We're Back! PSA #4

Hey guys, I'm back with another announcement for my story. Finals week (called "exams" by anyone outside of the states) has just ended. So do you know what that means? That means that my story is back baby, and my ploy to take over the world is well under way. So prepare your engines because my next chapter will be hitting next week.

Thanks for reading, and don't stop being beautiful.

The Jakemister.

PSA #3 Twenty is an accomplishment.

Well, I got started writing the second chapter to my novel last night, as I have been taking the time, regardless of if I have the time. If you want to fulfill your dream, you just have to go for it. You have to sacrifice part of who you are to be who you want to become. In my case, it's a little bit of sleep; but that's fine, because I finally hit twenty pages!

Now, you're probably thinking "but Jake, that's not hard at all. You literally just have to write to get to that point."While, I concede that point, I also will point out a trend in my writing. I rarely get past fifteen pages in writing a story (my fan fiction was a totally different story, but that's a different beast altogether).  So, I'm sitting here, drinking orange juice and listening to Two Steps From Hell to celebrate my accomplishment. It feels good. Now, I just need to write the rest of the story.

Anyway, I'm about to write more of chapter 2. Almost wrote chapter 3 there; just a little bit ahead of myself there, huh? Haha. Well, the writing continues onwards. Make sure to tell people you know about my blog too. Let's get this story popular and get the public's opinion on my story.

Oh, and here's a preview of chapter two for all you readers:

After a few moments, the suit had completed its activation cycle. Save for the whir of servos within the suit, it was silent. But he wasn’t alone; he could sense something sitting in the back of his consciousness. Frederik reached out and attempted to mentally poke Tallius.

You there?

The other presence tiptoed about his memories, moving with enough precision of a professional burglar breaking into a home. Frederik frowned.

Tallius, you there?

The presence, paused. Frederik, I am here. But your cortex is unfamiliar to me; I remember only your name, and a strange craving for my mother’s brownies.

Frederik smiled… But that quickly faded as he considered Tallius’ situation. He quickly recalled his training and mentally closed himself off to outsiders, which included Tallius. Did he lose all of his memory? I mean, Merrus said there could be complications, but that must suck, he thought. He got out of his mental block and addressed Tallius.

You don’t remember anything besides the brownies?

Affirmative. My coding tells me there is an error in my memory core, but I am unable to fix it as it is a hardware problem, not a software problem. Curious.

Frederik’s throat constricted. We’ll get you fixed up, Tallius. Don’t you worry. He closed his eyes and sighed.

Very well, Lieutenant.

Thanks for reading. Stay classy. And don't vote for Donald Trump. That guy's a jerk.
Jake

PSA #2 Up and Running now... With a small delay.

The blog has been up for about a month... And I just got around to customizing it a little bit. It looks good for me, but what do you think? I really like the black with the planet behind it. It just fits my story, and fits my style as well. No that I'm really style conscious, or anything-conscious for that matter.

Anywho, the blog is up. I have my first chapter and prologue out. I think at the end when I go through my story again, a lot will have to change out of necessity, and because I will likely have other stuff I want to do for this story, but that's no big deal. It happens with every writer (or so I'm told--I've never actually finished a story before). With this next chapter, I'm going to be writing quite a bit I think, but I'm also going to be doing more of a thorough edit before I release it so you all have a better time reading it. I'm also going to be revisiting my first chapter and prologue to do a little editing there. I'll let you all know when you do that.

However, I am also in the middle of my finals at school, so don't expect those chapters to write themselves very quickly over these next two weeks. It will likely be a very slow process. I'll keep you up to date.

Thanks to all of you who so faithfully support me in my bid to take over the world... I mean in writing a story. A wonderful story. Not a prediction of the future or anything like that.

Thanks again.

Jacob B. Jensen, Future World Leader

Chapter One "Suit Up"

Earth

December 15th, 2233

First Lieutenant Frederik J. Tarsus strode down the uncharacteristically cold corridor. The installation was usually heated, but today their was a bit of a chill in the air. That wasn’t much of a surprise, considering where they were at, but it didn’t seem normal. Frederik rubbed his arm, took a deep breath, and continued forward.

