Chapter Fifty-Two – Down Down Down

Chapter Fifty-Two – Down Down Down

“The Antithesis are, rightly, the stuff of many a nightmare. They are unreasonable, alien, and have an appetite for human flesh.

And yet, of all of the Models, there is none more terrifying than the Model Seven.”

–Excerpt from a Lecture by Professor Sanderson, 2028

***

Speedy drove us to a stop before a tall, thin high rise three blocks and a bit over from the hospital. The building, like its neighbours, was tall and sleek, covered in bright stainless and mirrored windows.

It wasn’t one of the short-stack apartment blocks that fillled half the city, or one of those blocky factories that spat out plumes of smoke from three dozen vents on the roof. This was one of the fancy sorts of buildings where half the floors were corporate offices, and the rest homes for the kind of people that couldn’t live without a view.

I stopped craning my neck up and looked around the car as much as I could. No aliens, at least, none that I could see. “Right,” I said. “Back to the grind. Speedy, you’re staying here?”

“Sure thing, boss lady,” Speedy said with a two finger salute.

“Two per vehicle,” Monroe said. “The rest of us are with you.”

We got out, the soldiers doing the fancy thing where they panned their guns left and right and looked around for anything that wanted to eat them.

I looked up again, to make sure there weren’t any surprises there, then took in the front of the building.

The first three or so floors were all cement, no glass or windows and no decorations other than huge static ads for energy drinks, radio stations and the more popular porn livestreams.

“Ma’am, door,” Monroe said as he removed a hand from the barrel of his gun to point to a door set in the side of the building.

I shook off my lethargy, tried to put my game face on, realized that I didn’t have or need one, and moved over to the door.

The soldiers moved around it, two to a side, guns held so that they could spin around and clear the entrance the moment the door was opened. “Wait just a sec,” I said. They relaxed a bit. “Myalis, can you help me with this one?”

Certainly.

“And I’ll need a bit more help besides. Can I buy something to see through doors and such? Maybe a drone? To scout and such.”

There are all sorts of drones available. I would advise against going the drone swarm route though. The micromanaging needed to use one well wouldn’t suit you, I don’t think. Perhaps a larger, more robust stealth drone? Something with a Class I AI that can serve as a partner?

“An AI like you?” I asked.

No. I am a class XII Personal AI. I am far beyond your purchasing capability. A Class I AI would have the intelligence of a small mammal. A dog, or a cat, perhaps. The model I have in mind can be upgraded and improved over time.

I had over a thousand points to burn. “Sure.”

New Purchase: Type One GG3R Stealth Drone
Points Reduced to… 937

I was expecting a box to appear next to me.

Instead a black cat appeared by my feet. It looked up to me with deep blue eyes, then sat down, its tail curling through the air this way and that.

“Uh,” Monroe said after a minute. “Ma’am?”

“Yeah, one sec,” I said. “Myalis?”

Yes?

“What the fuck?”

Shall I go over its features?

“Features? It’s a fucking cat?”

Myalis giggled. The cat blinked away, leaving into a four-legged metal thing standing on the ground. No taller than my shins, it looked like a bulbous spider, with claw-tipped feet and a body made of the same bluish metal as my arm.

I worked my jaw. “Serious?” I asked.

Very. It will obey verbal and signalled commands, as well as orders sent through your current equipment.

I twitched. My AI was a sadistic, mean bitch who like fucking with me. But that would be better handled without Monroe and his buddies looking at me.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“It’s a very expensive stealth drone,” I told the sergeant.