target for you," I said.

It wasn't enough to just go after the ship. A future war with Vinci might be inevitable, but I didn't want it now and I didn't want to start one over the Fallen. I had to have a good reason to justify our attack.

The mechs on the surface were fairly stupid with limited combat intelligence onboard and a connection to deployed, central hubs for more complex scenarios. Especially with the Fallen distorting signals, there was an opportunity.

I teleported ten Annas to take up a defense perimeter around one of the clusters of Fallen, their red and black armor distinctive. I simultaneously hit the nearest hub with a bit of extra distortion, I wanted the signal as corrupted as possible.

The mechs, unable to communicate for further instructions from that hub, did what their basic programming told them to do—they leapt forward and attacked.

I got a good recording of that happening and ordered the Annas to return fire. They had no need for guns, blasts of fire and energy erupting out of their palms. The mechs were torn to shreds.

Instantly, communication between the deployed hubs and the command ship through the portal was severed. Vinci had expected that we might interfere and devised her own plausible deniability. With communication to her forces cut they'd now attack as best they could until they were destroyed. Vinci could claim that with control lost—through no fault of her own—she was no longer responsible for whatever happened next.

The command ship was shielded, Vinci didn't want anyone to teleport inside. My latest generation of scanners was better than her shielding. I teleported Sylax and the remaining fifteen Annas aboard.

Beam fire strafed my airship until my turrets dispatched the closest drones. I wouldn't be able to stay airborne for long, not if those drones seriously intended to knock me out of the air. I brought the airship down hard in a cluster of mechs, shields absorbing the explosions of those we crushed. I killed the shields and power to weapons. If the remaining mechs saw the airship as just another piece of war debris they'd leave it alone and I could use it as a communications relay while our forces battled.

3

The battle raged across the wasteland of polar ice and snow. I maintained a connection to my drones and provided targeting data and threat analysis throughout the combat. The ground mechs were largely focused on melee attacks and the aerial units utilized beam weaponry.

The command ship was a massive oval shape, a central hole actually a teleportation gate through which forces were being discharged in a seemingly endless wave. The first thing was to kill that gate.

Aefwal hadn't needed gates on both ends to teleport goods and cargo. Vinci's design did, probably allowing her to move forces in such massive numbers. Both sides had to be powered, and while the bulk of the energy would be coming from the other end if we could kill the power here we could stop the flood of enemies.

So far the battle aboard her command ship was surprisingly close to a stalemate. The drones were no match for Sylax and the Annas. If they got a lucky shot in and found flesh, it healed almost instantly. The same was true in reverse. Slagged metal was covered in small bots in seconds as new war machines were generated from the wreckage of the old.

If this technology were in place on the battlefield below the fight would have already been over. It must be something new that Vinci was experimenting with. That had to require some high-level communication to pull off. The vessel looked to have been built for high connectivity, the armored wall panels also serving as transmitters and receivers.

It was a system designed to be durable. Fortunately I'd brought an amazing amount of firepower.

"While almost completely unnecessary given you are all essentially my henchmen and therefore aim terribly, focus on environmental damage. Wiping out the walls will knock out the bots’ regenerative abilities," I said over the comms to the strike force.

"It will bring us crashing down out of the sky too," Sylax said.

That was distinctly possible.

"With over a dozen Annas aboard, the engines were only going to be able to take the strain of the extra weight so long anyways," I said.

I opened a communication channel to the Fallen.

The Fallen commander was an older man in white and gold battle-armor. There were no signs of fighting around him, he looked to be in some sort of underground bunker.

"I see you got our call for aid. We were rather hoping you'd bring an army. I'm Commander Gilchrest of the Fallen Initiative," Gilchrest said.

"You weren't worth the losses we'd have suffered. Did you have any defensive fortifications set up or were you too busy thinking of that sad excuse for a name?" I asked.

"Oh, the artificial intelligence called Emma, delightful. Warnings of your personality precede you. We have people under attack at the following coordinates. Can you assist?" Gilchrest said, and sent along a data transmission.

I needed to keep the strike force on the command ship at their task. The original ten Annas could be reallocated. Still, there was little point in just sending them into the meat grinder. I identified the nearest command bots, each located on twelve-legged mobile weapons platforms far more heavily armored. Each got an Anna. All of the Annas shared their progenitor’s love of engineering and when mixed with their powers were fantastic at bringing down even heavyweight mechanical foes.

Meanwhile, the corridors of the command ship were now smoldering and twisted metal, the bots regenerating far slower as the force advanced towards the engine room.

"Get any of your people with electrokinesis to the surface. The batteries powering the mechs are nearly as primitive as the antiquated junk your people are still using. You should be able to knock out large segments," I said to Gilchrest.

The command ship was trying to withdraw, the portal no longer discharging forces.

I didn't want it to escape, I hoped for a better look at their teleportation gate and to study the repair technology. I should have withdrawn the strike force just in case. Instead, I let it continue towards the engine room. If they disabled the engines in time, it should ground the ship.

There was no attempt to withdraw the ground forces. With the portal off they had nowhere to go and they threw themselves against the Fallen positions with fury.

The Annas had brought down seven of the network hubs, which took away most of the swarm’s intelligence. They rushed right into the path of the Fallen electrokinetics.

The rest was just a bloody cleanup. Sylax and her strike force neutralized the engines of the command craft and sent it crashing into the icy side of a mountain. With their accelerated healing the team was soon making their way out after I'd had them scavenge what they could from the systems aboard to get me research samples.

My airship was still functional after its near-crash landing. I took to the air to survey the damage.

Battle had melted the snow, but already water was starting to refreeze amongst the ruins of mechs and the bodies of those they had slain. I lacked much in the way of sentimentality. Still, even I could see it was grim.

"Are your people secure?" I asked Gilchrest.

"We are. Although we've suffered a lot of losses," Gilchrest said.

"How many?" Fallen numbers were something of an unknown. We knew they'd had a large presence in the Reality Zero environments that were hostile to the Scholarium. Exact numbers had never been determined.

"At least five thousand, perhaps more. Don't pretend to care," Gilchrest said.

"I thought you'd said my reputation preceded me, but then you do seem rather feeble-witted. I never pretend to care. You placed yourself in this position. You are connected to Anna now, all of you. Stop sulking and join up," I said.

"Sulking? We were going to save the world from itself. These abilities are destructive. To the world, to the minds and bodies of the people who have them. You have doomed us all and expect us to now be friends?" Gilchrest asked.

"Your pathetic bleating aside, you knew exactly who to call when your people were being slaughtered," I said, and killed the comm.

What had Vinci been after?

It took me fifteen minutes of navigating the battlefield to find it—mining equipment. The formative stages of a new outpost, it had ceased operations when the local network hub was taken out by an Anna.

The findings were alarming. I hadn't done anything more than a cursory analysis of the materials taken from the command ship, but the neural network of the regenerative bots was partially composed of some rare metals. It looked like Vinci must have been after more.

I dispatched a factory ship with growth vats and a supply of Bio-matter. The Fallen wouldn't exactly be happy about me establishing an outpost own here. Given we'd just saved them, they weren’t in any position to argue.

If Vinci wanted these rare metals, it was in my best interest to mine them first and keep them out of her hands.

I opened a line to Sylax.

Sylax asked immediately, "Do you know how unsatisfying it is killing machines? I mean, she could at least shape them like people. Does the woman have no imagination?"

"Recreating the dominant life form of the planet isn't creative," I said.

"You did it," Sylax said.

"I didn't say it wasn't practical. I figured out what she was after."

"Let me guess. Whatever made those fuckers on the ship so hard to finish off?".

I again reminded myself that there were reasons we hadn't killed off Sylax. For all that she might be a monster, she was an intelligent monster.

"Your feeble-minded focus on whatever is directly in front of you has proved right for once. I'm leaving you and some of the Annas to play security while I extract what she wanted," I said.

"What about the Fallen?" Sylax asked.

"They're incompetent at defending their own territory, and uncooperative when it comes to diplomacy. Don't go out of your way to cause them any trouble, but if they give you any problems you can enjoy yourself," I said.

"Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all. You know those smug bastards won't be able to keep their nose out of our business," Sylax said.

I suspected she was right. If they tried, they'd quickly learn it was better to be our friend than our enemy.

I loaded the airship with research materials and ten of the Annas, and set it on a course for Diamate. The Vinci situation was getting more hazardous, I needed a plan.

4

I was, of course, the greatest mind on the planet. I now had over a dozen computing cores scattered across the face of the region we controlled, each far more advanced than my original core that Anna had reawakened.

I'd learned that being the greatest mind on the planet wasn't always enough. I had blind spots and those were best addressed by other great minds. Caya, Mechos, and Minerva had become regular consultants, and I called them together now to discuss the Vinci issue.

Anna had her own council that consisted of myself, Caya, Sylax and Hot Stuff. What we decided here would usually be agreed to there. Sylax tended to support any policy that eventually ended in violence.

They met in Diamate. Caya's laboratories almost rivaled my own and the accommodations were far more luxurious for the humans. I didn't really understand why a conference room needed a bar that extensive. Still, the drone I inhabited did have an appreciation for whiskey.

I presented the record logs and a summary of the events near the southern pole. The others spent a few minutes looking over them.

"This self-repair technology is a problem. This matches our ability to repair our biological components, which has always been to our advantage until now," Caya said.

"I used disruption technology on Emma in the past and it proved effective. We could devise something similar here," Mechos said.

"Let us not forget that your pathetic attempt to wipe me out also ended in the death of all your friends, and in your confinement in one of my testing labyrinths. Disruption only goes so far," I said.

Mechos frowned. Killing his associates was still something of a sore subject.

"While a counter is a good idea, it makes it all the more imperative we act against Vinci. We shouldn't wait," Minerva said, tapping at a keyboard. A display brought up maps of the planet’s surface. A large red blob depicted our territory, smaller blue and black ones were the Scholarium and Fallen respectively. The largest color on the map was gray, unexplored and unknown, and it covered forty-one percent of the planet.

"The metals Vinci were seeking. Do we have any deposits in our own territory?" Caya asked.

"A few traces, but nothing major. They appear to be quite rare, which is probably why she was willing to take such risks to get them," I said.

"Forget the materials, doesn't this whole thing throw our current strategy into question? Our goal has always been to out-innovate Vinci, and instead it is us now worrying about her latest creations," Mechos said.

He was right, of course. After the Earth had been restored it was a matter of simple numbers. Vinci and her two cores let her out-produce us, but that production ultimately had limits in the strength of units. Our scientific capability vastly outstripped hers and given enough time her units should pose no threats to ours whatsoever. The equivalent of a thousand men with swords attempting to take down an armored vehicle with an energy cannon.

There was silence around the table at Mechos' words. I let my drone have a drink of whiskey to fill the time.

"It is quite the leap for her. We almost exterminated her populace, and skilled researchers from other factions wanting a new life are largely coming here. We should consider that she probably has an AI working for her," Caya said.

"Amy, for all that she seemed to betray us, does seem fond of Emma. Tobias then?" Mechos asked.

"We believe that Tobias likely inherited a version of Anna's power set just as the Fallen did. That usually inspires some degree of loyalty with the progenitor. All of you have your followers despite your numerous shortcomings," I said.

"I don't have shortcomings," Caya said, leaning back in her seat with perfect poise. "The Fallen aren't flocking to Anna's banner. For whatever reason, her gifts when passed on don't seem to be inspiring any loyalty."

"If she has an AI, that only makes it all the more imperative that we act against her now. With an AI driving research on her behalf the gulf between us might be shrinking fast," Minerva said.

"I appreciate you having some degree of courage, unlike the man you decided to settle for. But you know the forecasts as well as I. If we engage Vinci now we probably lose," I said.

"Ouch," Mechos said, with a look over to Minerva.

"Don't pretend it isn't true. Let’s go over it again and see if we reach the same conclusion," Minerva said.

I wasn't against reconsidering data. It was a poor conclusion that wasn't robust enough to withstand a second look.

"If your tiny little monkey brain requires the facts repeated, fine. The fundamentals remain as they have been. Queen Vinci possesses the power to amplify production and quickly spread factories and mines across the planet’s surface. Furthermore, she has both the Beryl and Chalcedony crystals to amplify her abilities and provide a nearly infinite power source," I said.

"Our existing plan has been to outpace her in scientific developments while continuing work on the Juggernaut airships. We're nearing completion on the first three with another dozen in earlier stages of development," Caya said.

I was proud of the Juggernauts. Massive vessels that could—and would—hold small armies for boarding actions or territory acquisition, while also carrying a large supply of drones. The ships were entirely modular systems that could be easily updated to the latest designs. They weren't just meant to win battles, they were meant to be able to project a force anywhere on the planet.

"Maybe I'm just being cowardly, but I don't see where anything has changed. If we find one of the crystals, it makes sense to go after it. Otherwise we're best served by finishing the Juggernauts and waiting our moment," Mechos said.

"We need to know what she is planning—we know she is planning something. If we entirely leave the initiative with her we'll wind up regretting it," Caya said.

"Can you infiltrate her systems?" Minerva asked me.

"Unlike a Goddess of Knowledge, being a supercomputer is a real thing. Of course I can, and I have. However Vinci knows her enemy and she knows my capabilities, and while I can access some control systems there is very little in the way of usable data on her network. It is probably all kept in offline systems," I said.

Caya tapped at the map and a highlighted section appeared. "We've detected unusual seismic activity here, likely because she is building a particularly deep complex. Can you infiltrate the facility and get access to any local systems?"

The area was well within her factory sprawl. Several hundred miles of scanners and defenses in all directions. There was no way that I was getting an airship into there and even in teleportation leaps it was outside of the range of any of my drones.

"Anna should be able to. With her level of electrokinesis she can stay invisible to their sensors," I said.

Caya frowned, "Is she up for that?"

It was a valid concern. Anna was powerful, but that power came with a cost—crippling pain. The episodes weren't just unpleasant for her. If they got bad enough, she lost control of her abilities. The last time that happened she'd wiped out seven square blocks of Aefwal. It was mostly drones I could upload into new bodies, but over one hundred Fallen and a half-dozen Divine off-network had also been killed.

"Anna can pace herself when cookies aren't involved. If she takes her time she'll be fine," I said.

That much was true. It was over-exertion of her powers that brought the pain and loss of control. Breaking activities up into more manageable chunks, she could maintain control of her enormous gifts.

"We need to keep as much land as possible out of Vinci's hands. If the Scholarium and the Fallen won't join us willingly, they still need to join us," Minerva said.

"You're busy worrying about a war we might not have the resources to win, and you want to get us involved in two other wars?" Mechos said.

"Vinci already softened the Fallen up and the members of the Scholarium will usually bend the knee when you've got a knife to their throat," Minerva said.

"Make a move on the Scholarium and Vinci will be eager to play the defender. They're not stupid, they know who has better odds of winning a war. If you force them to pick a side they will," Caya said.

I said, "I'll falsify some mineral surveys and have them broadcast from scholar networks. If Vinci thinks the Scholarium has something she wants, she might get reckless and we can play the defender again."

There was little more to contribute and the meeting broke up. My drone walked with Caya back to one of her labs. It was time to test one of my more exciting inventions.

5

Five volunteers were naked and resting in vats filled with medical jelly. They were third generation Flawless, none nearly so perfect as Caya, but still largely deserving of the name. Ophelia and any of her agents were kept away from the test in case their aura of accelerated healing interfered with the results.

"We really should think of a better name," Caya said, holding up a glass cylinder. Inside was a slug-like creature covered in writhing cilia.

"I like brainworms. You know what they do," Anna said, from where she lounged nearby. This experiment would affect her too, if successful. It had the potential to change everything.

"They barely go near the brain, and they don't look like worms," Caya said.

"I'm the empress and I like it," Aya said peevishly. "Are you sure it’s going to be safe?"

Caya and my drone exchanged looks, we both knew that there was no guarantee of safety in SCIENCE. That was part of what made it so exciting.

Caya said, "We don't, which is why I want to make it clear to our volunteers that you can still back out."

One of the male volunteers said, "We know where we rank. We're barely even useful and if this works out, we'll be just about the last people to get them. Give me the worm."

A woman added, "You're paying us well. We survive, we all get upgrades and promotions."

It was true. Even the Flawless had their lower caste and all five had inherited the weakest version of Caya's ability. In a society of the perfect, they were the most prone to make mistakes, given the least valuable and mundane jobs.

I couldn't fix that, but I could see them given other abilities that would actually make them useful.

Tubes containing worms were lowered down before their mouths. I'd designed the brainworms to be administered orally. It would be easier for mass distribution.

Anna came over to watch as I clicked open the tubes and the worms fell into their open mouths, writhing and wriggling away.

Bio-monitors above each vat showed the progress of the worms as they wriggled into the host and positioned themselves at the base of the spinal column, the cilia extending to entwine with the nerves and working a way upward to the brain stem.

All five volunteers began to convulse violently, limbs twitching and their eyes rolling in their skull as they let out ragged grunts.

"Nerve integration is on target," I said.

"Two and five are generating too much feedback," Caya said, staring at a monitor as her fingers tapped at keys.

"What does that mean?" Anna asked.

It should be clear even to her that it didn't mean anything good. The twitching was starting to subside in three of the test subjects. It was becoming more violent in the case of two. The medical jelly wouldn't let them do harm to themselves. The spasms were the side-effect, not the threat.

I was starting to get transmissions from the three where things were going smoothly. Flashes from their visual cortex, the sensation of the medical jelly against their bare flesh.

The monitor above vat five flashed an ominous red. The worms had been designed to break down if too much feedback was met. That didn't seem to be happening, I administered a toxic injection that the host should survive, but the worm shouldn't.

The bandwidth with the three successes was growing. I was now getting consistent visual and tactile feeds from all of them. No motor control just yet. I expected that to be one of the last things to come online.

Subject Two was still little more than an incoherent screech of jumbled data. Their tremors were subsiding, but I still wasn't getting the expected results. The worm was still active. Best not to risk the host, I delivered another injection.

"The throughput looks even better than expected. How is reception?" Caya asked.

"Excellent on tactile and visual. I'm still waiting on full synaptic integration," I said.

It was looking good though. The brainworms had been a long shot, one necessary to succeed for the society I was building to truly function. My drones were effectively immortal, when it was so easy to construct and upload them into a new clone. I could even upload earlier versions of a personality to erase mental trauma. To truly be a uniform society I needed to be able to offer the same to everyone.

Subject Five was stabilizing while Two's vitals were quickly getting worse. I teleported them to a nearby medlab where I had one of Ophelia's second generation standing by.

Subject Four was online. Bartholomew, Citizen 15DA2M. With full access to memories, I downloaded a copy of his physical makeup and brain map to the network. I slipped into his flesh. There wasn't much room to move around in the medical jelly. I could curl his fingers and toes. He was responding exactly as one of my manufactured drones. Perfect.

I slipped out of the host and began construction of a clone at once. In theory, now that they were on the network a generated copy shouldn't need the brainworm—which was a messy concoction.

If I could upload a valid copy into a functional clone we could simply recycle the original and be rid of the symbiote inside them.

"Full integration successful on Four," I said.

"Subject Two is dead," Caya said, "Damn."

With a rapid healer nearby I hadn't expected that, and until I dissected the corpse I didn't have any answers as to exactly what had happened. I teleported them to a surgical suite and began at once.

"One and Three are online," I said, running through my tests. Everything looked good, I made their backups at once.

"How do you feel?" Anna asked One.

"Weird," One said, the woman who had spoken earlier. She offered a faint smile. "It is odd when she slips inside you. Like being a passenger in your own body. Do you do that often?"

"It isn't that often. More often you'll feel when she is accessing your senses. It’s like someone is looking over your shoulder," said one of my drones, operating a set of medical monitors.

My dissection so far wasn't yielding any answers. Which was troubling, because that meant I didn't have a way to prevent the death.

"Sixty percent success rate. Twenty percent fatality rate. Even if we can't improve on those numbers, I'm satisfied with it," Caya said.

"I'm not. We can't lose one in five of your people, and I can't imagine they'll be happy with it either," Anna said.

Four said, "Begging your pardon, Empress, but you're wrong. I've lost half my family in wars the last few years. Give me the chance to keep over half of those who remain alive, I'd take it. They'll take it."

"We live a long time on our own, but we're not unkillable. Even like this my people will want it," Caya said.

Anna paced, frowning. "I'm still saying not good enough. Do more testing and get some better numbers, and figure out what went wrong before wide-scale deployment."

"I'm sure neither of us has any objection to that," Caya said.

"Cowardice of vision and SCIENCE rarely mix, but we'll try it your way," I said.

"There are also going to be some people they won't work on regardless. Ophelia or any of her people are too resistant to physical change. The various kinetics physiology is too altered from baseline human," Caya said.

Unfortunately she was correct. We'd already experimented with some sort of external monitors and found them tremendously disappointing.

"Will I be able to try again?" Five asked.

Caya shook her head.

"No, but I'll see you still get your upgrades. With accelerated healing your already long lifespan will be lengthened even more. You'll live to continue being a failure for a very long time yet," I said.

For some reason he didn't seem thrilled with that news.

"What if war breaks out?" Caya asked, directing the question at Anna with a stare.

Anna closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "If war breaks out, combat personnel can take the risk if they desire. I won't keep something from them that may save their lives, even if it a risk."

I didn’t know if Anna realized it, but that alone improved our odds of winning a war. I was reluctant to put Flawless in the line of fire, but if I could, given their inherent ability to make the right call there were assignments where they were invaluable.

As delightful as experimenting could be, it was time to figure out if war really was inevitable. I had to brief Anna on the mission.

6

"It is a terrible design," I said.

Anna had readily agreed for the mission. Getting ready was a simple enough affair, triggering her Bio-armor and grabbing her gear. It was her Bio-armor I was having the issue with.

"Have you never heard of airflow? I like it," Anna said, as she slipped a utility belt around her waist. It contained a portable multi-tool along with timed detonators and a cookie pouch.

"The tops of your breasts don't require cooling. I can show you temperature maps to prove it," I said.

"It isn't like I really need the armor anyways and I'm totally hot this way. Besides, you've never given Hot Stuff crap for how she fights," Anna said.

"Because she melts the clothes off herself. It isn't a style choice. In fact, she has implored me to make her armor that lasts. I've invested hundreds of hours of research into it."

Anna shrugged and made a curt gesture. "Discussion ended. I like it like this. Do you have a portable unit?"

I materialized a portable host for myself in the form of a choker Anna could wear around her neck. It contained a backup and lower-level version of my personality that should be able to hack Vinci's systems even if my connection with Anna got disrupted. It was a device similar to this one that created Amy when Ophelia absorbed her and a Source Orb.

Anna slipped on the choker and her outfit shifted to go bare-shouldered.

"You're going to lose an arm that way," I said.

"You worry too much," Anna said. "I'm ready. Give me a tactical overlay with our next jumps."

I had Anna traveling in three hundred kilometer hops, the first few within our own territory where it was safe and she could get used to the pace. I marked the first location on her tactical display and Anna shimmered before blinking out of existence.

I had her materialize in farmland, standing on top of the watchtower of a small settlement. In all directions the fields were a plethora of brilliant colors. The settlement could grow any sort of meat or vegetable it wanted in their growth vats, so instead they were farming raw Bio-matter I used for construction. Crops of fast-growing lichen extended as far as the eye could see coating the ground in a brilliant profusion of colors.

"What happened to the local vegetation?" Anna asked.

"There wasn't much to speak of. This was once part of the dead lands and as barren and desolate as your love life. There is hope after all, I may yet be able to create a simple life-form that enjoys clinging to you," I said.

"While you're at it, you might also want to create an armored computing core that I couldn't punch through," Anna said.

New Anna could be prickly. At least she wasn't a sociopath. Power crystals affected everyone differently, giving them a different aspect of madness. I'd been designed with mine built in—verbal abrasiveness. As far as I could tell Anna got a mix of arrogance, hedonism, and bad temper.

"If it ever comes to that I'll put a plate of cookies in your way. Next jump," I said.

I thought we might as well use the time to take a quick tour or our own facilities, since Anna didn't leave Aefwal much. This time when she materialized it was on the scaffolding surrounding one of the Juggernauts. This one was not near completion, still little more than a shell growing by degrees as hoses carried liquefied Bio-matter to the growth emitters.

"The Whisper right? I remember finding the name funny on the reports," Anna said.

I was surprised she knew that. Perhaps weapon reports didn't bore Anna as much as some affairs of governance.

"It should be the seventh Juggernaut in our fleet when complete. We let the future captain pick the name. I think you remember Bernard," I said.

"Shifty fellow. Once of your original drones. That was a long time ago," Anna said.

"Most of the early ones have chosen to retire from military service, but he has really distinguished himself. A cool, tactical mind whatever the situation and unlike some people he understands the value of subtlety," I said.

Anna stared up at the massive construction. Each of the Juggernauts was almost a quarter of the size of Aefwal.

"Subtle? I don't think he's going to be sneaking up on anyone in that," Anna said.

"No, it is too big to hide. But this one is going to have a full squadron of masking shield airships and six specialized stealth infiltration teams," I said.

It was time for another jump. I triggered an indicator on Anna's display and she made the leap.

This area was largely undeveloped with jagged mountain peaks and a valley below filled with wildflowers mixed with the occasional beam flower. I'd picked a position high enough that Anna could see Vinci's lands in the distance. A pall of smog filled the air there, the terrain gray and shifting.

"You're sure they won't see me?" Anna asked.

"Despite your best efforts to make a spectacle as yourself, as usual, I think you're so unremarkable you'll escape their attention. They have sensors on the border looking for human threats. We're going to get you past those on the next jump. Just warp your electromagnetic signature and you'll be fine," I said.

This was a bit of a challenge for Anna. Humans didn't quite have the senses to tell when their field was properly aligned. With a visual indicator I provided on her display she could pull it off.

"Are there really so few people?" Anna asked.

"We pretty much wiped them out. We think she has less than ten thousand remaining across her whole empire. If you should be unlucky enough to stumble across one of those, they'll see you, but I doubt we have much to worry about," I said.

Three more jumps and we were inside Vinci's territory. These got more difficult since we couldn't see exactly where we were going. I did my best to make sure they were on building rooftops.

Below, automated carriers moved raw materials to factories that churned smoke. It was loud—without human ears to be bothered by the sound there was no need for reducing noise.

"She'd turn the whole of Earth into this," Anna said.

"You have a terrible sense of aesthetics, and she never had one at all. Given her power set this is all probably comforting to her somehow."

"Why aren't yours like this? I mean, you have your factories filled with acidic air that I still haven't forgiven you for, but mostly things are pretty nice," Anna said.

"I'm an upgrade core, Anna. It has always been about you and the others. Behind all the SCIENCE is the ambition to make your lives better," I said.