At the end of the hall was a hexagonal door that opened from the middle when he approached. He entered the familiar room, which was like a large octagon. The room was level, save for the middle of the room which dipped down several feet into a jungle of machinery, computers, and people. The room was bustling. Personnel moved to and fro, shouting here and there for certain documents or a call for assistance with a certain machine.

Frederik heard an off hand comment. “Where could they have gone? It doesn’t…” The person was out of earshot before he could here anymore. That person, and the rest of the room for that matter, was buzzing. And it was not like the normal, annoying buzz. Something exciting had happened, and everyone was working to figure it out.

Shrugging that thought off, Frederik walked to along the outer hexagon to the left side of the room. Just two days earlier he had returned home from a mission on Mercury taking down one of the People’s Republic’s outposts that was in the process of producing more armaments for the war between the People’s Republic and the Allies of Free Earth. All Frederik had been told about his returning to earth was that the matter was of dire importance. He was to report to the Herakles Project director’s room for briefing on his next mission.

With a huff, he paused at the door, leading to the director’s room. He looked at the innate carvings picturing Herakles and his fight against the Hydra which decorated the door, the green touchpad off to the side. So many times he imagined passing through the doorway and speaking with the director about a promotion to Captain. Of course, that was just his imagination. Very few of the soldiers enlisted in the Herakles program had passed through that door. Well, Frederik knew one or two who had. 

After typing in the codes he had received from command, the door opened fluidly, noiselessly, revealing a pure white hallway probably twenty meters in length. The sides pulsed all over the spectrum of dark green to light blue. He stepped into the room and began towards—assumedly—the Director’s office. His shoes made a distinct clicking noise as he plodded down straightened himself and moved down the hallway.

Why are they calling me in if this is as important as they say? Surely there are better qualified ‘Klesians than me. What do they want from me? he wondered. It took him a moment without a response to realize that there wasn’t going to be a response from his AI, Tallius. In fact, he wasn’t sure he would ever get a response from Malleus again, not after the last mission. His heart sagged for a brief moment before he picked it up upon arriving at the Director’s Room.

The name plate to the side of the door confirmed Frederik’s suspicion about the room: Nero T. Marcus, Director of the Herakles project. Nodding to himself, Frederik straightened his sandy brown suit coat and took a deep breath. He typed a second code into the keypad to the right of the door. It beeped and the door made a swooshing noise as it retracted upwards.

Within the room was a silver desk in the shape of a half of an oval, which housed a number of microcomputers and—according to the rumors—Director Marcus’ personal AI. Behind the desk sat the Director himself. He was a wan man with a black mustache as black as the void itself. He was of a darker complexion; his eyes were a grainy brown, the eyelids of which were wrinkled far beyond their years. Spider webs of red veins covered his cornea, suggesting the good director had been looking at a screen far more than he needed to. To his right stood another member of the Herakles project, Major Johan Conners stood to his left, conversing in soft tones. Both of them gazed over at him, inspecting him thoroughly.

“First Lieutenant Frederik J. Tarsus, reporting, sir.”

Director Marcus was silent as he narrowed his eyes and peered into Frederik’s eyes. There was something about those brown eyes that was disconcerting, like he was staring through Frederik, discerning his every thought, characterizing him just by looking into his eyes. Frederik stifled a shiver.

Johan wore a very subtly hidden smile on his face, the corners of his mouth turned every so slightly upwards, his blue eyes glowing slightly. His huge shoulders bobbed upwards with every breath. He scratched his nose.

“Welcome Frederik, it’s good to have you back after your last mission on Mercury. I understand it was quite the scare,” the Director said, smiling, his lips parting and quivering, giving the impression of a wolf snarling. “How are you doing?” He arched an eyebrow.

“Thank you, sir. I’m just fine.”

