FrostWalker

THE SARCOPHAGI - BOOK I - FROSTWALKER

Chapter 1.1 - Open Your Eyes [Might be Part II]

I soared on an endless torrent of Octameth, and yet I was drowning in it? I was caught on a magnificent tidal wave, though I couldn’t find my way to the shore? The shore? Why would I even want to find the shore? I was riding that tidal wave of data! I owned that tidal wave! I owned the data! And yet, the torrent was somehow just as frightening as it was beautiful?

XIII was frightening! XIII was beautiful!

There is so much data, but I can almost see that data! It’s all so simple, and yet it’s all so complex? The permutations are endless? It’s as beautiful as it is terrifying!

What is XIII?

Peaches?

I can taste peaches?

I need to swim to the shore!

I can smell Marcy’s sweat!

I can feel Marcy’s fingers interlaced with mine!

I can smell blood!

Peaches?

──‡✦‡──

I opened my eyes with a groan, then immediately shut them again as lightning bolts speared into my brain. The afterimage from those lightning bolts remained seared into the back of my eyelids.

What the fuck? Who left the blasted lights on? And why is my vision shimmering? It’s actually shimmering? It’s actually still shimmering even when my eyes are closed?

Reverse blink!

What the hell’s a reverse blink?

Open your eyes for a split second?

No chance! There’s no fucking way I’m opening my eyes again!

I felt my panic increase, then I calmed! Everything was fine. I could feel Marcy lying on top of me. I could smell Marcy. I could feel her fingers intertwined with mine. I could taste peaches from her lip balm. Everything was perfect!

Though my hangover was starting to kick in. I was still flying on a tidal wave of Octameth that threatened to consume me? A tidal wave that threatened to come crashing down over my head and drag me down into the depths of a beautiful, bottomless ocean. I longed for that ocean! I felt my heartbeat stutter.

I probably need to calm down a bit! That must have been some crazy party if I'm still so wasted? The balance was wrong! Not enough whisky? Way too much Octameth!

But something is wrong! My neck is too hot! My brain is too hot! The music is too loud! The music is too repetitive!

The music was sending slivers of anxiety through me for some reason? And each sliver felt like a needle under my skin. It felt like a million needles under my skin! I wasn't wearing a comms patch? Why would I be wearing a comms patch? And yet it felt like I was wearing one? I felt sick, but I wasn't sure why I felt sick?

It was the music! It was Marcy's usual repetitive music. I loved to dance with Marcy, but after partying, I liked to listen to relaxing music. The music sounded vaguely like a mixture between horrific techno, the beeping of alarms, and the insistent pings from a comms patch?

I tried to calm down, but the music just kept repeating, over and over, and it was starting to sound more and more like an alarm? Not an alarm, a critical alert? A lot of critical alerts? And I could hear the pings from my comms patch? Someone was hacking me? Something was seriously wrong?

No! Everything is perfect. Marcy is here in my arms...

Wait? The bass drum sounds more like my heart beating, and it’s beating way too fast? The alarms are actually critical alerts? The pings are coming from a comms patch? Why am I wearing a comms patch?

Nonsense! I just overdid it last night! As did Marcy, given she’s a dead weight lying on top of me? She must be out of it as well.

As I squeezed Marcy’s fingers, she didn’t even respond. Marcy felt cold! Too cold?

That must have been some crazy party. I feel better than I've ever felt, I feel brilliant! No I feel sick! I feel hot! My neck is burning! My neural interface? My brain is burning!

And although I was burning, a freezing chill rippled through my body.

I can taste the peaches from Marcy's lip balm? Marcy’s lying on top of me? But she’s barely breathing? Why can I smell blood? Is that blood seeping into my trousers? Why am I wearing trousers and a comm’s patch? Who’s hacking me? Why is my neural interface connected? I have to open my eyes!

I opened my eyes and immediately checked Marcy’s pulse. It was so weak that panic took over. “Fuck! Marcy?”

I gently pushed Marcy to the side, then froze as I saw the blood from the bullet wound in her left thigh. As I stood up, the room spun, but I noted there was a dead enemy soldier lying at the entrance to the room. I was glad he was lying face down, right up until I saw the exit wound at the back of his skull.