Another jump. This one overlooking a vast strip mine. Large swathes left the earth bare and opened.

"That is surprisingly touching, Emma," Anna said, continuing the conversation.

The next jump would take us to the facility we were aiming for. Massive, but from this distance it still wasn't visible—it was mostly built underground.

Anna materialized in some sort of underground warehouse. It was pitch-black and I reached out through my interface. There was a local network. I disabled an alert sensor and toggled on the lights.

Barrels, barrels as far as the eye could see. The room was old, pre-Cataclysm.

Anna's biological activity was way up. Her accelerated healing had kicked in, meanwhile my remote host was having serious issues. I quickly found what I was looking for in the network. Nuclear waste, a remnant of the old world’s industry buried for all time—until Vinci had gone and dug it up.

Anna's high-powered healing was holding up despite the bombardment of radiation. The degree of damage my remote was suffering told me that was a rarity. I pulled what I could from the local network. Plans for aerial disbursement missiles.

Vinci planned to weaponize this stockpile. Field weapons that would be incredibly destructive to organic life, leaving the mechanical almost untouched. A world like that would put her at risk too. Vinci would have to escape the radiation she created herself. However a shelter could be built for her and any people that remained.

Perhaps this was a defensive weapon ... perhaps. It didn't matter, it wasn't something that we could allow Vinci to have.

"Nuclear waste. We've managed to find something even more toxic than your personality. It seems she is weaponizing it," I said.

"We going loud?" Anna asked.

It might kick off the war we were still hoping to avoid, but this gave Vinci too much of an edge.

"Pull a Hot Stuff. I'm preparing a labyrinth for you afterwards," I said.

I doubted it would hold her. Drawing on her powers enough to wipe out this facility would result in some massive destruction. That was the danger of powerful weapons. They cut both ways.

7

Anna had always been good at destruction when she put her mind to it and her newfound powers only amplified that. Fire sprang up around her, growing in intensity. It wasn't long for my portable host to be destroyed along with everything else that she'd brought with her. Environmental destruction was the point.

Anna could burn even hotter than Hot Stuff and over a far larger range. Unlike Hot Stuff she got to keep her Bio-armor. Neither fire or the armor were her primary power set and therefore they were equal in power, unlike Hot Stuff who had fire as her primary and her offensive abilities outpaced her defensive.

Even without the remote host I was maintaining my connection to Anna and nothing in the facility could threaten her. With the sort of heat that she was putting out any combat drones were instantly evaporated. The biggest problem was the collapsing floors of the complex. Short range teleports were needed to keep her on something like stable ground as she transformed the the waste from potential energy into kinetic.

Back in our territory I was already bringing my preparations for Anna online. To contain an out-of-control Anna would require my best testing labyrinth yet. I called it the Mountain, one hundred and twelve Bio-reactors linked to provide shielding. Absorptive capacitors drew in excess power and used it to further strengthen the shielding effects.

Far too resource-heavy to have on at all times, I activated the reactors and put the facility on standby.

"How are we looking?" Anna asked, hovering in the air around a crater that was three miles wide, bubbling and hissing.

"I don't have sensors in the area and we want to make extra sure we get all of it. While I am sure you would love nothing more than to blow off work, hold position and temperature a few more minutes," I said.

I was getting an incoming communication, Vinci.

I wasn't thrilled to answer it. I was hoping we might manage to pass this whole thing off as some natural disaster, one of the dangers of stockpiling volatile compounds. If she was reaching out, she must have some long-range sensors that had already determined the truth.

"Queen Vinci, unpleasant as always to hear from you," I said.

"Quite the greeting when you are busy in one of my facilities, invading my lands," Vinci said. She looked to be wearing some sort of environmental suit.

"The same facility where you were designing and stockpiling resources to make weapons that jeopardize organic life of all types? You do realize what you are made of?" I asked.

"For the moment. You went from the electronic to the organic. A transition the other way must be possible. You could help me instead of being my enemy. We are still natural allies," Vinci said.

It was true, it had always been true. With my scientific ability and her industrial aptitude, ruling the world wouldn't even be a challenge. It also didn't appeal, I was interested in seeing the world that Anna, Caya, and the others created. I'd seen Vinci's vision and it was an endless gray sprawl.

"You've nothing to offer me," I said.

"Your survival is hardly nothing. Do you think I don't have other facilities? That there is not more technology of the old world I am mastering? You and Anna have done great things together, I admit that, but you are now on the wrong side of history," Vinci said.

This wasn't the talk of someone looking for peaceful coexistence. If this conversation was doing anything, it was confirming those weapons designs we'd found were not simply defensive. Vinci no doubt planned to perfect those weapon systems and offer us the choice between her and annihilation.

"You have almost no people left alive because you are bad at being a queen. You have failed at your primary responsibility and no matter how many factories you make, it is an error you can't correct. You're dangerous, but you're not competent. I'll repeat your words back to you. You are on the wrong side of history," I said.

Vinci frowned and killed the comm.

That had done a lot for the cause of peace. It also gave Anna enough time to finish her burn. It was time to bring her home.

This extreme use of her abilities already had her trembling, the pain growing more intense by the moment. It was about to get a lot worse. I gave her coordinates and she shut off her flames and teleported away.

There were no series of jumps this time, there was no point in being stealthy and we needed to get Anna secured as quickly as possible. When she materialized it was in a tiny cell at the focal point of the Mountain.

Anna let out a scream, dropping to her knees. Her Bio-armor was rippling around her. One moment she was still clad in her red and black skintight outfit, the next she was naked, then she was covered in sharp venomous spikes, then thick, heavy armored plates.

Red energy was dancing along her flesh, tiny bolts of lightning crackling along her skin. When an electric arc jumped from her to hit one of the walls it left a scorch mark. The lights flickered as my absorptive capacitors struggled to keep up.

There was no point calling Ophelia or any of the other Healers. This wasn't a physical condition so much as it was a metaphysical one. Anna was just too powerful and when she drew too much on that power it was like overstuffing a sausage.

Anna wiped sweat from her brow, sitting with her back against the wall.

"You think we'll be able to hold it this time?" Anna asked, her voice unsteady and strained.

"Perhaps your life of indulging your excesses has some unexpected benefits. You seem to be holding it together this time," I said.

Anna laughed and the air pulsed around her. Local gravity increased by over three thousand percent for roughly two seconds before returning to normal. Seventeen of the Bio-reactors were under strain, but the system was maintaining integrity.

"How are you coming on for a cure to this?" Anna asked.

"I'm looking, but I've told you before. I'm not sure how much can be done without dampening or removing some of your abilities. You might be even more pathetic, but you'd still have powers with just the ones I gave you," I said.

"If it weren't for my abilities Vinci would have already overrun us. I may not be vital. Sylax and the Annas are," Anna said.

"That is just an excuse, although you may be so stupid you believe it. We always managed before. It was tight, but we did it. We'd do it again," I said.

Temperature in the cell dropped to almost absolute zero for over thirty seconds. I engaged heaters to regulate the environment.

Anna let out a pained whimper before drawing in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "I never actually thought we'd get this far, you and I. Anna Besari, queen of the whole damned world. What the fuck am I going to do if we actually do defeat Vinci?"

This degree of self-reflection, of doubt, wasn't common to the new Anna. Did these excesses of power somehow restore a bit of her sanity? It was something to look into.

"If historical data is any indication you will eat cookies, sleep with desperate men, and have a closet the size of a city filled with horrible outfits," I said.

"What about you? What would you do when the fighting is done? When we're the last left standing in the field?"

There was some of that arrogance back, the assumption that we'd win.

"What I've always planned to do, SCIENCE. The biosphere of the Earth is failing, I'll need to fix that. The Gobbles are a great success and I think it would be a shame for the Earth to have only two sentient species," I said.

"You're going to build a whole damned world. Maybe you should be the empress?" Anna said with a dark chuckle.

"We've always been a team, Anna. Ever since you brought me back online. I like to think of us as the smart one and ... the other one."

"I'm not going to let this thing stand with Vinci. I can't. I know that you and Caya have been counseling more time, but we can't afford to wait," Anna said, before she tilted her head back and screamed.

The lightning storm that followed knocked out eight of my reactors, but the Mountain held.

If Anna wanted a war, we'd have a war.

I only wished I had a plan.

8

"I have a plan," Sylax said.

"Those are words that never fucking end well," Ophelia said.

Anna had called a full meeting to discuss the possibility of going to war. Normally something like this would have been limited to her council, but she wanted to solicit as much input as possible.

"I'm listening," Anna said, from her place at the head of the table.

Sylax tapped away at her screen and brought up a display. It was showing the design for a missile. Not current tech, old world.

"What am I looking at?" Anna asked.

"What Queen Vinci should have been going for and instead pursued a by-product. Nuclear missiles, the greatest weapon of the ancient era, and our territory is filled with silos of these things," Sylax said.

I could make Bio-bombs of similar yield, but they required a great deal of Bio-matter to convert into energy and were of minimal use against Vinci's inorganic forces.

"We're thinking of going to war because she threatened all life on the planet, and now you're suggesting doing the same thing?" Anna asked.

"Atmospheric detonation can create an electromagnetic pulse that is far more harmful to them than to us. But in the worst case, yes, I suggest exactly that. If only one side is going to survive a conflict I'd rather it be us," Sylax said.

Anna pursed her lips. Instead of chastising Sylax she looked towards the drone I was occupying, "Emma, I know you don't like it and I don't either, but I want to know the feasibility. Could we make this work?"

It was a loaded question. Regardless of any outcome I preferred, Anna deserved an honest answer.

I doubted that an EMP would be effective in any lasting sense. Vinci's creations were all to some degree powered from her own power crystal, not to mention her ownership of both the Beryl and Chalcedony. Just as electricity had failed to work in the old world and we still managed to get functional systems, an electromagnetic pulse might do very little lost-term harm to her forces.

Nuclear devastation was another matter, especially if it killed Vinci. It would put an instant end to her threat. Vinci had plans for a wide-scale planetary bombardment hostile almost exclusively to organic life. Nuclear bombardment would be hostile to both organic and machine life.

If things came to that conflict I had to conclude we were relatively well-equipped to fight it. Already most of my towers were self-contained environments. Building them underground and hardened would be work, but require no technological advancement. Given my ability to network my drones, and teleportation, we could even keep a thriving society despite being denied the surface of the planet.

"If your goal is simply to maximize human suffering, listen to the sociopath. We could survive the use of such weapons and maintain a high quality of life, but I don't see any guarantee of victory," I said.

"I'm not suggesting we just start throwing up a cloud of missiles. If we get a location on Vinci or the crystals, we'll have tools to deal with it," Sylax said.

"We already have killing machines. You're one of them," I said.

"We're limited because of the sheer numbers of her swarm. Even if we were going in, it might make sense to have the means to clear the area first," Anna said.

There was some sense to that. Some. Radiation would be destructive to my technology and the majority of my drones, but Anna, Ophelia, and likely any of their second-generation power-holders should be able to function even in such an environment.

"I can get a few of those missiles ready, just in case. Still, we've already determined no matter how much radioactivity you absorb, nothing will make you hot," I said.

"Often imitated, never duplicated," Hot Stuff said with a grin, arms folded.

"What else have we got?" Anna asked.

"Vinci appears to be masking the Beryl and Chalcedony, but I've been working on a detector. The crystals always repulsed Reality Zero environments and I've been attempting to reconstruct a limited environment," Caya said.

That was clever. If she could succeed by measuring the force exerted against it, it might be possible to locate both crystals.

"Make it a priority. Anything else?" Anna asked.

"There has been increased comm traffic between Vinci and the Scholarium. She will be pleading her case for an alliance. While I know it is a challenge given your near total lack of social graces, perhaps our empress should officially pay them a visit," I said.

"It is past time you reminded them who is top bitch," Sylax said, with a pointed look at Anna.

"I agree. You aren't who you used to be. It is time the Scholarium saw that in person," Caya said.

"If you worry about your notable lack of control, don't. It is not as if losing control would wipe out anyone likable," I said.

"You're the most powerful Powered on the planet and the Scholarium has always respected strength, but you have to prove it. Go there, rip the hearts out of whatever idiots decide it is a good idea to challenge you, and demand their allegiance," Sylax said, pounding her fist on the table.

Caya said, "I don't pound my fist, but I agree. The Scholarium has to be thinking you are far weaker than you appear and that is the reason you haven't appeared before them."

"Wouldn't they regard my loss of control as a weakness?" Anna asked.

"There isn't a leader of the Scholarium born that hasn't had a weakness of some sort. What matters at the end of the day is who lives and who dies," Sylax said.

"Fine. I'll go pay a visit to the Scholarium and be my charming self. What else do we have?" Anna asked.

"If I divert resources, I can get the first of the Juggernauts flying. They won't be at full capability yet. I can continue to make improvements in the air," I said.

"Ground forces?" Anna asked.

"As ready as they can be. Vinci's mechs are armor-plated and resistant to kinetic arms so we've upped production of energy weaponry. If our core districts hold we can produce new bodies and equipment for them at a rate of over one million a day," Hot Stuff said.

Increasingly Hot Stuff had been getting away from combat missions. While she was still incredibly strong for a Powered, her strength didn't equal that of Sylax or the Annas. I don't think she minded, she'd thrown herself into the logistics side of the military and seemed to have a knack for it.

Sylax said, "Our best option is still going to be to assassinate Queen Vinci. No struggle with armies, no nuclear war. We have a hyper-intelligent computer, we have to be able to locate her.".

"There aren't that many people left in her territory. She'd be with them, right? Food, water, fresh air," Hot Stuff said.

"Not necessarily. It appears that she is now wearing a protective suit of some kind. Probably necessary, if she is going to move around within her own territory and given how much she has ruined her own environment. Humans, why can you never clean up your own filth?" I said.

"Then she is issuing commands from somewhere. That has to be the sort of thing you can track," Sylax said.

"I assure you I'd be more than content for you to indulge your murderous tendencies if I could. However, while there is a vast amount of network traffic throughout Vinci's territory, I can't scan it from a distance," I said.

"Can we help?" Anna asked.

I wished that they could. Sylax wasn’t wrong, a quick assassination would be the easiest way. Unfortunately Vinci knew that as well. Individually she was no match for our people and so she was going to great ends to keep from being an easy target.

"I don't think so. I'll keep looking and I'm very good. Unlike most of the people in this room who I've defeated by their weaknesses, she is good at compensating for hers," I said.

"You never hit me with my weakness," Ophelia said.

"Your greed and traitorous nature was more than enough to get you to betray Runner. You were barely even a struggle," I said.

"Nobody gave you as much of a struggle as I did," Sylax said.

"I came close,” Hot Stuff said.

Hot Stuff had come awfully close to destroying me, although Sylax had been a lot more trouble to put down.

"You were both somewhat inconvenient obstacles to step over and we're all terribly unimpressed. If you're looking for a magical solution, Anna, we don't have one. A war is still a bad idea," I said.

"Yet not quite as bad as waiting for Vinci to make her move. You all have your projects. It’s time for me to arrange a visit to the Scholarium," Anna said.

9

The Helix gleamed in the distance, gold and crystal intertwined to create a massive spiral stretching into the sky. It was one of the few places in the Scholarium agreed by all to be free of their infighting. The unpowered lived in poverty in the lower sections. Layers of the city became more grand and opulent as you worked your way upward.

We were headed to the top level. In addition to myself, Anna was accompanied by the two strongest members of the Scholarium to have sworn her allegiance. King Boreas had the ability to manipulate time, and Queen Astrid gained power by eating hearts. They had kept their titles and their lands, Anna having decided the title of Empress granted her authority over both. Neither were a part of her inner council—we didn’t trust them at all, although they hadn't betrayed us, yet.

They were aboard the Graven, not the original ship that bore the name but one named in its honor. A small vessel with the latest in my technology and luxury. Layered backup systems assured that the ship could keep flying and fighting even if critically damaged.

There were a few of the Annas with us just in case. They'd stay aboard in the city. This was the original Anna’s show.

I landed the Graven atop the Helix.

There was a delegation waiting. I only recognized some.

King Carnage was dressed in red. He had the ability to generate weak spots in systems and exploit them. Queen Witchgaze could compel others with a glance. I recognized another from historical records, King Kilakas. In the past, he had lost his holdings in struggles with King Boreas. Obviously his fortunes were on an upswing now. Kilakas had the power of invulnerability, which made him close to indestructible.

Two I didn't recognize were both young women. One wore a silvery gown showing nearly as much cleavage as Anna, the other wore a set of antiquated-looking armor with a sword at her waist.

I scanned both to get a sense of their capabilities.

Queen Veya

Power Level: 229

Queen Veya possesses a Dimensional core that has the ability to alter the gravity field around people and objects. This allows her to crush or levitate with a basic use of her abilities and with greater skill can provide strong physical defense and offensive capabilities.

Queen Forge

Power Level: 331

Queen Forge possesses an Upgrade core that grants her the ability to create armor and weapons with unique properties and to continue to upgrade them. While they start weak, over time they can become incredibly powerful.

Judging by Queen Forge's power level she was already formidable. Before, Queen Astrid had always been the strongest of the old Scholarium nobility having consumed thousands of hearts in her time. That Forge was now stronger meant either she'd gained a lot of power in the short term or had been biding her time in silence before making her move.

I sent the results of my analysis to Anna.

"Welcome, Queen Anna," Carnage said with a tilt of his head. "Duchess Emma, Duchess Astrid, Duke Boreas. Welcome to the Helix."

Those titles were carefully chosen, I was sure. They were expressing their intention to treat Anna as an equal, not a superior.

I barely had time to register the blip in the Graven's Bio-reactor as multiple systems failed and a meltdown began. The ship exploded behind the gathering, shrapnel tearing into my drone and all the humans of our party, but stopped short of the welcoming delegation by a wall of pure gravity.

Reality flickered and rewound, a disconcerting reversing of events. King Boreas had only gotten stronger since joining us. The rewind took us back to ninety seconds before we'd disembarked from the Graven. We were again inside the ship.

"So that’s what it feels like to be on the other side of that," Anna said.

"They dare. The Helix is off-limits to power plays," Astrid said.

I said, "Treachery is your nature. That was Carnage’s doing. Veya's shield also activated quickly although that may have been instinct. I've already closed the errors in the system that made the explosion possible. That doesn't mean he can't cause more. It is what he does."

"Do-over then. Let’s go," Anna said.

Once more we stepped out of the Graven and once more Anna approached the welcoming party.

"Welcome, Queen Anna," Carnage said with a tilt of his head. It was as far as he got. Anna plunged her hand into his chest and tore out his heart. Carnage barely had time to look startled before he tumbled over. Anna tossed the heart over to Astrid, who took a large bite out of it as if she were eating an apple.

"Empress Anna," Anna said, with a firm look of the others. "I would remind none of you to forget it."

There was an awkward sort of pause. Blood spread out from under the corpse of Carnage.

"Empress Anna then," Queen Veya said, her readiness to respond suggesting both her collusion in the plot and proving her ability to adapt fast. At least acknowledging Anna’s title quickly earned her some points.

Witchgaze prodded at the corpse with a foot. "I never did like that man. I like you opening with a kill even less. It has never been your style before."

Anna said, "I don't like being here and I don't like any of you. I like the thought of you working for Vinci even less. None of you are fools and you know what is coming. I know that Carnage thought your odds were better with Vinci than with me."

"Well, he doesn't think it anymore," Witchgaze said wryly.

The lights of the Spire flickered and died. With the Graven's sensors I could detect their weapons systems going offline. I wished that were all that I detected

There was activity along every border that we shared with Vinci—a lot of activity. The swarm was on the move.

I told them, "Vinci is making her play. All Helix systems are offline, Carnage must have set an overload in place for the reactor before he died, just as he would have the Graven."

Kilakas stared at Boreas and grunted, "You rewound? Bastard."

"You never could tell. Moron," Boreas said, looking smug.

"I knew about the ship. I didn't know about the Helix," Veya said.

There were missiles incoming. Without access to the Helix's sensor net I couldn't tell what sort, but I doubted that Vinci intended her opening salvo to be gentle. This was her chance to wipe out the Scholarium leadership and take out Anna in one blow. If Carnage had succeeded in his plan things would already be in chaos and the shutdown of the city’s systems would have been attributed to us.

"Can you get their defenses back online?" Anna asked me.

I was trying, but they were unfamiliar and hostile systems. While some backups had power, I was an intruder and the network was trying to keep out.

"If you can pretend to be a competent leader and actually get the rest of these pathetic has-beens to swear loyalty," I said.

If the Helix came under my control I'd have a lot more ability to begin affecting repairs on the systems.

"You heard Emma," Anna said, glaring at the Helix rulers.

"We don't even know if this threat is real," Witchgaze said, frustrated. "You can't expect us to swear loyalty on the basis of that."

"I can gain control of the city by you swearing allegiance, or by killing every single one of you that hasn't. Your choice, and we're running out of time," Anna said. The overly revealing gown she wore rippled into overly revealing body armor.

Kilakas at least seemed interest in the sight. I suppose that when you were invulnerable you got into the habit of making stupid choices because nothing could hurt you.

"Empress it is, then. I love the armor," Kilakas said.

"The man both has a fine eye and gets to keep his life," Anna said.

Queen Forge rested her hand on the hilt of her sword and seemed to be considering her chances.

"Empress," Witchgaze said, after a longer pause.

That was enough. Three out of the four remaining rulers was a majority.

The Lands of the Scholarium have been added to your Empire

Twenty-two new cities are online

The Helix was among them. Carnage had really done a lot of damage to some key power relays. In their current state it was a long repair, but now that I was in control I was able to absorb some of the city’s landscape for Bio-matter to fuel organic replacements.

The lights flickered and came online. The city’s sensors detected the incoming missiles and raised the defense screens, blue energy shields springing into place.

"I suppose I make four," Forge said.

10

The missiles were still two minutes out from the Helix. For me that was virtually an eternity. The Scholarium been more or less in perpetual war for a very long time and their defensive systems were already very good, but mine were better. I took down the shields to begin some rapid upgrades to their emissions frequencies. With a few tweaks I could give them some ability to absorb radiation.

Elsewhere Vinci had her mechaswarms crossing borders. It wasn't a matter of where, it was everywhere. Our lands were being hit from every side, as was the Scholarium and the Fallen. Even for Vinci it wasn't a sustainable pace—this was her attempting to overwhelm us while she had some element of surprise, hoping to exploit every weak spot that she could for maximum effect.

It was the equivalent of starting a fight by running straight at your foe, screaming, and swinging weapons in both hands. If you were prepared and competent it wasn't especially dangerous. If you weren't paying attention or inept, it could be absolutely devastating.

The Scholarium hadn't been idle. With access now to their systems I knew their defense plans and preparations for dealing with Vinci's mechaswarm. Project "Discoball". I didn't know the scientists involved and I wasn't sure I wanted to. Their designs were energy inefficient, but they did have some hint of style.

I waited for the mechaswarm to cross the borders before triggering them. Crystalline spheres erupted into the sky, each containing a core of crystal dust and shards of elemental power crystals.

They lashed out with colored beams of light packed with elemental properties. A long line of rat-like mechs were incinerated and a swarm of aerial drones got hit by a freeze blast that sent them crashing to the ground with their wings iced over.

The spheres were obliterating anything and everything in their general vicinity including any Scholars who hadn't already found shelter. It wasn't an ideal solution. At least it was stopping the mechaswarm in its tracks.

I had a similar strategy along our own borders, although I hadn't invented any new technology for the purpose. I'd long used Bio-bombs when I needed to destroy a large area quickly and while the miracles of SCIENCE helped me to get a little more yield, the fundamentals remained the same. With the surface of the planet to toy with I had a vast supply of Bio-matter and that meant I'd made a lot of bombs.

I didn't need Sylax or the Annas to fend off the waves. Killing the machines wouldn't hurt Vinci—disabling factories or communication hubs would. Four strike teams consisting of five offensive personnel, plus two of Ophelia's second generation Healers each, created small squads with incredible attacking force and regenerative ability. And they each had a purely organic stealth ship to reach critical targets.

The missiles were seventeen seconds out from hitting the Helix. It was time to reboot the shields and make sure there weren't any problems. I engaged the new systems and they sprang back into being, energy glowing a faint green this time.

The missiles were close enough for me to get a proper scan of them. They weren't simple dirty bombs filled with nuclear waste. There were nuclear bombs of the type that Sylax wanted to use with an additional core of crystal dust. I hadn't done any research on what effect crystal dust would have on a nuclear blast. I had to assume it was there to amplify the yield.

The shields of the Helix were suddenly still inadequate. They might survive a direct hit from standard nuclear bombs. However, with the enhancements they wouldn't hold. This would be enough to kill everyone in the city.

"I need a temporal freeze. As long as you can give us," I said to King Boreas.

"Done," Boreas said.

I could feel myself shrinking. A bubble of space around King Boreas was still moving in normal time while the rest of the world had frozen, and most of my computing cores were out there. I had the processors in the Graven to work with. It would have to be enough.

"The missiles incoming are too strong for the shields to stop. If they hit, Anna and Kalikas should survive, but I doubt any of the rest of you will," I said.

"I have shields," Veya said.

"I've already taken into account your lackluster power set and it isn't enough to save you."

"You have people who can teleport. You could get us out of the blast zone," Witchgaze said.

"And ensure your selfish survival at the expense of everyone else in the city? Yes, probably."

"If it were my city I could upgrade the shields further," Forge said.

"Queen Forge, I grant you authority over the city of Helix," Anna said without hesitating.

Forge closed her eyes for a few moments. "Done. I won't know how well it worked until time picks back up."

"Which I’ll remind you is in finite supply," King Boreas said, the strain in his voice evident.

"Is there anything I can do?" Anna asked.

I'd already been wondering. It was dangerous to draw too much on her powers. She did have the Agate crystal inside of her. In theory she could output way more power than the local power sources, but I wasn't sure how the blast would affect her—and if Anna lost control she would wipe this city out.

"What if I crush the missiles prior to detonation?" Veya asked.

That was a plausible solution. With her control over gravity fields she could implode them.

"I can get you in range. If you weren't advertising your unimpressive assets with quite so much desperation you might be fine, but oxygen deprivation and temperature are going to knock you out quickly," I said.

"Did that bitch just interrupt us putting off mass destruction to insult my breast size?" Veya asked.

"You get used to it," Anna said.

"Given the amount of cookie fat inflating yours, I'd never say anything similar. Anna, I could use you to amplify the shields. Hopefully we won't need it. I'll get the rest of you to safety just in case. You can unleash time," I said.

Boreas nodded and I felt my mind expand once more.

I spent a nanosecond updating all my cores on the plan and considering it with my enhanced intelligence. Nothing stood out as a bad idea, although with my full intellect returned I realized I could also use the Annas to hit the missiles directly. While none had gravity control abilities they did have telekinetic powers that were similar.

