Asunder Chapter 14

Chapter 3.4 (14)

The Disruptor

Command

“Artificial Intelligence- the branch of computer science that deals with writing computer programs that can solve problems creatively” (1)

1. Advanced English Dictionary

- Present Day -

- The year 2296 -

The control room cleared quickly once all assignments appeared distributed. The leaders assigned Diego and Ace to the same team—the detonation squad. With this, a million scenarios played through Ace’s mind. What if his sister was unable to escape before the detonation? Would this mission put her in a danger she wasn’t in before? How could he warn her? How could he find her? Could Ace help detonate a bomb with a chance his sister was still in the facility?

“Are ya alright, brova? Ya, look like ya just saw a ghost.” Diego reached and grabbed his shoulder.

They still stood in the control room. Ace nodded, “Yeah, man, I’m fine.”

After finishing her side conversation, Commander Sylas made her way over to Ace and Diego. She paused as Ace collected himself and shook off Diego’s concern.

“I want to thank you both again for what you have done for this cause.” The comment snapped Ace back into the moment. She eyed both of them. Attempting to read all of who they were by a single glance. Her eyes rested longer than they should have on Ace’s facial tattoos.

“Of course, sir!” Diego responded militarily, shifting his body into a partial salute posture. Ace weakly adjusted his body, but his sister's face flashed before his mind.

“Is everything alright, Mr. Ace?” She questioned him with a hint of arrogance in her voice.

“Yes, ma’am, everything is fine.” Ace looked past the woman, unable to make eye contact.

“Ace, is it?” She probed further.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Only Ace? No last name… no real name?” She now questioned Ace as though he were her prisoner. Diego looked over at Ace and then at the woman with an expression of confusion on his face, as though she knew something Diego didn’t.

“Yes, ma’am.” was all Ace continued to say.

“Interesting, that is not what my men informed me of. They scanned your serial number during your tenens scan.” She pulled up her compad and read aloud.

“Abraham Wilder. A freeborn. Estimated twenty-three years old. Discovered and detained in the West Crater District twelve years ago. Then served time in the South Crater Facility but transferred to the Eastern Snake Facility for fighting, then to the Yellow Rock facility for fighting…”

“Pfft, Yellow Rock scum,” he hissed and shook his head.

Sylas raised her eyebrows at the comment and then continued. “…then transferred to the East Coast Appalachian Facility for fighting, and lastly to the Bandera Facility in the Antilles for… oops, here it is again… fighting with other residents.” She eyed Ace now. Diego looked at Ace with the same incrimination the commander had.

“My, you’ve been all over this land now, haven’t you?” She spoke sardonically.

Ace would not continue to be interrogated by someone he only met just minutes ago.

“What are you getting at?” He retorted. “What’s this all about?”

“Insurgence, Mr. Wilder.” She spoke with a calm bite to her voice.

“You were found on each occasion to brawl, for lack of a better term, with your fellow residents. You were incapacitating many to the level of making them obsolete as workers. This violence is what led to your constant transfers. Why they didn’t just kill you, I can only imagine.”

Flashes of fists and sweat, fury, boiled before his mind’s eye. Hate. Pain. Anger. His eyes began to burn.

“They didn’t kill me because I’m a Seer.” He answered through gritted teeth.

“One of the best, it says here.” She looked up from the compad.

“You displaced your anger onto your fellow residents… Mr. Wilder, I mention this because I need to know… are you a liability?”

His sister’s face on his compad flashed through his mind. He looked at Diego, whose jaw hung open, and a bewildered expression crossed his face.

“Ya told me dem scars and tattoos was from escapin’,” Diego whispered confusedly.

Ace looked forward, not acknowledging his friend’s comment.

“No, ma’am, I won’t be a liability.” He replied solemnly, looking back at the woman directly into her eyes.

“Good. Because I don’t have the time or the personnel to dismiss you, I believe you will be a great asset to this mission and this team. You realize we are going to the Snake Facility today, I assume?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Ace gritted his teeth. He noticed this after he had found his sister on the compad.

“What? Ya been der before, boy?” Diego looked bewildered.

“I used to live there,” Ace spoke solemnly.

“Well, then, you will be a great asset in helping the detonation squad safely maneuver throughout the facility if need be. This is why I assigned both of you to this team.”

