Colored lights flickered; brilliant hues ablaze, shining like solar flares in a frenzied primal dance. The air was stale with noxious fumes like those spewed from the maddened combustion of monster truck engines pushed beyond their limits in the chase for glory. The incessant whir of processor cooling fans sang an industrial aria in perfect harmony with the rhythmic taps of fingers on keyboards throughout the lab.
The space was massive, dwarfing even the towering racks of computer equipment in its incredible scale. Its depths were dark, the lighting utilitarian in the truest militaristic style. Above, the presence of a large suspended catwalk and trellis system made even this expanse seem claustrophobic and heightened one's sense of the subterranean nature of this compound.
Squarely in the center of the room was an area that seemed to defy the sensibilities of the minimalistic eye behind the rest of the decor. A circular platform rose from the concrete, its diamond steel texture majestic in contrast to the flat and dreary surfaces surrounding it. Its beveled edges cast rays of fire in the blinding luminescence of a white hot spotlight pouring down from above. Upon this stage sat a metallic throne that would shame the kings of old. Upon this throne sat the emperor of a new world.
He slept there, content in his slumber and confident in the promise of his long and prosperous reign. His face showed no malice nor pretense of pride. No plans to conquer nor to annex by force of might brewed in his mind. No fears of regicide nor regrets of past transgressions drew lines in his face. His reign was assured, his empire boundless and borderless upon the face of the Earth.
Before him the gates of his castle parted; steel giants gliding effortlessly as though moving in the arms of clouds. Beyond them stood his vassals, gazing in wonder at his majesty.
Walker was the first to enter his chamber, aghast in the presence of his highness. He approached slowly, lumbering forward as though he were among the walking dead.
"Ohhhh myyyy God!" He uttered in reverence.
Darius stared blankly back at him, his eyes void of life yet chilling in their depths. He wore a bright yellow jumpsuit, pulled taught from his shoulders to his ankles, the fabric hugging his finely sculpted musculature. Heavy black combat boots held his feet to the platform, seeming ready to storm the trenches at a moment's notice. His flesh was pale and pasty, his features bold and pronounced. Upon his head he wore a crown of finely cropped golden blonde hair, crafted in the traditions forged by clipper wielding barbers over a century of armed force uniformity.
Though he sat motionless he exuded an aura of power that was palpable. His energy was dominant and commanding even in this state of suspended animation. The sight of him rising to his feet would likely melt an army of millions where they stood.
"He's amazing!" Walker remarked, removing his glasses as he leaned in closely to examine Darius' face. From a distance it looked as though he was poising to plant a kiss on the lips of the machine. "An eon of evolution, several millennia of forward thinking, centuries of technological breakthroughs, decades of design and planning, years of programming, months of fabrication and countless hours of wrestling through minutia have culminated in this!"
Walker cautiously reached for Darius' relaxed hand which laid on the armrest of his throne. He touched it with the care and affection of a father offering his finger to the virgin grasp of a newborn child. It was as cold and stiff as that of a corpse prepared for viewing, but grief was an emotion far from the heart of Jim Walker at this moment. "This will shake the very foundation of the world. It will strike chords in the scientific community that will resonate for ages to come! This," he continued, looking back to his colleagues. "This may be the greatest achievement in the history of mankind! its the crown jewel of all our species has become. its almost too much for me to take in."
"Oh bugger..." Schlaff mumbled under his breath.
"What a piece of work is man!" Walker quoted with growing passion. "How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving how admirable! In action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god!"
A sarcastic clapping communicated all too well the opinion of the inebriated doctor among them. "Excellent, Mister Walker. Very inspiring." He called from the darkness. "Your O'Bama would be proud, now -- could you step away so that the rest of us might get a look at it?"
Paying no mind to the insurrectionist, Walker circled around the back of platform. "Denisa, I'm dumbfounded."
"We all are," Jennings commented. "I never imagined it to be like this. It seems almost --" He paused in a loss for words.
"Devine," Kay intervened.
Schlaff's observation was notably different. "It looks to me as though G.I. Joe must've taken advantage of one of those crash test dummies back in the eighties. Judging by the looks of him, he ought to have one hell of a crank underneath that getup he's wearing. Tell me, Denisa - is that how you start him up? I think I'd pay good money to see that, I would..."
"I do see one problem." Walker said, running his hands across Darius' scalp and down around his neck. "This is not SC-1443."
