S-2878 • L7 Uneluna • D17 Fluxli
"Uneluna unites sky and earth in a mature thread. Fluxli releases the curve in living silver. The tide traces a path through the open air. The story continues steady, in a gentle glow."
KIARA
I waited beside the car, rubbing my eyes. "Fuck, seriously?"
The distance between us closed. Maia shrugged, smiling. Saymon smirked too, that fucking irritating irony plastered across his mouth. I got into the car. Maia settled into the passenger seat while Saymon sat in the back.
"Know we're gonna have fun," he remarked, raising an eyebrow.
Maia held back a chuckle. "Better not annoy her."
Saymon poked his head between us. "Really?" Then he returned to looking out the window.
Maia winked at me. "Located the place?"
"Duh. Obviously."
Perhaps you know Ilhabela as a sanctuary dedicated to preserving the biosphere. A place where human contact is forbidden except for the ecosystem's protectors, and tourism has been banned. They did that job so well that anyone consulting a map of the region would see nothing but untouched nature.
Well, it was all a lie.
The Aether Network maintained several facilities in Ilhabela. A nanofortress protected by nanobarriers and cutting-edge nanosecurity systems. They hid their darkest secrets there: research, military nanotechnologies, bombs, weapons, and androids. Everything you could imagine in armaments.
And what we wanted was there.
The complex's security began in the surrounding cities. I parked in Marantuba, where the surveillance radius began. The beach lay in ruins, like so many others.
"Alright." I turned to them. "Be right back."
Thirty minutes later, I found a box containing the nanosystem responsible for the nanosensors within that security radius. I collected the data and discovered, fortunately, that its protocols connected to those used on the island.
What did that mean? That I could map the fortress using the same vulnerabilities in its entry points and proxies. It took another two hours to defragment the nanosystem. When I finished, I returned to the car.
"Ça me saoûle!" Maia grumbled.
"You lost. Again. Gotta do whatever I want." Saymon laughed mockingly.
"What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms and sulking.
He remained silent for a moment.
"I'll collect when the time comes."
"Whatever." Maia huffed.
"You always lose to him. Why keep playing?" I rested my elbows on the car door, watching the cards scattered across Saymon's lap.
Maia was a terrible loser.
"You were taking forever," she answered, avoiding my eyes.
"What if we wagered something important?" Saymon ran his tongue over his teeth, trying to disguise the dangerous aura beginning to radiate from him.
Maia's eyes gleamed sharply. "Like playing with danger, don't you?"
His smile widened as he arranged the cards. "See, Kikky? She just needs motivation to win."
"Casse-toi!" Maia laughed, relaxed.
I rolled my eyes, sat down, and projected the map. "Honestly, I couldn't care less."
"How much time will we have?" Maia asked.
"Three hours. Their security's good."
"I certainly hope so. Otherwise, it'll be tedious." Saymon's eyes took on a bored expression, camouflaging the provocation of being challenged.
Maia put her feet on the dashboard. "You only came to connect to one of their androids."
He gave a lopsided smile. "Of course, but I wanna have fun too."
Those two really had a peculiar way about them.
"Pay attention. Besides the nanobarrier, the fortress has a wall. Two androids guard the entrance, four humans are positioned on top of the wall, and nanocameras are scattered around the area."
"Leave it to me," Maia assured me.
"Alright. Inside, twenty guards patrol the grounds, and fifteen are stationed inside each facility. More nanocameras in the garden and interiors. Our objective is on the third basement level, inside a maximum-security nanovault."
"No such thing exists for me." Maia made a proud face.
"Uh-huh." I nodded casually.
"What? Something else?" she asked.
I stopped the holoprojection and nodded. "Cloakify will get us past the sensors. But inside, whatever we do, even if we handle the nanocameras, the alarms will go off."
"Why?" I looked at her.
"They use quantum-nanites. When one key changes, the whole pattern shifts. So they'll know there's an intruder."
We fell silent.
"We could, you know… blow everything up." Saymon gave a wicked smile.
Maia rolled her eyes.
He slipped the deck into his pocket. "That was a risky move… Anyway, got an idea. We can weave a distraction. It'll work if they know there's an intruder. I'll connect to the two androids at the entrance and launch an attack with them." He licked his lips. "Even if the alarm goes off, they'll have an internal enemy to deal with. That'll leave them unsure about the intruder."
"What if they take out the androids before that?" Maia uncrossed her legs.