“You don’t have to call me sir, Lieutenant. I’m not military.” Frederik noticed him clenching his jaw.

“Uh, alright that, uh, works,” Frederik replied.

“Right, well then, Tarsus, so you haven’t be told concerning the details of this upcoming mission of yours. I am correct, am I not?” Frederik nodded. “Very well. Are you aware of the operation BLOWBACK? It was pulled off by two of your associates in Tarnaeus three weeks ago.”

Frederik tilted his head upwards slightly, trying to remember the details of that mission. He closed his eyes, clacked his teeth together then clenched his jaw. The details of several different missions ran through his head. Then, something clicked, and he realized what he was talking about. James and Nellus had been sent on that operation. It was good to hear they had gotten it done, though. Did something happen? he wondered.

“Yes, director. That was the operation on Mars. They were supposed to stop some sort of intel from being delivered to the PR’s leaders, right? Are they okay?”

“That’s correct, Frederik. they completed their mission. But,” Director Marcus glanced down and blinked repeatedly, as if trying to stop his eyes from being so obvious about what was going on, “they disappeared.”

“Disappeared, sir—director?” Frederik’s hard began beating slightly quicker than normal. “That’s never happened in all of the Herakles Project’s history.” He paused. “Who? The PR? Those pricks.”

“We’re currently in the middle of trying to figure out what happened, Lieutenant. We’ve been considering what occurred there, and we haven’t come to any conclusions as of yet.”

Frederik clenched his fist. James. Nellus. Both were missing. Some of his good friends, gone. What happened? 

“You mean, you don’t know what happened to them?”

“Our agents have been investigating the area, but we have no leads so far. Though, the situation is rather… interesting.” The corners of the director’s lips turned down. “And that’s why you’re here, Frederik.”

Frederik arched an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I understand.”

Director Marcus motioned to Johan. “Major?”

Johan nodded. “Yeah.” He placed his light brown hands on the desk, his lips forming a hard line. “Mars, being a planet under PR control has been difficult to infiltrate, but we were able to send in three agents. What they found was, well, confusing. I’m sending it to your neural interface now.”

A stream of data filtered through his neural interface and onto into the implants in his eyes, allowing him to see the whole report for himself. One thing stood out. First, they had looked over the scene where the operation had taken place, and there had been no signs of a battle taking place. In fact, from what the report said, it looked like James and Nellus had simply walked away after they had completed their mission.

He blinked. “I don’t understand. They just walked away?”

Frederik crunched his eyebrows together. He had known James and Nellus for all five years the Herakles project had been operational. They been trained together, lived in the same barracks, cooperated in numerous operations together. Neither of them seemed like the kind of soldiers to just walk away from the military—he knew the implications of such an act.

“It looks like they deserted.”

A cold hard knot formed in Frederik’s stomach.

“With all due respect sir, I don’t know if that’s the case. This hasn’t happened before, not in our ranks.”

Johan nodded and let loose a shaky breathe. “I understand how you feel, Lieutenant.It’s unthinkable that some of our own have deserted. And I agree that the situation seems odd It’s unprecedented. All of us agree on that. There are so many unknowns, but, we have to treat this like it is a desertion—” Frederik’s shoulder’s tensed, “—as a precaution. We don’t know why nellus and James have gone AWOL, and that’s dangerous. They could have left for something trivial, surely. But, it’s also possible that they’re angry at the government, at the military—at someone. Those suits, their AIs, and the users themselves could be dangerous in the wrong hands.”

It was then that the puzzle pieces slowly started coming together for Frederik. He was starting to find pieces of the puzzle he hadn’t seen before. He now somewhat understood what was going on. James and Nellus were being considered as deserters. Someone needed to bring them in. Though he didn’t really like it, and it was… confusing to think that something like this could happen. But why am I a part of this? It was obvious that he was being asked to take a part in this mission, but why? Why me?

“So we need you to track them down and bring them in,” Director Marcus stated.

“With all due respect, isn’t there someone more capable than me?” He shifted his weight to his other foot.