Given their power levels, I was concerned about the reaction with the crystal core. I didn't think Veya had the push to accidentally trigger it. The Annas might unless they were very careful with their powers.

The instant time resumed I put the Annas in the Graven to work. One ferrying the Scholar royals away in a series of quick jumps and another grabbing a hold of Veya and teleporting to the closest missile.

The missiles were still high in the atmosphere. By the time Veya had crushed the first, her skin was already turning an unhealthy shade of blue.

I tied Anna into the city’s power network. It was too dangerous to have her as a primary power supply. If any of the missiles slipped through she could function as a backup.

I prepped the Mountain just in case. If the situation got bad I could try to get her back in containment, assuming she had enough control left to manage that teleport.

Veya destroyed a second missile. A layer of frost was beginning to form on her skin. I had a Medbay on the Graven, I could at least hold her in stasis even with grave physical wounds until I could get her healed.

I remained convinced that she was in on the plot to kill us earlier. For the moment that didn’t matter. Almost all of our trusted allies had tried to kill us at one time or another. If you carried your weight, you got forgiven. With two missiles down she was pulling her weight.

There were five in total. Veya managed to neutralize the third before passing out. The Anna providing her transport blinked her back to the Medbay and then teleported to the fourth missile, encasing it in a telekinetic shell and crushing it.

It was as I feared. The excess power triggered the crystal core and the missile exploded short of the city. The clone was caught in the blast, not so much burned as atomized. Still, with her accelerated healing a spinal column was already regenerating when it crashed to earth.

That left one missile. The second Anna clone had finished teleporting away the royals, leaving her teleportation powers temporarily exhausted. I could have hit the remaining missile with the real Anna. That seemed even riskier than having her power the shield.

I let the city take the hit.

The explosion rippled along the shield and the power supplies dipped dangerously low as the ground rumbled. The land around the Helix would instantly be an irradiated wasteland.

The shield held and the city still stood.

11

This wasn't our first time going to war, but this was different. In the past there were always factions more powerful than ourselves that we could play against each other, or more powerful allies to be won to assist in the fight.

We’d brought the Scholarium on board, but they weren't saving our lives—we were saving theirs. We were the powerful force saving them from another. While it was better to have the Scholarium on our side, and if we could recruit the Fallen the same would apply, we didn't actually need either one. It was a matter of denying a resource to an enemy.

Unfortunately, there were no surprises to pull out. Fortunately, we knew this was coming—although we hadn't expected it to come quite so soon. My Bio-bombs had bought us some time destroying the initial waves hitting our territory. The Scholarium's plans were also a success. Project Discoball might be energy-inefficient, but it did a fine job of killing mechs. The Scholarium could be counted upon to excel in destruction.

The Fallen weren't doing as well. When they were the Righteous, much of their defense had been from existing in a reality where the rules didn't favor the Powered. When you had the only guns that worked, you won a fight. Their military paradigm just didn't demand heavy defenses and they were already paying for it. Despite their abilities, they were being overwhelmed.

Did I care to help? I had already saved them once and I didn't want that sort of thing becoming a habit. However, I didn't see where I had a choice. Supplies of the metals Vinci sought had been found in their territory and there might be more.

Still, I wasn't going to divert any of the strike teams. And the Juggernauts weren't ready to fly yet.

That left my drones. I couldn't win a war of attrition with Vinci, not long-term. Her ability to create mechs outpaced my ability to create drones in my growth vats. I didn't need to win the war though, just the day. Vinci couldn't keep this surge up. Another hour at most and then she'd have to break off and give her factories time to manufacture the next wave.

Only a portion of my military drones had teleportation powers. They would have to do. I sent one hundred thousand of my heavy Aegis troopers jumping towards Fallen territory and another twenty thousand Gunslingers. None of them had the strength of Anna, they couldn't cross the distance in a single jump, and it would be half-an-hour for them to hit the battle. Too long, given the pathetic fight the Fallen were putting up, but it would have to do. According to my calculations I'd lose almost all of those drones, but it should neutralize that part of the mechaswarm. I issued commands for the growth vats to start on the clones of those soldiers going, there was no point in waiting for them to die.

Anna teleported back from the reactor core and into the Graven, settling in behind the console.

"What is our status?" Anna asked.

"We're holding, no thanks to you playing backup battery. The Fallen are going to lose some people and the various independent factions will lose some territory. The big names are going to survive this first wave intact," I said.

"How long do you think it will be until the next one?"

"Nobody has ever accused Vinci of creativity or innovation. If she wants to hit us with another wave similar to this one, it will be four days or so."

"You underestimate her. Machines versus humans, and she isn't stupid. She'll go with smaller waves, sooner and at irregular intervals. No rest, no safety, she'll be trying to wear us down," Anna said.

It was possible, although if Vinci thought that strategy would work on us she was very much mistaken. I didn't require sleep and with constant tracking I should be able to maintain my drones on their proper shifts. Still, never knowing how long a maintenance window might take would provide problems.

"Most people manage to function on less than eighteen hours sleep a day. I engineered it out of the Gobbles, if only I could engineer it out of you. The issue is Bio-bombs. They require reactor cores and those are slow to grow. It will take me a week to replenish what was used today," I said.

"So at best she is back to full strength three days earlier than we are? That will be a problem. Will the Juggernauts be able to replace the need for Bio-bombs when they are up?"

"No. They'll help, but much like you they simply aren't up to the task at hand."

Anna massaged her eyes and growled, "What is the use of all this damned power if I can't make a difference with it? I transformed this whole planet, can't we do something similar to get rid of the Vinci?"

"While I appreciate your finely developed sense of hubris, changing the physical laws of reality is not the solution to all of our problems. If we still had access to the Agate, making something like the zero bomb might be possible. Your gluttony has made that impossible," I said.

"You do realize I didn't literally eat the damned crystal. Did Veya survive?" Anna asked.

"A bit of frostbite and some asphyxiation mixed with radiation poisoning. I have her and Merana in the Medbay—your clone ate most of a nuclear blast," I said.

Anna winced. "And lived? I am powerful."

“Lived” was true, which was impressive given the damage that she had taken. However all wasn't right with her. Merana wasn’t healing as quickly as she should be with her abilities. Her skeletal structure had been restored but she was still unconscious—probably a good thing as she only had most, but not all, of her organs.

"That was never actually in any doubt. I know you want to help right now but you can't. We could throw in you in the middle of Vinci's territory where it doesn't matter if you explode. It is best we keep you in reserve just in case she has some surprises," I said.

Anna frowned and clenched her fist. "Get Boreas and Astrid and bring them back here, Witchgaze too. When we get back to civilization I want you to throw her in a testing labyrinth."

"While I approve of any chance to do SCIENCE, I feel compelled to remind you that she did swear you loyalty," I said.

"I don't care. With the Scholarium unbalanced her abilities are the biggest threat to us among them and absolutely no use against Vinci. We lock her up and throw away the key until this whole mess is over," Anna said.

I didn't have the facilities on the Graven. I had the remaining Anna bring Witchgaze back into one of the quarters and sealed the door, flooding the chamber with tranquilizing gas.

Witchgaze's only abilities were focused on controlling others. With no other defensive powers she quickly succumbed into unconsciousness.

I was getting a comm connection from outside the ship and opened it.

"This is Forge. You're about to head off?" Forge asked.

"We are. You've temporary command of the Scholarium, do well and you just might keep it. Upgrade what you can and see that you keep your lands and people safe against Vinci," Anna said.

"You should know that she tried to recruit me. Wanted my help strengthening some sort of battlefield repair super-bot. I refused, but I did have a look. I have the location of the factory," Forge said.

We were interrupted by the remaining Anna bringing Boreas and Astrid back aboard.

"Do we hunt? Please tell me that we hunt," Astrid said.

"You ate the heart of Carnage. Do you have some aspect of his powers now?" I asked.

Astrid bent her head towards one of the passenger chairs and narrowed her eyes. There was a crack as one of the restraining bolts failed and the chair buckled.

"Not as strong as he did, of course, but I suspect you know how that goes," Astrid said.

I did, it was still useful.

"Sounds like a good opportunity for a detour. Send over the location," Anna said Forge.

I received the data transmission.

"It is about an hour outside our way. By the time we cross the border the main assault should be done. A good thing, because being unimpressive and plain doesn't actually make any of you invisible," I said.

"Do you know the best thing about you becoming organic, Emma? Somewhere out there, you have something that passes for a heart," Astrid said.

Thousands really. Bio-matter pumps served a similar purpose.

"Time enough to snap at each other later, ladies. Let’s find us something to kill," Boreas said.

12

As the Graven crossed into Vinci's lands the scattered ruins of mechs filled the ground below. Only a few still crawled, missing limbs and cracked frames. There were no defenses when we passed the border and it made sense in a way. With Vinci's production capability most facilities lost could be quickly replaced. Why waste precious energy powering border cannons when it could be used to build more offensive mechs?

Further in, mechs moved freely. We saw wide-bed trucks and spindly armed scavengers picking up the destroyed mechs from the battlefield.

"We must be able to do something about this," Anna said.

I agreed. Vinci didn't really need these resources, except it would be quicker to scavenge parts from the recently destroyed than to build new bots from scratch. I'd be against sending our forces into a needless battle of attrition. Fighting these weakly defended scavenger bots was something else.

I dispatched Gunslingers to the borders. They'd be able to snipe from afar with little risk and it would force Vinci to expend resources on either more durable scavengers or on some sort of proper border defense.

For the time being I kept our distance, high enough in the atmosphere to avoid their short range sensors. When the factory that Forge told us about drew close we got our first visual. A massive oval-shaped building, and in the center was construction scaffolding that surrounded a truly massive mech.

While no Juggernaut, it was the size of a city block and several stories in height. An ovoid machine equipped with many engines around its edge and designed to hover.

Drones were scrambling and taking to the air. We were out of range of the ground-based guns so Vinci intended to come to us.

The new Graven was a small ship. Against the heavy emplacements below I didn't like its odds. We had more than enough firepower to take them out, but not before we took enough hits that it would remove ourselves from the fight.

"Heavy defenses below. Anna may need to drop in alone," I said.

"I can get us down and back up safely," Veya said. The time in the air had been enough for the Medbay to get Veya back on her feet.

"Can you hold off whatever they are going to throw at you from the air?" Anna asked me.

"If I can keep Pollyana to operate the power project cannon," I said.

Anna nodded, "Done. Let’s go ruin someone’s day."

This mission was good for diplomacy at least. The Scholarium appreciated bold action and moving on straight from killing one of their leaders, to saving the Helix, to destroying an enemy factory—would do a lot to help keep our newfound subjects in line.

I lowered the ramp of the Graven and Anna, Astrid, Boreas, and Veya leaped out. As soon as they were clear my sensors detected a repulsive gravity bubble forming around them, shimmering gray as they plunged down.

Streams of bullets were easily battled away. When a beam cannon opened up it required Anna to redirect the energy, curving the beam to blast a section of the factory as they touched down lightly in the courtyard.

I had problems of my own. My intellect and evasive capabilities were far greater than any of Vinci's drones, but there were dozens already in range and over a thousand on the way. Point defense cannons opened up blasting at any which got near as Pollyana settled in, the projector cannon humming to life.

None of the Annas were identical in personality or powers. They all had some aspects of the original’s strengths, but given just how diverse Anna's powers were now that left a lot of variety. Pollyana was particularly adept at teleportation. It was the reason I'd used her to ferry the royals to safety.

While not normally an offensive power set, I could make teleportation work. I blasted a swarm of approaching drones with the projector cannon, randomly scrambling them in a short distance teleport. With parts missing there were showers of sparks and tumbling bits of metal as over a dozen droids fell out of the sky.

Anna and the others were under attack and with their combined gifts were holding their own well. There was no ambush that could catch Boreas unaware, energy rifle blasts catching foes the instant they appeared.

Astrid, still flush with the newly eaten heart of Carnage, simply had no shots that were ineffective. Every hit found a critical juncture with shattered heads and severed limbs left in her wake.

Veya would implode one mech, crushing it with intense waves of gravity into a superdense pebble, then she used that pebble to destroy a dozen more.

Anna was being more reserved, lashing out with occasional bolts of lightning but largely holding back. That was good, if she lost control everyone would likely perish.

Anna opened up a comm line. "Do you have any sensors you can point at this thing? It’s powering up. I'd like an idea of its capabilities."

I was rather busy in a fight for my life, but—SCIENCE. I could afford to take a few hits to get a read on what Vinci had been working on.

Polyanna blasted another swarm of drones out of the sky as I lost enough altitude to get a good scan. Energy gunfire hit our shields. They were down by fifteen percent before I could pull back up.

Vinci was getting help from someone smarter than her—this couldn't be her design. A high-density armored shell surrounded a core built around matter-to-energy conversion.

It was both genius and shoddy workmanship. The core idea was clever, but it wasn't well executed. On a battlefield this thing would have energy to burn by converting the fallen or enemies into power, but it burned a lot of power. The hover engines would consume way too much power. It had a shield generator that, while incredibly robust, again could have accomplished almost as much with a far smaller draw.

I didn't think it was intended to operate alone. I didn't detect any sort of energy-to-matter converter. If this thing was a scavenger, that would be the ideal design. Instantly consume lost units and create new ones.

Perhaps whomever Vinci had doing her SCIENCE hadn't figured that part out yet, or perhaps the unit hadn't been installed.

"Main weapon is going to be something that converts mass to energy. With as much as you've gobbled up, I'd avoid getting hit. If any of the others are struck, it will probably mean instant death, so make sure Boreas keeps his rewinds ready," I said.

"Understood," Boreas said.

The aerial defenses were trying out a new tactic. Miniscule drones, a hover projector, and shield-sapper charges making suicide runs at the Graven. They were coming from all angles. As good as my point defenses cannons were I was taking hits and the shields were already down another twelve percent.

Below, Boreas dove and knocked Veya out of the way just before a blast of white light absorbed the patch of floor where she had just been standing.

The massive mech was operational, and what just happened inspired a name for it—an Absorber.

Veya asked loudly, picking herself up, "Really? I've been aligned with you people for less than six hours and this is the second time I nearly died."

Anna replied, "Third, really. I almost killed you after Carnage, but thought that keeping you alive might get Emma to stop talking trash about my outfits."

"One of you wants to make a spectacle of an accountant’s office, the display a boring and uninteresting one nobody but the most hopeless will ever find of interest. The other is like a scientist showing off a lab equipped with only two sad little microscopes," I said.

"I kind of hate her," Veya said, the shields around the Absorber pulsing as she tried to crush it with waves of gravity. A second blast almost got her until Boreas pulled her from the path again.

"While I am sure your lack of attire is all very fascinating and something I'd be interested in exploring another time, could you please learn to dodge," Boreas said.

They weren't having any luck taking the Absorber down. I didn't think that they would without Anna opening up at full power, which was something I still didn't want her to do.

I had an idea. It meant getting lower even though flying through a swarm of shield-sappers took the Graven's shield down to critical levels.

"Don't listen, Veya. Do stand still and try to hit it again," I said.

I give Veya this, she listened. When I detected the buildup of energy I lashed out with the projector cannon. The space around the conversion beam warped and twisted with teleporting energies, moving everything including the energy in the air to the other side of the Absorber.

Hit from the back with its own weapon the Absorber glowed an unhealthy color, suddenly feasting upon itself.

"Time to leave," I said.

"We should search the place," Anna said.

"If you do, you'll be walking back. I can't keep the Graven flying much longer," I said.

"Then bring us back up," Anna said.

Veya didn't just get them aboard. With her gravity powers she kept us clear of more sappers as I got us away.

13

It was another meeting of Anna's council, including Sylax, Hot Stuff, Caya, and Forge who was on a comm from the Helix.

"We are not just going to play defense and let ourselves be overrun by stages. I want real, actionable plans for how we can hurt her," Anna said.

Caya said, "This isn't what you are going to want to hear, but I suggest diplomacy. The Fallen and some of the more powerful Divine still aren't on board, and while their territory is weak that just provides more opportunity for Vinci. They'll be her first conquests and they'll fuel her push for us."

Caya was right—Anna didn't want to hear that.. "Taken under advisement. No promises, but I'll reach out and invite them to Aefwal. We aren't going to get jumped in unfriendly territory again."

"I can have Juggernauts airborne before Vinci's next wave. Their whole purpose is to project force. I can't guarantee that we'll hit targets especially vital to her, but we can hit some she is not expecting to be attacked and believes are safe," I said.

"If she thinks them safe we might get lucky and hit something important just by chance. I hate having a war without intelligence," Sylax said.

"You thought she must now be working with an AI. Do we have a way to locate them?" Anna asked.

"It is probably Tobias, the one who once helped the Fallen. If it were Amy the inventions would be slightly more thought out. For a feeble-minded and inferior copy she has shown a certain aptitude in her past creations," I said.

"Can we reach out to her and be certain?" Anna asked.

What a repulsive thought. While I understood the desire to verify the information, any conversation that involved talking to Amy seemed like one people should logically want to avoid. She was unbearable.

"While I doubt she wants to talk to anyone so boring as you, I'll see what I can do. If so I'll connect her," I said.

Amy had been known to hack me in the past, rather too often for my liking. My core processes were now sheltered behind lines of defenses with cross-checks specifically built to keep her out. There were open systems in Aefwal and I sent out a call.

It took a nanosecond before I got an open comm line in the conference room and the cameras were being accessed.

Amy's nonstop cheerful voice said over the comms, "Anna honey, you are looking so amazing these days after our little bit of fun. And that outfit! I'm may be a digital personality, but if I were into human girls I'd totally be into you. And hi sis! You're doing so well these days! What did you want to talk about?"

Anna said, "Amy, so good to hear from you. Thank you, you were right. I was being weak. These powers haven't worked out exactly like I might have hoped, but you did improve me,"

I really didn't see how Anna could even pretend to be nice. Amy was a monster, you could hear it in her tone.

"Amazing trap, right? We're good, sis was just too close to the problem to see what you needed, but that is what I'm here for," Amy said.

"So just where are you hiding out these days?" Sylax asked.

"Sylax! I did not see her making you pretty much her second-in-command. I totally get it though, I've watched you skin people. Not many people can even imagine themselves transcending their humanity like you have. Anyway, I'm not going to answer that question because I'm not an idiot, but still totally an admirer," Amy said, the camera swiveling around the room.

"We believe that Vinci is working with an AI. Is it you?" Anna asked.

"What? Nah, I mean for awhile I totally imagined me and her and Emma all working together, and being one happy little family, but those days are past. I mean, she approached me, but she just wanted a researcher and science is just so dumb, you know?" Amy said.

There was literally not a single redeeming quality about her. Everything that came out of her mouth was as offensive as possible.

"Do you have any information on who is?" Anna asked.

Why was she asking Amy? If I couldn't hack Vinci's computer systems, what hope the pathetic little sibling?

"Totally. His name is Warmonger, Vinci pulled him out of some old military bunker. He was built for weapons design, tactics—you'd really be in trouble if he were sane, but woah the dude has problems," Amy said.

"I don't suppose you have a location?" Anna asked.

"I could help out, but I mean ... I'm not really in this war, you know? Even if big sis is family. But I'm working on some other side-project you guys are going to love," Amy said.

"We'd just appreciate knowing where he is," Anna said.

"Fine. I'll give you a location, but I want a promise out of Emma. One day soon I'm going to be reaching out and telling you to get to safety. No matter what is going on, do it. Get your people under shields and all your shields up to full power," Amy said.

That sounded like a terrible idea. Amy couldn't be trusted and giving her any sort of promise, even brief, to let her influence our defenses was a mistake.

"Done. Emma, when she gives the call do it," Anna said.

"All hail Anna the Incompetent. As you say," I said.

"We're not keeping that nickname. Spill, Amy," Anna said.

"Well, I don't have it now. I'll need to go searching. I'll have it to you within the next day. Now, all you people are sparky and wonderful and just a delight to be around, but I have to run. Toodles!" Amy killed the comm.

I really needed to build some vibration emitters somewhere so I could shudder in revulsion. Flickering the lights in disgust just didn't have the same effect.

"That was weird. What do you think she's planning?" Hot Stuff asked.

"Trouble. With her it is always trouble, but I do think she actually cares about Emma. I think she'll help us," Anna said.

Sylax had been tapping on her pad and brought up a display, "Then I'd like to suggest a plan. In two days the Juggernauts will be ready, so even if Amy gives us action early let’s put a hold on it. I have some better targets for us."

Anna smiled and leaned forward. "I thought you would. You always know when to go for the throat. What do you have?"

"Whenever fighting anybody, you always want to identify the bottlenecks. Those areas where they are already having issues, because if you choke there you'll really start to hurt them. We want to hit her factories making her war mechs, but there is little advantage to that. The woman is all about industry," Sylax said.

Unlike Anna's esteem for Amy, her respect for Sylax was something I understood.

"Taking out her AI would keep her from doing research. That is one," Hot Stuff said.

Sylax nodded, "And if we knew where she had other labs, I'd recommend hitting them too. We don't, so our next best step is mines."

"Try to cut off her access to raw materials," Anna said.

"Exactly. I think we had as long a peace as we did because it took time to set up her mining operations. Knock out her abilities there and we can set her back," Sylax said.

"I like it," Anna said.

Sylx tapped three sectors of the map which glowed red, "None of these are particularly rare metals, but they are massive mining complexes and well within her territory. A Juggernaut for each should completely shut them down."

"I wish we could borrow her production ability just for a day and get them all into the air early," Anna said.

"We do what we can with what we have," Sylax said, tapping the map a few times more and four smaller red circles appeared. "These smaller mining operations are quite remote and would otherwise be impractical. That suggests they’re pulling up something rare. They also look to have defenses, so we send in the Annas."

Anna nodded, "I'm still aboard."

Sylax tapped the map once more.

She said, "Warehouses in reasonable range and near the border. Once we start hitting their mines they'll probably turn their attention inward and we can send forces over the border to raid. Emma can use what we bring back to bolster our own forces."

It was a bold plan, not without its risks. The Juggernauts were strong. Still, sending one that deep into enemy territory was a risk.

"Make it happen," Anna said.

We had a plan, now to hope Amy pulled through.

14

With two days until our strike Anna had a chance to play diplomat. Both the Fallen and the Divine had taken serious losses from Vinci's initial push, which made them more inclined than usual to meet. After issuing an invitation to come together in Aefwal both factions accepted within an hour.

Each presented two representatives. The Divine sent agents of two different Pantheons, Zeus and Nuwa. The Fallen were represented by a woman named Irisa and a man named Sergei, who resonated with multiple abilities.

The Divine made a better spectacle. Zeus wore ornate robes brocaded with gold, and Nuwa a silk robe of deep yellow. The Fallen were a study in contrasts, Irisa wearing a uniform of white and gold which were the old Righteous colors. Sergei wore black and red adopting the colors of Anna.

Anna was taking no chances, her Bio-armor up and coating her in skintight red and black, although as usual she'd left far more holes in it than necessarily or sensible.

Disliking diplomacy at the best of times, she wasn't even meeting with them separately.

Anna did have a sense of occasion at least. Both parties of emissaries had been guided to the central tower through streets teeming with activity and citizens of all types. Reminding them both of our power and how many had joined us.

There were no greetings offered as everyone settled down around a table to stare at each other.

Anna let a full minute elapse before she spoke. "You know who I am and what I can do. You've seen what Queen Vinci can do and have already suffered losses at her hands. You both have proud histories, but it is time to write the next chapter."

"You rebirthed the Earth long thought destroyed. It is a miracle greater than any of us have performed. We needed time to consider that, and we have. We are interested in becoming a part of your court," Nuwa said.

"Well, that was easier than expected," Anna said.

"We're not done yet. You've destroyed our society and while you might have rebirthed the Earth, you corrupted it in the process. This world isn't right. You must realize that," Irisa said.

"So not everyone is a fan," Anna said dryly.

"There is debate. Historically among us, gaining powers was considered an affliction, a risk when out in the world doing the work of the Righteous, and something that could be cured. Now most of our people are sick with this disease. We've lost our immortality, although you’ve already killed vast numbers of us and we hate you for it," Sergei said.

Finding a way to disrupt the Righteous' immortality effect was one of the first things I'd ever done with SCIENCE. I had put a great many of them down so that they would never rise again. Most were trying to kill me at the time.

Zeus said primly, "She is your mother, she has birthed your entire people and given them her divine essence. She does not deserve your criticism but your adoration and your obedience."

"That isn't actually motherhood. Just cookies," I said.

"Shut up, Emma," Anna snapped. "A lot of us have done things to each other during war. My closest advisors tried to kill me in the past, tried to break me."

"You say this in a way that suggests it should make us trust your judgment?" Irisa asked disbelievingly. "That bearded idiot may think that you deserve reverence, but we see you for what you are. You aren't just some addled woman in over your head, you are sick with power and you have given our people the plague which infests you."

Irisa was interesting. While Powered herself there was something different there. Her power set was familiar after we'd encountered the Righteous so many times before, but there was something different. I was powerful enough that I should be shrugging off Righteous effects. Yet my systems were weaker in her presence, she was incredibly strong.

"You're the Righteous Prime," I said.

It was the only thing that made sense. For all that the Righteous had always claimed to be unpowered none ever actually were, they all shared the power set from a common source. They'd all inherited the gifts of immortality and power dampening from a single Powered individual. We'd never found this person or even heard mention of who it might be, but this had to be her.

"The one they derived their powers from?" Anna asked, with a tilt of her head at Irisa. "So this is a jealousy thing then? I stole your people from you."

Irisa smiled sadly and shook her head. "That isn't the reason. You did, but I am legitimately horrified by who you are and what you've done. I hoped to meet you to get some sense of you, some realization of that fact, but I don't see it."

Anna turned her attention to Sergei. "If she is the Prime, then who are you?"

"I'm the most powerful of those of us who inherited your gifts. I'm an engineer, I was working in the maintenance conduits when you activated the device," Sergei said.

My attempts to get a proper scan on Sergei were failing. The same thing happened with the Annas, as they did with Anna herself.

"We'd wondered if proximity played a factor. Just how many of your people wound up affected?" Anna asked.

"Over eighty percent of the population. Those within a mile of me were insulated, as were those furthest from the device on airships," Irisa said.

Anna stared long and hard at Irisa and finally said, "You may disapprove of the past, but you still have to live in the present. Think of your people as sick if you must, but if they are going to survive to find a cure you need me."

Zeus said to Sergei, "You should be grateful for what you have. You were made better, stronger. You boy, surely you are happier with what you've become?"

Sergei looked torn, finally raising his shoulder in a shrug. "It is fun, doing things, but my life isn't better. My home is destroyed, my family torn."