Ace nodded, and Diego still stood with his mouth agape.

“Mr. Wilder, focus your anger on the machines. They are the bad guys here, not your fellow humans. Remember, the machines are the ones who upended the world.” She turned off the compad, holding it against her body with both hands.

“Mr. Wilder?” Her voice was less severe now.

“Yes, ma’am?” he wearily replied.

She set her hand on his shoulder, “Please understand this is not a reprimand. I am grateful for your and Diego’s help getting us this Syron. You will be greatly rewarded when this mission is over.”

“I understand,” was all he replied.

“And Mr. Wilder,” she repeated with the same tone. This time, she lifted Ace’s chin with her hand.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“Please don’t disappoint me.” her eyes glimmered as she spoke.

“I won’t.”

With this, an officer from a distance down the hall called out to the Commander. “Commander! You are needed in the Task Force wing.”

“I must get going. Good luck, men.” She proceeded to move between the two men and exited the room. The smell of cinnamon and diesel oil followed the woman.

An interesting combination, Ace thought, though still flustered by the barrage.

Diego shook his head and chuckled, “Well, I’ll be, boy. I ought to be mad at ya, never tellin’ me ya real name. Never tellin’ me ya was a free boy before all of dis, and you lived at da facility we be blowin’ up today.”

“I’m sorry, Dee, I was embarrassed. You were so kind to me on my first day. You gave me hope in humanity again. I was always treated differently for being a freeborn. Beat. Spit on. Punished.” He spoke in broken fragments as his voice choked up from the memories. “I couldn’t take it anymore. They deserved what they got. I was only protecting myself.” Resentment grew in him again.

“Well, I’m glad ya never tried dem moves on me before. I’d have ta beat ya,” Diego smiled and winked. Grabbing Ace’s shoulders, he shook him back to the present. “Ace, my boy, I don’t care what ya real name is or where ya came from. Ya my brova. Ya showed me dat time and time again. Ya safe wit me, man.” He looked deep into Ace’s soul. Ace knew it was true. He wiped his nose with the back of his wrist and sniffed.

“Thanks, man.” Ace managed to smile back.

“Da real question is, why did ya choose da name Ace? Haha,” Diego chided.

Ace grinned, “It’s what my dad called me as a kid.”

“Mmm,” Diego hummed, as he always did. “Well, can’t argue wit dat, aye? What do ya say we get to dis mission? I’m ready to blow something up. I’ve been waitin’ for dis ever since we got dat Syron.”

Ace grabbed Diego by the hand as the man turned to walk out the door.

“Dee… there’s something else.” Ace blurted out hesitantly.

Diego turned around and saw the worried look on Ace’s face.

“What, boy?”

“I saw the manifest for all the residents…” Ace trailed off.

“And…” Diego pushed further.

“Well, I looked through the list…”

“Okay…” Diego responded now in an exasperated tone.

“Well, I found someone important to me on the list…” Ace braced for an annoyed response.

Diego scrunched his face, “Well, why’d ya do dat, boy, tryin’ ta make it harder to accomplish dis or what? Who was it?”

“My…” Ace hesitated.

“Ya, what? A former lover?” Diego raised his eyebrows up and down in hopes of the prospect.

“My sister.” Ace managed to say.

Diego stood speechless.

“We were separated when the Takers first found us, but I found her again a while after. We lived together at the Snake facility, but they transferred me soon after… well, you can guess why.”

Diego looked away, appearing to be deep in thought. He finally broke his silence.

“Okay, boy, okay, hmmm, okay…” he nodded, processing the new information.

“We gotta ensure we get her out first before we detonate dem explosives, boy.” Diego continued. “We got ta find her… don’t tell anyone else about dis.” He looked Ace in the eyes and grabbed his shoulder firmly. “We don’t want dem questionin’ ya.” Diego decided—he made his mind up. There was no turning back now. Ace felt a sense of relief. Someone was able to share the burden with him. They would do it together. He was not alone.

§

As they exited the room, a petite man suddenly rounded the corner, bounding through the corridors, nearly knocking into Diego.

“Whoa der fella!” Diego helped the man to his feet. “Whatcha be runnin’ like a madman for?”

The disheveled, though obviously middle-aged man, appeared more as a boy. He smoothed out his shirt and straightened his glasses. Once realizing who he had just run into, his squeaky accented voice posed an excited question.

