Chapter Forty-Six – Eww, What Even Is That?

Chapter Forty-Six – Eww, What Even Is That?

“Antithesis specimens are divided into broad categories called ‘models.’ These models represent a general shape taken by the aliens, though there will always be some deviation between subjects of the same model, just as no two humans are exactly alike.

Models are, in turn, categorised in tiers. Tier one represents all models from one to ten. Tier two represents all models from eleven to twenty, and so on.”

–Antithesis Identification – A Xenowatcher’s Primer, Birdwatchers of America, 2046

***

“What the fuck am I looking at?” I asked as I kept staring at the unfolding monstrosity on the screen.

The antithesis… thing was unspooling long fleshy… not-quite-tentacles. These were bridging the gap between massive segments of Phobos’ surface crust, almost like some sort of weird shell being expanded outwards.

There was a tug, and the shell started to close once more. Plates that had to be the size of entire provinces crashing togethers at the edges and sending small chunks of rocks flying every which way.

That looks like the start of a Model Sixty-Eight. They’re one of the more esoteric biological constructs that the antithesis will deploy once they have space superiority. Think of it as a mobile hive.

“That thing’s a hive?” I asked. But yeah, that made some sorta sense. “No, nevermind, that makes sense. It’s fucking massive though.”

Antithesis generally grow larger the higher the tier. This isn’t always the case, but there’s a definite pattern of growth, both in size and complexity and capability. A Model Sixty-Eight can grow to be the size of a small moon. As evidenced by what you’re seeing now.

“Anything we need to know in particular about it?” I asked. “Or is it just a bigger, meaner bug that we need to squish?”

Expect it to be able to move and manoeuvre in ways that would seem counter-intuitive based on its size and mass. Also, expect esoteric weapons and capabilities. Higher tier models are more versatile, and their biological nature doesn’t prevent them from using something akin to modern technology.

I closed my eyes for a moment, then stood up, which was a little awkward considering the weird chair I’d bought. Somehow, my back felt… nice? I glanced across the room. The others were mostly glued on the screen, watching the alien moon writhe and reset itself. Data was streaming in on half the screen, and while I couldn’t parse it, I was sure Grasshopper and Gomorrah could. Maybe Hedgehog too.

“Stray Cat?” Princess asked. “Are you leaving?”

“I’m going to call Doctor Radikal,” I said. “Susan too, I guess.”

I didn’t like being pushed into anything like a leadership position. It wasn’t my thing. But… fuck. I wasn’t awful at it. Not good enough to start bragging, but I wasn’t a complete dumbass. I could figure it out.

I’d like to think that I had street smarts enough to handle the bottom rungs of New Montreal well enough. This whole thing was on another level, but some of that same logic applied across the board.

My gut was telling me that this was like when two gangs that shared a block had to deal with some corpo fuckery. In that kind of situation, putting heads together was usually the best move.

So I pulled up Doctor Radikal’s information on my contact’s list and gave him a call. It took two rings for the good doctor to reply. No video, voice only, but that was fine. “Ah! Stray Cat! Yes, I was just thinking I ought to give you a call. Susan as well. I imagine you’ve been watching our stream?”

“I have, yeah. We set up a mini-cinema over here to watch it all live.”

“Yes, well, that means I won’t need to explain things too much,” he said. “Can you give me but a moment? I will get into contact with Susan as well, we’ll make it so that a minimum of repetition is necessary.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” I said as I finally stepped outside. It had started to drizzle a little, which was probably for the best. The rain was bringing down all of the dust that had been kicked up by the tractors and trucks moving around the site. It looked like most of the effort right now was being spent on closing up the top of the Big Gun with pre-made metal sheets. They were three-quarters of the way to the end.

It took a few long seconds, but eventually Doctor Radikal came back on and there was a faint click as Susan joined the call.

“Greetings, Stray Cat,” he said.

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“Heya,” I replied. “So. Phobos was an egg and we’ve cracked it, huh?”

“An apt metaphor,” Doctor Radikal said. “Before entering this situation, we created a predictive ten-tier system for gauging the results of our weapons platform upon Phobos. One being absolute success, ten being an unmitigated disaster.”

“And this is an eleven sort of situation?” I asked.