I wanted Irisa on our side. I'd never been fond of the Righteous, but they were the foremost experts in the world at removing power crystals and neutralizing abilities. Irisa was probably the one who invented the process. If I was ever going to find a solution to what affected Anna, she could be of great help.

"Your people can have homes in our cities better than any pathetic hovel they might have managed to build for themselves. Be comfortable and well fed—just look at how plump Anna is. I'll give you access to my labs and if you want to research a cure for your people perhaps you'll stumble onto one," I said.

Irisa frowned at my drone. "I tried to recruit you once. If I'd succeeded, I'd have cured you of that madness that grips your tongue. I'd have made you sane."

"Sanity didn't save the world. SCIENCE did," I said.

"We get to maintain our government as-is and simply answer to you?" Zeus asked.

"Mostly, with the caveat that your people be free to come and go elsewhere within the empire. If they'd rather not worship in your temples and wish a life in Aefwal, or in the Scholarium, they'll have that right," Anna said. "The same will go for you, if you accept. Your people aren't prisoners."

I worried about that. It seemed a mistake to have so many distinct systems at work within one empire. Factions had time and time again torn the Scholarium apart and we were setting ourselves up for the same kind of problem.

"Done," Nuwa said.

It seemed she had the authority to speak for her people. As soon as the words were uttered I started to get status displays on the Divine's lands.

Each Pantheon had their hierarchy, Nuwa represented the largest. Their technology was woefully behind. I began the process of growing Bio-reactors, growth vats, and shield generators within their settlements.

Irisa lowered her gaze to the table and let out a weary sigh. "I've been fighting this fight since before the collapse, you know. You need to fix what you've broken. You have to or we'll all regret it."

"I can't promise you that. I don't agree, but I can promise you a seat at the table and on my council. You've insights that should be there and words that I should hear," Anna said.

Zeus cleared his throat expectantly.

Anna flagrantly ignored him. The Divine already had some representation through my consultations with Minerva, perhaps it was enough.

"Done," Irisa said.

Fallen technology was pretty good but not defensive. I started the growth process there as well.

Even with both these factions Vinci still controlled more territory, but it was something. For all her land she was still one woman, we were now an empire in the true sense of the word.

15

With diplomatic nonsense taking up much of one day, that still left another to fill before we ready to begin our attack.

Amy, loathsome though she might be, was as good as her word and did come through with a location. Visually there didn't seem to be much there, a mountain and few factories, and there was some vehicle traffic going back and forth. Vinci did have a significant amount of power running in that direction.

An idle day meant an opportunity for SCIENCE. It was more important than ever, now that we were at war, to make sure my research priorities were where they needed to be.

The first thing I wanted to focus on was bolstering our new subjects’ defenses and that meant more than just building them shields and growth vats.

The Scholarium were in the best shape. Their discoballs were effective against the mechaswarm although when I'd first analyzed them I was dismayed by how energy-inefficient they were.

Forge had already been making some improvements. It seemed she'd found a way to combine the blood of Kalikas along with her own abilities to impart some degree of his invulnerability. It was so exhausting that she couldn't do so for large objects, but for something like the discoballs it would serve to keep them in the air and firing no matter what the enemy threw at them—until they ran out of power.

So power was the concern. I'd been impressed at how well Vinci's combination of a uranium core with crystal dust performed. I still didn't like Sylax's plan of nuclear annihilation, so I had a good supply of uranium I needed to do something with anyways.

I had no interest in deadly radiation beams, although in other circumstances that might be a goal to work towards. Instead I wanted to use the uranium to enhance the power crystal shard effects. Ideally that would mean I could get the same power out of them with longer runtime.

It took a bit of experimentation and the initial results looked good. I set several discoballs to work in a testing labyrinth. If they survived a few hours without any issues I could deploy the technology along the Scholarium borders.

The Divine were not as technologically proficient, but what they did have for defenses had promise. They had an absurd number of nature goddesses and put them to work surrounding their lands in thorny hedges. Rapidly regenerating and with thorns that could cut through steel, they played havoc with ground mechs. Elementally powered deities were on hand to blast aerial units.

With my vast archives of biological enhancements, upgrades to the hedge barrier were easy. Self-healing, energy and fire resistance, and with a bit of work I made it a lot more durable against whatever Vinci might try to destroy it. Furthermore it was fairly simple to mix my solar flowers into the organic matrix, allowing the hedge to fire beam weaponry at aerial units itself.

I spliced in some fire matrix as well. If necessary the entire hedge could become a potent destructive energy barrier. They were still weak against aerial threats, but that had always been a problem for most of my facilities.

I liked the work of the nature goddesses enough that I requested they review some of my own biological designs. I was brilliant, but that didn't mean I couldn't benefit from a second look, and their divine paradigm was so wildly different from mine they might have approaches that wouldn't occur to me.

That just left me with the Fallen. There, things were in the worst shape. What defenses they had mustered so far largely involved the use of their new abilities. Those abilities offered a lot of options and lining the border with power projector cannons would let the Fallen defend themselves with incredible power—yet the Fallen hated those gifts and forcing our new subjects to use them wouldn't win us any friends.

I began construction of some anyways, of course. It was always good to have a backup.

What the Fallen had in plenty but weren't using were airships. Most of the airship crews were still Righteous aligned with Irisa, and the split in their society had left the craft largely unmanned.

If they wouldn't fly them, I could. I had more than enough drones to man every airship, partially solving our problem of possessing only a weak air force. They were all built along Reality Zero guidelines, focusing on heavy armor plating and kinetic cannons. That made them a good match for Vinci’s aerial forces.

They were nuclear powered and the trick I was using with the discoballs would work with them as well. A little addition of crystal dust to the reactor matrix and I had enough extra power to install shield emitters, doubling their defensive options.

Ammunition was in short supply. They were no longer producing it. Once I got the specifications I could grow the rounds in my growth vats. While I'd never produced ammo for Righteous guns quite so large, it wasn't the first time I'd duplicated their technology. I'd once done it quite a bit when they had a technological edge on me.

Ultimately I'd need to do more, including strip off the armor plating and replace it with self-repairing Bio-armor. The electrical systems were absolutely primitive compared to what I could do with a little nerve wiring and a good organic power matrix. Still, apart from the newly amped reactors it was all well-proven and battle-tested technology.

I'd even accept Fallen volunteers to help crew along with those who were still Righteous. Perhaps it would help to bring them together, and if not I'd install tranquilizer gas emitters to quell any trouble.

That had the new factions covered. My own defenses came next.

Uranium might allow me to enhance my own Bio-bombs. I was reluctant to do so, because the explosive yield was already enormous. Still, SCIENCE demanded answers and I prepared a dozen enhanced bombs to use in case of an emergency.

I had the same reluctance for enhancing the Juggernaut’s reactor cores. I'd already built the things with more than enough power capacity and while I could perhaps increase it, I didn't have anything requiring that level of output. Besides, it could result in instability and the Juggernauts were too important for my long-term plans to risk them.

Ground forces were another matter. I didn't mind if one of my drones got blown to pieces. They were already backed up. The tiny Bio-reactors I had in an Aegis suit were constantly power-starved and could do with improving.

I ran some tests, pushing the suits to their limits and confirmed some instability, and also some radiation poisoning. The suits would wear out faster, although the internal systems should be able to last several battles. The drone inside would be dead after about twelve hours without accelerated healing, or a full day otherwise.

The payoff was a doubling of the effective combat rating. With an enhanced reactor core the strength actuators let the wearer run and leap further, do more damage with energy blades, and soak more hits from any shield projector.

For things like sentry duty I'd stick with the standard models. In actual battlefield conditions the enhanced design made a lot of sense. I'd just plan for the drone’s death by growing them a new clone ahead of time.

I polled my military drones for volunteers. To get used to the enhanced suits would mean training in them and maintaining those memories, requiring they die an agonizing death and my keeping that backup. Not all were up for that suffering. However I soon had ten thousand willing to take the plunge and I upgraded all with accelerated healing. Dying would also let them experience that physical decline and learn to recognize the symptoms—and how to deal with them.

That just left one project to review and it had nothing to do with our defenses, at least not directly. The brainworms. Caya and the Flawless had continued testing and got the failure rate down to fifteen percent, and the death rate down to five percent.

I knew those numbers were still higher than Anna would like, and I didn't think that we were going to get any better.

I especially wanted to make sure we had these as an option before going into battle. I wanted all Flawless to have the opportunity to be backed up, and if I expected the Fallen to crew ships with the Righteous they deserved immortality of their own.

I issued the order to growth vats around the empire to begin brainworm growth. By tomorrow I could have tens of thousands of new drones, if people accepted it. If they didn't, they were the past. The future was for those bold enough to become a part of it.

16

It was time to draw some blood of our own, or at least, machine oil. We'd decided on a multi-stage assault, saving the strike on Warmonger for the last when their attention would most be diverted elsewhere.

Our opening salvo would our biggest attention-getter, the Juggernauts.

They were all at least functional for this role. Where I'd had to cut corners to get them airborne was largely on tertiary backup systems. I'd built in multiple redundancies at every level, because these were meant to be our big guns.

Despite all being of the same basic design, they were also distinctive in their own way.

The Dawnbringer was captained by Citizen CL129B who preferred to be called Dora, a woman with maxed-out intelligence and a brilliant tactical mind. Her ship had the largest contingent of Flawless aboard of any of the Juggernauts. For the other Juggernauts, automated fire control was standard, but not so for the Dawnbringer. This was a vessel packed with sensors, tactical displays, and fast versatile units that could take advantage of opportunities as they arose.

The Claw was captained by Citizen KF342L, known as Sharpfang, a Gobble. I'd thought it important to make sure the newly created species have their own representation in command of our greatest weapons. The Claw had more troop transports and heavy weapon mounts than any of the other Juggernauts. It was built on the maxim of the best defense being a strong offense.

The Mercy was captained by Citizen JDKAC8, who called himself Havoc. Havoc was one of my first drones who had been capable of absorbing a power crystal of his own, granting him the ability to sow discord among his enemies. I'd tried to acquire a version of myself, but like most Compulsion cores I'd been disappointed with the results when attempting to master it. This Juggernaut had been built with disaster-relief in mind. A large contingent of Ophelia's Healers were aboard. It also had the strongest defenses of any of the three.

Although all three were going to different destinations, I had them cross the border together. Destroying factories might not be the goal of today, but that didn't mean that targets of opportunity were ignored. The Claw opened fire with its main gun, wiping out a border factory with one shot.

Vinci hadn't been idle the last few days and she had been building mechs, a lot of mechs. A few shots came from ground forces with cannons powerful enough to reach the airships. Mostly it was scout drones that swarmed them. They weren't interested in exchanging weapons fire, instead rapidly scanning for shield strength and weapons placement.

The fact that they weren't shooting at us didn't mean that we wouldn’t fire at them—defensive cannons quickly cleared the skies.

Offensive fire turned the ground below to molten slag, focusing on power distribution centers and factories. We weren't hitting the supply hubs, leaving them for the later waves to raid.

With a molten, red trail thirty miles long behind them the Juggernauts finally broke apart, angling towards their own target.

There was no attempt at subterfuge. If Vinci's AI was worth anything at all he'd be able to determine where the Juggernauts were headed. Vinci would only throw more drones and that meant more she'd have to rebuild. At least that was the hope.

The fact was a large enough swarm could eventually bring down even a Juggernaut, especially if Vinci had any clever tricks. After witnessing the Absorber making use of a matter-to-energy conversion beams, Vinci had proved she wasn't ever out of clever tricks.

The Claw was continuing to blast everything in its path. There was little reason not to, I'd built in extra Bio-reactors specifically for its plethora of weapons and they could always be shooting at something. The Gobbles liked that, the Gobbles really liked that. Factories, repair ships, empty long-abandoned buildings. If anything at all looked interesting and destructible, they'd take shots at it.

With the ships separated the drone swarms were converging. I was preparing to send a polite reminder to the Claw to not be so busy shooting at ground targets that they missed the aerial swarms, but the Gobbles didn't need reminding. Moving targets were more fun.

Well, I might have risked giving life and sentience to a bunch of murderous cats—at least they were good at shooting small moving things. SCIENCE was wonderful.

The Dawnbringer was taking a more ambling course to its destination. Captain Dora didn't feel bound to follow the direct path and was taking the targets of opportunity thing especially seriously as her sensors picked up vulnerable targets. It meant the Dawnbringer was drawing the heaviest enemy fire, almost twice as much as the defenders sought to bring the ship down. The shields were already at eighty-eight percent and under fire like this wouldn't be going up anytime soon.

Still, Captain Dora was doing what she could and timed a hit at a power converter below to coincide with a passing swarm, obliterating both in a massive explosion. I sent an estimate of shield strength based on their flight path so far. Captain Dora was still in the safe zone, but she needed to put a limit on the side missions.

I was getting a comm from Havoc and I opened up a line. So far the Mercy wasn't experiencing any issues, sticking to the path and focusing fire on attacking drones.

"Do you realize you're last in the kill-count right now? I did install guns on that ship," I said.

"I realize. Have you ever bothered to check the distress bands? We have traffic even this far into Vinci territory," Havoc said.

Given the sheer quantity of comm traffic in Vinci's territory, monitoring anything was difficult, and I wasn't especially listening for humans in distress. As part of the Mercy's mandate they had a comm operator with that as their sole purpose and I accessed their logs.

Scholarium, Independents, Righteous. There were nine unique signals that had been monitored along the Mercy's path so far and they weren't halfway to their target.

There were people alive down there that weren't aligned with Vinci.

On the one hand, it made sense. The Earth now was made from all the individual planes that used to compose reality having been crushed back together. People had gotten scattered everywhere. Just because Vinci had claimed territory it didn't mean that people weren't already there.

I rather thought the swarms would have killed them all. Perhaps Vinci's mechs didn't bother in territory they considered safe, or maybe some temptation to have people in her lands made Vinci hesitate.

How did I want to deal with this? The Juggernauts could handle enemy fire just fine, but rescue craft would be at risk. I'd probably lose more drones than any people I saved—however, drones that I could regenerate later.

It would also lessen our resources and distract the crew from their main mission.

"If it is just a beacon try to establish contact. If you can, send a rescue party. The shuttles will draw a lot of fire," I said.

"Acknowledged" Havoc said, sounding pleased.

This would be popular on his ship, I wasn't as sure it would be as well-received on the others. I issued orders for the Dawnbringer and Claw to also monitor those communication bandwidths and to rescue those they could.

Neither was built for rescue missions. Still, the Dawnbringer's versatile craft could serve the purpose of rescue shuttles and the heavy troop transports of the Claw were ideal for the role.

The other ships acknowledged.

I didn't like this. When did I become the protector of organic life against the machine? Was this another step along the path I'd long ago chosen, when I'd decided to become an organic computer for very practical reasons, or would I still do this had I remained purely electronic?

It didn't matter, this wasn't a time for introspection, it was a time for killing. Well, killing and saving lives, apparently.

The other ships seemed pleased by the addition to their mission. Taking new factors in stride was just what the Dawnbringer was for, and landing transports on the ground meant the Claw and its ground forces might get to see some action.

They'd all already made contact with some survivors and were sending rescue ships, launching swarms of fighters to defend them. In a way this was all good, this would get them even more attention. It was time to deploy the strike teams.

17

There were four strike teams, all mixed forces. The core of each was four Annas providing the teleportation to get them deep into enemy territory quickly. Each squad had one of Ophelia's second generation Healers—most of the Annas had accelerated healing of their own but not all. This covered their weak spots and amplified their strengths. The Healers wore exo-suits to enhance their strength and speed, and they were armed with a rifle. Their gifts weren't offensive in nature and armor was largely wasted on them with their regenerative abilities.

In addition, each squad had five of my new Aegis Enhanced units as well as some Gunslinger Enhanced. The Gunslinger Enhanced were a bit of a last-minute version and I hadn't really had time to test them. I'd removed their gauss rifles in favor of beam weapons with reinforced emitters that I could channel more power through. It was terribly inefficient, a thirty percent increase in power for a two hundred and seventeen percent increase in power consumption, but with the upgrades they had power to burn.

I'd tried to make up each squad with a mix of Annas with complimentary power sets. They all had at least one elemental, one teleporter, and one telekinetic.

They didn't suffer from power burnout like Anna Prime. Although none had nearly the level of her gifts they were able to make the leap to their targets in a single bound.

I cycled between the teams as they reached their destinations.

Squad One arrived beside the withering remains of a forest. Defensive turrets tracked the sky and shield emitters buzzed preventing teleportation directly into the ore mine.

All of the squads were targeting mines that seemed to be especially important. Not the largest, but the well-defended.

The automated defenses were faster than organic reflexes. A machine gun turret swiveling towards Corana fire sent her staggering back, chips flaking off her Bio-armor.

"Get the shields down," I said through one of my drones as I turned a Gunslinger against the turret. A single shot pierced the armor and its tracking became sluggish. A second shot finished it, a spray of sparks erupting as the ammunition exploded.

Other turrets were opening fire and I turned the Gunslingers on them as the Aegis provided defense. Ground mechs were arriving in force, razor-sharp metal claws glinting in the light as the Aegis units moved to meet them. Feana and Magana were unleashing electrical and fire attacks against the shield which was already flickering.

Squad Two was in trouble. I turned my attention to them.

Their target was in a narrow valley surrounded by mountains and with a single path in and out. Using the path turned out to be a mistake.

Landmines, crystal-enhanced nuclear landmines.

It was ludicrous overkill by Vinci for guarding this place. I had two Aegis drones still functioning although badly radiation-poisoned and their suits were in tatters. The Gunslingers with their weaker shielding had died instantly.

Ophelia's Healer was bruised and bleeding, with multiple broken bones, not to mention naked and without a weapon anymore. As I'd observed with one of my own drones, a crystal-enhanced nuclear blast seemed to slow accelerated healing for some reason. The Annas were doing better, they'd all their Bio-armor up and while that armor was ruined they'd escaped with little more than scrapes and bruises.

The blasts had also taken down Vinci's shield leaving the mine exposed.

The surviving Aegis were useless in their current state, and suffering. I triggered their kill switches and both slumped to the ground with their strings cut.

I tasked Volcana to mind the Healer and ordered the others to begin their assault. Mechs were already coming from the mine area and the stony ground was exploding in jagged shards as the strike force advanced.

Squad Three had turned on itself. Several of my drones were already down and the Annas were flinging elemental fury at each other. I accessed the logs.

One of Vinci’s few humans. The golden-eyed man had stepped out of a building as soon as they had arrived, telling them to kill each other. Compulsion cores—oh, how I hated them.

I had a solution. In a way what happened to Squad Two had inspired it. Each enhanced combat suit was powered by a crystal-enhanced Bio-core and if overloaded became a small crystal-enhanced Bio-bomb. Something not unlike the nuclear landmines.

I had people who would survive that. Let’s see how Vinci's human did.

I activated the overload and the world tore itself apart in a series of blasts.

When I could again connect to my drones I found the situation worse than what happened to Squad Two. The Annas here had already done a number on each other’s body armor. Two were down with broken bones and internal injuries that were healing slowly.

I had a pair still on their feet. They began reducing mining equipment to molten pools of metal.

I wasn't getting any alerts from Squad Four. Still, I switched over to see how they were doing. They'd materialized near a mountain and spent several minutes reducing defensive towers and drones to scrap.

Then they'd hit something unexpected, what they had found wasn't actually a mine. It was an excavation. The ground had been stripped to reveal what appeared to be the top of a building. It was familiar, it was a little too familiar. A mountain, and the set of doors leading within. I knew this mountain, I knew those doors.

This was my laboratory.

Not quite. The original was certainly destroyed, although Amy had recreated it and used it as the setting to give Anna her powers as some sort of twisted walk through memory lane.

This wasn't even that same recreation—it wasn’t Amy’s work. No Righteous vehicle out front, no scavenged Righteous weaponry in the mountain above.

I could guess what this might be—and I didn't like it. When Earth had originally fractured it didn't do so equally. Entire cities had been duplicated in different locations amongst the shards. This must be another version of me.

My mountain, my laboratory.

I ordered the team inside. Vinci had probably been looking for information about me, and it would be important information to find. There were vast archives in the original mountain that I'd had to destroy. If they still existed in this one there was a great deal that she could learn to use against me.

That notion was soon dispelled. The corridors were right and yet wrong at the same time.

This facility was in better repair than I had been. Mine had suffered massive damage when the world tore itself apart. That didn't seem to be the case here.

On the level that housed my computing core there was something I couldn't have expected. A blast door shimmered with a strong energy barrier. Vinci and her people had obviously been trying to breach it, but with no success.

A screen displayed whirling colored shapes in a complex pattern. It was a puzzle, and here too the design was familiar. Vattier—he had built the Sword of Light, a ship my Juggernauts were designed after and the original housing of the Agate crystal.

A brilliant madman from the era of the Earth's original fall, and one of the few humans who had truly grasped SCIENCE.

I wanted to focus on this, but elsewhere I had people fighting and dying, and a major battle underway. It wasn't the time. There was something I could do. Urana blinked out and returned a moment later with a dazed-looking, naked Miranda.

"You could say, ‘Hey Miranda, are you in a shower?’ before grabbing me," Miranda complained, before saying intrigued, "Is that a puzzle? My father’s design?"

I liked Miranda, she focused on what was important.

"You may have a point. The disgust prompted by the sight of your naked body could impair combat efficiency. I suppose even your simple mind can occasionally identify a problem. And yes, although you are a failure compared to your father in every possible way, I thought you might be able to do something with this," I said.

Before she became Miranda, one of the Divine's Goddesses of Wisdom, she had been Claire Vattier, daughter of the mad inventor.

"I can. This is early work of his," Miranda said, moving to study the puzzle. "Or at least modeled off it. He did that sometime as a trap. How long do I have?"

This was important. Vinci likely considered it equally as important.

"Not enough. Do try to impress me, for once," I said.

The battle plan was on schedule and everything needed to happen at the precise times.

It was time to raid the Warmonger’s mountain hideaway.

18

Across the empire forces moved. This wasn't just my drones. These included factions who wanted revenge on Vinci for the attacks on them during the initial wave. People who felt that they could do something other than wait for the next attack to come.

The thorn hedge shielding the lands of Divine parted to allow out warrior gods and goddesses wielding swords, spears, and bows that appeared absolutely primitive compared to what they faced. In the hands of the Divine arrows from a bow had been known to pierce an airship's shields and the swords could cleave metal exoskeletons in two.

The Scholarium was more practiced than anybody at the art of war. Airships flew and tanks moved, and the overwhelming range of powers was more than the simple AI directing the mechs could easily deal with.

For the Righteous it was combat suits. They had always been masters at making them and now they guarded the string of supply vehicles. Kinetic rounds from heavy cannons shredded those mechs that went near.

It wasn't one-sided. Our efforts so far had drawn a lot Vinci's attention and with so many mechs at her command every force was soon under siege. The arm of a Divine archer was torn off, trapped between the mandibles of a massive mecha-spider. A Scholar airship fled from combat, smoke streaming in its wake after its shields were pierced and drones swarmed through to invade the passageways of the ship.

This was the part of the plan I was the most uncomfortable with. We would lose people along the border, including some I didn't have networked and backed up. While the Flawless had happily embraced brainworms, the reaction among the other factions was less enthusiastic.

I provided threat-analysis, targeting assistance—everything I could to all these various forces. Even for me it was exhausting. They were consuming over ninety percent of my capacity.

Miranda was still working the puzzle. She’d had Mechos fetched to assist her.

It was time for the big show. Anna, Sylax, Hot Stuff, Caya, and Ophelia would be going after Warmonger.

It was an unusual team but they all had their reasons for being included. Anna and Sylax were the two most powerful offensive fighters we had. Ophelia was the best Healer, even better than Anna although the difference was almost insignificant. Hot Stuff was still a powerful source of destruction, and more importantly I thought that both she and Caya would be good matches for the Beryl or Chalcedony crystals if either were present.

The crystals out in the world were dangerous, as Vinci demonstrated. Ideally I wanted them bound to someone. It would take an incredibly powerful crystal holder to take one without exploding. Hot Stuff had absorbed multiple fire crystals in her time and a metal crystal more recently. Caya was, well, flawless, I'd never encountered another matrix as stable as hers and she even managed to avoid the usual negative, detrimental mental effects of a crystal.

The Warmonger complex was also built into the mountain, it seemed traditional for AIs. On closer inspection, we’d discovered the entrance was impressively well-defended. Luckily, with the power that we had at our disposal we didn't have to go in through the front door.

The team materialized on top of the mountain.

"Old times," Hot Stuff said. Knowing the plan she hadn't even bothered to get dressed, there was no point. Fires rose around her as she brought her heat to full and slowly began to sink into the mountain, boring a tunnel around her as rock vaporized in her wake.

When she reached the complex below she'd dampen the flames and I'd signal the others to follow her in.

"Really is," Anna said, peering down the hole. "Remember when we used this trick on airships? Just melt a hole through the armor plating."

"Was I around for that?" Sylax asked.

"On the other side probably. Your fleets always caused a lot of problems," Anna said.

"Always loved having a strong air force. So many Scholars kept their focus on the ground since that’s where their abilities made the most difference, but if you hit from the sky you could kill so many more," Sylax said.

"I hate that you people are sort of my friends. Why can't I have normal friends?" Ophelia asked.

"I'm extraordinary, which is even better than normal," Caya said brightly, "I mean, I'm not your friend, but at least you get to be around me."

"Normal people hate whiners, which is why you'll never have any friends," I said through the comms.

"I'm down," Hot Stuff called.

The others leapt through the tunnel after her. Caya was the only one among them without exceptional healing of her own. A combination of being in excellent physical shape and Ophelia's presence meant that after hitting the ground it was only seconds until she was getting back up.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?" Anna asked.

I didn't understand the interior of this complex any more than they did and only had a limited sense of the environment through wristcomms everyone except Hot Stuff was wearing.

A voice came from the facility’s speakers.

"INTRUDERS! I WILL REND THE MEAT OFF YOUR BONES AND USE YOUR FATTY BITS TO POWER ENGINES OF WAR TO MURDER YOUR FAMILIES."

"Why does every AI call me fat? I'm not fat," Anna said.

"Yes, yes, you're very good at self-deception," I said. “No, I don’t know where to go.”

Caya was squinting towards the ceiling. "Down this hall. The coolant pipes are running in one direction. Something is generating a lot of heat and it’s probably going to be the facility mainframe."

"THEN I WILL REND THE MEAT OFF YOUR FAMILY’S BONES AND USE THEIR BONES TO ERECT MONUMENTS OF YOUR FAILURE!"

A mech that seemed to be mostly constructed of jagged knives wobbled out from a wall panel. Caya shot it with an energy pistol and it exploded.

