Carmody and the Electric Dragon

Sarah and Stanley flew low over the school grounds, checking there were no drones or robots active anywhere. A couple were still twitching here and there, but a quick blast of Vapora or a thump from Stanley’s spiked tail solved that problem.

“Those things are everywhere” Sarah muttered to her dragon. “How did the Emissary turn so many of them?”

Stanley banked around and headed for the school rooftop. He was thoughtful as he brought them to a slow descent and landed gently on all four legs, right next to the Guard Post.

“It must have gained control of someone with a connection to the human Network” he told her. “The Emissary has an affinity for the computer networks of this world, we saw that before. Some of the Enhanced can control multiple robots at once can’t they? Achmed mentioned it one time when talking with Eric”

“Yeah” Sarah agreed, sliding off his back and standing on her own rather wobbly legs. “Scanners can do something similar too, so it may have possessed one of the Awakened”

“Sarah, you’re back!” Eric announced as he came out of the Guard Post. He glanced to the side of her and nodded in Stanley’s direction. “Thanks to you both for some excellent work in the air tonight”.

Sarah followed the direction of his eyes and looked back at Eric, her brows knitting together in a frown.

“Hey Eric, can you see Stanley?” she asked in some confusion.

Eric smiled at her and shook his head.

“No, not really” he admitted. “I was mostly guessing where he had to be in relation to you. But, I am beginning to see a definite distortion in the air wherever he is”

“Huh?”

“Well, I have been talking about this to Lilly and Achmed. They both agreed they are starting to be able to sense his presence, even if they can’t actually see him or hear his voice like you and Carmody can”

Sarah pondered this and looked at Stanley, who just shrugged his massive shoulders.

“Maybe they are getting used to me?” suggested the dragon. “The whole reason creatures of this world can’t perceive my presence is because I came from a different reality. Perhaps I am becoming real to them”

“I guess that may be the answer” Sarah replied thoughtfully. “In time you may have the whole gang seeing and talking to you!”

“That would be nice” Stanley agreed. “For now though we need to deal with the Emissary”

“Yeah” said the girl. She addressed Eric, who had now been joined by Achmed and Lilly from the Project building.

“So guys, what do we do from here?”

Achmed spoke up first. “I managed to trace the command signal for the drones but it was only right at the end when the last of them retreated. I have just been cross-checking the data stream with the tunnel network maps”

He held up a datapad with a street map overlay and pointed to an access shaft about a block from the school grounds.

“The signals came out of the ground here” he said. “But I did a longer range trace and went to the maximum range of my Ability. They were using transmission relays inside the tunnel network to boost their signal. If I get down there, I can track from one relay to the next until we find the starting point”

“Okay” Eric said with determination. “I’ll get a strike team of Guards together and we can track them down before they get too far away!”

“You may need to hold off sending a strike team for now” said Jericho-Two loudly as he appeared on the rooftop. He was flanked by his personal Guards and with him was Carmody and a tall, dark haired woman that Eric recognised from his files. “Miss Brentwood, if you would please elaborate what you told me earlier”

Carmody looked between all of her friends, standing close together on the school roof. She began trying to speak but her voice caught and she choked on a sob.

“It’s Angelina!” interjected Mrs Brackenridge, her voice angry. “Those creatures took my daughter!”

=====

They were all seated around the long table in Stanley’s house, which of course was also the AURA Project headquarters at the school. Everyone was seated or standing as they preferred, with Jericho-Two’s Guards on sentry duty at the main door and across the school roof.

Mrs Brackenridge was seated at one end of the table and Fiona was there as a representative of the Guards assigned to the Project team. The room had never been more full of people and Stanley found himself feeling rather crowded.

Eric spoke first once everyone had settled.

“Please Carmody, can you tell us what happened?”

Carmody sat dejectedly in her chair, her costume torn and stained from the events of the evening. Her voice was hollow as she recounted what had occurred after she left the cafeteria to look for her friends.

“I was coming up this way when I ran into Mrs Brackenridge. She was really upset and she told me Angelina was missing. She said Angelina had been fighting off the drones using the supply ones from the Festival, guarded by her butler Hammerton. When the all clear came through, they went looking and found Mr Hammerton badly injured and no sign of Angelina”

“Could she have run somewhere else to find safety?” asked Lilly.

“She would never leave Hammerton’s side” Mrs Brackenridge stated with certainty.

