Chapter 124: Cornucopia Seed

Steam rose from the skull that was half buried in the sand. Driven by morbid curiosity, James flew his Wing down and passed slowly over it. The skull alone was bigger than a school bus, the bone undamaged by the impact with the boulders, the stench of boiling brains and burned flesh filling the air.

“That’s next level, man,” said Yadriel, his voice tinged with awe. Then: “No new level? C’mon!”

James could only marvel. Though the moment had been tense, they’d never been in any actual danger. Their Circles of Protection had held. They’d dropped the demon in the first moment of engagement.

And yet.

And yet.

“And this is only the 8th level?” asked Serenity. “What the fuck is waiting for us below?”

“Not this guy,” said Denzel, and then gave a half-helpless, half-panicked laugh.

The Castrum Mortis yet stood. Its enameled blue armor was darkened and burned, the nacreous surface of its huge plates cracked and dull, but structurally it had weathered the storm just fine.

“Ready for the next level, Castrum?” called James.

“SYSTEMS FUNCTIONAL.”

“Then let’s take a peek at Level 9.” James pulled his Wing around and started flying toward the new deserted wall.

“Hello, James,” said Olaf, pulling up beside them as they flew. “We are going to Level 9, yes? We should be careful. Nine is a powerful number. It could mean a big jump in danger.”

“True.” James slowed the Wing down. Took a good moment to take in his crew. Denzel was looking a little dazed, unable to take his eyes off the fallen dragon. Miriam was blinking away shock. Yadriel was scowling, still feeling robbed, while Jason looked almost manic, his grin wide and bright. Serenity was grimacing as she lowered first one and then the other autocannon to the Wing’s supports, undoing the first straps with her teeth, while Olaf himself seemed sober and focused. “You think we should take a break?”

“We are still strong, we have many powers, can summon angels, but… I think we have seen a lot. Mental Dominion and high Arete shield us from greatest damage, but… we have bought humanity eight days, no?”

“That’s right.”

“Then perhaps a moment to catch our breath? I have bad feeling about Hopeless Tower.”

James nodded slowly. It wasn’t a question of fatigue, of exhaustion, of lack of power. But they’d just blasted their way through eight levels of horror. Some fundamental aspect of their humanity was beleaguered.

Which meant they wouldn’t be bringing their best game to the next floor.

“Hey, everyone.” James brought his Wing around, reversed for awhile as the others slowed, then extended his hand out to the side and burned an Aeviternum.

A glowing teleportation circle appeared mid-air.

“Who’s up for going home for a quick coffee and donut?”

Serenity was rubbing her shoulder as she rotated her arm. “Put some whisky in that coffee and I’ll sign right the fuck up.”

“Yeah,” said Denzel. “Be good to check in on Kerim and Kimmie.”

“Whatever you think’s best, sir.” Jason squared his shoulders. “I’m good to keep going on turn back.”

“We’ve bought the world six days respite.” James looked from one face to the next. “We can take a couple of hours to regroup. Maybe check in with the other cities, see if they need some emergency help.”

“Good plan.” Olaf gave a thumbs up. “I give it thumbs up.”

James cast a look over his shoulder at the huge red wall. The portal had to have manifested behind it. “Then we’ll be back to pick up where we left off soon. Nineteen layers left to go. Castrum! You good to wait here? Or you want to work your way back through the portals?”

“I WILL WAIT HERE. ENSURE THE DRAGON DOES NOT RESPAWN.”

“Oh, shit, right,” said Yadriel. “We won’t be gone long, death castle buddy.”

“Great. Hang in there.” James eased his Wing toward the circle.

“CHECKLIST PROTOCOL, INITIATED.”

James gave the huge mech a two-finger salute, then led his crew back home. He experienced that moment’s dislocation, and then they flew out the far side before the Marriott hotel.

A wave of immense relief washed over him. The air felt right, the sky, the buildings, the world. Though overcast and with a freezing misty rain that seemed to hover rather than fall, it felt like coming home. The smell, the rightness of it all.

Even with the wreckage and ruin that filled the avenue, the sound of choppers flying overhead, the grinding screech of metal as a War Hound made its steady way out the back of the hotel, stepping on cars and powering up the avenue.

“You promised me an Irish coffee,” said Serenity with a smile. “What do you think about checking out Herman’s later if we get a minute? Won’t take but a second to fly over there on the Wings.”

James smiled sadly. “Yeah. We can check it out.” There was no need to voice his sad skepticism over the place still being open.

“I’m’a park this Wing and head upstairs,” said Denzel, flying down to the hotel’s front entrance. The curb and entryway was clogged with crates, cannisters, and sandbag fortifications behind which machine gunners stood, staring at them with unabashed curiosity.

“Me too,” said Miriam.

