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Chapter 75
by AC
One of the advantages of Dalasius' current state was his ability to do more than one thing at a time.
While he fought with the gnats in the Central District Core, the greater part of him concentrated on the larger task. He reached through the bands of ether, out towards the other Districts scattered across the globe...
...taking over their Interfaces one by one, his victims too surprised to put up any resistance...
...shutting down the Ether flows save for those that went into the natural planetary networks.
Across the District, nothing worked. The first casualties appeared in the collisions that followed the sudden shutdown of the traffic signals.
Communications failed. Light and heat ceased. For the first time in years the comfort citizens had known was gone.
The District went mad. People either holed up in their homes, afraid for their lives, or swarmed out into the streets. Tempers flared. Blows exchanged. Riots broke out and grew like cancers. With the riots came looters, seeking to profit from the insanity.
As Dalasius' control grew, the grisly scenario repeated itself in District after District, until the entire civilized planet spasmed and died.
Dalasius could feel victory. So close, so close...
But there was one problem: the alien ship. Born of a technology he could not hope to understand, it was a threat merely by existing. He could not control it, but he could destroy it.
He returned his attention to the Core, and sent power into the Defense Ring. Then he began to pour Ether into the core...
Ven and the others had reached the Core when a new siren joined the others. /No,/ Ven thought.
"What's wrong?" Paula asked.
Talehn's expression mirrored Ven's. "The Reactor's overloading. This whole area's going to get a lethal dose of radiation. We've got to get out of here!"
Ven looked around the Core. A woman stood by a young boy lying prone on the floor. A red haired man with a head wound lay beside them, breathing raggedly. All three were inside the "kill zone".
"We've got to get outside the Ring perimeter," Ven said. "If the defense system still works, the fields should protect us."
And if it doesn't, no place in the District was going to be safe.
"What about Pheonix? And Kuri?" said the woman.
"We'll have to carry him, Anika," Talehn said, his eyes on the Reactor. No, on Cisia, Ven realized.
The siren doubled its intensity. They had less than a minute before things went critical.
"Anika, Byrce, get Phoenix out of here. Paula, get Kuri. I'll get Cisia." Talehn ran towards the Reactor.
Ven ran after him. "No! It's too late."
Talehn spun around. "I'm not leaving her!"
"YES YOU ARE!" Ven had a twinge of satisfaction of seeing Talehn flinch. "We don't have time to get her out of there. Right now she's safer where she is."
Talehn swore and turned back to the Reactor. The others had escaped to safety by now.
So much for diplomacy. Ven grabbed Talehn's shoulder and spun him around. Before the technician could react he landed a fist on Talehn's jaw. Talehn slumped, unconscious.
Cursing at the pain in his hand, Ven started to drag Talehn towards the waiting door. How much time did they have left?
The door started to close by itself. Part of Ven wanted to abandon Talehn, run to safety.
/No. I won't leave someone to die. Not this time./
Then someone touched him. Ven looked and saw Paula, who got on Talehn's other side and lifted.
Together they carried Talehn out of the room before the door sealed.
Cisia felt something like relief at hearing Life's "voice", but the feeling dissolved when a new voice joined them. "You must be Cisia."
The voice was artificial in tone, like a machine speaking. "W-who are you?"
"I am identified by humans as Izumi. I am pleased to make your acquaitance." As the voice spoke an image formed before Cisia. Two woman, one clad in a flowing robe, the second in a jumpsuit of unfamiliar design.
"Izumi?"
"Izumi" paused. "You met one of my human companions. Biologist Paula ter Maarden."
"Then you're what I've got to kill."
The voice was all too familiar, and a new figure appeared. A man in a robe, with eyes that could peirce to the core of a being.
Izumi turned to the newcomer. "You are the viral intelligence known as Dalasius."
Dalasius laughed. "This might be easier than I thought. Thanks for providing me with a target." And he fired a bolt of energy at the "woman".
To Cisia's amazement, a shield materialized between Izumi and the bolt. The bolt hit the shield, and both vanished.
Dalasius screamed in rage and fired off more bolts. Again, shields appeared to stop them. "HOW?" he yelled.
"If I understand Life's description correctly," Izumi said, without the slightest inflection of emotion, "You and Cisia see this as an empty space, with physical bodies to represent your minds. Understandable, since organic minds have the gift of interpretation and metaphor. I, however, am an artificial mind, and to me, this is all information to be processed and analyzed. As are any attacks you attempt while I am here.
"My antiviral protocols were already active when I initiated contact. In this realm, I am invulnerable."
"I see. My mistake." Dalasius straightened. "But you're not invulnerable in the physical plane." And he turned to Cisia.
Cisia fought as hard as she could. But Dalasius' control reasserted itself. Dimly, she was aware of sirens, and of energies being harnessed.
Once more she found herself among the stars, and the alien ship in front of her.
"No!"
Life and Izumi appeared beside her. "Interesting," said Izumi. "This is targeting information -- ALERT! EVASIVE TACTICS!--"
A blast of Ether fired from the Reactor, deflected by the magnetic fields surrounding the Core, forming a massive beam straight into space.
Frightened survivors saw a pillar of fire reach from the core, as the Ether ignited the air molecules, turning them to plasma.
And in space, the survey ship "Izumi" fired thrusters in a desperate attempt to get away.
An attempt which was only partly successful. The combined beam of Ether and plasma grazed the ship. Electrical discharges fried components and sensors, and for a time the ship fell dumb.
If he still had a mouth, Dalasius would have smiled. Now he can turn his attention back to the planetary mind, and his ultimate revenge...
What? With a growing rage he watched as the ship resumed trasmitting Ether signals to the surface. Still alive! And now the alien was out of range of the Core.
But it would some be overhead another district. Dalasius directed his attention to the first district that would get in range. The reactor there wasn't as well shielded -- the District there would be destroyed as would the Interface he controlled.But no matter. As long as Cisia lived, victory was his.
The roar of the Ether blast could be heard in every part of the Core. Paula, kneeling over Kuri, heard it, and wondered if Ven's "Defense Ring" had done its job.
She watched as Ven checked a device on the wall. "Only five milliseiverts," he said. "The Ring worked."
/"Paula, can you hear us?"
/ "Raoul!" Paula picked up her quancomp. The image that appeared in midair was laced with static, and went out of focus from time to time.
"The Core just took a shot at us! It turned itself into a massive particle-beam weapon--"
"Is everyone alright?"
"No. Tamiko's got some severe burns. I've ordered Izumi to get us out of orbit but she's refusing." Static obscured the transmission for a second. "She says she's in direct contact with the planetary mind -- and with Cisia."
Talehn, who had recovered from Ven's uppercut, asked, "Is she alive?"
"Izumi says yes."
"Wait," Ven said, looking at the image. "Will you be passing over any other districts?"
"Yes. We'll reach another one in just five minutes -- why?"
"If Dalasius is as powerful as I fear, then he might try to take over Cores in other Districts. If so, he could do the same thing there as he did here --"
"And turn them into weapons too. I get it." Static, then: "Izumi's diverting our orbit, keeping us clear of any district. Thanks."
"Will it be safe to go back to the Reactor?" Anika asked, readying her gun.
Ven nodded, and turned back to the doors, tapping in a sequence on the lock pad. The door stayed shut.
"Dalasius has locked us out," he said, banging a fist on the door.
Paula looked around. If there was a victory to be had, it never seemed farther away than now.
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