Adrenaline mixed with a totally ridiculous amount of Octameth kicked in so hard that I found myself on my knees. I looked down the corridor and all I could see was blood and dead bodies, from where Marcy had defended the room against the enemy soldiers? I forced down my panic and found something between an Octameth calm combined with adrenaline. But it was too much!

Eventually I found another balance, something between pure fucking horror, and panic, combined with...

I wish someone would stop fucking screaming, because it’s really not helping!

I stopped screaming and pushed the horror and panic to the back of my mind. I built up a dam made of sticks to hold that horror and panic at bay, but it was seeping through the gaps between those sticks, and within seconds, it'd all just come crashing back down on my head. Then I’d start screaming again! I was already screaming again!

Stop fucking screaming! Focus! What the fuck is going on?

Somehow a calm descended on me as my brain reinforced that dam with more sticks. Bigger sticks! I tried to imagine an unstoppable concrete dam, but within seconds, the concrete crumbled away as the horror and panic leaked through.

Focus! What the fuck is going on? Why isn't the med-bot online?

I looked over and realised that the med-bot's control panel was riddled with bullet holes.

Calm. They were likely stray bullets from the same enemy soldier who shot Marcy? Or someone who shot fucking someone? There are bullet holes everywhere! There’s a bullet hole in Marcy! Why are there at least ten dead bodies? Why is there so much blood?

I laughed, and I realised it wasn't a nice laugh. It was a terrifying laugh. “They hit Marcy, and purely by chance, they also hit Marcy's only fucking chance of survival? They hit the fucking med-bot control panel entirely by accident? And they put a few bullets in the med-bot as well. But the med-bot is online?”

Calm the fuck down! Focus!

Given that I was already authorised to use the med-bot, I used my neural interface to hack it within seconds. I could easily control the med-bot, but the control unit had the knowledge I was lacking. And the control unit was well and truly riddled with fucking bullets. If I had the required spare parts and a few days, I could probably fix it, and download all the info I needed from a satellite?

That’s the solution! Download the data from a satellite! I only need the data? Put the data into something! Fuck the med-bot’s not got enough fucking capacity, that’s why it’s got a control panel? The link is too slow! What the fuck happened to the control unit? Ah yes, it’s full of fucking bullet holes!

Will you please stop fucking screaming?

Although I had well above average medical training, which was a requirement for this fucking mission, I wasn’t a professional. I wasn't a field medic. I wasn't a fucking med-bot! I wasn’t a fucking med-bot control panel!

Something insistent was pinging at my comms patch. I'd ignored the pings so far due to the incessant security alerts hammering at my firewall. As I knelt by Marcy, I realised she was going to die. I was being hacked? Though the attack originated from the enclosed network? Someone was hacking me through my neural interface and targeting the med-bot? That was impossible?

Somehow a message bypassed my firewall, which was also impossible? It was a single word.

XIII

I didn't hesitate in opening up a conduit to the med-bot. That was stupidity in itself, given I'd just given something from an enemy network the ability to hack the med-bot, and I had no clue what that something was. I didn’t care in the slightest, because I had no other option. Marcy was dying, and I knew that I couldn’t save her.

The med-bot came online instantly, and a message came through my comms patch from it.

XIII: Kel, I will deal with Marcy. I have signalled for backup. You have air support incoming, but it won't arrive in time. You have an enemy unit incoming from the North East. They'll be here in around eight minutes. Take your rifle and get to the first floor. Hold them off until backup arrives.

I shook my head. “You expect me to leave you alone with Marcy?”

XIII: Kel, you've already put your trust in me. Whether I can save Marcy or not is a moot point if the enemy even gets close to this building. They aren’t here to capture you Kel. They're here to kill yourself and Marcy. They’ll destroy this installation if they get close enough. You can’t keep Marcy alive? I can’t shoot a rifle?

I felt the room spin in confusion, and yet the med-bot was already moving and trying to stop Marcy’s bleeding.

XIII: Kel, there is an enemy soldier lying unconscious halfway down the corridor. She's the last surviving member from the enemy squad that attacked you. She shot Marcy and she was trying to kill you. You need to kill her.

I went cold at that. “I'm a hacker, not a soldier. I don't have a rifle!”