Johan suppressed a grin. The Director nodded. “You give yourself less credit than you should. You’re a remarkable soldier, Frederik, according to your record—which, yes, I am allowed to look at. Johan here tells me you’re one of the most perceptive men he’s ever met. Saved his butt more than he count. Regardless, we need a ‘Klesian to track our people down, and you ‘fit the bill,’ I believe the saying goes.”

Frederik kept a straight face. “Fair enough. When do I leave?”

“Tomorrow, 0400 hours,” Johan said. “You’ll be leaving on the  frigate Relativity."

“And Frederik, once more thing,” Director Marcus said. “On the off chance that this is something… else, we’re having an expert in Artificial Intelligences accompany you.”

“Director? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” The corner of Frederik’s lips twitch downwards. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

“Negative, Lieutenant,” Johan said, waving a hand. “We’ve been informed that it is necessary to send Doctor Paulsen with you.”

“May I ask why, sir?”

Johan shook his head. “Tia will tell you more about why she’s coming along. She’ll also be able to help with some repairs on Tallius and your suit.”

Sighing internally, Frederik nodded. “Yes sir. I’ll make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble.”

“That’d be great, Frederik,” Marcus said. “Dismissed.”

Frederik snapped of a crisp salute to the Major, which was promptly returned, after which he left the room. His shoes clacked against the super hardened polymer as he retraced his steps, leaving the main operations room and heading towards the armory, where his suit was being repaired.

The scientists had told him they would be making some minor repairs on Tallius. Frederik had asked, hypothetically, if he were to enter the suit without his AI would he still be able to use it. They had told him of course, and explained to him that the suit was, in fact, designed to be operated with or without an AI. The drawback was this: when the AI and the user connect their minds when using the suit, the user’s reflexes are amplified, in fact, everything is amplified; but, then those advantages are taken away when user is the only one controlling the suit. 

That gonna be me? Frederik wondered. Man, I wish Tallius were here. It’s so weird not having him here. Don’t you think? There was no response. Oh, duh. Frederik smiled, and stifled the urge to smack himself in the face. Soon he’d be able to see Tallius, maybe they would even be able to link up, though he doubted it.

Picking up the pace, Frederik swept through the cold, steel colored halls towards the armory. It didn’t take long until he was there. All he had to do was follow the signs that he’d been following for a good five years.

The armory itself was a maze of steel and human flesh. There was a main armory, and four wings, which branched off of from it. Frederik entered the main armory, the doors sliding apart with a hiss, revealing a room of great depth and wonder. The ceiling was probably thirty feet up from the ground, and about forty feet in length. The walls were lined with storage racks stocked with all sorts of armaments, and gray crates filled with loads of explosives. Four elevators—basically glass cylinders with steel base and top—were spaced apart equally, with two elevators on parallel walls. The elevators were the only way to get to the top floor, where there were four wings which stored all inactive and spare ‘Klesian suits.

Frederik pressed through mass of human flesh and robot, and entered the first elevator on his right. It hummed as it came to life and ascended to the top floor. Frederik closed his eyes, breathing in deeply and taking a moment to rest. He had been traveling from planet to planet, accomplishing mission after mission for the last two years, without stopping, without leave. That’s war… No. That’s ‘Klesians. I kind of chose this, didn’t I? Yeah. I guess I did. He squeezed his fingers into a fist, took a breathe.

Thirty seconds before his expected arrival, the elevator slowed, then halted. Frederik furrowed his brow, opened his eyes. Outside the elevator was a slim woman, about five and a half feet tall. Her hair was the color of honey, a golden brown, and her eyes were light blue, but were sharp and vibrant. A badge was stitched above her left breast, but Frederik couldn’t see it. The glass door hissed and edged towards Frederik, then slid along the frame of the elevator.

The slim woman blinked rapidly, then looked over Frederik’s skin tight gray suit. Her eyes fixed upon the golden letter over his left breast and arched her eyebrows.