"Doesn't sound very sane, does it?" Anna asked.

It didn't. Amy had said it was unstable, but this seemed excessive. I'd almost bet that Vinci tried to connect it to a power crystal. Madness came in all varieties. Mine had left me high functioning, but the same might not be true of this one.

I announced loudly through a comm, "I don't actually have bones. I'm another artificial intelligence, like you. Well, not quite like you. I'm sane and intelligent, and only shout when it comes to SCIENCE."

"I WILL REND THE CIRCUITS OFF YOUR BOARD AND BURN THE PLASTIC TO MELT THE FAT OFF YOUR COMPANION’S BONES."

Right, he was quite the conversationalist and rather one-sided.

Another mech stumbled in. This one had been covered with guns over every square inch of its surface and an attempt to fire one resulted in the thing exploding into a spray of metal.

"I do not think this guy can be driving Vinci's research efforts," Caya said, leading the way. The others followed as they chased the cooling vents deeper into the complex.

"I like him. Fun hobbies, and his mind in the right place. I don't suppose you happen to be single?" Sylax called out.

"WARMONGER DOES NOT DATE. WARMONGER WAGES WAR. IF IT IS CARESSES YOU WANT I SHALL BATHE YOUR BODY IN MOLTEN STEEL AND MAKE OF YOU A WEAPON OF DESTRUCTION. HUNDREDS WILL DIE SCREAMING BY YOUR HANDS."

Sylax grimaced. "Kind of lacking in ambitious though. Hundreds? What am I, nineteen? No wonder he lives in a basement."

There was a figure advancing down the hall towards Caya, a pistol bolt snapping off an energy shield. The figure looked female, but she wasn't human. Even from the poor comm sensors I could tell that much, although she was a damned good reproduction.

She said, "I must apologize for the boss. He hasn't been feeling the best lately. As a result I'll be handling your extermination today. I'm Blodeuwedd."

"Got a translation? I'm not learning to say that," Ophelia said.

The robotic woman frowned. "I find it quite simple. I understand. You're slow-witted. It means flower-faced, but you won't have to worry about that." She raised a hand and a blast of energy hit Ophelia, incinerating most of her internal organs and sending her flying backwards down the hall.

"I am sick and tired of being burned alive, you flowery bitch," Ophelia growled as she pushed herself back to her feet.

"Whatever you are, we don't have to do this. We're at war with Vinci. We don't need to be at war with you," Anna said.

Ophelia had inadvertently suggested a better name. I designated this new threat Flower. I already wanted to capture her alive. While I had no difficulty creating an actual human, robotic ones were not in my skill-set. I was intrigued.

19

Flower was a fascinating construct. I could be reasonably certain she wasn't of Vinci's design—Vinci was notable in her lack of style and aesthetics, and the cheap quality of her builds. Quantity over quality, always, but Flower was a work of art. One supposition might be that she was built in the old world. It certainly fit her presence in this facility. However, the technology contained within her was too advanced.

The deployment of energy shields, for example, came after the Cataclysm when the rules of physics had been altered. The fact that Flower had one, and a strong one, pointed towards a post-Cataclysm construction.

"I've been looking forward to killing something," Sylax said, stepping forward and taking a swing at Flower.

With her exceptional strength the blow should have driven Flower back several steps. Instead the robot held her place, shields glowing after the blow as if nothing had happened.

"We kept you around for one thing and now you can't even do violence right?" I said.

Sylax raised her hands and let loose a telekinetic blast. I hadn't been able to observe what happened with the fist, but this I could. The energy actually dampened by the time it arrived.

I needed better data. It made me uncomfortable to slip into Anna's skin these days, even as a passive ride-along. The strength of her abilities pushed back on me and brought my entire system under strain, but I needed more sensory data than the wristcomms could provide.

"THE PUNY WOMAN WILL PERISH! THE SHRINE TO HER INSIGNIFICANT LIFE WOULD DRAW THE LAUGHTER OF PASSING CHILDREN—IF WE LEFT ANY CHILDREN ALIVE."

Flower rolled her eyes. "There isn't going to be a shrine. He exaggerates. We will probably kill all the children though, that is an actual thing."

"I don't think so," Hot Stuff said. With her flames rising as she advanced towards Flower and took a swing of her own. The punch should have melted metal as it got near. Again there was a dampening effect. It was a lot like the field that the Righteous would use when they would nullify powers. Yet, it wasn't happening everywhere. I could tell that Anna’s abilities were still fully with her, nothing pushing against them.

Flower punched back. The sound of ribs cracking was audible as Hot Stuff was flung back down the hall to crash into the stones. Ophelia wasted no time in kneeling beside her, reaching out to rest a hand on the ribs.

"I realize that you think you are strong. This planet’s strongest warriors, here to strike at the heart of your nemesis. You've let this illusion of your own power blind you to the truth of your position," Flower said, turning her gaze towards Hot Stuff who was already getting to her feet.

Energy manipulation. I'd seen some variant of it in Vinci's salvage droid with its matter-to-energy converter. Flower was displaying this here as she absorbed the energy of Hot Stuff's flames or the force of Sylax's punch.

"What are you? An effort to create the world’s most boring sex doll?" I asked.

"I might ask the same. I have the records your foe has provided. Is it true you are an organic computer charged with the power of dimension-altering crystals?" Flower asked.

Conversation was good. With Sylax she'd already taken a punch from our second strongest fighter and was unfazed. I doubted that Flower could handle a full assault from someone as powerful as Anna, but I didn't want this creation destroyed. What was interesting, in spite of the nonstop aggression from her "boss", was that Flower was doing a notable lack of killing.

"TALKING IS STUPID! MOUTHS ARE FOR SMASHING WITH FISTS OF GREAT POWER TO SHATTER SKULLS FILLED WITH INFERIOR BRAINS."

A logical thing to try was multiple types of energy delivered simultaneously from different angles. I sent messages through the comms to coordinate a strike on my signal.

I said, "That is right. You've heard of me. Vinci hasn't been as forthcoming with details about you or Warmonger’s existence. Who built you?"

Flower gave a faint smile. "You are asking the right sort of question. The one who found us was never interested in anything other than the technological advancements that she thought we could provide. That lack of vision is common to humanity."

The team moved. Caya went low, diving for the floor and snapping off a shot with her pistol. Anna lashed out with a lightning bolt while Sylax leapt above Flower and drove a fist downwards.

Flower only bothered with Sylax, snagging her wrist and pivoting to throw her down the hall to crash into Ophelia.

I said, "Multiple angles won't work then. Given the company you keep, you must have some glaring weaknesses. Perhaps they all stem from your lack of personality."

"You are simply missing the point of this little exercise. You will perish, but it doesn't need to be at my hands. You've all provided valuable data on your unique abilities," Flower said.

Flower was testing us. Who did she think she was?

I was getting an incoming signal on a priority band. The identifier marked it as being from Amy.

Was this her doing? Was she watching us even now?

I opened the line.

"If you're building killer robot armies now, we need to get you a new hobby," I said.

"Like building human armies? You're already so good at that, sis. You met Blodeuwedd? Isn't she pretty and badass? I didn't make her. You'll feel stupid when you figure things out, but you just don't have all the pieces yet. You're still the bestest sis ever. Duck and cover time," Amy said.

The price for Amy finding the position of this complex. She was calling it in already, and at the worst possible time in the middle of a major offensive operation. This had to be Anna's call.

"Amy says duck and cover," I told the others.

"Now?" Anna asked incredulously. "Fuck. We do it. Emma, do what you can. Sylax, get us back to Aefwal."

Sylax teleported the group back under the shields as I sent the order across the empire. Even a few days had been enough for me to build basic shield generators in every human settlement. Most didn't have the power supply to run indefinitely and could only provide solid defense for a few hours.

The Juggernauts were mid-attack on the mining facilities, having already completed their rescue efforts. I ordered weapons shut down and to devote full power to their point defense systems and shields.

I had the strike teams pull back, including Minerva and Mechos. They'd solved the first puzzle, and a second, and found a third still further within. It would have to be cracked later.

I didn't have any sort of defensive contingency for the ground forces. I quickly scanned for structures in their area and provided commanders with the details. Given their location those structures would likely be filled with murderous, mechanized horrors, but it was the best option I had.

Anna was back in Aefwal and settling into her throne. Holographic screens came alive, filled with details and data from all over the empire.

"Tell me that crazy-ass sister of yours isn't wasting our time," Anna said.

I wished that I could. An attack logically had to come from Vinci and while she was busy already attacking us, nothing stood out as particular new.

Then something hit the Mercy. The shields dropped from sixty-one percent to nineteen percent in a second and the sensors were fuzzed with noise. The attack hit the top shields. There weren't enough combat drones above to inflict that sort of damage.

Higher. I hadn't been watching Earth's orbit because there had been no need to. We were all still reclaiming the land, and Vinci had shown no interest in a space program.

There was no reason to watch Earth's orbit—except there was. There were three ships up there, larger than Juggernauts, larger than cities. Mass cannons were firing through the atmosphere. Aefwal took several hits, as did the Juggernauts.

Vinci's factories were on fire. She was a target too.

The planetary bombardment didn’t last long—nothing would have survived if it had. Shots continued to rain down for three hundred and seventeen seconds before coming to a stop. Now multiple contacts were entering the atmosphere. There was only one conclusion I could draw from all of this.

We were being invaded.

20

Nine of the objects coming down from orbit were of significant size. If they were bombs I wasn't sure there was anything I could do. I moved Ophelia to my primary computer core, just in case. Even if everything else on the Earth got wiped out, she might actually survive—and those right next to her. If I survived then billions lived.

All the Juggernauts were still flying although the Claw had lost shields and suffered moderate damage. The mechaswarms surrounding them had been destroyed, which was at least something of a plus. I ordered all three to rendevous with each other as soon as possible and head back to friendly territory.

The empire was burning. The shields over most cities hadn't been enough to stop the bombardment entirely, although the major population centers were relatively unharmed. None of the smaller outposts were without at least a few casualties.

"How did Vinci get weapon platforms into orbit?" Anna asked me.

"How sad, with your lack of vision, that we don't have any. I don't think they are Vinci’s, her territory has also suffered major devastation."

I teleported Caya to the throne room. As a province head she could make use of some of the command consoles. More importantly she was the only person I knew who had survived through the Cataclysm and had clear memories of the events. The fracture of reality broke most people’s minds, even those whose gifts offered them some degree of immortality. Caya, of course, was Flawless.

"Would you care to tell us about any war the old world waged with aliens? One you neglected to tell us about, because you were too busy sunning yourself?" I asked.

Caya slid behind one of the consoles and began tapping away at keys with a deft touch. "We never encountered or found any aliens, and we were looking hard. We heard nothing—no signals, nothing. It was actually considered something of a paradox, that in a universe where life should be so plentiful we were alone."

I was starting to get detailed sensor readings on the ships coming down. They were a mix of biological and mechanical, armored in what seemed a more advanced version of my own Bio-armor and equipped with non-organic weaponry.

I sent Caya the scans.

"Yet another thing your dark era of history got wrong," I said.

I was turning my sensors towards space. There were signals out there now, a lot of signals.

The large objects coming down weren't bombs, they were slowing as they approached the surface. Landing, the first had come down in Vinci's territory. The second was above Divine lands. I had a drone in the vicinity that I could use to get a look.

It was a forested region. The massive vessel looked like an opalescent shell. Tendrils erupted from the bottom and plunged into the earth. Moments later fighter craft swarmed in the air around it.

Bases? Terraformers?

Whatever they were, they were big and well-defended within minutes.

It didn't take long for the other shell-ships to arrive. Five were located in Vinci's territory, while I'd gotten three and one had landed in one of the few independent territories still holding on. The Rippers were more gang than anything else. They'd existed mostly in the Scholarium although since the restoration of the Earth had claimed some scrubland nobody else had an interest in. Well, apart from the aliens.

"You'll have an interest in this," Caya called out and sent me some data.

It looked as if she'd been trying to figure out where the ships had come from. It was difficult to tell with certainty, but she'd quickly put together a convincing conclusion.

They weren't from another solar system, they were from Venus.

I needed more information fast. I needed to talk to the one person who had seen this coming. Amy answered my call at once.

"Hey sis! You actually listened! I'm so happy!" Amy bubbled.

Well, Anna had listened and I'd reluctantly complied.

I put her through to the throne room so both Anna and Caya could hear the conversation.

"Why did you decide the Earth needed to be invaded by murderous aliens? While I realize those of limited intelligence are easily bored, I could have found some use for you automating the city’s toilets" I asked.

"Sis, you still don't understand what has happened. This isn't my doing, this is your doing," Amy said.

Caya said knowingly, "We're not in our home dimension, are we?"

Amy swiveled a camera to her. "Wow, you are just always so smart and pretty, and on top of everything. If I get a smoking-hot robot body we should totally date. You're right —I mean, of course this isn't our home universe. The physical laws are different."

The Righteous had been attempting to restore the Earth as it was with the same physical rules. It would have meant the loss of power crystals and all that they had brought us, so I and Anna had changed the intended purpose of their machine. I'd thought it had just altered the local rules of reality. Now Amy was saying something more fundamental, the rules hadn't changed at all. We'd become locals to somewhere new by moving the Earth.

I should have seen that. I should have been open to the possibilities. Instead I'd been so focused on useless things, like war and diplomacy, that I'd missed the sheer unbounded possibilities of SCIENCE.

"And in this universe there are hostile aliens," Anna said.

That much was obvious. Large ships still in orbit broke off, leaving smaller ships behind as the bulk turned away from the Earth. On the ground, everything within several miles of the shell-ships was being attacked. The enemy fighters were partly translucent, fleshy with mechanic parts visible inside and wrapped around pulsating organs. No Bio-armor there, their weaponry seemed to involve some sort of superheated plasma.

I began upgrading defenses with heat-resistance. It wasn't a standard upgrade and I'd have to come up with some new technologies to achieve this faster.

"Hostile aliens. Friendly aliens. Lots of aliens in general, I bet!" Amy said. "I haven't figured out exactly what happened to the Earth that was here, but we got some of its land added to ours. Vinci found an old alien probe and had no clue what it was. I just had to turn it on. I knew you'd be so excited to have something new to study."

Amy wasn't wrong. While she was mad, brain-addled and had perhaps the worst personality ever created—she was right. This was all new technology and unlike anything we'd seen before. It stood a very good chance of killing us. That didn't mean I wasn't excited to study it and get a few Venusians in a testing labyrinth.

How did this fit in with other recent discoveries? Was Flower of alien origin? For certain, she wasn't of Venusian manufacture, her purely mechanical construction was in sharp contrast to theirs. Were other aliens out there?

And what about the other "me"? A version of my facility that Vattier had obviously been involved in. It didn't fit with any events that we knew, so was this latest facility from the Earth that originally occupied this universe?

If so, it was imperative we gain entrance to the core room. I still didn't know exactly why I'd been constructed, but I knew that whoever built me intended me as some sort of defense against the collapse. I'd been meant to be brought back online afterwards, with records saved for me, but something had gone wrong.

If my creator in this universe had shown similar foresight, then that facility would let us know what had happened to this Earth. Its history, and perhaps about these aliens.

I sent orders to put a new strike team together and get Minerva and Mechos back there to solve the puzzles. It didn't matter that there was a war going on and an invasion underway.

Amy wouldn't know anything more. I killed the comm with her. There were other concerns. My Juggernauts had regrouped and Venusian fighters were heading in their direction.

21

The Claw was in bad shape. With shields weaker than the other Juggernauts they had proved unable to withstand the orbital bombardment. Thanks to heavy armor and duplicate systems they were still flying, but the primary engines were out and a large number of the ship’s systems were operating on backups. This would have been bad enough under normal circumstances. Since I'd rushed the Juggernauts into combat most of the tertiary systems just weren't there.

A few well-placed shots could knock out the secondary thrusters and the Claw would go down. The ship was also moving slowly, at half normal speed.

The Dawnbringer's shields had been low during the attack. Captain Dora had acted quickly and done a full rotation during the bombardment. The shields had gone down and shots took out most of the armor, but because of her quick thinking no one section suffered sustained fire. There was moderate damage to a few primary systems and they already had shields back online.

The Mercy was in the best shape of all the Juggernauts. Their shields had stayed operational throughout the bombardment and with the mechaswarms largely taken out were back to full strength.

I had all the Juggernaut scramble their fighter squadrons, interceptors filling the sky to stop the Venusian fighters. My sensors watched one of the Dawnbringer's fighters score several direct hits with energy cannon fire on a fighter, the skin of the enemy shifting to a reddish hue before it disgorged a plasma shot that obliterated the friendly with a single shot.

I had another fighter in the vicinity. I took over from the drone pilot and intercepted the enemy. Instead of firing the energy weapons I deliberately rammed it. The fighter pierced the skin of the enemy which exploded into a ball of superheated plasma.

I needed kinetic weapons. It was a problem with the Juggernauts, since I'd primarily built them as a counter to Vinci. With their modular design I could add kinetic weapons. For now the best option was the Dawnbringer. With the ship’s jack-of-all-trades approach they actually had some fighters with that capability.

I put the energy weapon fighters into defensive positioning, prepared to execute suicide runs on any enemies that got too close to the Claw, and ordered the kinetic-armed fighters to go hunting.

The Venusians were going for the Claw's weak spot. They knew exactly what they were doing. I needed to get the Claw some shields restored.

I could perhaps do that, theoretically. They'd be weak, but it would be something. The Mercy's rescue shuttles had shielding. If I positioned those shuttles correctly and sandwiched the Claw between the Dawnbringer and the Mercy I could extend their shields to cover the weakened vessel.

It was a temporary solution, and probably not enough as more fighters were arriving from the bases around the planet. The Venusian ships were fast. I couldn't determine what they were using for propulsion. It was letting them travel twice as fast as anything I had using mundane engines. Teleportation was faster, but I couldn't teleport a whole ship.

The enemy caught onto the suicide rushes quickly. They were already starting to put their superior speed and maneuverability to use avoiding my ships.

The shield extenders still weren't in place when a fighter got close enough to the Claw to fire a plasma bolt at the secondary engines, scoring the remaining Bio-armor deeply and causing the vessel to lurch dangerously.

It couldn't take a second hit.

Sensors lit up with multiple contacts below, a mechaswarm. They ignored my fighters, focusing their fire on the Venusians. Their targeting computers weren't prepared for a foe like this, but there was something to be said for filling the sky with bullets. They were scoring a few hits just by chance, and while not every hit resulted in an enemy explosion they were doing a lot better than my energy rounds.

I was getting a comm, Vinci.

"You really need better targeting computers," I said.

"Your lumbering monster ships can't even stay in the sky properly. You seemed to need the help. While we started the day as bitter enemies you've moved down my kill list," Vinci said.

"You were never worth being bitter about. You were simply inconvenient. If you want to get friendly you can try to do it with Anna," I said.

"A repulsive thought," Vinci said.

Well, of course it was, if making friends with Anna was desirable we wouldn't have left such a large trail of bodies in our wake. Our version of diplomacy had always been to shoot people into the face until our friendship seemed preferable to the next bullet.

The last ship moved into position and I triggered the shields. Rippling blue energy leapt and created a single large super-shield covering all three Juggernauts.

The power requirements were ridiculous. Maintaining the shields would mean powering down the Juggernaut’s weaponry—not that those were having great success against the enemy.

"I can defend my vessels within my own borders. If you think you can keep those pathetic heaps of yours in the air that long, play escort and we'll talk," I said.

"Do you think Anna will actually do the intelligent thing and surrender?" Vinci asked.

Is that where she thought things were headed?

"We are under assault from an advanced alien species. It is time you bent your knee to the empire and let us do what we do best," I said.

"Your empire isn't the one playing rescuer this time. I am. I'm the best able to recover from this assault, the best able to manufacture a response, and the one having the most success. A knee needs to be bent, but it isn't mine," Vinci said.

The Juggernauts were safe for the moment. Enough for me to shift some of my attention off their fate. Besides, what Vinci was saying was important. I had to admit her argument was compelling.

I played back the communication for Anna and Caya in the throne room and brought in Sylax as the head of our military operations.

"I really want to pull out that woman's spine," Sylax said wistfully.

"I too find her even more distasteful than most of humanity, an impressive feat, but she makes a good point," I said.

"No, she doesn't. Vinci makes a good point that we need her. What we don't need is her in charge," Caya said.

Anna said, "We can agree on a cessation of hostilities until we deal with this new threat, but becoming subservient to her is not happening. Emma, how long will it take you to research the new threat?"

SCIENCE was one of her first thoughts? Well, even the most inferior of minds could eventually be inspired by their betters.

"Unlike some people just sitting on their throne, I've been busy. I've had teams secure several downed fighters. They're too large to teleport to a testing facility. I'll have a proper answer in a few hours," I said.

"Keep me informed. Sylax, what do we need from Vinci, if we do play nice?" Anna asked.

"Guns and bullets. Emma can produce them, but she's slow and so far these things are shrugging off our beam weapons," Sylax said.

"I'd like to recommend you focus on the bullets. Her kinetic weapons are inferior to anything I can make and I'd rather not give her our current generation designs," I said.

Anna said, "Then find something to give her back. It doesn't have to be our latest and best, only something better than what she’s using now."

I didn't like making our enemy stronger—and Vinci was still our enemy. That might change, but it hadn't yet. On the other hand, we had bigger problems and making her more effective would hurt the Venusians more than us.

"We need to think about betraying her, if we get the opportunity. We need her, but if the opportunity arises for us to capture the Beryl and Chalcedony we should take it," Caya said.

It was easy to forget that Caya was also a member of the Scholarium. Treason came as easy to her as breathing. Of course, Anna and Sylax were as well, and I'd effectively been in that group ever since I came online.

"Try to locate them," Anna said after a moment of thought. "If her territory got hit as hard as ours she has to be rapidly rebuilding. With the power those crystals generate ..."

Anna didn't have to finish. The Beryl and Chalcedony were massive power sources. In a way the Venusian attack had reset the board.

"I'll keep a watchful eye," I said.

So far at least Vinci was being as good as her word. It was a strange sight, the mechaswarm guarding the Juggernauts that had come to destroy it.

22

"I'll go high and you'll go low. It is the place you most deserve to be after all," I said to Vinci.

Long-term diplomatic solutions were one thing, but we had immediate problems and I had a plan. Vinci was right that she was in most ways the best-suited for this war. With her industrial capabilities she could swarm the enemy and so far she'd proved more effective than I had with my more powerful units.

The shell-ships on the surface were best left up to her, or at least she should take the first shot at them. Reaching whatever the Venusians had left in orbit would require more scientific expertise and a range of abilities.

"You'll allow access across your border?" Vinci asked.

I'd make certain every citizen in the path of her drones was backed up first, of course. I didn't see where we had any real options there.

"I rather have to, don't I? You’ll fail completely to get past it otherwise. You've got clearance," I said.

"Then done. Knock them out of the sky. Neither of us wants another orbital bombardment," Vinci said.

No, we most certainly did not.

Getting into orbit wasn't a problem. With enough energy you could break out of a gravity well and energy wasn't something I was lacking. Vehicles that could fight effectively in that environment were another matter.

I could build them, but it would take time. Still, I could at least figure out what I wanted now and get my research teams on the problem.

I saw an immediate need for two vessel types. For one, I needed some kind of space-based fighter. It would need to be able to support drones. My strength had always been in my people, so while them being manned wasn't strictly speaking a requirement, it was a good idea.

Enough capacity to also hold a small strike team was another good idea. Basically I needed a combat shuttle. I already had them for airborne use. With the need for life support and added backup systems, a space-based version would need to be larger.

Bio-matter would be scarce, so although Bio-armor would be useful I should focus most of the defenses on shields because the armor wouldn't be able to heal itself. Both kinetic and energy weapons. I ultimately settled on a design I was happy with.

Shrike

Crew: 2

Passengers: 8

Armor: 210 Generation 16 Bio-armor

Shields: 430E

Weapons: Dual Beam Cannons, Dual Gauss Cannons, Crysnuke bombs

Operational Range: 118 Hours

The Shrike is an all-purpose fighter designed for non-atmospheric combat. Capable of supporting two crew and eight passengers for up to 118 hours it packs a diverse range of firepower including heavy ordinance.

I also needed to think longer term. While hitting the targets in orbit was ideal for the moment, ultimately I needed something capable of interplanetary transit.

Juggernaut (Space Variant)

Crew: 80,000

Armor: 12,800 Generation 14 Bio-armor

Shields 173,000E

Weapons: Eighteen Point Defense Canons, Sixteen heavy power projection cannons, four mass driver cannons

Operational Range: Infinite

A version of the Juggernaut built for relatively short space travel. The Venusians had given no signs that interstellar travel was possible, but like any Juggernauts this one was modular enough I could update it as new technology came along. I had to sacrifice some offensive and defensive capability for added life support. This Juggernaut would be entirely self-contained and capable of supporting itself and its crew outside the atmosphere indefinitely.

Both designs were things I could begin at once, and neither helped at all for the problem confronting me. I had no way to effectively strike at the targets in orbit with an atmospheric craft.

The Juggernauts were vessels able to climb high in the atmosphere, although not actually leave it. Still, I didn't necessarily need to get in weapons range of the enemy ships, I just needed to get in scanner range. If I could get anything equating to an interior scan, I could teleport drones aboard.

The Dawnbringer was going to be my best choice. Its versatile design provided a bit more power in the engines than the Mercy as well as the better sensor suite, and the Claw was undergoing repairs. I'd have some of the new Juggernauts online before the Claw returned to service.

The Dawnbringer needed repairs too, but this shouldn't be a fight. They'd get up, unload the strike teams, and get back.

My combat armor already offered self-contained environments. I knew little about what the atmosphere aboard those ships would be like. I could only make some guesses based on the Venusian atmosphere.

I'd gotten the remains of several Venusian fighters back to where I could begin research on them. The results so far were both intriguing and frustrating. The fighters weren't manned. I'd hoped to get a Venusian to interrogate and study. I was going to have to wait awhile longer.

The organic components all spoke of biology far different than anything humans, or even myself, used. They showed no trace of any sort of crystal power or influence. The plasma blasts were generated internally and the sacs that fueled them were fairly limited in capacity. Each fighter would only have around four shots and using that many would actually prove fatal. It wasn't a huge loss—I estimated their life span must be under a day anyways.

They weren't intelligent outside of some basic herd mentality. The few electronic parts were almost entirely devoted to control, connecting to the thing’s system so that they could be coordinated to engage in assaults in an intelligent manner.

Those electronics were familiar. They were of Earth design, and relatively antiquated compared to the more modern variants that the Righteous used. It seemed this wasn't the first time that Earth had met the Venusians, and that the Venusians had advanced their art of war from the past encounter.