“Are you da new guys?”

Ace and Diego looked at each other, then back at the man. “Who’s asking?” Diego spoke for both of them.

“I’m Tuck. Commander Sylas told me you need weapons. Follow me.” He quickly turned about-face and, without waiting for a response, began walking speedily down the hall, apparently expecting them to follow.

Shrugging off the awkward introduction, they followed the shorter man through a series of corridors until they arrived at a room guarded by two armed soldiers. Tuck flashed something beneath his collar to the woman and typed in a code on a keypad adjacent to the door. The female soldiers eyed Ace and Diego with suspicion.

“Y’all don’t get a lot of visitors, do you?” Ace questioned the frenzied Tuck. The soldiers looked back, straight ahead, and Tuck remained hyper-focused on the security pad. Diego smiled wryly and rolled his eyes.

Suddenly, a chime echoed from the security pad, and the door slid open, revealing a small room lined with an extraordinary amount of weaponry along every wall. Tuck motioned for the two men to follow, and Ace snuck one last glance at the armed guards, who followed them with only their eyes. As they entered the room, Ace noticed many of the guns were newer prototypes—none he had ever used as a freeborn. Many of the weapons appeared ancient, albeit well taken care of.

“You both passed your background check, so now you get a weapon. Dere are training videos downloaded in your compads. Da Commander also sent you protocols dat you must finish before we leave. Dey will ensure you understand the rules of engagement and how our teams operate. It is critical dat you finish these and confirm your competency.”

“Don’t worry, man. We learned from da same protocols back home. You can trust us. Dis ain’t our first mission, Tucky Boy.” Diego chimed.

Ace smiled at the comment.

Not taken aback by the nickname, Tuck motioned to the wall, “Good. We figured as much. Den, da protocols will be easy for you. Now, choose one from dis wall, but hurry, we leave soon.”

Ace brushed his hand across a large, multi-barreled, high-capacity assault rifle.

“Except dat one,” Tuck spoke matter-of-factly.

Ace rolled his eyes and continued to an older pile of rifles that Diego had already chosen from. Diego already had his weapon chosen, confirmed by Tuck, registered, loaded, and holstered, all before Ace even made it to the pile.

“Hurry up, Brova!” Diego retorted as he leisurely scanned his compad, rifle hanging at his side. “He always does dis,” Diego commented to Tuck.

Various rifles lined the wall. Much different than the rifles Ace grew up shooting. Someone altered them to hold high-capacity magazines and embedded them with electronics. Multiple small hand pistols lay interspersed along the table. Ace picked one up and held it up to aim it.

“You know how to use ‘em?” Tuck’s voice came from behind.

“Yeah, I used to hunt with my dad, he taught me,” Ace responded as he ratcheted the slide. “We also got a lot of practice with recon missions out east.”

Resorting back to the first thing Ace mentioned, Tuck spoke excitedly, “So you a freeborn?” This delineation of titles caught Diego’s attention, and he looked up from his compad, curious.

“Yeah,” was all Ace could muster while examining the weapons.

“So am I.” The man responded excitedly. This response took both Ace and Diego by surprise.

“Really? You’ve never been captured?” Ace asked, looking down at the man’s wrist for a barcode.

“No. The machines found and took my sister. My parents and me, we hide.” He responded without compunction.

Ace looked down the barrel of the gun.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Tuck. The Takers captured my sister too…” Ace replied, but the man appeared unfazed.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.” Tuck quickly reassured Ace.

“Dat’s why I’m here. I left my parents long ago to find my sister, then the Commander found me and took me in.”

“Really? Commander Sylas?” Ace asked curiously.

“Like when ya was little? She raised ya?” Diego cut in.

“Sort of,” was all the little man could say. “She a good woman, a little rough around da edges, but she cares about nothing more den to give us freedom again.”

“Freedom,” Diego scoffed, shaking his head while still rummaging through documents on the compad.

Ace scrunched his face, “I thought you believed in that sort of thing, Dee?”

“I believe in hitting dese machines as hard as possible, but freedom? Dat’s a pipe dream, my boy.” Diego didn’t raise his eyes from the screen in his hands.

This lack of conviction was the first time Ace had heard Diego speak this way.

Was Diego only in this for the chance for revenge? For Alayha?

