Chapter Forty-Two - Quiet

“Passwords are only so trustworthy. With the rise of AI computing and systems like SHA-256 becoming so easy to decrypt that anyone with the right second generation augs could do it, passwords fell by the wayside.

In their place, came biometrics. Why use a password when you can use yourself?

The ‘why’ became obvious as constantly leaked medical data started to render even biometrics useless for information protection.

Now, anything less than a four-factor authentication system is considered ripe for the plundering.”

--Infosec: On Biometrics and Safety Factors, 2031

***

“Ready?” I asked.

“I was five minutes ago, I don’t see why I wouldn’t be now,” Manic said.

I just nodded. I was getting used to her flippancy, which was probably because I would have said the same thing in her combat boots. We had made our way to another exit, this one into a side-alley. I couldn’t hear any aliens on the other side of the door, so if anything was there, it was being quiet. There were plenty of the fuckers tromping into the apartment building though, most through the front.

We could very easily hear claws on linoleum clattering about above us. “I’ll open, you go in, then I’ll come in behind and cover your back,” I said. “Go left.”

“Uh-huh,” Manic said.

I took that as a yes and tore the door open.

Manic jumped out, sonic gun coming up and whining already as it charged. Then I snuck out behind Manic and pointed my own gun to the right while looking for targets of my own.

The alley ended a little ways in, with a few large trash containers and not much else. A model three was wrestling out a large tarp from one of the dumpsters, though it paused to stare at us with the cloth still in its jaws.

I fired a small burst its way, then adjusted my aim to take account of the kickback. I needed to switch back to something a little more stealthy, bullet-wise, but that could wait for when I was empty.

Manic jogged to the edge of the alley, then fired. The loud ‘whump’ was accompanied by a scattering of dust being kicked off the walls and floor. I turned and started looking for aliens to blow up around the noisy samurai.

Her gun had a wide cone of fire, but it wasn’t so wide as to clear out the entire street. There were still plenty of monsters around, and now that she’d made her signature level of noise, they were all very much aware that we were there.

Or at least, they knew about Manic.

A few antithesis roared and squealed, but the majority of them were entirely quiet as they turned their attention onto us and rushed over. “Just chaff,” Manic said.

“Bigger ones out back,” I replied. “I’ll take them out. Stay safe.”

“Mhm,” was her only reply.

Flicking on my invisibility, I ran the long way around Manic, avoiding the cone of fire from her bass cannon even as I took a few potshots into the crowd and tried to tag the bigger bastards at the back.

I clicked empty just as I reached a line of cars parked along the side of the road. I ducked down behind a wrecked electric car which looked like it had gone up in flames a while ago, then ordered up a fresh magazine for my rifle while my shoulder-mounted guns took care of sniping any of the flying antithesis above.

“I need something that’s not as noisy,” I said.

Coming right up.

My Laser Pointer clicked, then made a happy little humming sound that was a little too close to a purr for comfort. It was enough to know that it was loaded up again.

I let my shoulder-guns take a few more flying models down, then I jumped up to my feet and continued running. My targets were the bigger models in the centre of the intersection. The artillery aliens were going to be a pain to deal with for someone like Manic, and if that huge model eighteen decided to stomp over to her, it would all be over.

Once I figured I was far enough to be outside of the range of Manic’s bass cannon, I cut inwards. My Laser Pointer bucked as I unloaded it from the hip, splattering smaller aliens left and right.

The middle of the intersection had this Y-shaped cement thing, with some streetlights in the centre and a few smaller billboards fixed to it. The bigger fucks were hiding out on the other side of that, which was fine by me.

I summoned a trio of resonators and flung them ahead of me, the grenades started to whine while still in mid-air. They’d take a while to melt anything though.

Stopping with a skid, I dropped to a knee next to one of the cement buttresses, then looked over the edge. The model eighteen was turning, big legs stomping along as it started to go around and head towards Manic.

I figured good odds it would just charge on over.

“Myalis, can I have a few of those garrote grenades, with remote detonators?”

Certainly.

I got three, which I supposed was what a ‘few’ was to Myalis. That was good to know. I grabbed them one at a time and flicked them out ahead of model eighteen, right where it was going to pass.

They clattered and bounced and I swore when a model three kicked at one in passing, but then the model eighteen was barrelling past and I flicked on the detonator.

In a split second, all three garrote grenades went off. Monomolecular wires unspooled like something from an OSHA inspector’s worst nightmare and spun around in a dizzying tangle of whispering wires.

When they hit flesh, they didn’t even have the grace to slow down and merely sliced right through, kicking out ribbons of meat and blood that splattered out into the air around them.

The model eighteen stumbled as its legs suddenly gained a million hyper-thin lacerations.

It wasn’t enough to kill it, but it was a nice start.

What killed it was me running up to the alien from behind, ordering a sticky bomb on the way over, and slapping it down next to its neck before I continued to run.

I set off the bomb behind me while I kept moving, and the warmth of the explosion just shoved me forward and gave me a little boost even as bits of alien rained down around me.

My next targets were the model fifteens, the big, long artillery models stomping about in the back line. They were the big threat. One of those spiky balls they spat could ruin Manic’s afternoon, and it looked like both of them were about ready to start spitting.

“Grenade,” I said.

What kind?

“Boomy!” I shouted.

Something landed in my hand and I threw it forwards as hard as I could. Fortunately my aim when throwing things, even with my cybernetic arm instead of my normal one, was pretty good, at least compared to my aim with any sort of gun.

The bomb sailed through the air, then clacked against the ground between the two aliens. Then it exploded.

I flinched, even though I was perfectly safe. Whatever fragmentation had been kicked up clattered against my armour. When I looked back up and through the smoke left behind, it was to find both model fifteens shredded in the middle, though they were still writhing a little.

I put an end to that as I emptied my magazine into their sides, splitting my remaining rounds between the two.

Turning, I surveyed the area. A few aliens were running out from behind cover, or from within nearby buildings, but they were a trickle, not a flood, and Manic seemed to be doing alright. Her bass cannon ‘whumped’ every couple of seconds, sending bodies flopping through the air and tossing back blood and guts in large waves.

We started mopping up after that. I took them out from behind, with a few acid-rain bombs on the edges of the road creating more chokepoints and more resonators flung around to kill off any injured alien laying in one of the corpse heaps we were leaving behind.

When I finally reached Manic, once the intersection quieted down, she was leaning against the wall of a building, her mask hanging around her neck and her hair plastered to her sweaty forehead. She had a cigarette out, and with a mumbled command, a lighter fell into her open palm.

She lit it, tossed the lighter away, then took a long pull.

“That’s not good for ya,” I said.

“What is?” she exhaled. “Besides. Makes your voice huskier.”

“Fair enough, I suppose,” I said. “We still have to blow that building right over there up. And then maybe look around for more spots where they’ve settled underground.”

“How much blowing up are you intending to do?”

“Enough to keep the aliens off our backs between now and when reinforcements arrive, at least,” I said.

She took another pull, then tossed the cigarette aside where it sizzled out in the blood of one of the alien’s she’d pulped. “Alright, fine. I’ll relax once it’s all done.”

***