Somnus Deus Ex – Chapter Six

Somnus Deus Ex – Chapter Six

Daisy very rapidly discovered that she had no talent for sussing out aliens who weren’t charging at her headlong. She watched from a slight rise in the ruins as the soldiers gathered up the civilians that could still walk into a single group. There was a heart-warming amount of camaraderie. The stronger helped to carry the weaker. Stretchers were made from spare coats and clothes and some boards or rebar. They probably wouldn’t last, but they didn’t need to.

More were carried on backs or given a shoulder to lean on before the entire group started to shamble off.

They were moving at a slow, shuffling speed that made Daisy’s teeth grind. “I can’t decide what’s worse. Not seeing the enemy, or seeing so many injured moving around like that.”

I would hope that it’s the latter.

Daisy considered it, then nodded. The injured bothered her more. She felt a tiny inkling of guilt at not being able to help more. Worse, she had made them move on, which meant that some people that could have been saved wouldn’t be, all because of her order.

She decided not to dwell on it. If she killed the aliens, then real help could arrive. The injured and stuck would have to wait, just a little while. “Lynus, can you contact the soldier’s… commanders?”

I can.

“Tell them that we need more people here. And to meet the evacuees mid-way. Also, tell them that some of them might be infected with model sevens. I expect quarantine before any other solution.”

She’d heard stories about entire groups being gunned down because there wasn’t time to discover who was infected and who wasn’t.

“Alright,” Daisy said as she shook off her stray thoughts. She had managed to kill a couple of weaker aliens, and her point total was… not looking great, but not awful at the same time. “I need to find that model seventeen. Lynus, I think it’s time for a drone.”

Understood. What are you looking for?

“Just something that can see for me. Its vision can be relayed back to me. Something that can fly?”

I see. If you’re going to invest in that direction, then a small very specialised catalogue might not be a poor idea. It will unlock a good selection for you to pick from.

She frowned, but nodded. Her goal had been to upgrade her gun next. The Pillowfriend wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. As a secondary option it would probably be fine, but she needed something… better as a primary.

Still, needs must, and she wasn’t going to beat around the bush with this. She went over her options with Lynus, dismissing some ideas quickly before falling on a drone she wanted and a catalogue that could provide it for cheap.

Catalogue unlocked: Light Data-Gathering Drones
Points reduced to: 20

Drone unlock: Sleepy Eye Drone
Points reduced to: 10

The drone was small, only a little larger than her closed fist, with three fans set equi-distant around it. The main body had a large camera facing forwards, and not much else. Daisy left it in its open box for a moment as she connected to it through her Augs, then her brain interface.

She expected some degree of pain as the link unravelled, but there was nothing. The drone sent an image into her augs which she ‘saw’ in her mind, as if she had a third eye. There was a vague, very weak and peripheral sense of balance telling her that she was currently even.

She tipped the box, and that sense moved with it. It wasn’t strong. In fact, she could very easily ignore it.

With a bit of focus and a constant mental repetition of ‘up’ the drone rose up and out of the box, shooting past her head for a moment before she thought ‘down’ enough for it to level off at head-height.

“Hmm,” she said.

Anything wrong?

“No, just strange.” She was looking at herself through the drone while she looked at it. The double-vision felt odd for how… not-odd it felt. She imagined she should have been confused, or disorientated, but it was no worse than reading a tablet while resting in an awkward position in bed.

The drone spun around, then zipped away and up while Daisy worked through its camera settings.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Do antithesis show up on infrared?”

Some do. Others are rather cold, but few are colder than their environment. The issue with infrared is that an antithesis at rest is no hotter than the average plant, which means that in most terrestrial environments, they blend in with the background ‘noise’ too well to be spotted.

“Right, I suppose they are just plants.”