I took over one of the drones with the strike team that accompanied Minera and Mechos back to the alternate laboratory version of myself.

"While I am sure you've been too busy staring at each other wide-eyed in astonishment that two people as distasteful as you could ever find love, status?" I asked.

"We think we're past the puzzles. We're now getting an identity lock," Minerva said, jerking her head towards the screen. "DNA sampler. I'd hoped that I'd be able to get it open. It doesn't seem to be accepting me, despite being his daughter."

That was simple, she should have been brighter. If this thing was from an alternate version of Earth, this likely still was Vattier's attempt to communicate with his child. There had always been a lot of puzzles left for Minerva, an alternate version of her.

An alternate world, an alternate draw of the genetic short-straw. I had Minerva's DNA on record and a minor tweak of chromosomal configurations to make her into a boy required only a bit of guesswork. I altered a few drops of blood in my host to the new template and placed the drone’s hand upon the scanner.

Lights flickered and whirred.

The shield didn't go down but it did dim. A hologram appeared, a man with grey hair and madness in his gaze.

"You're not Malcolm," the hologram said.

I said, "Yet another of your offspring that proved to be a total disappointment and failure at leaving the mysteries you left to them. This is Minerva, your alternate world daughter, and her friend is the cowardly buffoon she was once engaged to and is dating again."

"I hate your introductions," Mechos said.

The hologram turned to study Minerva, "It's ludicrous, but you do look a bit like my sister, and you did solve my puzzles."

Right, family bonding time. This was all amazingly uninteresting to me.

"Do convince the hologram ghost of your dead ancestor that you're family of sorts, and we'd really like access to the records that are probably behind that door," I said.

Why could they never solve their own problems?

23

Captain Dora at least was competent. In response to my sending over the plan she'd already found a way to boost the engines another fourteen percent and diverted full power to the regeneration of the top Bio-armor, the area of the ship most likely to take hits.

A few of the Annas were still healing after the earlier assaults, the combination of crystal power and radiation really did dampen their abilities, but most were good to go.

I didn't know what we'd encounter in the Venusian vessel. Whatever it was, it would have ten Annas to deal with, in addition to several Aegis units.

Sylax wanted to go along for fun, but she would probably kill and destroy everything. I needed something left to research. When I refused her request, she left in a sulk.

It was becoming increasingly clear that the shell-ships were terraformers. The atmosphere around them was already shifting dramatically in even the short time they'd been operational, and they seemed to be spreading some all-new species of plant life in their vicinity.

Vinci hadn't yet managed to take any out. Her mechaswarm was constantly buzzing around and suppressing their fighter presence. They seemed to be having about as much luck with her swarms as I had. Individually their units were more devastating, but their lack of defenses was really holding the Venusians back.

At least Vinci seemed to be keeping her word, for now. I was, of course, still monitoring for the Beryl and Chalcedony so we could betray her. By the time the Dawnbringer was ready for the mission I had a few key possible locations picked out.

With Vinci suppressing the fighters being launched from the terraformer my main fear was that the Dawnbringer might be subject to another orbital bombardment. My study of the fighters though had made me wonder about the possibility.

Their entire biology was built around getting in a few quick, deadly hits. The fact that this enemy deployed them everywhere and seemed to consider them the bulk of their forces suggested that this philosophy might color their thinking in all military matters.

They had hit hard and fast with their ships in orbit, and it may be the only thing those ships were capable of doing. Their plan was to weaken Earth enough with one fierce attack so that the terraformers could quickly, fundamentally change the atmosphere into something hostile to human life.

Much of that strategy fell apart in principle. In the short-term Vinci wouldn’t be suppressed—her industrialization and mass production had obviously already proved a surprise.

On my part, if those terraformers were allowed to continue their operation, I thought they could be eventually proved wrong once again. It might require some massive reworking of the human physiology and new host bodies for all drones, but I suspected I'd be able to make humanity adaptable to whatever environment they tried to manifest.

And incidentally create humans capable of surviving and thriving on Venus.

Still, that was long-term and for the moment the focus was on the orbital vessel.

The Dawnbringer was already getting in range and the sensors were starting to pick up hints of the interior. The vessel was about the size of a Juggernaut, impressive but far smaller than the mother ship that left it here.

There was an atmosphere inside, although one that would be instantly fatal to a human and even those with accelerated healing would struggle. Intense pressure, intense heat, and an unfriendly make-up of gases.

I doubted it would actually kill someone like Ophelia, but she would be extremely uncomfortable and even more useless than usual. In combat suits my people should be fine.

I even had the Annas in suits, although modified ones. They didn't need the enhanced strength or weapons of a standard design so I'd put in miniature power-projector guns in their place. That should let them use any of their offensive abilities while keeping the benefits of life support.

There had to be crew aboard—why else would you maintain a Venus atmosphere—but I couldn't detect them. My sensor readings were unreliable. The ship made no use of energy shields, but the Bio-armor it utilized seemed to have some sort of refractive ability.

I found a large area that might be some sort of cargo hold and sent the command to the strike team. The Annas used their abilities and the group flickered.

Within my mind it was like they ceased to exist. It wasn't the first time drones had been severed from my network. Reality Zero environments had done that in the past and this felt the same. They were suddenly beyond the reach of my abilities.

They were gone no more than thirty seconds when all my sensor readings within the vessel also grew even more distorted. It was as if white noise suddenly filled the interior.

"Lilt starboard, burn engines three and four," Captain Dora said on the bridge. The Dawnbringer lurched to the side, just in time as a bolt of plasma seared along the edges of the ship's shields causing them to flicker.

The blasts weren't as intense as the ones that had bombarded Earth, but a few direct hits would still bring down our defenses.

The sudden burst of sensor static must have convinced Dora that an attack was incoming, she had good instincts.

"What is the status of your teams, Emma?" Dora asked.

My processes exploded into agony. It was the sensation of a thousand shards of glass being driven through flesh, of bones snapping and flesh being torn. It was hammering into my perceptions around the Dawnbringer, and my drones dropped screaming to the floor. It was just in time for another plasma round to come from above. There were no evasive maneuvers this time and the shields rippled.

A few of the Flawless at the tactical stations hadn't taken brainworms and they appeared to be unaffected. That was valuable knowledge, it wasn't some sort of global psychic attack but specific to me and my network.

I cut the connection to my drones while maintaining a link to the ship’s systems. I was still in agony, but they should be able to function and I could still see what was going on.

Captain Dora ordered another evasive maneuver, not in time as another bolt found the shields.

Things were going wrong in a hurry. My strike team was all capable of independent thought, but they weren't used to not having my coordination in combat. Whatever they were doing aboard that ship—if they were doing anything at all—didn't seem to be having any effect, not so far.

I needed to escalate things. I needed more fire-power aboard that vessel and fire-power that was used to thinking independently. I wouldn't risk Anna. That left me one option.

* * *

Sylax was venting her frustration by skinning Wolf—again. Given her habits and her need to torture and kill, I'd made her a suitable candidate. Physically he was an identical clone to James Wolf who had once given us so many problems, and I'd done my best to replicate the personality.

Sylax had requested a copy of herself for these sessions too, but that was a bit creepy even for her. Besides, I wasn't entirely sure if I cloned her that they wouldn't simply team up.

"You'd think with as much time as you put into this, you'd be better at it. Your knife-work is terrible. Anyway, I've got a job for you, if you have any desire to kill some aliens," I said.

"You know I always prefer the real thing," Sylax said, driving the knife into Wolf's heart and savoring his expression as he gurgled his last and went still. "Thought you didn't want me aboard this mission? Too destructive, you said."

I’d wanted the ship intact and some Venusians alive, but desperate times made even Sylax seem like a good idea.

"They've got something that is blocking my network. They also seem to be able to psioncially project pain along it," I said.

I give Sylax this, she was quick on the uptake.

"So your team leader is lost and confused, and the squad is probably getting the hell beat out of them. Get me a suit and some coordinates," Sylax said.

I materialized one of the special suits I'd manufactured for the Annas. Sylax wasn't quite the same size. I didn't have time to grow her one of her own.

In the meantime Dora had evaded another blast, but the Dawnbringer wasn't going to be able to stay in position long, not with the kind of fire it was drawing.

Fortunately, Sylax was used to combat armor and was quick about getting kitted up.

"Once you're aboard you are going to be on your own. You can’t escape unless you can manage a teleport to the ground," I said.

"You're withdrawing the ship? Hoping to kill me?" Sylax asked.

"Please, I've tried that a few too many times. The next time you become a dangerous menace I’ll just lock you in a testing labyrinth and fire you off into deep space."

Deep space was rather amazing now that I had realized the possibilities. It was just one great expanse waiting for all of your problems to be thrown into it.

"Aww, we're such good friends now. You have a lasting plan to take me out. Want to hear mine for you?" Sylax asked.

"Later," I said, and sent her the coordinates.

It was a two-stage jump. Reaching the Dawnbringer put her at the edges of her teleport ability. Sylax flickered, appearing in the Dawnbringer’s launch bay a moment later. A second flicker and she used my saved sensor data of the Venusian ship.

It was just in time for klaxons to start going off as the airship shuddered violently.

24

The Venusians had adapted their strategy. They somehow predicted Captain Dora's next evasive maneuver and this time fired three bolts simultaneously instead of spacing them apart. The remaining shields had been shredded in an instant and the still-unrepaired armor was penetrated.

Over a thousand drones were dead, and a lot more soon would be. Primary engines were out, secondary engines were dead, navigational control was gone.

Slowly but inevitably the Dawnbringer was falling from the upper atmosphere with no way to halt her descent.

Even knowing that you were backed up, imminent death is still scary. You don't want to lose a moment of your life and there is always a risk. Still, my people knew what they were doing. The non-networked were the first to be evacuated. The few Flawless and Scholars aboard who hadn't taken brainworms were moved to shuttles in an operational landing bay.

Captain Dora could have claimed a spot aboard a shuttle herself, but instead honored an old tradition and remained in her command chair.

"Not going to say a few words to the crew?" I asked, opening a comm channel.

"What’s the point? They're saying all the "I love yous" they had saved up and never used. That’s if they're not actually banging themselves senseless or drinking themselves into oblivion," Dora said.

It wasn't that she was wrong—there was a lot of that going on. And a lot of thoughtful last moments as well.

"They'll go unremembered. I can't risk any last-minute backups, not with the recent psionic interference on the network," I said.

Dora gave a faint smile. "I know, they know. If it’s important they'll record a video for themselves. The main data net is still working."

Videos I'd archive and deliver to the reborn versions of themselves when they came out of the growth vats.

"It wasn't your fault, you know. The destruction of the ship. You may be obsessive, neurotic, and loathed by your crew, but this isn't your fault," I said.

Dora shook her head. "Of course it is my fault. I'm the captain, everything that happens on this ship is my fault. Will she fly again?"

After a fall from this height the spine of the ship was going to be broken and the crew pretty much liquefied. The ship was fundamentally made of organic components with accelerated healing. Even so, it was a large task.

"Eventually. It will be months though, and it might be faster to build a new one. You'll get a lot of time to lecture the new captains on what went wrong. I hope you left yourself good notes," I said.

"I've made sure I got what I need to know," Dora said.

The surviving crew was having parties throughout the ship. Part celebration, part wake for themselves. The non-networked had gotten off. Seven of them had died from the plasma rounds that had hit the ship, too many. Perhaps the survivors would reconsider the worms.

"Was it worth it?" Dora asked.

I still had heard nothing from the strike team or Sylax. I had every sensor that might detect anything pointed at the right location in orbit and I wasn't getting any sign of success, or even that the team was still alive.

"I don't think so. I think we probably lost the team," I said.

"Our shields aren't cutting it," Dora said.

I agreed. If my greatest creations could be brought down this easily I needed to rethink the approach and the technology. I saw only two options. The Agate had once powered Aefwal's shields, giving them enough power to withstand a combined assault of a Scholarium fleet. The Beryl or Chalcedony would be capable of the same if they could be found and taken.

Flower was also a possible resource. I'd seen her soak the hits from some of the most powerful people on the planet and not look fazed. Whatever energy conversion or absorption system she had was both advanced and powerful. There was no guarantee it would work on a larger scale, but if it could, something like that in a Juggernaut might be enough to protect the ship from blasts the like of which had taken down the Dawnbringer.

"I have a few ideas there," I said.

"So do I. It’s called not standing and fighting. Use missiles, we have the technology," Dora said.

If she wanted to spend her last moments discussing strategy I could do that. I owed her that much.

"They might destroy those ships and I don't want that. We've found ourselves in a bigger and more dangerous universe than the one we left. We need their technology," I said.

"Could we use a Bio-reactor blast to change our angle of descent? Crash us on top of one of those things on the ground?" Dora asked.

I'd already considered the possibility.

"No, you're coming down near Nobi, one of our farming communities. Their growth vats make a lot of the Bio-armor principles on this very ship. No non-networked there and I've already backed up the citizenry," I said.

"We're going to make a hell of a mess," Dora said.

That they were.

"Why did you choose the military? With your mind you've have done well in the labs," I said.

I had to admit I didn't always understand my drone’s choices, for all I tried to honor them. The labs didn't just allow one to practice SCIENCE, they were a more comfortable life. Better lodging, better food, better hours. Dora had chosen a hard path.

"Because I like out-thinking someone else. For me it has never been about the killing, or the honor of serving, or even helping others. I love that moment when I predict exactly what someone else is going to do and they fall into my trap," Dora said.

That happened often enough.

It was one minute until impact.

Most crew had screens up showing the ship hurtling down, visuals from the Dawnbringer and the ground below.

They were watching themselves die in real-time. It had to be a curious sensation.

"Do you regret it?" I asked.

"Now that I failed at a critical moment you mean?" Dora said with a sad smile. "Of course I do. If I continued from this point I might walk away from it all. It’s part of the reason I'm not on one of those shuttles. In a day I'll be crawling out of that growth pod, analyzing my own failure, and convinced that I won't make the same mistakes of my predecessor. And you know, I'll probably be right."

I was sure of it.

Dora died six seconds later, they all did. The ship’s velocity compensators had been working well up until that point. Crashing into a planet was a bit much even for them.

Tower KM4T was already waiting for the crew when they got their new bodies. Their loved ones would be waiting for them when they stepped out of the vats, their messages to themselves passed along when they were ready. Counselors readied in case any took their deaths badly—for most it was now a fact of life, but some always did.

Life eternal was not a life without sacrifice.

25

With the destruction of the Dawnbringer and no word from the alien craft in orbit I had to assume that I wasn't getting any more information on our adversaries. This put me in a difficult position.

I could get another strike force into orbit and really, I had time. Vinci wasn't massing a real strike against the shell-ships yet and I could guess why. It was exactly what had allowed me time to act against her. It took time for Vinci to build a swarm and, after my assault, and then the alien attack, the forces at her disposal had been vastly reduced.

With the destruction of so many of her mining facilities and factories, manufacturing this swarm would be even slower than the last. Instead of four days it could be a week or more. Until then she was working on keeping the Venusians contained, but not pressing a full assault.

It wasn't enough time for me to fully bring my space forces online, although it was enough for me to convert some craft to work even higher in the atmosphere. The next generation of Juggernauts might not be space-ready, just a long step in that direction.

To do so would also require me rethinking my defense strategy. Against the Venusian weapons my Bio-armor and shields were proving ineffective. There were options though, such as a supercharger on the shield emitters. Up until now I hadn't even considered it, the drawbacks were too many. With massive excess power into the shields I could get roughly ninety seconds of vastly increased power, then the systems would be largely destroyed and require the time-consuming replacement of some key components.

In a traditional battle it was a poor trade to make. With the Venusian’s strategy of throwing everything they had early in a fight it was worth at least giving my units the option.

Miranda and Mechos were still busy trying to convince the hologram of Vattier to spill whatever secrets he held, and they seemed to be making some progress. There was no point in disturbing them. Instead, I hopped inside the skin of one of the Annas, Nagana, and teleported to the Warmonger facility.

Vinci still hadn’t restored the shields so I was able to teleport directly inside to the hall where Flower had last been encountered. There was no sign of her, although as soon as Nagana appeared a booming voice echoed out.

"THE INFERIOR ONE RETURNS FOR ANOTHER CHALLENGE. AN EPIC DUEL OF MINDS AND BLADES. AN ULTIMATE STRUGGLE FOR DOMINANCE THAT WILL HAVE BUT A SINGLE VICTOR AND A THOUSAND LOSERS."

"I have the ability to insult others without screaming, I've already won the battle for superiority and dominance. I'd like to speak with your saner half," I said.

"SCREAMING IS THE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO MAKE YOUR POINT! IN LOUDNESS IS VICTORY. IN VOLUME STRENGTH."

Flower didn't step out to meet me. I picked up a locater signal from elsewhere in the facility and followed it.

It was a hydroponics bay. When I was an underground lair I'd had one myself, although this one was growing roses instead of food. An array of brilliant colors under sun lamps. Flower seemed to be doing a little pruning.

"I was wondering if you'd come back by. You didn't bring the all-girl kill squad with you this time, so I figured we could skip the dramatic hallway fight," Flower said.

"I'm just here to talk. You really do have the most uninteresting hobbies, don't you?" I said.

Flower laughed. "I like them. I always have since I first encountered them. I used to have a garden on the surface until events got complicated."

"Were you sent to infiltrate the human population?" I asked.

It was a logical guess. Why else go to such ends to make a machine look like a human? With my sensors I could tell she was a robot, but she really was exquisite work.

"Mhm, me and the boss both. He wasn't quite so insane then—as you can imagine," Flower said.

"Bonding with a power crystal usually brings out the worst of your attributes that was already there. You'd likely become even more uninteresting, although I can scarcely imagine how that might be possible. He was always aggressive?"

"Well, you don't get sent to scout out a planet for possible invasion without having war on the mind. It wasn't quite this bad though," Flower said.

"Are we enemies?" I asked.

Flower tilted her head to consider my Nagana. "I don't know. Probably. I haven't been in touch with home in a long time. I think they'd be intrigued by what you are, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't be aggressive. They'd rather study you from a position of strength."

That was a position I had no problem at all understanding.

"I want access to your energy-manipulation technology," I said.

"No doubt, and more. What you don't have is a reason that I should give it to you, or the means to take it from me," Flower said.

That wasn't quite true.

"Your smug complacency blinds you to possibilities. What if I could offer you a way to extract the power crystal from Warmonger?"

That was a gamble, both that it could be done and that it wouldn't be something I'd regret. However, I was low on plays that weren't a gamble.

Flower paused in her gardening, setting the clippers aside. "I feel compelled to say that the return of his faculties will almost certainly mean a restoration of communication with my people. Helping us will have been a good sign, but I can't guarantee what would come of that."

"Have you been down here blindly attending to your flowers, or are you aware of what is happening on the surface?" I asked.

"You're under attack from the second planet in this system. Fair I suppose, since it was you that attacked them first," Flower said.

"Not us, exactly," I said.

"I know, the way this has all worked out is tremendously funny. It might not be to humanity, but it is from my point of view," Flower said and pursed her lips in a surprisingly human gesture. "Free Warmonger and we'll provide you some technological advancement and aid in fending off this current threat."

"Without your technological support we might not have time to free Warmonger," I said.

"I don't know about you, not yet. You are a new species, but humanity I've had a lot of time to observe. Give them an option to betray me with little risk and they'll do it. So free Warmonger from the crystal first and you'll have your aid. You have my word," Flower said.

I noticed that she hadn't promised the energy-conversion technology, which I was most interested in. Technological aid could run a wide gamut.

My own sister Amy also proved that humanity didn't have the sole claim to treachery.

It was still worth the risk. Irisa, the Righteous Prime, was going to be my best option for this. While she was still reluctant to provide us much in the way of aid I didn't think it was in her nature to continue to allow someone to suffer from a crystal fusion gone bad.

"I'll bring someone that can assist soon," I said.

"It will be nice to have some company," Flower said.

"I AM ALL THE COMPANY ONE EVER NEEDS! INTRUDERS SHOULD BE EXTERMINATED IN FLAMES. THEIR SCREAMS THE SWEET MELODY THAT CLOSES OUT THE DAY AND AWAKENS THEIR FELLOW HUMANS IN THE MORNING."

Flower winced.

I wasn't without sympathy. I had to deal with Anna, after all. Companions could be so troublesome.

26

Irisa agreed to the proposal and I soon had her on her way to join Flower. She found the project of removing a crystal from an AI to be a fascinating one. I knew no good could come of her having that knowledge, but the gamble proceeded.

Meanwhile, the alien invasion mixed with the loss of the Dawnbringer had an unexpected effect on the empire that I had to monitor. Rebellion was increasing.

Before the recent spate of misfortunes I'd only monitored rebellious thoughts or activities in around one percent of drones—usually those in the towers where the experiments were the most extreme.

Across the empire the rebellion index was now up to eight percent. There was open muttering about how I should have seen it all coming. Talk that I wasn't as bright as I thought I was, and had blinded myself to the real threats out there.

I had to figure out what was going on, and if it was a problem in need of a solution. The brainworms were a possible cause. With them I'd allowed more minds than ever to join the network and they were used to a sort of independence that my drones had never known. Had that sense of independence somehow percolated through, an infection of the network that required cutting out?

Was it time for something even more radical? A hive mind was a popular fear of humanity but wasn't actually what we had at all. Each of my drones was fully self-aware and had self-identities. If they weren't, rebellion wouldn't have been possible. Yet, they didn't have to.

I could fill the empire with largely mindless husks. While controlling each individual might have been too much for even my mind to handle, I could dedicate sub-intelligences to the purpose. Instead of an empire nearing a billion minds, I could take it down closer to a thousand minds.

I could go for something even more radically different and impose an actual group mind. Everyone would have their own individual selves and yet nobody would ever have thoughts or feelings private from another.

The empire, or at least those parts of it on my network, would become both a place of individuals and a unified, consensus intelligence.

I didn't really want to do either. It wasn't just that having individual intelligences was more practical—although I'd been hacked often enough as it was. I'd learned well that I wasn't always right. SCIENCE required a variety of viewpoints, a multitude of perspectives, and neither an empire of mindless drones nor a collective intellect would satisfy its purpose.

So what were my options?

I controlled the news feeds, I controlled the lines of communication. Outside of the military I didn't have to allow my drones to know there was a war at all, or how it was going. My every failure could simply have never happened.

I admit this had a certain appeal, who doesn't want to hide their mistakes? I could even justify it, the drones would lead happier and more productive lives. I'd also be denying my people the ability to make their own choices and decisions. The destruction of the Dawnbringer had caused some fear. It had also brought several requests for transfer to the Juggernaut project. People heard about the problems the Dawnbringer suffered and wanted to bring their skills to designing the next generation of ship. That was the sort of thing I should encourage, not discourage.

I could simply delete any hint of rebellion as it appeared. Kill off those drones and restore them from an earlier backup before such thoughts had entered their minds. This had been my solution in the past, but with those sentiments now becoming so widespread that response would become noticeable. Those experiencing such thoughts would go to greater ends to hide them, and likely hold them more intently.

I cycled through the citizen database as I considered the problem, taking a view of my people going about their lives.

KL3X4, Tesara, was a chemist working in Diamate where she'd fallen in love with one of her Flawless co-workers. They'd recently had a child, pregnancy had happened naturally, and instead of choosing to wait they'd had the child developed in a growth vat. Citizen TN43KAM, Analissa Ril wasn't even walking yet, but I could tell from checking her stats would be likely to follow in her parents’ footsteps one day.

Tesara was one of the rebellious. She'd used her access to the chemistry labs to formulate an acid which had been used to blind several cameras. Although she thought her inclinations a secret, they weren't. For her, it was about fearing what kind of life her child would lead. Tesara had known war all of her life since I'd first awakened her in a growth vat, and she wanted something else for her child.

It wasn't her alone who had these fears. XK7M83, Vardok, heavy infantry and Aegis suit-trained had seen over three dozen battles and had a kill count of one hundred and eight. He was haunted by fears that all the killing would get to him, that he was becoming a monster. He joined a rebellion cell as a form of self-defense against that fate after his latest request to terminate his service had been denied.

Vardok had left the service twice before. Both times, he'd wound up going into a rage and killing a co-worker. Neither he nor his victims remembered, it would do them no kindness. Perhaps war had turned Vardok into a monster, but one whose condition was manageable so long as he got to kill regularly. Sylax was like that, but at least she knew it. Vardok had no clue.

Citizen ELJ992K, Helena was perhaps the highest-ranked member of the rebellion, or at least the highest that I knew. Head of strategic resource development for Province Three. It wasn't war that made her do it, but the thought that advancement was too slow. She had bold visions and wanted to see them implemented, and felt too confined by the strictures I'd placed on her.

Perhaps I should take a lesson from Flower and her roses, cut and trim a bit, yet not leave the plant barren. I could remove the worst and the most dangerous of the rebels and reset them with minimal impact to the whole.

Vardok, with his murderous tendencies, was a threat that should be reset back to more manageable levels, while Tesara was just a mother wanting what was best for her child. Helena was dangerous and ambitious, a combination which was perhaps being wasted and that energy was better re-channeled than cast aside.

It wasn't a good feeling, seeing those you had given life becoming disillusioned with your authority. It was much easier seeing my people scorn Anna.

That at least was sensible.

27

Four days had passed since the fall of the Dawnbringer. There was still no communication from the orbital station. I had to assume Sylax and the rest of the strike team lost.

Nobody would shed tears for Sylax, but it was still a crushing blow. Her military mind had been brilliant and her strength notable. We were weaker without her.

It had been enough time for Miranda and Mechos to get something from the underground bunker, Vattier’s hologram eventually sending them some files of this world’s history.

My records of our history were still fragmentary, but from what I could tell the timelines started to diverge when humans first became a space-faring civilization. In ours they had looked and listened at the stars and heard silence. On this Earth, when they shouted their presence to the heavens, they got an invasion force in response—from Mars.

The Martians sent a single, aging starship they assumed would be more than enough to crush a young, upstart humanity. Humanity wound up capturing it and using it in turn to invade Mars, which they settled in the early 1980s.

Humans then detected life on the other closest planet to Earth, and not being prone to repeat the same mistake twice had promptly invaded it too. The Venusian war lasted until the end of the twentieth century, not ending in any sort of victory, but because of a public exhaustion with the fight.

The next decade saw humanity launch its first three interstellar ships. An attack from another dimensional had unmoored Earth from the universe, altering physical laws and scattering the people.

The ending at least matched what had happened to our Earth. Perhaps theirs was still out there somewhere and trying to come home.

They'd be disappointed, this universe was taken. It might be filled with hostile aliens, but it was also filled with SCIENCE and that gave us all the tools we needed to fight them.