Ace looked at him questionably. Diego glanced up from the compad.

“You see, all we can hope to do is hit dem hard enough to hurt them, scare 'em dat we can do sometin’ greater, but dey know just as we know, der ain’t no stopping dem. Dey still need us, so dey ain’t gonna wipe us out completely. So we just make life more complicated for dem. Den, we can hope to escape someplace quiet in hiding and live life knowing you didn’t give in. Dat’s what I’m here for. To say I did sometin’. But freedom? Da only way to freedom is spiritually. When we all die, dey die too—no more Caerulum for those bucket heads. We just need to focus on dose we love and ourselves. Dat’s it.”

Diego looked at Ace and nodded, then returned to his compad. Ace was stunned. He had never heard Diego talk like this before.

“Dat’s not true. We can be free. Da commander says so. So I believe so. Da prophets say so, too! I even heard dat da machines make prophecies of it, too. Of da end. A savior.” Tuck spoke up enthusiastically.

Diego rolled his eyes.

“Believe me, I be religious and believe in da God of man. But I don’t believe in da god of machines. If dey corroborate da prophecies, den I won’t believe it. It’s all a way to give us hope. As long as der is hope, den we will continue harvesting da Caerulum for dem. Dat’s what dey want.” Diego spoke sharply.

The talk of God and religion intermixed with the ratcheting of rifles and the smell of gun oil, pulled Ace into a memory.

Of waking in the morning and seeing his father reading scriptures, saying prayers at night, and speaking about the savior who came before to save them from sin and the one to come to save them from the machines. It always seemed to Ace like a false hope. He visualized his father praying over the elk he had just killed. The rifle in his lap—the pistol on his hip.

Tuck’s voice broke him from the image. “Well, I know it’s true. Da savior will come and free us from machines. I know it’s true.” Tuck grew less confident in his words.

Ace’s eye caught a pistol resembling the one on his father’s hip in the memory.

“What about this one?”

This question broke Tuck from his doubt.

“As well?” Tuck asked.

“Yeah,” Ace responded hopefully.

“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt. If you take dat rifle dere,” Tuck pointed to an older weapon leaning in the corner, “Den, you can take dat pistol too.”

“Thanks,” Ace smiled and slapped Tuck’s shoulder.

“Are you coming on the mission?” Ace asked.

“Of course, I’m on your team.” He replied with a sense of mystery.

Ace eyed the man. Tuck quickly looked away. His eyes shifted, and he tried to change the subject. Ace frowned.

“Sylas sent you to watch me, didn’t she?” Ace pried.

“Umm… um,” Tuck stuttered.

“Seriously? I just flew across this godforsaken country and risked my life to give her the Syron and didn’t ask for anything in return, and I got placed with a chaperone. I mean, what else do I have to do to prove myself worthy of the cause? Diego over there just shows up, and he’s totally trusted, but me…”

Diego cut in, “Hey, hey, hey, don’t pull me into dis. I wasn’t da one fightin’ everyone!” He winked at Ace while acting surprised.

Tuck physically shrunk before him. “I’m just doing what dey tell me.” He looked at the ground.

“Yeah, well, think for yourself. Come to your own conclusions. You can trust me, Tuck.” He spoke through gritted teeth. He glared over at Diego. His friend raised his eyebrows innocently. In a reflexive nature and without thought, he angrily grabbed both guns and, with ease and skill, ensured they were loaded and chambered.

Then, realizing both men looked at him suspiciously, he let his guard down some. “I’m not mad at you, Tuck. Do what you were assigned to do. I won’t cause trouble. I have your back as long as you have mine.” He eyed the both of them while strapping on his rifle, clearly implying to them both they could forgo their apprehension. He walked over to Tuck and set his hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s do this.”

§

They made their way through the corridors to the main hall again. Agro and Korin waited by one of the thopters, with blue handkerchiefs wrapped about their left upper arms. Their newly donned blue brassards signified they belonged to team Foxtrot. Korin helped Diego and Ace tie the handkerchiefs to their arms. “Welcome to the team!” Korin slapped them both on the back. Agro merely grunted and turned back to the thopter, checking the mechanical board.

