Kill Switch_Serial Escalation Read online

  “You know they’re still watching, right?” She said, “I mean, even if they somehow didn’t cut off access to the law enforcement network from the police station, and they are up to some really evil shit, they’ll never let it out. They’re probably censoring everything we say on the live feed or using an A.I. dub program. If we’re lucky, they won’t just remotely trigger our kill switches for fucking with them.”

  “I guess we’ll see, thanks for taking a chance with me.” Thao said, “You know, before when you said-, when you put your fist through your commanding officer’s head you know exactly what you were doing? I mean, if you wanted to talk about that, since you’re doing this for me, you could?”

  “You think it’d be good for me, or you just want to know what I meant?” Layla said.

  “I guess I’m just naturally curious?” Thao said.

  Layla was smirking around the stapled wounds that slashed down the right side of her face. She looked back, however, wary of the drones following them as they crossed a thin, metal bridge above a flooded area. Her mechanical arm left out a soft whir as she rolled her scarred shoulder.

  “I don’t know how much you know, or remember, about the African Bio-Wars, but my unit only got stationed there after the fact. We were there to keep all the little bio-warlords from cooking up something new that’d wipe out half the population of Europe or something like that.” Layla said, “You got no idea though, it wasn’t just the bio-warlords and Abominations that were the problem. It was desert heat, no Ozone, rain that burned the skin like acid, chemical weapon clouds that sometimes you didn’t even know you’d walked into until you started vomiting up your lungs, and the new-, wildlife. Then there was the regular insurgents which we were meant to handle as well, North African militias. It was a fucked up country but it was still their fucked up country and they wanted us out of it.”

  The street sloped downward into a flooded ruin. Buildings had tumbled into a saltwater river that covered the streets and intersections, filled with giant chunks of concrete and smashed cars. The section of rubble extended all the way to the arena’s wall and was probably even more destroyed outside, Thao imagined. Layla pointed out a tripwire to Thao for him to step over.

  “After my unit was wiped out by the Abomination attack, and I was given the prosthesis, I was assigned to a new unit which was mostly about rooting out insurgents from the local populace.” Layla said, “Their commanding officer was a guy named Peterson, he was an asshole but nothing special. The unit had a rep but-, a lot of units were going off the reservation due to all the shit we were dealing with. First mission I went along on was to conduct some interviews and get some intel on insurgents at a local village, check for weapon caches, that sort of thing. When we got there Peterson sent me to sweep the perimeter and look for any Abomination threats, ‘because I had prior experience with that sort of thing,’ he said. He’s a dickhead but I follow orders and do a long-range sweep until I hear a bunch of blasts echoing out from the village. I bust it back there and find out-, Peterson’s unit has just wiped the locals out. They found a weapon cache under one of the huts. The insurgents almost certainly forced the locals to hold them there for safekeeping under pain of death but that was enough of an excuse for Peterson’s crew. They’d lined up the men and woman and just straight-up executed them. Those blasts I heard though-, that wasn’t the gunshots. The kids, they’d herded them to the anti-Abomination minefield at the edge of the village and forced the kids to run through it, told them they could go free if they reached the other side. None of them made it, Peterson told me. He was grinning his head off when he said it and I put my fist through his fucking face.”

  “Holy shit.” Thao said.

  “Yeah, and it turns out the military frowns on that even if your C.O. is an asshole.” Layla said, “Does that satisfy your curiosity?”

  Thao stayed quiet, absorbing the story. They headed downward, across the ruins, and over a wide river of saltwater. Thao wondered if there were sharks in this section as well.

  “That must be the police station.” Thao said.

  The police station was a long, white building that seemed much more undamaged than the buildings surrounding it. There was a large neon sign, unlit, on the central tower above the words ‘New Detroit Metropolitan Police Department’. The station would have had extra protections in place against disasters like the quake. Its first floor was surrounded by water. They wouldn’t be able to get through the front doors, Thao and Layla would have to try the roof.

