Chapter 6: Chapter Six: Mayhem

Light flashed and I blurred up to my feet, with my arms out. I grabbed the woman with green hair and launched away as a large plasma bolt struck the ground where I was a second ago. The explosion touched my senses as I looked down at the small woman in my eyes with wide, fearful eyes.

Sounds echoed as I turned my body and landed as gently as I could on the other side of the dome. Through the glass, I saw guns on metal towers turn and start firing into the air. Streams of plasma bolts filled the sky as the war drone moved in zig-zagging motions, avoiding the incoming fire.

“Put me down!” the woman screamed in my face.

I turned my head to see her now angry eyes looking at me like sharp daggers. I put her down and let go. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I wasn’t terrible surprised as she turned and bolted away, potted plant in hand.

A door to the dome opened. A woman with what looked like wolf ears and ling gray hair tied in a ponytail charged out with a large, futuristic rifle in her hands.

“We’re under attack!” the woman with green hair shouted as she ran to the other one.

The one with wolf ears hoisted up her rifle and aimed it at me. Her eyes spoke of protecting her friend, and violence.

“I’m not the enemy! A drone has been hacked!” I shouted before light touched the edge of my gaze.

I was so distracted with making sure they were okay, I didn’t realize the war drone had a lock on me again. I managed to turn my head just as a large plasma bolt struck me dead on. I was lifted off my feet from the explosion and ejected through the nearby glass wall.

Energy arced along my body as I let out a string of curses. I fell about thirty feet before hitting the ground. I was stunned, the sound of defense towers firing at the flying war drone. The sharp whistle of missiles filled the air. One tower exploded in fire and shrapnel. Another tower did the same.

I fought through the stunned shock and was back on my feet. My shirt was torn and my chest blackened. I regained my senses and launched myself into the air.

The war drone veered as it made an arc to fly to me again. But as it veered, it turned its body and aimed its shoulder cannon. The single red eyes glowed before the cannon erupted in a long plasma bolt.

Judging from the damage I took from each plasma bolt, it was only a matter of time before it broke through my skin and did some lasting damage. I had to be quicker and smarter.

I dodged to the side as the plasma shot past me. The ground exploded behind me as I darted through the air like a living missile. I just broke the sound barrier in two seconds, appearing next to the war drone and throwing a punch.

The war drone tried to aim its arm guns for point-blank-damage, but my fist reached it first. The punch dinged against the hard metal, leaving an imprint. It wasn’t so much about damage, but knocking it off balance. My hunch paid off as the war drone was knocked away and straight into two streams of plasma bolts from the remaining two towers.

The ward drone curled its body, plasma bolts scorching and cracking armor. Its pack blasted out heat as it launched itself higher and out of range of the defense towers. When it unfurled, I was already there with a wide grin.

“Night night,” I said as I slammed my knuckles into its wicked looking, armored head.

The metal buckled and the war drone weaved in the air. I didn’t hesitate as I rammed my fist down so hard, the head cracked in half. An armored hand swiped at me. I grabbed it, and with my whole body, twisted it behind its back.

The spines on the war drone’s back gleamed before shooting out. One struck the side of my head and bounced off with a loud clang. I felt it, but I was determined to put this thing down. I flipped my feet out and pushed with my whole body. The war drone’s jets tried to compensate, keeping me from pushing it down.

A gleam from the broken dome caught my eye. I focused down, past the war drone’s shoulder to see the woman with wolf ears aim her plasma rifle upwards to us.

An idea touched my mind. Instead of pushing down, I changed directions and spun t he floating drone. I think the woman in the dome understood what I was trying to do. She pulled the trigger and her rifle went off.

A plasma bolt shot straight up as I turned the war drone. The bolt struck one of the twin exhausts of the pack and exploded.

The drone and myself dropped like rocks. I pushed down, knowing the jets wouldn’t be able to compensate now. We streaked down, the drone trying to reach behind with its other hand and grab me. Energy prickled along my hands, knowing it was going to electrocute me. I let go of the drone’s arm, curled my legs up and kicked them down on the drone’s back.

Air was blasted away as the drone fell like comet. It crashed into the domed garden, blasting up plants and debris into the air.