“Didn’t expect to meet you here, Lieutenant.” She gave a half smile. “Can I call you Frederik?”

Frederik scrunched his eyebrows. Old love interest? No, I’d remember. Old friend? No, same thing. Classmate? Nah, doesn’t make sense. “Sorry,” he blurted out, “I don’t think we’ve met.” He looked at her name tag. “Oh.”

She giggled. “No, we haven’t. My name is Tia. Tia Paulsen. I’m going with you to—“

“—Mars. Just realized that.”

The elevator door closed behind her and began it’s ascent once more.

“I guess you’re stuck with me now,” she said.

“You can call me Frederik, by the way,” he affirmed.

“Good. I didn’t want to have to call you Lieutenant the entire time we’re together.” She laughed. Her voice was the sound of clear, flowing water. Calming, yet powerful.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Don’t call me that. Makes me feel like I’m forty. It’s Tia.”

Frederik nodded. “Fair enough.” He paused, then, “What are you doing down here, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Of course I don’t. I was actually getting some firearms training,” she admitted.

“Oh.” He immediately thought of the ramifications. What in the world was command thinking, sending a scientist without firearms training? More baggage. “First time?”

“You could say that.” She smiled, looked down as the elevator slowed. “Are you going to get your suit by the way?”

Frederik nodded. “I’m headed there now.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the ship. I can take a look at your AI then.”

Frederik laughed. Why’d she go in the same elevator as me when she’s going down? She was probably just getting to know who he was, or something like that. “Okay. I’ll be heading there soon.”

Frederik stepped out of the elevator and took a glance backwards. Tia stood straight in the elevator in perfect posture, smiled, and waved. Frederik nodded back, turned, and rolled his eyes. Trying to forget her for the time being, he made his way to wing one, where his suit was still being worked on. There, three scientists were looking at the suit—coined the Hephaistos, Mk II—which was placed on an armor rack, giving the impression that someone was standing in the suit and was simply holding still. They were holding data pads in their hands and soft murmuring amongst themselves. It looked like one scientist had been looking at Tallius’ matrix. His brown eyes were flickering from his datapad to the matrix, and his lips were moving apart from time to time as if he were muttering to himself. Frederik couldn’t be sure though.

He immediately recognized one of the scientists meandering in front of the Hephaistos, and approached him.

“Merrus,” he said.

Merrus glanced at Frederik for a split second and sighed, then looked back at his datapad. But in that split second, Frederik thought he saw a smile tugging at the edge of Merrus’ lips. He gave Merrus a firm slap cuff on the shoulder.

“It’s not ready, Fred,” Merrus stated.

“What’s the hold up, buddy?”

Merrus tapped his datapad, and showed it to Frederik. On the datapad was a blue 3D model of the Hephaistos, which showed the status of each function in the suit. Green meant it was functioning well, yellow meant it had some problems but was functional, and red meant it was having a lot of trouble. Again Merrus tapped the datapad, this time around the neck area of the Hephaistos. It was a dark yellow.

“What are we looking at exactly? Tallius’ matrix?” Frederik asked, raising an eyebrow quizzically.

“It’s Tallius’ matrix,” Merrus affirmed. He tapped the matrix, which replaced the suit on the datapad. It looked like half of an onion, as there were several layers visible on the outside. “You see that red dot in the middle? That’s Tallius’ memory core. We’re trying to figure out what’s wrong, but haven’t been able to decipher the problem yet.”

The metronome in his chess started beating faster.

“How useful would he be like that in the field?”

Pursing his lips, Merrus looked at his datapad. He cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. “I mean, he may experience some confusion, which could be problematic depending on the magnitude of the confusion he’s feeling. So, he would be operational in the field, but—”

“Then I’ll be taking my suit off your hands,” Frederik stated, and placed his gloved hand on Merrus’ shoulder. He squeezed.

“You sure that’s a good idea? Tallius would work far more efficiently if you’d give us a week.”