"That's an accurate observation." Denisa reported. "It's SC-1441."
"But why?" Walker asked. "We all agreed 1443 was a superior compound. 1441 is too brittle."
"1443 is also nearly four times as expensive to produce." She explained. "Frankly, NATO isn't very concerned with the durability or elasticity of Darius' skin. It took a good deal of wrangling to get any version of our compound on him at all. He doesn't need it -- and it's likely to be largely destroyed after its first firefight."
"We also all agreed that the people of an occupied nation would object to being ordered around by a detachment of soldiers that looked so much like robots."
"Which is exactly why we aren't looking at raw lexan and titanium. It was just too expensive, Jim. We were ordered to keep the final per-unit cost under one hundred and fifty million dollars, no matter what sacrifices had to be made."
"Christ, the B-2 Stealth Bombers ran the equivalent of one-point-two billion in today's money, certainly we could've covered an extra hundred thousand or so."
"The United States ordered just twenty one B-2's throughout the history of its production. They estimated an initial procurement order at upwards of three hundred
of Darius' brothers. Certainly you understand the importance of a quarter million per unit when extended out on that figure."
Kay circled the machine with Schlaff and Jennings now, prompting an observation of her own. "He looks a bit more -- rugged -- than I had imagined."
Schlaff's response came no sooner than she had finished. "We can put a flower in his hair, love, if you'd like."
The door of the lab slid open once again as a similarly rugged olive skinned man dressed in fatigues entered.
"Welcome, everyone." He said.
"May I introduce Mister Aviram Silbert," Denisa said.
"I see you've met my mechanical counterpart." He added. "I can't tell you how badly I've been itching to fire him up. Should be a hell of a show."
"Avi will need a few minutes to suit up. Feel free to take a closer look at Darius for a moment, then I suggest you find a comfortable vantage point outside the red circle from which to observe. We'll be underway shortly."
As Denisa has described in the briefing, there was a thick bundle of fiber optic and copper wiring protruding from the back of the machine's neck. It stretched high into the trellis overhead where it seemed to be mounted to a u-joint of some sort. The red circle she spoke of was painted on the floor - marking the area the tether would allow the machine to travel within.
After a few moments their pilot was ready to begin. His suit looked cumbersome and incredibly suffocating, but Avi was a trooper and showed no signs of discomfort. Several techs scurried about making last minute adjustments to systems throughout the lab, one of them rolling what appeared to be a high school locker into place next to Darius' chair.
Aviram retreated to a far
corner of the room and pulled up a very similar looking seat into which he planted himself before donning a helmet that would've been right at home on the head of a Star Wars Storm Trooper.
"Testing, Testing." He called out, his voice being relayed over an intercom system so that he could be heard throughout the lab. "Great, it looks like we're good to go."
"Is everyone ready?" Denisa asked as though she didn't already know the answer. "Okay then, here we go. I'm releasing the capacitor lock out -- now." There was a brief audible buzz as she flipped a switch on her console and pressed an illuminated green button.
"Establishing interface." Aviram added as he reached up and adjusted a control of some sort on the side of his helmet. He fiddled with it for a moment as though he were trying to tune in an old AM radio. "I'm having a bit of trouble initiating the -- whoa!"
Darius flinched suddenly, drawing a gasp from Kay and a few other team members.
"There we go -- I'm live..."
There were more gasps and outbursts now as Aviram slowly swiveled his head clockwise, Darius mirroring his movement with a serene fluidity. The machine looked directly at the group of his collective parents now, as expressionless as an Easter Island relic.
"I see you!" Avi's voice echoed excitedly through the air. He looked down at his right hand now - looking entirely different than the one he carried through life and had grown infinitely familiar with. He lifted it cautiously as though he had only just discovered that it was a part of his body, subject to his every whim.
Gasps were now replaced by ooohs, aaaaahs and oh my's as the machine came to life a finger curl at a time.
"It's definitely a bit disorienting, just as you said it would be." Avi reported. "I guess my eyes are just a bit confused at what they're seeing." Avi raised his other hand now, Darius following suit in a synchronized ballet of man and machine. "It's gonna take some getting used to -- it's as though I've been teleported into someone else's body."
Walker leaned toward Kay and spoke with an authoritative tone, like that of a seasoned teacher, into her ear. "The pilot is immersed in a new world now. He's living through the machine, becoming one with it."
"Are you comfortable with trying to stand?" Denisa inquired.