The war drone slammed its mechanical hands down and pushed up, but it didn’t get far as I slammed my boots on it’s back, forcing it down again. I knelt down, ready to finish it off, when the wolf girl ran toward me with a dark, oval object in her hand.

“Get back!” she shouted as she pulled a pin.

I leapt up as she threw what I assumed was a grenade. It hit the large crack in the drone’s head as it tried to get up. The grenade was instantly lodged in the crack as it turned to look at me with that glowing, red eye.

I swooped down and caught the wolf woman as she turned to run. We flew over to her friend as the grenade went off with a powerful explosion.

Jagged metal pieces and armor went flying in all directions, slicing through trees. Smoke billowed up as disbelief painted the eyes of the woman with green hair.

The wolf woman looked at me with wide eyes as I put her down, next to her friend. I floated over a few feet and landed, my body aching and spent.

“You killed them! You killed all of them!” the woman with green hair shouted at me.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” I said plainly.

The woman with gray hair touched her friend’s shoulder. “The war drone was trying to kill him. Its movements were centered on him,” she explained.

The shorter woman pulled away from her friend’s hand, walked over to me and stabbed a finger at my face. Fury filled her eyes as I stared at her and her finger inches from my chin.

“The dome is destroyed! Three years of research, gone! The radiation is going kill everything in this room, even if we make repairs this instant! The experiment has to start over because you!”

“This was not my intention. The drone attacked me and I was defending myself,” I explained.

The short woman threw her hands up as she turned her back to me and looked at the devastation.

“Do you have any idea how long it takes to grow plants!” she shouted in frustration.

I parted my lips to answer, but a quick look from her friend shaking her head stopped me. I closed my mouth.

The woman stamped her foot as she had tight fists at her sides. A breath later, she wilted, her head sinking forward.

A shadow touched the air above us. We all looked up to see the transport ship over the dome. The bottom opened and a dozen Xulls dropped down. Thrusters fired from under their metal feet and they landed in the broken dome.

“Quinn, are you alright?” one drone asked me.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay,” I said.

Several other drones tended to the two women.

“Botanist Nora Bright and Head of Security Hope Trigger, are you alright?” some drones asked.

“I’m not alright! This experiment was destroyed, as were all my beautiful plants!” Nora hissed.

“We’re okay,” Hope said simply.

The Xull drones nodded before one of them spoke.

“We will need to evacuate the area. Construction drones are on their way to repair the damage. We do apologize for the setbacks to your work. As compensation, you will be given new clearance codes to restart your work.”

Drones picked up Nora and Hope, the pair seemingly unfazed at the motion. They were cradled in the drone’s arms before flying up and back to the ship.

A drone moved to me to pick me up, but I waved their hands away.

“I’m okay,” I said before flying up.

We all flew up until we were in the belly of the transport ship. The floor closed and chairs emerged. The bar slid back as a Xull drone began pouring drinks.

Nora gave me an angry, sideways gaze. She lifted her chin and walked to the other side of the glass lobby, sitting in a chair as it formed right under her.

I glanced to Hope and she gave me a wry smile and shrug. She stepped over to her friend and sat in a newly formed chair.

“Please, sit with me,” Xull said as she sat in a comfortable chair.

I glanced over to see another chair form, across from her. I stepped over and sat down. A Xull drone stepped over and put a full beer on a small table beside me.

I glanced down at myself, seeing that I was a complete mess. I had burn marks across what was left of my clothed. My skin was cracked in several places, and there were a few drops of my own blood leaking out. This only proved to me that I was truly not invulnerable. If that war drone kept attacking me, it was going to do more and more damage. Enough damage that perhaps I wouldn’t survive. It made it clear and imperative to get stronger and learn everything I could about what happened to me.

I looked over to Xull, and knew without a doubt, we needed each other.

“I’ve completed my assessment of what happened,” Xull said as she looked at me. “I’ll begin once your clothes repair themselves.”

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I lifted and eyebrow before looking down at myself again. My eyes widened a hair as my clothes began to mend. A tingling ran along my skin, the soot and blast marks fading away. My eyes focused, and I quickly realized that I could see better than twenty twenty vision. I watched as tiny drones moved across my body like ants. In a few moments, my clothes were back to normal, and the blast marks were gone. My cracked skin was healing, but much slower than the nano drones.