“Sorry, Merrus. Don’t have a lot of time. I just got called in for another mission. Leaving tomorrow at 0400. Gotta do my own maintenance too.” He shrugged. “Plus, Doctor…” he searched his brain for the doctor’s name, “Paulsen should be able to help me out.”

Merrus stared at him for a second, then nodded his head in resignation. “Doctor Tia Paulsen? She’s going with you?” Frederik nodded. “Wow. I had no idea. She’s a genius. Knows everything there is to know about the Hephaistos and the artificial intelligences inside of them… Albeit, she’s a little crazy, but you should be fine. Anyways, we can finish up with your Hephaistos here pretty quickly, and you should be out of here.”

Frederik nodded the affirmative. Merrus spoke with the other scientists who, after a brief but heated debate, began to wrap up their examinations

“How’s your family, by the way?” Frederik asked.

“What? Oh, they’re good. Dad is doing alright too. Hanging in there.”

Without looking at Frederik, Merrus tapped furiously at his datapad. He motioned Frederik towards the Hephaistos, who in turn, stepped forward and gazed at the marvel of human engineering.

The Hephaistos was something beautiful, and unlike anything Frederik had seen before. It was large, for when he stepped inside of it, he would stand at seven feet tall, but was also form fitting. The chest and back were the thickest parts, having been reinforced to protect the vital organs. Numerous armaments were stored within on the backside.

Frederik stepped forward. In response, the suit beeped, a beam of red light emerging from the visor and sweeping over him. A green light flashed on and the suit shuddered. A seam along the middle of the chest, arms, and legs opened up, revealing the calming white interior of the Hephaistos.

Frederik neared the suit, then turned his back towards it, moving into a spread eagle position, and stepped into it. The suit met him halfway, enveloping his body and sealing its openings. He grabbed the helmet in one quick motion and put it on. The interior pulsated a dark red, then began to change colors as the suit began to boot up.

Frederik inhaled deeply and grinned.

PSA #1

Hey everyone, it's a me, Jakio. But really, it's Jake.

Just a quick public service announcement to all of those that read this (thanks, by the way). I should be releasing chapter one of my story either tomorrow or Monday. Please feel free to read it. I'm aware of some inconsistencies at this point, but am not really in a heavy editing stage. So, there may be some errors and such. If there are, let me know. Also, let me know anything that doesn't follow logically or seems a little odd. I don't mind. If there's anything good, as well (something you like, etc.) please let me know, so I can do more of those kinds of things and really figure out what my strengths and weaknesses are with writing.

Sincerely, your buddy, your friend, your partner in crime, blah blah blah,
Jakearooni

Blog Introduction

Hey guys, my name is Jake Jensen. I recently returned from an LDS mission in Japan and am now working to become an author. This story sprung from an idea I had before my mission. But if I told you what the idea was, it would probably spoil the story. Anyhow, enjoy! I've spent a bit of time on this during NaNoWriMo (national novel writing month), and I really am starting to like how it's working out. Anyhow, feel free to help me out with constructive criticism or praise and whatnot.

Thanks for reading. I'll be trying to update the story once a week, and will do my best to respond to anything you have said. Again, thanks for taking the time to read my story over.

Prologue

It was a cold, red day—same as every day on the People’s red world. Of course, it had changed drastically in the last few centuries. Just to the west of Olympus Mons was a verdant field of various fauna and crops that surrounded the bustling city of Tarnaeus. Though still mainly red, there were bits of silver, grey, and greens that stood out. Tarnaeus was a clump of chrome splotched with rust from the storms. Skyscrapers were not much of a deterrent to storms.

Sergeant James B. Tibble sat atop a ridge line two miles east of Tarnaeus. His Hephaistos Mk II Power Armor allowed him ample room to stretch his neck in a circular motion. With a sigh he looked down his scope towards the southwest. Construction walkers lumbered to and fro, moving large pieces of framework for the walls of highway five. Traffic sped each in each direction, the left side moving towards the city, the other side moving away from it. The new propulsion software in each vehicle cast a deep green glow that turned into magnificent waves of light as they cars sped intently to their various destinations.