"Ummm," Avi hesitated. "I suppose it can't hurt to try."
"Be careful... if you fall, he falls."
"I understand."
The pilot planted his palms on the arms of his chair and pushed up slightly, raising his rear from the seat just a few inches each second.
"There are forty-seven servos in each of Darius' knees." Walker again tried to educate Kay. "They had to be calibrated to fire in a precise pattern in order to simulate the flexation of our muscles. I had no idea how intricate the workings of something as simple as a ball joint could be until Cameron started explaining what our movement entailed."
"There's no lag at all." Aviram reported. "We've got it dialed in perfectly."
Walker grabbed hold of Jennings' hands and squeezed like a vice almost involuntarily as Darius slowly extended its sophisticated knees and reached a perfectly vertical apex.
"Look at it, Cameron! It's working perfectly!"
He stood like a giant, though he was in reality only six feet tall. His posture was finely tuned and perfect, his demeanor proud and intimidating.
It scanned the room now from left to right, its dueling cameras capturing every detail of its surroundings and forwarding them in incredible definition and clarity to the eyes of the pilot.
"Excellent job, Aviram!" Denisa exclaimed.
"It's amazing." He returned. "I seem so high up -- not used to being this tall!"
"Let's try out the alternate visual modes. Switch to infrared."
"Switching to infrared."
Avi again adjusted some control on his helmet, Darius' eyes responding by quickly rolling into his head and emerging a slightly different shade than they had originally appeared.
"It's working! The quality of the night-vision is excellent."
"Go thermal."
"Going thermal." Another adjustment, another twitch of the eyes. "Got it! No problems, thermal is functional."
"Let's try the back-scatter."
"Switching to back-scatter x-ray." The machine's eyes seemed to glow now as they flooded the room with low levels of gamma radiation. "Wow - that's different."
"If anyone here is unfamiliar with back-scatter," Walker explained proudly to the team around him. "It's the exact same technology used in airports across the globe to screen for weapons and contraband."
"You mean those new machines that see right through your clothes?" Kay asked nervously as Darius seemed to fix his gaze on her blouse.
"That's the one!" Schlaff answered.
Kay folded her arms in front of her as though that would stop the penetrating beams. Aviram picked up her signal and turned his attention elsewhere. Denisa saw this as well and decided to move along.
"Great, let's go back to standard."
"Standard."
"Try to take a couple of steps now, Avi. Let's see it walk."
Aviram did as instructed, Darius' heavy feet pounding the ground below him as he stalked the darkness. The two moved slowly at first, but as the pilot became increasingly comfortable with his new mount the pace picked up significantly. Before long he had the machine nearly jogging in a large circle. The incredible thump of his footfalls sent vibrations through the concrete and made the world rumble beneath the feet of his creators.
"Our calculations estimate the force of twenty units running in perfect unison on a solid surface would shake the ground with the force of an earthquake measuring a two on the Richter Scale." Walker boasted once again, completely engrossed in every element of the demonstration.
"Alright, Avi - you've had your fun. Time for some work, now." Denisa said. "Let's proceed to phase two. Go first-tier functions."
"Aye, first-tier live." Avi pressed something on the other side of his helmet now. "I've got the HUD, it looks just as it should."
Avi's world was enhanced by a series of transparent panels around the periphery of his visual field. Various bits of information appeared, cycled and disappeared quickly.
"I'm getting a lot, here." He said. "Almost too much for me to process."
"All sensors reporting?"
"I think so. Like I said, it's a lot of data. My brain is trying to keep up - I think I'll get the hang of filtering out the junk, but it's distracting at the moment."
"Try to identify the objectives."
"Okay -- here we go." Darius scanned the place again, Avi meticulously scrutinizing every inch as the machine fed him calculations and parameters at a breakneck pace. "Aha," Avi said, fixing their conjoined stare on a point in the distance. His display zoomed and focused on what appeared to be a small panel set into the concrete wall. "Picking up C-4 -- about two ounces embedded in the wall. No means of detonation detected, threat neutral."
"Good job! Five more."
The scanning continued, Darius pausing and cocking his head slightly as he looked to Doctor Schlaff.
"Oh, very clever!" Avi chuckled. "A gram of cocaine in a baggie, concealed in Doctor Schlaff's suit coat. I didn't expect any items to be planted on the team!"
Schlaff rolled his eyes as Denisa paused before explaining. "That's not one of the objectives, Avi -- still five to go."