“And then I got a call from Angelina’s phone” continued Carmody. “It was a man’s voice and all he said was that Sarah and I had to meet him at midnight at a certain park. Otherwise Angelina would not be coming home”

The room was silent as the assembled people absorbed this information.

“It must be the Emissary behind this” Jericho-Two stated. “He wants to take away our best two assets in return for releasing Angelina. That is not going to happen!”

A fist slammed down onto the table, startling them all, and Mrs Brackenridge spoke up.

“I am sure everyone here knows my reputation, so I won’t sugar coat this. My daughter is the only thing that matters to me and I will burn my way through the heart of this city to get her back. There is no price I won’t pay and no limit to what I will do to ensure her safe return”

She regarded them all with eyes filled with fire and Carmody believed at last that this woman ran a powerful underworld organisation.

“If you can bring me back my Angelina, I will give you anything you ask”

Jericho-Two eyed her speculatively over his steepled fingers.

“And if we don’t?” he asked her.

“Do you really want me to answer that, Two? There are children present”

Carmody felt a chill run down her spine as she saw the look in Mrs Brackenridge’s eyes. It reminded her of the awful power she felt from her dreams of the Abyss.

“We’ll do it!” said a girl’s voice, strong and clear. Everyone looked at Carmody and she realised it had been her that spoke out.

“I owe Angelina a lot” she continued. “She is a great friend and she taught me new ways to use my Ability. Ways that saved my life today and those of my family. I owe her so much and I promise I will bring her back to you Mrs Brackenridge!”

“Me too!” shouted Sarah, still in her bright yellow outfit. “Angelina is my friend, a good friend. She was so brave tonight too – I saw her fighting off those drones even though she could have run to safety with everyone else. We’ll both go and get her back, Mrs B!”

Angelina’s mother looked at the determined faces of the two girls and seemed satisfied.

“Thank you children” she said and stood up. “I will leave you to make your arrangements to rescue my daughter. Please contact me if you need anything”

“Um, excuse me Mrs Brackenridge” ventured Lilly. “Aren’t you going to stay and help us plan?”

“No dear child. I believe you will do your utmost to bring my dear daughter home to me. However, I must begin my own preparations in case you fail”

“And why is that, Mrs Brackenridge?” spoke up Eric, standing with his feet apart at the other end of the table.

She smiled grimly and surveyed the people gathered around the table.

“It takes time to organise the burning of a city” she answered.

=====

Eric checked the time they had remaining.

“Okay, people, we have less than an hour until the deadline. Let’s go over our plan”

His friends acknowledged him and the communications board for Stanley lit up with a YES.

“First off, has everyone checked with their families about being on a school Project meeting tonight? Remember, the cover story is we are all staying to help clean up the grounds. There are plenty of Guards and Police Auxiliary on hand for protection”

The children all agreed that their parents had given permission, reluctant as it may have been considering the events at the Festival. A key argument there was that the school grounds were probably one of the most heavily protected areas in the city at this moment. They just neglected to mention they were leaving that protection to hunt down the ones who had attacked the school.

“Good” Eric continued. “Now Team One will be myself, Lilly and Achmed with the Guards. We will be tracing the network data stream to follow those command signals to their source. Hopefully that means we can attack the Emissary from a direction he is not expecting”

“Team Two will be Sarah and Carmody, with Stanley staying out of sight until he is needed. You guys will be tasked with meeting the kidnappers and finding a way to get Angelina back”

Sarah interjected with a request from Stanley. “Why can’t Stanley just be with Carmody and I from the start. No-one else can see him!”

“If the Emissary is there, he can probably see Stanley, right? They come from the same world” Eric explained.

“What about drones to oversee them, maybe give covering fire if we can get armed drones from the Guard?” asked Achmed.

“Too risky” countered Jericho-Two. “The Emissary has proven particularly adept at controlling drones, though we don’t know why. If we have drones in the area he may spot them or even worse take control of them. If they were armed drones that would make a bad situation even worse”

Jericho-Two thought for a moment then his face brightened.

“I do know someone who may be able to give you support without being spotted”

“Who is that?” the children asked. Two waved them off and took a phone out of his jacket pocket. He pulled up a contact number and connected the call.

“Sofia? It’s me, Jericho. I have a really big favour to ask you”

=====

Sarah, Lilly and Carmody were in the girl’s bunkroom changing out of their Halloween costumes and into specially made outfits provided by the Project. As they zipped them up they each admired their new suits, checking out the features.