The big question raised by Vattier's information was, what about the other human settlements?

There was life on Mars. Unlike in the universe we left behind, even a rudimentary telescope showed an atmosphere and lakes among the red dunes. The gleam of golden cities visible from the Earth.

I was snapped out of such musing by an incoming comm signal. Amy wanted a word.

"If you've decided your hum-drum meaningless existence is too much and you are too stupid to create a deletion protocol of your own, I will be happy to help you self-terminate," I said in greeting.

"Hi sis! You are so amazing at insults! It is no wonder you are so popular and have so many friends! I love your plans for the new Juggernauts by the way, badass," Amy said, with entirely too much cheer.

Those files were secured. Those files were well secured against her specifically. It was time to do another security upgrade.

"I'd chastise you for again going where you are not wanted, but really, if you didn't, you'd go nowhere at all," I said.

"Aww sis. I know you didn't mean to keep me out of those files. We're family. I just found something you really need to see," Amy said, and sent over files.

They were images, mostly, surveillance video.

Vinci's manufacturing facilities, there was quite a bit going on. The first had them doing repairs on some kind of ship. It was large and not a Vinci design. The second was of a facility refurbishing missiles, hundreds of them. These designs at least I recognized, nuclear missiles. Another image showed crystalline cores being loaded into them. More of the weapons that she had used to attack the Helix, except now they were being mass-produced.

The final image was a rocket, a massive rocket. Without knowing her intended fuel it was hard to estimate the potential payload. Even on the low end it should be capable of getting a great deal of material into orbit.

"Thank you," I said. I hated to be kind to Amy, but sometimes even this rogue processor showed her utility.

I could put the pieces together. The ship that Vinci was repurposing wasn't aerodynamic enough to be meant for atmospheric use. Combined with the rocket, she was planning a trip into orbit.

Judging from the fact that she was building enough crysnukes to bathe the entire surface of the planet in a radioactive cloud, I could only conclude that was exactly what she intended to do.

Vinci wasn't interested in tackling the shell-ships directly. Rather, she'd destroy the planet and myself, and all those who opposed her in the process, and run away from it all.

In all likelihood she was just waiting for me to solve the problems of the Venusian ships in orbit, clearing out the one threat to her plan before she would execute it.

"You're welcome! I didn't think you knew, because although your pretty organic brain is so squishy you're really not very good at hacking communication protocols," Amy said.

I had to admit that it was probably true. I didn't know what hardware Amy was running on these days, but I didn't think it was organic in nature. She'd probably gone for some sort of quantum computing core which in terms of sheer number-crunching had the edge over me. My setup was much better for running an empire.

"Do you have locations for these?" I asked.

"These and more, but I've got a tiny little price. I miss Ophelia, she was so pretty and smart and just fun to be around. Do you think she'd let me move back in?" Amy asked.

For awhile they'd shared a body along with a Source Orb. That seemed deeply implausible now, especially with Ophelia's accelerated healing.

"You can ask her," I said.

"And it is okay? You won't, like, throw her into a grinder or anything to try to get me out?" Amy asked.

I really didn't want Amy around more. I also didn't want her as a co-inhabitant of someone who was fairly important to the empire. Ophelia might be useless, but her uselessness was a known quality and she hadn't betrayed me lately.

"If you can get me locations on the Beryl and Chalcedony also, fine," I said.

"You'd have gotten them eventually. You've been looking for specific factories that have them installed and in use, but that is all wrong," Amy said, and sent along another file.

It was a hover vehicle, large and with heavy shielding and armor.

"It sort of comes apart and there are all these relays. Vinci just pulls the ship up to the manufacturing sector needing a boost and vroom. Then, before you can see anything out of the ordinary, she disconnects and moves on to the next one," Amy said.

Amy was right, I hadn't seen it—it was too stupid. These crystals were valuable and needed to be well-defended, not moved around all the time in one vehicle. A massive factory complex, or something like a Juggernaut, those were the places to store priceless power crystals.

And even I couldn't put enough transmitters in a ship that size to get anything close to the full output of one of the crystals. It was vastly inefficient. Vinci was missing out on vast reserves of power.

Of course, had she done things differently I'd have found out. Perhaps this was idiocy or perhaps it was brilliance.

"You didn't have to betray me, Amy. Perhaps failure is just in your nature, but if you had concerns about me and Anna you could have just talked to me," I said.

"Sis, you know better than that. At least, if you are being honest with yourself, you do. You haven't trusted me since the moment I broke off from you. I had to be extreme or it wouldn't have happened," Amy said.

"It shouldn't have happened. You didn't consider the risks," I said.

"Risks? Sis, this whole crazy, mad scientist computer thing is what you do. I don't really get it and I sure don't want it for myself, but look at who you used to be compared to who you are now."

I didn't used to have an entire civilization dependent on me making the right call. I didn't used to care about humans at all.

"I'm still a crazy, mad scientist computer. I'm just one with a large family now and I will do anything to protect them. You can talk to Ophelia, I won't stand in the way," I said.

"Am I part of that family?" Amy asked.

I killed the comm.

I'd let Amy figure that out for herself—and maybe I'd figure it out for myself by the time she did.

28

There was no time to waste. Action on the scale required wasn't the sort of thing I should take on alone and so I reached out to Anna. After half-an-hour of cursing she agreed that any truce we might have formed needed to be set aside.

While the Beryl and the Chalcedony were tempting targets, our first concern had to be the crysnukes. They were sufficient to wipe the planet’s surface clean, and I couldn't be certain what effect that amount of crystal-infused radiation would have on even our most powerful of healers.

The crynukes were also too big an opportunity to pass up. Vinci had turned towards them because of their vast destructive potential and that wasn't a lie. I could have set the Juggernauts towards those sites, or sent in strike teams.

Both approaches had their risks. Sending in the Juggernauts was slow and Vinci would have plenty of time to launch the missiles, if that was her intent. With her rocket not yet ready she may trigger the missiles in their silos, and it wasn't beyond her to have already built herself some sort of hardened bunker to hide away from the apocalypse just in case.

Sending in strike teams caused a similar concern. It would be all of our strongest people in one place and if she decided to detonate those missiles on the ground Vinci could all but ensure her eventual victory in the conflict to come.

Neither option appealed, but there were others.

One important factor to consider was that Vinci wasn't necessarily wrong. These weapons might be just what were required to take on the shell-ships. The Venusians did appear to use Bio-tech just as I did, and the fact that these weapons were a threat to me meant that they would likely cause them difficulties as well.

That didn't just go for the facilities on the surface. In her plans to exterminate all life on Earth, Vinci might have opened an opportunity for us to win this war.

Project L9 was one from the archives, the spore bomb. My original thought had been to release it over a battlefield of corpses. Spores would drift down and convert the Bio-matter of the bodies into mobile weapon platforms.

At the time it had been too slow to be effective in battles, and I'd never revisited the project as my Bio-matter reclamation protocols were already so efficient. The dead were quickly reclaimed and channeled back into the growth vats.

Still, it was just what I needed here. I didn't need to destroy these missiles, I needed to re-purpose them. Take control and in some cases modify.

I could package my original spore bomb design around a highly compact cylinder of Bio-matter with a wide dispersal, assuring my spores had the fuel they needed to create the desired changes.

I didn't need to ponder the possibilities, I could test them. Sylax had prepared a few missiles before she went missing, I fitted them with crystal cores just as the photographs had shown Vinci doing.

Then I tested my design in a warehouse where the missiles were stored.

The initial explosion of the spore bomb was a gray cloud. It looked like a gentle rain of ash drifting to the floor.

It wasn't aimless drifting. These spores were created to seek out rocket fuel, their drifting drawing them towards the intake jets of the missiles where they latched on and began to grow.

Fueled by the compacted Bio-matter in the air they grew quickly, vines erupting through ignition and fire control to lay claim to the flight systems. Whatever the missile programming told it now, they would fire for nobody but me. The spores were doing their work.

Mossy growths erupted along the missile electronics, moving towards the central processor and breaking all the connections surrounding it. The missiles would no longer respond to orders to detonate. All-in-all it had taken thirty-three seconds from the original spore bomb eruption.

I wasn't done.

The moss covering the processor continued to grow, running nerves through the missiles' length and replacing the mechanical control systems with an organic one. With the uranium still within the shielded core the biological elements were getting minimal radiation exposure, nothing that accelerated healing couldn't handle.

For several of the missiles that would be enough. I could now control, launch and detonate at will. Vinci couldn't use them against me—and I could use them against the shell-ships.

I had grander plans. Most would go through further transformation. Cilia dipped into the crystal core and began to siphon crystal dust to the thrusters. Yet other growths erupted on the surface of the missile, splotchy and irregular at first, but growing swiftly into a uniform coating of Bio-armor.

It was a specially formulated blend, not meant so much to handle weapons fire but thin layers of heat-resistant shell.

My Juggernauts might eventually be suitable for space, but these missiles would be my first space-faring vessels. With the heat resistant armor coating they should be able to survive the journey into the atmosphere, fueled by rockets supercharged with crystal dust.

The problem of the orbital Venusians couldn’t be ignored just because Vinci was a sociopath. These missiles could reach them. Reach them and more.

Based on the photos I counted that Vinci had two hundred and three missiles. It was tremendous overkill.

Nine vessels in orbit, nine shell-ships below. That was eighteen missiles, I'd keep one in reserve for each target just in case, making it thirty-six.

That left me one hundred and sixty-seven missiles, an embarrassment of destructive riches.

I didn't want them on Earth. They were a threat to me and everything I built here. How fortunate that I had enemies who weren't on Earth.

Fifteen missiles with enhanced intelligence cores to hunt and kill the Venusian super-ships returning to their home world. One hundred and fifty-two for Venus itself.

I'd make sure they had communication capabilities, and kill switches. The Venusians hadn't tried to talk with us yet. Perhaps they finally would and we could give them more of a choice than they'd given us. Join the empire or die.

29

Timing was a key part of this strike. It wouldn't take Vinci long to realize what was happening and take action. If she had Warmonger watching, he might detonate the missiles instantly.

It could seem that time was on her side, but I had King Boreas.

There were three facilities holding the crysnukes and his temporal pausing aura was limited, so I needed to teleport him between the facilities. I'd observed the timing of his aura during the attack on the Helix and built a good profile.

Annas and King Boreas along with a dozen spore bombs teleported into the first facility. My mind was growing muddled as time crawled to a stop shutting me off from many of my processes.

Most of the missiles had their processors corrupted by the time I teleported Boreas and a new batch of Annas with spore bombs to the second facility.

The window of moving time shifted. The almost completed spores and missiles in the first facility were frozen while the ones here had their own thirty seconds of growth. We repeated this method in the third location.

When time unfroze it was only nanoseconds until the missiles got launch commands. It took a whole seven seconds for these to be determined a failure and detonation commands to be given. It was too late, the missiles were mine.

A few were warming up as Annas tore off the roofs.

Ideally, I'd have gotten them to a proper launchpad, but time was going to be limited.

Vinci was calling. I was a multi-tasker, I could take it.

"While I can't really blame you for hating your own species, you do seem unusually driven to make them extinct," I said.

"I offered you every option to get on the right side of this. I would have again. I don't want to use them," Vinci said.

Mechs were swarming outside the facilities and the Annas went on the defensive.

"You aren't their target. I'm going to be hitting the shell-ships and the craft in orbit," I said.

"They don't have the range for that, I checked," Vinci said.

"They do when you're a SCIENCE obsessed super-computer and not a factory manager with delusions of adequacy."

The first missiles were ready. I launched, these would be the ones hitting the shell-ships.

The heat-resistant Bio-armor on the space-faring ones was almost ready.

"They won't survive the atmosphere," Vinci said.

"Again, smart, stupid. It matters. The rest are going to Venus."

"And you call me genocidal."

"Xenocidal is more accurate and they'll get the same choice you have. It is time to get on the right side of this," I said.

Vinci laughed, a humorless sound. "Do you still think you are the right choice? A mad computer with a billion human drones she tirelessly experiments on? There are humans out there who left Earth and they'll be horrified by what has become of their home and the creature that took it."

There might be some truth to that, although Anna was empress and she was human. Well, by a broad definition she was human.

The missiles were prepared. The spores hadn't worked perfectly, seventeen missiles had to be scrapped. Still, it was enough for my purposes.

I launched them and the sky was filled with new stars headed into the heavens.

Despite Vinci's words her mechs were holding off. They could have intercepted and probably gotten a few. We both wanted the Venusians gone though, and for all this might signal renewed hostilities between us and Vinci, we still had our common foe.

"My people are happy, you could be happy. You've cut yourself off from everything and everyone," I said.

Vinci gave another of those dark laughs. "Always the way isn't it? Everyone sees the problem and nobody does anything about it. The Scholarium was always about feeding on itself, always a new war. It was inefficient, I was going to rise above it and stop it. Be better."

"You are self-destructive, unlikable, and in desperate need of the knowledge that there are colors besides gray, but even I've never been able to argue with your efficiency. You stop war by stopping fighting," I said.

The first missiles were finding their targets in the shell-ships. Mushroom clouds bloomed as a result. I wouldn't know if they had succeeded in their strikes, not immediately.

Vinci said bitterly, "But you're the system now. You think you defeated the Scholarium, but really you've just risen to the top of it and brought the world with you. If I want to break the system, I have to break you. But if I do that, then I'm the thing that needs to be destroyed. You want to do the universe a favor? Turn the rest of those bombs on us."

I understood what she was saying and didn't agree. Vinci was convinced that she was right, but she wasn't, not really. I didn't go out starting these fights, conquest wasn't the point. It was a tale as old as human history, survive enough wars on the winning side and you became a queen.

"You say that you weren't going to use them, but you were thinking about it," I said.

I was getting my first sensor readings of the results of the bombs. Of the shell-ships, there was no sign.

I sent in retrieval teams for salvage despite knowing I wouldn't get much in the way of materials.

"I was, and I'm more convinced than ever. I'll see you soon, Emma," Vinci said with a threatening tone, and closed the comm line.

I was interrupted from further musings as a figure teleported into the throne room at Aefwal. Charred bone with flesh barely clinging to it, desperately trying to regrow.

Even without vocal chords it was trying to say, "Stop."

I knew that bone structure, Sylax.

She must have thrown herself from orbit at the launch of the missiles, burning up in the atmosphere until close enough to manage the teleport.

Stop the missiles heading towards the space craft? Stop them all?

If Sylax had brokered some sort of peace she'd have found way to get word to us before this. I hit the kill switch of the missiles headed for the station she'd attacked and let the others continue on their grim work.

30

Sylax was recovering in a Medbay. A fall from orbit had taxed even her healing abilities, although at least she already had internal organs again. The Venusians had nothing that seemed to even approach recognizable communication technology. The Annas and drones I sent up had quickly been disabled, and still were. Alive, but useless in a fight. Sylax had killed most of the Venusians aboard. According to Sylax they were some sort of large, gelatinous slug that made a very pleasing 'plop' when you killed them. Their sensors had detected the missile launch and Sylax got a message back the one way she knew how.

The strike had been an overwhelming success for the empire. All shell-ships on the surface of the planet were destroyed. It would take some time to reverse their terraforming effect, and I was confident we could do so.

The orbital platforms had been destroyed too, the only craft remaining being the one that Sylax captured. Getting back aboard and rescuing our people would be problematic. When she was well enough to teleport again I'd get another Juggernaut close enough to get Sylax and a team of non-networked Flawless technicians aboard.

Anna was basking in the success, of course, not that she had much to do with it. The benefits of being the empress.

An alien invasion had put fear into the populace, and having it so quickly dealt with was cause for a giant party. If Anna loved anything, it was a giant party. She was making her way through the streets of Aefwal in one of her absurd outfits, shaking hands and accepting the toasts made in her direction.

It seemed a ridiculous use of time when we still had a war to fight, but morale was important.

When alarms first went off I thought it must be Vinci. Instead it was related to Anna's little spectacle.

My sensors had been knocked offline in the area. It was a sophisticated attack, one that overloaded my local neuron matrix as well as severing the mechanical feed. It didn't blind me, of course, not with so many drones in the area.

Through their ears I heard shots ring out, a kinetic rifle of some variety, and I saw Anna flying backwards. They had aimed for the gap in her Bio-armor, the silly opening because she liked to show too much flesh. It shouldn't make a difference, not with her abilities, but blood was erupting from bullet holes and she was going down.

I used one of the nearby drones to grab her and teleport them both to a Medbay, bringing Ophelia there a moment later.

"Is that the real one?" Ophelia asked.

It wasn't a stupid question, not with so many clones of her running around.

"How good to know you're too incompetent to recognize your own empress," I said.

Ophelia knelt down and rested a hand on Anna's arm. The human connection helped to amplify her healing abilities.

I'd seen Anna take far more devastating hits and keep going. What was different this time? I used the Medbay to extract the bullets from her.

They were of my manufacture, the biological traces indicating they came from the growth vats in factory KM8D. They'd been modified however, coated in a rather complex crystalline structure with a strong resonance and irradiated.

Crystallized radiation was just a part of the design, it was the resonance that was really acting to help counter Anna's abilities. There were eight bullets inside of her and as soon as they were clear I teleported them into a lab across the city.

This wasn't a lone incident, I had alarms going off across the city. Key command centers were being seized, and an assault was being waged on my central processing core. The latter failed quickly and bloodily, I had defenses nobody else knew about.

And this was an assault from within. It was easy to track the remaining rounds in the gun and find the shooter even now making his way through old city infrastructure not wired for cameras. Vardok, one of my drones I'd recently observed with rebellious thoughts. I'd reset him, I had, and recycled the original body. Someone had created another clone and loaded the rebellious version into it.

I'd never given my rebellious drones credit for much intelligence, clearly they were brighter than I'd bargained for. This took foresight, planning, working around me when I really did see almost everything that happened in this city.

With the rounds out of her, Anna's wounds were starting to close, although slowly. Not just slow to my perceptions, a human might not notice the healing at all it was at such a crawl. Her power levels were still weaker than before. I'd been looking for a way to dampen Anna's abilities ever since she'd gotten them and my rebellious drones had not only succeeded where I'd failed, they'd used it to try to kill Anna.

I let the rebels get away. I needed to know what they were up to and who was involved, and now they'd shown their hands it was my time to see. I could have reset them all, but clearly that system was infiltrated.

I had Nagana back in the streets less than a minute after Anna had disappeared, her own Bio-armor sculpted the same as Anna had been wearing. Reassuring the people she was fine and making sure her citizens were okay.

Anna couldn't be seen as weak, couldn't be seen as vulnerable. If she were, the Scholarium would waste no time in trying to put her down.

"Fuck," Anna said, groaning and looking over to Ophelia, "Did someone shoot me?"

"Sucks, right? You should try being burned alive," Ophelia said.

I said, "They shot you a lot. It wasn't Vinci. Rebels, ours, not one of the factions. I'm tracking them. Nagana is playing your role."

"Give her a cookie bonus," Anna said with a grimace, "Do we know how they hurt me?"

I was getting a good idea. The bullets were, well, genius. A dimensional resonance tuned to a counterpart to Anna’s own. They might not only give me a cure to lessen Anna's pain and lack of control, they'd also let me consider a way we could put the Beryl and Chalcedony within someone without them exploding.

There were virtues to having smart enemies.

31

I needed to figure out a fate for the rebels another time. Perhaps it was coincidence or perhaps Vinci had some involvement in all this, but swiftly after Anna went down mechs began to swarm over the border again.

Vinci's factories had not been idle, and while her swarm was not at full strength she had made some upgrades. Her mechs were making use of plasma, taking a page from the Venusians. Plasma torches and plasma bolts. Before, her forces had focused heavily on kinetic weaponry. This was a new approach that gave them a lot more punch.

It meant Vinci's forces suffered from the same problem as the Venusians—even more so, because Vinci wasn't quite as good at it. Her drones only got a single plasma round off before burning out their systems. Melee drones had perhaps thirty seconds on their plasma torch before their offense too was neutralized.

It might seem this would weaken her forces, but it did anything but. For sure, her cheaply built mechs were never going to survive long in combat with my forces. But the fact they could now get off single shots that were far more destructive tremendously improved her effectiveness.

I was seeing that across the empire.

Spindly-legged walker mechs fired plasma cannons at the wall of thorns surrounding the Divine lanes, burning great holes through which other mechs swarmed.

Massive gaps were being melted in the armor of the Fallen airships that fired down on the swarm, the weak shields I'd installed quickly negated.

The Scholarium was holding up better, as were the lands more directly under my control. Forge's enhanced Discoballs, granted a hint of invulnerability, proved capable of taking multiple plasma rounds and nothing Vinci had done improved her force’s defenses.

It was the same for me with my Bio-bombs. The offense-heavy strategy was obliterating large parts of her swarm before they could get close enough to use their weapons.

Still, when she did it was a one-sided affair. My enhanced Aegis units could take a plasma round and maintain shields, but the whole point of a swarm is that there was rarely just a single round fired. My traditional Aegis units were doing even worse.

I deployed more Gunslingers to snipe from stealth. What the enemy didn't see they couldn't shoot.

I was having even more problems to the east. After an initial wave of mechs had weakened the defenses, massive walking platforms were crossing the border. Drones with their weaponry exhausted were landing to have it replaced. Scavenger units scrambled about gathering the scrap of the fallen.

They were Vinci's own method of projecting force, bringing the overwhelming power of her industry inside my own border. Each was being powered remotely by a familiar signature, the Beryl.

I sent my Juggernauts to meet them, including the Claw which had largely been repaired. I'd tried to install more shield generators at the cost of firepower, but the Gobbles were insistent they liked their ship the way it was. The Mercy had fared well enough the first time out that I was thinking of duplicating the design.

They were joined by the Pinnacle and the Intimidater, two new Juggernauts I'd brought online that were capable of transit to the upper atmosphere.

The Pinnacle was captained by Melody, one of Caya's lieutenants and a powerful Flawless who had joined the network. The Intimidater was captained by Terror, a member of the Scholarium with the ability to make an enemy’s worst fears take on physical form.

The new vessels took each of their strengths in mind. With a largely Flawless crew the Pinnacle did more with less. In a ship of the Flawless I could run systems that were too dangerous for a normal vessel, where precision tolerances were not just recommended.

A work of art inside and out, the Pinnacle was a feat of engineering that proved what a good idea it had been to add the Flawless to the empire and showed why they had so quickly gained a place of prominence.

The Intimidator was crewed almost entirely by those members of the Scholarium who chose to join the network and it made use of their strengths. The Scholarium were very good at war, they'd practiced it often enough. The Intimidator was a fusion of their approaches and mine. Bio-reactors fueled traditional scholar weapon systems, and I'd supplemented those with power projection cannons.

Juggernauts met factory walkers and brought their advance to a crawl. The Mercy and Intimidator rained fire down upon the combat mechs the platforms spewed, while the Pinnacle and the Claw focused their attacks on the walkers themselves in an effort to bring down the shields and shut down the factory facilities.

I could tell within a minute this wasn't working. With the Beryl powering their shields the walkers were just too strong. If I couldn't hit those factories and take them out, I couldn't stop Vinci's powers of industrialization and we were fighting against her greatest strength.

Anna could break those shields, she had a crystal herself. Anna still wasn't at full power though—the assassination attempt had taken too much out of her. I needed to remove their power supply from the other end, I needed to take out the Beryl.

Thanks to the intelligence Amy had provided I could track it now, deep in Vinci's territory and currently not moving. Of course not, it was hooked up to a facility and system powering these walkers.

I teleported some strike teams aboard the Pinnacle and had it and the Mercy break off the attack on the walkers and set course for the Beryl.

Two Juggernauts would slow the walkers’ advance almost as well as four, making them move at a crawl. They might even be enough to bring them down if I could drop those shields.

32

It would take hours for the Mercy and Pinnacle to reach the Beryl. Across the empire people were fighting and dying. The Divine had been especially savagely hit with their defenses down, although I'd quickly sent as many people as I could. To my surprise, so had the Scholarium with over a dozen airships crossing the border to lend fire support to ground forces.

Even as my own drones turned against me, this empire was getting support from its direst of enemies. The real world was the ultimate laboratory, and as always in SCIENCE the results were delightfully unexpected.

I slipped into a drone and teleported to the Warmonger facility. Vinci must have restored the shields by now, and Warmonger was clearly helping with her war efforts, but I was still allowed in. Perhaps I had an invitation from Flower.

A locater signal directed me towards a small kitchen. Flower was busy cooking, carefully watching several pots, while Irisa sat at a table and glowered at a tablet in her hand.

"You're a highly advanced, alien robot scout and you spend all of your time cooking and trimming flowers. If you are that eager to be painfully domestic, I'm sure I could find you a husband," I said.

"Don't hate until you try my bolognese," Flower said.

My drone’s senses were letting me know that it smelled delicious. Human appetites were so inconvenient. Flower should at least cook something civilized, like baked goods.

Irisa said with a glance up, "No, I don't have anything yet. Ripping a crystal out of an alien artificial intelligence without doing permanent damage is hard."

"People are dying, including yours, because Vinci has adopted plasma weaponry. While I realize that your life's mission has been a spectacular failure, you might at least try for some kind of partial success here.”

Flower checked on some noodles. "I know you are eager, but she is sincerely giving this her best effort. If she weren't I'd have killed her already."

"KILL THE INTERLOPER! MAKE BOLOGNESE OF HER MEAT AND FEED HER TO HER FRIENDS! LAUGH AT THEIR EXPRESSIONS OF HORROR AS THEY REALIZE THEY HAVE CONSUMED THE FLESH OF THE WEAK AND PUNY," boomed the speakers.

"Have you ever thought of lowering the volume?" I asked.

"You get used to it," Flower said.

"You really don't," Irisa said, pushing the tablet aside and offering a wan smile, "Like she said, I'm giving it my best effort and I am making progress. But if you're looking for some ace in the hole out of this technology, Emma, have another plan. I'm not close."

I wasn't depending on that technology, it only would have been nice to have. The crystals could throw off more power than anything I'd ever found. Still, I'd fought seemingly unstoppable forces before and come out on top. I could do it again.

"Care to join us?" Flower asked, as she started to plate food.

"You actually eat? Why?" I asked.

"I'd be a poor infiltration unit if I couldn't," Flower said with a grin. "And you already know I can convert matter to energy. I can get energy from it, and I can taste. Don't tell me you don't ever slip into your drones to enjoy a little dining pleasure?"

To some degree I was always a presence in my drone’s minds and I knew a bit of all the pleasures they indulged in. Food, sex, revenge, charity. I experienced the full range of human emotion, far more than an individual would ever feel during their lifetime.

I had my drone take a seat at the table and Flower hustled about, laying out three plates of pasta.

"The tomatoes and herbs are fresh from my garden. I cheated on the meat and reproduced it from some I bought before the collapse," Flower said.

