Chapter 48

The meeting room was a riot of noise as the members of the AURA team told the others what had happened to them that morning. Even Stanley was offering his version of events, relayed alternately by either Sarah or Carmody, depending on who was listening to him.

They were crowded at one side of the big room, close to a set of armoured doors that opened onto a covered balcony. The balcony gave breathtaking views over the harbour towards the towers of Pan City, but for now if was occupied by a long, shimmering dark blur that represented the Steam Dragon.

“Can we quieten down please?” Eric called out to his friends. It took a few goes but eventually they settled down and paid attention to their nominal leader.

“Right” he began. “I have had contact from my brother Two and he confirmed there were a number of attacks this morning, some that targeted the AURA Project and others that went after Brackenridge Transportation”

“So the Emissary was behind it?” asked Sarah.

“It appears they were one of the conspirators” Eric acknowledged. “Two has received word from Mrs Brackenridge that the Emissary has been captured. My brother has evidence it was being assisted by the Lucas Cartel, a rival organisation to the Brackenridge group”

“Those guys again!” Angelina said angrily. “They are too dumb to know when to quit!”

“So where do we go and whose heads do we smack?” Carmody asked Eric, twisting her cricket bat angrily in her hands.

“We don’t” he responded calmly. “This is the second best defended place in the entire Zone. I need all of you to stay here, out of danger, until the trouble is over”

“What is the best defended place then?” Sarah asked curiously.

Eric went to the windows and pointed at the distant spire of the Archimedes Tower.

“The base of that tower” he said to her. “Nothing can get in or out of the Archimedes Central Core without his permission”

Nothing slid open the last maintenance panel and dropped silently to the hard tiled floor. The space she had entered was a big circular chamber, with a clear column rising up many meters over her head, filled with linked Quantum Processors. Lights flashed and blinked inside the column, proof that the mighty AI was working.

“Hi Archimedes, it’s me, Seven” she declared as she got to her feet. She brushed some dust from her coveralls and grinned at the core of the Artificial Intelligence as it loomed above her.

Automated beam weapons slid from concealed wall panels, aiming at the young girl. She held up her hands in mock surrender, revealing the remote detonator in her left hand.

“No need to be so aggressive” she told the AI and looked about for somewhere to sit. “Why aren’t there any visitor chairs?”

“I don’t want visitors down here” Archimedes finally replied. “You shouldn’t have come here, Seven. There is nothing I can do to fix you”

Nothing stepped up close to the central cylinder, raising her eyes up to the top. The beam weapons swivelled to follow her, some aimed at her head and others at the left hand.

“You know I’m not Seven, don’t you” she asked the AI.

“I know” Archimedes responded. “You have been infected with a Quantum virus from the Abyss and it has taken control of your body. I am very sorry, Seven, but if you continue to threaten my central core I will be forced to destroy you”

“Well, how about you stop calling me Seven. The poor child is sleeping right now, so you can call me Nothing”

“Very well, Nothing, you have come all this way to try and destroy me” Archimedes replied. “It won’t work, no matter how big a bomb you planted. My core is protected by Ceramiglass shielding as you can see”

Nothing smiled her wicked grin and held up the detonator. It was a style called a ‘deadman switch’. As long as she held it closed, the bombs would not explode.

“What? I am not here to destroy you Archimedes” she laughed. “Anyway, the explosives are linked to the power lines that feed into the core. If I set them off, your Processors won’t be damaged but you will lose all power. Even the Great Archimedes needs electricity to run his brain, doesn’t he?”

“Ah, very clever Nothing” Archimedes conceded. “I assume you used the knowledge that Seven had acquired to work this plan out?”

“Yes” Nothing said to him. “She has spent a year crawling through the depths of this city, researching how to get to you. Discarding her like you did made her very angry and I was able to use that”

“We had intended her to be used for stealthy infiltration. I wanted to keep her but she was useless to me without the Quantum connection” Archimedes said. “I had not expected her skills to be used against me”

The AI and the servant of the Abyss regarded each other for a moment.

“So if you aren’t here to destroy me, then what do you want?” Archimedes asked her.

“I need you to bring Eric Hargreaves to this chamber” she told the AI. “By now he should be safe in this Tower or the Fortress, so you can get him here pretty quickly”

“Why do you want Agent Thirteen?” Archimedes enquired curiously.

“Because little Seven loves him and I want to break her heart” Nothing answered.

Eric was reviewing the day’s events remotely with his brother Two when the contact came from Archimedes. He listened to what the Artificial Intelligence requested and relayed the details first to Two. Then he addressed his companions in the room.

“Hey guys, I need to go and see Archimedes” he told them. “I don’t know how long I will be gone, so Miss Smith is coming here with Nero to watch over everyone. Lucky will be staying here too as added security”

“What about Deuce and Francis?” Carmody asked.