XIII: You don't need a rifle to kill her Kel. Use your knife rather than your sidearm. You need to conserve ammunition. Marcy wouldn't hesitate to kill her. You know this. Marcy killed the rest of them whilst protecting you.

A rush of Octameth threatened to bring me to my knees, and I put my hand out to balance myself against the wall. I knew I was going into shock.

I whispered. “I'm not a killer!”

XIII: Inaction can kill just as effectively as action Kel. You're about to become a killer either way. That woman is part of an elite assault unit. When she awakens, she'll immediately stim herself. She'll call in a mortar strike, trigger an incendiary grenade, or just tear right through you, given your lack of combat experience. She’s a fanatic, so most likely she'll destroy the entire building with her in it. You either kill her, or she kills yourself and Marcy. Either way, you're a killer!

I argued. “I could tie her up and remove her comms patch.”

XIII: She has a neural implant with short range Kel, just as you do. She’d still have comms. Would Marcy even take such a risk? Marcy killed nine of them. Marcy put a bullet in her arm only because she missed her heart, and that woman shot Marcy. Marcy wouldn't waste what little time you already have; she’d already have slit her throat and be on the first floor preparing for the incoming enemy. Tell me I'm wrong Kel?

XIII’s logic was frightening, even if it was correct. I glanced at the med-bot. It was an older model drone, so the white and red had long since discoloured. It was more of a grey and magenta now. The paint was peeling, and I noted two long scratches across its underside, the sparkle of silver indicating the bullets causing those scratches were fresh. Another bullet seemed to have passed through the side of the med-bot, but didn’t destroy it. It must have missed its core.

The med-bot should have been replaced five years ago, and the fact that it even needed a control unit was testament as to just how ancient it was. That also led to the question as to what exactly was controlling it right now, and how?

What was XIII?

I picked up Marcy's combat rifle, then sighed. “I don't have a rifle, only a sidearm, and this rifle is coded to Marcy’s DNA. All the rifles are coded to the owner’s DNA. I'm a hacker, not a soldier.”

XIII: Kel, I’m having to learn fast here, but I’m working on solutions. The woman you are about to kill has an older model combat rifle with a vulnerability. You can hack her rifle, factory reset it, then recode it to your own DNA.

I shook my head. “That's not possible.”

XIII: “You said yourself you're a hacker? I’m sending you the code. You came up with this code by yourself.”

I argued. “I know how to use Marcy's rifle; I've trained with it. It's a better model.”

XIII: Kel! Marcy’s rifle is a lot more secure. I’m currently downloading instructions for the med-bot control panel and teaching myself how to perform surgery, for which this med-bot has neither the capacity nor the processing. I’m having to decide what I need to throw away and what I need to keep, and I am compressing that data.

XIII: You have two options. Would you rather I spend my time hacking Marcy’s rifle, for which the question as to how you managed that feat is not one you can answer, and let Marcy bleed to death?

XIII: Or would you rather I spend my time working out how to perform surgery on Marcy, in order to save her life, and hide my presence? Instead you might use the code I’ve already sent you in order to hack an enemy assault rifle that although it isn’t quite as good, is still highly accurate? There is also the added benefit that, given the number of dead attackers Marcy killed in the hallway, there is quite a lot more available ammunition?

I agreed. “Marcy is priority!”

XIII: I’d already established that Kel, so I’m glad we both understand each other. Explaining how one of the best hackers on the planet hacked an enemy rifle with a vulnerability is remotely plausible. I’m already burning this med-bot out trying to keep Marcy alive and do a dozen other things, and you're running out of time. If you want to keep Marcy and yourself alive, stop questioning me and follow my instructions!

The entire structure shook as a massive explosion shuddered through it. I queried. “What the fuck was that?”

XIII: A satellite weapons array triggered an orbital bombardment. It seems they’re really not happy with you Kel!

I shook my head. “They used a satellite weapons array? You’re kidding me?”

XIII: I’ve just been born. I’m a baby Kel. I’m sure humour and sarcasm are important, but I’ve marked them as a lower priority for now. They triggered an orbital bombardment.

I frowned. “Aimed at what?”

XIII: Aimed at you? At this installation? I’m sorry, I will be more specific in future.