They were like a coverall in a dark grey fabric, with black padded shoulders and chest areas. There was a peculiar stiffness to the fabric and Lilly told them it was because the material was resistant to cutting and burning, at least according to Achmed. With the suits came matching black belts with lots of small pouches, plus boots made of some woven material with heavy duty soles.

“These are like the uniforms the Guards wear” Carmody said aloud. “Just in a different colour and made to our sizes”

“Yeah” Sarah agreed. “They got the sizes exactly right, but when did Eric get our measurements?”

“That little perv!” declared Lilly indignantly and crossed her arms across her chest self consciously. She was nearly thirteen years of age and was way more developed in that area than the other two girls. Her friends laughed good-naturedly and they all trooped out together to meet up with the boys.

Back in the main room, Achmed and Eric were similarly dressed. In Eric’s case he also had a long knife in a scabbard at his left hip and an external shoulder holster holding his pistol under his left armpit.

The AURA team looked each other over and nodded approvingly until Eric looked closely at Sarah.

“Um, Sarah, do you know you still have that lion face paint on?” he asked carefully.

“It’s my warpaint” she solemnly replied and met his gaze without flinching.

“Okay, looks good on you” he said calmly. He looked over at Lilly and held up a small satchel for her. “These are the remaining EMP Grenades we did not use earlier. Take them and use them if we encounter any drones”

“Gotcha!” Lilly agreed and settled the strap across her shoulder. “Is it the same as before? You and the Guards will shutdown for about five to ten seconds if you are in the effective radius?”

“Yes” Eric replied. “It won’t affect our Quantum Processors, but the secondary systems will take that long to reboot. Remember that in an enclosed space the effects may be more severe, but should also hit any drones harder too”

After a final check, they all filed out of Stanley’s house and split into their two teams. Sarah moved off and spoke quietly to Stanley near the edge of the roof, so Carmody went and waited beside the open hatch of the Guard VTOL that was to be their transport.

She nodded and smiled at the Guard Pilot sitting in his central seat and he looked at her blankly. It surprised her sometimes how emotionless the regular Guard clones were, especially compared to the ones posted at the school.

Fiona approached her and Carmody suddenly remembered she had not checked how Francis was doing. She rounded on the female clone who just held up a hand to forestall her question.

“He is doing fine, Carmody” she told her. “Francis will make a full recovery thanks to your first aid”

“Oh, I am so relieved” she sighed and dropped down onto the open hatch of the VTOL. “It has been so chaotic I did not get a chance to check up on him” She paused for a moment then asked Fiona “How did you know I named him Francis?”

Fiona smiled in her minimal way and laid a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

“He broadcast it on the Quantum Network to all of us as soon as you gave it to him. He was so proud he was able to help you and your family”

“Oh, I forgot you can all talk to each other whenever you want to” Carmody said. “That must be really nice”

“It is usually tactical data, order updates and such. We don’t chat to each like other like you humans do” Fiona responded.

Carmody frowned at Fiona.

“Well, you should chat more. It would make the days less lonely wouldn’t it?”

“Is that an order, Miss Brentwood?” asked the clone.

“Yes, it is Guard Unit Fiona” she confirmed with a laugh.

From a distance, Jericho-Two stood with Eric as final preparations were made. Both of them observed Carmody chatting easily to the female Guard Sniper F-Zero-Three.

“I will never be able to reintegrate the Guards from this post into their Squad” Two complained to his younger brother. “That Miss Brentwood has corrupted them completely”

“Yes brother, she does have that effect on people” Eric agreed. “Even us clones”

“Really? I am unaffected” Two asserted. At that moment the Year Seven English Teacher strode up to the two Avatars, tugging on zippers and adjusting her stealth suit into place. “Good evening Miss Abrams, thank you for agreeing to participate in this mission”

“I thought I told you to call me Sofia” she answered with a smile and Eric could swear he saw his older brother blush behind his dark glasses.

“Completely unaffected” smirked Eric and went to join his friends.

=====

Eric lead Team One away to the elevators, with Lilly and Achmed waving goodbye to Sarah and Carmody. They would be heading on foot to the tunnel access, taking most of the Guard squad from the post with them.

A short while later, Sarah and Carmody joined Fiona and Miss Abrams in the rear of the VTOL, a space filled with well padded seats and weapon racks. The Guard clone showed them how to strap themselves in securely and then seated herself next to the pilot. The English teacher was seated facing her two young students and smiled at them nervously across the narrow body of the aircraft.