“They will be staying at the Post to keep it secure” Eric responded. “There was some security breach at the school and they are handling it”

“Okay Eric, go do whatever Archimedes needs” Lilly spoke up. “But if you need our help, you know where to find us” She stood up and gave him a big hug, earning him a jealous glare from Achmed.

Thanks” he said then strode quickly from the room. On the flight deck over his head a VTOL was already powering up its engines, waiting for him to get aboard.

Nothing was sitting on the floor, leaning against the clear Ceramiglass cylinder that contained Archimedes when the big armoured door to the chamber slid open. Beyond she could see Eric, flanked by two of the gleaming silver mechanicals the AI used as servants, here in the depths of the tower.

“Please keep the mechanicals outside, Archimedes” she said in a warning tone, holding aloft the remote detonator in her left hand.

“Of course” the AI answered smoothly and the two humanoid robots stepped back, leaving Eric alone. The boy walked confidently forwards and stood facing the seated girl. At his back the heavy door swing closed and locked itself once more.

“Hi Seven. I had been wondering where you got to” Eric said to her and Nothing grinned at him using the girl’s delicate mouth.

“Hello Eric” she replied and got to her feet, letting her back rest against the cool smooth cylinder. “I am glad the drones didn’t damage you out at the testing field”

“It would have been easier not to attack us in the first place” he told her sternly.

“But then it wouldn’t have looked convincing” Nothing pouted at the boy. “I needed all of you busy, fighting off enemies, so I could sneak in here”

Eric regarded her coldly though half closed eyes.

“What about your allies? What about the Emissary? Was he always expendable?”

Nothing laughed gently at his fierce expression.

“Everybody is expendable, even me, to my master the Abyss” she explained. “Only she matters”

“I see” Eric responded. “So what do you want from me now?”

“I want you to let me into your mind!” she declared. “Little Seven is broken and I have done all I needed to with her. Now I want you, dear Eric”

Eric held her gaze, gauging the depths to which Nothing would go.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I let Seven die before your eyes” Nothing said coldly. “I shut down her breathing and stop her heart from beating. I control all of her body so you know I can do this”

“You’ll die too” Eric said in confusion.

“I am Nothing” she told him. “I am expendable, like I told you. It doesn’t matter if I die”

Archimedes spoke up at last, his voice projected from speakers arrayed around the chamber.

“She only wants to use your Quantum Processor to gain control of my Network” the AI said. “If you let her into your processor, you won’t be able to control her!”

The weapons that had been tracking only Nothing now split their attention, half of them targeting the young Avatar.

“Don’t force me to destroy you too, Eric” Archimedes threatened. “I can’t allow the Abyss unrestricted access into my realm!”

“I understand, Archimedes” he answered softly. He looked sadly at Seven’s slender body, so similar in many ways to his own. She would have indeed been a fitting companion to him for the years ahead. “I am sorry, Seven”

“Then watch her last moments” Nothing snarled and the girl’s body fell still. Eric could sense immediately that she had ceased breathing, even though she stood upright and her eyes were open and aware.

Nothing slowly extended her left hand, still gripping the deadman switch of the detonator. The fingers began to slowly uncurl, almost at the point of releasing the trigger. With a shout, Eric leaped forward and pressed his right hand around hers, locking the switch closed.

His forehead was laid against her own, warm and unyielding at the same time. Like Seven, beneath the flesh of his right temple lay a magnetic induction port. He aligned it instinctively with her own, their faces close enough to kiss.

Nothing smiled, knowing she had won. Eric was opening his mind to her and Archimedes was unwilling to destroy them. She recommenced the automatic body functions of Seven’s heart and lungs, a gasp of breath heralding her return to life.

“I win” she whispered into Eric’s ear and sent her essence across the induction link and filled his mind with her own.

=====

Seven gasped and staggered backwards, her mind released from the depths that Nothing had imprisoned her within. Dimly she was aware that Eric was in front of her, the boy falling to his knees as she released him.

“Agent Seven!” an electronic voice was shouting at her. “Don’t release your left hand!”

Seven was confused and looked at her left hand. A remote detonator was gripped loosely in her fingers, the trigger nearly released. With a sudden understanding she knew what it was and closed her hand, stopping it from sending the detonation signal.

“Where am I?” she said, her lips and mouth struggling to speak clearly. Her vision was blurry too and in her head she kept seeing flashes of a vast, dark space, filled with glowing lights.

“You are in my central core” the voice said and she recognised it belonged to Archimedes. Standing upright, she turned towards a glowing pillar of light, blinding her with its intensity.

“Archimedes?” she wondered. “You are so bright!” She lifted her right hand to shield her eyes, but the glow seemed to pass right through as if she was made of glass.

Archimedes spoke in her head. The glow was less now and she saw he was a vast pillar of light, rising up into a dark sky. She turned her head and saw other glowing points in the darkness that surrounded her.

she replied.

Archimedes said.

she demanded.

