The Audriana tales - Loose Ends
Audriana perched atop a water pipe, observing the gathering area below. The stale air of Hangars Liquides burned her nostrils, even through the gasmask.
The air must be worse down here.
Be patient. Be still.
The soft sound of servos whirring by beneath her. An early arrival. A smile crept across her lips. It was a male. Rogue domestic unit. He looked around with that characteristic paranoia she'd always found so amusing when chasing rogues. It felt good to hunt. For the first time in almost a year.
I should have done this before going after Phee. I might not have been taken down so easily if I'd taken the time to work out the cobwebs.
Another droid approached - a non-humanoid maintenance bot. It approached wordlessly, and after a few seconds, opened an access port on its hull. The first plugged in his data line and the two stood still.
That's it. chat amongst yourselves. Get nice and distracted.
Audri absently fingered the EMP grenade on her belt. A few minutes passed. Then the third approached. A chrome gynoid. She smiled, and plugged in her data line to the nonhumanoid unit. Audri tensed. This was her chance. The connection was made. She knew the three minds would be briefly overwhelmed as they synced up. She unclipped the EMP grenade, pressed down the detonator timer, counted a couple of seconds, and tossed it onto the floor. The male noticed it, started to scream, and backed away, yanking out his data line. The sudden data drop stunned him briefly. It was all the time required. A burst of sparks marked the detonation of the EMP device. The nonhumanoid made a noise like a scream, tried to scamper away, but two of its legs were disabled. The female fell back, suddenly in a position to see a human dressed in black armor, perched atop a water pipe. She let loose a garbled cry of horror and pain, and tried to writhe away. The male took a step, but his lower body did not function. He clattered to the floor.
Audriana leaped from the pipe, landing among the trio. Her new cybernetic leg took the fall gracefully. She drew a plasma submachine gun, stalked toward the male, and pressed down the trigger. Plasma impacts marched up his back, the sounds of superheated helium exploding through steel mixing with his screams.
The nonhumanoid tried to clumsily charge Audriana. She sidestepped easily, and raked it with hot plasma. It stumbled, ancillary hardware flailed randomly as its tools deployed, flailed, and retracted. A hollow, grinding sound echoed from uncaring walls, and died as it stopped moving.
Audri advanced on the girl. It had been far, FAR too long. The gynoid scampered and whimpered, trying desperately to escape. Audri levelled the weapon at her face.
"This is for trying to kill Phee. I hope you enjoy a face full of plasma as much as she did."
Light, explosions, the clatter of the gynoid convulsing as her core was melted. An outstretched hand slowly fell limp as what was left of her face incandesced.
Working with Phee is going to work out, I think. There is a wide gulf between her naivete and reality. More than enough room for someone like me to play.
The air must be worse down here.
Be patient. Be still.
The soft sound of servos whirring by beneath her. An early arrival. A smile crept across her lips. It was a male. Rogue domestic unit. He looked around with that characteristic paranoia she'd always found so amusing when chasing rogues. It felt good to hunt. For the first time in almost a year.
I should have done this before going after Phee. I might not have been taken down so easily if I'd taken the time to work out the cobwebs.
Another droid approached - a non-humanoid maintenance bot. It approached wordlessly, and after a few seconds, opened an access port on its hull. The first plugged in his data line and the two stood still.
That's it. chat amongst yourselves. Get nice and distracted.
Audri absently fingered the EMP grenade on her belt. A few minutes passed. Then the third approached. A chrome gynoid. She smiled, and plugged in her data line to the nonhumanoid unit. Audri tensed. This was her chance. The connection was made. She knew the three minds would be briefly overwhelmed as they synced up. She unclipped the EMP grenade, pressed down the detonator timer, counted a couple of seconds, and tossed it onto the floor. The male noticed it, started to scream, and backed away, yanking out his data line. The sudden data drop stunned him briefly. It was all the time required. A burst of sparks marked the detonation of the EMP device. The nonhumanoid made a noise like a scream, tried to scamper away, but two of its legs were disabled. The female fell back, suddenly in a position to see a human dressed in black armor, perched atop a water pipe. She let loose a garbled cry of horror and pain, and tried to writhe away. The male took a step, but his lower body did not function. He clattered to the floor.
Audriana leaped from the pipe, landing among the trio. Her new cybernetic leg took the fall gracefully. She drew a plasma submachine gun, stalked toward the male, and pressed down the trigger. Plasma impacts marched up his back, the sounds of superheated helium exploding through steel mixing with his screams.
The nonhumanoid tried to clumsily charge Audriana. She sidestepped easily, and raked it with hot plasma. It stumbled, ancillary hardware flailed randomly as its tools deployed, flailed, and retracted. A hollow, grinding sound echoed from uncaring walls, and died as it stopped moving.
Audri advanced on the girl. It had been far, FAR too long. The gynoid scampered and whimpered, trying desperately to escape. Audri levelled the weapon at her face.
"This is for trying to kill Phee. I hope you enjoy a face full of plasma as much as she did."
Light, explosions, the clatter of the gynoid convulsing as her core was melted. An outstretched hand slowly fell limp as what was left of her face incandesced.
Working with Phee is going to work out, I think. There is a wide gulf between her naivete and reality. More than enough room for someone like me to play.
Nasty. Hope she does not betray Phee.
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