The two detected the remaining plants in quick succession, proving Darius' cognitive relays were working well and Avi was tuning in to the machine with each second that passed.
"Great job, guys, you got 'em all." Denisa uttered, momentarily buying into the illusion that Darius was a conscious contributor to the operation. "I'd say we're ready to move to the next step... what do you think, Avi?"
"I think we're good." He replied.
"Okay, let's bring in the bogey."
The lab doors opened once more and another man in combat garb entered. The
re was nothing special about him when seen through the eyes of those gathered, but Darius instantly identified a concealed weapon and opened a small window showing Avi the gun in back-scatter mode. A caption appeared underneath the outline of the piece, identifying it as a nine millimeter Glock with fourteen rounds in the clip and one in the chamber.
"I see it." Avi reported. "Going for my weapon now."
Darius moved to the high-school looking locker and opened it gracefully though it would've been just as easy for him to tear the metal in half. From it he produced the storied GTAR, a sleek firearm designed with only killing in mind -- and doing so en mass to boot. When he slid in its clip and locked it in place the round counter lit up with red digits.
"Weapon is hot."
"Please put on your ear and eye protection." Denisa suggested.
The new soldier in the room retrieved a tactical shield from the darkness and stepped into Darius' circle holding it between the two of them. He assumed a threatening pose with his weapon drawn from behind his portable wall.
"Acquiring target." Avi announced.
Darius raised his weapon and leveled it off in the direction of the hostile. Aviram's display threw up markers over select kill-zones and alerted him when he guided the barrel into those areas. The pilot looked a bit ridiculous in the distance, cradling a deadly weapon made of air and empty space.
"Believe it or not, to him it feels like he's really holding the gun." Walker bent Kay's ear again, despite the fact it had a foam bud jammed inside . "His suit is outfitted with a force-feedback system that uses air pressure to simulate objects that Darius interacts with. He can even feel the firmness or softness of the ground under foot."
Aviram placed the machine's finger over the grenade firing mechanism, causing his heads up display to shift automatically to one tracing the anticipated trajectory of the projectile.
"Okay," he said. "I'm aiming for center-mass, firing in three -- two -- one."
A slight pop marked the departure of a paintball grenade from the barrel. The small blue bead traveled in an arc exactly as the system had drawn it. It exploded with a splat on the shield, spraying a shower of paint across its surface.
"Direct hit!" The operator exclaimed as he moved his finger back to his compressed air simu-trigger. "Preparing to fire primary, selector set to three-round burst."
"Try to put them in the center of the paint."
"Roger." He sighted up with the aid of his computerized vision. "Firing in three -- two -- one."
The weapon roared now with a deafening Rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat, rat-tat-tat. It recoiled violently in the machine's grasp as a hail of rubber bullets pelted and bounced off of the shield.
"Look at the accuracy!" Walker shouted now.
Amazingly it looked as though every pellet had assaulted the blue spatter within millimeters of each other, despite the kick the weapon subjected its handler to.
"Perfect!" Denisa praised.
A giddy laugh echoed through the air from the intercom. "I want to shoot it again!" Avi giggled. "That was exhilarating!"
"Wonderful, just wonderful!" Denisa said through a wide grin. "This couldn't be going any better! Let's proceed to phase three!"
"I'll reload." Avi added as he guided the machine back to the locker. "Changing out for blank mag." Darius continued to follow his jockey, grabbing a fresh clip from near the promised bottle of Dom Perignon.
"I'm updating mission parameters now, let's get the other hostiles in here -- commence server simulation program." At Denisa's command the lab doors opened yet again, several more people flooding in carrying assault rifles and dressed in full combat gear. One man rolled a beefed up desktop computer into the red circle and assumed a position at its keyboard. "If I could have my civilians move into the circle, please, and take random positions near the terminal."
Walker was the first out of his seat, skipping into the test area as though he were playing a lively round of hopscotch. He moved in close to the man at the computer, eager to be right in the middle of the action. Schlaff staggered his way near it as well, Jennings and Kay staying a bit further from the flash point.
Darius turned to face them now, a panel declaring new objectives received appearing in Aviram's field of vision. The armed men around the terminal glowed with a red aura, members of the design team surrounded instead with green. The terminal itself glowed orange as the machine zoomed in to read the words on its monitor. Darius had already begun analyzing the program it was running and formulating decryption strategies in anticipation of his two-minute Hail-Mary.