James reached out to the Morianton—the artificial intelligence who was connected, or “linked in” as the ‘Klesians said—to his brain.

Mor, tell me what you’re getting.

How about a please? Morianton responded.

James clenched his teeth. Just do it.

The reticule on his heads-up display (HUD) jumped from car to car, spinning from left to right then right to left as Morianton scanned the contents of each vehicle. With every scan there was a number of clicks. He felt a stream of information enter his head. Red Nissan—civilians. Orange Nissan—civilian. Red Ford—civilian. Silver Taurus—civilian. At least fifty other scans also turned up empty.

Need to see what Nellus has found, he thought.  No sooner had he thought this then his comm had activated. Thanks.

Of course, Jimmy. 

I told you not to call me that. James groaned.

Of course you did, Morianton sneered. However I’ve always considered it to be rather endearing.

You feeling alright, Mor? 

I do not feel, Jim…

He sighed. “Nellus, you getting anything? We really need to put this guy down.”

“Nothing but these new models. Martians really love their cars,” a deep, gravelly voice responded.

“No kidding. People are buying them like they’re hot.”

“Too bad we got ‘em on Earth already.” Nellus gave a throaty chuckle which sounded like gravel being crunched under heavy boots.

James laughed. Suddenly his eyes exploded, his vision dimmed. A spike of pain tore through the back of his head, causing him shudder. He crushed his eyelids together, looked down away from his scope. Another tremor tore through his body. Inhaling sharply, James dropped his rifle and tensed his body. Another tremor. He was in the dirt.

Then, nothing. James lay there in the martian soil, his biceps twitching periodically. He reached back and touched his head. No puncture marks or anything of that nature. What was that?

It seems you got hit by something, Jimmy, Morianton stated. James rolled his eyes and groaned. What the cause could be, I do not know. This is unusual considering your circumstances. Perhaps with a little time—

Whatever. Can you use the suit’s medical functions to neutralize it if it happens again?

Do you think me to be a buffoon? Of course you do; that is typical of your people.

Mor! Can you do it? 

Morianton was usually so mellow, but today he was aggressive. Something had gotten him riled. It was a lot like that operation on Jupiter the year before. It would have to wait though. James would talk to him after the mission.

Hypothetically I could utilize the suit’s power cell to—

Do it, Mor.

The whole conversation had taken a few seconds. Morianton hummed in response. He felt a hint of irritation boil up.

James’ comm cracked with static. There was a moan. “J, my head feels like it just got beat by a sledgehammer, man.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Wait, you felt that too?”

“Yeah I did, it felt like—what? What do you mean? You feel that too, man? The hell?”

“I felt it. If it hit both of us, then—”

“Biological weapon?”

“Possibly. What’s Helvian say?”

“Hold on.”

Mor? The drum in his chest was beating at an incredible rate. Adrenaline pumped into his system. James could feel his pulse hammering off in his forehead. His head pounded mercilessly. And yet, his eyelids were strangely droopy. A smoke slithered through his mind, dimming his synapses, causing a momentary drop in reaction time. He blinked again, searching the highway meticulously. All the while his HUD fed him a continuous stream of information.

It is a possibility, Jimmy. Perhaps a biological weapon that attacks the same wavelength as your brain.

Is that even possible?

Morianton gave the equivalent of a huff for an AI. Theoretically, yes.

“James, Helvian says it’s probably a biological weapon.”

“Same response on my end too. But Mor says he can probably do something about it if it happens again.” Cars zoomed by. Still no target. His eyes twitched left, twitched right. An endless line of cars.

“Hold up, James, shouldn’t our shielding block that sort of thing?”

“Not if it’s something we haven’t seen before.”