“Command, this is Kelly,” said James, thumbing on his radio. “We’ve returned from the Pits. No losses. We managed to clear the first eight levels which has bought us eight days reprieve. Castrum Mortis is holding the fort till we get back down there.”

The response was a generalized static made up of countless cheers and whoops and shouts of joy from who knew how many officers and authorized personnel on the channel. James blinked then grinned, surprised; of course people were gonna lose their shit. James and his crew had just come back from hell with good news. Whereas to him this felt like a quick business break, to them this was word of salvation.

The shouting and cheering died down. The other Crimson Hydra folks clustered in to hear, their Wings like horses bumping against each other.

“Kelly, this Hackworth. Hot damn. Can I just say that again? Hot damn.”

“Ironic,” said Serenity.

“It’s too early to celebrate, but that’s some outstanding news. We’re still here at the edge of the Pit, but we can meet at the Marriott for a quick post-action debrief. If we’ve got eight days, I want to hear what happened so we can maximize the good you can do before heading down. We’ll be there in thirty, over.”

“Copy, Colonel. We’ll be here waiting.”

More cheers broke out on the radio, and now the machine gunners in their nests joined in, hollering and clapping and grinning up at them.

Yadriel raised both arms in a victory pose, and even Jason couldn’t help but grin back. The crew flew their Wings down, but James looked over to Serenity. “I’m going to check in with Jessica, then I’ll meet you at the hotel bar?”

“Nah, the hotel bar’s was stripped clean ages ago. Mostly by me. I’ll grab a bottle, but we can head to Herman’s after chatting with Hackworth, yeah?”

“Sounds good.” James grinned at her and pulled his Wing away, curving around the corner of the hotel as he headed toward the back.

Drones were flying through the air making the place as busy as a beehive. How long had they been in the Pits? James checked his watch. Three hours. Weird. It had felt shorter than that.

He nosed his Wing down the busy ramp. Already the place was busier than when he’d seen it last. A new platform was placed front and center at the ramp’s base, a gleaming steel expanse beyond which descended a conveyor belt. A launch pad. A massive drone was assembled upon it, roughly the size of an Abrams tanks, all diamond and gold, its lines elegant and beautiful. Ant robots crawled over it, soldering and working, while coils infused it with Aeviternum from huge battery banks placed close by.

Jessica was overseeing this project, her feet on the ground, her Omni floating above her shoulder. A battery of translucent screens hovered about her, and she held her mechanicus to one side, its wand-like length wreathed in white fire.

“New toy?” asked James as his Wing settled silently beside her.

“James!” She grinned and threw herself at him, hugging him tightly, chin pressed into his shoulder. James inhaled her scent then returned her smile as she drew back. “I heard you’d already emerged, but nobody’s sharing details. How was hell?”

“Hell’s grand.” James settled back in the Wing’s seat and crossed his hands on his lap. “Easy going so far. We’re too overpowered for the levels we’ve hit, but that’s slowly changing. It’s… out there. So we came back to catch our breath before diving back down. What’s this?”

“This?” Jessica turned to the tank-sized drone. “I’m calling it a Cornucopia Seed. It’ll fly to Chicago and plant itself there. In twelve hours time it should be generating reapers, then expand from there to become a machine-producing plant. What’s key is that it’ll dedicate half its resources to generating a new Cornucopia Seed which’ll fly on to Detroit, hopefully within 36 hours. The idea’s that they’ll self-propagate across the country, with one landing in every city that’s got a Pit by the end of the week.”

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“No shit.” James studied the huge gleaming construct. “That’s some science fiction stuff right there.”

“Yes.” Jessica sighed and pursed her lips, but he could tell she was satisfied. “We’re going to be focusing on Castrum’s here and creating long-distance Seeds. My goal’s to send one to Europe by the end of the week, a second to Mexico. If you can buy us two weeks, there’s a chance we can get some to India and China. Though the situation there is…”

“Yeah.” There was no need to elaborate. “So we’re getting another Castrum? Your first one’s not really had a chance to flex yet, but on the eighth level it lasered the battlements off this wall. Was amazing.”

“Yes. The second Castrum’s slated to be ready in about four hours’ time. Going a little slower than expected due to our focusing on the Seeds.”

“We’ll wait for it before going back. Having two of those bad boys will be a treat.” James studied Jessica. “You been taking care of yourself?”

“Taking care of myself?” Jessica laughed. “Funny.”

“Serenity and I are grabbing a drink in an hour’s time. Come with us. Thirty minutes. Mental health break.”

Jessica frowned at the screens around her. “Don’t think I can. We’ve three concurrent -”

Her Omni interjected. “Jessica, your Gamma brainwaves have degraded by an average of 17% over the past twelve hours. Aeviternum expenditure cannot compensate for emotional and spiritual exhaustion.”