  “We’ll cross down there.” Layla said.

  They headed for a small skyscraper that had collapsed and formed a bridge across the water, ruined pieces of the metal superstructure jutting out of the rubble like ribs. Moving across the ruins, Thao and Layla climbed onto the unstable rooftops. Using her cyborg strength, Layla picked up a fallen girder and shifted it so she and Thao could use it as a bridge to the roof of the police station. They emerged near a round helipad marked with a massive ‘H’. Thao and Layla’s drones hovered along behind them.

  “Can you break these doors down?” Thao asked.

  “Probably not a lot of people breaking into police stations.” Layla said.

  There was a small window of thick, bulletproof glass inset in one of the helipad’s heavy doors. Layla’s left side locked up and she punched through the window. Gripping the frame, Layla tore the door off of its hinges and tossed it aside. There was a second set of doors inside which Layla also blasted open. There was emergency lighting that illuminated the hallways but most of the rooms were buried in shadow.

  “The lights are still on.” Thao said, “Maybe that’s a good sign?”

  The drones stayed outside, orbiting the building. There were security cameras inset in the ceilings of the walls of the police station every couple of metres. Every inch of the place would normally be covered. Thao wondered if the cameras were wired into the Slayerz feed now or if there were other, hidden cameras wired through the station. The two of them padded past empty locker rooms and rows of abandoned offices. Unlike most of the buildings in the arena the police station seemed undamaged but it was cleaned out. Only a few pieces of furniture remained but no electronic equipment, files or weapons. They entered a large bullpen littered with leftover decks and chairs. A hallway off to one side led to interrogation rooms and cells.

  “We’ll need to find the labs, they’ve got to be downstairs.” Thao said.

  “Since these lights are on and assuming the rest of the building has power-, we should be careful about what else is online.” Layla said.

  In spite of the lighting the elevators didn’t seem to be working. Thao and Layla kept moving through the police station until they came to a wide set of carpeted stairs that led down to the building’s front lobby. Damp seeped from the walls but the building was sealed against the water and damage from outside. It was even darker on the lower level. Around half of the emergency lights seemed to have short-circuited. Thao thumbed on the light under the barrel of his pistol, casting a surprisingly powerful beam across the landing below.

  “Did you hear something?” Layla said.

  Layla stopped and stood still so her left arm would stop making soft whirring sounds. Something chittered and clicked in the shadows and a door fell open.

  “Don’t tell me it’s another goddamn robot.” Layla said.

  Spiderlike, a security droid rolled into the hallway and climbed up the opposite wall. It had eight spindly legs that it used interchangeably and a triangular head with multiple red and glowing eyes. Weapons tipped at least half the legs. There was no excess to the droid, just a narrow body and thrashing metal limbs radiating outward in all directions. They should have known, Thao thought. Any normal police station would have multiple security droids to deal with outside threats. It was only natural that the producers would have left at least one of them online.

  “It’s coming for us!” Thao said.

  “Get back!” Layla said.

  Thao painted the
droid with his weapon light. He fired rapidly, and bullets went wild or ricocheted off the droid’s armour. They backed up the stairs and Layla fired, blasting the droid.

  “Unlawful entry into government buildings is an offense under Directive Sixteen-A of the New Detroit Crimes Act.” The droid said, “Please present proper identification or you will be subdued with potentially lethal force.”

  The droid’s voice droned as if bored as it waded through the hailstorm of bullets. Layla kept firing, aiming for the droid’s head, and one of its limbs shot forward. Two barbed copper wires were fired from a Taser system on the end of the limb, crackling with electricity. Layla moved, blocking with her mechanical arm, and swatted the twin wires out of the air. The wires coiled on the ground, still sparking, and the droid dumped the used canister from its Taser before a fresh one cycled into place. Other weapons splayed from the droid’s body. Layla fired again and one of the security droid’s glowing red eyes burst. Its head whiplashed to one side then returned as if glaring at Layla.