James eyes kept moving, as if a machine that had been switched on and couldn’t be switched back off. Cars of all shapes and sizes were streaming towards the north. Most were the regular small-and-sleek model, though there were a few bulkier cars. These looked much like semis of the old days—back when wheels were usually used for transportation—but a bit smaller. Most of them were shaped like a rectangular prism with rounded corners and were of the silver or gray variety. On the front of the semi, just below the windshield was an identification code, used for identifying the company.

While his HUD was searching each individual car—without many results—James’ eyes drifted towards a particular semi. He looked it over for a moment. It was the same basic gray as the other semis. Windshield was the same. Everything was the same. Shrugging, he started looking towards another car, when his reticule locked onto the car he had been inspecting. The reticule popped outwards, then turned green.

James cursed and marked the driver, who was moving into the left lane. Four hundred meters up was an off ramp which would take him to the observation outpost positioned just below the top of Olympus Mons. Five hundred meters up was a tunnel.

“Target found. Nellus, he’s yours.”

“And the civilians?”

There were five cars next to the driver, two of which were behind him. If Helvian’s targeting software somehow got messed up, Nellus might end up taking out a civilian. If he made the shot, there would still be casualties.

“If he takes that tunnel, we’re done for, all us. They get that intel on our suits, everyone is at risk. Everyone dies. Take. That. Shot.” 

300 meters. There was a brisk silence.

“Tracking him now. There’s an off ramp.”

“What?” James looked at the driver, glanced at the off-ramp. It was on the right side of the highway. The target was on the left side. 

“If we get him onto the off-ramp, we could save those civilians.”

James shook his head and let out a short breath. “There’s no time, man! Take the shot!” He tapped a button on the side of his gun which activated the focusing lenses. Just a precaution.

He kept he sights lined up on the car, put his finger on the trigger. In the next split second he heard a distant puff. The driver’s chest exploded, a blue orb of plasma blasting outwards in all directions, frying the semi. Next thing James knew, the semi smashed into the car next to it. There was a distant crunch of metal on metal. One car glanced off the bumper of the target’s car and into a mess of traffic. It was one heck of a mess.

“Nellus, man, I’m sorry, I know they’re part of the People’s Republic, but I didn’t want—”

Nellus cursed.

Tapping his weapon off, James sighed, releasing a long breath and letting his shoulders relax. That was it. The People’s Republic wouldn’t be getting that intel. For just a little longer the The Allies for Free Earth could relax. Just a little bit longer and—

Another curse. A sharp breath.

“Nellus? Nellus?” James activated his rifle and aimed over at Nellus’ position, just 200 meters to the southwest. He had been positioned two hundred meters from the highway. When he looked over there, he furrowed his brow. Nellus was still there, but he was bowed to the ground. His hands were balled into fists which he was pounding furiously into the ground.

“Nellus, you alright ma-“

A shout of agony blasted from James’ comm like a punch to the ear. “No, please. No! You son of a-“

The comm clicked off.

“The h-” James started, then he felt it. It was like someone had split open his skull , grabbed a screwdriver and was now slowly digging the screwdriver into his thoughts. He gasped for air, fell to his knees. His hands flew to his head. The screwdriver pressed farther, inching its way deeper, tearing at his mind for… something. More pressure. Heavy breath left lips; he couldn’t breath. He opened his mouth wide, blinked rapidly. 

Morianton, help! It was no longer a screwdriver, but a serrated knife. It cut deeper, shredding his thoughts, his memories. Why am I here? There was a pulse. His head felt like molten slag; he couldn’t remember what he was thinking about. Dark specks began flooding the edge of his vision.The light and the dark battled for supremacy, the light defending it’s claim, but losing ground quickly.

James, it seems your vitals are higher than normal. I shall assist you to the best of my ability. I will take the pain away.

For a few minutes, spasming under the pain, James tried to make sense of what Morianton was saying. Like a dim light being switched on, he understood. His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t manage to speak. Something inside of him told him he had to tell Nellus, had to warn him, had to let the Allies know, had to tell Frederik and the others. But it was to no avail as a cold smoke reached for the light and switched it off.

Everything disappeared under the cover of black sheet.