Chapter 16
Arianne’s eyes began to shut slowly, as if ready for sleep. However, she noticed that her hand was not joining in on the whole inevitable Zen vibe. It was reaching for the tablet, all by itself. It seemed to have had an idea. The other hand joined in, and helped to pick up the terminal. Under her puzzled brow, they began typing. In a few moments, she had patched through to the Hub comms system, and had found a line to Sergeant Holt. As Holt answered, the idea made itself know to her.
“Holt – what’s up?” said Arianne.
“Arianne? You’re still on the Hub?” Holt’s voice was hoarse.
“Only just.”
“Your ID chip was detected leaving the hub on a transporter. We’ve been trying to find you.”
“I was having a chat to Professor Sura.”
“Look” said Holt, “I’ve got a lot to deal right now. Between a Bloggeration invasion and a cyborg uprising, the printers have stopped.”
“How is that a problem?” asked Arianne.
“Apart from the REF stocks crashing, the momentum from the printers was stabilising the hub, we’re in danger of drifting into comet lanes.”
A loud explosion came through the terminal speakers. Above her, a few kilometers along the rim of the hub, she saw a building exploding.
“Hey Holt – I think I can see you.” Said Araianne.
“Arianne!” Holt sounded annoyed “For f- … did Sura tell you anything about these cyborg things?”
“Yes, and I can stop them. I’m sending you an application form.”
“Blistering Space Radiation, Arianne! There’s no need go through the official channels – just tell me!”
“No – it’s a custom grant application form. I want you to post it up and release all the CAFCA funding you possibly can. Right now.”
Arianne thumbed some extra commands.
“What?” said Holt, “There won’t be a CAFCA unless we stop those things.”
Another explosion erupted behind her, and she could feel the heat on her back.
“Holt, you’re going to have to trust me.” she said.
“Arianne, I …”
“Listen,” said Arianne, “I’m part of the investigation committee, right? They can do this kind of thing.”
“Yes, but this kind of thing needs a group vote.”
“Sura is dead, I’m the only one on the committee still alive.”
“Hmm.”
“Holt – just do it.”
On the other side of the line, Holt let out an anguished sigh.
“All right, what’s the harm?” he said “I’ll use the Urgency Grants Mechanism. I just got your template.”
“Every field and sub-field, with as much funding as possible.” said Arianne
“OK, try to find some cover. Out.”
As the line dropped, Arianne heard heavy footsteps crossing the plaza. Regular bursts of fire raked the ground around her, and she instinctively drew herself up into a tight ball against the sculpture. Many of the Bloggeration soldiers lay still on the ground around the fountain. She could see long shadows of the Persisters slide across the ground on either side of her pathetic cover. She tried to keep still, hoping the they would not see her. The footsteps grew louder.
Someone was firing on the Persisters, drawing their attention. Three appeared on her right, and one walked right past her on the other side, carving out staccato arcs on the buildings with its gattling gun. Arianne was sure that it would turn on her, but it continued mechanically onwards. The three on her right had taken cover around the fountain.
The terminal in her hands started beeping. She scrambled to try and turn the sound off. The three Persisters swivelled around slowly like gun turrets. Gun turrets carrying guns.
Arianne glanced at the terminal - a torrent of notifications streamed down it.
Call for funding: SDAI Phase 3 outline proposals
Call for funding: Urban Transformations Research Call
Call for funding: Secondary Data Analysis Initiative Phase 1
Call for funding: Tree Health & Plant Biosecurity initiative
Call for funding: ORA - Open Research Area in Europa
Call for funding: Use of 'cheerio' dying out in asteroid belts?
...
One of the Persisters broke from the group and began advancing towards her. With every step, Arianne was sure it would fire. But it kept coming, to within five paces, four paces. Arianne was entirely frozen against the cold concrete. It swung its gun aside, and lunged at her, picking her up by her neck and hoisting her into the air. It held her face to his. She could see its jaw grinding slowly and smell a sickly sour blend of spit and iron. Its enormous hand was cold marble around her throat. Her legs flailed helplessly above the ground. It drew back its other arm in a fist. Arianne shut her eyes.
A silence fell, and the terminal in Arianne’s hand bleeped again. The Persister hesitated. Arianne opened one eye, and saw a light flickering on a metal cube protruding from the Persister’s temple. Its eyes swivelled up, then around to the side. Its grip relaxed ever so slightly.
The Persister looked over at its two colleagues. They had stopped firing and were also looking concerned. Suddenly, the Persister lost all interest in Arianne, letting her fall to the floor and backing away. Dozens of tiny lights were rippling across the Persister’s skull. It scanned the buildings around it, then started to stomp towards one of them. The other two abandoned their weapons and began running towards one of the administration buildings. One shoved the other.
Arianne noticed that there was no sound of gunfire, just the lazy grumble of fires coming from the edges of the plaza. The silence was interrupted by the sound of a printer starting up on one of the floors above her. From another window, paper sheets were slowly spilling into the air.
Another gang of Persisters sprinted past Arianne. They were also jostling each other, apparently desperate to get somewhere before the others. But as she watched, their movements slowed. She had to blink to make sure she was seeing it right – they weren’t just dropping to a jog, they were going into slow motion. Within a few moments, they were barely moving. Only the gyros in their exoskeletons kept them from toppling.
Arianne stood up, gingerly. She looked about her. Hoards of hulking bodies glinted around her, undulating softly. A pair of Persisters were fighting hand-to-hand in invisible treacle. Arianne took a few steps towards the one nearest to her. Its face was contorted in panic. She waved her hands at it, but it was trapped in slow motion.
Arianne walked right up to the mass of flesh and steel. Sweat was pooling up in its dark eyes faster than it could blink. She walked behind it and gave it a good shove. It fell like a statue onto the ground. All around her, Persisters were turning to stone.
Hmm, thought Arianne, I wonder if anywhere around here does falafel.