  “In the event of continued resistance, and damage to this unit, lethal force is authorised.” The droid said, “You have the right to remain silent.”

  Thao stalled on the next landing until Layla slammed into him. A massive, tri-barrelled cannon appeared on one of the droid’s arms. A lance of energy exploded out of the weapon and hit the wall with a thunderous shockwave, leaving a smoking crater.

  “Keep moving!” Layla said.

  “We need to get around it, to access the labs!” Thao said.

  “Are you kidding me?” Layla yelled.

  “You have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you.” The droid said.

  The droid fired twice more, narrowly missing Layla and hammering the wall with its blasts. Layla and Thao sprinted to the top of the stairs. The droid came after them in a whirlwind of limbs, accelerating up the steps.

  “I have an idea!” Thao said.

  Before Thao could elaborate, the robot fired off a pair of electrified bolos, two golf ball-sized spheres connected by a blue and glowing cord. The cord whipped around Thao’s legs and tangled him up. He cried out as an electric shock travelled through his body, falling forward and unable to protect himself with his arms paralysed.

  “Shit!” Layla said.

  Layla grabbed Thao around the shoulders and picked him up. The movement made the bolos send more jolts of electricity into Thao’s body. He managed to keep hold of his gun, his fist tight on the grip. The shocks didn’t bother Layla as she carried Thao with her mechanical hand.

  Layla headed back into the empty bullpen, slamming the swinging doors closed behind them. Dropping Thao, she grabbed one of the leftover desks and shoved it, scraping, across the floor to barricade the doors. The droid slammed into the other side.

  “Do you understand these rights as I have told them to you?” The robot said.

  A hole was blown through one of the doors like a shotgun blast. A three-fingered claw reached through the hole, snapping at the edges. Layla pulled the electrified bolos off Thao’s legs and flung them across the room.

  “Okay, what’s the plan?” Layla said.

  “The cells-, back there, we can trap it.” Thao said.

  The droid rapidly dismantled the doors, blasting and breaking them to pieces. It crawled over the wreckage and the desk, head swivelling. Layla fired from across the room, bullets raking the droid’s armour. Together, Thao and Layla fled through the doors to the interrogation rooms and cells while the droid fired back with everything it had. There was a short corridor with the holding cells. Like the rest of the building it was only dimly lit, and all the digital locks on the cell doors had disengaged. The security droid followed them, crashing against the outer door.

  “You’re going to have to distract it, keep firing at its head and I’ll get it into one of the cells.” Layla said.

  The droid blew the door off its hinges and entered the corridor. Limbs clanking, it rounded on Layla and spread out so there was no way past it. Thao opened fire, the blasts hammering off the concrete walls and making his ears ring. Bullets chopped against the droid’s head, Thao surprising himself with his own accuracy, and another one of the droid’s eyes imploded.

  “Please stop resisting.” The droid said.

  The droid raised its tri-barrelled laser cannon. Layla lunged, firing her P90 into the droid’s head and neck, and grabbed the cannon with her mechanical hand. It broke in her grip with a shower of sparks. Layla’s left side locked up as she wrenched the spiderlike droid around in a half-circle. Metal limbs lashed out, battering Layla. She threw it into one of the open cells and the droid clattered off the walls. The cell door slammed shut. The lock wasn’t working but Layla twisted the bars so they would be stuck.

  “Detainment of government property is an offense under Directive Sixteen-D of the New Detroit Crimes Act.” The droid said.

  “Get out of here!” Layla said to Thao.

  Layla removed one of the thermite grenades from the webbing on her body armour. Yanking the ring on top, Layla broke the spoon off the grenade and mashed the bright red button on top with her thumb. She let the grenade cook for a couple of moments then hurled it through the cell bars. The sides of the grenades became superheated, melting and clinging to the droid’s armour as soon as it connected with the robot. Ignoring the blazing grenade clinging to its side, the droid continued to attack the bars as Layla ran, its three-fingered claw trying to untwist the damage Layla had done to the bars and set itself free.