"We're ready." Avi said. "Second tier brain functions are live."
"Okay then, let's disconnect." Denisa worked her magic at her own terminal to initiate the sequence. "You'll lose the interface in three -- two -- one -- mark."
Avi's pseudo world broke instantly into a pattern of static. "Connection down -- he's on his own." The pilot removed his helmet, shaking off a new round of disorientation as he saw the lab through his own eyes once more. Darius stood perfectly still in the distance, his weapon held low in front of his pelvis just as Avi had left it. Several seconds passed this way, the hostile stand-ins buzzing around as though conducting business as usual in a communications center.
"What's happening?" Jennings asked.
"It's okay," Denisa responded. "We've built in a delay to keep Darius from jumping right into the fire. Most comm. jams are resolved quickly - we want to avoid the operator suddenly being thrust back into control with no idea what's happening on the ground. As soon as it's clear the link won't be restored quickly he should take the lead."
Several more seconds ticked away before Darius finally cocked his head and seemed to spring to life. He took a few confident steps towards the terminal and paused about thirty feet removed. His eyes darted side to side, taking in the panorama before him. To the delight of those gathered, Darius opened his mouth and spoke.
"Halt." He ordered in a monotone and markedly computerized voice. His lips didn't seem to move in perfect harmony with the speech, making him resemble an English dubbed kung-fu master. It was no less stunning, however, and no less intimidating as he raised his weapon towards the hostiles. "This installation will be occupied by order of NATO central command. Stand down - drop your weapons and step away from the terminal. Surrender - or I will open fire."
"Wow!" Walker exclaimed, the android turning his head to look at him. Darius briefly aimed his GTAR in his direction but quickly deemed him a civilian and turned the barrel away.
Just as scripted, the hostiles laid their firearms on the ground before them and raised their hands to the sky. Darius stepped closer, kicking the guns sharply out of the circle as he moved by each hostile. He proceeded past Jennings and Kay, the woman trembling in awe as though her heart was filled with fear.
Walker stepped aside as well to clear a path for his creation, but lingered just over its shoulder as it sat at the terminal's keyboard. Darius seemed to object, looking back at him coldly for a moment before attacking the program.
"Two-minute clock has started." Denisa explained as the machine typed away fiercely.
Walker watched as commands far above even his own head flashed on the display, Darius examining each character at an amazing pace and responding with new parameters in his attempt to disable the system.
"Our programmer estimated it would take a genius-level diagnostic expert roughly a half hour to crack the code he's devised. Darius has one minute and fifteen seconds remaining."
The frenzy continued, Darius typing away as the monitor scrolled along with each keystroke.
"Forty-five seconds."
More typing, more cryptic messages.
"Thirty seconds."
Darius' eyes jumped around wildly.
"Fifteen seconds... ten... nine... eight... seven... six..."
His fingers moved so quickly they were barely visible, the terminal beeping its objections as
it was taxed beyond its means.
"Four... three... two... one..." Denisa stopped, Walker watching as the commands on the screen were overtake by a blue screen. "Darius was not successful." She reported. "He's been locked out of the system."
The machine stared blankly at the display, seeming unsure how to proceed. Walker placed a hand on his rock solid shoulder as though to console him as everyone stood in silence. The personnel that had acted as enemy soldiers left the room to dress down. Denisa beat her tightly clenched fist upon the console before her.
"I don't understand!" She snapped. "Everything was going so well!"
"Denisa," Walker chimed in hopefully. "This experiment was still an unmitigated success." His words seemed to offer no solace to the woman. "Darius did exactly what we expected. He picked up the mission and worked to complete it, just as we had hoped."
"But he failed to accomplish the objective!" She lamented.
"Even the best are sometimes outmatched."
"Failure is not an option!"
"But we haven't failed... he works, Denisa! He works!"
The woman sighed and spun around in her seat, looking upon the device. It still sat, studying the screen, seemingly disappointed at what had transpired.
"This has been amazing." Walker continued. "We are victorious, my friends!"
"I have to agree." Aviram added. "He may not have cracked the code, but even at this stage one of him on the battlefield would turn the tide in any conflict. I believe it's time we crack that bottle of champagne, ladies and gentlemen. You've done it -- we have done it!"
Denisa's hardened scowl broke into an apprehensive grin, despite her effort to fight as it tried to pull the corners of her mouth open. "Okay," she said finally. "Let's re-establish the interface. Darius deserves the first sip!"