Suddenly, a large man approached the group, cursing under his breath. He towered over them with a thick, curly black beard and wild, unkempt hair. One bushy black eyebrow spanned from one side of his brow to the other without stopping. His shoulders stretched as wide as two grown men, and he stood two heads taller than Ace.

Korin nodded to the man, acknowledging his presence, “Alvarez, everything alright?”

The large man tightened his thumbs to a pair of suspenders and stretched his chest. “Korin,” he nodded in response. “Everything is as it always is, last minute and full of…” he stopped his slurry of cursing as he eyed Ace And Diego.

Korin looked to Diego and Ace and introduced the man, “This is Gustavo Alvarez. He’s our Syron specialist and will be this mission's Foxtrot team leader. Do as he says, and we may just make it out of this alive.”

“Nice ta meet ya both.” He stuck out his hand and shook theirs with the might of a mountain.

“Looks like you found the guns.” He nodded to Tuck, who stood behind them. “I hear ya boys have an airship?” He asked in a cordial but gruff voice.

“Ya bet we do,” piped up Diego, “two of dem!”

“Well, we only need one of them for this mission. Ya, mind if I have ya drive one behind us? I know it’s much slower than their thopters, but I believe, if required, we could use it as another means of escape, and those things are essentially undetectable at high altitudes. Have ya ever landed it on a mountain peak?”

“Not exactly, but don’t mean I can’t do it,” Diego replied confidently.

“Good. If we end up stranded or not making the escape with the transports, we will likely need another way of getting out via rendezvous extraction.”

Ace looked at the group and then at Diego. He couldn’t do this without his right-hand man. Diego was the only person there that he trusted. Diego eyed Ace And nodded a reassuring nod.

“Sorry, you’re gonna miss out on all the action, Diego,” Korin interjected.

“Not at all. I be da best airship pilot dere is. I’m happy to help where I can.” Diego said.

Ace went to object, but Diego gave him a look that meant, Keep your mouth shut, and so he relented, keeping silent.

“Good, good, well, I appreciate yer understanding and yer help,” Alvarez turned to Ace.

“Ace, is it?”

“Yes, sir,” Ace said.

“Command report says yer the best sniper the East Contingent had ever seen. Scored highest in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. It’ll be nice to have someone on this team who actually knows what they’re doing!” Alvarez grinned while Ace blushed slightly.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Agro finally stepped forward.

“Oh shut it, stone face pretty boy,” Alvarez scoffed and then turned back To Ace.

“I’m gonna have ya stay with Korin and Agro. You three will detonate the first load. On the way there, read the schematics and know them inside and out. I’m counting on ya.”

“Yes, sir.” Ace saluted. Finally, someone here that isn’t stiff as a board and has some sense, Ace thought.

Alvarez nodded, “Hearts beat as one.”

Korin and Agro bowed and spoke in unison, “Hearts beat as one.”

With this, Alvarez departed.

Korin quickly gave them the rundown of the Foxtrot Team and its members. “It’s time to go, boys,” she motioned to Ace, “Someone will drive you to your airship, Diego. Once you get to your airship, depart as soon as you can. The coordinates are in your compad. You’ll need to get a head start. There are three rendezvous points. Make your way to point A first. If you get intercepted, destroy the compad, do not let them get their hands on it.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Diego responded with confidence.

She nodded and turned to Ace. “Meet me at the thopter in five minutes,” she turned and jogged off.

“Well brova, ya tink ya can do dis without me?” Diego was more serious now. No jokes.

“I don’t think you should go alone. Let me come with you.”

“Oh, my boy. Dere ain’t enough people here to lick a platter clean. Dey need ya. Plus, ya be da only one who has any sense around here. Dey need ya wit and instinct if dey gonna survive dis. Dough, I like dat Alvarez guy. Ya stick close to him, and every-ting will be alright.” Diego rested his hand on Ace’s shoulder.

“But what about you?” Ace looked at the ground.

“Oh, ya tink I can’t fend for myself, aye? Remember, I be da best pilot in da world. I be just fine. Ya just focus on ya mission, alright?”

“Alright,” Ace whispered.

Diego looked at Ace longer. Silence filled the void.

“What? What is it? It be some-tin else dat’s botterin’ ya.”

“I just can’t stop thinking about my sister,” Ace spoke under his breath.