“The nano drones can handle basic repairs and clean up. But because of your new physiology, they cannot repair your skin. Your natural regeneration will repair the cracks, as long as you rest.”

I sat back in my chair, took hold of my beer, and lifted it up to my lips.

“Understood,” I said and took a sip.

“As for what transpired, Xull Omega found a way into my system, discovered you were a threat, and attempted to study and eliminate you. She took as much information as she could before the connection was severed.

“I’ve placed new safeguards to prevent this from happening again, but nothing is certain. She has a way of sneaking past protocols and break through systems. She is a copy of my programming and will attempt all possibilities to follow her directives.”

“Well, this does shed some light on the mystery. Xull Omega has taken control of the research moon.”

Xull nodded. “Indeed, to a degree. She may be corrupted from an outside force, or altered in another way. In all of my existence, I’ve never had a version of me, turn on me.”

“What are the chances she will try again?” I asked.

“Seventy-two percent. She has programmed directives to not to give up. She will continue to discover more information, and make attempts on your life.”

“What do you suggest we do?” I asked before taking another sip of this delicious beer.

“Increase your training. You already unlocked two skills from your water sphere. Much faster than I anticipated. It means, with rigorous training, you may be able to unlock and train your abilities before going to the moon called Nerth T819.”

There it was, the mission we agreed upon. She may not have had a complete picture of what was happening, but after what just happened, it became clear that a part of her own programming had turned into a threat. Omega went rogue, and now Xull is trying to keep her other self from infecting any of her other systems. I never claimed I completely understood how it was happening, but it didn’t take a genius to know that she was scared, or at least put off by the prospect of losing any further control.

The way she came down and handled Nora and Hope, showed she actually cared. It was strange, to see such a caring AI, trying to soothe them and putting things into place to repair and make their lives as normal as possible again. It was a welcomed sight, but there was another piece of me that wondered if this was all some kind of staged act.

I may be ignorant to all the details of this world, and the larger world of mana storms, and fighting cosmic threats, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t decipher what was happening to a degree. It’s barely been two days and I’ve been attacked and shot at by AI controlled robotic drones.

When I thought about my own place in this new universe, a thought slipped into my mind.

I eyed Xull as I leaned forward, beer in hand. “I do have a question. Does Xull have its own mana storm?”

Xull was silent for a second. She parted her lips to speak, when a presence touched both of our senses. We turned out heads to see Hope standing by us with a warm smile. Her ears were up, as silver-gray hair flowed behind her head. She looked at me with warm eyes and an infectious smile.

“I just wanted to come over and say thanks, from both of us,” Hope said as she tilted her head for a second to Nora.

I shifted my gaze to Nora. She was still sitting in her chair and looked at me with annoyed eyes.

A scent touched my nose as I turned my gaze and looked up at Hope. My senses were short-circuited and my entire body relaxed. The intoxicating scent slipped along my senses and spirit. It was like a door was opened and a blast of heat seared my very core.

“It’s okay. I was happy to help. But I am sorry for the damaged I caused,” I said in a very relaxed state. “Please let your friend know that.”

Hope nodded as she stared at me with bright, blue eyes. I felt the relaxation deepen, like I was sitting in a hot tub. What the hell was happening to me?

Xull smiled. “Hope, thank you for coming over to offer thanks. My friend Quinn, has been through an ordeal of his own. Clearly, exhaustion has set in and he will need some rest.

“I will have the ship drop you and Nora off at Dream City as repairs are made to the dome. It may take a day or two before your up and running. In the meantime, your credits will be tripled, so you may enjoy a few days off.”

Hope smiled and nodded. “Thank you, Xull.”

I watched as Hope turned and walked away, her tail swishing behind her. I then turned my nearly drunken gaze to Xull, while my core was filled with overwhelming desire.

Xull leaned forward. I heard her words, even though her mouth didn’t move.

“What you are feeling right now is a side-effect of your new condition. Everything about you has been increased, including your natural drives and urges. I must be honest and direct, you cannot perform any sexual activities, at least not yet. The act will most likely kill, or severely injure a partner,” she said in my mind

“You said, not yet. You mean I will be able to, at a point in the future?”

