Born of Silicon

Book 5 Chapter 54

The shell lands a few hundred feet away from the caravan, far enough to avoid damage, close enough that they know they’re in range. All it does is provoke them into attacking.

The cars spread out and rush towards the city, while those pulling artillery stay back. People jump out, trying to get them ready to fire.

“Do it.”

Our artillery pounds rhythmically, several bodies working in perfect unison to fire as quickly as possible. Each shell finds its mark, sending shrapnel through people, cars, and weapons alike. The humans work fast as well, however. They manage to get off six shells before Ray can destroy the final weapon.

Five of the six shells were aimed directly for the tower, and Ray’s countermeasures kick in. Four of them detonate in mid air, but the fifth impacts the side. The entire tower shudders under the impact, but remains standing. Monary takes stock of the damage instantly. It didn’t hit any of the inhabited levels, and it doesn’t seem to have ruined the structural stability of the tower. That’s all that matters. We can worry about repairs later.

The final shell is far more worrying. It detonates on its own far above the city, and metal disks rain down. Fabric flows behind each of the objects before catching air and unfurling into a parachute.

The array of snipers on the edge of the tower step back and aim upwards, aiming for the pucks. They fire in unison, trying to destroy enough of them to not affect the top of the tower. The rest can land safely and be cleared out manually later. I draw my pistols and add to the rain of fire. Many shots miss, and the bullets are big enough to do a lot of damage when they come back down, but as long as they don’t land on us it’s fine. Nobody should be in the streets.

The pucks in the air denies our use of drones, but that’s fine. Ray prepared for this possibility. Drones take off from the desert, far away from the city, far away from the pucks.

Drones take off from the army as well, flying in perfect unison above the charge. Any of our drones in range fall to the earth and smash into the sand below. I can only imagine each of their drones has a puck built in.

Our flak begins to fire, desperately trying to take down the drones. As soon as they do, our drones can help stop the charge.

My mind begins to be taxed as the pucks continue to fall slowly towards us, and the bodies’ aim gets worse. Each one destroyed reduces the number of errors, but only temporarily. There’s always more slowly getting closer.

As the errors stack up, more and more of us begin to drop out of the network. I fight with all my might to remain conscious, but the errors spill over, and my mind is crushed under the weight.

A moment later I find myself on my back staring up into the sky, the errors still there, but correctable. My assistants begin to boot up once again, and resume fighting.

I look to the side and see Lucas and his group throwing the last puck off the tower. I’m so glad I asked for their help.

The bodies stand up and resume fighting. They fire in unison. A few cars stop as both engines and drivers die in an instant. That’s not always enough to stop the humans though. A few get out of the car and charge on foot. The smart ones run or hide in their broken cars. At least not everyone will have to die.

As the cars approach the city, our large construction rolls out, already powered. Lance, Robin, and a few other AI fight beside it, entirely unaffected by the pucks and shrugging off small arms fire. 

An explosion rocks the cube, but the AI remain fighting, far more effective than any human. They each take down multiple attackers. A second explosion hits the cube, closely followed by a third, and every body goes limp at the same time. The base of the cube is still in one piece. The armored compartment containing Lance, Robin, and the rest fighting down there should be safe still. Despite that, I won’t be able to relax until we know for sure.

Despite all of our efforts, a few cars make it into the city. It’s up to Ray’s humans now. They fight in the streets. Occasionally a car or humans are visible from the top of the tower. The snipers put an end to them.

The remnants of the army still push towards the center of the city, towards the tower.

For as quickly as things began, finding the remnants of the army is a long, drawn out process. We just don’t have enough people capable of fighting in the streets, and most cameras throughout the city are disabled right now. We can’t be sure it’s safe for even unmodified humans to head back above ground, not to mention the pucks spread throughout the city.

At the very least I can focus again on my citizens. I can talk to them, keep them updated, reassure them that things are going well.

That goes far in keeping them calm.

A small group of attackers find their way into the courtyard around the tower. Thankfully, they’re unarmed, with their hands in the air. Monary holds their fire. 

The top of the tower prevented any pucks from falling too close to the base. As long as we keep bodies inside the tower, they should have no problem functioning. We send a few down to the front doors.

There is, of course, a chance that this is a trap. There’s the possibility of them having pucks on their body ready to be activated. There is a solution to that too.