“I looked into it while ya were harassin’ dat Tuck fella. I found her livin’ quarters location and what corridor she would likely be in durin’ an evacuation. Maybe find ya self dere when it begins.” He slipped a memory drive into Ace’s hand and squeezed tight. He pulled Ace close and whispered, “Dis be ya only chance, boy. Save ya sista. Do it for me. Do it for Alayha.” Diego pulled him tighter and embraced.

“God’s peace and safety, my boy,” Diego choked up. “Love stronger dan rock.”

Ace responded, his voice broke with emotion, “Love stronger than rock.”

Diego quickly pushed him away, wiped his eyes, and recomposed himself. He snorted and wiped his jacket with both hands.

“Well, you betta be gettin’ on ya way.” He couldn’t make eye contact with Ace, slightly embarrassed by his show of emotion.

“Right,” Ace did the same. “I’ll see you after Dee, I promise.”

“Ya too, my boy.”

Ace turned to go to the thopter. Diego’s voice interrupted, “Ace!”

He turned back.

“Be careful.”

“You got it, Dee, you too.”

Diego nodded with reassurance and turned away.

§

Each thopter carried a surprising number of passengers. Though the trip was cramped, Ace could read the schematics and finish his mission and tactics competency protocols on his compad the whole way. The schematics revealed the inner workings of the facility. They were not entirely different from fuel rod containment systems he had worked on in the eastern mines previously, and so he felt confident in his knowledge of the system. What Ace hadn’t felt confident in was the mission itself. How was he going to ensure his sister’s safety?

He uploaded the documents Diego had given him and memorized the location of his sister’s sleeping quarters and her subsequent evacuation route. His only chance at saving her would be to try to find her among the crowd of evacuees. He thought of the last time he spoke with her. He was in a fit of rage, and she was attempting to console him. He could still feel the cold embrace of the machine’s claws as they held him in submission. He could still see the cold, lifeless eyes of those he loved.

“Did you finish you protocols?” The familiar accented voice of Tuck echoed over the deafening thrum of the engine.

Ace looked up and saw the man sitting nervously against the hull, gripping his seatbelt.

“Yep. And just like I told you before, they were the same ones we mastered out east.” Ace hollered back.

“Okay, good,” Tuck yelled out as they hit a pocket of turbulence and immediately squeezed his eyes shut.

“Just know your position in the team. I don’t need anyone hurt because of you.” Another voice called out.

Ace looked over to see Agro staring at him.

“Just worry about yourself,” Ace called back. “I’m the only one on this team that’s ever been here before.”

Agro rolled his eyes, and Korin appeared to console him as she sat beside him.

The journey took a few hours, and Ace took to looking out the window rather than conversing with the team anymore. The landscape stretched out before him brought a strong sense of nostalgia. Majestic snow-capped peaks rolled beneath them as they flew through the sky. The sun, now along the horizon, poked through orange clouds, stretching a comforting warmth along the south face of the mountains, casting long dark shadows eastward—the golden hour. The orange light streamed into the thopter, illuminating the faces of the men and women sitting across from him, including Tuck, whose eyes were closed as he appeared praying. Others were basking in the warmth of the last light they may ever see again.

Once they reached their landing site, the thopter suddenly descended and eventually touched down, carefully unloading the multiple magnograv rigs attached beneath its belly.

“Alright, team!” Alvarez’s voice boomed. “We are still twenty minutes from the facility. This distance allows us to approach our destination discretely. We will split up on the rigs and bikes. I’ve received confirmation from all of your compads that each of you passed the competency test, which tells me you rats know exactly what your job is for the next few hours. So… get to it!”

Keeping a safe distance was critical to the mission. They assigned Ace to help carry the Syron up the mountainside to the designated ventilation shaft. Schematics had shown two ventilation shafts built into the rock to allow the expulsion of smoke from an incinerator room deep within the facility. The first group was to go ahead and dismantle the multiple metal grates that prevented entry or exit into the shafts. In the meantime, the second group would set up the repeater ropes to allow the team to descend into the mountain safely. By this time, Ace’s group would have the Syron delivered, and the process of injecting the Syron into the facility would commence.

Ace grabbed his gear as the team hustled out of the thopter. Beneath the loud hum of the wings, Korin guided them all to the rig. Agro had already disconnected it from the thopter and pulled off a safe distance from the aircraft, waiting.