My head swam. Reality took on a velvety hue as I resisted the urge to look over to the two women sitting on the other side of the room, clouds passing by the wall-sized windows.

“You do have an ability that may help. I didn’t bring it up, because I thought you may have weeks to months before the effects began to appear. It would seem, your speedy activation of your abilities as decreased the timetable. You will have moments of increased desire and sexual attraction.”

“I don’t want take a chance and hurt anyone,” I said as I slowly felt the velvet feeling drip away and my senses returning.

“I may be able to help you navigate such overwhelming urges,” Xull said before changing the subject. “To answer your previous question, yes, we did have our own mana storm. He was defeated and destroyed while taking out pirates at the edge of Xull space. They had energy weapons and numbers. He fought valiantly, but perished before reinforcements could arrive.”

Xull looked to the side. “He was a category one mana storm, like yourself. I mis-calculated and his confidence was his undoing. He took a ship to engage the pirates. He managed to take many of them out, but the damage he took was too much. The last thing I saw on long range sensors was his body falling into a sun and exploding.

“I have the recorded data, and now using it to assist you, so you don’t encounter the same fate.”

“What was his name?” I asked with solemn eyes.

“Davin Korr,” Xull said simply.

“Your planet hasn’t chosen another?”

Xull shook her head. “We don’t understand the intelligence of living planets. They have survived for millions to billions of years. Despite my vast neural network, it is not enough to process something that large and old. I theorize, the planet will decide when it chooses another mana storm. But until then, we can work together to help both of our worlds.”

I sat silently, my head spinning from a deluge of information. I looked down at my arm, seeing the cracks starting to close along my skin. My body already started to feel better, but my mind felt like it packs to the gills and didn’t have any more room.

“We will continue your training, beginning tomorrow. Considering what happened today, you’ve earned a small rest,” Xull said as she sat back in her chair.

The rest of the short flight was quiet. We entered airspace to Dream City, clouds and rain nearly obscuring everything. The ship docked with a tall tower. Nora and Hope were up and escorted out by Xull drones. I watched them go, the two of them turning their heads and looking back at me. Hope had a small smile. Nora frowned. A second later, they were gone.

The ship pulled away and floated over the neon city in the rain. It flew along for about thirty seconds, before docking with another tower.

“This is your stop,” Xull said plainly.

I stood up and noticed she didn’t stand up. “Are we going together?”

Xull smiled. “I am integrated into everything. I am always with you. This carapace will be examined to ensure Omega hasn’t tried to infiltrate its systems. Another version will be waiting for you once you depart.”

It was a strange feeling, stepping away from her. In the short amount of time, I felt a certain kinship, like we understood each other. I always tried to help people, and she did the same, expect she was helping a whole planet of people.

I stepped to the extended corridor. I walked it until I reached the other side. I stepped down some stairs as the sounds of rain greeted me. The moment I stepped on a hard floor, the corridor pulled back and folded into itself.

I turned and watched as the corridor sank into the ship, and the entire ship pulled away as rain fell.

I took in my surroundings, seeing that I was standing on a balcony with a long overhang above me. Rivers of water streamed from the edges. I walked to the edge and looked down. I couldn’t help but be amazed as the neon city below me. I was in one of the larger towers, staring down on a city made up of light, metal, stone, and rain.

“Welcome to your temporary home,” came a voice from behind me.

I turned around to see a woman standing there in a white body outfit. Her had long, golden blonde hair. Her eyes were the same golden color. She had high cheekbones, oval eyes, and a welcoming smile. She had a slender figure, except her chest and hips had curves that the suit could not hide. She had a slender neck and fair skin.

“Yes,” I said, not sure who she was.

The woman’s smile grew a little. “Quinn, it is Xull. I’m here to introduce you to your new lodgings. Come with me.”

I was slightly stunned. She looked like a living, breathing person. I watched her turn around and step to sliding glass doors. I followed, not sure what to make of it. When I stepped in, the glass doors slid closed behind me and warmth touched my skin.

Xull turned and faced me as an immense room filled the background behind her.

“Let’s begin,” she said with a bright and welcoming smile.

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