  Thao and Layla ran out of the corridor, back toward the empty bullpen. There was a fiery white flash from behind them as the grenade ate through the droid’s armour and exploded. The blast filled the cell, leaving shadows of the bars imprinted on the walls and roaring down the corridor, melting the spidery droid to slag.

  Smoke billowed out of the holding cells, creating a thick cloud over the bullpen ceiling. Layla picked herself back up. One of the droid’s blows had hit her in the face and dislodged a couple of the staples Thao had used to close the gashes on the right side. A pair of thin, fresh trickles of blood were running down Layla’s cheek to her jawline. She reloaded her P90.

  “This had better be worth it, these answers of yours.” Layla said.

  The two of them headed downstairs, down toward the labs, without meeting any more resistance. The corridors and rooms were dark and damp, smelling like saltwater. The lab they finally reached was cavernous. It felt like somewhere deep underground although they were probably on what was originally the ground level of the police station before the quake. The ceiling was raised and the emergency lighting was extra faraway and dim. A pile of broken glass and vials littered the entryway, popping and crunching under the pair’s feet. It was dim enough that Thao switched on the weapon light under his pistol’s barrel. Long, empty tables lined the centre of the tiled lab. The lab had been less methodically cleaned out than the officers upstairs and several pieces of old and broken equipment were dumped in the corners of the room.

  A small area that looked like a morgue was tucked off to one side of the lab. There were rows of square, metal doors covering one wall, most of them closed but with a few propped open and leading into darkness. Thao probed the open doors with extra suspicion, sweeping his light over them.

  “What are you worried about now? Zombies?” Layla said.

  “Be ready for anything, right?” Thao said, “The piece of equipment we need-, I need, should look like a 3D printer hooked up to a vidscreen.”

  Thao and Layla circled around the lab. Most of the equipment had been broken in the quake and abandoned, and it seemed like everything that wasn’t busted had been taken. Eventually the two of them found what they were looking for. The DNA scanner was covered in a fine layer of dust. Its screen was cracked and some of the casing was busted open but Thao felt a trill of excitement as he turned it over in his hands.

  “This is it! I’m going to need to fix it up before we can use it, but I think
it will still work.” Thao said.

  “Just hurry it up, okay?” Layla said, “Let’s not forget what we’re really here for, in this place. The other contestants will be coming this way once the map updates.”

  “If the connection to the network still exists we can hook it up.” Thao said, “I’m going to get some answers.”

  Chapter Thirteen.

  “Are you unhappy? Depressed? Struggling to get ahead at work on in personal relationships? It’s probably because you’re unattractive.”

  “New Day Newer You offers a quick turnaround on nanotech plastic surgery, so you don’t need to waste time thinking about how much that facelift, tummy tuck, nose job or entirely new face and body would improve your life, just do it!”

  “New Day Newer You is now offering gender reassignment for thirty-two approved genders. Become who you were always meant to be, or just take one out for a spin over the weekend!”

  “Special three-for-two deal if you book an appointment right now, get enhancements done on two breasts and we’ll add a third for free!”

  A medpod cracked open, hissing with condensed air. Baxter Webley gripped the edge of the pod and climbed out, feeling rejuvenated. His suit jacket and shirt, already filthy, had been lasered apart and hung off his left side in rags. Baxter looked down at where he’d sliced off his right arm just below the elbow and found it was no longer hurting or bleeding.

  Beyond the stump Baxter had gained a civilian prosthesis from the medpod. The casing was see-through so he could see the thin metal structure of the false arm underneath. It was wired into his stump and Baxter moved the fingers one at a time as he studied it. The civilian model was much more delicate than the prosthetic he’d seen on the soldier, Southpaw Jackson, but similarly structured. The touch sensors were dull and strange but right away he could control it almost as well as a flesh and blood arm. A hologram flickered to life inside the prosthesis and a screen was projected on the interior of the clear casing. It showed Baxter an updated map and highlight reel.