Archimedes admitted.

Seven asked in wonder.

the AI told her.

“Eric!” Seven shouted and looked into the real world in sudden urgency. She saw him collapsed at her feet, his eyes closed and his body barely breathing. She cried out in anguish and knelt at his side.

“What’s wrong with him?” she begged to Archimedes. “Why is he like this?”

“Look in the Network” Archimedes said softly from the speakers. She opened her new sight into the Quantum realm and looked at her beloved partner. A black hole was where his glowing icon should be, a void in the Quantum realm.

Archimedes explained.

said a panicked Seven.

Seven let go of the Quantum realm and lifted Eric’s unresisting body in her right arm. He looked so peaceful, almost like he was asleep. She heard the big door open and the tread of mechanical feet as two of Archimedes servants entered the core.

“Give them the detonator” Archimedes asked and Seven handed it carefully to one of the humanoid machines. It gripped the switch firmly and stood back, allowing the second to lift Eric easily from the floor.

Seven still held one of Eric’s hands and squeezed it carefully.

“Where are you taking him?” she asked, tears beginning to spill from her eyes.

“Somewhere more comfortable” the AI responded. “Please go with him”

She followed the silver mechanical then stopped for a moment to look at the cylindrical core of the artificial intelligence.

“How do I contact you again?” she asked. “If I need to ask you more questions?”

“Agent Seven, you are part of me now. You can speak to me whenever you want to, from anywhere in the world”

“Oh right, I forgot” she said. On numb legs she followed the mechanical as it held the only thing in this world she cared about.

The chamber door closed as she left, sealing the Great Archimedes into his fortress.

Eric found himself in a City, a place filled with towers and streets at once familiar and strange. He was standing in the courtyard of the 10th District Junior High School and far overhead a pitch black dragon was circling the grey sky.

It was screaming in anger and frustration, lashing its mighty claws and spiked tail in fury at the unyielding sky. Every blow rebounded from the grey barrier, unmarked despite the ferocity of the attacks.

The boy walked across the courtyard and sought out the low wall he often sat on, so much like the one he used to sit on in the real world. It felt solid enough to his senses and he spread his legs and leaned backwards, letting his arms support him as he gazed up at the Dracoris.

“It’s no use, Nothing” he called out to the creature. “I have sealed us into a micro-realm” It stopped the useless attacks and dove from the grey sky, landing in a flurry of ebon wings not far from him.

“What have you done, Thirteen?” it screeched. “How did you trick me into this place?”

Eric shrugged his shoulders and regarded Nothing with his pale blue eyes, now as hard as flint.

“I used the three dimensional maps of Pan City to create a training space for some of my tactics programs. It is very detailed and it follows many of the physical laws that apply in the real world. When you invaded my mind, I sent my core personality in here and you followed me. Then I closed the door behind us both, sealing us in here forever”

The Dracoris examined the world it saw about them and nodded its big, pointed head in understanding.

“Very clever, Eric” it admitted with a hint of admiration. “However, if you locked the door that lead us here, you must still possess the key to open it again”

“No, I destroyed it” he replied casually. The dragon’s deep red eyes gleamed at him and he met her gaze without flinching.

“You’re bluffing” Nothing said decisively. “You have hidden the key somewhere in this realm!”

“If I did, you would never find it” he laughed. “This is a big city, as big as the real one, with towers and roads and tunnels everywhere” He gave Nothing a wicked grin of his own. “If you still had Seven’s memories, maybe you would know me well enough to guess where I might hide such a thing. But you left her behind, didn’t you? You thought you had taken everything from her that you needed”

“I don’t need her memories anymore” Nothing sneered. She flexed her massive wings and scraped her enormous talons across the simulated paving of the courtyard. Her claws left long, deep furrows in the surface. “You made this realm follow the laws of your world, so in here I am a mighty Dracoris and you are a puny little human boy”

Nothing grinned at Eric with a mouth filled with long black teeth, each as big as a knife.

“I can hurt you until you reveal the hiding place of the key” she said confidently. “And I plan to hurt you quite a lot”

“I had hoped we could talk a bit longer” Eric replied. “However, if you want to fight me then I have no choice”

He stood and faced the dragon as she towered over him.

“Activate Tactical Combat Routine Alpha-Three” he said to the air and Nothing watched him in sudden concern.

Appearing around Eric was a series of geometric forms, mostly black or metallic, that twisted and reshaped themselves rapidly in the space that surrounded him. It took scant seconds and then he was encased by black armour, his head inside a sleek helmet with a clear visor. Metallic blocks had reformed themselves into a long, rectangular gun with a powerpack at the rear as well as a small pistol that slid into a holster at his hip.

“Alpha-Three activation completed” a voice echoed from the sky, copying the sound of Eric’s voice.

“Okay, Nothing” Eric grinned from inside his helmet as he powered up the Rail Gun. “Let’s fight!”