"Now you're offending me, little sister. I'll make it difficult. Besides, I only need to connect to another android." Saymon shrugged. "I'll weave the distraction so you can get inside. Kikky will cover our backs. If none of us gets discovered, they'll think it was a qn-systemic failure." He leaned back in his seat, satisfied.
"It's a reasonable idea," Maia admitted thoughtfully. "If you damage internal security, they might attribute it to a malfunction. Until they discover what's missing, of course."
Fuck. Hated admitting it… That could work.
"The plan to reduce this place to dust is still on, right?" Saymon teased.
"Keep quiet while I think about it, alright?" I continued assessing the possibility.
"Just saying. Maia could do it easily."
"Saymon, we've talked about this." She narrowed her eyes.
"Blah, blah, blah." He gestured theatrically. "'Shaymon, we've already talked about thish.' I only agreed because it'll be fun."
"Great." Maia raised an eyebrow, smirking. "You're still gonna have plenty of fun, I guarantee it. Saved the best for you."
His eyes gleamed with perversity. "Really? What?"
"You're going after the—"
I interrupted her. "By my calculations, your plan could work. You'll take the following route with the androids…"
I explained the operation in detail.
The Aether Network was unprepared for what was coming. If we executed everything as planned, they would have no way of discovering who had struck them. They would attribute the events to qn-systemic failures, leaving no grounds for external investigations.
Once I accessed the main entry points, I would obtain the core key and could manipulate the internal information. They would know certain items had disappeared, but the data would point to their own employees being responsible. Our intention wasn't to cause a massacre. We wanted to avoid deaths.
"Understood?"
The siblings exchanged glances and nodded.
We began crossing with Cloakify active, walking over scorched sand saturated with the smell of sulfur. We avoided land mines and the air patrol's nanodrones until reaching the shore, where several boats were moored. I corrupted two of them.
"How are you gonna do that from a distance?" Maia asked Saymon behind me while I searched for one vehicle's core.
"With these beauties." He raised two small pistols. "Asked Hikaru to make them for me."
"That guy again, huh?" Maia laughed.
Strangely, Saymon fell silent.
She waved a hand, smiling knowingly. "How does it work?"
His smile returned. "Hikaru imbued the bullets with nanites carrying my DNA. Just need to hit those lovely little mechanical hearts."
"Done." I stood and sent Maia the vehicle's code. "It'll last forty minutes."
She smiled. "Only need twenty."
While Maia and Saymon headed toward the fortress, I waited in the other boat, prepared in case anything went wrong. I adjusted my rifle and aimed at the targets. The two crossed in five minutes.
The fortress was brightly lit except for a few specific spots. They slipped through the dark areas until reaching the wall, where they hid among the shrubs.
They continued along it. Five minutes until the alarm. Five meters to the androids at the entrance. Two projectiles cut through the air and struck the androids' mechanical chests.
My turn.
I shot the four alert humans in the forehead, making them drop to their knees. The androids controlled by Saymon hid the bodies in the vegetation and opened the door.
After that, I could no longer see them. I followed only Maia's signals. Soon, she would leave my radar's range.
I needed to wait.
Ten minutes later, Saymon appeared on the wall and waved at me.
I frowned. What was he doing? I flashed the scope light twice, signaling that I'd seen him.
He beckoned me over. Literally asked me to come there. What the fuck had happened? What did that guy want? I lowered my rifle, started the boat, and headed toward the fortress. Along the way, I avoided the lights until reaching the shrubs, where I stepped around the bodies. Look at that little hole in the forehead. I admired my work. Hmm, this one was a little to the left. Well, he had been fidgeting…
When I reached the entrance, I found pure chaos. Saymon's androids were under a hail of gunfire, though they returned fire masterfully. I avoided being seen and searched for a way to the top of the wall. I climbed a staircase carved into the structure until reaching a half-meter parapet.
Saymon crouched there, assessing the scene through a gap in the concrete. When he noticed me, he cast a brief glance my way.
I crouched beside him. "Hope you've got a good reason for calling me here."
He let out a soft laugh. "As always, lil' sister changed the plans. Knew she would." He pointed at a larger facility. "That area's used for experiments on test subjects. She wants… boom. You know."
"You've gotta be kidding." I rubbed my eyes. "How are we gonna do that?"
"There." Saymon pointed at the facility's upper section. "A chamber containing flammable substances. It's lined with a nanobarrier."
"We're not… Ah, right, got it. She's the one going up there, isn't she?"
He nodded. "I'll handle the guards. Head underground. Maia's already cleared the way."
"She didn't take it?"