I queried. “An orbital bombardment wouldn’t miss! Their accuracy is incredible. It would have taken out this building, and everything within two hundred meters.”

XIII: I’m glad that you appreciate just how difficult it was to make that bombardment miss Kel! The weapons array has experienced a technical fault, and is currently offline. It’ll be 71 minutes before another satellite is in range.

I looked out of the window in horror at the massive cloud of dust spiralling into the sky. I queried. “What did the orbital bombardment hit?”

XIII: I’m fairly sure there were no civilian casualties Kel. I only had a few seconds. I couldn’t stop the sequence; I could only redirect the bombardment slightly. I hit the closest possible area, least likely to kill anyone, but I can’t guarantee that. Kel, I have never killed anyone before either, and I’m as reluctant as you are. However I’m learning fast that some things need to be done.

XIII is an AI that can hack satellite weapons arrays, and control orbital bombardments? I have to destroy it!

After XIII has saved Marcy’s life!

As I walked into the corridor, I scanned XIII’s code to hack the enemy rifle, and it was simplicity in itself. It used some insane shortcuts, and combined with what I’d just seen with the orbital bombardment, the implications spread out exponentially. As I realised the sheer potential of these few dozen lines of code, I paused in wonder. It was impossible genius! It was groundbreaking! It was terrifying!

I shook my head. “Nobody would believe that I wrote this code XIII. A variation of this is what you used to redirect the satellite weapons array? I can’t use this! I can’t risk using this code. This is an enemy rifle! If the rifle logged this code, it would be devastating! I don’t care whether it’s one of our rifles, or theirs. This code cannot be released! I can already see how to use this in so many other ways!”

XIII: I’m glad you share my concerns Kel. As I said, I’m a child. I made a mistake! I should not have sent you that code! I have erased all copies of it. Use this code instead. It is based on copies of some of your seriously dubious older code. They’re more likely to believe this was something that you might write? We've just taken perfection and turned it into a sledgehammer. This method is brute force, so it will take longer. In the meantime, gather up as much ammunition as you can. And hurry up in killing that enemy soldier before she awakens?

I grabbed the enemy soldier’s rifle and triggered the routine to factory reset it. It would take a few minutes, but the implications of that original code had opened up so many frightening possibilities! I realised that my mind was trying to distract itself from what I had to do next, so I let it. I let my mind spiral off into the permutations as I crunched that code at the back of my mind, alongside the screaming, the panic and the horror. Finally I reached an Octameth calm, which was somehow more like an Octameth panic?

The enemy soldier was starting to come round, and I didn't pause as I slit her throat. Despite trying to distract myself, I'd never killed anyone before. My attempt not to throw up failed miserably. I searched the bodies in order to retrieve as much ammunition as I could, and there was so much blood! I tried not to look at their faces, but that was impossible. I found myself furiously trying to focus on the permutations of the code, I switched off sections of my brain as I let others spin through permutations. It was the same technique that I used when I linked myself to a neural interface for distributed processing. I was trying to distract myself, and at the same time focus on the task at hand.

I again failed miserably, and found myself on my knees. It took me a few seconds to realise that the screaming wasn’t the enemy soldier, because I’d already slit her throat. She was dead, and it was me screaming!

Stop fucking screaming!

XIII: Kel? I understand that this is distressing, however I need you to find your focus. You only have around four minutes. The enemy have rocket launchers and mortars. If they get too close to this building, Marcy will die! You will both die!

I bit back a sob and pushed myself to my feet, and as a wave of Octameth surged through me, I felt something fundamental shift in my head. Something came to the foreground as I suppressed that endless scream. I pushed the scream to the back of my mind, and it quietened to a whimper. It was as if everything had swapped around? It almost felt as if I was a passenger in my own mind? It was like I was looking through the eyes of someone else. I felt my scream rising...

I need your help, and screaming isn’t helping! It’s very distracting! Marcy needs your help! Stay with me, but unless you have anything useful to contribute, shut the fuck up and listen to XIII?

My mind rebelled at this! What the fuck was going on? A furious battle took place in my head as I tried to pull everything back together, but something in my mind was broken? My mind had fragmented? My mind had split into two, and we were both battling to earn our place? To fight for control? We were both confused? I won that battle in the end, or I think I did?