Once everyone was loaded, Korin slapped the hull, and they rushed into the night. Multiple magnograv bikes carrying two soldiers each aided the team's advancement. The bikes sped alongside the rigs, hovering above the ground, whipping the hair and clothing of the soldiers all about them as they flew through the cold evening air.

Korin’s voice echoed with the rushing wind. “Team Alpha will soon make their landing. Remember, they will skyfall from their thopters near the hanger doors and sneak through a duct system below the hanger entrance. This first wave will initiate the firewall.”

Ace looked around, and though they all knew these details by heart, everyone’s eyes remained fixed on Korin, including Ace’s.

She continued, “Team Alpha will then rendezvous with teams Bravo and Charlie after setting the first fuses along the main corridors near the north-most peaks of the intermountain facility. After implanting the devices, they will make their way to ventilation shaft QM9 and descend into the mountain, into the belly of the beast.” She spoke the last words with suspense. They would all soon be doing the same—descending into the belly of the beast.

“At this point, Team Alpha will blend in with the residents as they move to a second containment sector, after which our team, Team Foxtrot, will detonate the first array of Syron.” Korin looked at each person in the rig with a firm gaze. “Do your part perfectly, and we will succeed.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” The team shouted in unison.

The plan seemed solid, but it required many pieces to fall together perfectly. This notion left Ace unsettled.

They reached the north-most peak two minutes before their expected arrival. Leaving the vehicles parked in a small clearing, Ace’s group carefully carried the two heavy Syron tanks up the steep slope. It left an eerie feeling in Ace’s stomach to be so close to the heart of the machines. They had always subjugated him to their bidding from within the facility, but now he was without the walls. He felt like a bear about to disrupt a nest of killer bees.

His pulse bounded within his neck under the strain of carrying the heavy load of Syron. The magnogloves he and the others wore were sealed along the shoulder and magnetically attached to the Syron tank. This step of security allowed an extra distribution of weight but also ensured no one’s grip would slip. The whole event seemed surreal in his mind. Though the actual experience of a mission always panned out differently than he had expected, he remained hyper-focused on the task at hand. As long as they stayed below the horizon of the peaks, the detectors were not able to see their approach. Moreover, Elroys’s team likely had already initiated the fire alarm system, which they hoped would distract any surveillance.

The depth of the rock between them and the facility muffled any chaos reigning below. So, there was no way to know if the mission was going as planned. They could only do their part and hope the other teams did the same. Radio communication was not feasible. It would give away everything if intercepted. Instead, all he could hear was the huffing of the other men carrying the load with him. He could almost feel the fear and excitement exuding from them. They were soldiers. This was their life. And for some reason, this reassured him. He almost felt as though he were home amongst his own.

The caw of a magpie overhead caught his attention and caused him to wonder what the creature was saying. Who was he warning? They or the machines? His sister would know. She loved to tell him what the animals said to her. When they were young, he felt jealous of her gift, but now it only made his heart swell in longing to see her again. He hoped that he would be able to find her. To help her escape the wretched confines of the mines.

They reached the peak within another twenty minutes and quickly unloaded the Syron. Carefully shimmying it down to the ground next to one of the ventilation shafts, Ace sighed a great breath of relief. His shoulder ached from the weight it endured along the trip. The second tank arrived soon after, and they set about to get the explosive fuel down into the ventilation shaft as planned. Most of the others had already descended into the shaft and secured the area. Alvarez and Ace’s group would be the last to descend with the hoses. Korin and Agro stood at the mouth of the ventilation shaft, guiding the last of the previous groups down into the deep, dark abyss.

Ace looked over at Alvarez while crouching down and securing the hose in place. With the Syron tank blocking Korin and Agro’s view from him and Alvarez, Ace whispered. “What’s the deal with Agro?”

Alvarez scrunched his face in confusion as he typed the release codes into the security system of the tank. “What do you mean?”

“He seems to have it out for me, and I’ve only known him a few hours,” Ace responded.

“He has it out for everyone. You ain’t special.” Alvarez’s voice growled as he struggled to input the codes correctly.

“Yeah, but I haven’t heard him say anything to anyone other than me.”

“Maybe it’s because Korin defended you when Agro was concerned about letting you on the team because of your Disruptor tattoos,” Alvarez spoke like it was common knowledge.