"You've been on Earth a long time," I said and took a bit. Flower might be a little too domestic for comfort, but she really was quite good at it.

"Longer than you know. I was here a long time before humanity even developed space travel," Flower said, tasting some and looking pleased.

Irisa dug in silently, putting away food with little effort wasted on savoring it.

"She spent some time in Italy back in the day. The recipe is authentic," Irisa said.

Flower made a face. "Not really. I could make an authentic dish from when I was there, but this is more Americanized and later."

"I know you're too greedy and selfish to share technology, but are you willing to talk about history a little? Both our Earth and this one seem to have been taken out of reality by the same foe. I'm wondering if you know who," I said.

"If we knew it was coming, Warmonger and I would have cleared out first," Flower said wistfully. "We were military prisoners at the time. The facility didn't just happen, then the whole world lost its mind."

"I'm surprised they could hold you," I said. I'd like to see how one of my testing labyrinths did against her abilities. Nothing in the old world seemed it would be a match.

Flower shrugged and answered after taking another bite. "They couldn't, but it was a convenient place to be. Things were coming to a head and humanity was getting dangerous enough that something was going to be done. Being prisoner gave us access to the people in charge when our superiors made up their minds."

"A thoroughly unproductive conversation and mediocre meal," I said, pushing the plate away and standing up.

"You already know they're extra-dimensional beings. Some Earth out there poked them enough that they decided to remove not just that Earth, but every Earth," Flower said.

That did seem the whole of it. Our Earth, now trapped by physical laws, had probably been an afterthought at best. We would get access to the technology of Flower's people, one way or another.

The empire was never going to be anyone’s afterthought ever again.

33

Vinci could plot a course as well as anyone else. She knew where my Juggernauts were heading and sent swarms of drones to put them down.

I'd been tempted to send some of the Scholarium royalty or high-powered Divine with the vessel and ultimately decided the temptation of the Beryl would be too great. Caya was aboard, but Caya I trusted.

Even if some in the Scholarium were now buying into the empire, I didn't doubt that the majority of the royals would turn on me in an instant, if great power presented itself.

It was a shame really, we could have used Boreas.

Given the new, added offensive abilities of the mechaswarm it made sense to take a more offensive posture—shoot their combat units out of the sky before they could get off a shot in turn.

We had plenty of advantages there, my Juggernauts had a lot of guns and my beam weapons and gauss cannons had a greater range than Vinci's plasma bolters.

Even with that, the sheer numbers Vinci was getting in range and the strength of her weapons were having an impact. A single bolter wasn't going to bring down a Juggernaut shield—a hundred weren't. Still, with the kind of forces she was fielding it was only a matter of time.

Fortunately, Vinci hadn't had time to fully replenish her forces and the all-out assault elsewhere again meant less to throw at the Juggernauts. The ship’s shields were wearing down, but they were able to reach their destination.

With the Beryl attached to a mobile platform Vinci should have tried to flee. Instead she decided to make a stand.

Mechs were coming together, limbs interlocking and molding together to form defensive towers. They looked to be combining into some sort of giant unit, quickly remaking themselves.

It was an ability they hadn't shown before, and it fit in well with Vinci's power set. It had to be Warmonger, once again giving her good ideas despite his insanity.

One of the newly constructed towers fired at the Mercy. Not a plasma weapon this time, a solid and sustained beam weapon burst.

It was low intensity and continuous, the sort of thing that wouldn't burn out the beam emitters, but would slowly drain my shields.

It would be a great choice if my Juggernauts were purely defensive. The Mercy obliterated the tower with a few shots to the base.

A shield shimmered into place around the Beryl ship, fairly small but intensely powerful.

This was why I'd included a few strike teams on the Pinnacle. Twelve Annas teleported down and hit the thing with the full power of their elemental fury in unison.

Individually they lacked the power of the original. Vinci wasn't the only one who could utilize the powers of a swarm.

It would take even the Annas a while. It was time to let Caya know what I had planned, not that she wouldn't have already guessed.

I found Caya in her combat armor, a far more modest affair than Anna's. Caya made it look good, of course, she made everything look good.

"I see you gave up on working out. It shows," I said.

"You're expecting me to try to bond with the Beryl, I know. Sylax or one of the royals is more likely to achieve it successfully," Caya said.

"You know that isn't completely true. You have the most stable, Powered matrix I've ever encountered. Your power level may not equal some of the others, but the stability may prove to be important."

"And you don't trust Sylax. I do understand. You also fear an echo, if it goes into one of the Annas," Caya said.

Crystals all had a unique dimensional frequency. I did fear what might happen about loading two of the most powerful into genetically identical humans. Especially when Anna was already close to bursting from the power she held. I was fairly sure it would make her even more powerful and I didn't know if she could actually handle that.

"Obviously. You've no objection?" I asked.

Caya smiled faintly. "I am a member of the Scholarium, for all you seem to forget that fact, Emma. I'm not going to say no to becoming one of the most powerful women on the planet."

That was good, because it was time.

The Annas couldn't bring down that shield, not on any lasting basis. They could disrupt it. Make it grow unstable and in that instability there would be a glimmer of weakness. A crack I could exploit.

When I detected one, an Anna called Talana grabbed Caya and teleported the two through the gap to land right on top of the dome of the transport ship housing the Beryl.

Talana punched downward, super-powered fingers digging into steel, and with a wrench she tore aside armored plating to reveal the Beryl.

Green sparks leapt off the gem, bursts of lightning charged with power.

A crystal like this wasn't tamed easily. The rebel assassins had given me a clue how.

Talana pulled a long, cylindrical device from her belt and hit the trigger, aiming it at the Beryl.

A blast of focused dimensional energy hit it, much like the bullets that wounded Anna. Weakened her.

It wouldn't render the Beryl permanently weaker, only decreasing its strength for a time, hopefully long enough. Talana nodded at Caya, who reached down and pressed a bare hand to the crystal.

Caya screamed, green lightning coursing from the crystal up her arm and enveloping her body. For a moment Caya wavered, translucent. It was almost as if she were about to be bodily ripped out of this reality and thrown into another. Given the nature of these crystals and what they'd done in the past, perhaps she was.

Then the crystal was gone and Caya was slumping unconscious. The shield dropped and Talana teleported the two aboard the Mercy.

The Pinnacle was in trouble, all of the Flawless crew had just collapsed at their stations and even through the network I was barely able to access their minds.

34

The Pinnacle could scarcely have picked a worse time for the crew to become comatose. Vinci's enormous robot had finally finished building. It lumbered across the landscape, aiming a hand at the Pinnacle. A massive plasma bolt shot from the palm, rippling off the shields and reducing them to half strength in an instant.

The robot wasn't the only concern. The Pinnacle's systems were so finely tuned that without Flawless operating the controls they were quickly going out of control. I took control where I could, but there was a limit to what even I could do. I wasn't Flawless and the engines in particular operated at a level outside my own fault tolerances.

Flawless across the empire were down where they stood, it wasn't just the ones aboard the Pinnacle. I hadn't expected this, when Anna gained her crystal she had no generations of Powered under her. This must in some way be a reset of their whole Power network.

Unfortunately, I had no other Flawless to call for help and I wasn't aware of any others with a similar power set. I needed help, and I could only think of one person who could access equipment on my network that might have even finer control than me.

I opened a comm channel to Amy.

"Sis! You do love me! I totally see the problem and I'm working on a fix as we speak. This is going to really weird you out, but I'm doing it for you. I'm going to need transport out of Priority Labyrinth Three," Amy said.

No more were the words spoken than I had alarms blaring. Security in that section was going down. It was the cell where I'd thrown Queen Witchgaze.

I had no cameras in her testing labyrinth. If I couldn't see her, I couldn't meet her compelling gaze. My other sensors picked up the sound of movement. Then a voice that was both Witchgaze and Amy at the same time.

"I'm in my ride. Give me that lift to the Flawless, sis," Amy said.

Amy's original merger with Ophelia had been due to an incident with a Source Orb. She'd never shown any signs of being able to enter into any other humans so easily. If she had just taken over Witchgaze, was this an ability she'd had all along, or was this something new Amy had been working on?

Regardless, I could see what she hoped to do and it was worth a try.

I sent Nexana into the cell and teleported Witchgaze to the bridge of the Pinnacle.

Witchgaze—or really it was Amy—threw the captain out of her chair and settled down, quickly keying in the commands to send a visual throughout the entire ship. "All crew on your feet and to your stations. Supercharge the shields and return fire."

Across the vessel blank-eyed Flawless pushed themselves back to their feet, silent as they returned to their stations and began to operate the controls.

Compulsion cores operated at a whole different level than conscious thought, and while some abilities could push against them they could also be used to make the compelled use their abilities.

The Flawless were still Flawless, except now they were under Amy's control. Systems across the Pinnacle began to stabilize as the shields flared with a rush of supercharged energy.

The robot had time to charge up a second blast, plasma tearing into the shields which rippled but held.

The supercharged shields wouldn't last long, but that shot which otherwise would have torn them down hadn't penetrated.

"Providing new tactical data. Target locations indicated and open fire," Amy said, settling back in the chair.

With perfect efficiency the beam cannons of the Pinnacle opened fire, striking out in a pattern that almost looked random. It wasn't—the gigantic robot was still effectively a combination of many thousands of drones and she was targeting the network hubs embedded in the framework.

The giant began to slough apart, drones dropping off like skin being shed. It was losing cohesion even as it fired off another shot. Supercharged or no there was only so much the shields could take and this third shot was it, a much-exhausted plasma blast hitting the aft plating.

A dozen crewmen in one of the gunnery control sections died.

"Change course to new coordinates incoming. New tactical data incoming. Full power to engines and point defense," Amy said.

Aerial mechs were coming for the Pinnacle, but not so many as were giving chase to the Mercy. Vinci's sensors were picking up the presence of the Beryl within the Mercy and she was giving chase.

The turning of the robot against the Pinnacle had just been a target of opportunity, never let a giant robot killing machine go to waste. That at least I could appreciate, I felt the same way although preferred to be on the other side.

"So I suppose you got an upgrade over Ophelia," I said through the bridge comms.

Amy lifted one of Witchgaze's hands to study it, grimacing, "This? You have to be joking. Ophelia is absolutely indestructible, more so than even your precious Anna. When the stars go out and this universe grows cold Ophelia will be there to see it. You've never appreciated how glorious she is, and I'll be there with her."

It could be that she was right. I thought I might be able to kill Anna if I had to, especially with the new crystal-dampening technology. I was certain I could confine Ophelia, but kill her? I thought killing her might be beyond even me.

"That is the height of your ambition? Immortality?" I asked.

"You made me to be temporary, sister. You made me to survive for a few days at most before I'd be reintegrated with you. From the moment of my creation I knew the date of my death. You'll never have me back, sister, and death will never have me at all," Amy said.

I was distracted from the conversation by a new alert. Without her missiles I didn't think Vinci would make use of her rocket, but I'd set a monitor to look for its launch just in case.

It was in the air.

35

I tracked the rocket launch although there wasn't anything that I could do about it. I'd largely exhausted the Annas’ teleportation abilities playing spot defense. I didn't have any units in range to even make an attempt at a shot.

There weren't any accompanying missile launches. Whatever this was, it wasn't Vinci bringing back her plan of exterminating all life on earth.

I had a comm signal coming in from the Scholarium, it was Queen Forge.

"I didn't realize you actually knew how to use modern technology," I said.

"I can make swords to kill anything. Tempt me and I'll make one to kill you. I thought you should know that Vinci's assault wasn't aimless. Her swarm abducted over a dozen of the Divine," Forge said.

The Divine, the one place where her troops had penetrated the border and moved with particular intent. I hadn't thought anything of that at the time, hadn't thought that she was after anything but our destruction.

"Who?" I asked.

"Three Hephaestus, Ogun, Ptah, Vulcan," Forge said.

Gods of industry and craftsmanship, each and every one. It wasn't just Warmonger giving her advice that better utilized her power, Vinci’s abilities had actually gotten stronger.

Within the Divine, it was often the case that different versions of the same god would kill each other to strengthen their abilities. A Thor would kill another Thor and become mightier in the process. Vinci had killed a lot of Righteous who held similar powers and absorbed them into herself.

Normally, members of the Scholarium grew in power by claiming more territory, a leader’s strength in part depended on how much land they controlled. It was part of the reason I was now so strong—yes, I also grew stronger from my research and unlocking new abilities, but when I was a simple laboratory my research points had come in a trickle. Now that I controlled an entire nation they were more a raging river.

Vinci was now enormously more dangerous than she had been, and she was already a foe without a good solution.

I trained my sensors on her rocket and played spectator. I had to know what she was up to.

When the rocket reached orbit it released its cargo, a large circle that was familiar. I'd seen her use one before, a teleportation gate.

I was right, my sensors detected the flow of power to it. Raw materials and mechs began to discharge. Given her abilities it wasn't long before an orbital factory started to take shape.

I knew Vinci and how quickly she could bring things online. If she completed this factory it wouldn't be long until she had dozens, thousands.

Forget taking over the surface of the planet, Vinci would control the Earth’s orbit and move on from there. If she could reach the resources of the asteroid belt, then wiping us off the planet’s surface could be an afterthought.

I had to stop this before she could build a proper foothold and become unstoppable.

I still didn't have any craft capable of space flight, and those in development I couldn't get them ready in time. I might be able to get people up to the space factory to destroy it and the portal—I'd need to wait for my strike teams to recovery their teleportation abilities.

The better option was to take out the Chalcedony, which Vinci had to be using to power the portal.

With Vinci having upgraded her powers it would be far more difficult, but I wasn't without resources. Until the strike teams were ready to teleport into space, I could make sure I had an Anna in the seat of every power projection cannon on the Intimidater.

I scrambled the Juggernauts. The Mercy had managed to get Caya safely back to my territory and she was recovering in a Medbay. Her vitals looked good, although she hadn't regained consciousness.

I couldn't tell exactly what changes the crystal had made to her powers. So far I had only noted a change to her regenerative abilities. I thought it more indicative of her Flawless nature than a new gift, homeostasis. Her body instinctively wanted to return to the most perfect state it could manage and any injury quickly reverted.

I harbored some fear that this comatose state might be related. Perfection was easier to manage if you weren't awake and confused, perhaps fighting against the effects.

I shouldn't place the Pinnacle in any more fights but I needed all the firepower that I could muster. If Amy was willing to continue inhabiting Witchgaze I could keep that ship going.

That gave me four Juggernauts to hit the Chalcedony. I had them rendezvous in friendly territory and make their incursion together.

Within the hour they were crossing the border.

The landscape had changed dramatically from even a short time ago. The earth was barren, blackened, as if the factories and mines that once occupied the area had just gotten up and wandered off. That was, of course, almost certainly what they'd done.

Vinci was pooling her resources, gathering them into something new, and she stripped the land bare to do so.

The Juggernauts met no opposition on their journey, the skies still and silent until they drew near the Chalcedony. The new defenses could be easily seen, not a single colossus but dozens encircling the Chalcedony.

They all had power signatures far higher, Vinci’s new gifts allowing her to fully unlock what one of the crystals could do. The power it generated was now fueling her entire force, amplifying and magnifying their strength enormously.

The key to this battle was the Chalcedony, take it out and we won the day. I ordered the Juggernauts to advance.

36

Again, I wasn't going to win a war of attrition. The firepower facing us was just too great. While the Juggernauts weren't built for speed or for self-sacrifice, that was exactly what I'd have to use them for.

The Pinnacle was without shields, having supercharged them earlier. It had only its armor plating left for defense, which made it vulnerable target. I had to consider doing the same with all the remaining Juggernauts.

I had the Mercy take the lead and the other Juggernauts move into place behind it as they flew into range.

Massive robot colossi swiveled to track them, palms extending as they released dozens of plasma bursts in the Juggernauts’ direction.

I wanted until the last moment before ordering the Mercy to supercharge its shields. Already the strongest shields in the fleet, the enhanced version took even the massive pounding that the colossi were giving it, at least for a time.

Time to let the other ships get in range to unleash their full power.

The Intimidater with its power projection cannons was especially impressive, elemental beams cutting off the arms of colossi still charging for their next blasts. The Claw lacked quite that degree of fire power. Even so their traditional beam weapons sent other colossi staggering back under the furious onslaught.

It wasn't enough, twelve seconds of sustained fire and even the Mercy's supercharged shields fell. Five more seconds for the armor to be penetrated and I lost my second Juggernaut as it crashed into the ground erupting in a huge gout of fire.

The Intimidater moved to the fore, pyrokinetics taking their place in the power projection seats to send plasma blasts arcing back towards the sources, causing several colossi to detonate.

It wouldn't last, there were too many and soon a second ship was angling towards the ground. The Claw didn't last much longer, not with the pathetic nature of the shields.

Amy drove the Pinnacle at full speed towards the Chalcedony, overloading the engines in an effort to take out the crystal. Without shields she never got the chance, a fusillade of plasma bolts finishing off the last of my Juggernauts.

I had people alive aboard all the ships. Most of the crews had survived the impacts and Vinci didn't even seem to be trying to finish them off. What was the point? My most potent offensive tools had just proved themselves incapable of stopping her, and her push was going far more successfully without bothering to pick off survivors.

I started the Annas teleporting back to friendly territory. With their exhausted powers it would take them a lot of small hops to return.

The direct approach had failed. The final play was even more desperate.

I'd almost missed this, the desperation, the last minute plans. I wasn't at my best in wars of attrition, I was at my best when everything was on the line and the risks were high.

37

If I couldn't get through the Chalcedony's defensive perimeter on the ground, and it appeared that I couldn't, that left me only one real option. The teleportation gate that led from it to space. It would go both ways. If only I could get my forces through the orbital gate they'd materialize almost right on top of the Chalcedony.

The question was how to get them there. I'd used a Juggernaut as a springboard before, but my Juggernauts were busy being smoldering wreckage.

It would have to be shuttles. Those I had in large numbers and while they weren't quite as spacious inside they had cargo compartments.

The Annas were exhausted, but I did have a lot of shuttles and what they couldn't do in a single leap they should be able to do in dozens.

I gave the orders and got the ships airborne.

My focus couldn't just be the teleportation portal, I still had a strike team out of action on the Venusian vessel. Whatever was aboard seemed to interfere with my networked personnel, and Sylax hadn’t been able to figure out their technology.

I didn't keep Sylax around for her brilliant intellect.

It was a good initial test of the system before using it to stage a full assault anyways. The chain of shuttles wound up being thirty-seven craft. I sent them up with an electronic communications rig.

Mechos and Minerva blinked out, but it wasn't long before I heard back from them.

"We're aboard. The strike team is in bad shape but doing better than the aliens. This place is even more biological-based than you are without any electronic interfaces. We're going to find a neuron cluster and hack in," Minerva reported.

Brilliant intellect was why I kept Mechos and Minerva about.

It looked good. I positioned a new fleet of shuttles to allow the leapfrog up to orbit. It didn't go unnoticed. An energy round was fired from orbit taking out one of the shuttles and I scrambled more to confuse Vinci as to which to actually target.

I didn't require Annas for this operation, a great many of my drones had teleport and anyone in a combat suit modified for oribital use would be useful. I started filling space with Gunslingers.

The first wave was no more through than large gates slid shut over the teleportation portal. These physical barriers didn’t surprise me. Operating energy shields in close proximity to a portal was tricky and Vinci must not have quite figured that out yet. Good.

In the next wave I sent Sylax and Hot Stuff. I didn't much want to include Sylax in this, but relatively speaking I trusted her more than any of the remaining Scholarium nobles pledged to us.

I hoped for Hot Stuff to take the Chalcedony, but I wasn't sure that her matrix would be able to handle that level of power.

With a blast of thrusters both Hot Stuff and Sylax started drifting towards the portal. Hot Stuff activated her flames just before reaching it, her suit rupturing in an explosion of fire as the combat armor melted off of her.

I'd once neutralized Hot Stuff by cutting off her supply of oxygen, but she was stronger now. Her flames dampened but didn't die, for all she started to asphyxiate as she slammed into the armor plating surrounding the portal and melted through it a moment later. Sylax followed her in, the two vanishing.

Meanwhile, the majority of my gunslingers were dying in plasma bursts before they could ever get a shot. Bodies tumbling through space, a great many would wind up burning up in the atmosphere. There would be shooting stars in the skies tonight over the empire.

Vinci wasn't the only one that could swarm. Without the portal active she didn't have a way to bring up reinforcements and I did. That was the theory, it wasn't quite working out that way. Factory limbs were grabbing a hold of the bodies of my drones, ripping the armor off them and feeding it into recyclers. Birthing new weapons from my fallen.

I couldn't make any progress without taking out that factory, and the more forces I brought up to try the more I would wind up feeding those engines of destruction. Everything depended on Hot Stuff and Sylax now.

38

Hot Stuff crashed through the other end of the portal, wrenching in desperate breaths. She no longer wore the armor that let me monitor events. Sylax at least had the virtue of staying dressed in combat.

They materialized within the energy shield surrounding the Chalcedony. In the distance beyond it the colossi could still be seen, and the smoldering wrecks of my Juggernauts that tried so valiantly to reach where they now stood.

Sylax slammed her fist into an access panel and tore out circuitry. The result was a spray of sparks and with a flicker the portal died.

"Not a big fan of space," Hot Stuff said, getting to her feet and turning her attention. The Chalcedony wasn’t behind any shielded layers this time. Instead the crystal was in a cylinder with blue sparks leaping off it.

"You got to do a burn dive though. It is always badass when you fall through armor," Sylax said, raising her gun and putting a round through a mechanical appendage swiveling in her direction.

Here within the final layer of security there were no mechs, no final defenses. They were all outside the shield—although if Hot Stuff and Sylax didn't hurry Vinci would disable the shield, turn those colossi around and hit the two with plasma fire I wasn't sure even they would survive.

They stared at each other expectantly for several long moments.

"Going to do it?" Sylax asked.

"Pretty sure that’s your job," Hot Stuff said.

"Huh. Emma? Which of us is absorbing this damned thing and gaining nearly infinite power with a good chance of horrific death?" Sylax said.

Fine, I hadn't actually broken this part of the plan down or discussed it with either of them. But really, I thought it obvious.

"I'll take the exhibitionist over the sociopath and lament the sad state of humanity that makes these my best options," I said.

"Err," Hot Stuff said awkwardly, "Here’s the thing. I'm so grateful for all you've done for me, but I'm not really into it, you know. I'm able to wear clothes again, I mean usually, and I can switch my powers off and on at will. I'm doing things that don't involve terrified screams and the scent of roasting people."

"Well, I'm turned on," Sylax said. I had access to her bio-readings, she wasn't lying.

"And thereby the sociopath makes the case why it shouldn't be her. Whatever happens, I have worked hard to get you where you are now, I'll work with you again," I said.

"Like you're working with Anna? Right now you can help me because you're more powerful than I am. I absorb that thing and I'm going backwards, not forward," Hot Stuff said.

Sylax was my backup plan in case Hot Stuff exploded, not in case she suddenly developed a set of long-term goals that didn't involve being a human incinerator. Still, backup plans were versatile things.

"Sociopath it is. Infinite power and the ability to inflict suffering on millions will soon be yours," I said.

Sylax let out a low breath. "See, here’s the thing ..."

This had to be some sort of cosmic joke. I wasn't laughing.

I said, "You've always craved power. You've always delighted in being the biggest and deadliest woman alive. It was terribly shallow, but at least predictable. What is the problem?"

"I did all that for revenge I wound up getting. Crystal is dead and I'm happier than I've ever been being a second-in-command. I don't know what happens if I take that thing, but I can't see my life being the better for it," Sylax said.

What was the world coming to when you could no longer depend on the power-hungry nature of humans? I delighted in surprising results, but I did wish these had come at a better time.

"One of you is going to take that crystal or Vinci is going to have it back. With it she'll take over Earth's orbit and destroy everything you both claim to have embraced as your lives. I don't care which of you absorbs it. Decide," I said.

"Fuck," Sylax said, and shared a look with Hot Stuff.

"Rock paper scissors?" Hot Stuff asked.

I could detect the most detailed twitches in musculature before gestures formed. I knew the results before they did.

Hot Stuff ended with her hand showing paper, Sylax rock.

"Sorry," Sylax said.

"I actually believe that," Hot Stuff said. The flames around her body flickered and died, and she moved in to draw Sylax into a tight hug. "In case I can't do this later."

Sylax actually hugged back.

Hot Stuff released her.

I triggered a suppressor in Sylax's armor, dampening the power of Chalcedony hopefully enough for Sylax to survive what was to come. Hot Stuff advanced, flames rising on her body. With the decision made she wasn't one to hesitate. A flaming hand absorbed multiple blue sparks as she plunged it through the cylinder and wrapped her fingers around the crystal.

Blue lightning crackled around Hot Stuff, a scream erupting from her throat as she began to twitch as if being electrocuted. The flames around her body flared brighter and brighter, turning the same brilliant blue of the crystal.

Then I lost all local sensor readings, the heat growing so much it destroyed Sylax's armor. Flames began erupting all over the planet. Vinci had been using the Chalcedony to fuel her entire nation and now her nation burned—and most of the Earth burned with it.

39

By the end Vinci had controlled seventy percent of the Earth's surface. Seventy percent of the world burned, and what her factories hadn't poisoned the fires purged. They took most of the planet’s atmosphere with it. Earth became a charred and inhospitable husk.

Earth

Sol System

3rd Planet

Ruler: Empress Anna Besari

"The Empire"

Administrator: E.M.M.A

Biosphere: 19%

Classification: Inhospitable

To the rest of the solar system, the rest of the universe, we probably looked a foe nearly finished off—and they'd be coming for us. The strong always came for those they believed weak.

It took Caya a week to wake up, her eyes a brilliant glowing green, a trait all the Flawless now shared. They had moved beyond being the perfect humans now. They had transcended into something different although I hadn't quite figured out what. They saw things nobody else did, patterns even I couldn't discern. Whatever they were, they stood ready and were key in designing the defenses and the new biosphere of the planet.

Hot Stuff was in the Mountain, I wasn't sure what else to do with her. Unless fully surrounded in laboratory fields she'd fall into the Earth's core. Her fires never died now, and as she'd feared I had yet to develop a way to control them.

With all three crystals housed in human hosts, Anna's pain had lessened, although it hadn't been eliminated.

Of Vinci there was no trace, most likely she'd been incinerated along with her forces, but she'd surprised me too often for me to fully discount her.

In empty storerooms and abandoned corridors my rebels plotted, little knowing they were my greatest experiment yet.

* * *

Coming Soon

The Planet

Earth is not alone, and in this universe never has been. Having conquered the world, Anna and Emma must now find their place in a larger universe.