“Lucas, can you and anyone the pucks won’t kill go downstairs? A few people are trying to surrender. Take them to floor three, they won’t be able to do any damage there.”

“Ay-ay!” Lucas heads downstairs, and I make sure the elevator is waiting for them.

Hours later, we’re finally sure the last of the humans that attacked the city are either captured, or dead. We can finally start the arduous process of finding and removing all the pucks. At least we know the rough area that they landed in, or at least we knew the direction they were going before we all went offline temporarily.

Ray’s army works hard through the day and doesn't stop even when sun goes down. I get a list of people who can be trusted from Silver, and hire them to help as well. By the time the last puck is found, the full moon is already high in the sky. 

Monary takes stock of the city and hands me a full report. Lots of broken windows and bullet holes, along with a lot of damaged roofs. The good news is that there’s very little structural damage to the city. No buildings about to fall, and nothing to prevent my citizens from returning home.

The absolute most important parts are that none of my citizens were killed, and none of the AI defending the city were harmed. We need to rebuild some of their bodies, but that’s simple, and S-21 has already started work.

It’s with great relief that I can finally take control of every mouth and every speaker throughout the city.

“I’m truly happy to announce that the city is once again safe. All things considered, the damage was minimal, however, I will be around in the coming days to help replace anything destroyed. If you find your home too damaged to sleep in, I will set up beds at the tower. Feel free to come here if you need assistance. Every entrance to the tunnels has been re-opened. Please, don’t rush, but you’re all free to go home.”

Of course people rush to get home. The scrappers can barely maintain order. It’s fine, Silver trusts them. I can just lay back and let my mind go blank until people start trying to report the damage to their houses.

Fuck it, I can’t avoid my mind forever. I turn my attention to it, and find it stretched and shredded. It’s been pulled past its limits, but my threads are working hard to repair the damage. That’s about what I expected. It's fine. I’ll heal.

I’m interrupted by a worried voice.

“You alright Little Blue?” I open my eyes and find Vince crouched above me. Corax is perched on his shoulder, looking intently at me, and Ivy stands beside him.

“Just tired.” I nod.

“Rest.” Corax says aloud, and also dives into the network to send a rare message. He really hates doing that. He pulls Monary’s attention to me.

“I agree.” Monary says. “Rest and recover, I am capable of dealing with the fallout.”

“I can handle a little more.”

“No, you cannot.” They insist. “I will get Kismet to lock you out of the network until sunrise if you try. You’ve done far more than you needed to. Disconnect, and return when you’re fully better.”

Corax hops off Vince’s shoulder, lands on me, and begins pecking at my wrist.

“Right, thank you.” I move the skin plates out of the way, and he grabs the cord on my wrist and plugs it into himself.

I hand over control of my body, and Corax helps me to my feet.

“You ready to go home?” Vince asks.

“The streets and tunnels are going to be packed.” I say. “Plus I should be here in case the people who surrendered need anything.”

“We can relax here.” Ivy shrugs. “Corax, get her somewhere comfortable. I’ll go get Cassie and Lucas.”

“Done.” Corax announces. When did he get so comfortable in the Digital? Maybe Kolibri is rubbing off on him a little? He certainly spends a lot of time with her these days.

“Thank you.” Corax leads the way downstairs and into C-1’s old living room. He claims a couch. Vince takes a nearby chair, and Ivy heads straight for the kitchen. I’m glad I keep this place stocked. I still use it to make food for everyone.

It doesn’t take long for Cassie and Lucas to make their way to the top of the tower. She brings Daisy behind her. I guess she’s still stressed.

“Are you alright?” Daisy asks nervously. I must look awful if even she’s nervous.

“I will be soon. Monary is making me take a break.”

“Good.” Cassie takes a seat beside me, and Daisy climbs onto the couch beside her. “How do you want to relax?”

“I just want to hang out and work on my mind.” I pull control back from Corax just long enough to fall to the side, laying my head on her shoulder.

“That’s fine with me.” She lets her head drift down, resting on top of mine. “Hey Daisy, you want to learn some card games?”

“Yeah!” She says excitedly.

Corax, Cassie, Daisy, Vince, Ivy, and Lucas play the night away. Naturally, one of them finds the alcohol in the fridge, and we all do have reason to celebrate after today.

Thankfully, everyone goes easy-ish on Daisy, at least I think. Every time I check on the group, she’s doing fine. She’s not winning, but she’s still in the game. I don’t have to worry about her either.