"She can't risk going up there carrying it. If something goes wrong…"
"Fucking hell!" I shook my head, displeased. I was the one who would have to go into that shit.
I slipped inside. Guards appeared in droves, but Saymon had created the ideal distraction to open a passage. I entered an enormous white hall, bodies scattered across the floor. The lack of blood told me it was Maia's work. I followed the trail she'd left.
I went to the elevators, but they were stopped, blocked by the alarm. Then I reached the emergency stairs, knowing Maia had corrupted the nanocameras. Twisted bodies piled up on the steps. She was inspired.
When I reached the third basement level, I found a white corridor stretching before me, flanked by doors and frosted-glass windows. The dead bodies showed the way.
I stopped before a black door smelling of nanometal and ice. White mist covered the interior. The only light came from the center of the vault, where a dark blue metabox stood, its sides destroyed. Judging by the marks, Maia had forced it open. The lid was twisted, and the interior lined with QN-Tec. Photons danced in horizontal and vertical lines. There lay three silver spheres, ornamented with threads of light that transmitted and illuminated the quantum-nanokeys.
I picked up an armored case and placed the three items inside.
Ten minutes. Time to go.
BOOOOOOM! An explosion shook the fortress.
BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM!
Fuck. Everything began detonating. I ran toward the surface. What the fuck was happening? I emerged into the garden. The neighboring building was on fire. Ah, shit… I searched for my connection to Maia. Deactivated.
I went back inside. Ran through a corridor to the other building. Smoke filled the space, and screams gathered ever closer.
Hundreds of people passed me, too busy fighting for their own lives to care about an android.
Where are you, Maia? I searched for her face among so many strangers. None of them was her. The smoke thickened.
BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! Explosions cracked one after another in a chain of combustion.
The screams stopped. Now, only flames. Only the alarm.
Where? I hurried toward the other building's hall.
KRRAAAAASSHHH! The ceiling collapsed. Bodies piled among the wreckage, and blood painted the floor. Walls once white, now red.
Where? I considered the possibility that Maia might not return. Come on, fuck.
"EVACUATE THE BUILDINGS IMMEDIATELY! REINFORCEMENTS WILL ARRIVE IN FIVE MINUTES!" The robotic voice echoed.
Shit. We had to get out. Was this desperation? I searched the smallest spaces, among the debris, everywhere she could be.
"EVACUATE THE BUILDINGS IMMEDIATELY! REINFORCEMENTS WILL ARRIVE IN FOUR MINUTES!"
Fuck. I turned to leave. I had to get out, or everything would be in vain. Couldn't let that happen. Maia had made me promise. If anything happened, I was to leave her. Why?
COUGH! COUGH! A cough reverberated through the hall, rising above the irritating cacophony. Behind me, Maia emerged through the smoke, coughing violently.
I ran to her.
Maia wrapped her arms around my neck. "Kiki…"
"Shhh. Don't talk. Let's go." I straightened and carried her in my arms, trying to move as quickly as possible.
Her face bore minor burns. Fire had torn through parts of her clothes, now stained black, and her white hair was grayish, singed at the ends.
I would have to take care of that. The work I'd have…
When we reached the entrance, I kept stealth mode active.
Five androids controlled by Saymon continued causing chaos.
"What the fuck's happening?" a guard asked.
"No idea! These androids attacked out of nowhere!" another answered.
In the middle of the garden, scientists and guards huddled together. Hundreds awaited rescue while local A.T.F. agents exchanged gunfire with the corrupted androids.
I passed through the entrance and ran to the boat. Saymon joined us minutes later.
"Need to do one more thing." I left Maia with him. I walked to the box connected to the fortress's nanosystem and established a connection. I probed the data and modified the security information. The official cause of the confusion would now be a core failure in the androids. That would be enough to trigger an internal report and an investigation. I had the protocols. Even remotely, I could access and alter the records.
I returned to the boat and steered it to the other side.
Maia coughed. "N-no…"
"Quiet. Let me take care of you." Saymon offered her water and poured some over her. "You're so stubborn. Told you we should blow everything up from the start." He carried Maia in his arms while she struggled to breathe.
She didn't answer.
I led the way.
"At least only one building exploded. Did the blast reach the development center?" Saymon wiped his sister's face.
"No," I answered over my shoulder.
We reached the car.
Reinforcements would arrive in two minutes. If they spotted us as they passed, we would be detained. We needed to cross into the next city. I accelerated as hard as I could.
"More water on the seats," I told Saymon.
He nodded and took another bottle for Maia.