“She did that?” Ace whispered and stopped ratcheting the hose, peering into the air, lost in the daydream of Korin sticking up for him. Suddenly, Ace realized the other end of the comment.

“Wait. Agro didn’t want me on the team because of my tattoos?” Anger suddenly boiled within Ace.

“Well, likely more for why you have the tattoos. We all know. It ain’t no secret.”

“So you agree with Agro?” Ace sputtered.

As though Ace lit a hidden spark, Alvarez exploded. “Graves, no!” His voice rose with indignation. “Agro…” he suddenly quieted his voice so the others could not hear and leaned over, “…Agro can think whatever the blast he wants. He’s full of high and mightiness. A suck-up is what he is—always trying to get as close as possible to the Commander and going on crazy missions, risking his life as if it doesn’t matter. That boy has a few screws loose anyway. He’s about as crazy as they come.”

“What do you mean crazy missions?”

“Like solo missions. Ones that bring him this close to the facilities. How do you think we got these schematics, and how we know these ventilation shafts were here? Agro scouted out this whole mission.” Alvarez raised his eyebrows. “Probably why he’s so apprehensive about you, the new guy, on his mission. Probably didn’t want you brawling with the others like your file said.” The burly man spoke matter-of-factly, no holds barred.

Ace looked down, flustered by the news of everyone’s knowledge of his past, but also trying to process why and how Agro was able to get so close to the facility without getting caught.

“Well, I’m different now. I don’t do that anymore. I’ve got a got a new purpose, Alvarez.” Ace spoke firmly, yet his words carried an alternate meaning to what Alvarez assumed Ace meant and what he responded to.

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about, boy.” Alavarez grabbed his shoulder and growled happily.

What Alvarez failed to realize was that Ace meant something entirely different than proposing his purpose was to annihilate the machines. Ace’s true and new purpose was to find and extract his sister and get to safety as far from the facility as possible. Save her like he could not do for his other family members.

Ace falsely grinned, “Let’s smoke these tinheads.”

Alvarez laughed and, while nodding, returned to finish the codes. Then, glancing back to Ace, he grinned again, “See, that’s why I knew I liked you.”

Once Ace finished helping Alvarez connect the hoses to the tanks, he gathered his things and made his way to the shaft entrance. With the hoist line still gripped, Korin looked up and grinned at Ace, “almost there,” she said confidently. Agro, who had been helping hoist the other members down as well, glared at Ace. Ace would generally have attempted to confront Agro about his constant demeanor and blatant vitriol, but Ace didn’t have the time to care. He wasn’t there for anything else than to find his sister. His commitment was a charade at this point. His purpose had evolved, and he now had a different agenda. Agro could go on with his petty aggravations.

Alvarez approached and slapped Ace on the shoulder, winded by all the work he had just performed. “Thanks for the help there, Ace.”

Ace nodded, “No problem, boss.”

Alvarez had been doing most of the heavy work, and Ace finally understood why they chose him to lead Foxtrot. This team needed his brute strength. The man nearly carried the second tank of Syron himself.

They listened as the landing of the other team members at the end of the shaft created a muffled echo of footsteps. Alvarez motioned for Korin and Agro to enter finally.

“Get on with it, you two. Ain’t got all day.”

Before Korin descended, she looked at Agro, who harnessed himself to drop directly after her. Whispering to him, she longingly looked into the man’s eyes. Ace could make out most of what she said.

“I’m not sure what’ll be down there waiting for us, but just know that I love you.”

With that, she kissed him and then dropped into the abyss. He stood there, nearly unfazed by the show of raw emotion. Without hesitation, Agro quickly strapped into the repeater rope, but just as he was about to drop in, he suddenly looked up, and his eyes met Ace’s. The moment felt suspended, seeming longer than it should have been. Agro looked at Ace as though to read his mind. His bright blue eyes glared unblinking. His blonde hair blew in the wind.

“Get goin’!” The gruff voice of Alvarez broke the moment.

Agro suddenly removed his gaze and quickly slipped into the shaft.

A chill ran through Ace. He could not explain the terrible feeling coursing through him. Something was off.

“Don’t make me shove you down this pipe!” Alvarez growled as he grabbed Ace by the shoulder and forced him toward the rope. Ace quickly attached his belt to the repeater and slid into the tunnel. A feeling of dread coursed through his veins.