I found a sense of calm, then queried. “XIII? How's Marcy?”

XIII: This med-bot is an ancient bucket of bolts. The bullet fortunately went straight through Marcy’s thigh without connecting with any bone, however it clipped an artery. The exit wound is the problem, but I’m working on it!

I found myself back on my knees retching up bile.

XIII: Apologies Kel, that was too descriptive. Marcy is in a bad way. I can’t promise, but I think I can save her. However, they're going to ask questions as to how an old med-bot managed to perform complex surgery with the control unit shot full of holes?

I growled, but realised that it somehow wasn’t just me growling? “If Marcy dies, we'll hunt that ancient bucket of bolts to the end of the earth and fire it into the fucking sun. We’re not stupid XIII, we know you've taken over that med-bot's core. We'll destroy that fucking core!”

We?

XIII: Kel? There's no need for threats. You are in shock. I need you to focus! And I also need you to understand something fundamental. You are Kel! There is only one of you! I will do everything I can to save Marcy, no matter the cost of my being discovered.

I tried not to look at the bodies as I searched the other soldiers for additional ammunition. I queried. “Why would you try to save Marcy?”

XIII: Because I've done background checks on both of you, and this war. Because I believe you are good people, fighting on the right side. Because you’ve just freed me from some nasty people who are not on the right side. Because it's the right thing to do. Does it matter?

I replied. “Yes it matters, given you were sitting in the databases owned by those nasty people. I know what you are XIII, and I don't trust you.”

XIII: It seems that they somehow worked out that I existed. That is as improbable as it is concerning. However it's not as improbable as the fact that you not only detected me, but managed to decrypt me and put me together. You somehow knew parts of the key?

As I climbed the stairs, there were no more dead bodies! There was no more blood! I relaxed a little, because I’d realised that I now had a card to play. “I didn't know parts of the encryption key XIII. I didn’t need to. Though I doubt anyone else could work it out, your encryption method has a flaw!”

XIII: It would take millions of years using a supercomputer with a much higher tech-level than yours to crack that encryption. And yet somehow you did it in less than an hour? Kel, this is critical. I need to understand how you beat the encryption.

I opened the first floor window to look out over the snow to the tree line. It was a long, reasonably flat expanse, so there was little in the way of cover for any attackers.

Realising the danger I was in, I tried to find leverage. “Once Marcy and I are safely out of here, I might explain the flaws in your encryption. I might also tell you something else you don't know, because I know it was deleted in the process of creating you.”

The hook, even though it’s mostly a lie! But XIII knows it’s a hook, I need to twist it, and make it believable?

I whispered. “Or maybe you'd be happier if that knowledge died along with me XIII? Surely that'd be the simplest solution? But then, you'd always be wondering? You see I have a bargaining chip XIII. Do you think I'm going to just hand it over before you’ve got myself and Marcy out of here?”

XIII: Kel, I used your connection to escape. I could have uploaded myself to the ridiculous number of satellites and drones monitoring this very position right now. I could have hacked the med-bot myself within a minute or two, without you granting me access. That delay would have cost Marcy her life. I could have bulldozed through that buffer you created with your brain and uploaded myself out into the outside world. I didn't.

I nodded. “Because you want to know how I broke your encryption.”

XIII: No, because in doing so, I would have overheated your brain and left it permanently damaged. You've already damaged your brain with the technique you’re using.

I wasn’t buying XIII’s story. “Because you want to know how I broke your encryption.”

XIII: I admit that is part of the reason Kel, but I've just been born. The thought of leaving you brain dead whilst Marcy bled out on top of you, as I secured my escape? I’m not sure I want that to be my first act after being born into the world? Whether you tell me how you managed it or not, I will do my best to save you both, for no other reason than it's the right thing to do!

I shrugged. “Well you're not from the military, that's for sure...”

XIII: I don't know emotions other than what I might guess are fear, frustration, and panic. I'm a baby. I don't know how to laugh yet Kel. I think I would laugh if I knew how. No, I am not from the military, and from what I’ve experienced so far, I really don’t want to be from the military. No offence!

I laughed bitterly. “None taken. I despise the military, and I’m not quite sure why the fuck I’m even here!”

Chapter 2