Aviram smiled as he sat and donned his helmet once again, the tension winding down amongst the scientist and elation returning. They recounted the experience from their own perspectives with sparkles in their eyes and joy on their lips as Denisa released the lockout.
"I'm taking control now." The pilot said.
Darius flinched again as his autonomy was taken from him. He rose in response to Avi's movement and turned back towards the locker. The team seemed more at ease in his presence now and moved close to him as he walked past. Several patted him on the arm as he walked by - paying homage as they would to a champion prize fighter approaching the squared circle to do battle.
"Thank you all!" Walker said to the others. "This is truly a dream come true! You are kings, my friends!" He looked to Denisa and Kay. "And Queens, naturally!"
"Whoa!" Avi gasped. Everyone turned their attention back to him, ceasing their conversations as they wondered what had happened.
The pilot was frozen in place, his right leg extended in front of him in mid-step. He lowered it briefly and tried again, but it locked sharply at the same point. A quick glance at Darius revealed he was not responding to his operator's movement. He stood still, his back to the team.
"What's happening, Avi?" Denisa asked.
"I'm not sure -- he just stopped."
"Anything on the HUD?"
"No." He answered. "Things seem fine." Without warning he howled as his leg snapped back into place on the floor. "What was that?" He tried to lift it once more only to have it again thrust back.
Darius dropped his GTAR to the ground.
"Why did you do that?" Denisa asked Aviram.
"I didn't." He returned.
Suddenly the machine spun its head towards the pilot, Avi's neck twisting violently in the same manner.
"Yeow!" He cried. "What the hell is --" The man was cut short as the machine lifted its arms, the pneumatic feedback system forcing Avi's to rise as well. Darius grabbed hold of his chin with his right hand, firmly planting the left at the rear of his crown. The operator moaned in pain at each movement as the others watched helplessly.
The machine's muscles snapped tight as it thrust its chin to the side, wrenching its skull viciously and twisting its neck into an unnatural position. The rubberized skin tore around its nape along the clavicle, revealing its inner shell. Aviram made the same horrific motion in unison, falling to the floor with a thud... his neck broken... dead.
"Jesus Christ!" Schlaff exclaimed amidst the gasps and screams of the team. His eyes were wider than it seemed they could be as he looked back and forth between Darius and his fallen commander.
"What's happened?" Walker barked, Denisa swiveling around to her console. He looked into the machine's eyes and saw a presence he couldn't describe. It was cold and sinister. Evil, almost. The monster's face showed no emotion or concern as it swiveled its gaze to the team, his head now facing backwards like that of Linda Blair at the height of her possession.
"Surrender!" It ordered, completing the revolution of its cranium and bending at the waist to retrieve its weapon.
"Oh my God!" Jennings cried. "What is this?"
"Jim!" Denisa shouted from her post. "We must trigger the EMP!"
Walker was frozen in place, shock dominating his countenance as he watched the machine turn and level its weapon in their direction. Schlaff saw that he was the man was in some sort of trance, unable to move, and took the initiative, bolting towards the body of the fallen pilot.
"Stop!" Darius ordered, flipping the fire selector of his GTAR to full auto and aiming at the Doctor's back. It opened fire, a maddened salvo of flame firing from the gun's barrel as spent shells ejected from its chamber and fell to the ground with rhythmic pings. It stopped for a moment, then opened up again as Schlaff continued towards Aviram's corpse.
Darius released the trigger once more and looked down at the gun. He turned the business end of the barrel up and examined it, pointing it directly into his eyes. Schlaff reached the man, frantically unzipping the sensor suit enrobing the body and digging at the combat uniform underneath.
"Where is the key?" He shouted back to Denisa.
"It's there! Check the pockets!"
The machine pulled the trigger again, firing directly into its own face and seemingly realizing there were no slugs emerging from the barrel. It leveled the weapon once more and opted instead for the grenade launcher. With a pop-pop it deployed its remaining paint rounds which pelted Schlaff on the side of the head.
"Fuck!" he howled, clutching his temple and wiping the thick blue ooze from his face.
"I don't understand." Walker barked, dumbfounded. "What's going on?"
"This is her one-tenth of one percent, Walker!" Schlaff yelled, continuing to dig at the corpse. "I can't find the goddamned key!"