She drank and coughed. Coughed and drank. Let the water cool her. She was drenched. "Y-you…" Maia couldn't finish speaking with her lungs in that fucked-up state.
Suddenly, something struck the car. Fuck. What now?
The dashboard flashed red. They'd hit the engine. An electric nanominibomb. Nanoelectromagnetic waves neutralized the nanosystem, and the vehicle's LI collapsed.
"What was that?" Saymon asked, looking out the window.
"Fuck!" I tried activating manual control. "Ah, this is why I hate leaving this shit on autopilot. We're done. We're going down." I tossed him the case.
"You…"
I ejected the seats. Shit.
We landed.
The car rolled across the ground.
Fucking pigs. Two nanodrones and an A.T.F. vehicle were coming toward us.
I grabbed an assault rifle. "Find somewhere to hide with Maia. I'll find you when I'm done here."
"You sure?" Saymon gathered Maia into his arms.
He knew as well as I did that her condition put us at a disadvantage. "Just fucking go!" I turned away.
Maia grew farther and farther away.
I searched the sky for the irritating nanodrones. The little bastards camouflaged themselves so well that even my thermal system couldn't pick up their signals. I pushed my vision to its maximum and stayed alert for the slightest movement. I needed a light. A single light.
There. A faint red point blinked in the air. I fired. One fell. One left. The assholes would arrive soon. I wanted the obstacles gone. But I couldn't find the second drone in time.
The A.T.F. vehicle landed near me. Two officers, a female android and a human man, pointed their weapons at me.
"Who are you?" the man shouted.
I aimed my assault rifle at him, keeping my attention on the sky.
While the human tried to buy time, the android attempted to access my nanosystem, without success. "Answer, or I'll shoot!"
The nanodrone's little light blinked. There you are. I fired. The drone fell.
The android officer fired at the ground where I stood. The shot grazed the side of my foot. I fired at her.
The human shot at me.
I ran and hid behind a tree. Then I tried accessing the android to identify her location. A.T.F. protocols took time to hack. I needed to hit her first.
She circled the car from the left, trying to reach me, while the man advanced from the right.
I put away the rifle and drew a revolver. Crouching, I watched her feet beneath the car. That's it. Come on.
Her head appeared above the bodywork. I fired, hitting her squarely.
"I'll get you!" the human shouted when he saw his partner fall.
I ran to the android and finished the job with a shot to her chest.
One left.
I pressed my back against the police car's bodywork to corrupt its system. As soon as I established the connection, I began accessing the data. Soon, he would be unable to call for reinforcements.
34% corrupted
I listened closely. The man was good. Avoided making noise. I looked beneath the car. Nothing. Where was he? In ten seconds, the vehicle would be mine. A shot grazed my chest and struck the metal behind me.
98% corrupted
His shadow hid in a shrub. Short, rapid breathing. There you are. I completed the car's corruption and disconnected. Hope this miniature sniper rifle's good, Trix. I drew the nanoweapon and ran to the rear of the vehicle.
The wind stirred the shrub's foliage. A glimmer in the darkness. Two shots hit my foot. I braced the weapon and focused my aim on the shrubs. A projectile passed over my head. Found you. My shot cut through the air and hit him right between the eyes. His body rolled onto the grass as blood spilled over the sand.
Hmm. Not bad for a mini-weapon. I checked the radar. Maia and Saymon were already in the next city. I needed to go.
I collected the android, the nanodrones, and the man, placing the bodies and wreckage in my old car. I heated the core until it exploded. Great. Another nanocar of mine destroyed. I eliminated the evidence and looked for anything I'd forgotten. Fuck it. If they found traces, I'd find a way to stop them from linking us to it. I headed toward Saymon and Maia.
I found them in a ruined house. Maia breathed a little better, leaning against the wall. Saymon watched her warily.
"You came back." She gave a weak smile. The case remained firmly tucked under my arm.
"Obviously." I sat near them. "What do we do now?"
Maia's breathing was heavy. Her tired eyes met Saymon's. "When the time comes. You promised."
He lowered his head and let out a sarcastic chuckle. "I'm a scoundrel, but a scoundrel who keeps his promises." He ran his hands through his hair.
They smiled at each other.
"I know," Maia murmured.
Those two really had a peculiar way about them.
"Better go. That pig must've called for reinforcements. Hacked everything, but who knows? They'll search the area."
I interrupted them. "You need to recover somewhere more decent." I analyzed the air, where radioactive nanoparticles floated.
Saymon helped Maia stand.
We got into the car and flew back to São Paulo.