Chapter Thirty-Nine – Interrupt

Chapter Thirty-Nine – Interrupt

“We are the Sisters of the Holy Extermination.

It is the only way to be certain.”

-The Sisters of Holy Extermination Manifesto, 2045

***

“This way,” Gomorrah muttered as she started down another tunnel. This, at least, was a bit wider than the last.

The water sloshing by our feet made it hard to move forwards, but we were pushing through it. I was just glad that my boots were waterproof, otherwise the trek was going to get real unpleasant real fast.

The worse thing was that my armour let me feel just how lukewarm the water was, which was just… super unpleasant.

As we started down the tunnel, the water grew cooler, and it was clear that it was flowing back into the big room we’d come from. Had Gomorrah burned that much water out?

“Can you hear anything?” Gomorrah asked.

“Hmm? Oh, let me listen,” I said. I focused on my hearing for a bit, then snapped my fingers a few times. It created something like an echo, and I could ‘see’ ahead of us for a little ways, though the water was making it weird. “Uh, right up ahead, then left. No beasties that I can see.”

We came onto a corner that turned right, and then it immediately turned right again.

“Okay, so right-right, not right-left,” I muttered.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered asking,” Gomorrah said. She raised her flamethrower, the pilot light at the very tip of it providing most of the light we had, that and my glowing shotgun.

I rolled my eyes, but continued to listen ahead. “Wait,” I muttered.

Gomorrah and I both stopped, the water around us wavered and bobbed. Still, I could hear something ahead. Sloshing and the tip-tap of something clicking against tin. “What is it?” Gomorrah whispered.

“Aliens, I think,” I said. “There’s a room ahead, right? I think our friends are waiting for us.”

“Alright. Do we move in, or do we toss them a surprise?”

“What are you thinking?” I asked.

Gomorrah gestured ahead with a little thrust of her flamethrower. “You toss in something to flush them out. I burn any that come this way. Then we sweep the room.”

I thought for a second. Resonators would act weird with the water. Anything explosive was out. Nano-stuff might have trouble with the water too… I grinned. “I have just the thing.” Stepping up next to Gomorrah, shut off our comms to speak with Myalis. “Need some B.E.E.S.. Can you make any that are on fire?”

Of course. Though that will make the manufacturing process somewhat more complex. Expect fewer B.E.E.S. and for them to have a much shorter lifespan overall. Only one to two minutes. Their lethality also won’t be significantly greater.

“Yeah, that makes sense. But they’ll be on fire, right?”

Yes.

“Perfect. Get me a jar-full, Myalis!”

A container of B.E.E.S. appeared by my side and splashed down into the water. I could feel Gomorrah’s interest, especially as the little bugs within blurred around their transparent enclosure. “What is that?” she asked.

“You’ll love it,” I said. I opened the top cover, then grinned as the tiny robots swarmed out of the container and lit up with a hundred little hisses. A shower of burning sparks raced around us, then shot off down the passage and into the room ahead. “Let’s move,” I said.

Gomorrah jogged up to the entrance, and for a moment both of us stared as the bees slammed into every alien in the room. They were clearly not hurting them much, but what they were doing, and very well, was showing us where the aliens were hidden.

“Burning,” Gomorrah announced a moment before she stepped into the room with a splash. She hosed the aliens down. I saw the burning forms of model fours writhing as they melted and model threes darted out from cover, hounded by burning motes until Gomorrah’s fire swept over them.

The water steamed, the aliens cooked, and Gomorrah started to chuckle in a way that had every hair on the back of my neck standing on end. She was having a bit too much fun, I think.

When she stopped, there were only husks of fleshy, charred meat left. The water in the room swirled around our legs, and steam flirted around us until the air cleared.

“That should do it,” Gomorrah said. She sounded satisfied with herself, like someone congratulating themselves on a job-well-done.

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“You’re scary, you know that?” I said.