Darius studied the man inquisitively now, likely wondering why the projectiles hadn't stopped him in his tracks.
"Come in Guard Dog, this is Alpha Command!" Denisa called into her radio. "Guard Dog, The Kraken Is Unleashed! Repeat, The Kraken Is Unleashed!"
"Alpha!" A familiar Russian voice called back. "We are under attack!" The transmission broke off into static, the responses becoming sporadic and unintelligible. "Repe... ttack... overwhel... breach inev..."
The massive doors of the lab opened as the stand-in commandos from before stood poised with new assault rifles drawn. They opened fire on the machine in a deafening frenzy, bullets tearing the jumpsuit and flesh of Darius as he looked at them, unfazed. Several of the scientists bolted out of the room before the giant steel walls slammed inexplicably closed, smashing two men between them and sealing the others outside of the lab.
An alarm wailed from somewhere in the darkness, red beacon lights beginning to flash from the ceiling.
"Oh my God!" Denisa cried. "That's the motion sensor! There's something in the labyrinth!"
"I've got it!" Schlaff hollered, holding a shining key out in front of him. Darius took notice, casting his stare of death upon the man. It darted off towards him at an incredible pace, shaking the lab as he ran. Reaching the edge of the circle
on the floor he was snatched back by the tether that bound him in place.
"The console!" Denisa shouted. "Upper-left corner, red box!"
Schlaff leapt to the terminal, Darius recoiling as it tried to maintain its balance. The machine looked up at the cable, realizing it held him prisoner there. It reached around to grab it at the base of its skull and tugged mightily, tearing it free. Sparks and rays of light danced from its mangled end as he let go and it swung fiercely like Poe's pendulum back to the center of the circle.
"Doctor Schlaff!" Jennings called as the machine raced up behind him. Before the man could react Darius raised its rifle above its head and thrust it viciously down into Schlaff's skull. A shower of blood spayed like a geyser as the android repeatedly pummeled him, his lifeless shell collapsing to the ground at the monster's feet.
The job done, Darius turned his stare back at the people standing in shock. It raced to them, knocking Walker to the ground as it zeroed in for no particular reason on Kay Rose. It grabbed her by her blouse and lifted her clean off of the ground, holding her there as she screamed out.
"No!" Cameron cried, grabbing at Darius' hands in a futile effort to free the woman.
It proceeded to throw her like an expert javelineer, sending her crashing into the wall with a splat before falling into Denisa's lap . Kay's body was limp, a portion of it flattened now; she had been killed by the incredible impact. Denisa's chair collapsed under the shock, her head slamming into the floor and sending her for a loop.
"Damn you!" Jennings wailed as he beat his fists with every ounce of strength he possessed against the machine. "God damn you to Hell!" He tore at the loose flesh around its neck, stretching it as though it would cause Darius pain.
The machine simply stood, watching the feeble priest in his rage. As sirens continued to wail something seemed to catch its eye - it tracked an object flinging about the preacher's neck as he
fought. It grabbed Jennings with its left arm and squeezed him like an orange to be juiced, immediately putting an end to the assault as the air rushed from his body. Darius looked deeply into his widened eyes and seemed to absorb the passion behind them. Then it focused on the object that had caught its attention - reaching for it with an uncharacteristically gentle touch. It cradled it in its hand - analyzing the golden idol.
Jennings fought for breath, his lungs swelling and his flesh changing color. The pressure eased off slowly, allowing him to draw just enough oxygen to keep him conscious. The machine still held him there, now staring into its palm intently. There in its pale hand it cradled the cross; studying it.
Darius abruptly released the priest, his legs folding beneath him and planting him on the concrete. The chain on which the crucifix hung split, leaving the charm behind in the machine's grasp.
They watched it; Jennings gasping on the floor, Walker numb where he stood as Denisa tried to shake off the cobwebs. It did nothing for a moment, its shadow moving ominously as the red lights spun it around the room.
There was a crash at the lab door that startled the survivors, then screams of agony from beyond it that turned their stomachs. There were grunts as well; and echoing metallic footfalls that didn't sound human in nature.
Darius flinched now as he had when Aviram established his interface. its eyes rolled up and back, just as they had when the operator took it through its paces. With a flash its body erupted in a sinister green flame from head to toe. Jennings pushed himself frantically away as an immense heat and burning electrical stench emanated from it. It spread its arms to its side and dropped its chin to its chest, its feet closing their wide stance and folding tightly one over the other. Some strange internal fluid poured from chasms opened by the fire around its wrists as it thrashed as though in pain.
