The Mother Brain was done with its negotiations, for a while she said nothing, and no-one else was sure what to say to break the silence. Finally, she spoke.
"It doesn't matter. We sent out a kill order on the human two years ago to every Evo on the network. I suppose she's not dangerous any more at least. We won't destroy your planet, but you'll die here today. Your Copy-AI system won't be able to save you this time." She said frankly.
"Tch!" The Major stayed steadfast as she noticed all around her, a sea of Evos started to materialise from out of nothing. They were using extremely advanced camouflaging technology, they'd masked every hint of their presence up to that moment. Hundreds upon hundreds of metal monstrosities made their presence known, all of them high-level war machines that were usually reserved for leading army troops. Giant tanks with spider-like legs, floating orbs with rotating mini-guns, Evos on tracks with long range cannons attached. Some more Evos materialised in the small gaps in between the giant robots. Smaller Evos that looked like Go-bot, painted red. Kamikaze bots.
The shock of the situation affected everyone. Even The Major was stunned, she thought Block-0s kept their word? They were divine beings, they couldn't lie... Gods didn't lie. Did they? Still, she didn't falter.
"Hey," The Major said to the other Block-1s, "return to the ship." They nodded and ran off without any delay. The Evos were starting to boot up fully, they'd strike at any moment,
This would be a shitty way to die.
"All Block-3s. It's time to retreat!" she yelled. She didn't want Copy-AIs in her army, she wanted her soldiers to remain who they were. As such, they needed to be saved. They couldn't be put on the front line.
She could tell no-one wanted to listen to her, they didn't agree with what was about to happen, but thankfully her Block-1 authority meant they had no choice. They had to escape without her.
Someone was trying to connect to her. Oh, the connection had been requested for quite a while. She accepted.
"Major!" it was Ava, "We've finished the mission!"
"Good. Get you can retreat now." The Major replied,
"Like hell I will! You think I don't know what's going on over there!? What kind of hacker do you think I am!?"
Now that did shock her. He'd used his network hack to spy on the situation. Clever bastard.
"Ok well, it's too bad. But you should really leave this to me."
"Are you crazy!? There's a thousand S-Class Evos out there!"
"I don't have time to talk Ava, I need to protect the ship while it escapes," she pulled out her baton and pressed a button on the base, it extended and started to crackle with electricity, The Major's baton was special, bladed along the side. Essentially a sword. "I was born a Block-3 you know, and like I've said before. Old habits die hard." The Evos opened fire, a barrage of explosions that were strong enough to light up the sky.
End communication.
***
"Shit!" Ava exclaimed. "What the hell is she planning!?"
"Us Block-3s, we're built so that we'll die for those who are ranked higher than us, if need be. I mean... I know she's a Block-1 now but, I dunno, maybe there's still a bit of Block-3 in her?" Sylvie replied. She was crestfallen, what else was there they could do?
"Sylvie, we're gonna save her. Activate that new cast system I gave you."
"Uh... Didn't you want to keep that a secret Ava? If people find out you've been making modifications to your body then-"
"Let's focus on what's important right now." Speaking of modifications, Ava's burst limit had been increased significantly, another self-modification, he'd removed the limit on how long he could use it for. As long as he didn't run out of power, Ava could travel at speeds excelling 100 km/h with relative ease. It was a mode usually reserved for Block-3 battle units, but he'd made it his own.
At 100 km/h he should be able to get to the major in about ten minutes. Would she be able to last that long?
"Alright, I've activated the new system Ava! I'll be leaving the PC's gravity field now!" Sylvie said as she strapped herself into her stealth ship. "Go save her!"
And with that. She zoomed off, and so did he.
Ava ran across the surface of the ship at blinding speed. He wasn't a combat model, so this sort of stuff was very new to him, he could feel his body burning up, his arms and legs were tightening and hurting. Once he'd gone past the five minute mark his body was steaming and he was certain his entire body would tear up, no wonder the capped limit for this mode was twenty seconds. Still, he needed to get there, he needed to save The Major.
***
Ten minutes passed. He was greeted by a sight that he... he certainly wasn't expecting. The Major was on her feet, lurched to the side, she was looking up to the sky. Her left arm had been torn off, white fluid was pumping out of several holes where it used to be. Her joints were glowing red with heat and steam was emanating from her body. There were cracks all over her shell and her entire body was covered in a very recognisable black fluid.
Evo blood.
All over her.
The entire stealth army had been demolished by The Major and her electric baton. Nothing but scraps of mental lay piled up across the surface. All of them, every single Evo was smashed to bits.
Ava stopped.
"Whoa..." he said,
"Ava." The Major muttered, "You're defying orders."
"Am I? You told the Block-3s to escape." Ava smiled, trying to control his breath, "Not me."
"Well, thank you for trying to come to my aid. But I think I've made it clear that I don't need it." She said lazily, still looking to the sky. "I can fight all my battles on my own. And I can win. Even if that means I'll die in the process."
"What?"
"After all, we're stuck on here, and the gravity bomb is about the detonate, isn't it?" The Major continued,
"...Yeah."
"You remembered to back yourself up at HQ didn't you?"
"Did you?"
A slight pause, "Of course I did."
"You're lying." Ava, who had now pretty much used up all his power, hobbled over to The Major,
"!"
"You never back yourself up, do you?" he croaked out his words,
"I- what makes you think that!?"
"Sylvie and I both know. We know your secret. And that's why I can't let you die here Major."
"Tch. What are you talking about?"
Ava held the crippled body of The Major and pulled her next to him.
"Ava! What in the world are yo-!?"
He touched her forehead with his and closed his eyes.
"This is gonna feel a little weird Major." He muttered.
Both their bodies fell limp on the floor.
After just a few more minutes the gravity in the centre of the ship started to increase at an exponential rate, Ava's and The Major's limp bodies got flattened against the crumbling ground as the increased gravity started to collapse everything into itself, and eventually, the ship was nothing more than a floating lump. After a little while, the gravity machine overloaded and broke, letting all the crushed bits of metal release into the void. Evidence of the existence of the goliath ship had disappeared, as had any memories Ava and the Major's bodies.
But the Major and Ava were fine.
"What the- where am I?!" exclaimed The Major, or at least, her mind did,
"Oh you made it!" said Sylvie, "you're in my mind, are you there too Ava?!"
"Yup, I'm glad that trick of mine worked. I never used it on the field." Ava replied cheerily,
"...You copied my data and sent it to Sylvie?" asked the Major,
"Nope. Not a copy. A transfer. This is the original you and me." Ava replied proudly,
"A transfer?"
"No digital conversion this time, nothing lost from the original, not an AI interpreting someone's mind and then implanting it into another brain. This is your core data transferred across into Sylvie's mind."
"I don't understand. You don't have the ability to do that." The Major didn't sound happy, that was just like her.
"So I'm not allowed to self-teach myself skill on the side?" Ava huffed, "Sylvie and I have been working on this for two years. The ability to transfer cognition with no personality loss. No need to make a copy and leave the other one vulnerable, or vice versa."
"..."
"That's right. We know what the main flaw of the Copy-AI system is. And we know you've secretly been avoiding creating backups of yourself because of it."
An awkward pause. The Major said nothing. "We'll discuss this when we get back." She said, "Transfer us both to spare dolls the moment we land."
Author's note: Hey guys, Monday update! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Want more chapters with The Major? Maybe make her a regular character? Let me know! Leave a comment, don't forget to vote, and let your friends know about this story if you want to give me extra motivation! Meanwhile, check out @scination for more cool sci-fi stories of a similar style! Thanks!