“See?” James grinned at Jessica. “You’ll be more efficient if you take a break. Do it in the name of efficiency.”

“Correct,” said the Omni. “Even thirty minutes of relaxation and mild alcohol intake will improve your wellbeing by an estimated 23%.”

“Just one Moscow Mule,” said James. “For efficiency’s sake.”

Jessica frowned at her Omni then at James, then laughed and threw up her hands. “Fine. For the sake of efficiency.”

“Excellent. I’ll radio in when we’re heading out.”

“Hmm.” Jessica’s fingers danced over a screen. A section lit up silver. The light gathered itself then shot away along invisible circuitry in the air to disappear into the depths of the huge hangar space. “I’ll try and wrap things up here.”

James willed the Wing to rise and fly toward the stables by the elevators. Leaving the craft parked, he pressed the elevator button.

Do you think I should be more forward? Jelly sounded nervous.

About what?

That gorgeous Omni.

You into her?

Are you asking if I’d like to enter a state of quantum entanglement with her?

I… don’t know. Am I?

Jelly sighed. I’d willingly superpose my current state with hers, yes.

James stared at Jelly. I may be wrong, but something tells me she’d appreciate that kind of flirting.

You think so? All right. I’ll ask her next time if she wants to try and occupy the same space at the same time.

As long as you don’t set off any explosions.

The elevator doors slid open. James entered. They rose to the lobby. People turned and let out a cheer as they emerged. James smiled, waved, and made his way through the sparse crowd, nodding and accepting well-wishes as he went.

Hackworth entered through the hotel’s front doors. A wave of soldiers, operators, and command folks surrounded him, but they stepped aside so that a channel appeared between him and James.

People watched, eyes shining and unable to resist smiles as Hackworth pointed at James and grinned at him. “There he is. The first man to enter hell and return.”

“Actually, Jesus did that,” said his XO Major Baker.

Hackworth didn’t even glance at him. “The second man to enter hell and return, then. Outstanding.” And he marched forward to clap James on the shoulder and shake his hand.

James’s smile was wry. “Colonel.”

“Let’s talk. Tell me what I need to know.” Hackworth guided James down a hallway, leaving the large lobby behind, and soon they were ensconced within a conference room, every chair taken, people standing along the walls as they listened in.

It felt like a return to the old days in the Emergency Management offices. But the dead screens on the walls showed how things had changed.

James caught them up to speed. In ten minutes he’d recounted everything they’d seen and done, how they’d left it, and Jessica’s promise to provide a second Castrum for their foray into the ninth level.

“We’ve word from across the country that the Pits are quiet,” said Hackworth. “But that’s scarce comfort. Our losses since the Monitors expedited the schedule have been… catastrophic. The collapse of almost all infrastructure has made it near impossible to get an accurate picture of our current situation, but… it’s not good.”

James nodded, expression bleak.

“The situation globally is just as terrible. The waves of new Nem’s shattered defenses. There are few governments left. Mostly we’re hearing from pockets of resistance, most of them military in nature. Jessica’s projects will help turn the tide, but we don’t know if her Seeds will find anybody left to protect.”

Hackworth pinched the bridge of his nose and grimaced. “So let me ask you the one question that everybody’s thinking. What happens if we defeat the last layer of the Pits? Will that cause the demons to leave? Will that be the end of this?”

Everybody stared at James.

The urge to reassure them, to speculate, was immense. But James could only shake his head. “I don’t know. That would be the fair outcome. But nothing about this has been fair from the get-go. Just had a semblance of it to keep us playing ball. We don’t know what we’ll find at the bottom. Maybe the demons running this whole shit-show. If we kill them - if we can kill them - then who knows what will happen?”

Expressions were grim.

“The way I’ve been thinking about it,” said Star Boy, “is that this is still better than being hit by an asteroid the size of Cuba. Remember those movies? We’d all be wiped out like this.” He snapped his fingers. “This apocalypse at least allows us to fight back. It is gruesome? Heck yeah. But there’s no fighting a world-busting asteroid. So, this scenario? Marginally better.”

“Thanks, Star Boy,” said Hackworth dryly. “I’m sure we all feel better for your wise and comforting words.”

Star Boy gave a brisk nod. “I live to serve, sir.”

“When are you planning to head back down?”

“Four hours’ time, with the second Castrum. I want Crimson Hydra to get their head back in the game before we do.”

“Got it. Anything you need from us?”

James stood. “I think we’re good. You help people topside, we’ll take care of what’s below.”

“Right.” Hackworth also stood. “Then enjoy a little R&R. We’ll be ready when you are.”

Major Baker stood. A sheen of sweat covered his face. “All right. All right. All right.”

James stared at the XO in confusion.

“All right. Everyone on my mark.” Baker exhaled, closed his eyes for a moment, then drew his sidearm and shot James in the face.

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