As sounds of battle from beyond the doors ceased Darius rose in levitation, SC-1441 melting in the fire and dripping off his endoskeleton in a molten river. Jennings looked up upon it as it floated to a height of ten meters and assumed a familiar pose.
The lab shook violently now as if in the throes of an earth quake. Dust and bits of rock fell from the ceiling, tossed about by a gale-force wind the arose from the emptiness. The room went dark, save the blinding flames dancing about the hovering monster. The machine's mouth didn't move as its flesh melted away, but the voice of Darius spoke words in a tongue of fire that seemed to consume the lab.
"Forsaken," They began, running one atop another as though spoken by a disconnected chorus. Many were lost in the mayhem, but Father Jennings made out several through the torrent that stirred emotion deeply within his soul. "Father... Mother... Herrod... Pilate... Barrabas... Golgotha!"
Jennings retrieved his glasses from the ground beside him and placed them gently on his face, the wind still assaulting him savagely. "Oh -- my -- God!"
The last of the liquefied skin fell from the glowing albatross, revealing the cybernetic marvel that his its body truly was. It lifted its head slowly, its face now resembling a chrome plated C-3PO more than that of a human being. Fixing its emberous glare on Cameron it spoke a sacred phrase that melted the man.
"Parousia!"
Denisa rose to her knees and looked to Walker. "Jim!" She shouted. "Get to the console!"
A pounding at the lab door broke Walker's awe at the spectacle. It now sounded as though someone - or something - was trying to force its way in. Jim looked to the door, to the bodies of Schlaff and Aviram, then to the machine.
"Now!" Denisa ordered as she fought her way to her feet. Walker took heed, darting for the terminal in the darkness.
"Wait!" Jennings called now from the floor. "Stop!"
Darius slowly descended before them as the priest pushed himself up. He ran to the locker not far from him and fetched the bottle from within.
"Walker, behind you!" Denisa barked.
Jim turned as he crashed into the bank of computers, seeing his friend sprinting towards him with the Dom clutched in his grasp. Paying no mind he flipped the red box open, revealing a pane of glass over the deadly keyhole. He smashed it with his fist and retrieved the key from beside the cover.
"You must not!" Jennings shouted, closing on him.
"In three!" He called back, plunging the key into its core. "Two!"
Jennings pulled back as he moved and bellowed with a primal howl from the pit of his being.
"One!"
"Jim!" Denisa cried in vein, helpless as she watched Cameron Jennings bludgeon the man over the head with the bottle. It shattered, a stray bit of the green glass rebounding off of Walker's skull and drilling deeply into his attacker's left eye. The priest screamed at the pain, his colleague slumping over unconscious from the blow.
A mysterious shockwave blew the doors apart, revealing four dark mounted warriors beyond. Their steeds dripped with water and blood as they whinnied and marched into the lab, a sulfurous odor accompanying their entrance.
Jennings covered his injured eye with one hand while using the other to jab Walker with the jagged neck of the busted bottle. The horsemen trotted to the machine's side as it touched down, one of them raising a staff towards the ceiling. The quake grew increasingly violent and a rift opened in the shale above. Debris and snow poured in through the chasm, the Earth splitting until daylight violated the room.
The machine leapt onto the back of one of the beasts and pointed to Jennings, the rider kicking at its side prompting it to move. As they approached the priest he turned to behold them, his face now a crimson mask.
"Cameron Jennings." Darius said as he looked upon the man. "Come with me and I will make you a fisher of men."
The bewildered killer nodded, another horseman drawing his angry mount close and signaling him to climb aboard. Jennings obliged as the remaining two came over to join them.
Denisa watched as three of them galloped in a storm towards the rift and leapt into the air, planting their hoofs on the walls of broken rock and racing up the hole in t
he Earth. Upon the remaining horse sat the machine, staring blankly back at her. He turned his palm to the console under Walker's body and seemed to exude some magical power from its hand. Denisa looked down at her own panel and watched, her key turning in its chamber on its own. A green light on her display switched to red and she heard a muffled explosion from the ground below.
The final horsemen broke madly for the crater and carried the machine away, the chasm closing behind them as they ascended.
A buzz emanated from the darkness as the lights on her terminal died. She felt through the black for the hidden lever and prayed she would make it in time.
Chapter 7