“It’s funny” Miss Abrams said with a fake laugh. “But I am really terrified about flying”

The two girls looked at her incredulously. Their teacher flew about the city all the time, she was even an amateur Levitation Sports Racer in her spare time. She had shown the class her First Place trophies and everything.

“No way!” Sarah uttered in disbelief.

“I don’t mean when I fly by myself” Miss Abrams clarified. “It’s aircraft I don’t trust. They fall out of the sky all the time!”

“Not this one” the clone pilot said to them over the intercom. “I haven’t lost a passenger yet in all my time flying”

“Oh” called the teacher with a feeling of relief in her voice. “How long have you been a pilot?”

“Nearly a whole year” he replied and Miss Abram’s gulp of fear was lost as he sealed the hatches and powered up the four massive engines that carried the VTOL. They lifted smoothly from the roof top and accelerated away over the school grounds, the roar of the engines filling the night sky. Out of one of the armoured windows the two girls could see Stanley leap into the air and follow them at a safe distance, puffs of steam trailing behind his long body.

“Is Stanley keeping up with us?” Fiona called to Sarah from her seat, raising her voice over the engines. Sarah shrugged her shoulders, her yellow face unconcerned.

“I can’t tell now we left the school lights behind” she answered in a kind of shout. “He is pretty fast though so he should be fine”

“It still amazes me you really did find a dragon, Sarah” Miss Abrams said to her student. “I kind of felt a presence that first day, but I didn’t believe it was real”

Carmody nodded her head in agreement with the teacher.

“I know what you mean. When I look back now, I think I sensed him right from the start but my mind refused to accept it. Now I have encountered so much weird stuff, I think I can believe anything!”

All three of them nodded once more at the truth of that last statement.

“Coming up on the drop point” declared the pilot over the intercom. “Stand by to deploy”

Fiona checked her rifle, Carmody adjusted the carrying strap of her bat while Miss Abrams put on her flight helmet and made sure everything was working properly.

Sarah scratched her nose and fiddled with her communications earpiece.

“I wonder how Eric and the others are going?” she asked to no-one in particular.

=====

Earlier, Achmed had led his friends and the Guard escort to a tunnel access hatch, situated in a sheltered alcove beside a towering office building. Watched by the four armed and alert Jacks he deftly triggered the locks to open with a pulse of his Scanner power.

A narrow shaft led down into the depths, red lighting revealing a set of scuffed metal rungs set into one side of concrete walls as a ladder.

“The first relay junction box is at the base of this shaft” Achmed explained and went to climb down. A gloved hand shot out from Nero, the Guard clone specialised for Surveillance and Infiltration.

“Please, Master Leroi, it is my duty to take the front position” he said politely and pushed past the young man. With ease the clone descended the ladder to the base, his rifle slung over his back until he reached the bottom. Achmed watched him all the way down, a little envious at the agility of the six foot tall and heavily muscled soldier.

“Don’t fret” Lilly assured Achmed as she touched his arm affectionately. “I like my men weak and short”

Achmed shot her a glare and climbed down into the shaft before any of the others could.

“I am not short” he called up to her as he climbed swiftly downwards, switching his new headlamp on as he descended.

Lilly, Eric and the other three Guards followed them into the depths. The boy and girl switched on their own headlamps but the Guards did not need them, using their artificial eyes set to Night-vision mode instead.

The tunnel floor was a good ten meters below the street level, sides and ceiling lined with various pipes and cables. Near the base of the access shaft was a plastic box with short metal antennae projecting from it, Achmed standing with his left hand touching it as if communing with some spirit within.

In a sense he was doing precisely that, focussing his Scanner ability on the memory core of the relay junction. His mind delved into the electronic world of the device, seeing its memory and programs like someone reading a book or watching a TV screen.

“The controller of the drones installed an override program into the relay” Achmed told his companions. “It allowed them to run multiple drone signals at once, amplified by this booster. Very clever of them, but it left a definite trail I can follow”

The young Scanner pointed to the left end of the tunnel they were in.

“This way” he said and started walking, taking only a few steps before Nero and Lucky shouldered past him and took the front positions, weapons raised and heads looking about alertly.

As they moved off in single file, Lilly heard a strange hiss from the back of the group. One of the Jacks, named Deuce by Carmody, had painted an arrow on the concrete floor with a spray can of fluorescent paint.

“Is that so we can find our way back?” Lilly asked Eric, who was ahead of her in the line of tunnel explorers.

“Something like that” he acknowledged and kept walking, following the lead of Achmed and the Jacks.